Hello! below is another update from the team in Kolkata. It came through several days ago, but it’s still powerful, interesting, and relevant. Bear this in mind: Rachel has been to India multiple times, and has worked in Kolkata, and the Mother Theresa Home, multiple times. She isn’t a stranger to suffering. Lord, bless these teams! (For something a little less profound perhaps, keep an eye out for a new page on our site, one that carries several of our DTS equip leadership lectures, as well as various teachings and lectures from me (Jeremy). Coming very soon…)
Greetings from Kolkata!
Last Tuesday at the Prem Dan Mother Teresa home, I was met face to face with human suffering like I have never before seen. I was deeply impacted. I did not know how to handle it. As a teammate and I took care of a sick and elderly woman, my heart broke. Jesus spoke to me and reminded me of something I’d read in the Bible that morning: that He is a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering (Isaiah 53). This woman was suffering so much. I could see it, but I couldn’t fix it. But Jesus understood her. He knew what she was going through. I was deeply affected that day.
As we left the Mother Teresa home, I was in tears. I remembered John 11 and how Jesus wept when he was with Mary and Martha soon after the death of Lazarus. God spoke to my heart again: as you responded to the woman’s suffering, so I respond to the suffering of my children. I saw God’s heart in a new way: and saw how much He truly loves people and is moved by suffering. He doesn’t stand idly by…He cares! Our team is learning to respond to God as He shows us His heart for the people around us, and I am learning to be His friend and walk with Him in daily life here. God is giving me more of His heart for the lost, and I so desire to see the people of Kolkata come to Him.
Speaking of people coming to Jesus…on Sunday evening we worked with a rickshaw puller ministry (for men who pull rickshaws in Kolkata–the handcarts, like in the movie, City of Joy)…and 9 men showed up. We did a program for them and shared the gospel. All 9 of them were interested in the gospel (they came from Hindu or Muslim backgrounds), and for sure 5 of them gave their lives to Jesus! Please pray for these 5 men as they work so hard day after day: that God will work in their lives as they learn to follow Him, and that they will go to the new believer classes that the rickshaw puller ministry offers!
We have just 3 more full days in Kolkata, before we begin our journey to northwest Nepal. Please pray for us as we have some debriefing time tomorrow afternoon/evening (Friday) and think/talk about and process what God did these past 3 weeks in Kolkata.
Thanks! Rachel.
GoWests! 