richardwollard

“Jesus was walking through all the towns and villages teaching and preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds he had compassion on them.”
Matthew 9:35-36

Our hectic travel schedule and lack of wifi has kept me from my ability to have a daily blog update the past few days, so I am going to share a brief summary of an emotionally overwhelming week while I have a limited connection! This is a quick one from my cell so I’ll have to clean up some of the details later =)

We arrived in Delhi Sunday night and Monday drove out to Rohtak in the district of Haryana to visit two church plants, one was in a leper colony and the other was in a local slum. I was captivated by the hearts of the children and adults that we encountered and have such an appreciation the work that God has been doing in these areas. Church planting takes on a whole new meaning when you are walking through an area such as these.

Tuesday we visited a school served by a local pastor who is also leading a church plant. The capacity here for a training center and the ability to have a long term impact was great. The lunch conversation with my new friends Dr. CV Vadavana of Sathyam Ministries and Ivan Veldhuizen of Converge Worldwide International Ministries crystallized in my mind what a partnership might look like. I was proud of our conference and excited about where God is moving.

Wednesday we traveled to Patna in the district of Bihar to visit two church plants and a training center, where 12 students were diligently studying for the ministry God was calling them toward.

Thursday we visited a local church plant and then gathered together with several pastors and influential leaders in the area. Ivan did a fantastic job representing Converge and casted a strong vision for what a partnership in India might look like.  There was energy in the room and I am jazzed about where God is leading to say the least.

Friday morning we flew into Kolkata. I had an opportunity to see the area and headed to the airport after dropping off Ivan and CV at the hotel. They are continuing on through the weekend to meet with local pastors and and leaders and visiting church plants. Ivan is teaching Sunday in a church started by William Carey – okay, that is way cool!

I’m still pondering a few thoughts and will have to share later, but for now, I gotta move. Thank you for your prayers!

On the journey together,
Richard

Sunday morning we had an opportunity to worship with one of the larger churches in the area, with over 135 believers! We had a little trouble finding the church as the address brought us to a rather large Sikh temple. After sitting there for a while, one of the leaders walked from around the corner to get us. The church was in the same complex next to the temple!

As we walked into the service, they were just finishing up one of the last songs before each of the children would come up to share a verse they had memorized the week before. Imagine my surprised when one little girl, who was only fives years old, starting reciting word-for-word the entire Psalm 91. Wow.

This church was a more established church with a congregation of about 35 strong believers, and Pastor Solomon had been there for over 6 years.  Pastor Solomon had been praying about the opportunity to grow and multiply churches when he heard about TTI, and sent 25 men through one of the training centers. Those where some of the men we met at the training center on Friday, the church has started multiple small groups in the community, and two years later his congregation is 135 strong.

We had an opportunity to hear stories of life change, healing and boldness for sharing Christ, and an opportunity to pray for several people and family after the service. It was such a privilege to come together with this local Body of Christ in spirit and truth, to worship God and learn together as we looked at God’s word.

I trust your morning of worship was rich and fruitful, and grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ from around the world!

Richard