Renewing Hope and Confidence in India

indexWe praise God that our India team arrived home safely last night!  Michelle McCormick and Diane Serrano, two of our Servant Leaders, share some reflections below:

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers! We felt them throughout the entire trip!  God was good and kept us all well, and we saw His hand of mercy many times.  The ladies in Gujarat were warm and welcoming, and expressed that this was their first time experiencing this type of training.  We were amazed once again by their different stories of how God brought them together. In every case and through every obstacle, God opened a way and they were so happy they came.  They were very excited to take the training back to their communities and eager to invest it into the lives of other women.

On the final day of our training in Gujarat, the women shared the vision God had given them of how to use the Women in the Window inductive Bible training to express Christ’s love to women who are so often oppressed and exploited in this culture. One woman said she felt she didn’t have a voice in her husband’s ministry, even though there is an expectation for her to do so.  And she is always afraid to speak in front of others.  As she stood before all the seminar participants, she expressed having new confidence with this fresh approach to leading inductive Bible study for the women of her church. Before we left, plans were already in the works for a Women in the Window Bible study training led by the new trainers from Gujarat!

One of the highlights of the trip was walking through the streets of the Red Light District in Mumbai and visiting one of the brothels, where one woman lives with her children and conducts “business” in a 4×4 foot room.  She pays around 250 rupees (approximately $4) a day for rent and needs around 10 customers a day to meet these needs.  Many of the women we saw were intoxicated from alcohol or drugs to numb their pain.  We will not forget the looks on their faces as they seemed so desperate and hopeless.  We are so thankful for our partnership with organizations like Oasis India that are reaching out to these women and caring for their children.

Pray that we will continue to bring Christ’s hope to women in India so that they find their worth in Jesus and will share their hope with others.  And pray that the men of India will learn to see women as they truly are: created in the image of God and vessels of honor rather than objects to be used and abused.  Pray that the government and nation of India will turn to the Lord, and that He will continue to establish His Kingdom in Mumbai, Gujarat, and beyond.

Love,
Michelle and Diane, along with Chelsey and Peggy from Texas

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