April 2006
Dearest Praying Friends,
Warm greetings to each one of you! We apologize for the delay in writing. We are a week overdue, but read on.you will find it was worth the wait!! Please forgive the delay, anyway!!
The following is a brief update of our work here in Mumbai, India. Though the weather here is blistering hot, the work is going very well. We thank God for your prayers that continue to make all this possible.
1) We have just completed the first major Healing Rooms Conference in India, with the San Diego Healing Rooms Directors, Dan and Sarah Shelper doing the training and teaching. We also inaugurated the Mumbai Healing Rooms, which will be the base of operations here in India. We were very pleased with the results (or "fruit"!) of the conference, and the Grand Opening of the Mumbai Center. Here is the report given by Co- Directors Pastor Abraham and Sheila Sekhar:
"Jodie, Betty, Cheryl, Shawna and Christina worked tirelessly, in spite of the Mumbai summer heat, to ensure that all the preparatory work for the inauguration of the Bethel Healing Rooms and for the India School of Healing training program.
The India School of healing was attended by 32 Pastors and 36 Assistant Leaders from 5 states of India. These representatived 18 groups of Churches.
Dan and Sarah Shepler, along with Ron, presented the Healing Rooms model practically, with clarity. Some Pastors working with the under privileged (slums) are also moving towards renting / acquiring places to start Healing Rooms.
Thus, we now have Healing Rooms in Mumbai in Dharkhadi, Bhandup and Kurla.
Jodie and the team will be staying for a month longer than planned in order to provide training for those volunteering towards the Healing Rooms in Mumbai.
There was also one day presentation seminar on Healing Rooms for the delegates from Women's Aglow on April 8, 2006. Dan and Sarah presented a comprehensive and practical workshop on the Healing Rooms and every participant received personal prayer at the end of the day. During Jodie's challenge to call for volunteers to be healing technicians, the response was beyond expectation.
There is every possibility to start at least seven Healing Rooms immediately in Mumbai and four in the main Churches of the Pastors who attended the training from other states of India - Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, and many more Healing Rooms in the villages."
We are so pleased and blessed to be a part of this work. The team has done a deep and beautiful job here in Mumbai. They are fast becoming friends with many here in the city. It is a joy to behold, and I am sure they will be deeply missed when their time here is done!
2) We also visited an operational "Slum Healing Rooms". What a delight! The following is a testimony of the amazing work being done by our Lord in this slum area of Mumbai, India. "This poor area is full of "Mafia" type of people, right where the Lord is needed the most. Two of us from the main Healing Rooms visited this "Room" on Tuesday, April 18th. We went over to the Healing Rooms themselves for the time of pre-opening worship. We anointed the leadership and spoke prophetically over them as the Lord led. As we did, the room began to fill up with people needing prayer! Quickly, the place began getting packed with the hungry and needy needing a touch from the Savior. We worked 3 "Rooms" in this one-room building site designated for this purpose. What an experience, seeing the people lining out the door to await their turn for Jesus.
We "saw" many touched by the Lord that night (weeping, etc) and people being saved.
Their success? We found that this Slum Healing Rooms Director had taught the Healing Rooms teachings on Monday nights, and then opened the doors for the Healing Rooms each Tuesday. They had weekly prayer meeting over the Healing Rooms work there, on site. Their entire team had gone through the official training needed to be an IAHR team member. There was Church on Sundays to continue pastoring these newly saved people. It was a beautiful comprehensive process. We were very moved.
3) Transition of the team out of India: we also had an important "transitional" meeting to discuss the roles, responsibilities and how to make a smooth transition in view of the ICL Team leaving in mid-May. It is our heart that the Mumbai Healing Rooms would have a strong foundation and those who will fill the respective roles will be equipped and feel confident in their roles and responsibilities before we leave. To this end, we continue to solicit your prayers.
4.) On Sunday, Jodie preached at a slum Church during their morning service. We were grateful to be used in the preaching of the Word and for souls that were added to the Kingdom!
Upcoming events:
1) Tuesday, May 9, ICL will be going to visit and serve a Rescue Home for abused minors. The girls here have been rescued from the official 'Red Light' area of the city, by the police. Can you imagine being rescued as a prostitute at the tender age of 10? My heart breaks deeply just thinking about it. Please pray for God's deep and divine healing love to be revealed in this "home".
2) We have one more Healing Rooms Training Course on May 12-13. We would like to see a full circle of training and placement before we leave the region. Please pray that this would happen.
Needs:
Dire need for a good printer! The Healing Rooms office has a printer on site that must surely be held together with toothpicks and rubber-bands! If you are able to purchase one for the home base site it will be greatly used and is desperately needed! Of course, your donation is tax deductible.
Great love and thanks, The ICL Team
"We thank our God in all our remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in our every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now." Philippians 1:3-5