India: October 23

Destination: OM (Operation Mobilization)
Team: Aaron Bailey, Luke Greenaway, Tim Barley, Adam Burke
Duration: October 18-28, 2009
Assignment: Education, Encouragement, Evangelism, Adventure
Today’s Log: October 23
Submitted by: Luke Greenaway

Not as many meeting were planned for us today which gave Tim and I time to prepare for the sermons we are to share at two different churches on Saturday and Sunday. Aaron and Adam would be sharing their testimonies as well over the next couple of days.

We went to a lunch with a few of OM founding leaders. They informed us about how OM was started and of all the ways it has grown over the past years through the provision of God and his people. They asked each member of our team to tell share from own lives because they really wanted to get to know us, too. We spent a lot of time sharing and listening and encouraging one another and this was one of the best meetings we’d had so far. For Aaron, especially, this seemed like a breakthrough day and he began to see his purpose in India and on our team from a new perspective. It seemed that his excitement about being here was completely changed and even more open to God’s plans and desires than before!

After our lunch we were taken by a local pastor named Bangaraju (Bong-a-ra-joo) to what the people around here call the Pipe Villige. It’s a Dalit community that has built homes in discarded, large, cement pipes provided by the local cement factory where many of the Dalit work. As I most of the slum areas we’ve visited, there was trash and debris everywhere surround the dwellings, but on the inside, their living areas were clean and well kept. We were greeted by some of the most loving and beautiful children we’ve met so far, and their parents welcomed us into their ‘Pipe’ homes with open arms. They even asked us to pray over a newborn infant born to one family just a few days ago.

We arrived home early enough in the afternoon to walk around the campus and we stumbled upon a group of OM staffers playing badminton. We all joined in for a few games and had so much fun with them and they with us. Our new badminton friends, Christopher Wilfred, Babychee and Babuchan encouraged us to come back every afternoon we had available to play with them. We all hope we’ll be able to!

God continues to care for us so faithfully! We’re all safe, well-fed, comfortable, and we’re meeting so many amazing people and seeing so much of what God is dong here. It really is an honor to be here.