Global Trip Overview

We'll begin our journey in Mumbai (aka Bollywood), where we will be hosted by our friends working with a human rights agency that rescues victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery and oppression. Due to the sensitive nature of their work we will not be naming them here. As we listen, learn, and pray, we will be exploring ways to further our partnership with this agency and their passionate dedication to seek justice for the oppressed. We will also be researching various after-care programs that minister to those who have been rescued. Such programs help to bring healing and hope so the victims aren't re-trafficked into slavery, but can experience the life and value God intended for them. Several folks in our group are involved in the film industry in Hollywood, so we have been invited to spend time with believers in the Bollywood film industry. We look forward to learning more about Bollywood and ways to develop our connections there through prayer and relationships.

Our group will then travel north to visit the wonderful work of a ministry located in the heart of a slum community. Their compassionate outreach now includes a school for children in the slum, health clinic for the community, and programs to train and empower women of the slum in various craft making skills. They are a beacon of light to a community that is caught in the cycle of poverty, and we look forward to learning about how our Indian brothers and sisters are making a difference through their compassionate response to the poor.

The last portion of our trip takes us to the foothills of the beautiful Himalayan Mountains. We will be spending time with our wonderful India friends who faithfully encourage and train pastors of small house churches in various villages throughout the mountainous region. There is often persecution for these believers, but their dedication to the Lord is great. We will be learning about what its like to be a believer in a spiritually and physically challenging part of the world, and we will seek to explore ways we might partner with our friends and their ministry.

Prayer points:

• Please pray for our team as we prepare for our trip (physically, spiritually, financially, etc)
• Please pray for our safety, unity, cultural sensitivity, and health while in India.
• Please pray that we would remain close to God and His heart and that we would be humble and teachable.
• Please also pray that we would bring encouragement and refreshment to our friends in India.
• Pray for the oppressed, the slaves, the poor, and the persecuted...that the Lord would hear their cries and bring them rescue, hope, and healing.
• Finally, pray that the Lord would guide us as we seek to identify ways to develop long-term partnerships with our friends in India who are faithfully serving the poor and oppressed.