July 2, 2009
July 21 marked the beginning of the most exciting, the most productive one-week missionary journey of my life.
I landed in Chennai, India just before midnight July 23 and was met at the airport by Prabhu Kumar and his family and friends. Their royal welcome was a prelude to things to come. During a seven-day period, Prabhu and I traveled approximately1,000 miles by train and car. I preached for two churches, inaugurated four new WEI branches, spoke at seven graduation ceremonies, conferred hundreds of diplomas, and rejoiced over the baptisms of thirty-two people, twelve of whom had come from Hindu families.
These thirty-two baptisms occurred under the heat of the afternoon sun, during blustery monsoon rains, and in the pitch-black darkness of night. Most of the baptisms took place in lakes, rivers, ponds, and canals.
Since space is limited in this newsletter, I will limit my report to two of the highlights.
At Wyra, a town about 500 kilometers north of Chennai, 185 WEI students and their teachers gathered in the church building for their graduation ceremony. Prabhu interpreted as I spoke to the graduates and gave out diplomas. Each of the seven teachers put a garland of flowers around my neck and draped a beautiful shawl around my shoulders. It is customary in India for people to honor their guests in this fashion.
Following the graduation ceremony, we drove to a nearby lake, and thirteen graduating students were baptized into Christ. One of them was a journalist who worked for a local newspaper.
In Wyra, I saw Prabhu’s vision at work. Two years ago, Prabhu was a WEI Internet student. When he completed the courses, he shared what he had learned with twenty-five friends. When they graduated, he selected his ten best students and asked each of them to teach twenty-five of their friends. Prabhu plans to use this system of multiplication until there are WEI “branches” in every state in India, and hundreds of students are being baptized every year.
For more information about the amazing work that God is doing in India through WEI, contact Mike Hale at mike hale01@msn.com.
Pictured below are three generations of WEI teachers. Prabhu is on the far left. One of his original students is standing next to him. The other six men are his students, all of whom are now WEI teachers. These six men had just baptized thirteen of their students in the lake.
At Sathravada night had fallen when we arrived for the graduation ceremony. Five WEI students wanted to be baptized, and the only water deep enough for immersion was in a nearby canal. With only one flashlight among us, we climbed up a muddy, rain-slick embankment in the dark, then slipped and slid down to the water on the other side.
That night, I spoke to the graduating students in shoes and pants covered with mud.
