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Published: February 16th 2010
Psalm 115:3-9 (Kolkata Version)
Our God is in the Heavens; he does all that he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all that trust in them. O KOLKATA, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.
Outreach is almost done. I am coming home soon and I have witnessed these verses, unfortunately. But I have also seen and will continue to fight to see more of God's glory in the next four days that I have left here with my team.
On Sunday, my team and I went to Kalighat to sing worship songs to the patients. While on the way there, we prayed fervently that the Holy Spirit would move so radically in that place of death. Kalighat is a hospice for dying people, the first home that Mother Theresa started. Another important fact about this home is that it is right next to the Kali Temple. Kali is the goddess death so in a place like this, Jesus has called us to bring life. We started out with "Heart of Worship" and right away saw a difference. Usually the patients, volunteers and the sisters working there (I am a volunteer and ask Jesus to fight for joy everytime I go there) are not very cheerful and hardly have a smile on their faces. As soon as we started singing, patients in the womens ward where we started first started clapping and dancing as much as they could! I looked over at Kamala, one of the patients and she started clapping and dancing with a smile that could barely fit on her face! Then I looked at Sophie, a volunteer from Mexico and she had a huge smile on here face as well. But it didn't stop there. Shushila had her eyes closed and was swaying back and forth while stretching out here hands to heaven. I was sitting with Rosita who was crying, but I could not figure out if it was because the Holy Spirit was moving her to tears, or if she was crying because she was in pain. I just held her hand, rubbed her back and sang over her. After singing in the women's ward for a while, we went to the men's ward to sing. There, we sang over a man that had no name from what anybody knew, but Number 46. Here is the thing that really got us all though, we sang over him while he was dying. We started out with "Lead Me to the Cross", "Amazed" then "Mighty to Save" and two lines into "Mighty to Save", he died. I couldn't believe it. It was the first time most of us had ever seen someone die. For some reason though, I did not feel any morbid feelings. I felt joy at what was happening around us. The volunteers were smiling and joyful because of Jesus working through our singing. After he died, we sang "Amazing Grace" and the sister that was there with us said that we were singing him to heaven. Wow, what a ministry we had just taken place in for Jesus. Worship to the one true God is so powerful and it can move souls to come to him.
One struggle as I come to the last few days here in India is staying focused. I am focusing to much on what will happen when I get home. Where in the world am I going to work? That is the biggest struggle and distraction right now. But God will provide a job and money for me to live. He always does. There is still so much to do in the last few days here in India and I DO NOT want to miss one moment of it. Please pray that myself and my team stay focused. Many of us are sick with colds and nausea because of the polluted air and the sick people we are working with. Pray for energy, strength, and healing in our bodies. When we are making our way home, please pray that all goes smoothly. That we make every one of our flights and that we are safe.
Thank you just doesn't seem to express enough of my gratitude of how thankful and grateful I am for your prayers and support. I will try to write again before we leave on Saturday. But if not, I will write after I return from India. Please continue to keep me and my team in your prayers.
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Sue Marty
non-member comment
Praying for all of you
Hi Kirsten, Thanks for sharing. The Lord is doing awesome things through you and your team. I wil pray for a fabulous race to the finish and health and safety for the trip home. God Bless you for your courage and perseverance. Love ya.