Team India News

Back in the States

2006-07-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

We reached Harrisburg safely around 11am today! Praise God for a safe trip! Stay tuned for some reflections about our trip and news about Re-Entry.

Our Ministry in the South

2006-07-06T01:04:00.000-07:00

Gabby sharing from the Word at a small "cottage" meeting. Afterwards the team had the chance to pray for many of the people attending.

The team with the PTL pastors from Tamil Nadu. The team had a wonderful time of fellowship! We were able to encourage the pastors and pray for them.

2006-07-06T00:31:00.000-07:00

The team ministering in Tamil Nadu.

Sacrifice

2006-07-06T00:29:00.000-07:00

Missions involves sacrifice. I’m not talking about what the YES team has given up or suffered during our time in India. I’m referring to the Indian missionaries with whom we are living and working. Most of the servants who are ministering with Pocket Testament League India are missionaries. Many have moved many miles from their southern state of Kerala to enter the ministry. When the team had a chance to visit their home state last month, I was struck by the amount of “comforts” they have chosen to give up.

Kerala: “God’s Own Country” is a lush, beautiful land with an almost tropical climate. The vegetation and gorgeous flowers make it a paradise for birds and other animals. The cool night often arrives with a fresh breeze that renews one as they sleep. Also, with a sizable number of Christians in this state, the church has grown and flourished. Life seems to run at a slower pace without the traffic and pollution of the city.

As the team finished our trip to the south and stepped off the train at the Delhi station, the wave of heat struck us by surprise. The vast differences of the south and the north became so much more apparent. I realized in a greater way how much the people of PTL have sacrificed by leaving their beautiful Kerala to minister in Delhi. Paul’s radical statement in Philippians 3:7-8 comes to mind. “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.”

May we too, realize that knowing Christ Jesus and making Him known is the greatest profit. And may we be empowered to consider all else loss compared to Him.

Please pray for us as we finish our last week here. Pray that God may direct our paths and work through us until the end of our trip!
-Heidi

Purposeful Prayer

2006-06-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

Purposeful Prayer

Well, we ended our time in Kerala and with bittersweet excitement we boarded the bus that would take us to our next ministry opportunity in Tamil Nadu. Since we've been here, we've had a chance to visit different pastors in the community and encourage local believers by sharing with them our lives and Biblical truths. We've enjoyed times of sharing and prayer meetings in different cottage meetings. And we've been blessed to see God's hand working in people's lives and people receiving answers to prayer. But what happens when the healing doesn't come? From the very beginning our team has been struggling with this question. We know that God gives us authority to bind strongholds and disease....and He even proclaims that we will do even greater things than what Jesus did...So what do we do when we pray in faith and the healing doesn't seem to come. Do we give up? Ask for more faith to believe? Say that the will of God is for this person not to receive healing? What to do? As I struggle with this question I am reminded of my mother's sickness and how much we prayed for the Lord's healing to come. I'm reminded of the faith in which we all prayed in and how much faith she herself had that she would receive the healing from the Lord. However, the healing didn't come. There was no miraculous cloud that came down and lifted her from her deathbed. Instead, she died July 16th 2001. So what to do now, as our team faces similar situations? People coming from all over with various diseases various problems expecting healing from the Lord. Do we cease the prayers in fear that maybe the healing won't come? or do we continue in faith proclaiming the word of the Lord? As our team has gone to different places, we are reminded of the apostles who spoke the word of the Lord without fear and proclaimed healing as if it were so. And we choose to believe that in the end it is the work of the Lord to bring healing and deliverance in His time. We choose to simply be the vessels for which the message is delivered. We are encouraged by the prayers that the Lord has answered quickly and visibly and we stand in faith knowing that all prayers are heard by our heavenly Father. And for those times in which it seems that our prayer was not answered, we say that the will of the Father is greater than our own. We thank the Lord that He is the author and perfector of our faith. So as Hannah did in 1 Samuel 1: 17-18 after she made her plea to the Lord, we go in peace and lift our downcast faces and rejoice in the sovereignty of the Lord.

Please Pray:
-That we would be focus to do the ministry as our time here draws to a close
-That our final weeks with our host families would be a time of encouragement
-That we would continue to operate in unity; being bond in the love of Christ
-That we wouldn't take any unwanted "critters" back home with us
Praises:
-We praise the Lord that He has enabled us to work in all situations; being blessed and being a blessing to others
- We've been traveling a great deal and the Lord has kept us save in all our travels
-We've seen the Lord's hand changing people's lives and providing everything from housing, finances, healing, jobs and restoring broken families. We praise the Lord for His handywork.
Blessings.
-Gabby

Sweet Kerela 1

2006-06-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

The Beach!

All Aboard.....

2006-06-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

All Aboard.....

One of these is our train..... I think

Gaby, Heidi, John V, Samuel, and Josepth talking about last minute details and watching team luggage. They Rock! We love you Josepth!

What is this? hehehe That's right packaged Indian train food! Yum Yum. You know you want some!

I wonder what Jose is going to do now.... okay TMI
After 48 plus hrs on the train, John V. our outreach coordinator is wiggin' out. hehehe We love you John....

We had a great train ride and again saw more of India's diversity and beauty. This place is precious to God, keep praying for this Nation.

INCREDIBLE INDIA

2006-06-22T01:01:00.000-07:00

I'm melting.... melting..... MEELLLLTING!!!!!!!!!!

Despite the blazing heat, the India team is still standing and thriving. As a matter of fact were on VACATION!!! Don't worry it's only for a couple of days.To start it off we enjoyed an amazingly cool two and a half day train ride with air conditioning and semi-authentic Indian food. Then we were overwhelmed with the luscious palm trees, the refreshing backwaters, and the beautiful clear blue sky of the state of Kerela. From splashing one another on the gorgeous beaches to taking boat rides through the backwaters our team has definitely had an amazing time of bonding and just being. It was also a great opportunity for us as a team to experience conflict and learn even more lessons on flexablilty and grace.Instead of just going to a hotel for this time, we recieved the priveledge of experiencing southern Indian culture first hand. The team stayed with our outreach coordinator's family for the majority of the time and had a blast. This was a great bunch of people and the team made immediate bonds with the family. We ate real southern Indian food and enjoyed countless tasty fruits like: Mangoes, Jack Fruit, FRESH PINEAPPLE (my mouth is still watering), and many others. This time has been fruitful and fruit producing for all of us as we continue to aim to be living sacrifices before God and humble servants towards one another.

Jose

PS I did want to give the Bolivia Team a shout out and SAY...... We miss you and love you guys, continue to grow, glo, and .....yea anywayz Continue to be a blessing were you have been planted

Picture Extravaganza!!!

2006-06-09T04:32:00.000-07:00

John V and Tim smiling at breakfast time on our way to the villages for outreach. John you know you want some!

Here is a picture of one of the most used ways of transportation
here in India. HOLD ON!!!

Pastor Manoj and family at their home in Kutar. We miss you guys.

Students at the school in Kutar. These morning drills were no joke. Left... Left.... Left... Right..... Left...

Okay, Okay it looks like were at the beach. But were not. Actually we are standing on what used to be a village and market until a crazy river that originates in Nepal came through and wiped it all away.

This is not what it looks like. Tim and I would never leave the girls stranded in the middle of nowhere! Seriously! hehehe

Life on the outskirts of the village. These two were very hard at work and busy, but they totally wanted us to take their picture!

More Vacation Bible Camp action. This is the team teaching the campers "This little light of mine..." Let it shine.. Let shine... Let shine... You know you want to sing along....

Presenting..."Tim and The Cuties" There debut album comes out this fall. Not really, but this picture is cute. This is Tim with some of the Sahihabad pastors daughters after a celebration march around the community.

Gaby with some of the children at Vacation Bible Camp. Okay, Does Gaby or doesn't she look Indian? Please post your response on our comments section!

Preach on preacher boy! This is Jose sharing the Word of God at Christian Fellowship Church. "Every two seconds a person on this planet dies, are we taking every opportunity possible to share the Gospel of Christ" -jose

THE FAITHFUL PRAYER TEAM

These ladies rock my face of. They meet everyday, except Sundays, to pray! Straight up Pray! Lets take a lesson from these spiritual warriors.

"Outreach-ing"

2006-06-08T02:59:00.000-07:00

Hello again to all of our dedicated friends! Yet another rapidly moving week has passed since our last appearance on here. It has been a week of more stretching, bonding, work and lessons learned from experiences that will last for the rest of our living days. One of our weekly activities involves going to a major shopping area and distributing the gospel of John booklets. We do this by pairing up and positioning ourselves at the busiest spots that are not too close together. We thank God for His marvelous protection and provision during these times of outreach. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will anoint the words on the booklets to speak directly to the hearts of those who read them. Also, please pray that all the final preparations for our trip to Kerala will come together in the next week. Thank you all for your time, love, support and prayer. Believe me when I say that we can feel the prayer working. God bless you all with incredible measure,

Tim – on behalf of the India team-

Cell Ministry

2006-06-01T03:42:00.000-07:00

So dear friends, the time has come for me to let you know how the team is doing. Well, we are all still alive and have most of our appendages intact. Lately, we’ve had the opportunity to spend some time participating in different church ministries. Cell groups are ministries that take place during the week. It is like a Bible study only it’s mainly geared to empowering others to reach out in their own communities. It also helps to keep the believers connected and offer opportunities to those who are unable to attend church Sunday morning. It has been something that our team has been involved in since early on. Recently, I’ve been encouraged by some of the testimonies that have come out of the cell meetings. In one cell, there was a believer whose family was having problems with persecution, due to the fact that they were Christian. For 15 days the people in the village had been throwing rocks at their house and giving them threats. The believers were at the point of moving out of the area. When they shared this at the cell meeting we were able to pray for them and ask God to place His hand over them and the situation. We claimed victory in Jesus name and asked the Lord to bring a release of His peace down. A few days later, we were given the news that since that time of prayer there had been no more threats or rocks being thrown at their house. I praise the Lord because more and more, He is bringing to my mind that He is a prayer answering God. There is nothing so big or too small for Him. Knowing this, I ask that as you remember us in prayer you would pray:
-As we prepare for our trip to the South, God would keep us safe, as there has been much flooding due to monsoon season.
-God would continue to give us grace as we deal with the culture and our host families
-That we would continue to work in unity as a team

by Gaby Pabellon

Week of May 22nd

2006-05-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

May 25, 2006

Last week was filled with preparation for Vacation Bible Camp! It took place on Thursday-Saturday, and over 230 children attended! It was a joint organization by the churches of the area, which is really exciting. The Lord is unifying the local Body of Christ in such an exciting way. During VBC, the team did a couple action songs and a skit, and also helped teach the children one day. The general assembly room was always lively and chaotic, since all 230 children spent the majority of their day in that one room! “Let Your Light Shine” was the theme, and we were able to learn a couple Hindi songs centering around that theme.

We had some unlikely visitors in our houses last week! As I was sitting at the breakfast table, a monkey came in the unlatched door. My host mom and I were unsure how to react...her instinct was to fight, but mine was flight! The monkey ended up escaping with only a bunch of bananas, so we were thankful. The same monkey visited Gabby's house later, and escaped with a pen and some toffees. We are definitely more careful about latching our doors now!

We are around the half-way point of our time in India. We appreciate your prayers on our behalf. Please pray that our next weeks in Dehli (Sahibabad) will be fruitful. This Sunday is offically "YES Sunday," so pray that the people will be challenged and encouraged by what we share. Also pray that we will continue to challenge and encourage one another as a team, and that our unity will be a testimony to others.

Thanks for reading!
Heidi (for the team)

VBC

2006-05-25T04:59:00.000-07:00

Last week was filled with preparation for Vacation Bible Camp! It took place on Thursday-Saturday, and over 230 children attended! It was a joint organization by the churches of the area, which is really exciting. The Lord is unifying the local Body of Christ in such an exciting way. During VBC, the team did a couple action songs and a skit, and also helped teach the children one day. The general assembly room was always lively and chaotic, since all 230 children spent the majority of their day in that one room! “Let Your Light Shine” was the theme, and we were able to learn a couple Hindi songs centering around that theme.

We had some unlikely visitors in our houses last week! As I was sitting at the breakfast table, a monkey came in the unlatched door. My host mom and I were unsure how to react...her instinct was to fight, but mine was flight! The monkey ended up escaping with only a bunch of bananas, so we were thankful. The same monkey visited Gabby's house later, and escaped with a pen and some toffees. We are definitely more careful about latching our doors now!

We are around the half-way point of our time in India. We appreciate your prayers on our behalf. Please pray that our next weeks in Dehli (Sahibabad) will be fruitful. This Sunday is offically "YES Sunday," so pray that the people will be challenged and encouraged by what we share. Also pray that we will continue to challenge and encourage one another as a team, and that our unity will be a testimony to others.

Thanks for reading!
Heidi (for the team)

For your visual enjoyment!

2006-05-16T01:56:00.000-07:00

The team celebrating at Pizza Hut after arriving back in Dehli.

2006-05-16T01:50:00.000-07:00

During a visit to the Dudwa National Park, we had the privilege of climbing a swaying, decaying 4-story observation deck. So this is Jose celebrating his arrival at the summit. Gabby and Heidi got to borrow saris for the day.

2006-05-16T01:49:00.000-07:00

The team during an assembly at one of the PTL schools. The children are so cute!

At the Schools

2006-05-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

This is not what it looks like! Jose with his favorite group of 8th grade students at one of the PTL schools.

Tim teaching at one of the PTL schools. By the end of the week, the children had to know "who's boss".

2006-05-16T01:09:00.000-07:00

Jose celebrating his birthday...Indian style...with his 2nd host mom. (On a side note: his mommy baked this cake from scratch, on the stove, in 113 degree weather!)

In the Northeast

2006-05-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

Dear faithful Bloggers and Bloggettes:

We’ve just returned from a 20-day excursion into the Northeast Indian countryside. Our time was filled with different ministry opportunities, which included teaching at two schools, relating to local believers, and sharing the gospel in local villages. At any given time in the schools you could see us jumping, dancing, clapping and spinning all in the name of bringing joy and new action songs to the children. “Celebrate Jesus” and “Father Abraham” became instant favorites. Often we would walk in the classroom and the children would be saying, “Celebrate Jesus, madam. Celebrate Jesus.” Fellowshipping with the children proved to be harder than we figured. In the beginning we were the new teachers whom they had to respect (“Good Morning, Ma’am”). Towards the end we were considered their personal playmates (Ma’am, game! Ma’am, game!). Naturally we had to lay down the law sometimes.

Our stay with the local pastor’s family proved to be quite the adventure. During our time there, we were able experience their tremendous hospitality and impeccable nursing skills. Needless to say, we were sick a great deal of the time due to the climate differences. The fact that electricity only came a few hours in the night gave an exciting twist to it all. Our host families however, were very accommodating and showed us grace nonetheless. (Praise the Lord, we are feeling better).

We had the chance to minister almost every evening during our stay. This was challenging at times because of the need to constantly have a sermon ready. We learned the importance of being ready to share our hope in season and out. One evening we went to a rural village and had the chance to share the gospel to a crowd of about 50 people. To God’s glory, around ten people gave their hearts to the Lord. We are excited to hear about what God is doing in them and through them as we receive updates from the pastor in the area.

We are now back in Delhi and the temperatures are higher than ever (Praise the Lord). It’s great to be reunited with Jose and Tim, who taught at a school three hours away from us during our outreach time. This week we will be busy working with the local children in Vacation Bible Camp. Pray that the hearts of the children may be changed by the love of Jesus.

We are greatful for what the Lord has done in our lives in India. We are daily being challenged to lay our western thought patterns aside and trust in our never changing Father. Pray that the glory of God will continue to be revealed in the nation of India!

Gabby and Heidi

School is out!

2006-05-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing time serving at one of the PTL schools. We can recall on one occasion when we encountered an unwelcome visitor on the school grounds. A young boy had seen a snake heading toward one of the buses which stays parked at the school. In much haste the word was spread and in about 5 minutes 15 guys were climbing all over the bus trying to find the rascal. Getting a brave volunteer to go into the bus was quite a challenge. Meanwhile the rest of the guys were outside beating on all sides of the bus with sticks and anything they could get their hands to try to draw the pest into the open. With many loud outbursts and sudden commotions, the little menace was hammered to death as it dropped out of the bus. We wish we could say it was a king cobra, but it most likely wasn’t. What we do know is that it was definitely poisonous. Praise God for letting that snake be found that night instead of the next morning with a busload of precious children. We were all very relieved to say the less. Now on the more cute and cuddly side of things, these beautiful bundles of joy were such a blessing to us. Not much beats getting to school in the morning and having about 300 voices screaming “good morning sir” in a cute and polite way. It gets even better when you stick your head in a classroom and it erupts with instant squeals and cheers of “good morning”. Along with that, another fabulous quality about these jubilant children is that they had an obsession with giving us personally picked flowers every morning. Through all the exchanges of love toward each other, one thing we observed and learned is this: The warmth of love conveyed through genuine effort cannot be concealed by language barrier. May God bless you all and thank you from the deepest depths of our hearts for the time you spend reading this and praying for us. Please pray for this Ptl School.

Written by Tim Martin and Jose Diaz

Goin' on a trip son........

2006-04-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

Namastay Everyone,

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,

Follow me as I take you on a short journey down a typical street. The sights, smells, and sounds will intrigue you.................... are you ready? Follow the legend below:

Legend: X= YOU
H= people
C= Cow/bull
D= street dogs
R= cycle rikshaw
####### = "side walks" hehehe
S= Sound
()= sight
P= smell-combination of things (curry, cows, etc)
*********little reminder it's like 98-99 degrees out*****************
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Start here: ############################################################
H HXCCDDDRHHHHHHCCHDHHHHHX(3 min)CCCCCCRRRRRDDDDDDDDCCHHHH
R R RC RRRPPPPCRRRRRRRRR RRRRHHHHHRHRHRHRHRHCHHHHCHHHCCC
H HH HHHHHHH HHHHH HHHCHHHHHHCHHHHHCHCCHX(7min)CCHHHHHHXCD
################################################### Finish here
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

India!!! Are you lost yet? So were we 2 weeks ago. If the short 7 minute journey seemed crazy, don't worry it is. Anywho, our team has some amazing opportunities to minister the love of Christ in eastern U.P. Beginning this monday, we will be helping to teach 6-16 yr olds in subjects such as English, Moral Sciences (ethics), Math, and plenty of others. The team will also have the chance to put on 1 assembly at each of the 3 schools we are going to. These assemblies will consist of drama, action songs (i've got the love of....), and sharing our testimonies. The team may also have special times with the faculty and teachers to share bible studies and stories. After these assemblies we will be split up into two groups. Gaby and Heidi will be staying at one school, while Tim and I stay at another. We will be staying in villages with the principals and their families. The principals are also local pastors, so we will be preaching, leading worship, and teaching in their congregations as well as participating in any outreach activities that are planned. Praise God!!!!

-Pray for us as we don't want to hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in any way
-Pray for discernment and wisdom from the Holy Spirit
-Safe and unhindered travel, as many issues have arisen on other ministry trips to this region
-More and more Humility and servant hearts
-Boldness and confidence in Christ as we preach the good news and proclaim freedom to the captives
-Much Grace!!!!

May Christ bless you richly,

Jose

The Team

2006-04-20T03:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the team posing for a group shot with our wonderful friend John V. John takes good care of us as we minister and share the love of Jesus. He blesses us with his patience as we learn the Indian culture.

2006-04-20T03:17:00.000-07:00

The team on one of our first ministry nights. We went to a village and shared with the people there. The team sang a song, then Jose and Heidi shared from the word. The hosts always bless us with chai and snacks after the meeting!

Our First Week

2006-04-16T02:35:00.000-07:00

Jaymasiki! Praise the Lord! Greetings from the India team!

"Welcome to Incredible India" was the greeting we received as we left the airport into the still 90 degrees night. Our wonderful hosts met us immediately and drove us through the "organized chaos" of the traffic. P.C. Alexander, the director of PTL India, told us that three things are needed to drive in India: a good horn, a good set of brakes, and good luck! With the first two components and the Lord's grace, we made it safely to our host homes.

The team lives with three host families in the same apartment complex. We have all been incredibly blessed by the wonderful hospitality of our host families! Lots of rice, different curries, and concerned host mothers have made sure that we never experience hunger pangs. In fact, we've decided that a regular fast might be necessary to give our stomachs a rest from the endless supply of food!

This first week has found us experiencing much adjustment to this new culture. We live in an area where light skin is not often seen. Thus, it has taken awhile to get used to the constant stares! One person almost fell off their bike when they saw us walking down the street. Other challenges have been adjusting to the different styles of communication, missing home, and mosquitos!

This past week we've had the chance to get acquainted with some of the church ministries. We visited different cell groups, and attended many outreach-oriented meetings in the surrounding areas. John V has joined the team as our outreach facillitator, and all-around fountain of information. We are enjoying his company and are thankful for him.

Please pray that the Lord will direct our ministry opportunites, and guide us as we determine our schedule! Also pray that we will be a blessing to our host families and the church here. Thanks for all your support!

From Harrisburg to Dehli

2006-04-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

We made an awesome Indian meal tonight, complete with namkeen (an Indian snack mix), chowl (rice), masala chicken curry, and papars (fried, crunchy flat bread). We rounded off the delicious meal with chai (hot, sweet tea). We can't wait to eat similar food in the beautiful nation of India very soon!