The Joy of Serving

It’s Monday PM, the 19th.  Less than 1 week from now we will be on our way, again, to India for another 2 week visit.

We will stay at the orphanage again for just a short visit of 3 or 4 days. 

While there we are going to put on a feast for all the children.  It should be fun for all.  One day we will break away from there and go to the Anna Unruh Home for the Aged in Therigoppula.  We have a bunch of blankets to give to the residents there.

On our 4th day we head out from Jangaon to Warangal and Karimnagar to visit other ministries for a few days.

Our last visit will be way down to Anantapur for several days.  When our time is up there Sharon and I will head back to Hyderabad to begin our long trip back home (something like 34 hours altogether).

I am determined to be able to post on this blog while there.  Last time I had no access with my own laptop and had to borrow our hosts’ computer.  With that, I was able to post messages, but without pictures for some reason.  My plans this time are to get a local SIM card for my Blackberry.  This will not only allow me to make cheaper phone calls, but supposedly also let me get to the blog for what I need to do.  In case that fails I will also be stopping by a service provider in Hyderabad the day after we arrive to pick up a “dongle” for the laptop which is supposed to allow me to access Internet that way.  I should be covered.  But it is India, after all.

My intent with all of this is to somehow make this blog more interesting, at least to those of you who want to follow our comings and goings there.  So, stop back often to check for updates and photos.

 Mike

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Dear Brothers and Sisters:

The time is fast approaching when Sharon and I will be leaving for India.  We fly to Hyderabad on January 21 to meet up with Roger and Jan and head out to Jangaon for a two-week stay.  In addition to our spending time with the orphans and general support for the ministry of K. M. and Jayamani John in the Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh, I will also be involved, along with Roger, in maintenance and repairs of the Mercy House Orphanage building, a project I became involved with after my first trip there last January.  For Sharon, this will be a first ever experience of traveling to a faraway land and experiencing a culture that shows just what the meaning of “foreign” is.  But she is as excited as I am, and we both go there with a desire to serve God in any way that pleases Him.
There is plenty to do.  There is plumbing to fix, water damage to repair, painting to be done, missing screens to replace if we can get them, work on kitchen facilities; all sorts of physical upgrades of building, etc.  More important, however, is to go there and give spiritual support for all the good work K. M. and Jayamani have been doing in the name of the Lord in Jangaon and the surrounding villages.  Sharon’s presence and support will be very much appreciated in that respect.  Beyond that she knows not what awaits her.
The believers in these villages absolutely love it when we show up at their worship services and hear their joyous singing and wonderful drum rhythms.  They also love to hear us give our own testimonies, and in Roger’s case, some preaching.  They can’t wait to greet us with a handshake after the service is over.  And then they crowd around us and ask us to pray for them.  What strangers have ever made me feel more welcome?
Returning from India last year I required almost a month of reflection before I could truly explain what I saw there and what I experienced.  Then it took another several weeks of writing about it before I realized some of what it meant to me.  A year has now gone by and still things are sinking in.
Yes, as I wrote in that first account, there is much spiritual darkness in India.  Cruel things happen there that the dominant culture either accepts or just ignores; child abuse, abandonment of widows, children and infants, even young girls sold into sexual slavery.  But the good news is that a growing segment of society, the Christians, are no longer part of that dominant culture.  These Christians are spreading the Word, and more and more people there are awakening to the realization of how wrong those things are.
I might go on to say how these poor people need us and our support.  That they are worthy of all the help we can give them.  That they have shown they have the potential to spread God’s word far and wide . . . and so that’s why I am going back.  But while I believe those things are true, the simple fact is that, for some reason, God has put love in my heart for these orphans and believing villagers of Andhra Pradesh, India and if ever I felt He had a plan for my life, I am certain it involves my presence there soon.  I am delighted to discover there is joy in believing God is working through me.
And so now, as the time to leave draws near, we ask for your prayers to go with us.  We ask you to pray that God would be ever present with us as we show Him our faith by taking such a long and costly trip to a country so far away.  And please pray that, even though we don’t have all our activities planned out for us in great detail, our work with the ministry there would bear good fruit for God’s kingdom, whether in our own lifetimes, or after.

Thank you for your support and God bless you all,

Mike and Sharon Monson

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As most of you know Sharon and I are excited to be leaving for India this Monday, January 21.  I expect we will be very busy much of the time, along with Roger and Jan, helping K.M. and Jayamani with their ministry, especially the Mercy House Orphanage.  However, I also plan to take some time to submit posts to this blog every day, or so.

Of course I have no way of knowing if there will be adequate internet access required to do it.  Jan has been making some posts on her blog, One Handful of Rice and her news makes very interesting reading.  She has mentioned, however, she has not been able to get pictures posted with the articles.  I am hoping to include lots of pictures in my posts so I will try a couple adjustments, and see if it works.  If so Jan should also be able to send hers the same way.  I would love to have been able to see the pictures of the Banjaras dancing she mentioned.

So, check here often to see what we have experienced in India and please remember your comments are really appreciated.

God bless you all,

Mike and Sharon M.

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I am introducing a new category called Good News/Bad news.  It will consist of links regarding news items, both good and bad, that will be of interest or concern to Christians.  I invite your submissions to this catagory.  We should all be kept informed about current events so we can know what to support and give praise for, as well as what to protest and fight against.

Keep in mind I have no control over when the article’s host pulls it.  But I will delete my link as soon as I become aware of it.

Mike

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     Have you read a book you can recommend that does not contain vulgar sex, gratuitous violence or foul language?  A book that proves it doesn’t need these things to be entertaining, engaging or enlightening?  A book that does some good for society, or individuals?  An uplifting book, healing book (not medically speaking, of course) or informative book?  A book that has a good message?

     If so, I would like you to share your thoughts about it here with others.  Let’s spread the word about these books that do not glorify behaviors and lifestlyes that Christians understand are not in keeping with the ways of the Lord.

     They can be fiction or non-fiction.  Just make sure they have some “redeeming qualities” as mentioned above (I enjoy a good spy novel or Clancy technothriller.  But, in the end, they’re pure escapism and don’t really have much meaning).

     I have read some of them myself.  But, as you might expect, they don’t get much press.  I had to find out about them from word-of-mouth.

     For now, let’s leave out Classic literature written long ago and stick to recent books written by more or less contemporary authors for today’s world.  The Classics can be wonderful reading and be universal in nature but I have a hunch that many young people won’t believe that, no matter what we say.  We can deal with Classics in a separate catagory at a later date.

     I also want to completely avoid the “Self Help” genre.  Why?  As a Christian I believe, from personal experience, that self-help doesn’t truly exist.  If there happens to be a book sitting in that section that does promote belief in God, Jesus Christ and prayer as a way to get the help you need, then that book is obviously mis-catagorized (if you don’t agree with this statement you’re welcome  to comment on that, too).

     Keep in mind that we don’t have to limit our discussions to “feel good” or “warm fuzzy” ideas.  After all, some books deliver important messages about some very dark subjects.  Such books may deal with sex, drugs, violence, etc., just not in any way that glorifes them.  So, it’s not so much what topics the author covers, but rather what he or she says about them.  If the subjects are approached from a Christian’s point of view, or any other point of view on moral high ground, the books may be discussed here.

     So tell us of such books you’ve read.  Give us a synopsis, or even a review.

     To start things off I will submit a post shortly about one such book that I think everybody should read.  It is not exactly pleasant reading.  I would rather put it into the “Enlightening” catagory.  But it deals with subjects that desperately need to be brought out into the open.

Until then,

Mike

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Hello,

I have just added 4 catagories for discussion:  Books, Movies, Music and Entertainment in general. I hope to hear from you regarding one, or more, of them.

I believe these catagories deserve our attention since they cover activities that have a tremendous impact, a large portion of it negative, on our youth and thereby, society overall.

If more of our young people were informed about good books and entertainment they may choose to spend more of their time involved with them.

If you agree this would be a good thing, let’s talk.

If there is another particular catagory you would like to see listed here let me know.

Mike

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