ISB India - John Martin, Jan 2010

16 - 30 January 2010
     
     
Thank You:
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your prayers for me and the International team during the Blitz. There was no sickness during the whole time we were in India, although several men had sore throats from the hot, dusty and sometimes polluted atmosphere. We were kept safe on our journeys by car, coach, taxi, train and on foot. The Lord was with us during times of opposition and stress and upheld us. We have a story to tell that will show how the Lord is at work in India.

Scripture Distribution:
This took place in schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and nursing homes. In many cases we spoke and presented scriptures in classrooms but in others it was sidewalk distribution. The figures for each city were:

Mumbai 133,000
Chennai 176,000
Visakhapatnam 150,000

Total 459,000   Target; 400,000 Praise the Lord.

Church Assignments:
Church Assignments were completed in each city and a good reception was received in all the fellowships and many gifts for the work of the Gideons in India were received. I spoke at one church in Mumbai. I was told I had 15 minutes to speak on the Gideon work through an interpreter but during the service the pastor approached me to say ‘you will preach won’t you, up to 45 minutes’. He had chosen and had read Isaiah 55 and knowing the passage well and having used it for a message at home I managed.

In Visakhapatnam, I gave a Gideon update, using an Interpreter, in the morning at the oldest church in the city, founded by the London Missionary Society in 1805. In the evening I preached at what is the largest church in Visakhapatnam at their English service, whilst the Gideon update was given by Bill Fant, a Gideon from South Carolina.

Praise the Lord for the generosity of the church each took on offering for the Gideons and for their prayer support.
Church Leaders Banquets In all 3 cities Church Leaders Banquets were held and were well attended. Both meetings I attended stared with worship and reports followed by the Gideon Update from the ISB team leader in the city to be followed by an offering and closing prayers. The formalities over, we enjoyed an India buffet meal. At the two banquets I attended the offering exceeded the target set.

Testimonies It is good to report that through the Scripture distribution and by personal contact the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ has new citizens. Jerry Clunam and I were able to witness to a hotel housekeeping manager and one of his staff both of whom accepted Jesus as Saviour.

Driving away from a collage placement after there was some opposition to our sidewalk presentation by militant Hindus one of our Indian Gideons told of students who had been praying the day before for God to show her how to reach her fellow students. ‘If only there were copies of the Bible here she asked’ Next day the Gideons turn up at the gates and start handing out Bibles. Now there are over 1000 on the campus and she can use our distribution to enter into conversations with her fellow students.

On the first Monday a distribution was halted at a school in Kalyon, a town 50 miles north of central Mumbai, when some militant Hindus objected. As a result 7 local men and 3 members of the ISB team (Dave Lacy, from Gideon HQ in Nashville, Joe Fetzer from Tennessee and me) were detained by the police. We were questioned over 3 days and then released.

Our Indian colleagues were detained in custody at the police station. We found them in good heart, very concerned for us and seeking release to be reunited with their families. It is interesting to note that the time of our release was at the time National Office pray at the beginning of their working day. God answers our prayers. The local men were released an hour later when the bail hearing was heard. They will have to return to court in 3 months time if the charges are pursued. Please continue to pray for these brothers.

Where was God in all this you may ask? When in the cells our Indian brothers led 4 other prisoners to the Lord. Our taxi driver kept asking why we were doing this. He accepted Jesus as his Saviour later in the week. At the police station the scriptures were confiscated, but in every office there was a copy left lying around. The Police Inspector told his men to take a copy and read it to see if what these men are giving away is really worth the trouble. Who knows what God will do in their lives; it was a better distribution than we could have planned.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD Isaiah 55:8

Final Comment:

A special word of thanks are due to Mr Rajah Singh and Mr Praveen Raja for their help and attendance during our local difficulty, without them and the prayers of the local church leaders our plight could have been so much worse. These are Godly men who need our support and prayers as they are on the front line of the battlefield.

I thank you for the opportunity to go to India, it has been a time of good fellowship with fellow Gideons; it has had its trials and tribulations; there have been times of great joy and pleasure; it has been an experience I will never forget and goodness the of the God we serve has been evident in all circumstances.

May I share two Scripture passages with you which have held special meaning to me during my time in India?

Psalm 124.

If the LORD had not been on our side— let Israel say— if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Isaiah 40:29-31 given to me in a note for week 2 from Christine.

“ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”

John Martin, Dartford & Greenwich Branch