Madurai

This morning Will and I spoke at a small church and again they were so happy to see Americans who many have never seen nor heard. We made sure we shook hands with everyone and, as usual, we prayed personally with at least half of them. After the service we spent time talking with the pastor and his wife.

We went back to the hotel and then we got to eat lunch in a restaurant for a change, something we hadn’t done since Chennai.

Tonight we will be going to a large church in Madurai called a CSI church (Churches of South India). Bro Will and I will be speaking, and we will send pictures in the next update.
View morning photos

As promised, I have sent pictures along with this update. We went to the very historical and traditional church I mentioned, which belongs to the Churches of South India (CSI) organization. I began the evening with a testimony of the miracles that Jesus Christ has done in my life and then Will delivered a powerful message on Jonah. It was different from the small village churches we have been to recently.

Afterwards, Vijay invited us to his house where we met Gigi, his wife, and Nesha, their daughter. We had a wonderful evening and could honestly feel the love in their household. Nesha is full of life, and I think she had a good time speaking with Americans.
View evening photos

 

Insight From Charlie Schneider
I am Charlie Schneider, 34 years old and a born again believer who truly accepted Jesus Christ when I was 28. I have a wonderful Godly wife named Courtney, and together we have two children, Natalia, 12, and Tyler, 10, who have both accepted Christ. We are a growing family in God and look forward to what God has for our family.

Coming to India has been a great experience for me so far. I say this because I had lost my vision and was in great need of a revival. The Bible says a person with no vision will perish. I did have a vision though, a vision to become financially free. Unfortunately, I was doing it my way, not God’s way. I was working all the time to earn money and getting stressed out and I was no longer being the husband or father my family needed. I had also lost my heart to pray. Sure I was still praying, but not greatly. It all began to become a huge mess right before the trip. God knew I needed this time in India to get my vision back on track. Now my vision has changed. My vision now is that me and my family will love God with all our heart, mind and soul. I am ready to live for God 100%, and I’m excited to see what He will do.

Now, as for the culture here, I’ve been to Haiti twice so I had some idea of what to expect. Yes, there are busy streets, animals roaming, cars beeping, concrete homes, dirty water, trash along the side of the streets, and the smell of raw sewage, but the best thing is that there are people who love Jesus Christ here. Sure this is a nation of Hindu and its gods, but some people do follow Jesus. It is not so different from America really, if you think about it. We have gods of money, food, and pleasure, but some people follow Jesus, just like in India.

The people here in India are really nice; they love us and we love them. They are also very honorable and respectful. I have heard it said that India is not a safe place to go to, but I have not found that to be true.

As a team we are going to many churches to refresh the people in the faith and to preach the Good News of Christ to those who do not know Him. We have also been encouraging pastors to remain faithful and stay on course. Everyone has been responsive and I am looking forward to week two.

October 1, 2007
September 29, 2007