Friday 2 June
The alarm went off at 9. We started our day with worship and then had breakfast: bread made of pressed rice, vegetables, egg and bananas.
After breakfast we went for a walk. The plan was to go to the church. We stepped out of the house and straight away we prayed for a man who had a small shop across from the house. During the walk we greeted people with Vanakkam (hello). Many people loved that. Suddenly our interpreter stopped a tuk-tuk and we all climbed in. Our walk to the church turned into a ride in the tuk-tuk. We stopped at a roadside restaurant for coffee. It was very good coffee.
We continued our journey to the church, where we were given a tour. From the roof we could see the sea. The service began. It consisted of 1 pastor who started singing and 5 other people in total. During a break in the service we visited the neighbour. She invited us in and gave us puffed rice balls. We prayed for her and received words of knowledge for her.
Next to the neighbour's was a kind of factory where they wove furniture by hand. There is a good chance that furniture ends up in IKEA as well.
We went back to the church, where we prayed for the people. Benjamin felt great compassion for one particular woman. He prayed for her, and you could see in her eyes that what Benjamin spoke over her was right. I (Lydia) had noticed a little girl. Her name was Grace, and I was able to pray for her and her mother. Every man and woman in the church was prayed for. People were touched and felt the love of Jesus.
This afternoon we went to the gypsies. We came to a gypsy neighbourhood. In India the gypsies are seen as one of the lowest groups of people. The gypsy neighbourhood was very striking to see. There was rubbish everywhere, broken prams filled with rubbish, and washing hanging to dry above a pile of rubble. We seemed to be an attraction. People stopped what they were doing and stared after us. We went into a small house with corrugated iron sheets. It turned out to be the central point and the school for the children. Every school day 70 children gather in that little hut to learn to read, hear the gospel and receive teaching. People who wanted prayer were called, and they kept on coming. People longed for prayer, breakthrough and a touch of God's love. We prayed for a woman with a crooked back. After prayer she no longer had pain in her knees. Thank You, Jesus! Today we prayed for hundreds of people. Many were also given a hug, which was very special for them, since they are written off by so many other people. Today we were able to show that these people are precious and that the Father's heart beats for them!
