Archive for the 'Travel' Category

Day 7 Mumbai India - Sunday April 8, 2007

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by
Fay
on April 30, 2007
in Travel
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Sunday. Resurrection Sunday! Day 7.

As the sun rose in the east, so did the Son of God; the promise of a new day dawned in this land­­, a new song in my soul, a new Christ in my heart. The Promise, His Promise, fulfilled in the Resurrection of our lives, rebirth, welcomed spiritual adjustment as we walk a closer walk with Him (“Pagau Hallelujah!” by Cameron Mendes from Yeshua CD - not sure of the spelling or exactly what the song is saying, but this is one of the praise songs we sang with the Hindi team throughout the week, and with the word Hallelujah in it, I’m sure it’s fitting for Easter)!

We had determined a few days ago that we would split up into three groups and attend as many New Life Fellowship Easter services on this beautiful Resurrection Sunday. I believe that Pastor Jobe and some went to the church we visited last night, Sion and Buddy went to the Metro church, and LaMar, Matt, Cheri, Alison, Mandi, the Weehunts, and I went to Shannon’s church.

Shannon’s church was about 45 minutes away from the hotel and in a different part of Mumbai than we had previously visited. I’m not sure of direction in Mumbai and was totally turned around while in India but I think it was north and west of where the hotel is (Shannon will have to correct me if I’m wrong). Their services are held in a school. Space is such a premium in the city that the school goes up many floors instead of spreading out on one level like in the U.S.

We arrived a little late and the worship had already begun. Up behind the platform was a large background poster that said, Yeshua! Jesus in Hindu. We were brought together again with some of our worship friends, Shannon leading worship, Diana, and forgive me, but I never caught his name, their wonderful drummer. And guess what girls?! They have a female bass guitar player! How awesome is that!!! We were again treated to their wonderful, enthusiastic, upbeat, thrilling worship. The pastor led in some prayer and then the IWI worship team (comprised of LaMar, Mandi, Alison, me, and Matt on sound and the performance CD tracks) was introduced. We worshipped some more and LaMar led us in some deep, freestyle, vertical worship.

Reverend Buddy and I had a conversation during the week that besides being here to serve and to have the gift of worshipping in another country with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, each of us would also be given personal gifts by God. One of my personal gifts on this trip was to learn what freestyle, vertical worship is and to learn how to let it flow in Spirit. I finally found out from Sion the chord progression he uses and plan to practice in my living room when I get home so I can lead others in this freeing, transforming God-song. I learned a distinction from Sion’s talks that praise is when you sing about how good God is and how great He is to us, His acts; and worship is when you sing about God’s majesty and omnipotence and about His Attributes, who He is. I learned from LaMar’s teachings how to sing from my heart to God’s heart, one-on-one, vertical, vulnerable declarations of love from a daughter’s heart, mine, to My Father’s heart, God.

It just seemed that every time we gathered for worship, the power meter would pick up from the previous venue. It was the same for this Resurrection Sunday. LaMar was the guest speaker for this morning, and as always, I received blessing upon blessing and kept on learning. Before I came on this trip, God spoke in my heart that this would be a time to look, listen and learn; and I was richly blessed in all three areas!!

After the service, our driver (still Aazoo) skirted us over to the Mumbai Marriott, yet another beautiful hotel. We were treated to an incredible Sunday brunch, including the Easter Bunny of all things!!! We were joined by our friends from Sower of Seeds Ministries, the Weehunts, Shannon and his wife, and the pastor and his wife from Shannon’s church (I don’t remember his name now and that’s what I get for not writing down every person’s name as I learned them!!!). We shared a beautiful meal together (although at this point I wasn’t too interested in food, but definitely in the Perrier, as this was the worst day for me with Deli Beli).

We said our goodbyes and I realized how we had grown as family and felt sad as I parted company with Shannon, our fellow worshipper for the last week. But promises were made that we would all see each other again in the future!

Aazoo whisked us back to the Sheraton where we had to rush to change for that night’s venue (and the plane ride home); rush to pack; rush to check out of our room; and, rush to the Metro church for the 6:30pm service (the church was over an hour away and it was 6pm when we left the hotel. I must take the blame for that, and my cronies were very gracious, but I had to keep running back to the bathroom in our room. It was not fun!). In fact, I suffered my way physically through the rest of the night, but I didn’t care and it was a minor thing compared to the Glory of each moment in India.

By the way, when we asked Aazoo how his wife and child were today, he answered with a twinkle in his eye that they were both well! This is about as religiously political as I will ever get, so I will just speak this out boldly, even if Aazoo was praying to Ala when we prayed over him last night, we were praying for healing and health over he and his family in the name of Jesus Christ!! It speaks for itself!!!

Our evening with our Hindi brothers and sisters at the Metro church was just as great as every other experience we had had in this lovely country. As we grew together spiritually as a worship team and engaged in freestyle worship, although we were completely exhausted by now, the power of God filled the house and lots of people came down front to pray and sing and receive His Blessing! In other churches, when people come down front, I’ve heard it referred to as The River. I think that’s very fitting. The River of Life, where we find Refreshing and Blessing and Joy in His Love; a River of Light where all things are Healed! During the freestyle worship, I remember we were all singing back and forth about the Light and the Father’s Light and raining down Light. It was surreal. It formed a vision in my mind of droplets of light, like rain, falling on India and healing the land and renewing the hearts of the people in God. It looked like Healing Rain!

At the end of the service, we were thanked by the congregation (with people in attendance from a lot of the churches that had attended the IWI conference this week). A lovely man and his wife gifted each one of us with a beautifully framed, hand-painted, water color picture with a scripture that was hand-written in calligraphy. We were given little gifts and lots of hugs and prayers for a safe flight home.

We, the IWI worship team, our friends from Sower of Seeds, and friends from the New Life Fellowship church, all said our goodbyes to each other and were whisked away once again into separate cars that would take us in our various directions home.

It was about 10:30pm, and a long, quiet trip to the airport; about an hour and a half. Looking one more time at the streets and stalls and abodes and people and trying to take it all in so as to remember every detail…silence once again and thoughts of what had transformed in my being from the week and what tomorrow would bring …

Day 6 Mumbai India - Saturday April 7, 2007

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Fay
on April 23, 2007
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Saturday. Day 6.

We truly had a day off today and everyone sort of decided to do their own thing. Buddy, Cheri, Alison, and I met for a late breakfast at the hotel and shared some wonderful conversation. Buddy was going to hang out with the guys and hopefully Matt would feel well enough to join them. Matt suffered from a very severe case of Deli Beli and luckily, with some medication he’d brought with him and a day of complete bed rest, he was starting to come around. We all suffered a little but not like Matt. He bore the brunt of it for the group.

Diana from Shannon’s church was making a trek across town to spend some time with Cheri, so Alison and I, with one of the cars at our disposal, decided to make another trip over to the Bandhra shopping district to pick up a few more things. Of course, when everyone heard we were going, a few items got added to our lists!! We didn’t mind. Before we left, I had a chance to spend some quality time with Reverend Buddy and was on the receiving end of his wise and caring counsel. We talked about leadership, what God expects of us and about looking ahead in Christ. We talked about leading worship, worship teams, church leadership, and all that goes with that.

I listened intently as he shared his sage experience and something in our sharing moved deeply within me and freed me to go home and address some unfinished spiritual business. He prophesied over what God would do for me personally in the future, and I hold it dear to my heart. If anyone’s interested, I’ll be glad to share it one-one-one. God definitely multi-tasks; all of my experiences were so rich and so deep and happened on so many levels, it seems impossible to convey it all here. Let’s just say that with a few dreams and visions God blessed me with during my stay in India and talking with my new friends, I came home a changed person and resolute in my efforts to walk a higher path and endeavor to live in the Throne Room. I have a new and revelatory understanding of the command that Christ gave us when He said we must love our neighbors. He didn’t say it would be nice if we did, or would we please, He commands us.

Buddy shared with us that he, Dwayne, Pastor Jobe and a few others had decided it was important to attend the New Life Fellowship teen challenge church over in another Mumbai district. It’s delicate subject matter, but let’s suffice it to say that this church is dedicated to rescuing teens off of some of Mumbai’s roughest streets, including the “red light” district. Cheri, Alison, and I decided we needed to go since a majority of the church attendees are women, and young women at that; who come to the service and then go back out on the steets! We delighted in the opportunity to minister to and pray with our sisters in Christ!!

So late breakfasts, and wonderful talks over with, Alison and I set off to Bandhra. Let me take a minute here to speak about our wonderful driver, Aazoo (pronounced ahzoo, never was sure if there was an ‘l’ on the end of his name). He spoke English very well and when he spoke slowly enough, we were able to understand him. Throughout the week, we had many wonderful talks about his spiritual beliefs and ours and their similarities. Aazoo is Muslim. We got to know that he has a wife, a two-year old daughter, and a baby on the way. He shared info about everywhere we went and when Alison and I were shopping alone, he even followed along for awhile. We felt very protected and cared for. At one point, he and one of the street vendors got into a bit of a tussle and their arms were waving and their voices were raised. We waited until our quiet trip back to the hotel to find out what happened. Apparently, when we asked Aazoo a question about some of the goods, the vendor thought he was teaching us how to haggle-down the price and they had words over it. Phew! Sure glad I didn’t understand what they were saying. It was a little tense, but he definitely held his own!!

Alison met up with Dwayne and Pastor Jobe at Amar Gems and Crafts in Bandhra and decided to go with them straight to the church for the evening meeting, and I decided to head back to the hotel to freshen up before our evening event. Aazoo took me over to the church where New Life Fellowship rents the hall on Saturday nights for their weekly meeting from CNI, the Church of Northern India which from what I understand is an offshoot of the Church of England (Episcopalian). The church was over 200 years old, still standing and in very good shape. It seemed odd to see such a “traditional” structure amidst the usual Indian architecture, but evidence of British influence was seen in various structures throughout the city. Mumbai, or Bombay as it was called until recently, was built by the British.

As always, with my experience of worshipping with our Hindi brothers and sisters, the place was jumping. I took mostly video clips of the young people at this church because of their enthusiasm and joy in worship (I have put in stills of the shots, but hope to have the videos up soon). I would say they ranged from five to twenty-five, with some more mature members. But mostly, it was a young people’s church. The pastor is one of the most joyful people I think I’ve ever met, and fearless too (I’ll share why in a minute). He was right there worshipping with the rest of them, jumping up and down, and leading the choruses. I knew I was hearing another voice leading the worship but couldn’t quite see who it was. I finally noticed that the worship leader at this church led worship from a wheelchair. I have such respect and reverence for these very sincere people, and yet everywhere we went, we were treated like royalty and with the utmost respect, reverence, and appreciation. It was humbling.

More humbling still, at the end of the service, a little girl of five prophesied over the church first as a prayer to God in Spirit language, then in Hindu, and then she turned toward the congregation and spoke in the first person as though God were answering the prayer she’d just prayed. The ever-present interpreter shared what she was saying. What impressed me the most about this child of God, is that during the entire worship time, she stood mostly still with her left hand over her heart, her right hand raised in the air, and a countenance that bore peace and tranquility and love. How many five year old children do you see in the stillness of God’s Presence? Very humbling…

Still more humbling, and I would like to share a story with you here… I felt the great privilege of being part of a spiritual moment in time. I share it with you now because there is no question that God is real and that He’s bigger and more All-knowing than we are or could ever hope to be. At the end of the service, we were invited to pray with and over the congregation. We all kind of stood there looking at each other, those of us up front, facing the people, and the people facing us. We were all shy at first, and then gained courage. God kept pointing out a lovely Indian woman to me sitting about two-thirds of the way back on the left side of the hall. I kept hearing Him say to go to her. Of course I argued with Him, giving Him all the reasons why that was ridiculous and what use could I possibly be. I stood there defiant for a few heavenly conversations and He kept saying to just go to her. And I kept saying what should I say and He’d tell me to go. Finally, I heard the words so loudly in my heart that I could not disobey, “NOW!” was what I heard.

So I went…

I went all the way around the outside of the hall, around to the back, and snuck up the row until I was standing next to her. I hesitated, wondering how to do this, and then simply asked her if I might pray with her. She leaned against me and began to weep and asked if I would pray for her baby, and then I could see that she was very pregnant. You have to understand that most of the women in India come up to my chest and I feel like the Jolly Green Giant next to them! Well, being the tremendous sop that I am, I began to weep too, and through our shared tears, I heard myself praying a blessing of peace and health over her son, and that he was a Child of God and that He would go out in God’s name and gather His People, and other words I simply don’t remember now. So we just rocked there companionably for a little while and then I went back up front. Yes, I was shaken, didn’t completely understand it all, but at peace all the same, and feeling somewhat useful just in maybe sharing a moment where girl-tears could be released. It doesn’t matter what continent you’re on, girls have this unspoken comradeship through shared tears__aaahhh yes, a little cry always does wonders for the soul.

So once the ice was broken, each of us had streams of these lovely people waiting in line to be prayed for and over. We must have been there for an hour ministering. They are loving and open and affectionate and it was disarming. I don’t remember everything that was said, but it was definitely a ‘happening’ and something I’ve never experienced before in connecting with humanity on that vulnerable a level. It changes something deep inside your DNA…

Toward the end, I walked over to the worship leader to thank him for the praise and worship he’d led us in and how much I enjoyed his sensitivity in worship. To my complete surprise and shock, he thanked me for praying over his wife and pointed out who she was. Yes, it was the lovely pregnant lady. He shared with me that she’d come and told him afterwards about what we’d prayed about. He let me know that he felt the prayer was a confirmation from God. He’d been in a wheelchair all of his life and his legs were withered from about mid-thigh to his feet. His heart’s desire had always been to walk out among the people and gather his nation for Christ. He said that God had spoken in his heart and revealed that he would give him a son who would be his legs in this land. I kept my composure while I spoke with him, but later that night, I wept with tears of joy, wonder, and awe…

So as if all of this weren’t enough, those of us going back to the hotel piled into Aazoo’s car with the church pastor and Pastor Jobe from LaMar’s Gateway church in Fort Worth. We were informed that the pastor wanted to drive us through the ‘red light’ district. More contrasts, from the heights of prayer and peace, to the darkness of the streets! He informed us that he’d be getting out of the car at one point and that some of the young men from the church go out into the district ahead of him and act as body guards. And sure enough, he got out of the car; the young men surrounded him, and he went into one of the buildings to do whatever it is he does there. Fearless. He jumped back into the car and carried on conversation with his usual bounce, enthusiasm, and joy, as though this were just another everyday occurrence, and for him, it is…amazing!!!

You can imagine why I’d return to the hotel every night, overwhelmed, and exhausted in a strange kind of way. There’s only so much of this you can take in and then you just have to veg it out…!!

As if all of this weren’t enough, Aazoo struck up a conversation (at this point, he was the one bringing up the discussion about Christianity and Islam) and Pastor Jobe was sitting in the front seat. Well I witnessed true witnessing, bolder than I had ever dared to go… We all listened very quietly and intensely as they conversed. In the end, as we pulled up to the hotel, Alison reached up to Aazoo and asked if there was anything we could pray for him about as a group. He answered immediately and without hesitation. He asked if we would pray for his wife and daughter as they’d been sick all week. He shared that his wife was pregnant and feeling very sick. So we all put our hands on him and prayed sincerely and earnestly with the love of our hearts for his and their blessings and health for everyone. Amen. So be it…

Day 5 Mumbai India - Friday April 6, 2007

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Fay
on April 21, 2007
in Travel
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Friday, Good Friday, or should I say GOD Friday. Day 5.

Historically, this is the day that Christ was crucified and entombed; the Passover Lamb, the Sacrificial Lamb, the Lamb of God, the Promise and Fulfillment of scripture. We are assured He will Rise Again in three days, and Rebuild the Temple, the Redemption of all mankind!! As always, God is Good for His Promises!!! It’s not just about the Cross and what it represents, but about Mercy and Grace and Forgiveness and Resurrection and the Living God on the other side of the cross; the Promise of Christ likeness, of being and walking like Him. OK, I’m preaching again but serious as Life itself. HE IS RISEN, and He Lives in each one of us; a Real, Living God Who Desires to Lift each one of us up into the Heavenlies and Dwell with Him…

Day 5 in India, a long way from home, and yet so close to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We love Him, we adore Him, we honor His Name!!

OK, this sounds totally materialistic from what I just said, but this is THE shopping day. I admit it, I’m human, I’m fleshly, I fall. Now look guys, I mean this with all honor and respect, and I know you were there to make sure we stayed together as a group and that we were safe. And I mean this sincerely, I really appreciate this because we’re in a distant land and we’re far from home, but come on! We’re girls, set loose in the market, and we’re ready to shop!!!

And shop we did…

We met at yet another hotel, and it was fine, near the Mumbai Gateway of India, the port opening to the land of India. LaMar and the guys had met with the senior pastor and founder of New Life Fellowship in India, and although he had just gone through surgery and was recovering quietly, I heard Sion say to Matt (forgive me for overhearing), “Glory!” I’ll take that as a positive and that this man who started the entire New Life Fellowship body in Mumbai, although recovering, was still at the top of his spiritual game… So we gather the rest of our group, and off we go to the Bandhra (forgive my spelling if it’s wrong) marketplace.

It is hot today!! And humid!!! Some of us had gotten a leisurely start on the day and just had breakfast, but some of the folks had been at it all morning and they were ready for lunch. So some of us ate, at a place they called All Stir Fry (they call it Chinese food, but it was much more like Mongolian BBQ), and some of us drank Coca Colas with big, cold, chunks of ICE!! Yeah, it was hot, and the iced cokes tasted really good. But, we encountered misfortune in a glass…starting that day, some of us started to encounter Deli Beli, you know, Montezuma’s Revenge (OK, please forgive me, I’m being really base here, the Tijuana Trots; let’s just call it what it really was). Unfortunately, as the week pressed on (we’re not sure if it was from the accumulation of everyday food, or the cokes some of us drank later at McDonald’s; you heard me correctly, there was a McDonald’s (just so you know I’m telling the truth here) smack dab in the middle of our market street!), some of us suffered from Deli Beli, and it was not fun. But here’s the kicker…

Who really cared! We were in India, we were shopping, and there were more spiritual wonders to come. What more could you want out of life!!! We’re people on a different kind of mission; a shopping mission, and we’re taking presents home to the people we love. We want to give them a taste of India, a reminder of our experience, a little piece of a culture unlike our own__real people with real lives__halfway ‘round the globe; it’s hard to imagine, but we’re here, and we’re shopping!!! I have to admit, although just like home, and the guys were, I have to say it, patiently tapping their feet, they were very tolerant with us gals.

First we started off at Amar Gems and Crafts, really, really beautiful hand-crafted jewelry made of precious and semi-precious stones, at a reasonable price… But it wasn’t until we reached the scarf store, with Rachel as our faithful haggler, that the buying fever began. You have never seen such beautiful silks and georgettes and colors and patterns and textures, and the Saris, and well…..it was exhausting, yet satisfying. How can you not come away with half a dozen more when the going price is so reasonable. We all came home with beautiful, colorful reminders and presents for our loved ones and friends; I can‘t wait to share with my family and the girls back home in my life group. A few more stops at various market stalls and we’re on our way to the leather district.

Now the guys really got excited about that, more so than jewelry, scarves and broom skirts; I just don’t understand. But we weren’t ending our shopping spree until we’d exhausted rows of leather stores on either side of the street. If I’d been in the mood to shop for purses, I would have been in trouble…as it is, I bought a cute, little, tiny, sequined purse that screams of India (and my sister Gail laughed and carried on about that when I returned home with it on my arm, right off the plane__it’s a family joke that I love little purses, of all kinds, and her daughter Heather has taken after me; it’s in our genes, what can I say!!?!)…

So I mean, we’ve spent all day shopping! I have to admit, the guys hung in there and had just as much shopping endurance as the girls. That’s pretty amazing.We arrive back at the hotel around 6:30pm. Alison, Cheri and I say goodbye to the guys and go up to our room. We’re hot and dewy (I think that’s the way we say it in the southern U.S.) from the day and decide to primp and freshen up for dinner. We’ve decided to try something different than Indian fare, and think we’ll try the Chinese restaurant downstairs in the hotel. Apparently, Chinese food in India is akin to Mexican food in California; a good thing.

Before I forget, on our way to and from every venue and the market today, we are picture taking fools. We know better now than to try and dig our cameras out of our purses or pockets. We have them at the ready, every time we get in the car, they’re up and aimed. I’m determined to snap a picture of a “sacred cow.” I see several, but the car is moving too quickly and I often get the cow’s blurred, sacred behind! Delete that one and wait for the next opportunity. But what I’m most interested in is elephants! Two different members of our groups have actually witnessed elephants with riders in traffic lanes!! Buddy actually saw (and I believe him because he’s Reverend Buddy) a guy come up to and stop at a traffic light like the rest of the traffic, ON HIS ELEPHANT (I actually found myself saying, “Please Lord, bring me some sacred cows and elephants.” Trite, I know, but I want a picture of that!!!) National Geographic here I come…

Before I share tonight’s experience, I need to recall the loveliness of the hot showers in our clean, air conditioned, hotel room. Every morning, more fragrances of India filled my senses. The shower had containers of shampoo, conditioner and body shampoo that had faint essences of sandalwood and musk. And each morning as I drew back the shower curtain, I was greeted by a lovely lithograph of wild and colorful tulips. Truly surreal; the starkness, windiness, grayness, and dustiness of the outdoors, against the cleanliness, scent-fullness, stillness, and prettifulness (Spencer’s concocted word), of our hotel bathroom. Green marbles and richly colored pecan-colored woods, and white basins. And after the shower, lathered with Aryuvedic lotions and powders provided by the hotel. Aryuvedic potions, for those who don’t know, are like Bath and Body shops back home that provide Aromatherapy creams and perfumes to sooth our senses. Like I’ve said before, a land of contrasts!

So freshened and relaxed and ready for dinner the gals and I head down to dinner. And Cheri, true to her fun-loving form, wraps one of the scarves she bought today around her head turban style, and off we go. We enjoyed a lovely, quiet, really delicious dinner. That was great, but the best part was the sweet, heartfelt encounter we had with our waiter. As we engaged him in conversation, we found ourselves having a “real,” personal moment. He began talking about his home country, and how it wasn’t true fellowship and sharing until you sit together and use your hands to share and eat the food around the table. He expressed that sharing a meal was truly fulfilled when you eat the foods of your homeland, lovingly prepared by the hands of your family, with your hands while sitting around the table with the people you love. He asked how long we were there for and wished we had been there longer, and he invited us to his house to eat hand-prepared, delicious Indian food with he and his mother and father. What a sweet, sweet young man. We told him how much we appreciated his offer and the rest of our meal was served by a new friend and not just a distant, native from another land. The people are so vulnerable and unrestricted by personal boundaries.

As if the day were not full enough, we arrived back at our room and companionably, just like little girls in front of the Christmas tree, took it in turns and shared everything we’d purchased that day at the market. We oo’d and ah’d over each other’s goods talking about who we might or might not give them to (depending on whether we were willing to part with them or not).

Self-satisfied, and talking about maybe one more excursion to the Bandhra market tomorrow, we drifted off to sleep…peaceful…quiet…content…God is so, soooo Good, and we shopped ‘til we dropped; that’s what I’m talking about…

Day 4 Mumbai India - Thursday April 5, 2007

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Fay
on April 20, 2007
in Travel
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Thursday. Day 4. 

We had a little time this morning which was nice because I was up so late last night journaling from last night’s experience. We were scheduled to leave for our afternoon venue around 10am so had time to sleep in a little and leisurely breakfast. So, OK, since this whole trip has been true confession time, like not having my luggage and vanity issues, and other little Mrs. Magoo things that happened, last night I left my wallet downstairs in the area where I was typing on my laptop and really panicked this morning when I realized what I had done. I calmly told the girls I couldn’t find my wallet (which had over $400 in various kinds of currency), and then flew downstairs to see if by some chance the hotel had picked it up last night. Well, this is my walk of faith time; everyone kept telling me that my luggage would arrive safely and that my wallet would be found and in one piece, and that God is good and good for His Promises. He is! To my great surprise and pleasure, one of the hotel hosts had turned in the wallet to Lost and Found and everything was there! I guess my head’s in the clouds and God’s Head is taking care of business…

Before I share about our afternoon event I want to tell you about our Hindi praise team friends.

Shannon was the IWI Ascend 07 Hindi worship leader on rhythm guitar and was joined by Samuel on the drums, Benny on lead guitar and a female and male vocalist (I realize now I never did know their names). They all came together from different New Life Fellowship churches around Mumbai. Buddy and Sion eventually joined the Hindi team to round out the instruments and eventually, we all ended up on the platform because it was just so much fun and we just wanted to be a part of it. During the IWI worship team songs, Shannon and Benny would join us on guitar, so we truly had an international worship team (I video taped some Hindi worship with my camera and some day I hope to put the video clip here).

Benny, http://bennyprasad.com/, has an amazing testimony that he shared with us during the Ascend conference and played his rendition of ‘Shout to the Lord.’ God gave him an idea for a guitar and bongos and he designed a guitar that has two bongos built into the top part of the guitar. He has a burn to reach all of India for Christ, so he recorded background music to be used for T.V. and radio commercials and now he’s proud to say that all over India, ‘Shout to the Lord’ ‘Shout to the Lord’ arr. by Benny Prasad‘ (from “When The Music Fades” by Benny Prasad) is playing for the general populace. He definitely had a big twinkle in his eye when he shared that and was very thrilled about it! He follows wherever God tells him to go and now has an international ministry. Later this year he will be joining Darlene Zschech (the songwriter) in Australia for more ministry and to play with her group. The interesting thing about Benny is that when you just talk to him one-on-one, he is very light hearted, playful and fun loving, and when he starts talking about His walk with God, he becomes very focused, serious and emanates the Power of God in His life and speaking.

So wonderful to meet and get to know our Hindi friends!

And so, our week continues…on to our afternoon venue with an intensive training session with the pastors and worship leaders, and then a high tea in our honor. It’s all so fun!!  Really this just ended up being one big worship session that was a continuation of the Power and outpouring from last night’s event. We must have worshipped for an hour and finally LaMar called up all the worship leaders to come to the front and prayed anointing and impartation over them. Again, the Power of God filled the room and we were all moved deeply, some to tears and audible weeping. Suddenly, I noticed that Sion was ministering over one of the worship leaders out front and I wondered why I still heard the keyboard. I looked over, and Cheri later explained that he had motioned her over and had her hold down the sustain pedal and one of the keys on the keyboard. Just had to keep a little earthly perspective there (and didn’t want my imagination to run away with me that I was hearing heavenly keyboards - not that your keyboards weren’t heavenly Sion, just checking to make sure an earthly being was at the keys!!). Man! Wow, this signs and wonders stuff really gets you going…!!

OK, I’m going to preach again for a minute…I wish I could convey to you the Power in the moment of these experiences. I hope they never become commonplace or a mere memory, and that I might keep them uppermost in my mind and heart to revisit so that my soul stays satisfied with the knowledge that God is real and palpable in the world and that we can all have a Direct, Life-giving experience of Him!! I believe He wants us to know Him in that way, to have direct and life-changing contact with Him and to receive everything that He has for us. One of the most important things I have learned on this trip is that He is the Creator, and He can definitely dream bigger and knows better than me, and can and does orchestrate events that I would never even imagine or dream. And, that when I “get out of the way” and let Him in and through, things happen that are beyond my scope of understanding or knowing. He goes beyond where I can even think! And all this happens and grows when we worship Him, proclaiming the attributes of His Might, Majesty, Omnipotence, and Power!!

At one point, Sion invited Shannon up on the platform and prophesied over him and spoke out that Shannon would be fundamental and initial in leading out the other Hindi worship leaders. Shannon was moved to tears and received all the love and support we all had to offer. There were lots of female worship leaders up front as well and afterwards I sought some of them out and really encouraged them to step up and step out in their roles. I spoke with Diana who is being raised up in Shannon’s church. Here is a miracle testimony of faith. Diana’s fellows at her church prophesied over her that she should be involved in praise and worship. She had never sung before, has never had music lessons, or played the keyboards. She still has not had music lessons but sings like a bird and plays the keyboards well; she said YES! to God and just started playing and singing. Amazing, yet true…

LaMar gave a very wise talk on the importance of worship leaders and pastors coming together, so they’re on the same page, and can work together to minister to and grow their congregations in their walk with God. He explained the importance of the leaders having a shared and common vision of the foundational importance and magnitude of True worship and doing it together. He had the pastors come down front and stand next to their worship leader and pray and worship together while Shannon led us in a couple of Hindu worship songs. Boy we started dancin and jumpin again. Worship is so fun in India!!

Afterwards, we spent time talking to everyone there and were free to walk into the adjoining room where a beautiful high tea was set up buffet style. There was every kind of food imaginable; Indian, British type finger sandwiches, European type foods, tea, coffee, punch, desserts galore. It was beautifully presented and very tasty.

We left from there and were whisked through the night, out of the serene surroundings of the Taj Lands End hotel, back onto the honking, chaotic traffic congested streets of Mumbai (I have a clip of that too I hope to share one day soon). We shared a meal with our friends from the Sower of Seeds Ministries, Dwayne and Leslie and their children, and local pastor Shelton and his wife Melissa, Shannon, Benny, and the rest of the IWI team. Leslie said the food at Caravan Serai was the best and nicest Indian food she’d had in Mumbai, and she was right.

I had Indian food every chance I had and have to tell you that, yes, even I who love Indian food and eat it whenever possible, had my fill while I was there. I think I will go awhile now without curry and be OK!!! All the Nan bread was freshly baked and hot out of the oven, and we were given many appetizers and humus and lentil dips to go with our hot bread. The smell of fresh bread and Indian spices filled the room. And the waiters just kept bringing out dish after dish of delicious Indian cuisine. I usually eat Vegetarian and had so much Gobi, every kind you can imagine, but that night, my favorite, Aloo Gobi — YUM (it is in a rich curry sauce with cauliflower, peas, and potatoes)!!!

Dinner over, and back into the night, on a dare, Matt decided to take a ride in a Rickshaw. Rickshaws are open, three-wheeled vehicles and not much bigger than a golf cart. We saw many close calls between taxis, Rickshaws and trucks, and thought he was taking his life into his hands on this bet. Benny went with him and they returned gleeful and energized. Matt said it was definitely a ride to remember; probably something like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!!! The horns were honking, the foot and vehicle traffic were doing their harmonious, chaotic dance, people were out and about, it was balmy, and the smell of India was in the air…

Out of the sounds and smells of the night, back into the silence of our cars, full and satisfied, back to the hotel we go, a goodnight acknowledgement to our uniformly dressed doorman, up the elevator, and a sigh into bed. We’re off for the next two days and get to go shopping!!! Need I say more…

Day 3 Mumbai India - Wednesday April 4, 2007

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on April 15, 2007
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Wednesday. Day 3.

Before I forget, last night, each of us was invited onto the platform one at a time and presented with a luscious bouquet of flowers; a fragrant and lovely show of gratitude and love for our individual participation in their land! And when we arrived back to the hotel, all the luggage concierges converged upon me to let me know that my luggage had finally arrived and would I please inspect it for damage. It’s fine. They’re elated, watching me to see if I’m elated. Of course I am! And so can rest easy.

So decked out in my own comfortable clothes, Day 3 begins. This is the last day of the IWI Ascend 07 training seminar for the general assembly, with one more session tomorrow afternoon just for the Pastors and Worship Leaders. So, we have a schedule out in front of us, and the teaching is split up between Matt for the sound guys, and Sion and LaMar for the different teaching sessions for the attendees throughout the morning and afternoon. We’re kind of in a worship flow pattern now…

Matt has gotten the sound to a premium for that hall, the team is grooving together now and have gotten to know each other and how we flow together as a group. The worship is just getting better and better! Hey, I’m pretty familiar with the songs now and really enjoying both LaMar’s and Sion’s teaching and leading of freestyle worship. I remind myself to ask Sion later about what chord progressions he’s using because they lend themselves so readily to flowing in the Spirit. I am so full of joy and peace. Content at last in God’s promise to me and spiritual fulfillment in an incredibly dynamic, flowing worship team. We’re praising God, worshipping with abandon and just generally having a darn, good time. At least I was and I think everyone was there with me!!

I could feel the power building throughout the day.

It’s time for our evening break and LaMar gathers us all together in the Green Room to regroup, refocus and pray. Mark, the outreach pastor from LaMar’s church, arrived yesterday evening and joins us in prayer before the evening session where he will deliver the message. LaMar confesses to us that he feels blocked off and professes the need for a breakthrough and asks that we all lay hands on him, Sion and Mark before the evening session. The Presence of God is thick in the room and everyone is praying out a prophetic Word over the evening and what is to come. God promises a new thing, for the evening, for the Indian people and for the country of India. At the end of the prayer time, someone starts singing and we lift our voices in a beautiful chorus of “We are standing on Holy Ground, and I know that there are angels all around…”

God is with us. As the evening worship flows, the power builds (eventually I’ll have a video here, I’m working on it - no pictures of tonight because we were all too involved in the happening)!

What happens next is the most incredible experience and display of God’s Living Presence that I’ve ever witnessed…LaMar says it best when he shares with us from his website blog written later that evening after the event. But what I will share is that at one point, when he mentions in his blog that he doesn’t know what to do next and one of the pastors comes up on the platform and calls the other Indian pastors forward, the atmosphere changed!

Once the pastors began to pray and the worship team continued to flow in Spirit worship, the physical Presence and Power of God fell and I was driven to my knees and then to a genuflecting position with my head on the floor. When I was able to look up, I saw that everyone on the platform was on their knees, or with their heads on the floor, or prostrate as LaMar describes below. The pastors were crying out prostrate on the floor, the congregants were crying out and some were on their knees, the worship team was on the floor, the music continued and people were weeping openly and freely in the complete Presence of God Almighty. I was forever changed in that moment and life will never be the same again…

LaMar describes it poetically and beautifully at http://worshipinstitute.com/news_lamar.php.

Like the night before, we rode back to the hotel in silence, awed by the signs and wonders of the evening’s event, and humbled before the Presence of God Most High. I was so pregnant with His Presence and overwhelmed by what had happened that I could not sit still and felt stifled in our hotel room. I literally grabbed my laptop, explained to the girls that I had to process for awhile and flew out the room, down the elevator, and found a quiet corner in one of the lovely sitting areas and began to write.

I would sit from time to time in complete silence, just staring out the window into the hotel courtyard. Although the hotel courtyard was physically beautiful, nothing compared to the awe that filled my soul having been lifted to the Throne Room, the Courtyard of the Most High and felt and experienced the supernatural Power of God, basking in the Light of His Love and Glory__afterglow…

Day 2 Mumbai India - Tuesday April 3, 2007

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on April 6, 2007
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Tuesday. Day 2.

OK, so I completely forgot about this part yesterday, but my luggage hadn’t arrived, and luckily from a bad flying experience a couple of years ago when I landed in Washington D.C. and my luggage ended up in Missouri for two days, I purposely packed a change of clothes (very casual) and some shoes in my carry on bag, so I at least had a change of clothes for Monday, but remember, no toiletries at all, no curling iron and no makeup. Um, not good. No time to shop because they don’t have Wal-Marts and Targets and malls, etc. They have small boutique stores for everything and street vendors, that’s it. And, we had no time to stop anywhere yesterday. So I began and ended that day and went on the platform with the only clothes I had on my back, bad hair, bad makeup and smelling good only because the hotel gave me a couple of items and my roomies were kind enough to let me use a little eye makeup and hairspray. Now you all know me and I’m very particular. Talking about having to “die” to yourself, or let go of vanity and my own will to “look good.” No one was saying, “You look maaaahvelous!” (Said with the famous Billy Crystal accent.) I was mortified…for about three seconds…and then realized where I was and what I was doing and that we come into this world naked and leave that way, without makeup or toiletries or perfumes, or clothes, and I realized it didn’t really matter in the big scheme of things, so worshipped I did, and with all my heart!!!!

So I’m downstairs before our 8AM breakfast meeting (LaMar is very focused and the team meeting time is one of the most important times of the day together, and don’t be late, it’s not acceptable - I love it!! Yes! Intentional, purposeful leadership!!!). I’m at the concierge’s desk (more hotel pictures) asking if my luggage arrived from British Airways, nothing yet. They ask me for the form I was given by the airlines and get my room number and a local cell phone number from one of our hosts and tell me they’ll stay on top of it and take care of it. The hope is that my luggage came in on the Midnight flight and would be delivered to the hotel some time later this morning. With vanity aside, OK, it’s hard, but I’m managing, I wear the pants I traveled in, not exactly platform garb (and very crumpled from 30 hours of travel), and I borrow Alison’s dark green tea shirt, with a big, bold Veggie Tales cartoon character looming as large as life on the front. Not a shirt I’d usually wear on the platform, humbled, definitely humbled. It’s OK though, I’m calm and really, it doesn’t matter, so putting that aside, it’s time to start the day and I know either way I’m good, my luggage will either arrive, or I’ll get to go shopping some time today and buy some new clothes - oh darn!!

At the breakfast meeting, we set our game plan for the day, admin, sound, song list, line up of teaching (of course we have a schedule, but that’s all subject to change and the move of God’s Spirit in the room and in the hearts of the leaders). We’re a team man, a real team, and as LaMar calls it, a POWER team. Some of you know how much that phrase means to me. Confirmation, confirmation and more confirmation. I’m definitely in the right place. I’ve been begging God for three years now, begging, to put me with a worship team of musicians who are seasoned in modern worship, sold out for Christ, humbled to work together and honor each other’s walk without complaint or resistance, and somewhere I can learn and grow and be stretched. This is it, this is the beginning and I want more of that…

LaMar asks Shannon if there is something we might do differently or if there is a need in the house and he humbly suggests that because the Hindis are not familiar with the American worship songs yet, that perhaps a couple more Hindi songs can be used so we don’t “lose” them. LaMar thanks him and decides to end each set with a couple of Hindi worship songs, and let me tell you, the crowd goes wild at the downbeat of each song. They love their songs, just like we love our songs, and they’re engaged and fully participating.

So we leave the hotel at 8:30AM and our day begins at 9AM with a sound check and off we go to the races. Sound check complete, the journey continues. We worship, we minister to the people, they minister to us, we’re ministered to by the teachings. The Indian people are kind and loving and grateful, oh so grateful, and they are hungry…so hungry and desperate for God. Desperation brings the need for hope, and He represents that hope. The momentum continues, the Power is building, you can see it and feel it.

On the platform Tuesday night right in the middle of our worship time, God spoke in my heart and He reminded me that He had promised me an acceleration and an answer to my prayers to be with a worship team of like mind and in that moment He said, this is it, this is what I was promising, and this is only the beginning. I have more and more for you, this is just the beginning. I broke down and wept, right there on the platform in front of God and 2,000 people. I didn’t care. I threw my hands into the air and praised the Living God!! You need to understand something here. Some of you aren’t familiar with the Christian worship “world.” LaMar and the Worship Institute would be akin to someone like Steven Spielberg and his production company. That’s the caliber of this event. This is where God has catapulted me. This is what He has blessed me with.

Speechless once again…

OK, I’m going to preach here for a minute. We are spoiled. Americans are spoiled rotten. We live in palaces compared to these lovely people. We have running water and too much food and too many shopping centers and too many conveniences. It has dulled us and walled us off from the need for a relationship with God. We don’t need God; we’re self-sufficient; we can do it on our own; we don’t need anything; we can do it all; we can have it all; we’re selfish; we’re isolated in our materialistic pursuits and numbed by our abundance and affluence. We have no need to look outside ourselves because we have it all and it has made us dead inside spiritually!

People live in desperation; they are desperate for better living conditions and better food and more conveniences, and water!! They have no flowing water. Water is the most precious resource in India. A man and his family will travel four to five miles every day with big, five or ten gallon iron pots on their heads or huge plastic jugs. Four or five miles! Every day!!

So where there is desperation, there is a need for hope, and that hope is God, or at least a hope that He is real and there for them; a supernatural power that will deliver them and give them reason and a place they can look for help. And they are getting that here in the Christian community. Some Westerners believe God is a crutch and an excuse for not doing it yourself or “Gittin her done!” God is, and that’s the long and short of it. And, I know He loves me and He showed me that night that He loves everyone; He showed me that He’s there and present with all nations and all tribes and all people. We can’t see Him, we can’t see the Spirit, but we can feel Him and He’s real. I’ve witnessed it and felt it and heard it and seen evidence of The Power, in my own life for sure, but now as witness with these people and what they are doing here.

We spent the entire day in the hall, with lunch breaks and tea breaks, well taken care of by our hosts. Oh, and checks back with the hotel brought the news of no luggage, not yet — argh!! So, I’m whisked away by Michelle (in the bottom, right-hand corner of the picture), an American girl who lives in India and knows their ways, to a nice shopping boutique where I can buy a few outfits and some shoes, but no time for toiletries; have to get back. As it was I missed the afternoon worship and that was a personal sacrifice, believe me. I don’t want to miss one moment of this event. So I bought a few items, just in case, rushed back, changed, primped a little. But, none of it mattered.

What mattered was being part of the venue, getting back out there and leading the people to worship through our own earnest search after personal relationship with God, the Almighty. Another powerful evening, more joy, more jumping (one day I’ll have a video clip here), more sound, the sound is deafening, but WHO CARES!!! I’ll still be able to hear in the morning.

We drove home in silence. Silenced by the experience, trying to take it all in, being filled to overflowing with God’s Presence.Stillness, I need stillness now, and time to think. I can’t think. I need to sleep.

Day 1 Continued…

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on April 6, 2007
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Day 1 continued…

We leave our things in the Green Room where someone will stand guard the entire time we’re there. Oh yes, the room is air conditioned and the hall too, thank God! It’s hot and little humid outside, but not too bad. But yes, the AC feels so, so good. Our lovely hosts have water on ice, coffee brewing all the time, Starbucks!! Yep, that’s what I’m talking about. There are always nice snacks on the table and healthy ones too, so glad. We throw our things down and out onto the platform. We take our places, everything is ready and the sound checks begin. Matt has to spend quite a lot of time setting all the mikes, monitors, ear mikes, reverbs, etc., etc., etc. That takes about an hour and then we run through (and what I mean by that is, mostly just starting and finishing the song) the song list for that night. Somehow I manage to remember parts of the songs. I haven’t done any of them before, but it don’t matta, I’m just happy to be up there part of the worship team!!! OK, I’m a sop and I’m already crying and choked up and it’s just practice time. (Reminder, bring your little travel pack of tissue on stage with you for tonight.)

At this point, we are joined by Shannon, a local Hindi worship leader on vocals and rhythm guitar, Samuel, a drummer from another local church (they are all part of the New Life Fellowship church hub), and by Benny Prasad. I’ll tell you more about Benny later. He is an extraordinarily gifted lead guitarist. I could write an entire blog on him, but I’ll save that for later. Suffice to say that he travels all over the world doing what he does and is in high demand. He hits about 134 countries a year. That should say it all.

The plan for tonight is to open with the U.S. worship team (with our Hindi brothers) and then for the last worship song, the Hindi team will lead. Their team is made up of Shannon, leading, Samuel on drums, Buddy will stay with them and play bass, Benny will stay with them and play lead guitar, and they have a male and female vocalist that will join Shannon.The conference attendees were a mix of English speaking Hindus and those who only spoke their language. In fact, the mix was about 30% English speaking to 70% Hindu, so we had interpreters at all times.

We worshipped with songs mostly from the Worship Institute and Sion’s material, and of course included some American worship songs that we were told the Indian churches sang and loved, so we blended some of those in as well. They were attentive and caught on as we went along and sang out more when the familiar songs were done. And whether they knew the songs or not, they were on their feet, clapping and smiling, and jumping and the house started to rock. Unbelievable! Totally uninhibited. And it wasn’t because the songs were cool and the rhythms rocked, it was because they love God and lifted up their voices and danced before the heavenlies!!!

But let me tell you, that was nothing. We ended each worship session with just the Hindi worship team who led songs in their native language and songs they knew well. We all stood in the wings and watched. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen. The music began, the people jumped to their feet and were bouncing up and down and waving their hands in the air and singing at the top of their lungs. They were joyful and happy and completely and totally uninhibited. I alternated between shock, awe, tears and laughter. These God-celebrators put us to shame…

So after a couple of incredible teaching sessions on the true meaning of worshipping God in Spirit and in truth and in being in oneness and relationship with Jesus, we ended the evening with a couple of worship songs and the momentum began to build.

Packed up our bags and headed back to the hotel. I didn’t see anything on my way home because I was so full of wonder and awe at the happening I’d just experienced…

Day 1 Mumbai India - Monday April 2, 2007

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on April 5, 2007
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Monday. Day 1.

To bed at 4:30 or 5AM, and so with only five hours of sleep our first day in Mumbai begins. We meet around the lunch table at 12:00PM for our first team meeting. IWI’s (International Worship Institute - http://worshipinstitute.com/) “team India” 2007. Here we were, people seated around the table from all over the globe; the local hosting church pastor, Pastor Shelton from New Life Fellowship, his American missionary friends who booked the Worship Institute in for this event, Dwayne and Leslie from Sower of Seeds Ministries, our local Hindi worship leader for Ascend 07, Shannon, our local Hindi lead guitarist, Benny, our leader from the International Worship Institute, LaMar Boschman, and those of us making up Team India from all over the United States. We went around the table and introduced ourselves, heard from the local pastor about his heart’s cry for his country and the work they are doing, shared a meal together, and then down to business planning the event.

Breakfast and planning complete, we settle on a time to meet in the lobby for the cars to carry us to Shanmukhananda Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Auditorium (from here on out, known as the hall). Sound guys are leaving soon to go to the auditorium to get that all set up and ready to go and the rest of us are asked to meet at 2PM in Matt’s (our unbelievably amazing sound engineer) and Sion’s (our incredibly gifted and humorous music director) room for rehearsal and to plan the music set for worship this afternoon and this evening.

I only have a little time to pack my little travel bag to carry back and forth to the hall and to take some quick pictures of the hotel.

2PM and rehearsal begins. LaMar opens up with a prayer and his vision for our week in India. He reads from 1 Corinthians chapters 2 and 3 and shares this is what God has laid on his heart for our time together. We’re all wondering what our part will be? We meet each other more directly. LaMar introduces the music director and band. LaMar, the director and founder of the Worship Institute (and person of great worship vision who has pioneered the field for 30 years). Sion, music director, worship leader, songwriter, amazing keyboardist, and group wise guy. Buddy, worship leader, vocalist, majorly cool bass player, and really nice guy. Mandi, incredibly gifted vocalist, Irish pipes player, and lovely young woman (she‘s been our liaison over the past 2 months while she‘d been in India ahead of us and guided us in the local ways). Alison, worship team member back home, lovely alto vocalist, roomie, and like me, just doggone thrilled to be there in the room. Cheri, LaMar’s PA (personal assistant) for WI Mumbai, worshipper herself (although she claims she can’t sing but we know otherwise), sweet, sweet young woman who’s got it going on, roomie, and like all of us, just happy to be here.

And then there’s me. How’d I get here? What am I doing in this room? What part will I play?

Sion takes over the meeting and passes out the song list (I know maybe 2 songs on the list, oh no!!!!!!). LaMar says he just wants us to worship together for a little while and get on the same page. He says that maybe not everyone will be on the platform but we’ll all play an important role (OK, so I’m thinking, this is definitely “audition” time). So I’m pedaling as fast as I can, Buddy’s playing his base, LaMar is playing his guitar, and Sion doesn’t have keys yet so he’s using the tracks on his laptop. So we start going through the songs, and I’m catching on as we go, not too bad, and as always, I’m hearing the high harmonies. Sion’s leaning in and listening hard to our mix and harmonies (he’s a harmony guy). He points to me and says, “Yes, that’s the soprano part my wife usually sings, good.” (We’re working on one of his songs.) So I’m thinking that’s probably a really good sign. I have no preconceived idea or thought even that I might be part of the worship team, and really, was ready to do whatever was asked of me just to be of service, learn, be mentored and be part of the experience!

So rehearsal is over, we’re given our instructions to meet downstairs at 1PM ready to load up and go to the hall early for a sound check. So yeah, Sion will be lead male vocals and keys and music director for LaMar, Mandi will be lead female vocals (you should hear this girl sing, she has pipes and has a style all her own), and Alison’s on alto, Buddy’s on tenor and bass, and yes guys, I’m on soprano. Woohoooooooooooo!!!!!!!

Unbelievable….speechless once again…

4PM. We load up, a little shell-shocked and travel weary, but running on adrenalin and ready to go. Finally on our way to Shanmukhananda Hall where we will spend the next three days teaching and ministering to Indian pastors, worship leaders, worship teams, sound engineers and anyone else from the local hosting church New Life Fellowship who wants to attend. We are told they are hungry for instruction and a refreshing and renewing in the Spirit and leading their people in worship, and ready for a breakthrough in understanding and participation of worshipping God Almighty! The New Life Fellowship home church in Mumbai is the church where home groups and other churches have been seeded all over India. There are 25,000 in attendance in the Mumbai area alone and number around one million at sister churches all over their country. The thought is staggering and I can only imagine what it will be like being part of a training for this venue over the next week.

Back out onto the Indian streets. It’s daylight now and we can see things more clearly. The buildings are still stark and I’m amazed at the size of the street shops and living shacks intermingled. There are people everywhere! Walking in the street, walking on the sidewalks, milling around the storefronts (not what you and I would ever think of as a storefront). There is store after store, shack after shack, block after block, and their common size is about 20 feet wide by 20 feet deep, if that. Past open air markets selling beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables, some stalls with beautifully and richly colored scarves and gold jewelry glittering in the sun (I want some of that!). Then a brightly painted concrete opening painted either bright blue or orange or red, with flower garlands hanging and baskets of fruit and incense urns__holy shrines I’m told, either to this God or that God__a land of intense worship. Their situation is desperate, they are poor, they work ten hours a day seven days a week and all for 6,000 rupees a month. And that’s for the common man earning an excellent salary. 6,000 rupees is only around $180!!

Speechless…

We reach our destination and we’re ushered behind iron gates with intense security. The guards use a mirror to do a bomb check under the car before we’re given entry in the hall parking area. The people brush past the cars, looking inside to see who has arrived with such ceremony…

As we get out of the cars, we’re greeted warmly, always so warmly; they are a gracious, polite and loving people. Introductions are made all around (I only hope I can remember everyone’s names later) and we’re led through the stage door entrance and across the platform to the green room where we will live over the next few days. The lovely bright-eyed people bow slightly with their hands in prayer position with their fingertips to their foreheads and say, “Namaste.” Welcome! “Thank you. How do you say thank you in Hindi?” “Shukriya.” “Shukriya, and we’re so happy to be here, really!!!”

To be continued…

India, here I come!

Published
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on April 4, 2007
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Of course I had intended to keep up to the minute and post a travelogue at the end of each evening, but time has not permitted, so I’ll do my best to keep as up-to-date as I can. 

March 31, 2007, 10:30AM, the International Worship Institute (IWI) Mumbai journey begins. One time zone, two days and an extra half hour later and we’re there (only about 24 hours of flying time spanning 2 days) and crossing half the globe, I think it’s about 20,000 miles (that’s what they tell me anyway).

Michael and I were waiting calmly at the quiet, pretty-much empty Fresno air terminal. First we see Spencer safely on his plane to Portland to be with his cousins for Spring break, then wait just a few minutes more and Michael sees me onto the plane to Los Angeles. We all say a little, tearful family goodbye and go our separate directions.

So far, so good. LAX, long lines at the British Airways counter…waiting….what a sea of humanity. Finally at the front of the line. Here’s the good news, they can bump me up to World Traveler Plus which means I have a little bit bigger seat and a little faster service on the plane. Bad news, I can only carry one piece of hand luggage on the plane. My main bags were checked in Fresno all the way through to Mumbai so they’re safe. I thought I was doing well with the very small carry-on and streamlined purse/laptop briefcase. The man behind the counter asked me if I could fit it all into one bag. I’m thinking, you can see the size of these two bags mister, how is that going to happen? I start rifling through trying to see if I could consolidate. It’s not going to happen. Now I start to sweat. I think he could see my distress, I’m still calm, but wondering what to do. He suggests going around the corner and buying an economical nylon bag that will fit both items. Oh yeah, good idea. So he upgrades my flight, gives me my boarding pass and sends me off to remedy my hand luggage situation. Rushing off to buy the bag, make sure both items fit, good to go. Now rushing to get lunch, I’m really hungry and it’s already 2pm and I have to be at the gate by 2:30. 2:30 comes quickly after a long, long walk to the gate. Delays at the gate, waiting once again…the plane is going to leave 35 minutes late waiting for a fresh crew. OK, I only have an hour and forty minute transfer in London. I won’t worry yet.

The flight goes smoothly. I manage a little sleep, but too agitated to really rest, too much going on, too many thoughts. What will happen next? What will it be like? Where will it lead? What will it be like once I connect with some International Worship Institute friends on the London flight? Lots and lots of thoughts crowd my mind…too many even to calm myself enough to read or watch a movie or meditate or pray silently…so I sit there thinking and wondering…

The captain speaks overhead that we’re making our approach to London Heathrow. He comes on a few minutes later to say that the air traffic is backed up and we’ll have to circle for awhile, probably 15 to 20 minutes. OK, now I’m starting to worry. I only had an hour and forty minutes to make the connection and now it’s narrowed down to 45 minutes. I ask the stewardess about that and she says I should probably have time to make the connection. I explain that I have to go to Terminal 4 to catch the transfer to Mumbai. She gets a concerned look on her face and tells me that if I hurry I will probably make the plane. PROBABLY!!? I question her some more and her final answer is that they’ll (BA) take care of me should I miss my connecting flight. I’m still calm. I’m staying peaceful and knowing that whatever happens, I’ll either get on the plane to Mumbai or I’ll call my cousin Diane in Windsor and ask to stay the night. Either way it’s good, I go onto Mumbai or I visit with my cousins, just like Spencer.

OK, now the plane has circled for 30 minutes and the time gap is shortening. The plane lands at 10:30AM GMT, off the plane by 10:40 and running down the terminal full throttle, following the yellow signs to the tram to Terminal 4. Sitting on the tram and the driver is reading the Daily News!! Come on!!! He’s waiting for everybody and their brother (and their neighbors) to get on the bloody tram! Now I’m getting nervous, the clock is ticking away. It’s 10:55 and my plane leaves at 11:10. I’m beginning to lose my cool. I get off the tram at 11:01 and I can’t believe it; it’s at least a quarter of a mile to Gate 10 where I’m leaving - HELP!! I ran faster and further than I’d run in 30 years. My lungs hurt by the time I reached the gate and I walked on the plane with 3 minutes to spare. I was miserable and truly, truly rattled. My calm and peace and certainty flew right out the window…at least for now. So moments later I meet my IWI companions for the first time, a little ruffled and harried, but happy all the same. And anyway, I had about 8 hours of flying time to regain my composure.

It was exactly 12:30AM in Mumbai when the plane landed, British Airways Flight 139. I heard God say in my heart that as my feet touched the ground to declare His Power and Authority in the land and in the hearts of the people and to feel His Power go out. I prayed this mightily in the silence of my mind and rejoiced at the opportunity to minister so far away from home. Before I left from home I heard Him say to me that the land is crying out, and the people too. The land and the people are stressed and pressed for personal space; depleted, crowded…

As we stepped off the plane, the scent of India hit me. It smelled like a mixture of wet concrete and dirt touched by dampness. It was completely familiar and smelled exactly as I imagined. I felt like I had been here before. We walked down a long hall and I noticed there were few windows in the building, so the smells and mosquitos mingled with the people. We stood our turn in line for Immigration and made it through in record time.

We staggered our way to the baggage claim. My flying companions retrieved their luggage pretty quickly, and then we waited. We waited and mine never came. Then staggering on some more to Customer Relations, my friends waited while I filled out forms. My luggage would probably arrive the next day they said, and if not then, definitely the day after, and if not then, I could file another form to cover the loss. It was very late and I was too tired to care.

My spirits were high. A kind and gentle Indian man walked us through every step of the way. He kept telling us not to worry and exactly what to do and say, past the customs representative in charge of forms, and then to the official looking man, dressed all in white with a turban on top, who looked at me with inquisitive, searching eyes. He looked at my passport, poured over the paperwork in silence, signed the paper and waved us on (all of us). So providence, even though it did not feel like good fortune at that moment, shined on us and we breezed though customs without one zipper being unzipped!

We stepped out of the terminal and onto a broken, dusty sidewalk. The air was slightly damp and a breeze was blowing_hot but not too humid, but thick just the same. There were people everywhere with signs for those they were waiting to pick up. Just then I heard someone say, “Are you Matt?” And Matt said, “You must be Dwayne.” Our worship friends in India had come out to meet us, and a group of them did so warmly. Introductions were made and they pointed toward the waiting cars. By now it was 2AM and we were definitely ready to get to our rooms.

As we walked through the airport parking lot, Indian women in beautifully colored Saris with babies on their hips walked toward us holding out their hands. Cars rushed by just missing each other by an inch. I looked down and noticed the parking lot was cracked and full of potholes. People were milling around talking like it was the middle of the day.

We loaded up and headed to the hotel, driving down narrow little lanes; rickshaws, taxis, trucks with laborers hanging off the back, bicyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and all in the middle of the street crissing and crossing their way through. It seemed chaotic and fast, and yet it flowed. We drove past building after building and shack after shack. The buildings seemed half finished and the shacks had a blue glow from the fluorescence inside. Poverty and crowds, crowds and crowds of people. What were they all doing and where were they going this time of night? Was that someone sleeping on a cot just off the center median? Horns honking everywhere; it’s a form of communication amidst the chaotic flow. The buildings were half built, with partial walls missing and no windows and piles of rubble at the curb. They were dark and grey. Someone explained to me that they don’t even bother painting them anymore because the winds and rains of the monsoon season strip them clean. So dark and dank. And yet, the women were dressed in bright, vibrant Saris and every block or so the buildings were strung with lights and bright orange and red flower garland. Colorful and grey at once. Some trees were covered with flowers like Mimosa and Plumeria and a yellow flower I’ve never seen before.

There was conversation in the background about what time we’d need to get up and when and where breakfast would be and our first team meeting time, but I was immersed in my thoughts and pondering why I was in this land so far from home and what this trip might bring.

We‘ve reached the hotel, let’s all get out and kiss the ground, we made it in one piece, through the crowds and the traffic madness.

A very statuesque Indian man, dressed in a stark, white uniform with gold braid trim, and a very tall Shriner’s-type hat to match, welcomed us with a salute and opened the door and invited us in. The ladies behind the front desk were smiling and dressed in the most beautiful lime green Saris with gold trim. The lobby was beautifully appointed with huge urns of water with bright orange and hot pink petals floating on top. Yes, a land of stark contrasts. From the poverty and grey darkness of the narrow streets to the opulence and bright colors of the Sheraton ITC Mumbai! It’s exotic and surreal…

Thirty hours later and with check-in complete, bed at last! Safe and sound, no luggage, but I’ll deal with that tomorrow. I can’t believe I’m really here!!!

Team India

Published
by
Fay
on March 30, 2007
in Travel
. 0 Comments

Well…I’m off to India tomorrow. Can’t believe it, soooooooo excited. I will take as many pictures and upload them to the site as time permits while I’m gone.

We get next Friday and Saturday off to go sightseeing. I hope they’ll have some ideas for us since it’s our first time there!!

Spencer is off to Portland tomorrow (this last month has gone so quickly) and he’s excited too.

Remember to call Michael and say Helooooooo…

Talk to you from the other side of the pond!