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Today was our first official day in the field. We traveled quite a ways out into the country today. At this time I can't give the exact locations of the villages and you may note that I haven't mentioned the city in which we are headquartered out of. This is due to security reasons as the last team came under threat. We're in a much safer area of India, but still, there isn't any use taking chances.

This is very typical of the village areas we visited.

The local churches and believers arranged meetings for us in different areas. We met with groups ranging in size anywhere from 12 to nearly 70 people. Usually, once we started talking, news of our arrival would spread around the village and people would dwindle in as we talked. We presented information about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and answered questions concerning the virus. We would then share the gospel using the evangicube. My partner Jay Ashcraft and I would take turns on who did which presentation. Jay is a good man and an associate pastor at his church in California. He has been my room mate and we get along well. We both have the bad habit of waking up several hours before we need to and it's been good to get to know him. He has a quick but gentle wit and shares some great insights into scripture and life in general. One of the many things I admire about Jay is his ability to cat-nap just about anywhere. Even on the drive back to town, with ten of us in a vehicle designed for six and bouncing across rice fields and broken roads, Jay snuck a little sleep in. Amazing.

Amazing skill........

Our first stop was at a village leaders house. Nearly 70 people showed up, including his extended family. They are actually Nepalese, but farm a large property in Assam. They were very gracious hosts and even though none of them accepted Christ at this visit, they said they would like to hear more. The local believers and volunteers will set up meetings with them and use the I Am Second bible studies to help them learn more about God. They were very curious about farming in the States and after a long conversation they treated us to tea and a tasty noodle soup dish. Jay and I took our chances with the soup, knowing that there was always the chance of a bug in the broth. We figured it was well cooked and that God would look out for us.

We made three more stops at pre-arranged locations and shared health information and the gospel at each stop. All in all, 14 people we shared with put their trust in Jesus Christ. Any soul saved makes it a good day. On the drive back to town Jay and I talked quite a bit about how it is simply our job to sew the seeds. It's God's job to make them grow. With the partnership that e3 has set in place with the local churches, those seeds have the advantage of care and feeding along the way.

Jay sharing the gospel with a group of 40 Assamese.

And just a short side note: At each stop we were treated like honored guests. Tea is a great custom in Assam, being their state product. Having hot, sweet, and milky tea with cookies in an Assamese home will ruin the drab Lipton's tea from home forever. In addition to having a lot to teach us about tea, the Assamese could teach all Americans a lot about hospitality.

 

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