City Tour

As Steve said, day 3 started with a tour of Chennai and finished up with us visiting small groups from New Calvary Church.

We spent the day with Pastor Titus and Sushma as our guides. Sushma says her other name is "Mom" as she was there to take care of us. Pastor Titus is a great brother. We got a chance to talk in more depth about his church and what God is doing there.

I got to visit Dr. Gupta's small group and lead them in worship as well as join them in prayer and listen in as they are doing cell leader training in preparation for multiplying.

I was unprepared for what I experienced on the St. Thomas Mount. Legend has it that Thomas the apostle evangelized India and was martyred on this mountain. There are some Catholic shrines there with lots of icons and statues. From the top of the mountain, you can look in all directions and see the sprawling city of Chennai. It's population is similar to that of New York City.

I think perhaps for the first time, I really understood what it says starting in Matthew 9:36:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

As I looked out at the bustling city, traffic going everywhere, people all over, my heart broke for the lost ones of India. I think I felt God's heart for these people. I admit it, I wept because of the darkness in which they live. Pastor Titus was with me and seeing my reaction, he just said, "Jesus loves India." Indeed he does. There is so much of His work to be done here, and so few to do it. Humanly speaking, it seems hopeless.

But, we serve a God who can do the impossible. We need to be praying as Jesus told us to do 20 centuries ago so that these people will hear the message of the Gospel.