My first visit to India

My first visit to India

During our family’s time in Ghana, I took the coaches to a global missions conference outside of Ghana’s capital, Accra. The day after we arrived, Naomi came to our table with a young Indian man she introduced as ‘our new friend’. She was right! Emmanuel Dass was with us for the rest of the conference and really became part of our team. Throughout the last year, Emmanuel has kept in touch with the coaches me and through emails and texts. Interestingly, Emmanuel does in India the same kind of ministry work some of our coaches do in Ghana – training and discipling village pastors.

Over the last six months, events lined up for me to combine a visit with Emmanuel with some other opportunities to teach discipleship to young leaders in India. On January 7, I depart for India where I will meet up with friends Dave and Cathy Hicks, long time missionaries who serve with Alongside Asia and have worked in India since 1963! As you can see on the map, I will be visiting six different cities.

• In Mumbai, Cuttack, and Coimbatore I am meeting with young Indian Christian leaders to learn more about what they are doing in ministry and discipleship.
• In Kolkata, I will be teaching YLI discipleship material at a three-day gathering with young leaders. I will also have the opportunity to teach students at the Hindustan Institute of Mission.
• In Ooty I will be visiting Freedom Firm, a Christian organization that rescues girls from sex trafficking.
• From Ooty I am taking a night train to Chennai to spend six days with Emmanuel, his family and his ministry in villages.

In all, the trip is just under three weeks. Please pray for my time with young leaders, for my teaching times, and for discernment about how God might be leading us to engage with Emmanuel and other young leader in India.