I wish you all a Merry Christmas…

                                                              Count the blessings…

It has been a great 2014, a year of blessings.

We started after lunch to make gift packets for the kids in the slum.

 My neice and cousins worked in a group to make the packets which was fun. We made 120 packets which contained fresh orange, two candies, one muffin and a hand full of peanuts. My whole family was delighted to help in the slum with a short program.


                           Program.

The program was to sing a few Christmas carols and actions songs.

Share the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Share the gospel

Distribute the gifts.

Visit the homes in the slum and pray for people.

 

This was first visit to the slum for all of my family. To see my family in the slum helping was a great feeling and an honour to serve with them.

We started with Christmas carols in Hindi and a local family in the slum who are believers sang two songs in their own Language.

Then we did two Hindi action songs which they enjoyed doing and copying us.

After this I read the story from the bible and explained the meaning of Christmas.

After this I gave a message on Jesus’s love for us all. I ended the program with a prayer of thanksgiving.

At the end my family sang ‘We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year’.

NOW the time had come to distribute the gifts. My whole family, as guests, distributed the packets. We all enjoyed giving out the packets and said, “Happy Christmas”.

After this it was time for me to show them around and pray for people. It was so encouraging to see people opening doors for us to pray for those in their homes and also for healing. A lady I mentioned in my last blog was so happy for us to come and pray for her healing. As a family we gathered around her and prayed for her. After I’d prayed for many people I took my family to visit the little room which I use and we sang and prayed in these rooms.

I am blessed to have such family support. I had never thought that this thing would happen, I am so happy that my family could see the work of God in this slum area and be  part of serving here today.

To all of you who are reading this and praying for my ministry, I am so thankful to God for giving me such wonderful people..

May I wish you all a Merry Christmas….

  

Love is louder than words…

Love is louder than words…

What a day I had!

 Sometimes things never work according to our plans but God’s timing and plans are perfect.

In the morning I was supposed to pick up 5 boys from the slum but the motorcycle stopped working and I had to get a mechanic to come and fix it. It all took more time than I had planned.

We were supposed to be at Dehradun public school Kandoli by 9 but I couldn’t make it on time. I went to get the boys from the slum by 9.30 and took two boys with me for the function at the school.

After I got the boys Subhas and Bengun (that’s what every body calls him,he is deaf and dumb) so it’s kind of hard to manage with him sometimes. This was first time I had got their parents permission to take them out with me for the whole day.

Begun has always been so close to my heart and I have always prayed that one day he will speak.

It was a special day for him in my point of view.

Before we left I was sure Bengun needed a bath and clean clothing, so it was time for me to teach him some personal hygiene. In my home, I brought him hot water for a bucket bath which he enjoyed along with clean clothes.

I am so thankful to Andy Crider and family for giving me some old  clothes to distribute in the slums. From one the large bags Bengun chose himself some nice clothes and was ready for the winter festival at  the school. He was looking so clean and bright.

Subhas was also happy to pick some clothes for himself and his younger brother.

(I have my cousin Nitin helping at the moment with the slum work and I am so blessed to have him here).

At school we all had fun as there were different stalls offering things to eat and others were fun games.

Begun got a face painting of a joker on his cheek,enjoyed eating burgers and chicken  for lunch, then enjoyed cake and ice cream! I could see the enjoyment on his face. I wish he could speak and say what he wanted. I was so happy to see how students helped me with showing him around and playing fun games with him.

Subhas was so helpful with Begun and trying to speak with gestures because its so hard to understand what he really wants. He was having fun too. The fate ended around 3 pm, that’s when we also came back home. Begun is so intelligent he remembered the way back home so well he showed directions when to turn and  would look at me. I like when he shows thumbs up for ‘every thing is fine’. Subhas picked up some more clothes for himself and for his siblings.

So after all, it’s all about sharing God’s love.

After dropping them at home, both the families were so happy. Begus was wailing like a hero around his house showing off…

Subhas’s uncle said some thing like this to me” bhiya(brother) can you please pray to your God for my family and specially for my wife, every time we come back from our village she is demon possessed and gets sick.

So this was the note I left on from the slums today.

Please pray that God opens doors for me to share gospel with people…

Rejoice and shine

Children’s day programme.

Children’s Day in India which celebrates every 14 November, the birthday of the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. To give tribute, India celebrates this festival with great enthusiasm every year. Happy birthday to Jawaharnal Nehru ji

                                                                 special day! 

How great is our God that put us in places to glory his name and serve him.

Playing and celebrating  with slum kids makes me delight in the Lord for giving me this opportunity.

The main event of the day were

1.       50 meter race age   4 to 6 girls and boys

2.       Candy race age 3 to 6

3.       Burst the balloons for all the younger kids.

Purpose

Each child is a gift of God with special abilities and talents.  We strive to provide the environment in which these unique qualities may be developed to their fullest potential.

 It was such fun to do all the activities with the kids at the slums but it really makes me think about their environment. Most of them were out in garbage dumps and sorting out things to sell before coming along to participate in some fun. An example of what some children have to do:

One boy was burning something so he could sort out metal and iron. I am not sure what it was but I felt sad to see him doing this as black smoke was all around him.

Well I started the programme. I saw kids were ready to run the races and participate in the events but most of them were barefoot and without proper dress, most were just in shorts and its getting cold now.

I am sure God is keeping them safe in this environment.

The most encouraging thing today for me was to see kids parents coming and watching their kids play and shout for them as they started to run the race.

So as quite a few parents had gathered I asked them if I should have a race for them too so they also got a chance to run the race.

At the end of the day we had small gifts to give them as 1,2,3 prizes ( thanks to my dear uncle and aunty  for blessing us).

So our kids really enjoyed clapping and shouting when prize distribution was done.

As a teacher yesterday I was busy with the students out on a picnic so I had to postpone my plans for today.

I know most of the kids don’t go to school on functions because they don’t have appropriate dress and  shoes so they are left out of the school programs.

So I tried to do something for the kids who miss school and for the one who don’t go to school.