Last Day in India

Well, today is Shirley's and my last day in India. We've been reminiscing about our time and enjoying the food and people for one last time. We are really going to miss this place and are a little jealous that Kirk gets to stay for two more weeks. We can't wait to come back.

Our plane leaves from Madurai at around 8:00 pm, our time, which will be 10:30 am for you folks on the eastern seaboard of the US. We have about 30 hours of travel time ahead of us with 3 layovers in Chennai, Brussels, and New York.

We covet your prayers for smooth flights, that all of our luggage arrives with us and for strength and endurance. Thank you for all of your prayers while we were here in India. We really felt God's presence with us. Our faith has grown immeasurably and we have learned to rely on God so much more.

This is our last blog post from this side of the Atlantic. Look for our next update on Sunday when we touch down in New York and Orlando. We love you all. You can continue to follow Kirk during his two weeks on his blog at http://kirkerus.blogspot.com/

Blessings,
Crossroads Missions Team
Matthew 28:19-20
"Serving and Going"

Worshipping Our Great God

"God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness." Genesis 1:4

"Praise the Lord, Hallelujah". That phrase could be heard all around the different locations of the church that Pastor John oversees. Kirk and I (Brian) got to share God's word at two different services with the aid of a translator. Then Kirk, Shirley and I met up at the 10:30 service where I got to lead worship on guitar and vocals with Pastor John's son and daughter, Sam and Mercia and with two other people for the English service. Pastor John gave the sermon and it was awesome.

After church, we headed back to the Pastor's house and we enjoyed lunch and some relaxing. Then, we got to witness 4 women get baptized into Christ. We know that all of heaven was rejoicing for the lost sheep that had been found. Praise the Lord, Hallelujah.

Thank you for praying for Kirk. His stomach pains are gone and he feels so much better. Praise the Lord, Hallelujah.

Please continue in prayer for the orphanage as well as for Pastor John and his many responsibilities around Madurai.

Again, we give praise to our Holy Heavenly father that 4 people were baptized. Amen

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. It really means a lot to us to know that you are standing alongside us. 

Blessings,
The Crossroads Missions Team
Matthew 28:19-20
"Serving and Going"

Prayer

Greetings to you all,

Not much to report. We had a busy day painting and working at the orphanage. Please continue to remember Kirk in your prayers as he is still struggling with pain and discomfort in his stomach and lower abdomen.

Tomorrow, Kirk and I will be speaking at two different services and I'll be leading worship for another one and Shirley may possibly be sharing her testimony. We're asking for prayer that God would speak through and that His Spirit would grant us knowledge to say what needs to be said.

Thank you again for continued support of us.

Blessings,
Crossroads Mission Team
Matthew 28 19-20
"Serving and Going"

Kingdom Work

Greetings, dear brothers and sisters and blessings to our Most Glorious Father.

Today was spent working. We helped to clear trees and debris from an office building that Pastor John is setting up while Shirley helped by sorting files. Kirk and I earned our battle scars with minor scrapes and bruises and we wear them proudly. After lunch, the three of us headed to the orphanage to do some much needed painting. After we painted, we hung out with the kids and we laughed and sang songs with them. We taught them the motions to "O Happy Day" and they loved it. They, in return, taught us some Tamil. I now can tell you "I'm hungry" (always important), and the various parts of the face and head. :)

We ask for major prayer for the orphanage. They have a system set up for people to support a child in the orphanage to provide for their needs. I have met these children and they are fun and loving and full of life. We'll have more information on that when we come back to the States.

Also prayer for Kirk as he is dealing with an upset stomach. Pray for speedy healing.

Thank you for your continued prayer support of us as we all do God's work around the world. We love you and pray that God would bless you immensely.

Blessings,
The Crossroads Missions Team
Matthew 28:19-20
"Serving and Going"

God is AMAZING!!!!

"This is why I tell you: Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Matthew 6:25

"Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!" Psalm 80:19

Greetings to all of our faithful supporters,

We pray by the mercy and power of our great Heavenly Father that you are well. Sorry for the delay in getting blog updated. We traveled up into the mountains on Wednesday and stayed the night and were without Internet connection. Simply put, through these last few days we have seen God work in some very powerful ways around India and our faith has been renewed and strengthened.

Paator John (our host) invited us to join him on a 6-7 hour journey up into the mountains by vehicle. It did not seem to register with the three of us that we would be staying the night so we only brought the bare minimum for one day. We got to see God's glorious creation and were in awe of our surroundings. Pastor John was attending a pastors meeting so we got explore the area. God provided for us and all of our essentials were cared for. We were able to get food as well as toiletries for cheap to cover what we left behind.

On Thursday, we traveled to the highest peak in Indoa and were in awe and wonder of our Creator. We also attended an Indian Christian wedding. They sang lots of songs in Tamil and a few pastors spoke and gave mini sermons. Afterwards, Pastor John took the three of us along with two other pastor and a family and we visited the area where he planted his first few churches. He has planted 29 churches to date in Southern India.

Everywhere went, we prayed and watched God work in some powerful ways. Pastor John was given cocoanut oil to anoint a family and pray over them. For those who don't know, cocoanut oil has a very high melting point at which it will liquify, meaning you need some intense heat to do so. During out praying, the oil was in a cup and by the power of the Holy Spirit, it liquified for Pastor John to anoint. We also witnessed a woman get healed and the healing of one of our own. Remember that I said we didn't pack properly. Shirley suffers from allergies and stomach ulcers and she did not have her medications with her. She can't eat spicy food and most of the Indian food is very spicy. After witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit, Kirk and I laid hands on her and prayed. Immediately following our prayer, she was relieved of her pain from her sinuses and stomach and has felt no discomfort since. PRAISE GOD!!!!

The Holy Spirit is at work in this place and we are excited to witness it. Please pray for continued strength for the coming days as we start the service projects around town. Also, pray that we continue to remember the strength and power of the Holy Spieit, that our "mountain top experience" will become the norm for us as we aperad God's Word of hope, love And peace.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support for us in prayer. You are serving with us and sharing the Good News alongside us.

Blessings,
The Crossroads Missions Team
Matthew 28:19-20
"Serving and Going"

We're in India!!!!

"Where You go, I'll go. Where you go, I'll go. Where You stay, I'll stay. I will follow You."

We made it. By the strength, glory and power of God, we survived 40+ hours of travel time, airplane and airport transfers, lost luggage and everything else in between. God is great and truly worthy of our praise.

When we were getting ready to leave New York bound for Brussels, Shirley was informed that her luggage was missing. The stewardess said it may reach Chennai at sone point. Shirley and I prayed over the situation and we were given peace that this event would somehow glorify God. Well, when we finally landed in Chennai, her luggage arrived with us. Amen. Our next hurdle was facing a 14 hour layover in Chennai. We napped for a little but mostly was just people watched. We had. Great conversation with a nice young man named Shunhad from Northern India. He taught us some more about their customs and traditions.

it struck us all at different tines that we are in India. For kirk if was when Ge landed in Mombai, fir Shirley it was at Chennai, And for me it was standing on the flat roofs And hearing the chants And sobga to the Hindu Gods. It breaks my heart but it also reminds me about why we are here. God has calles us And we hace gobernar.

We ask for prayers for continuous good health. And that we can have a lasting impact on a life here in India. Thank you again to all of our support.

blessings
Crossroads Mission Team
Matthew 28:19-20
"serving and going"

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Greetings to you, our faithful supporters and all Glory, Honor and Respect to our mighty King,

"Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us." Ephesians 3:20

First off, thank you again for your countless hours of prayer and intercession on our behalf. We have witnessed God do so many amazing things for us these past weeks leading up to today. We were reminded again that we serve a God who able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask. Our needs have been met and exceeded and that is all thanks to God and to you, our faithful prayer warriors and supporters.

Second, as you may have guessed, the three of us are extremely excited about the adventure that awaits before us. We have been prayer, packing and seeking time to just relax and remind ourselves why we are going. Clothing has been donated to us to give to the orphans that we will be working with so our luggage is FULL!! To that, I shout a very loud AMEN!! in excitement for how God has provided. As of right now, we do know that we will be helping with the orphanage but we know we will be doing more things whole there. We'll keep you posted as often as possible with daily updates of our adventure when we touch down in India.

we ask for continued prayer of endurance as we prepare to travel for almost 40 hours with multiple plane changes, layovers and one airport change. We also ask for guidance and wisdom, thst we would sense God's leading in our journey. And finally, however the Spirit leads you pray for us, for He is much wiser than us all.

Blessings,
The Crossroads Missions Team
Matthew 28:19-20
"Serving and Going"

God is Great

"Look, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?"
Jeremiah 32:27

God truly is great. All glory, honor and praise be to Him that is mighty and worthy.

We want to thank our prayer and financial supporters who are standing beside us and joining us on this amazing journey. God has blessed us and we are now one step closer to our missions trip to India. Our visas have been approved and our plane tickets have been purchased. This is a very exciting time.

We are still very much in need of prayer as we make our final preparations in the weeks ahead. We are still waiting on our passports to return safely to us, but we are trusting in God to provide as He has always done for us.

We are excited about the journey that lies ahead for the three of us and for the things that God will show us and what we will learn along the way.

Thanks again for partnering with us. Together, we are telling an amazing story about God's love to a people that so desperately need to hear it.

Blessings,
The Crossroads Mission Team
Matthew 28:19-20
"Serving and Going"

Getting Ready

Welcome,

This blog is to help keep you, our supporters, up to date with what is going on regarding our mission trip to India. We will try to post regularly and then hopefully daily when we are in India to keep you informed as to our prayer needs and what God is doing.

First, we want to thank each of you for partnering with us in this incredible story that God is telling through all of us. By joining us, you are coming with us to Southern India to share the love of God to the people of Madurai. Together, we're living a story that goes way beyond ourselves and sharing in God's passion to reach the least, the last and the lost.

So I'm sure you want to know what we're doing and how we got started. Well, here's the story thus far:

Nearly 9 months ago, Shirley, Kirk and Brian went on a canoe trip with the Crossroads Young Adult group. While there, Kirk started up a conversation with Sophia, Mercia and Priya Arul, three girls from India who are living in the U.S. and working, attending school and etc. Kirk shared with them that he had been to India before and always had a desire to go back. They mentioned that their father works as a pastor in Southern India and hosts short term missionaries. We talked about going, but mostly we thought it was just talking.

About a month after that, Kirk contacted their father and said that he was very interested in serving in short term missions with his church in India. Kirk then opened the invitation to other members of the young adult group. After much prayer and seeking, Shirley and Brian also answered that call and thus began an amazing story into learning to rely more on God than ever before.

While in Madurai, we'll be working with the Christian church that is run by the Reverend Dr. John Arul, serving in the orphanage that is run by the church which hosts over 1,000 children. Among other things, we may also be serving the poor by building and repairing homes and feeding the homeless. Madurai is also known as the Temple City (which you can learn more about here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurai ) and is home to many Hindu believers. We'll be evangelizing through our service and our love and hoping to show more people about the power and love of Christ.

We are still in the process of raising support for the trip and are very close to buying plane tickets. With just under a month to go, we're learning the value of leaning solely on God for our needs. We also need to raise money for our stay to cover basic living expenses like housing, food and transportation. All told, we are still looking to raise close to $1,300 in total for all three of us. We are asking that you prayerfully consider joining us as financial partners to tell an amazing story of the greatness of God to a people so desperately needing to hear it.

Mostly, though, we need prayer partners. Please joins us in praying, for it's you, the intecessors, who pray the future into being and who radically change the world with your voices to God. Please join us as our prayer partners as we travel to India and experience together a great adventure and an amazing story.

Blessings,
The Crossroads Mission Team
Matthew 28:19-20

"Serving and Going"