Tenali 4 villages

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Welcome to a collection of stories of our walk of faith in India.
Immediately upon entering Tenali we were welcomed and the next day began our meetings in a nearby village. The pastor had organized things for several months in advance and the crowds came to listen. Whenever we needed anything for  the stage he listened carefully and ingeniously provided just what we needed. Each night the crowds increased till we had over 2,000 sitting on the ground before us in that first village. 
Setting up for the meetings drew a lot of attention as we put up the bright curtains of the sanctuary. It took hours to set up at each village. Each day we took it down. It allowed all the helpers to know the sanctuary inside and out as they had 21 opportunities to set it up. 

My quiet nurse Barbara faithfully helped set up the sanctuary and she gave health talks using computer graphics we had designed together before departure. She gained confidence as the days went by. This was her first trip out of her home state of Washington.
The electrician faithfully served all 21 evangelistic meetings. He used his teeth to cut many wires. He was a genius at wiring up spot lights and doing his best to get all things to work well.  A Generator was standing by  we had daily power outages. The projector took more power along with lights and often cut out on us. The electrician did his best. God provided funds for all these needs.
Each meeting began slowly  for a couple hours with Indian music. It was played very loudly so surrounding homes could hear and be drawn to meeting. Working right by the speakers was painful to our ears. Almost every night Jenny suffered from headache for 3-5 hours. The pastor has a very nice singing voice. Opportunities were given to people in the audience to come up and sing.  Next we played the Mathew video in English on the big screen. The pastor read from His Telugu Bible prompted by the verse numbers in the corner of the screen. By the end of the series, the whole book of Mathew had been read word for word. He did very well at getting the same voice inflections. People who understood both languages really liked this presentation. Those who understood only Telugu also enjoyed the video. The pastor turned the meeting over to us for health talk and Sanctuary program often by 9 or 10:30 PM.
Often 3 of my four children and Shalise  fell asleep before their turn came to help in the sanctuary portion of the program. Shalise was the 10 year old daughter of Barbara my nurse helper. She along with the other 4 children helped with putting up curtains  sanctuary furniture each night. In clinic she helped do blood pressure screenings.
The large sheet was stretched between two bamboo poles which were planted firmly into the ground. Even strong winds did not take it off like a sail.  They had very hard ground to plant these poles in and it is amazing what they accomplished. There was a nice big tree behind the screen with straw in it. The screen sheet allowed people to watch from both sides. Often children sat under and in the tree. Many from the surrounding huts came to their doorways and watched the whole thing. 
There was a nice open space that was surrounded by huts so all could come and listen or watch from their homes. We could not count all that we reached as we played the Mathew video word for word giving an account of the life of Jesus from birth, His teachings, miracles, crucifixion and resurrection.  The Sanctuary presentation followed.  I wore the robes of the high priest as I spoke emphasizing prophecy and  God's way in the sanctuary. The night of the Day of Atonement presentation put strong emphasis on the soon to close door of probation. All were urged to make their decisions while there was time. The largest crowd came forward on that night for prayers for their salvation. They took the gospel meetings seriously. They received the truths gladly.
Pastor faithfully translated each meeting and recorded them on cassettes. As I completed each meeting, I prayed then conducted a quiz. It was fun to interact with the people and see what they had learned and what needed more explanation. It seemed to draw the people into the discussion more and make more interest. They loved getting markers for correct answers. At some places 50 people ran forward to get a prize. We had never seen this happen in any other place in the world. It was a challenge to know how to keep them one at a time answering as we expected.
At the close of the meeting's quiz time hundreds of people came forward for special prayer. Some wanted salvation, others asked for healing, for family trouble resolution, and for financial help. A few asked for strengthening in the ministry.  I saw God answer their simple faith in Him. I will share more about these answers in separate stories.

The women would take their cloth and place it over their heads before the prayer.  I always asked for what they wanted but also asked God to lead them into deeper truth and inscribe their names in the book of life leading them to be faithful to follow all the light they knew especially on the Sabbath. I asked that they would someday walk the golden streets. Thousands in India came to me for prayer during the two months there. Only one night I rushed through because I had been scolded for taking too long praying for people. I did not sleep well that night so thereafter, I was careful to pray for each as requested no matter how tired I was. Many told others how I prayed and more came for prayers because they were not rushed. They knew I  cared. They knew that I loved God deeply and they just stayed until I had time to pray for each of them. 
We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the power of God can be more evident. 1 Cor 4:7 It is not by my might but HIS SPIRIT that any work can be done.

I left home with the burning desire in my heart to share the gospel and go fishing for Jesus. Though trained at Walla Walla with a BA degree in Theology, and BS in nursing, and a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner degree from Loma Linda, and a doctorate in Family Medicine from Kansas City, I was way out of my comfort zone. I did not feel qualified.  I was comforted with the thought that God does not pick the qualified but qualifies those He chooses. I was glad for the Mathew 28:19,20 promise He would never leave me. With a TEACHER like is promised in Isaiah 30:20-21 one cannot go wrong if listening for His voice to say this is the way, walk in it.

 The promise in Jeremiah chapter one assured me that He would touch my lips and I would speak to all that He sent me. I kept reading these promises and memorizing the texts for my lectures each night. He brought them to my memory as I needed them even when it was after 11PM when I am normally asleep. Throughout all of India through all of the 13 villages God arranged me to speak in I prayed continuously for Him to be the speaker and pour out on me HIS HOLY SPIRIT and use me as He saw fit. (Jer. 1:7,8,17)