As usual, I am thinking about India. I often just randomly think about God's work in India and simply must write. I hope you will read all of this and receive it in the spirit it is given. I Love the Lord and His Church and simply want to go to heaven and take as many people with me as I can. I always come home from India with a burden on my heart to help people so intent on knowing the truth. My prayer is that as long as I have breath, the Lord won't let the fire go out!
I have many thoughts and observations from these couple of years of intense work. In that time I have seen devout dedication to the word of God. I have seen that in people before, but never have I seen it from so many and permeating the whole church. In America 100% of God’s people are willing.... 10% willing to do the work and 90% willing to let them.
Nowhere else in my experience have people traveled long distances to sleep on a concrete floors to have the opportunity to hear the Gospel preached. People sleeping in church buildings--on the floor--so they could hear word of God---with rice and curry flavoring to eat, while people in my country huddle in a lumber yard of empty seats singing “Revive us Again”
Many people ride all night on cramped trains to get to these lectures. I have met men who rode on such trains for 10-12-14 hours to get to lectures on Preaching, then eagerly listen all day hungering for more. Preachers pleading with me to send materials to help them teach the word in there areas.
I have watched men reverently waiting on the table----barefoot. Old ladies bent over from years of labor climbing, crawling on all fours, up two long flights of stairs to get to worship. Never have I seen more commitment to the God of creation and His church than here in India. The opportunities are myriad and the need is massive.
I listened to large groups of preachers singing enthusiastically in praise to God.
(I had them translate the song into English so I would know what they were singing)
The words went like this:
“I’M GOING TO PREACH THE GOOD NEWS, I’ll dwell on truth--In season--off season.
Even if the world disowns me and turns against me..
I’M GOING TO PREACH THE GOOD NEWS.
If my own people don’t let me in and my own people turn against me---
I’M GOING TO PREACH THE GOOD NEWS.
If my parents and brothers kick me out of the house..
I’LL STAY IN JESUS WORD.
Even if threatened with death and become a martyr like Stephen
I WILL STAY AND PREACH THE TRUTH.
I will go forward and save souls for Christ...I’ll preach ‘till the end.”
The dedication of these men is impressive and certainly uplifting. I have said many times that I went to India to teach and learned more from them than they did from me.
While the economy of the USA is suffering, we are still the most blessed nation in the world and are obligated to help. Bibles are needed in India, funds to continue TV, Radio, correspondence courses, and help in support of the care and teaching of these orphan children is urgent. The doors for the cause of Christ are open and we simply must walk through them. Anyone who has been there very much and can’t get excited about this great work is either blind, deaf, dumb or dead!
We need to build this children’s home NOW not a year or two from now when all the funds are completely collected. Cost of concrete is down by almost half and our money will go farther now than later. It would be foolish to wait! The most fortunate children in india are in that orphanage and others like it. They are taught the word of God daily and are cared for by loving people sacrificing much of their own lives to provide their needs. One song the children sing imparts great meaning. “If I have the strength of Samson, The faith of Abraham, The patience of Job, The wisdom of Solomon, if I could sing like David...and had all the riches in the world....without Christ I am a “Zero.” I wish you could hear them and see all the motions that go with that little song.
I wonder sometimes if we in America even have any faith in God at all. We calculate our budgets, what our people earn and how much our contribution is and never step out on faith and let God work. We deny requests for help so easily we don’t even want people to come and tell us of their work. Maybe we are afraid we might WANT to make some sacrifice for the cause of Christ. Then maybe we just don’t care. It soothes our conscience to shuffle off requests for help to the “mission committee” who decides “It can’t be done.” God save us from Ten Spies Mentality and renew in us the spirit of Joshua and Caleb. We want to wait until WE can see the way to do a task rather than saying...”God we’re going to do as you want us to do and we trust you to provide a way.” We Can’t but God can! Tell me---just tell me---where is the power of God in our churches? You don’t need God to do the things we are doing just a few liberal donors or a couple of wealthy people.
The business of the church is to demonstrate God. But if we are truthful with ourselves, we are operating by the same power that drives the civic club or the United Way. There is something wrong with our Christianity when we have to beg most of our crowd to come to church to hear about it. That Christianity is either not what it is supposed to be or Christians had been inoculated with a mild form of the faith and Immunized against the real thing. It is time to pray, “Lord, we will have the real thing or nothing.” Our Lord said it was better to be cold than lukewarm. It simply is too late for “business as usual.” There is no time for dull, dry programs carried on by promotions and performances easily explained on ordinary grounds. It is time we relied on the power of God.
Maybe I am too harsh--I don’t mean to be....Maybe I am wrong.....I don’t think so. Am I a little disgusted...yes, I guess I am. It seems to me we have become more concerned about buildings and budgets and appearances rather than the spread of the Gospel. I don’t care about your new parking lot or remodel project. We simply cannot preach a dynamite gospel and live firecracker lives.
I’d rather see your money save souls. We are fooling ourselves spending millions on brick and mortar and neglecting flesh and blood eternal souls. I have learned I can preach under a tree or in a hut or house and people who really want to know will listen.
Some want to “americanize” these churches in India and that is also ignorance. The Gospel is indeed the same but things are just different. What may work in America doesn’t work there. Nobody wears a white shirt and tie with sport coat to preach and yet they worship reverently. Clean and neat---yes---reverent and respectful, yes....but to think they must conform to our way’s is foolish futility. I want to see them made in the mold of Christ not the mold of middle America. I want them to continue to really worship and pray and learn without becoming ritualistic and appearance oriented.
To impose our cultural standards on them just doesn’t work. Who would want to anyway? For the most part, they are more modest, more respectful and more dedicated to God that most people warming pews in American churches.
They are feeling all the negative impact of our culture. Those who have TV in India are being bombarded with our Hollywood movies and there own “Bollywood.” This influence has been quite successful in bringing Sodom and Gomorra into their living rooms and the culture is showing the effects of that.
And yet their determination to follow Jesus is undeterred.
They need our help and support and certainly deserve it. Any help you can give --- no amount is too small. Please Help.
His Servant.......Jim Kelly
