Rachel Redding's Mission Trip to India, Summer 2004

I went to India to be a learner and a server in God’s Kingdom, to spread His love and be loved on by Him and God definitely delivered beyond my hopes. During my time there, my team and I worked with various ongoing ministries to God’s lost and oppressed children in India, mostly through Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and the Union of Evangelical Students of India (UESI). The work that both these organizations do, that I had the opportunity to be a part of, was amazing and inspiring.

Much of India seems to be under the control of the lies of Satan and the poverty, oppression, and disease there indicates that everywhere. I walked through slum neighborhoods full of under nourished children wearing maybe a shirt, playing with pieces of trash as they stood on piles of trash while their parents were out begging or trying to work for 1 Rupee a day (44 Rupees equals $1). I played with street kids who lived on train platforms or were child prostitutes because their parents died, discarded them or could not care for them. I prayed for people with leprosy who were rejected from society, even from doctors’ offices, and forced to live in a slum colony. I walked past twenty Hindu temples each day and saw the decrepit, sad people walking into them to burn incense and bow down before gods that were really nothing more than colorful statues. I loved on and prayed for women close to death due to years of impoverished and tortured lives on the streets. I played with little kids who were forced to live in an orphanage because their parents were in jail. I came out of a store with a shopping bag full of clothes that were meant to help me better relate to the Indians only to face three begging women holding their children and my own confusion about what I should and could do. Everywhere I turned God’s precious children were suffering and being tramples on by God’s other precious children. It seemed like hope was nowhere to be found.

But it was. Jesus IS there and He is more powerful than hundreds of strongholds of Satan could ever be. He is raising up and using Christians to minister to His children. In Bangalore a man named Raja runs a ministry called Home of Hope that brings people in the worst condition of the streets into the home to be cleaned up, cared for, and told the Gospel. Their maggoty, gangrenous wounds are treated and healed, their nutrition needs are met and they come to Christ. Three people a week die at Home of Hope, but they die in peace and grace to live in Heaven with their Savior. Because of Raja’s obedience to Christ, hundreds of shattered people have been ministered to by the Holy Spirit in mighty ways. YWAM has an amazing ministry to lepers that loves and accepts them, brings them the medical care they need, prays for them, and teaches them about Jesus. Due to that successful ministry, at least one colony of two hundred suffering lepers has been healed in Jesus’ name and is working to earn their own money by selling goats and chickens, rather than by begging. By the power of the Holy Spirit, they are making their own place in a society that rejects and oppresses them. Street children and other kinds of rejected children are also ministered to and loved on in various children’s homes. They are rehabilitated and brought to Christ, sent to school, and provided for. Without passionate and empowered Christians those children would be on the streets for the rest of their lives, unloved, and never told they were worth anything.

Christians in India know what they have, the gift that they have received and they work tirelessly and passionately to give that gift to others. Most people on India are Hindu, and the bondage that religion of lies keeps people under is strong. When people either have the blessing to grow up Christian or to convert to Christianity, the freedom and joy of Christ flows out of them almost uncontrollably. The focus on evangelism in the church and Christian organizations is incredible and puts our version of evangelism to shame. One church we went to at the beginning of the trip in Chennai, Gen X Church, has seventeen prayer groups that stand on street corners three days a week ready to pray for whoever asks and share the Gospel with whoever stops. Gen X also hosts a coffee house twice a month for seekers and Christians to come watch a musical and comedic performance, hear the Gospel, and have questions answered. The important part of that ministry, though, is that the day of the coffee house people go out to where people hang out and personally invite them to attend. The prayer group ministry and coffee house ministry have brought 2000 Indians, many formerly Hindu, to Christ in the past year and a half. And those are only 2 of many evangelical ministries that church and other churches do. In Bangalore, we worked with UESI ministering to college students. On a prayer tour of the campuses we learned that many campuses have two or three Christians out 5000 students. Everyone is Hindu or Muslim. Somehow UESI manages to start thriving Bible studies with non-Christians on these campuses on which they are not even allowed to enter. I heard endless stories of how Hindus have come to Christ through the evangelical work of UESI and the power of the Holy Spirit. Plus, this ministry has one 26-year-old staff worker for an entire city chock full of twenty or so college campuses. These faithful workers in the Kingdom face persecution at every turn. They boldly and fearlessly go forth into crowds of people under the control of huge strongholds and bring them the Good News of Jesus Christ, and God reaps a harvest every time. If they can face those kinds of challenges and do such an amazing job, I think I can and we can do it here, where what we face is mostly nominal, cultural Christians and our own fears of embarrassment and rejection. Indian Christians inspired me to stop being lazy and frightened and do my part to help others be empowered to spread God’s Word. I want everyone to have what we have - Jesus is not ours to keep, He is ours to give to others.

Amidst all the poverty and suffering in India my team and I struggled a lot with consumerism and materialism. India is a land of contrasts. On one street corner you can see five beggars and a bill board for a fancy car at the same time. Endless opportunities to spend money appear as you walk down the city street. We were tempted, we were confused, we were angry about consumerism. A couple times a week our team met to discuss our sadness and new realizations concerning out richness as Americans as we faced the poverty and destitution of India. Whether you are wealthy or whether you are living paycheck to paycheck, you are rich simply because you live in America. We were baffled by it all. We asked ourselves, "How can we be rich Americans and be good Christians at the same time?" It felt like we had to be poor to be true Christians. We learned a lot in our weakness and confusion, though. Everything we have is God’s in the first place and it is our duty and blessing to use it properly. God blesses us so that we can bless others. As it says in 2 Corinthians 8:13-15, "Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that on turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written, ‘He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.’" Rather than spend as much money as we can and still be able to give some, we should give as much money as we can and still be able to spend some. Our thought process as we decide how to spend our money should be, "How can I live rich towards God, how can I bless and glorify God with how I spend my money?" 2 Corinthians 9:11 says, "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." Giving blessings, financial or otherwise, to the church and others in need not only advances God’s work and goodness, but also causes more people to thank God for His provision. Don’t you want God to be praised? I know I do! Through the poverty and pain in India, Jesus taught me how to live as a wealthy and generous Christian in America. That was one of the most valuable lessons I learned there.

I could write thousands of pages about every little and huge experience and lesson from my time in India, but let’s face it, the Dove is not big enough for that. If you have more interest to find out more about how God affected me in India, from funny stories, to touching stories, to what I felt God calling me to, please ask me and I will share with you! I guarantee you will see the affects of the trip on my life in my future decisions and what the youth and I will be doing.

In the love of Jesus!

Rachel Redding

Youth Minister