Hey Everyone,
Wow, this trip has been amazing. I’ve been on a lot of mission trips in my life. And each one has been special and transformative in it’s own way. This trip has continued that pattern in ways I never would of guessed. The work that the people of CICM are doing for the sake of the gospel is just inspiring. I don’t think I really knew just how many facets of this ministry there were. I knew they did a lot, but I actually had no idea how vast the scope is! So, in regards to your time, I will just share three things for now:
- We finished the student ministry seminar yesterday. I got to teach six different times. Teaching with a translator became increasingly easier and actually quite fun! With around 150 in attendance we offered some encouragement, some practical leadership training as well as some youth ministry specific training. The moment that makes it all worth it is the moment that someone walks up to you, and in broken english thanks you over and over again for sharing something that will transform his ministry. I had several conversations that went a lot like this. It’s pretty easy for me these days to separate those who are just being courteous from those who are being sincere and honestly found value in what little I have to offer. By the grace of God, He chose to use me to help some of my brothers in ministry here in India. It’s humbling. We closed out the session by praying for each other. It was really powerful to see them all in circles, holding hands, praying to the same God, the only God in India who saves. The youth leadership conference was awesome, and was totally worth the trip all by itself. I spent a good bit of time today with Dr. A_, the leader of CICM, talking about the future of the church, this generation of teenagers and what we can do as partners in ministry to help resources and equip the church in India to reach the next generation. You could join me in praying for God to make clear his path for this partnership. I’m encouraged but still want to be diligent in seeking His guidance.
- You ready for this? Today I got to hold something quite special. CICM has a publication office that works on translating The Bible and other resources into languages where they are not yet offered. I got to hold The Bible, hand written and translated to Bundeli. Budeli is a native language spoken in a large area of Central India. It is estimated that those who speak Bundeli are nearly 50 million. It is also thought that this people group is one of the largest unreached for the sake of gospel. That moment was paradigm shifting for me. I was holding the very words that changed my life in a language that it had never been printed in before. It’s hard to image not having The Bible. It’s foundational to life itself.. And now these people will it for themselves and to share! The next stop for those pages is the printing press and then the hands of God’s children. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.
- I want to introduce you to someone. His name is Rohit. He lives in the children’s home at the Damoh campus where we are staying. CICM has worked out an agreement with a doctor about two hours away from their campus who aborts children. The deal is that he will wait to abort any children until after their team can council the mother. This child was scheduled to be aborted and CICM received the call. Their staff started the journey to see the mother. However, for whatever reason, they were 7 hours late…. and it was in fact, too late. The child had been aborted… at 8 months! The doctor told them the child had already been disposed of. One of the things I love about the CICM staff is, they won’t give up. The staff went behind the building and pulled the trash bag out of the dumpster that had the child in it. By the grace of God, the child was still alive. Could you imagine?!? Finding a child, alive, in a dumpster. CICM staff raced him back to their facility, breathed life back into him and offered him something that his own mother wouldn’t.. a life and an opportunity to serve his Lord. He is now 3 years old, healthy, speaks both Hindi and English, never stops smiling and is one of the sweetest kids here. Meet Rohit. I’ve attached his picture.
Well, tomorrow we start our three days of travel, again. We head to Delhi, then Dubai and then back to Maryland (prayers for travel would be appreciated). During our time here we have been able to see and do a lot. And not just do, but teach. We have been able to offer much insight through all three seminars (teaching, women & youth) that will last far beyond our time here. Everything we have offered is duplicable and easily implementable. Your prayers/support will have an impact far beyond the 12 days of this trip. Thanks for that! You’re investment has been worth it. Your prayers have been heard and answered by God. He is good. But just to add a little icing to the cake, we also built a nine square. I played it today with 30 kids from children’s home here. It was awesome!
We land in Maryland and our trip official ends on Sunday at 8AM. At 4PM that same day our biggest student ministries outreach event of the year begins. While you’re praying, would you also join me in praying for that event? This has been a HUGE catalyst in years past for drawing in students who otherwise don’t have much interest in God. I can’t wait to get back and continue in ministry with our students and leaders.
That’s it for now. See ya back on the other side of the pond!
P.S. I will send one more update when I get back. I’ve been keeping a daily journal. After I have some time to sit and edit, I will offer a link to that journal for those of you who are interested in learning more about the trip.
Thanks,
Jared Fox
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