Incredible India (Leona's thoughts)

Greetings from the incredible country of India! It has been such a blessing to be here again. Many of my pictures are from Kapileswarapuram, where Pastor K and Ruth serve, instead of Rajahmundry, where Doctor Kumar and Jean-Mary serve. My time in both places was equally blessed, but I want to share new experiences with you so I’ll concentrate on more recent events instead of reviewing events the others have already shared.

Poor village people arrive daily at this small A.H. Mission Clinic. Here they find both prayer and treatment from the faithful doctor’s assistant that works here. Despite a lack of supplies, she diligently comes each day and examines 50-100 people. She is able to treat most patients and she distributes medicine when it is available. When she can’t treat a patient, she refers them to Dr. Kumar. The clinic owns six acres of land here and part of land is given over to a teak plantation. The young teak trees cost only about $1½, but, God willing, the ~1000 tree plantation will yield a substantial amount of money when it is harvested in about eight years (which will be fifteen years after it was planted.) This money is currently earmarked to help build a hospital to treat cervical cancer. Unfortunately, as a result of the collapse of the economy, the construction of this hospital halted five years ago and only the foundations are currently built. We pray that construction will continue in God’s time.

Pastor K’s wife Ruth is such an amazing example of Christian love and servanthood. She reminds me of Lydia in the Bible—someone known for their hospitality. Ruth found out that Jada, Bethany, and Lana will all celebrate their birthdays while in India and within 24 hours she pulled off an amazing birthday party complete with decorations, guests, presents, and cake! The girls have decided they need to come to India every year to celebrate their birthdays. Many of you met Ruth while she was in the USA and Canada last summer and can probably testify to her quiet nature and servant’s heart. However, today we saw a new side of her. She was a fearless warrior marching into battle against a poisonous snake while others stood back in fear! I think perhaps Ruth would prefer to remain anonymous, but I want to thank God for her love, care, and example.


When we were walking through the village a few days ago, we were invited to the local Hindu theological college where young girls are taught to sing and dance the mythological Hindu stories. The girls were so excited to meet us and I really enjoyed meeting them too. It was so heart-wrenching, though, knowing that daily they bowed before gods made by the hands of men. This stronghold of Satan is less than a half a mile from our church. However, God reminded me that His power is so much stronger than the power of Satan! So I ask each of you right now to stop and pray. Pray that each of these girls will meet the true God who created them with the beautiful talents they are now using to praise false gods. Pray that the Christians here in the village of Kapileswarapuram —perhaps the girls here at the ALC Home—will be used by God to touch the hearts of their Hindu peers. Pray that missionaries will be invited back to the Hindu college, that relationships could be formed, and that we would be able to share the story of the true God with these girls who were so eager to meet us on this trip.

Every time I visit the ALC Home, one of my favorite memories is watching the children perform songs and Bible skits for us. It is just so wonderful to see children learning and enjoying the stories of the Bible! This year the boys’ skit started with creation and finished with the birth of Enos to Adam and Eve. The scene above shows the birth of Abel. Adam is on the left, Eve is holding Abel, and Cain is on the far right. The Garden of Eden guarded by the cherubim can be seen in the background.


The girls’ skit was a bit different. They used a traditional Indian poetic style to tell the story of the birth of Jesus. The girl in the middle told the story while the girls on either side asked questions. This method of using a traditional storytelling style was not only beautiful to watch, but also reminded me of Paul using examples from Greek mythology when he explained the gospel to the Athenians in Acts.

Earlier today (Tuesday, February 8th) Bethany, Lana, and I had a second meeting with the women of the Kapileswarapuram congregation. The first meeting was held last Friday. Then the three of us—along with Julie and Jada who were still here—lead a discussion about the names of Jesus and how they apply to our lives. Today we talked about the Water of Life—the Holy Spirit. We started by discussing the importance of water to our daily lives—for drinking, washing, cleaning, cooking, etc. Then we talked about how equally important the Living Water is to our spiritual lives: it gives us life, helps us grow, and gives us power from God. We were so pleased when our India sisters joined in and shared examples from their lives as well. We ended the session today with a demonstration. Lana filled a bucket with balloons, which represented sin in our lives. Then she poured water into the bucket which drove out most of the balloons. She reminded us that the Living Water fills us and cleanses us from sin when God gives us the faith to believe.