India Mission 2011

On Tuesday September 27 Steve and Peter Ray Cole left for a month long mission to the people of India. Please check back for more details

It is 9:30 Wednesday night in India and we will be leaving for the airport in about a half hour. We are going to meet in Ron and Karen's apartment for a brief devotion and a word of prayer before heading out.
It has been a great month. Peter Ray and I both spoke more than 50 times and saw more than 800 respond to the gospel of Christ. Today is the start of the Hindu holiday Dawali and it sounds like a war zone here where we are staying. It is incredible to hear the noise and see all the fireworks that are being set off. This will continue at least through tomorrow night and maybe into the weekend. It will be a long couple of nights for those who are staying here because the noise will continue late into the night.
We were able to do a great deal of good during our stay here. We helped several in a benevolent way, bought Bibles, bought bicycles, financed hundreds of gospel meetings and helped the children's homes in Charala and Markapur and Kirans' school in Hyderabad. It is hard for us to imagine that this trip is over, but we are both looking forward to getting home. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel over the next 30 hours or so. I look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday. Steve

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Sunday was a long and busy day for both Peter Ray and me. We were each at four different meetings and then made the drive back to Hyderabad late Sunday night. We arrived here about midnight and we will be here until we start home early Thursday morning (India time). Our day Sunday was almost identical. We both spoke at Methodist churches Sunday morning and then went to congregations of the Lord's church immediately after. Sunday evening we both spoke at English speaking Methodist congregations and then held one "gospel meeting" before starting for Hyderabad. Our meetings with the Methodist churches went very well and I believe we opened doors that will lead to further meetings and further discussions. I spoke to a congregation of about 300 or more on Sunday morning on the topic of "Jesus Prayer and Paul's Plea for Unity" and it was very well received, by the minister and the congregation. At the English speaking service a couple from Scotland was there and they told me after the services they enjoyed the message and really enjoyed hearing someone speak in English they could understand! At both of these meetings the Methodist ministers took my e-mail address and I hope that we can continue to discuss New Testament Christianity through that means.
Peter Ray had very positive experiences as well and we were both invited back to speak any time we are in the area. In fact one leader in the Methodist church said if we could let them know in advance when we are coming next year that a meeting could be set up that would have 3000 or more in attendance! Methodists are very strong in the Bidar area and hopefully we have made some important contacts that will allow us to do even greater work among them in the future.
Our last three days will involve a lot of "winding up" this trip. Ron and Karen are due back in Hyderabad later this morning and Robert Hall (another full time team member) is here already, so I feel certain there will be a lot of discussions about the work over the next couple of days. Peter Ray and I both have churches and families here in Hyderabad we have not had a chance to see this trip and we are both determined to get that done before we leave as well. It doesn't seem possible this trip is nearly over, but it has been another great trip with amazing results. I look forward to getting home and giving you a report on all we were able to accomplish. Thank you for all your prayers and please keep praying for us as we wrap up this trip and especially as we begin the long journey home. I look forward to seeing everyone Sunday. Steve

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It is early Friday morning here and Peter Ray and I are getting ready to head out for our final campaign of this trip. We are heading back to Bidar because I need to be there on Sunday and because we have translators there we can use. Robert Hall and Keith Ball are both in the country now so vehicles and translators are a premium. We will take one vehicle with us and use one they have in Bidar. (It is not a good one but will do to get to meetings that are not too far away!) I finally heard from the man in the Methodist church in Bidar and they have made arrangements for me to speak to a Methodist church on Sunday morning. They want me to stay afterwards and have lunch with them so I hope to "open some doors" that will lead to more discussion after services and then allow others to come in later and "water" the seed we hope to plant. I have no idea how big a church this is or how many people will be there, but I am looking forward to having the chance to speak. They wanted to know what I planned to speak about and I told them I was going to talk about the unity Jesus prayed for and Paul pleaded for in the N.T. They seemed to be very happy with that idea, so please pray that I will be able to speak in such a way as to impress upon them what the Bible teaches and how unity is possible. The Methodist church is very strong in the Bidar area, so we are praying this will be a great opportunity for the gospel.
We have been in Hyderabad the last couple of days. I wanted to get here while Keith was here so I could visit with him a little before he took off for Kurnool. I will probably not get to see him again this trip. We will be coming back to Hyderabad on Monday so I can spend the last couple of days talking with Ron about the work and wrapping up a few things we need to take care of. Ron and Karen have been in Bangalore since we arrived in India. Ron spent about a week with us on the road when we first got here but had to go back to Bangalore to see a doctor. With all the confusion in Hyderabad they have been staying away from this area as much as possible. The weather has been much cooler the last few days and that has been a blessing since we don't have regular AC here. We had a really good road trip and both of us spoke nearly 50 times and saw hundreds of responses to the gospel of Christ. We spent two days working in an area where not much work has been done for many years, and it was good to be able to encourage existing congregations and make inroads for new congregations to be established. I had the chance to speak to a fairly large "independent" group and when the meeting was over two of the church elders came to my translator and said they were ready to become New Testament Christians. The preacher there is a relative of MJ Kumar (one of my favorite translators) and he had been coming to my meetings for the last few days we were in that area. After hearing the messages he then asked if I would come and speak to his congregation. Again, a wonderful opportunity.
I have to tell you a funny story. On the way to one of my meetings I asked the man who was leading us who I would be speaking to. (We try to address specific issues with certain groups). His response was "The audience will be 99% Hindu." He paused for a moment and then said "and about 20% Muslim!" So I was speaking to quite a good size group there! As it turned out there were several Hindus there but I was not aware of any Muslims being in the audience.
We only have 5 days left on this trip and look forward to starting home on the 27th (India time). It doesn't seem possible this trip is almost over. We have had much success and have stayed busy and the time has simply flown by. I look forward to seeing everyone on the 30th. Keep us in your prayers. Steve

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As I mentioned in my last update, one of the things you need most in this work is flexibility. Our plan was to stay in Vijaywada through Monday morning and then move about an hours distance to Nandigal for two days. From there we would drive back to Hyderabad for a day or so before making our final preaching tour for this trip. We thought we had a room reserved in Nandigal but found out the hotel was having water problems and was not really very clean! We decided to stay put in Vijaywada and simply make the hour drive to Nandigal each day to do the work and then come back here at night. Then we learned that protesting had started back up again in Hyderabad and roads were supposed to be blocked as they tried to disrupt things in the city. We checked on airplane tickets and for a very reasonable price Peter Ray and I can fly from Vijaywada to Hyderabad and hopefully avoid most of the confusion.
So now the plan is to be at the airport in Vijaywada at 7 in the morning to catch a flight to Hyderabad. That doesn't sound like much, but it will be quite a challenge to get 2 drivers and 2 translators up and moving in time to be at the airport by 7. It is also an interesting challenge simply checking out, because it always involves a whole lot more paperwork than we are accustomed to when checking out of a hotel. Should make for an interesting morning!
We each spoke four times on Sunday here in Vijaywada and then had 2 night meetings apiece in Nandigal Monday night. There has not been a lot of work done in this area, so we are glad we can go and encourage and support the brethren there.
I had an interesting meeting last night, that was kind of a first for me. I was told that probably 98% of the people in the meeting had obeyed the gospel in years past. The church was established in this little village years ago, but eventually was neglected and most of the Christians simply fell away or joined themselves to denominations. Our goal was to try and remind them of the nature of Christ's church (not a denomination) and the importance of remaining faithful to Christ. It was a full house and the message seemed to be well received. We now have good men working in this area and hope and pray that we might be able to help these people find their way back to Christ.
I was told my second meeting was a "church meeting" (meaning mainly Christians in attendance) but when the meeting was over 15 requested to be immersed into Christ. As it turned out we had several Hindus in attendance and at least 6 of them made the decision to become Christians.
Brother Keith Ball is scheduled to arrive in Hyderabad on Wednesday and that is one of the reasons we want to be back there. It may be our only chance to see him before we head home. Ron is still in Bangalore but he and I are planning to "hook up" somewhere in the next few days and spend a few more days working together and talking about the work.
This trip is literally "flying by." Peter Ray and I both have commented that it does not seem possible that we have been here three weeks already. The weather has really warmed up and has been in the mid 90's the last few days. We are extremely grateful to be able to come back to a room that has AC and allows us to sleep pretty well at night. We are looking forward to our last week and hope we can accomplish much more good before our time here is done. Please keep us in your prayers. Steve

One of the more important traits one needs to get along in India is flexibility. We left Markapur thinking we were going to stay a couple of days, at least, in Pamipidpadu. We were under the impression there was a place there for us to stay, but upon our arrival learned that was not the case and it was going to create a burden for a couple of families if we stayed there long. So plans changed!
We held night meetings in that area Wednesday night and then Thursday morning packed up again and headed for Vijaywada. On the way we went by the children's home in Chirala and spent a couple of hours with the children there. This is the home that was started as a result of the Tsunami that hit India a few years ago. A lot of those original children are still there, but have grown up quite a bit since then. It was great seeing them and many of them remembered our taking them to a clothing store and buying them all a couple of outfits. I spoke to them a few minutes and then Peter Ray taught them to sing "I'm All Wrapped Up In Jesus" with the hand motions! They loved that.
After leaving there we came on to Vijaywada, settled in at our hotel and then went out to hold night meetings. This is our first time to stay in a hotel on this trip and also the first time we have had AC in our room. Very grateful for that because it has gotten warm the past week or so and was a little uncomfortable sleeping.
Speaking of uncomfortable sleeping--our one night in Pamipidpadu was a little uncomfortable. We both felt something that we thought was sand or dirt of some kind in our bed and kept sweeping the bed with our hands (in the dark). When we finally got up and had power and could see, we had small ants in the bed! We both had gotten bitten a couple of times during the night but assumed that was mosquitoes and never thought about ants being in the bed. Not a good night.
We are not sure how long we will be here or where we are going when we leave here. Ron had to go to Bangalore to meet Robert Hall who was to arrive yesterday and make plans for his stay. He will probably get back together with us on Monday. We are continuing to have good meetings with good results and ask you to please pray this will continue over our last two weeks.
We are doing well, enjoying the work and enjoying being with these good India brethren. My feet are still swollen some, but not nearly as bad as a couple of days ago. I have tried to keep them elevated when possible and I think they are going to be fine.
It is 8:20 A.M. as I write this and we are just waiting to go to breakfast. We are both looking forward to it because they advertise an American breakfast that sounds really good! I have never learned to like Indian breakfast and looking forward to a bowl of cereal! I will send another update in a couple of days or if we decide to move again before then.

It is Wednesday morning here and we are packing and getting ready to leave Markapur for Pamipadipadu. It is a 2-3 hour drive and I believe we will only stay there a couple of days before moving to another location. We have had four very good days of work here in Markapur. Monday and Tuesday there was a constant stream of preachers gathering here to see Ron. Many are coming for regular campaign funds, others come with special requests and some come just to turn in reports of the work they have done the last month or so. Instead of them just sitting around waiting for their turn, Peter Ray and I took turns teaching classes for them both days on a variety of topics; sermon preparation, Bible authority, and other matters. Our night meetings have been very successful and tiring. Last night I had to go about an hour and a half away for my two meetings and as I told you earlier it is the drive that gets to you the most. You try to relax and maybe even nap but you are constantly being thrown around in the car!
We have witnessed some interesting situations as these preachers come to see Ron. Yesterday a blind preacher showed up to receive his campaign funds and we got to talk to him a little about his work and his life. He was born blind, but someone taught him the truth and he attends a lot of classes in the area and learns as much as he can by listening. Either his daughter or grandson accompanies him and it is always great to see him. He reads Braille and has six books of the Bible on Braille. We have talked about buying him the Bible on CD's to listen to, but we would also have to buy him a CD player and then it would be a problem of having power on a regular basis to listen to them anyway. I still think it is something worthwhile to consider and hope to find some way to help him have more availability to God's word.
At my second meeting last night I noticed my translator walked off before the meeting started. He came in just as they wanted me to speak and said to me, "Brother, I am not feeling well, could we please keep this brief." I asked if there were any other translators available and he checked and said no. I hated this because we had a church building full of people, but I kept it brief and he was not even feeling well enough to exhort after the lesson. We turned it over to some local men and I am hoping to hear the results sometime today. When I asked him what he thought had made him sick he said "these terrible roads!" I could sure sympathize with that. The bad thing was he had to endure the hour and a half ride back! He told me this morning he is feeling much better, but we are getting ready to hit the road again. I got back in last night around midnight, talked with Ron a few minutes and then soaked my feet in cold water for a while. My feet and ankles have swollen so much I could barely get my sandals on. Ron looked on the computer to see what might help and we laughed to read that "swollen feet could be caused by long airplane rides, long car rides, or standing on your feet for long periods of time." I thought, "that pretty well explains it. I slept with them elevated last night and they are some better this morning, but again, we are getting ready to take off for a long car ride. It is just part of the fun of India.
If I remember correctly, the last time I was in Pamipadipadu we had limited cell service and no internet service at all. I hope that has changed, but if not it may be a few days before I am able to send another update. We are half way done with this trip and the time is flying by for us. We are trying to make plans for the last two weeks but it is very difficult because there are so many areas we could visit where we have good work and good friends. Keep us in your prayers that our last two weeks will be as successful as the first two. Steve

Monkeys, we have monkeys!
Every year around this time a troop of langurs (monkeys with grey bodies and black faces surrounded by white hair) come through the Bidar area. To the locals they are a nuisance and to us they are anxiously anticipated visitors. They are amazing to watch! Steve and I took some pictures and set out a banana or two trying to draw them in close enough to feed them by hand. So far, the entertainers have kept their distance and we have kept our digits.
There is a lot more than monkey business happening on this encouraging trip. We have been able in just 10 days to conduct over 30 evangelistic meetings, teach 4 preacher training sessions, provide financing for over 300 Indian preachers, finance over 600 Gospel meetings, supply maintenance funding for a school of preaching, and passed out several greatly appreciated toboggans and carry bags to children. 10 of our 30 days are spent and we have not even seen our best days here! We have great plans for the remaining 20 days like more Gospel meetings, bicycles, preacher support, church buildings, more maintenance on existing projects, orphanage support, preacher training, one on one studies, and much more…and probably some more bananas along the way.
About 80 Kilometers from Bidar there is a remote village that invited our team to come and preach the Gospel. We were welcomed with a parade and shown hospitality with apples, bananas, and chai (Indian Tea) with biscuits (cookies). The town leader, who is selected by a voting process conducted by the entire village, was very interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and had been studying privately and with our local preachers. He wanted to provide an opportunity for his entire village to hear the Gospel message. Over 50 village members put on Christ (Galatians 3:27) and were added to the Lord's Church (Acts 2:47) by contacting the Blood of Christ in Baptism (Romans 6:1-4). This was just another reminder to me about the Power of the Gospel!
We may be discouraged at times back home due to the apathy many demonstrate toward the Gospel. Don't give up. There are people all over the world, including the U.S., who not only need but want to hear the Truth found in the Word of God. Don't give up. Continue to invite your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to study and worship with you. Personal evangelism is how the great majority of this work in India is accomplished. The members of the Lord's church believe in their God-given commission (Mark 16:15) and when they are turned down (which does happen) they do not give up. This work, that you allow me to be a part of by your generous support in so many ways, continues to excite me about the work back home too. Opportunities are all around us everywhere, let's not give up! Peter Ray Cole.

We are making plans to buy a generator for the compound here in Bidar because the power goes out constantly and we are probably going to be using this compound a good deal more in the future if things continue to be a problem in Hyderabad.
Tonight we gave assistance to a widow with five children. Her husband was a faithful gospel preacher who died a couple of years ago unexpectedly as a result of a heart attack. He was a dear friend to Aaron and Peter Ray and we try to help her anytime we are in this area.
It has been a truly remarkable week. We have had almost ideal weather and the meetings have been excellent. I want to ask you to please pray for a special opportunity that may come my way. Two nights ago in a meeting a denominational preacher came to me and said he had never heard anything like I had taught that night. I had taught about Paul's Plea to the church at Corinth and stressed Paul's emphasis on unity. Peter Ray and I had a private discussion with this man today and he is going to attempt to arrange a large meeting on the 23rd for me to speak to hundreds of people from this denomination, and wants me to present the same lesson he heard me present two nights ago.
He definitely comprehends the concept of simple New Testament Christianity and wants others of his persuasion to have a chance to hear this truth as well. Please pray that he might be able to make the arrangements and pray and that I might have the wisdom to speak as I ought to speak.
We decided to wait until morning to head back to Hyderabad. It will be a day of travel and then we are going to attend a wedding where Peter Ray and I will probably both be involved in some way. We leave town again shortly after the wedding is over, or early Saturday morning.
We never know what a day may hold, let alone a week, but our trip this year has truly gotten off to a grand start. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and I will look forward to seeing everyone on the 30th. Steve

Today proved to be a very busy day. We drove about 70-80 km (42-48 miles) to the state of Maharastra and the town of Udgir. A preacher's class had been set up for Peter Ray and I to take turns teaching in and then we were to hold three meetings apiece tonight. We had a first at the class, because they welcomed us "Maharasta style" taking a long strand of cloth and making us turbans to wear! (You will love this picture!)
We had four class sessions, each of us teaching two and then went out for night meetings. The Indian brethren did a great job of arranging the meetings so that we were able to move quickly from one to the next and not be out too ate. (We had an hour and a half drive home after meetings so were glad to finish up at a reasonable hour.)
We are still having excellent meetings and Peter Ray had an especially incredible day yesterday. In two meetings nearly 90 people expressed a desire to become New Testament Christians.
At one of my meetings last night a man sitting right in front of me kept nodding his head and smiling and seemingly agreeing with everything I said. I assumed he was a brother in Christ. When the meeting was over he came to me and asked if it would be possible to have a private meeting with me so he could ask some questions. It turns out he was a denominational preacher and had never heard of the concept of simple, New Testament Christianity. I told him I would be out of town all day today but hope to arrange to meet him sometime tomorrow and answer his questions as best I can.
We had really hard rain last night and one of Peter Ray's meetings was cancelled and one of mine became a very small meeting as it was raining too hard for people to come out.
We will be in Bidar one more day and will head to Hyderabad either late Thursday night or early Friday morning. The wedding is at 5 so we are going to talk to the drivers and see what they prefer and when they think would be the best time to travel.
I have pretty much gotten over my cold, but now Peter Ray has to deal with one. The colds are nothing that keeps us from being able to be out holding meetings, just a little annoying. The plans are to stay just one day in Hyderabad and get out of town again. We have not finalized those plans yet, but are considering heading to the children's home in Markapur. Continue to keep us in your prayers and I will send another update in the next couple of days, if possible.

I am sorry I have not sent any more updates but I have been battling two problems. First, I didn't have internet access. I finally got that resolved today but now have to deal with constant power outages. We are considering buying a generator for this compound, because we do a lot of work from here and the power issue has become a real problem.
We are still in Bidar. As I mentioned earlier we came here Thursday night to escape the confusion in Hyderabad. We have been holding meetings every day since arriving here and have been having wonderful success to this point. The weather has been almost ideal. It has not been too hot at all during the night and has been very pleasant at night. That is a real blessing, especially when you keep losing power and have no fans!
I started getting a cold on the flights over and have been struggling with that since arriving, but I believe I am about to put that behind me. I am feeling much better today and most of the cold symptoms seem to have left.
PJ Joseph is the team leader in this area and his wife has to go to Hyderabad (about 80-90 miles) once a week for dialysis. She was going 2 or 3 times a week but is showing some improvement. Please keep her in your prayers.
So far we have been holding two meetings a night and that seems to work very well. We don't have to rush and are able to teach a lesson, leave a local preacher behind to exhort, and then move to our next meeting. We typically get back to our room between 10:30-11:00 and then have a spicy Indian supper around 11:30! It does take some adjusting!
We typically leave the compound between 7-7:30 for night meetings but I am going a longer distance tonight so I will be leaving around 6. Tomorrow we are planning to go about two hours away and hold some preachers classes during the day and meetings at night and then make the two hour drive back late in the night or early Weds. I will try to do better about sending updates, if the internet and power will cooperate.
Peter Ray is doing great and seems to never have too many difficulties here. Continue to keep us in your prayers. Steve

We arrived in Hyderabad about 11:30 PM (India time) which was about 20 minutes late. We were about 30-40 minutes late leaving Frankfurt because the plane was full and it took a lot of time to get everyone on board, luggage stowed and in their seats. All three flights were very good and it was great not having to go through Bombay (Now Mumbai).
We spent one day in Hyderabad getting some things we needed and making plans and then left Thursday evening for Bidar. There is a movement in Andra Pradesh to divide the state into three separate states instead of one. People are protesting and it is making it very hard to do any work in Hyderabad. They are blocking roads, trying to shut down bus transportation and simply disrupt other daily routines. The children have not had classes for the past two weeks and are not scheduled to go until Oct.9th. We got a report the protestors were going to try and shut Hyderabad down on Friday, so we decided to leave Thursday night and head to Bidar.
We are probably going to be here about a week and then go back for a day or so to Hyderabad to attend the wedding of one of our translator’s son. All of this depends, of course, on what is happening in Hyderabad. There has not been much violence with these protests, it is just annoying and make it impossible to travel.
We have good work in Bidar and will be able to stay very busy while here. We are scheduled to have night meetings through Sunday and then beginning Monday we hope to start teaching some preachers classes as well in the day time.
Please keep Ron Clayton in your prayers. He is having some on-going health issues and did not come with us to Bidar because he had to go to Bangalore to see a doctor there that has been treating him.
Peter Ray and I are fine and looking forward to going out tonight to hold meetings. Kyle Clayton and his son Jordan have come with us to Bidar to work with us a few days before they have to head back to Hyderabad and take care of classes and other matters there. I will send another update as soon as I can.
I have not had internet access and had to go to and internet shop today in order to send this message. We are working on correcting that but as of now have not been very successful. Keep us in your prayers. Steve

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