June 2007

This was originally written in June 2007

Hello from India,

Well, I've been in Bangalore for a month now and so much has been going on! We finished our three weeks of prayer and juice fasting which ended with the fifth anniversary celebration of the church building's construction. Literally one thousand people attended the Shekinah House of Prayer and Praise and were fed lunch that day. The twenty eight children who usually live here have come back from vacation with their relatives and started school so the house is full again. During this month I went to the Global Day of Prayer, an engagement celebration, a wedding, a funeral, and saw six new believers baptized. We've visited many members in their homes, and gone to several different villages to visit pastor's families and see where new churches have been started recently or will be built in the near future.

We've also had several guest speakers at the church. Two of them were from Africa and one lady was from England. The lady was Rachel Hickson and she spoke about Christians in history making a difference in their society. She encouraged us all to do the same thing here in India. It was very inspiring. I've been asked to speak here many times as well. I spoke at the church's anniversary celebration about the foundation of the church being built on the word of God. I also spoke at the Ladies Bible Study where I gave the first of several messages I have planned about spiritual warfare. I taught a children's Bible study last week and spoke at a home fellowship Tuesday night. Wednesday night I spoke for an hour to the church about coming up higher into another level of intimacy in worship and holiness. It blessed me so much when the Holy Spirit moved on the people at the end of that service.

Pastor Kumar's wife Salome asked me to help some of the older children with their English lessons and every day we pray for people--in their homes, when they come to visit, and after the church services. Everything is wrapped in prayer here.

A few days ago a group of us went sightseeing in the neighboring state of Tamilnadu where we saw some wild monkeys and the beautiful Hogenakkal Falls. It was fun stepping into the waterfall with our clothes on! It helped us to cool off from the summer heat and it felt like a soothing massage. When it was time to go we changed into dry clothes and got back into the van. We stopped for a picnic later on, fed some wild monkeys and then drove to another village. While we were there, we saw people working in a field, visited the family of a girl named Jotee who lives here at the church, and dropped off two young women who will stay to plant a church.

A few weeks ago I met Ed and Kathy Bowers. They are pastors and apostles from Virginia who moved to Bangalore four years ago. They invited me to go sightseeing with them around the city, and then we went back to their home where we had lunch and a great time of fellowship and worship. I spent the night with them, and in the morning we went to the English speaking church they attend here in Bangalore. They invited me to come to Hyderabad with them at the end of the month where we will be doing some ministry in a church for several days. That will involve a trip on an Indian train--something I haven't done before.

If you go to bjenk234.shutterfly.com you can see the new pictures I have posted. You will even see pictures of me riding a camel and wearing a sari. I've taken a lot of pictures, but some of the most memorable images are only in my mind because I wasn't able to get my camera out fast enough. I remember a beggar girl about nine years old with her face pushed against the car window in heavy traffic. She held a picture of a monkey god and had a metal pan to collect money in. As she made a sad face to make us feel sorry for her, a large bus passed by behind her and we gasped as there were only a few inches to spare. She was almost crushed and didn't seem to notice or care. Her mother was on the other side of the car holding a baby and making a sad face too--she was more concerned about the possibility of getting a few coins from us than the safety of her own daughter! It's against the law to beg here and if we give them money it only encourages them to beg all the more, but my heart was crying out to help the little girl in some way. I wanted to pull her into the car and take her home with me! There are so many needs and so much work to be done here, so please keep me in your prayers as I seek the Lord to find His perfect will for my life.

I send my love to you all,
Bonnie