Answering my support letter questions...

Before I left for India on this trip and in our support letter, I raised some questions that I wanted to go find answers for - "How does Christian ministry and outreach bring the love of Jesus to the poor? What do we have to offer that is good news? How can we partner with the local Indian Vineyard and be an ambassador for the gospel?". To be sure, these are weighty questions and through our trip, I found one way this is done. I am sure there are other ways to minister and partner.

John Christian and Acts of Mercy works to uplift and empower the poor. The school and Acts of Mercy are Christian organizations but not in a preachy way. As the team was debriefing, we felt like John does not explicitly preach the gospel, he instead lives the gospel. There are local churches along the coast that John partners with. The local pastors do not have the resources to help people materially and bring them to Acts of Mercy. The pastors are committed to the work that Acts of Mercy is doing as was evidenced when we were at the Happy Homes. A local pastor is helping oversee the main building construction and we had a chance to meet him (see picture).



In some ways, Acts of Mercy in Mahabalipuram is similar to InnVision here in the bay area with the main difference being that Acts of Mercy does not get any government help and so is not tied down that way. InnVision is a large non-profit organization on the peninsula that we partner with to provide meals to the homeless twice a month. Of course, InnVision provides many other services as well. And just like we do Bible studies at hot meals, we can/and did Bible studies/circulum at the school with the kids and teachers.

There are many opportunities to partner with Acts of Mercy. But that will be for another blog entry. Stay tuned.