Kamala seated at right

Wadekar Leaders

We went to a meeting for the 2nd Annual Global Conference for Indians that was in preparation to meet in November. Gary spoke on “Unity and Diversity.” We learned after going to this meeting that there have been Christians in South India since the time of St. Thomas, over 2000 yrs ago, when he brought the Word of God there. (Right: Conferance leaders)

 

 

On the 11th of March we ministered at Pastor Wadekar’s Church in the morning on ‘Precise prayer’ and again in the evening service at Pastor's brother Daniel's church on “The Living God.” They welcomed us warmly and gave us many flowers which were strung on a string that they placed around our neck. This is a traditional way of being greeted in India. At the evening service two women were delivered during the worship after falling on the floor and moving like a snake.

On the following Monday, we conducted our first Pastors/Leaders meeting in Mumbai on “What is a Leader” and “Qualities of a Leader” which took three sessions. Afterwards they met for a luncheon that we were not prepared for as we found out that when you hold a pastors conference you are expected by tradition to feed them food also. We hope for future meetings to change this tradition because of the expense in feeding all who show up.

In the evening we went to dinner with Kamala’s family so they could show their thanks to the Lord and to celebrate his goodness. We prayed for the entire family and enjoyed the fellowship.

On the 13 of March we continued with the Pastors/Leaders seminar and more came for the meeting than the first day. We had about 110 in attendance. More women and children also showed up, possibly for the food that was served as well. Gary spoke on “What is a leader” again and on “Servanthood.” This was the first day that we heard that we had to pay for the “hall” and all that it accompanied. The PA system, instruments, and yes, the food too! We ask how much it was going to cost and he said 24,000 Rupees. He said that his ministry would pay for half of the cost of the hall. We prayed for the leaders that had come at the conclusion and the pastors and their wives as well. The Holy Spirit moved on hearts.

Pastors/Leaders meeting in Mumbai (Click Here for another picture)

On the 14th we traveled to see Pastor Falk’s Church at Ulhasmagar, which is located in a dump site, for an evening service. We got lost and could not find our way because of directions and arrived just before dark. We learned that the church that we were to minister in was torn down earlier that day by Muslims, so the owner spread some material down on the top of the mountain at the top of the dump site. We found out that it was not safe and we were encouraged to leave after greeting the people and encouraging them in the Lord. The next day we traveled back to Pastor Falk’s and joined him in baptizing seven of his people who had come to know the Lord. The first lady to be baptized was cured of cancer and that is how the church started in the dump site.

We visited the home of the Suresh family (photo right) and spoke to a brother who was an alcoholic (seated at left). He had not eaten much if anything in two weeks and wanted to be delivered. We prayed for him and he was saved and delivered and when we saw him three weeks later he was still praising God for his salvation and deliverance.

We went sightseeing in what they call the “Gate to India” This is the port of India and many, many boats were there as well as tourist. We traveled about 35 Kilometers to get to the Gate, and it took two hours! This will give you an idea of the kind of traffic that we dealt with while in India. There are more motorcycles and auto rickshaws in India than cars I believe. There are 18 million people who live in Mumbai and rush hour is all day long. If there are three lanes they become six. We saw in the midst of the traffic a cart pulled by six bulls for a festival for one of their gods. We stopped for lunch at Pizza Hut to get out of the 102 degree weather and were stopped by police as we entered the mall. They check everyone for terrorist checks.

We traveled to Daund on the 17th to meet with Pastor Moses, and saw a real bad car wreck on the way. We rested and later that evening went to a milk and ice cream factory. We realized that the power shortage in India is all over; They just ration the power at different times for different areas. We did not have power in Daund from 6:00 am until 1:30 pm or so.

On Sunday the 18th Gary ministered on “Fact or Truth” and prayed for the people who came forward. Daund has a population of 200,000 and 25% of them are Christians. This is three generations of saved people.

In the evening Gary ministered eighteen miles outside of town in a farming community, Belwandy, on "Joshua's Success". There was no power when we got there because of rationing 12 hours a day.

Daund Meetings (Click Here for more pictures)

On the 19th we ministered at Pastor Moses' Forceful Man Bible Training Center, as pastors, leaders, students and visiting YWAM youth listened to "God’s Choice for a leader" and "Characteristics of a leader and armor bearer". In the evening we went to Telgy Colony and ministered on Precise Prayer.

On the 20th Gary continued ministering on the "Armor Bearer" and on “Growing the Church”. The pastors all enjoyed the teaching. One particular pastor came 110 Kilometers every day to go to school. We returned in the evening to minister at Telgy Colony on “Against What I am facing”. The temperature was 93 degrees and very humid at 9:30 PM.

On the 21st we traveled to Latur to spend the night with Pastor Moses daughter, Sharon and her husband (photo right) Benjamin. This was on our way to Andre Pradesh. We also met Bishop Dupte, Benjamin’s father. We were told that Marasthra was the 3rd largest state in India with 78 million people, 35 districts, 40,000 villages and 17 cities. Gary ministered at night on “Three Ways to Success”. Then a graduation of seven students took place with a dinner following. Many people attended and there was singing and celebration for all.

While there that night, we stayed in a nice room that was cooled by a swamp cooler.

The next morning we sat with Bishop Dupte and also heard from many of the children who were in the home there that came to be helped through him. We also heard how the ministry of Kenneth E. Hagin has completely changed his life and influenced his walk with the Lord. We left and went to Andre Pradesh where they speak Telgu, a language that Pastor Wadekar did not know. We arrived at 6 PM and left at 7 to go to the meeting which was two hours away. The meeting started at 9:00 PM and we got back to the hotel after midnight. The village was called Pulukurthy. The next day we went to a baptism traveling two hours again and then back to the hotel. We prayed for a Pastor Aaron’s wife who was in the hospital along the way. Later that evening we found out that the pastor's wife was healed from her condition and released.

We ministered to two different churches in Andre Pradesh on the 25th, which was two hours from the hotel. At the first church Gary ministered on “The Living God”. Then we went to the second church where he ministered to another congregation. These meetings were very short but it took a long time to get to both churches. In the evening we had a service just outside of town where we stayed. Then that night we traveled back twelve hours to Daund and arrived in the morning at about 10:00 a.m.

Meetings in Andre Pradesh (Click Here for more pictures)

When we arrived at Pastor Moses' we found that his wife had fallen and was in extreme pain and was crying. We prayed for her and the anointing started healing her back and stomach immediately. She started preparing us lunch. We left Daund for Sangli later that day and arrived there at 10 PM.

On the 27th we held a pastors/leaders seminar at Pastor Suryvanshi’s. We held two sessions and at night and we spoke to the whole congregation on “Fact or Truth.” We rested and washed clothes the next day between two meetings in the morning and one at night. We then traveled back to Daund after dinner.

We rested on the 29th and washed more clothes. It was 105 degrees with no electricity, no fans and extremely hot and humid. On the 30th we left for Nagar which was two hours away. We stayed in a hotel for the three days which had air conditioning; However we did not have power much of the time, so noooo air conditioning for the most part. The owner of the hotel was not saved, but God gave favor to the pastor who hosted us there in Nagar and everything was paid for!

The first evening meeting was well attended with about 300 people coming as Gary spoke on “Fact or Truth.” Some where healed, two were saved, three delivered from alcohol, and many came forward to be prayed for to have babies. The children were so excited and wanted to touch us and came upon the stage to get close to Janet. She almost fell off of the stage and one young girl did fall off and was prayed for. (For more pictures click Here)

 

We ate this first night at Pastor Shem’s brother's. He was paralyzed from a stroke. We saw a need for a lot of teaching concerning healing and deliverance. The next day was scheduled for a large pastors meeting, but due to an incident where a local pastor was attacked by opposition, the meeting was cancelled as all of the pastors in the area went to the High Commission to get the dispute straightened out. We had a meeting for all people in Pastor Shem’s church and it was very packed! Gary spoke on Unity in the Body. (Picture left: Pastor Shem)

We prayed for a man who was deaf as the pastor testified and God healed him instantly. Later that night we held the second evening service and spoke on “Three Progressive Steps to Victory.” There were many in attendance again this night.

On Sunday, April 1st, Gary ministered on prayer. The same man who came for prayer concerning his deafness came to be delivered from alcohol and received deliverance as well as Salvation. Gary ministered on “Prevailing Faith” to all the people who came on the last evening. The meeting was video-taped and 300 to 500 people came to hear the Word of God. The altar calls were almost as large as the crowds that came to hear the Word of God. Gary was very, very tired at the end of each meeting because of praying for so many people.

We left late that night and traveled back to Daund. We had a cup of tea and then left Daund for Mumbai at 3:30 am to arrive at 8 am. We had a flat tire just before we arrived. In the evening we went to a home church where Gary spoke on the "Armor Bearer". People were genuinely hungry for the Word of God. We prayed for everyone who attended.

On the 3rd we did some shopping and visited another home church in the evening. Gary spoke on “Keys, Secrets and Mysteries”. This home church was started after the wife was healed from her face being paralyzed. She got saved and then her whole house got saved. We prayed for everyone again and two of the daughters were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues even though we did not know what they needed. Janet received a word from the Lord concerning “fire”. The girls went out and later one came back and said in their language that she had something like fire in her body. We believe that God is going to use this whole family, especially the girls to spread the Gospel. Another lady, Raka was prayed for and there was a strong anointing coming from her. We asked her to pray for us and Gary was knocked over by the power of the Lord.

The houses in this area were 8x8 or 9x9 to accommodate 4-6 people. We could not believe it! We went to four different houses that night and prayed for different people in each house.

On the 4th we held our last Pastors/leaders meeting at Pastor Wadekar's church and passed out books to some of his leaders. We packed, rested and shopped on the 5th and returned upon invitation to Kamala’s house as they prepared a feast for us. We thank God for keeping us throughout the whole time and give Him all the glory for the lives changed. Thank you for sending us to India!!

These past months find us continually working here in the Lord’s Vineyard, sowing His Word in hearts and trusting the Holy Spirit to bring fruit from each opportunity that we teach and preach His Word.

Love, Gary & Janet Priem