Off to India!

Later this week - on Saturday, April 2 to be exact - the team pictured on the left will be departing for India. The team will be there for almost two weeks holding medical clinics and visions clinics for the residents of several communities in northeast India. In addition to the medical and vision clinics there will also be opportunity for pastor training and women's ministry. The team will be lead by John Boedeker and Richard Fields. Missions Pastor Pam Millington and Church Elder Jeff Reames will also be on the team.

Please pray for the team and ask God to allow them to feel no ill effects of their long journey, to recover from any jet lag quickly and to be ready to serve the precious people of India when they arrive. India is a loooooong way away, even by plane.

Because India is so far away you may be tempted to ask: "Why are we going there? Don't we have sick people right here in OKC that we can help?" The fact is, yes, there are sick people here in Oklahoma City and we do indeed help them through the clinic housed within our Community Center at Penn and Hefner. But God has so richly blessed our church with extraordinarily gifted people and an abundance of resources that we would dishonor God by limiting their use and service to only the Oklahoma City area. To be certain, we are called to serve locally first, but as God continues to open doors for us to be involved in ministry around the world, we must be obedient and follow where He leads.

It is clear from even a cursory reading of the Bible that God has a special place in His heart for the poor, downtrodden and defenseless. The majority of the population in India fits this description. Imagine the poorest person you have ever encountered or the most squalid living conditions you have ever seen. Now increase that by a factor of ten, cram tens of millions of people into those conditions and viola': you're in India. If we have the opportunity, means and ability to minister to those that Jesus called "the least of these My brothers" whether we find them across the street or across the ocean, we must go.

Pray for the team, their families that will remain here in the States and the people that they will encounter in India. Ask God to glorify Himself in every situation, circumstance and conversation that occurs during the trip. The greatest desire for each member of the team is that when someone looks at them, that person will see Christ and experience His love for them.

Until all have heard.