Please come!

    In 1998 a friend of mine, Richard Johnson, asked me if I would join him in taking a year-long course for missions pastors that was given by First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Georgia. He said that it would require two weekends there and the rest would be home study and reading and then culminating by taking a mission team from my church to one of the countries in the 10-40 window. (Countries 10 degrees north and 40 degrees south of the equator.) Mainly the countries of northern Africa, the Middle East, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia, countries where there are very few Christians.

    I spoke to my pastor, Larry Harmon, and he agreed to support me and allow me to form a mission team to take to one of these countries. After the first weekend training session I came back and talked to pastor about the experience and we both agreed to pray that God would lead us to the country He wanted us to go. The next weekend he told me that there was a visiting pastor from India, Balasingh Pandian, that one of the Sunday School classes supported would be visiting our church that Sunday and would I like to meet him? We met in the pastor’s office and pastor told Pastor Balisingh that we were going to send a team overseas the next summer and that India was one of the countries we were considering. Pastor Balisingh’s countenance changed dramatically as he looked into our pastor’s eyes and said. “Please come!” He repeated that phrase several times during the short time we met.

   A week or so later pastor asked me if I had had any guidance from the Lord about where to take the team. I told him that every time I prayed all I could see was Pastor Balisingh saying: “Please come!” He said that he had the same experience! “I guess the Lord is telling us to go to India!” We both agreed.

   That conversation got the ball rolling and we contacted Pastor Balisingh who had returned to India at that time and told him we would bring a advance team in December and the main team in June the following year and asked him what type of things would he like our team to do for him. He responded that he would like teaching for the pastors in 50 house churches he supervised and that we would have 4 days of out door evangelistic meetings in his hometown of Paramacudi and in two other towns nearby.

  The first team we took in June 1999 consisted of 10 people including myself and Pastor Harmon. Since then, trips have continued almost annually (with two exceptions) for 17 years. Our next team leaves this week with 13 people and will be preaching to pastors, their wives, and provide a VBS type program for children.

   God has opened the way for this partnership and has sustained it thus far by His grace and His mercy and we are thankful that God has allowed our church to be a part of this ministry in India. We will always remember His call to us through Pastor Balasingh: “Please come!”  To Him be all the glory and honor.

Pray:

1.     God help me to be receptive when you bring opportunities to me to help others or to present the gospel to those who do not know you.

2.     Open the eyes of my heart to see people as You see them and to love them with Your love.

3.     Thank you for allowing us to be a small part of Your plans to make sure Your name is known among the nations.