Christmas in a Backpack 2008

"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" Hebrews 13:16

I love how God works! In 2002 I was teaching at Westminster Christian School when I first met Ken and Tracy Grindle. They began Net India Ministries in 2000 and in December of 2002 held their very first Christmas in a Backpack. It was during that first trip that I knew I would one day be apart of a Christmas in a Backpack team; however the Lord would not open the doors for me to go until 6 years later! What an amazing trip it was. I serve an amazing God who holds all things in the palm of his hand!

After more than 20 hours of flying we landed in New Delhi, India. From New Delhi we flew 2 hours to Ranchi. From Ranchi we took a 4 hour train ride to Rourkela. From Rourkela we traveled 2 hours by taxi to the village of Thumpabella! Whew! Boy were we tired when we finally arrived at the home of the local pastor and only known Christian in that village!
The following morning we woke early and began packing 1800 backpacks! Each backpack was loaded up with a wool blanket, towel, comb, mirror, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, hair oil, candy, and most importantly a Bible in the language of that village! Packing took us the entire day! Just after nightfall we loaded 900 backpacks into a trailer being pulled by an old tractor. They were transported to the distribution site where we unloaded them under a tent so that they were ready for the festivities of the next morning!
After waking up the next morning we were soon greeted by several of the local villagers. They were dancing and playing the drums as they welcomed us to their village. They lead us though the village until we arrived at our distribution site. We sang several songs, told the people about how much Jesus loves them, and gave a backpack to every boy and girl there. All in all we handed out 400 backpacks the first day and saw over 200 people accept Jesus as there personal Savior and Lord! After the ceremony we provided all that were there with a hot meal and were able to spend some time just hanging out with the precious Indian people.
The next day we awoke early to prepare for the final 2 distribution services. The first service began at 11:00am and there were approximately 800 people in attendance! The service was similar to the day before and we saw an additional 400 people give their lives to Christ! God is so good! As we were preparing for the second service some local priests arrived and were angry about what we were doing. They demanded that we leave and give them all of the remaining backpacks. In order to avoid any danger we decided to leave the backpacks with the local pastor for later distribution and then packed up and left at nightfall a day early.

After spending the night in Rourkela we woke up early...4am...and headed to the train station. We took a fast train to Ranchi before boarding a flight to New Delhi. After arriving in New Delhi we took a 4 hour bus ride to Agra. We took a short nap at a hotel before waking up the next morning to visit the Taj Mahal! What an amazing place! The Taj is a mausoleum of an Indian king and his favorite wife. It is made completely out of white marble and has semi precious jewels inlayed throughout the walls! We hired a tour guide who told us all about the king, his life, and the Taj. We then told him about Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection. As a result this precious man is now my brother in Christ.
God is doing some amazing things in the nation on India. He is at work there! Please continue to pray for the believers in the village of Thumpabella as well as the believers in the Indian state of Orissa. There are many persecuted Christians who truly know what Paul meant when he said "To live is Christ and to die is Gain". I'm so thankful that the Lord called me to go to India and participate in the Christmas in a Backpack project. I'm also thankful that I am apart of the Strong Rock Family, and that they allowed be to be obedient to God's calling!