February 2008 India Video

Click above to watch a great video summary of my latest trip to NW India. This one was crafted by the ever-talented Nathan Knight, who traveled with me on this journey. Also featured in the video are Otis Jones, Tom Jaski, Russ Bennett and Josh Reed.

*Make sure you give the video time to buffer or else it will snag. Enjoy!

Requested Resources

Things have been busy for me lately and I haven't had a chance to update the site as frequently as I'd have hoped. In the last few weeks I've spoken in Birmingham, Huntsville, Atlanta, Wake Forest and Charlotte. Many in those locations have requested ministry resources from various trainings that I've done so I decided to make those available here.

First, my new book is now available for order through e3 Resources. "Striking the Match" describes how to utilize short-term mission teams to make long-term impact. Click the book cover for more details and to order:

I've taught several seminars on Communicating the Gospel to Hindus/Muslims. Click the link below to download my notes/presentations from those seminars. Please make sure that you don't distribute these without prior written permission from me. Also, because of the nature of the material please do not share my contact information with anyone (including this web address) from either of these worldviews. Doing so could jeopardize my work and more importantly, those nationals from these worldviews who world alongside me.

Communicating the Gospel with Muslims Guide
Communicating the Gospel with Muslims presentation

Communicating the Gospel with Hindus Guide
Communicating the Gospel with Hindus presentation

Final Report from Kerala, India

Please click on the link below to watch a 10 minute video review that covers the events of our week in Kerala, India. You'll be blessed to see all the lives that were touched!

http://gallery.mac.com/ggrobinson#100000

Susan's Legacy . . .

God continues to do exceedingly abundant above that which
we hoped or asked for. Yesterday I went with Dani and
Pastor Sabu to Pastor's mother-in-law's home. Pastor's
wife Bindu comes from a conservative Roman Catholic
background. They wanted me to share with his in-laws. On
the way they mentioned to me that his mother-in-law has
stage 3 breast cancer and had just returned home from
getting a chemo treatment. When I arrived I knew that
this was the visit for which the LORD brought me to India.
I was able to share with her about my own story and how
when Catherine and I married her mother and I had many
discussions about what it means to be Christian. I shared
that at first I tried to get Susan (Cat's mom) to convert
away from the Catholic Church, but later realized that the
LORD was asking me to teach her from the Scriptures what
biblical salvation is - not change her church. As Susan
and I spent time together she came to understand that
salvation is not by works, but by grace alone through
faith alone. I shared about how Susan used to call me her
Boaz (see the book of Ruth) and I called her my Naomi.
This really connected with Pastor Sabu's mother-in-law. I
was then able to share the gospel with her and she told me
she wanted to be sure that she'd be with God when she
died. Little did I know that Elena and Emma (another
team) were visiting Sabu's own parents who are also
Catholic. While there they learned about Sabu's
mother-in-law. So they had a time of prayer for her
there. Last night while we were sharing as a team Elena
and I realized that she was interceding for Sabu's
mother-in-law at 1:00 pm, not having any idea that I was
there sharing the gospel. Elena had compassion because
she lost her own mom to breast cancer last year.
Amazingly, it was exactly 1pm when I was leading Sabu's
mom in a prayer of repentance and faith! God's ways are
so much higher than our own. Who would've thought that in
His wisdom I would be able to share Susan's testimony over
a year after she went to be with the LORD with a lady that
she has so much in common with. And that Susan's
testimony of faith in Christ led this woman to faith in
Christ!!! Praise you Jesus for your manifold wisdom, for
we could never plan things like this.

She couldn't walk to church . . . so we took the church to her!

On Thursday we visited a family and shared with the man of the home. After listening to the gospel he said that he'd read a book a while back that explained the same message and that he'd prayed to receive Christ, but didn't know what to do next. He did mention that he was caring for his paralyzed sister and that she would like to hear the message. So Dani and I went into the next room and found the young lady laying in her hospital bed looking with a smile at us through the bars. We learned that she was hit by a car 7 years ago and has been paralyzed from the waist down ever since. When I asked her if she wanted to hear some good news, she answered and said that she'd already heard . . . she'd been straining to hear all that we were saying in the other room. Dani went ahead and reviewed the gospel with her and within a few minutes she was praying to receive Jesus. Afterwards we discussed ways to help her grow in her faith and the man of the house asked if Pastor Sabu or another leader in the church could come by weekly and teach them. At e3 Partners our slogan is "If they can't walk to church they can't go to church. So we'll take the church to them." This slogan was written to describe our desire to plant a church within walking distance of everyone on earth since most people don't own a car and have no church anywhere near them. Amazingly I saw the LORD bring our slogan to life this week.

Wednesday from India

Wow! I can't believe its already Wednesday and I can't
believe all the wonderful things that we've had the
privilege of experiencing in just the few days that we've
been here in Kerala. Below are just a few highlights to
encourage you to keep praying for the Holy Spirit is
moving mightily to exalt the Name of Jesus in this place:

Rudy and David went to a home yesterday and found a woman
weeping bitterly over her unconscious husband. She was
screaming for help when they arrived. They knelt over the
man and prayed that God would touch him and within moments
the man was standing on his feet and they were all
praising God! The team was then able to share the Gospel
and get a hearing in the area with great reception.

Tom and Martin were blessed to lead a 104 year old woman
to faith in Christ, after which she kissed them both in
joy. Of 5 homes they visited on Tuesday, everyone of them
had people come to faith in Christ. In keeping with our
vision for church planting, one of the homes was offered
up to host the home group launch service that will be on
Thursday evening.

Daniel S., Elena, and Emma had an 82 year old man that had
taught in a Catholic school for 55 years, repent and
receive Christ. He is a man of great influence in his
village so please pray that he will be a catalyst in
spreading the gospel. Elena met a Hindu woman on the
street and started to share with her. As she shared her
testimony the Hindu lady was very receptive and asked
Christ into her life even with her mother there taunting
her. Afterwards I had the joy of laying hands on this new
believer and blessing her. As I spoke a Psalm over her
she began weeping. I told her that though she had been
from a lower caste, she's now a beautiful child of the
King! She wrapped her face in her traditional sari and
wept bitterly as Elena comforted her. It was a beautiful
moment.

Scott and Daniel B were able to help their national worker
lead his best friend to faith in Christ.

Josh and Diane visited 5 homes yesterday and no one
received Christ. Just as they were about to head back to
the guest house a man was standing in the street waving at
them. The went up to talk with him and his friends as
they were building a home. All three men received Christ
and immediately the national pastor assigned to that area
made arrangements to begin their discipleship.

Jon and Leah were sharing the Gospel with a lady that was
holding a baby that started crying and disrupting the
conversation. They prayed and the baby fell asleep and
then Leah was able to lead the mother to faith in Jesus.

My dear brother Dani Abraham (our e3 India Director) have
spent the last 2 days visiting homes of Muslim families in
the area and I've been training him on how to share the
Gospel with them. The 2nd family we visited with
yesterday listened intently as I first used the Quran to
ask them questions about Jesus. Following that I showed
what Jesus says about himself in the Bible and took them
through a complete Gospel presentation. They were not
ready to receive Him, but both families took a New
Testament and agreed to read it together and discuss it.
When we left the 2nd home all the neighbors went running
down to the home to see why we were there. Hopefully they
gossiped the gospel as was done in the 1st century!

As you can see, this has been an amazing week already.
We've only had 1 person get sick (Daniel S.) and he's
resting today. In all we've had 73 people receive Christ
(Catholic, Hindu and Muslim background) in just 2 days of
evangelizing. Pray that God would continue to bless us
with the ability to make His name great! Pray for our new
church start bible studies that we'll hold on Thursday
evening. We love and appreciate you all!

Tuesday from India

Thank you for your prayers yesterday. Our teams went out
and saw the LORD do many amazing things. We had people
from Hindu, Catholic and Muslim background that heard the
gospel. In all, 28 people repented and put their faith in
Jesus Christ yesterday! We are praising God because in
several cases whole households came to faith. One story
that sticks out in my mind is an elderly Catholic couple
who received one of our teams. They were celebrating
their 53rd anniversary yesterday and when they heard the
gospel, they both realized their need for a personal
relationship with Christ and made professions of faith
together. What a way to celebrate and add significance to
an anniversary!

Several of our teams encountered Muslim
families, which had some resistance to the message.
However, clear presentations of the gospel were made and
the families received copies of the New Testament. I got
to share with one of those families and when Josh, Leah
and I left the home the mother and her son were standing
on the porch reading God's word together! Please pray
that the LORD would continue to anoint and empower us to
proclaim His message with boldness. Everyone on the team
is still healthy although a few didn't sleep well last
night because of the 10.5 hour time difference. Pray for
strength and continued expansion of the Kingdom of Light.

Our national brothers that are working with us are doing
an amazing job here and we are blessed and encouraged to
serve alongside such godly faithful men. Thanks for your
continued prayers and look for another update tomorrow.

Monday from India

We arrived in kerala yesterday to a wonderful welcome from
our national brothers. They placed flower garland
necklaces around everyone's neck and greeted us with
warmth. After a 2 hour drive we reached the guest house
from which we'll be working all week. Everyone was very
tired after 2 days travel, but God's grace is sufficient.
Last night we went and worshipped with the host church.
Worship Church is led by Pastor Sabu and has about 30-40
adults plus another 20 children. It was a very lively
service, the end of which I was able to preach and
encourage our combined team for our work which began
today.

This morning we met for worship before going out and the
Holy Spirit made His Presence known among us. We had a
wonderful time just exalting the Name of Jesus and praying
for the Harvest fields. I just sent the teams out and I
am leaving to go and work alongside them in a few minutes.
I will "float" from team to team and help where needed.
Our translators and national partners are doing a
wonderful job and everyone is encouraged.

The whole team is healthy thus far. Continue to pray for
health, strength, and most of all that Christ would make
Himself known in this region that is filled with many
Hindus, Muslims, and syncretistic Catholics who are
worshipping saints and idols rather than being justified
by grace alone through faith in Christ. We even saw a
vine that is enshrined outside a Catholic church yesterday
- people are worshipping the vine because each time it was
pulled up it grew back. WOW! Where there is a void,
Satan fills it with all kinds of deception. Ask the LORD
of the Harvest to break through those barriers and to
transform this region with the Gospel.

The Journey Begins at Home

Today God granted me the opportunity to share with 2 Muslims and 1 former Buddhist.

First at our children’s school Thanksgiving program I was able to share with a friend’s Muslim co-teacher. She was delighted when I greeted to her in her language. Simple greetings open the door to wonderful conversations. I challenge you to learn the greetings of those from different cultures around you (Hola – Spanish; Namaste – traditional Indian; Asalaam Aleykum – universal Islamic greeting; Shalom – Jewish; Onyon Hasayo – Korean; Sawadee Kraap – Thai etc.). Anyway, after this woman responded with joy at my greeting, I challenged her to learn more about Jesus and promised that I’d send more information to her through our mutual friend (who happens to be a Christ-follower).

Second, a few weeks ago I went into a store with my wife. When there we met the store manager who we quickly learned is a Muslim from Asia. After talking with her and showing interest in her culture, she became more interested in us. We shared a brief testimony with her that we have been born again and are followers of Jesus. I asked her what she knew about Jesus and she said that she believed all roads lead to God – provided they are sincere. With that I told her that Jesus proclaimed himself to be the only road to God and asked if she’d ever read the Injil (New Testament). She told us that she hadn’t, but she’d like to. So we promised to bring her one as a gift when we returned to pick up my clothes. Today we walked into the store and when she saw us she smiled and asked, “Did you bring my gift????” We talked more with her and she she’s ready to read what Jesus said about himself . . . and share it with her whole family. Her dad just arrived from Iran today and she’s going to share the bible with him. I also gave her a tract and she said she’s so excited to learn more. Before we left we gave her Cat’s cell # and we agreed to talk regularly and that we’d have her over for dinner around Christmas. As we were walking out she said “You are so different from others I’ve met here. You actually care to know me and about my customs. You care enough to share with me about your beliefs as well. Please don’t forget about me.” Jesus told us that the fields are white unto harvest. But where are the laborers that will recognize it? Pray that WORD comes ALIVE in her heart!!!

Finally, we went to lunch with my mom at a little pizza joint that my mom met us at. Mom was telling us on the way in how the girl that works there always remembers her order and what great service she gives. We walked in and sure enough, the young lady that waited on us asked mom if she wants the “usual.” (Not sure if that says that the waitress is keen or if mom eats too much pizza???) Anyway, the young lady was obviously Asian so I asked where she’s from. “Cambodia.” I said, “I was there in 1998 training a group of churches. When did you move here?” She shared that she came here when she was 5 years old – Pol Pot’s regime was executing half the country’s population in the Killing Fields . . . including MANY of her family members. So I asked if she’s Buddhist (majority religion in Cambodia). She said, “I was when my family moved here when I was 5. We lived in Chamblee. But a church used to send groups into our neighborhood to do VBS and I learned about Jesus there. That’s where I became a Christian and I haven’t looked back.” That’s solid. Somebody recognized a Divine opportunity and seized it. Somebody took the time to show compassion to her and her family. Somebody took the time to share the Gospel and she was radically transformed. I could see it in her smile. I could hear it in her voice when she talked about the LORD.

And so that’s my prayer – for me and for you. That years down the road multitudes will look back and tell others the story of the time that you and I came into their neighborhood, or office, or school or village and brought the Good News. Maybe the children of a Muslim teacher or clothing store manager will one day be able to say, “Yea. My family used to be Muslim. But mom told me about a man that took time one day to . . . . Is that what you’re praying for? If not, look around you. The fields are WHITE! Will you be a laborer in them? Here, there and everywhere. All the time. The journey begins today, where you’re at. But it doesn’t stop there.

Please pray the following Scripture for our team as we head to India this week:
Colossians 4:2-6
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful & thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, . . . Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders, make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Thoughts on Reading and Writing

By John Piper February 20, 2002

I've been thinking again about the importance of reading and writing. There are several reasons I write. One of the most personally compelling is that I read. I mean, my main spiritual sustenance comes by the Holy Spirit from reading. Therefore reading is more important to me than eating. If I went blind, I would pay to have someone read to me. I would try to learn Braille. I would buy "books on tape." I would rather go without food than go without books. Therefore, writing feels very lifegiving to me, since I get so much of my own life from reading.

Combine this with what Paul says in Ephesians 3:3-4, "By revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ." The early church was established by apostolic writing as well as apostolic preaching. God chose to send his living Word into the world for 30 years, and his written Word into the world for 2000+ years. Think of the assumption behind this divine decision. People in each generation would be dependent on those who read. Some people, if not all, would have to learn to read—and read well, in order to be faithful to God.

So it has been for thousands of years. Generation after generation has read the insights of its writers. This is why fresh statements of old truth are always needed. Without them people will read error. Daniel Webster once said,

If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will.1

Millions of people are going to read. If they don't read contemporary Christian books, they are going to read contemporary secular books. They will read. It is amazing to watch people in the airports. At any given moment there must be hundreds of thousands of people reading just in airports. One of the things we Christians need to be committed to, besides reading, is giving away solid books to those who might read them, but would never buy them.

The ripple effect is incalculable. Consider this illustration:

A book by Richard Sibbes, one of the choicest of the Puritan writers, was read by Richard Baxter, who was greatly blessed by it. Baxter then wrote his Call to the Unconverted which deeply influenced Philip Doddridge, who in turn wrote The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. This brought the young William Wilberforce, subsequent English statesman and foe of slavery, to serious thoughts of eternity. Wilberforce wrote his Practical Book of Christianity which fired the soul of Leigh Richmond. Richmond, in turn, wrote The Dairyman's Daughter, a book that brought thousands to the Lord, helping Thomas Chalmers the great preacher, among others.2

It seems to me that in a literate culture like ours, where most of us know how to read and where books are available, the Biblical mandate is: keep on reading what will open the Holy Scriptures to you more and more. And keep praying for Bible-saturated writers. There are many great old books to read. But each new generation needs its own writers to make the message fresh. Read and pray. And then obey.

Pastor John

Notes

[1] Ernest Reisinger, "Every Christian a Publisher," Free Grace Broadcaster, Issue 51, Winter, 1995, p. 17.
[2] "Every Christian a Publisher," p. 18.
This reading is found in A Godward Life, Book One (Multnomah, 1997), pp. 58-59.


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