India: May ‘08 – Day 10

We headed north into the mountains of Kashmir, towards a small village that has no Christian influence except for a pastor and his wife who arrived here three months ago and began to pray for the area. The young lady holds literacy classes for the poor mothers and children of the village, and teaches them Christian songs to help them learn. This is their strategy to begin to draw the strong Hindu population towards Christ.

The medical team set up shop and the crowds gathered. We were privileged to use a school (it was a holiday today) and right there on a porch of one of the buildings, patients were seen, diagnosed and given medicine. Again the good Doctor showed his manner and character. All told, he saw 150 patients.

We were invited to have lunch at the home of a prominent Hindu family, which happened to be the same home where the literacy classes are held. After lunch, Dr. Srinivas was asked by the father of the house if he would see him. As the Doctor was giving the examination, more people began to gather and we had a spontaneous medical camp!

The mothers and their children began to assemble for the literacy class. I was invited to share a very brief Gospel presentation. Then, some of the women asked for prayer. As I was praying for them, the father of the house came up to me and asked for prayer also. This was HUGE! Not only was he an influential person in the Hindu community, but his home also housed the only temple in the village. Well, of course I prayed for his salvation and that his home would be a lighthouse in that community.

We loaded up our gear and proceeded up even further into the mountains (think mountains similar to the Grant Tetons in the U.S. - very rugged, and very scary as we drove over the roads, curves and switchbacks!).

Tomorrow we get up at 4:00 am to travel about five hours to the next medical camp and the next unexpected opportunities to share the Gospel with the people here!