Doulos Partners Trip Report
15 February 2010
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From the Desk of the Director:David

We, here at Doulos, have started doing something that we are very excited about.  Two or three times a year we are going to be sending out trip reports.  These reports will be more in depth than our newsletters and will give me a chance to tell what God is doing around the world and bring the mission to your home or office.  We hope you will look forward to the red heading emails as much we do to send them.  Don't forget to watch the new India video below!
Yours and His,

David Johnson

Executive Director

India

When asked to describe my first trip to India, two words come to mind, Awful and Awesome. The awful part is the extreme poverty and the conditions in which the people live. Their cities and towns do not have the infrastructure that we have in the United States. There is garbage everywhere. The air and water pollution is horrible. The streets and roads have a lot of dirt on them even though they are paved causing dust and dirt everywhere.

 

There are also awful spiritual conditions. There are 330 million different gods worshipped in India. Everywhere we went we saw idols. They were on the dashboards of taxis, in small structures on the side of the roads in the towns and on the paths that led to small villages. They were also worshipped in the temples that were everywhere we went. We visited one of the largest temples in Kolkata, the Temple of Kali. Being in this temple literally made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It was one of the darkest spiritual experiences of my life.

 

Even though the physical and spiritual conditions are very difficult, I found the people of India to be very friendly and helpful. This trip was filled with so many awesome experiences there are to many to count.  In several villages, we were the first white people that they had ever seen. That was a weird feeling. However, the Lord used that experience to draw the people in so that we could play games with them and share the gospel. The first of these experiences was in the South 24th Paraganas where we met Asansol and his wife Sunita. They are regional directors with Big Life, our partner in India. This couple is doing an amazing job in advancing the name of Jesus. Sunita makes amazing tea and her hospitality was wonderful as they welcomed us into their home.

 

We also met a young man named Saiful. He is a converted Muslim who started serving in a region not to far from Kolkata. His evangelistic focus is to reach Muslims with the message of Jesus Christ. Over a several year period, he has started over 200 churches. While we were there, we found out that he has given those churches over to his brother to oversee and to continue to grow the work. Saiful and his brother are the only Christians in their family. Saiful told us through an interpreter that he will move some 30 kilometers away to start over with just himself to try and reproduce the previous fruit.

 

We also met a young woman named Tapashi. Tapashi was made to be a prostitute by her husband. When one of our church planters came into her village for the first time and shared the gospel with her she accepted Christ as her Savior and she knew that she could not go back to that lifestyle. So she and some of the other church planters began to pray that her husband would become a Christian. The Lord answered their prayers. Now Tapashi and her husband are church planters that have planted 15 churches in 15 different villages. As I stood next to Tapashi, I was amazed at God's amazing love and plan. It is just like God to use a former prostitute and pimp to advance the kingdom.

 

Well, I could go on and on about all that the Lord is doing in India. It was an awful and yet awesome experience. Please pray with me as these brave men and women put their lives on the line to spread the gospel.
Please click on the image to view the 2010 India video at Youtube!


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Mexico

Eight days after returning from India, we traveled to Mexico to check on the work there and to prepare for our trip to do evangelistic festivals in the Puebla area on June 12th - 19th.  We have 21 church planters in Mexico right now. They are working in the areas of Mexico City, Puebla, and Oaxaca.

 

This was our first trip to Oaxaca and we were amazed at the courage of our church planters there. Celestino, one of our church planters, described what it is like to serve in that region. He talked about the dangers of gang life and how it affects his work. Several weeks before our arrival, there was a gang fight in front of the house where his church meets and a man was killed with 14 stab wounds. The drugs and violence is happening all around them. And yet, we heard a testimony while at his church of how the Lord had turned a man who is a member from drinking and being involved in many different destructive behaviors. Everywhere we looked we saw gang signs and symbols and yet this congregation of 25 to 30 people are courageously sharing the gospel with everyone that they meet.

 

It was also hard to hear from Ivan, our leader of the work in Oaxaca, how the Catholic priests work up their people to persecute the evangelicals in their state. They have seen these radical extremist Catholics beat and threaten our church planters and other pastor's who are proclaiming the gospel. We need to continue to pray for the work there and that the Lord will bless it and keep our workers safe.

 

Further north, the work in Mexico City and Puebla is going well. We are seeing the work of our young planters like Belem, Lulis, Karina, Obed, and Jose going extremely well. Some of these plants, even though they are only 6 to 7 months old are having 30 to 40 people who are mostly new believers. Please also continue to pray for these 21 churches that they will be salt and light in their communities and that the love of Christ will continue to be proclaimed.

 

IN CLOSING THIS SECTION, WE HAVE SLOTS STILL AVAILABLE FOR THE TRIP TO PUEBLA. WE ARE PRAYING THAT WE WILL SEE A THOUSAND PEOPLE COME TO CHRIST ON THIS TRIP. WE NEED YOU TO JOIN US. THE COST OF THE TRIP IS $2,000.00. THE DATES ARE JUNE 12th - 19th.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GO PLEASE GIVE ME A CALL AT 251-895-5316. THE LORD WILL BLESS YOU GREATLY.