Hello friends
Here is a short update from the trip.
“He is behind you, He goes before you, He stands beside you” these are the words we received before the trip.
Mari had been vomiting for 4 weeks. We could not identify what caused that, it happened pretty much immediately after we moved from Malaysia to the Maldives. We thought it was temporary food poisoning and that it would go away fast but it did not. Mari’s cousin joined us as a guide as she has frequently flown to India with other family members for hospital visitation. We decided to go to India as the Maldives has very limited medical facilities.
The hospital arranged a pick up for us. At the airport, our driver, Ravi walked us to the car, Mari and Nishan took the back seat, I took the front seat, looked ahead and smiled. I looked at Ravi and told him “you are sent from heaven” and smiled with Mari. In front of me there was a cross and from the top mirror, there was a small picture of Jesus. I felt assured, God has prepared the way for us.
We reached the hospital, even though it was a private hospital, the multitudes of people was a like an everflowing river coming from all the directions. We had planned to do several tests, it looked like it would take days going through the crowd and queues. But it was just an amazingly smooth ride. God’s Favour and grace followed us everywhere we went. We finished with tests within 2 days, then Mari got admitted for 2 days to take steroids. Really smooth. Mari’s cousin has said, that it was her 15th trip to India but she has not seen India this way before.
Joy – the secret weapon
On the second day, I popped out from the hospital to get a SIM card. I ended up going to a really tiny road as I was attracted by the raw sites of India and I wanted to take photos, I stopped by a small tiny stand selling SIM cards, but after a while I found myself being watched by two guys who looked at my phone and backpack, stood next to me, whispered to each other. Look on their faces gave away really worrying intentions. I was in the middle of arranging things in the hospital when I popped out so I had everything important in my bag including passport, wallet, cards, money. First, fear came to me as I had no one to help me, but then I prayed under my breath and asked Holy Spirit to help me. Suddenly I got this joy and boldness coming on me, I turned to the guys, tapped one of them on the shoulder with a big smile and started chatting to them “where are you from”, “what are you doing” etc, It threw them off the pattern, they clearly found it hard to find words and to smile back, but I was persistent, and I quickly saw their emotional state change. They went from determined “let’s do it”, into uncertainty. I took advantage of the moment and said bye to them and walked away. Glory goes to God.
Prayer Tower
After Mari’s cousin left back to the Maldives, we decided to go to a Prayer Tower set up by Dinakaran. The branch we visited was a 5 story building, on a very busy high street, very central place opposite a big train station. Just above the entrance, there a was massive “Jesus Prayer Tower”. We walked inside, it gave us a feel of a regular office, with a clear system to help them manage the flow of people. “Sit down there”, “please fill up this form”, “Wait…”. We took the seats and immediately both of us noticed the amazingly strong presence of God. The building was filled with intercessors who pray there 24/7. After around 5 min we got invited to a small room, one of many rooms in the corridor. Once the intercessor started praying for us, the presence brought of us to tears. It was such an incredible moment. Instead of leaving straight after, we wanted to enjoy His presence more and stay a bit longer there. Right after we decided, 2 people showed up, one intercessor who prayed for Mari, and Moses. Moses, was about 20 years old, spoke really broken English, we could barely understand what he was saying, but he seemed to have great intentions. He prayed for us, took our phone number. Next morning he called us to say a short prayer over the phone and then sung a beautiful Tamil song worshiping God. Then he called us every day with prayers and encouragements for the rest of the stay. That was very touching. Total stranger so carrying.
Isaac, Rosalind, and Jagamani
Then was Issac, fiance of a friend from the UK passed information that we would be in Chennai and she passed it not to a family member but to a cousin’s fiance. Again, a total stranger. Isaac found it important to visit us at the hotel, he said that God put the burden on him to pray for us and he had been praying for around a week for us… I was touched. We spoke for a while and we mentioned that we would like to attend a service. He called us every day with updates. Next day, Isaac’s friend showed up – JagaMani who has been a full-time missionary for the last 23 years. He is part of “Door to Door Crusade Ministry” living on around $150 per month. He shared some incredible stories and prayed for Mari. Incredible.
Because of Isaac tight work schedule, he could not join us at the church, but he asked his mum to go with us to the service… Rosalind (Isaac’s mom) joined us next day, what an incredible serving and beautiful soul. Really caring and loving person. Both of them continued to keep in touch with us every day until the rest of the journey in India. As a goodbye, Rosalind prayed for Mari over the phone and sung a song. Again, so touching.
Business Favor
Additionally, while going from a doctor to a doctor, we could not focus on our businesses and we could not attend to these matters at all. However, we have received a really great favor in both of our businesses.
Reflecting Back
We reflected back, India is such a high demanding place with so many needs everywhere. Wherever we turned our eyes to there were visible needs, no social structure, no food, limited medical assistance, limited education, no shelter, people sleeping on the streets, but we were two total strangers and foreigners and we have received so much carrying, love and encouragement. Not once but again and again and again. When you are full, fed, and clothed it is easy to take a couple of coins and throw it, hoping it will make a difference. It is easy to give when your cup is overflowing, but it is so much harder to do it when your cup is empty when you do not have enough when there are needs that are not met. That’s the biggest takeaway for me from India. How amazing. God has sent His miracle workers and granted His favor and grace throughout our trip, it was the real love of Christ that we have experienced and we are deeply touched and grateful for.
We also reflected, how much more fun it is to travel with God. Before you arrive God has arranged places and people. Mari is feeling much better and is on the way to quick recovery. We both believe she will be completely healed soon. Thank you for all your prayers and all glory goes to God. We will continue keeping you in prayers.
On the Walls of Chennai, you can see posters inviting people to services
India has many very courageous believers, despite strong persecution in the country.
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