Dennis and Asa Update #2

Here's the latest from Dennis and Asa...keep praying. - Tim

Here's an email I sat down and wrote this morning, but was not able to send till now. Since then somethings have happened. We walked the streets all day, talking and following up with some guys. Then this afternoon Asa started feeling dizzy. He's now throwing up every half hour and thinking he's got food poisoning. I'm out getting him some antibiotics we're going to start him on and need to get back to the hotel. Please pray for him. - Dennis

Sitting on the bed in our hotel room, tucked away on a tiny back street near Park Circus in crowed downtown Kolkata, a surge of feelings fill my heart. Its as present as the tides of harsh noise that roll in and out throughout the day and night; horns, crows, people, traffic, motorcycles, rickshaw bells, dogs, doors slamming, water splashing, voices yelling, telephones ringing—they all come in waves and slap against our ears, trying to steal any sense of peace we cling to here in the shelter of our hotel. Like this, feelings crawl overwhelmingly up into my chest, and emotions swoop down and land on my shoulder, pushing me to the ground. I’m discovering Kolkata has an unspoken heaviness about it; a spiritual exhaustion pervades the atmosphere and follows us around the minute we step outside. Discouragement seems to be a constant companion, along with a desire, I’m ashamed to admit, to stay behind locked doors and not venture out to the harshness and fatigue that populates the streets. Thanks be to Jesus, our Lord and Savior, that by His grace we can take courage and battle such fleshly desires. My frustration and war is with my fears, which bid me hide from the world that we come to bring light to; yet by Jesus’ strength we have and fight to continue to endure.Please forgive me and be not tempted to think we are struggling so much. It is only my heart venting, needing to put words to frustrations and discouragements that manifested themselves last night after a long day on the streets. We are really doing well, plodding along and seeing some wonderful things happen. Asa woke up feeling somewhat sick, so please pray for him. Aside from that, he has been a real trooper, interceding for us in prayer every where we go. He has taken the culture shock of being cast into the overwhelming heart of India amazingly. Allow me to give an update on the specific details of what we’ve been doing instead of talk about these hazy feelings and fears that really have no substance. A week ago we boarded a plane in Austin and began a journey that ultimately would take us till Saturday evening to complete. I did not realize that once we got to Los Angeles to fly to Bangkok that instead of breaking the flight across the Pacific up with a fuel stop in Japan or Korea like we normally do, we flew non-stop to Bangkok. At just under 18 hours, it was the longest flight Asa and I had ever taken. Weary and soar we arrived in Bangkok, caught some sleep during the 10 hour lay-over we had there, and then got back on a plane to Bangalore. We were joined by my sister who had flown down from Chiang Mai, Thailand where she goes to boarding school and was returning to India with us for her Christmas break. My family picked us up at the airport in India, where Asa received his first taste of the pandemonium that India is revered for. It took forever to get our bags because three full international flights arrived at the same time, and there was only one and a half baggage belts in a room that appeared it could only accommodate one flight worth of people. It was absolute bedlam. Then we put Asa in the front seat on the way to my house from the airport to introduce him to the wonders of the Indian traffic system, and my father’s driving. We spent the night at my house with my family, being roused from our jet-lag induced sleep by the 5am call to prayer from the local mosque. The day was spent repacking, eating our first Indian meal at a friend’s house, and returning to the airport. Because of the lines, we barely made it on to our flight; however we slumped at last into our seats, thankful to be on the final leg of the journey. Arriving in Kolkata late Saturday evening, Matt Reynolds picked us up at the airport and took us to his house where we spent the night. The next morning brought a very encouraging time, spent playing with Matt and Shannon’s two adorable daughters and experiencing a meeting of their house church. That afternoon we moved to our first hotel downtown, where we spent a restless night as there was nothing to muffle the noises of the streets raging up into our throbbing ears. The next morning we moved to a more peaceful location, and were very thankful for it. Then for the first time we hit the streets, trying to make relationships and direct conversations in a spiritual direction and glory to God, made some headway. Two brothers with an amazing testimony came in that evening and are staying with us at the hotel. We have dearly enjoyed hearing their story and getting to partner with them as they show us what to do. Yesterday we went to an Islamic college and began conversations there, which was really encouraging. We met a guy who has agreed to meet today with us.His name is Saleem, please lift him up in prayer today. This evening we are going to sit down at a coffee shop and look at passages from the Koran and talk about religion and truth. We are meeting on the assumption that I want to learn more about Islam because I have been reading my Koran and want to discuss some passages that I have found about Isa (Jesus) in my search for what is Truth. Please pray for this conversation. Our encounter yesterday with Saleem was I feel by no accident, and I feel God wants to use us to plant seeds in his heart. He is a passionate and fiery young Muslim, who God could use in a powerful way at his university and in the city. Pray the eyes of his heart would be open, that his heart would be softened to the message of Hope through Jesus Christ. Pray that Satan would be bound in his life by the power Jesus gives us as heirs and fellow conquerors, and that ignorance would give way to understanding. Pray for an openness, and for words to be given to me as I share from my heart with him. No doubt I am afraid, but through Christ who gives me words, I will be obedient. Lift us up in your prayers before our Lord, please. That will be taking place tonight at 6pm, which is 6:30am your time, you who are in Texas. It will probably last several hours, so please if you think about, pray for us. The rest of today and tomorrow will be spent going out on the streets and seeing who God brings across our path. I’ll let you know what happens in the next few days. Please pray that we would find strength and encouragement from the Hope we have in Jesus, and that the fears and desires of our flesh would not stand in the way of what He wants to do through us. Pray that we would be courageously obedient. We love you and long to hear from you. We’ll be able to check email every couple of days.

Blessings,

Dennis & Asa