Results of the India Trip
4 November, 2010, 12:33 pm
This was a great project for our first one in Ahmedabad, India. While we were not able to preach in the open air on the street, we were able to minister in the following ways.
We treated over 1150 people at the medical clinics
We gave out more than 560 pairs of reading glasses
Worked with 400+ children over a five day period of VBS
Taught 40 pastors for 5 days at a pastors conference
Shared with 35 street youth (ages 15-25) with 8 indicating a response to the gospel invitation
A special thanks to the many people who prayed for us, and who prayed for my recovery when I got home. We are now getting ready for our Kenya project in January.
Posted By: Phil Eyster
Photo: The ladies of the India Project
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The Tree "God" and We
15 September, 2010, 09:57 am
We are about half way done with this project to Ahmedabad and things are going well. Everyone is healthy and in good spirits. We've had a great time with our hosts who have a great ministry here.
One of the things we have been doing each day is VBS with the poorest of the poor. There are about 50 kids who are coming to the Centre each day for Bible stories, songs, and evangelism. All of these kids are from the slum areas of Ahmedabad and from Hindu families. The kids have an incredibly fun time and love the engagement with other kids and with us. Each day our team has shared a Bible story, the gospel, and crafts. Each day the children leave with huge smiles on their faces.
We've also continued with our medical and eye clinics. Yesterday we were inside of a very poor area. The clinic was held inside of a "house"...a small room with a tin roof. It had to be 110F in that room, crowded with our team and all the patients. These are people who would not be able to see a doctor and particularly one like Dr. Mark Gordon. Mark does a great job with the people, seeing about 200 each day, all day long.
Today we held the clinic above a Hindu Temple. We were on the second floor and the temple was on the first floor. But the "god" inhabits a tree that grows up through the floor and out the second floor roof. The tree is exposed on the second floor with holes in the floor and ceiling. People queued up the stairs to get to the clinic and were eager to be treated. It is a tremendous witness for Christ and those who come are overjoyed that our care is given for free. It really makes an impact with them.
The eye glasses that we give away are for reading. Those who get them are just overjoyed to be able to see to read again. Imagine if you couldn't read anymore simply because you couldn't afford a $2.00 pair of reading glasses? Imagine spending decades without reading and then someone handing you a pair of glasses and suddenly you can see the pages again.
Finally, we have been training about 30 pastors from around north India. Many of these men are working in hostile areas. These are areas that have recently had churches burned by the Muslims. One even happened this week. These are dedicated men who love the Lord and are anxious for more training. There are three of us doing the training...John Johnston, Danny Gnanamuthu, and myself. Through the generosity of some supporters we are going to be able to purchase study bibles for each of the pastors.
We have 4 more days of ministry left. We will be leaving here early on Monday morning. The days have been hot, although we hear that it is cooler than usual, for which we are thankful. Thank you all for your prayers, they have been felt.
Posted By: Phil Eyster
Photo: Tree "god" growing up through the floor
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The Ministry Begins in Ahmedabad, India
13 September, 2010, 08:44 am
We have been ministering for a few days now. Things have been going quite well and by the grace of God it has not rained during the times that we need to do ministry so far.
On Saturday we unpacked the supplies and sorted the medicines based on the number of days that we will have clinics. One new feature was that the women on the project were taken out by our host to purchase indian dresses to wear this week when they are out in public. This helps show cultural sensitivity and will aid in our witness among the people.
On Sunday, we began the work with training, medical clinics, and VBS. Phil Eyster and John Johnston did the pastoral training and the rest of the team worked at the medical clinic in the morning. In the afternoon some of the folks began to work at the VBS for slum kids.
On Monday, we did more pastoral training and a VBS in the afternoon.
We have a great team on this trip. From the USA we have John Pullen (EPI), Stephanie Panciera (ME), Karla Hutchinson (MA), John and Paul Johnston (ME), and myself. From Scotland we have Dr. Mark Gordon, Andrew Smith, Claire Farley, Fiona Donnachie. Finally, from Hong Kong we have Josephine Kwong. Jo is one of our indispensable people that helps us on our China projects...this is her first project with us in another country.
We treated 200 people at the medical clinic on Sunday and had about 35 slum kids at the VBS. We also trained 30 pastors from 9am to 6pm.
One of the highlights of the day is the drive back from the ministry centre to the hotel. The trip takes about an hour through incredible traffic. It is something that has to be experienced to be believed...every conceivable mode of transportation is employed, there is little adherence to stop and go lights, but there appears to be an unspoken code that keeps everyone flowing along. As long as you keep your eyes shut, you can miss the 100 near collisions.
So far everyone on the team is having a great time and in good health. Our days start at 7am and get done about 9pm or so. We are having evening team meetings at night where we debrief and pray for our activities. We are looking forward to a great week of ministry here in northern India. Thanks for your prayers.
Posted By; Phil Eyster
Photo: Fiona Donnachie, Claire Farley, and Karla Hutchinson
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We Have Arrived in Ahmedabad
10 September, 2010, 11:36 pm
We have arrived in Ahmedabad, and so have our bags! As I write this it is Saturday morning and we are just getting up and getting ready for our day.
It was a long trip for the team from Maine. We left the EPI office at midnight on Wednesday, drove to Boston, flew to London, had a 2 hour layover, then flew to Bombay. We were in Bombay on Friday from 11am to 5pm when our flight left for Ahmedabad.
In London we met up with four of our participants from Scotland and then in Bombay our friend from Hong Kong joined us. So there are 11 of us from the US, Scotland, and Hong Kong. We still have one more person to arrive on Monday.
The flights were on time and the most important thing is that all of our baggage with the supplies arrived with us. We are looking forward to a great week of ministry here which will include medical and eye clinics, VBS, and theological training.
Today will be spent sorting through the medical supplies that we bought and getting ready for ministry tomorrow. We also have to go out and purchase some things and meet together with our Indian partners.
We are staying in a hotel. We have air conditioning and clean sheets...so we are doing well. For those who are following our progress, we are 9.5 hours ahead of US Eastern Time, 4.5 hours ahead of UK time, and 2.5 hours behind HK Time.
I will try and put a PLOG (project log) on each day, but will certainly be putting updates on Twitter and the EPI facebook page every few hours.
Thank you all for your prayers. So far things have gone very smoothly.
Posted By: Phil Eyster
Photo: The team arrives at the airport in Ahmedabad
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EPI India Project Begins
8 September, 2010, 10:37 am
We are off to Ahmedabad, India. We have 13 people from Scotland, Hong Kong, South India, and the USA. We will be doing our medical and eye clinics, VBS, and theological training. We will be leaving the EPI offices at midnight on Wednesday night, driving to Boston, and flying to London. We will meet up with the team from Scotland and fly to Bombay. There we will meet the final members of the team and all of us will fly up to Ahmedebad, arriving on Friday evening.
Ahmedabad is a city of 4 million people in the northwest part of India. It is located in the state of Gujarat and is populated with just .02% Christians. We have already done two small preliminary projects here in 2009 and 2010, but this will be our first full scale project.
Please pray for this project in this difficult area. Please pray that we have good weather also. The latest word is that the summer rains have not stopped, which is unusual. We need dry weather to hold the medical clinics.
I hope to get an internet connection when I am there, which will allow me to post plogs and photos. Otherwise I will keep you updated with Twitter and Facebook. The project will last until September 20th.
Posted By: Phil Eyster
Photo: Ahmedabad Airport at night
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