This past week, we were able to return to Dharmapuri, Tamilnadu, India; where Jeremiah visited on his last adventure here in India.  Jeremiah was stoked to be able to finally go.  We took rest when we arrived there on Friday after very long and hot bus rides.  We stayed on the second floor, above Pastor Daniel’s church, and one floor below where the girls from the orphanage stay.  On Saturday evening we went to 5 different houses to pray over the families and people of the villages.  Some of these people lived in very small “hut” houses and did not have very much to offer, yet they still gave us something to eat and glorious chai tea.

On Sunday, we attended Pastor Daniel’s church and I got to experience what a real Indian church is like, 5 hours full of clapping and bouncing, loud prayers and Holy Spirit happenings.  Jeremiah preached about tasting the Lord.  Afterwards we prayed for everyone in the church and I was part of a deliverance of a woman who was afflicted by something I could not understand due to language barriers; but I was really challenged to seek the Lord for more discernment when it comes to those type of things.  That evening, we went to two different leper colonies and I spoke about the compassionate love of the Father; we fed them and Jeremiah and I laid hands on and prayed over them.

I knew it would be difficult for me going there and seeing these people’s lives and bodies being rotted away through the death sentence the enemy has placed on them.  Even then, I was overwhelmed with compassion, as I read so much that Jesus was, and filled with faith that God would bring healing to them.  We did not see anything physically happen when we prayed over them, but so many of them asked for prayer and I believe that God touched them and will continue ministering to their hearts, bodies and lives.  Afterwards, we went to a street corner where there were some homeless people gathered.  I spoke again on God’s love, we sang some songs, and we fed them and prayed over them.

Jeremiah and I were very excited when we found out that we were going to be teaching at the first YWAM DTS in Dharmapuri during the week.  This DTS is all local natives to the surrounding area, except for a few staff members that are from a different state.  These 16 students, some families, are going on their outreach in three weeks to Sri Lanka and Malaysia, however, a few of them are having issues with getting their visas and passports, some due to finances, so please be in prayer for them that God would provide all they need so that they can be sent out to these needy nations.

We felt that God was calling us to talk about missions throughout the week.  On Monday, we talked about original design vs worldly thinking.  Our original design is who God made us to be apart from sin, but the enemy through the ways of the world tries to separate us from the truth of who God says we are.  I taught them the 4 R’s: Repent (Confessing the sin of believing the lie – Acts 3:19), Receive (Receiving God’s forgiveness and asking Him to fill you with more Holy Spirit – Psalm 103:8-12) , Rebuke (Rebuke the enemy’s grasp on you because of the sin – James 4:7), Replace (Declaring the sin as dead and “paid for” and asking God to come and flood your heart and mind with Truth and empowerment to walk it out – Galatians 2:20.)  We then took them through breaking the chains of the past, negative self-image, and false humility; and broke them into groups so they could all ask the Lord for each other’s original design.  Great blessings came from this!

On Tuesday, Jeremiah talked about waiting for the word, promises and call of the Lord.  I shared on counting the cost and taught primarily from Luke 14:25-30, which talks about the cost of being a disciple.  Afterward, I had them ask God for 2 promises for the present time and 2 promises for the future and to write it down, as instructed by God through Habakkuk 2:2-3: “This is what the Lord said to me, ‘Write My answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.  This vision is for a future time.  It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.  If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.  It will not be delayed.’”  On Wednesday, Jeremiah shared on faith and perseverance out of Hebrews 11 and faith without conditions.  I taught about fear of the Lord vs fear of man and told some of my testimony of how bound up I was in every type of fear there is and how God set me free. I also taught out about unbelief out of Mark 16:9-18 and how unbelief can hinder us from receiving the promises of Jesus through this passage.  Then we took them through the 4 R’s again and broke off fear and unbelief.  There was so much freedom and fruit brought forth this night!!!

On Friday, Jeremiah taught on bearing fruit out of Luke 8: Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seeds, avoiding burnout, and planting seeds.  I talked about the importance of the secret place (Psalm 132:1-5) and how intimacy fuels missions (Luke 10:38-42).  It was obvious by the time we left Dharmapuri that we were sent there for reasons other than what we had in mind.  From the fruit that was brought forth through teaching at the DTS, we see we went there for that seed planting. Proverbs 16:9 says, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”  At times we can be so set in our plans, but God has the ultimate plan.  So be encouraged that even when things might not go our way, God’s way brings forth far greater fruit and blessings than our way ever could!

Katie, Pure Fire of Yahweh!!!