India Trip Report/4 Month Update
Hello Family and Friends!
We have officially been living in Bangkok for 4 months now. What an adventure!
Between planting an international church in Bangkok, my travel, and Leeza’s work
at her school… boy have we have been busy! But we are having a great time and are
praising God for the fulfillment, growth, and joy we are experiencing in our time
here. That’s not to say things are just rosy and we aren’t having any struggles. We
definitely miss our family and friends, life in the big city continues to be a huge
adjustment for us, and yes, I know this is surprising, but church planting is hard
work! Haha! But hey, we knew all of these things would be challenges before we got
here, so we continue to rejoice in what God is doing and surrender our challenges
and difficulties over to Him. Your continual prayer in these things blesses us greatly
and we are extremely grateful.
I was in India the week before last visiting pastors who are potential candidates to
participate in a new SCP Leadership Institute we are establishing in Asia. SCP
primarily focuses our training of leader and pastors around their ministry and
leadership in the church. However, this new program is a more holistic program
addressing a variety of topics from theology to family and marriage to their identity
in Christ This trip served as an opportunity for us to do some investigation into
what these Indian leaders see as some of their greatest needs in regards to training,
so we can incorporate those things into the program. Two of the pastors we visited
live in Varanasi. Varanasi is like the Mecca of Hinduism. The Ganges River flows
through Varanasi and attracts millions of Hindu pilgrims every year. They go there
to bathe in the river and wash away their sin and for funerals. They burn the bodies
and spread the ashes in the river with the belief that their loved one will go to
heaven rather than being reincarnated. It is a city full of spiritual darkness,
oppression and idolatry unlike anything I have every seen or experienced before.
We went down to the river in the evening and witnessed about 2,500 people
gathered together to worship and offer sacrifices to Surya, the sun god. We also saw
about a dozen bodies burning on the bank of the river. My heart was filled with
sadness I watched these things, but it was a great reminder of the urgency of our
mission. These people need the gospel. They are so desperate for hope, but they are
looking to all the wrong things. If you would, pray Omesh and Mahindra as they do
ministry and plant churches in this very dark city.
We are seeing our influence and reach growing here in Bangkok. We have been
meeting with lots of ministries and churches in the city, making friends and
hopefully developing a few partnerships. We have been able to start 2 more home
fellowships over the last 2 months and are working hard to grow and establish more
leaders for the groups we may start in the future. Please pray for God to continue to
bring us into relationship with other like-minded leaders in the city and for the
many non-believing women in the Bible studies to be saved as God reveals Himself
to them as they study His word.
As always, we feel so loved and blessed to have your support. We could not be doing
this without you. Thank you for investing your mind, heart, and resources in God’s
vision for Bangkok and Asia.
Until next time,
Carl, Leeza and Tripp
