WorshipCentral

Days Nine & Ten: we finished our last conference and we turned for home. It's been an incredible trip, where we've seen God move in great power, had our hearts broken and met some amazing people... 

The second day of our last conference was really good - loads of the Pastors were really encouraged and there was a real sense that God is doing something in this state and this nation.

India, along with China, is emerging as a rising super-power, with a booming GDP, massive population growth and flourishing industry. Gujarat is one of the key areas, leading economic growth with a huge 10% rise in GDP last year.

And yet there remains extra-ordinary poverty here, with the caste system still very real, and the church very much persecuted.

One of the highlight of the trip was spending time with an amazing man called Walter (picutred below, the man with glasses in the middle).

He has opened up his home and taken in 55 disabled children. We met with him to hear about his plans for growing the work, and we all sat in tears praying for him. We all feel God is calling us to be involved here, so watchi this space.

We're also really excited about the relationship we've formed with the people here. It's such a God thing. Our coordinator Jimmy is coming to London in two weeks to be trained at the the EMEA week conference, where they are running a special stream for the Indian coordinators.

It will be really fun for our pastorate to hang out with Jimmy for him to see our home base.

Anyway, we had airport horror, with a 4 hour delay. When we arrived in Mumbai at  2am, we were again met by Pastor Vivian, the Mumbai Alpha Coordinator, who had brought his whole family 2 hours by bus, only for them to wait the 4 hours on the pavement outside the airport. They were all smiles, so lovely.

DAY TEN - HOME

So now were sitting in the lounge at Mumbai, waiting for our BA flight. We've been dreaming of steak, being able to drink tap water, our own beds.

It has been an incredible adventure and thanks to all of you in the Pastorate who have been praying around the clock for us in shifts. Thank you to all of you who have read this diary each day and encouraged us.

So here are some final highlights of the trip from each person:

ALI - "When Al made Andy loose his place in his first talk by holding up a sign saying "Your flies are undone". Andy had to stop speaking, look at the floor for 10 seconds to stop himself loosing the plot, then carried on. It an awesome moment."

JAMES - "Praying for a guy whose eye was healed and praying for Jimmy and him keeling over under the power of the Spirit. Also it was very inspiring spending the evening with Pastor Umale, so inspiring. I met this little girl in the home for the blind who'd just had an operation... that really impacted me."

ANTHEA - "Growing in confidence with God and experiencing his anointing when I prayed for people. It was like stepping out of the boat and seeing God move. In a state where there's such despair, seeing Christians who were so inspiring despite being persecuted, it was very inspiring."

SIMONE - "Seeing people healed. And visiting the social action projects were amazing, especially the disabled project, which was just incredible."

AL - "Seeing the team do the stuff. Everytime we when somewhere, everyone took part, chipped in, from praying and seeing God's power come, to helping each other out. And it was amazing to see the Spirit poured out in such power. It really encouraged me to experience that."

ANDY - "Praying for the people at the end of the Baroda conference was very special, seeing God send people out so powerfully."

So, it's been an amazing time. Thanks for coming with us on the blog journey. Please keep praying for these guys in the future.

About to board now, so got to go...