MISSION JOURNAL - NOVEMBER 2007

Friday, November 9, 2007 - One fascinating thing about traveling around the world and meeting people from other cultures is being introduced to their various holidays. Today marks the Hindu celebration of Diwali. It is the Hindu New Year and is either a 3-day or 5-day holiday depending on where you come from. 

For the Hindu people, It is a very exciting and colorful holiday. Homes are cleaned to welcome the New Year and windows are opened so that the Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, can enter. It is believed that she cannot enter a house which is not lit up, so every household burns special Diwali clay lamps (diyas) to light the way for the goddess, which is why the holiday is also known as the Festival of Lights.

Some view it as the day Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura or in honor of the day the demon Bali went to rule the nether-world by the order of Vishnu. But mostly today, Diwali is the celebration of the homecoming of the legendary King Rama of Ayodhya after a 14-year exile in the forest. The people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Rama by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (deepa), thus its name, Deepawali, or simply shortened as Diwali.

Children have a holiday from school. Presents are given and delicious holiday food is prepared and exchanged. New clothes and jewelry are worn. Parties are held, dice and card games are played, and fireworks and firecrackers are set off to warn off evil spirits.

In our travels we came across people creating rangoli. Rangoli are a colorful design made on the floor near the entrance to a house to welcome guests. At Diwali, Hindus draw bright Rangoli patterns to encourage the goddess Lakshmi to enter their homes. The patterns are traditionally drawn with the fingers using flour, rice grains or colored chalk. Rangoli were originally done in small patterns of about 2 foot square, but now entire areas of floor can be covered in intricate designs, often produced by first drawing grid lines in light chalk. They are really quite festive for pagan celebratory artwork... but then I guess some could say the same thing about Christmas trees and images of Santa.

Since today is such a huge Hindu holiday, we don't quite know what to expect as far as the turnout for our festival. In fact there was talk about postponing the beginning of the crusade until tomorrow, but the decision was made to press on and make our stand for Jesus in spite of the Hindu celebration.

At the core of Matthew10 ministries are the 4 pillars of Deuteronomy 14:29 anointing; taking care of the fatherless (children), the widows, the lost (souls) and the pastors. One of the most important aspects of what we do here in India comes in the form of the Pastor's Conference which is designed to help the continuing education and development of these mighty men and women of God. Over 500 pastors from all around the area and all denominations had pre-registered for this event. The conference was held under a big tent on the grounds of one of Manna Ministries schools. It was a beautiful day for it. The sky was blue and the temperature was mild as we gathered.

Our three pastors work with Bishop Ernest Komonopolli and the staff of Manna Ministries to determine the topics to be addressed.. Jeff Sorvick talked about compromising your position as exampled to us in the book of Daniel. He shared with the pastors that at times compromise was necessary when dealing with people in a congregation, but one thing that they could never compromise on was the word of God and their relationship with Him. Dave Sulack spoke about remaining in the call of God. He taught that it was vital to be wary of those influences that can cause a pastor to move from his or her calling... things like competition, comparisons and copying. And finally Tony Slay began his study on mobilizing the church with a message that in any kind of Helping Ministry, the foundation of it comes from a servants heart. That being said, a pastor, or lay person in ministry must be ready to serve the church and the and the people as exemplified by Jesus. One exciting part of the morning was that Manna Ministries has adopted part of Tony's ministry's bible college curriculum and he was able to hand out books, recently translated and printed in the popular Indian language of the area. The messages from the pastors and the new materials were very well received as indicated by the note taking hands and smiling faces of those in attendance.

If you have never bothered to investigate the roll of the widow in the bible, you may be surprised. In India, widows are considered "the least of these." They are outcasts, and if not taken in by family often find themselves homeless and without the basic necessities. Matthew10 International Ministries believes that, as the bible says, God hears the cry of the widow and that it is the widow that is to be empowered to establish the borders of His Kingdom. It will be the widows who will sweep the earth and bring in the remnants of the harvest. CarolMarie Smith, a widow herself, leads the charge for Matthew10 and is breaking new ground in India in establishing the widows as integral parts of the church. Once merely tolerated, the widows now are being encouraged to take vital support rolls in the church, especially in the area of prayer. In fact, a group of 50 widows in each city gathered together in the church and have been praying for these festivals for the last 20 days... and they have not left! They have been fed and sheltered as they have faithfully prayed for days on end in faith that God would hear their cry and bring revival and salvation to these cities and all of India.

Here in Warangal, over 200 widows registered for the conference and attended along side the pastors. CarolMarie, Kathryn and Darlene met with the widows and pastors today. CarolMarie spoke with those gathered and offered words of encouragement to both widow and pastor. She told of Elijah's visit to the widow to bless here and use her to destroy the roots of Bale worship. CarolMarie shared God's word with the pastors that showed that these women were God's power source, and that to bless them and encourage them to take part in their ministry would yield a huge harvest for the church, the community and all of India. The pastors hung on every word and wrote notes feverishly. She shared with the widows that, as a widow herself, she understood their fear and sense of hopelessness, but that those were lies and that their place in the Kingdom was mighty. She then had the pastors and widows stand and asked the pastors to turn to the widows and bless them. As the pastors extended their hands and prayed over these women, the tears started to flow and a new healing began.