Hands going up during invitationMany thanks to all who are praying for us in India. We have needed it, felt it, and God has truly given some wondrous answers to prayer!

I am hurrying to get this note off before we head out to another night meeting. We had over 250 in attendance last night. More people stopped in the street and listened from open doors and windows all around. This was in the church yard or compound of a Lutheran church. This Lutheran pastor heard about our conference last year and traveled over 300 km to see me and ask us to come to his area.

Outside of the churchWe travel to other countries in part to encourage and mentor local pastors and believers. Often, however, we return home with stories of how we have been stirred by the sacrificial service of believers in other lands.

One such story involves Indian Pastor John Mark. For over 10 years, this particular pastor sacrificially gave his time and treasure to build a church. The building was constructed piece by piece as the pastor struggled to raise funds for material and labor. A truly impressive edifice arose from his prolonged efforts – one of the nicest churches I saw in the entire area.

We were passing through another small, dusty village the seemed to just be in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason. It might have been totally unremarkable - just another collection of huts, rice granaries, and buffalo sheds – except for the Temple.

An ancient Hindu Temple stood as the center of the community. Maybe it was why the community had grown up at this particular bend in the road. It was certainly the most commanding structure for many miles in any direction.

They say the life of a firefighter can be described as hours upon hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of sheer terror. My dad’s firehouse stories tended to verify that description. After serving nearly 25 years in the pastorate, I can see a parallel with the pastor’s lot. Can we encapsulate the life of the pastor as “days and days of tedious, thankless sheep-tending, punctuated by moments of ineffable glory”? Moses might go for that one.