To India...With Love.

Please read this letter from my friend Dennis Greeson. Dennis is a student at UMHB and a leader at The Vista. He's only 19, but he has a heart for Christ and a passion to share his heart with Muslims in South Asia. Please commit to pray for for Dennis and his partner on this trip, Asa Crow. They are trusting in God, claiming that the Holy Spirit has already gone before them and is working in the hearts of people in Kolkata. They are seeking where God is at work. I will post updates on this blog as I recieve them. They need our prayers.

Brothers and Sisters,

Although it is December, the air wafting around the bench upon which I sit is warm. The sky is a hazy white, which would like to boast its grey, however it bears no further rain, having relinquished all of it last night. The evidence of this is seen in a film of moisture that gives a clean sheen to everything around me. Had I been anywhere else, at anyother time, I would swear monsoon season had arrived to bless me; however here in Central Texas there is no such thing, especially in the midst of the arrival of winter. In any case, the unexpected weather births in me a certain nostalgia and raises the eyes of my thoughts toward the coming weeks and the journey that looms before Asa and me. I am delighting in our Father because of this wonderful morning He has given me, and praising Him for where He is taking us. I am afraid I am overdue in writing this letter, but please discount that as you hear my desperate request. As many of you know, a little over a week from know—on the 12th of December, my friend and brother Asa and I will be boarding a plane bound for India . Allow me to briefly give some background on this: Almost a year ago I was on the road and allowing my thoughts to wander. Through the course of that thought-trail, I realized that there was a certain emptiness in my life. In putting words to it I understood it to be that I had no need for God. In my daily life I was sufficiently making it, living life here and going through each day, in my ignorance, without God. I was subconsciously convinced that I could make it on my own, and when I realized that, I wanted nothing more than for that to be stripped of me. I longed for God to strip me of the control I had on my life. This began a journey in my life that would months later lead me to the Maldives , a chain of islands off the western coast of India . While there, I lived on various islands for about a month, giving the gospel to all who would listen, relying on God for everything from where to stay the night to which direction to go while walking the streets of Male, the capital. God did so much in my life, and worked in amazing ways in the Maldives despite my shortcomings. In returning to the States, my friend Asa and I began talking and dreaming. Soon we began praying, asking God for direction as we felt Him leading us somewhere during the Christmas break. Within a month or two, God opened a door, and readily we stepped in, which leads us to our current position. God has provided all the financial support, and even an abundance. He has taken care of all the details. And He has not failed to be working in our hearts throughout this whole time. Therefore, in little over a week Asa and I are setting off forKolkata , India with desire in our hearts to serve, trusting God for each step we need to take. We have very little idea as to what He will have us actually doing; we trust that He will reveal that in His timing, and be faithful to lead us. Through this we are nervous, but rejoicing in the fact that everything about this trip is not in our control, but in His hands that are both loving and wild. To settle some doubts in our hearts, God has in the last few weeks allowed us to go through some serious spiritual warfare. Despite the fear and despair it has stirred us, we take it as a sign that we are a threat to Satan and the forces of evil, and therefore rejoice that we are walking in the will of our Father. I will include no details about all this, so as not to give undue glory to Satan; but please sense the weight of all this. God longs to do something through us, and Satan quakes because of it. This brings me to my request. We would be fools to attempt to set out on this trip, venturing into such a dark city under the premise of doing the will of our Lord, without the covering of prayer from our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. This is my plea: each of you have come to mind because I know or it has been made known to me how serious prayer is to each of you—warriors, we need your prayers. We need them desperately. We need you to commit to interceding for us and those whom Jesus longs to set free from the bondage of sin and death, fighting along side us as we are about Kingdom work. Here are some specifics for you to pray for:

- Physical safety and wellness.
- Logistical details, from flights and luggage, to daily issues that might arise.
- Asa and my relationship, may nothing be allowed to come between us.
- Leading and direction of the Holy Spirit.
- Hearts that are in the right place, sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit .
- A dependence on God and not on man.
- The binding of Satan in the hearts of those God is working in.
- That we would find a “Man of Peace”, someone whom God will use to lead many more souls to Him than we ever could.
- A movement among the Muslim in Kolkata would begin - For the seeds that will be planted during this trip.

I will be writing updates throughout the trip to keep you informed of what more you can pray for, and what God is doing. Please email me with your questions, and if you would like to encourage us, even your prayers. Thank you so much.

Dennis
thegreeson2003@hotmail.com

Mission is not an event...it's a movement. It doesn't take an institution to accomplish it...it takes broken and surrendered hearts...offered up. - Tim