A Joy to Witness the Work of God

Jeff Harris reports again on preaching the gospel in Andhra Pradesh:

We stayed in a small apartment near Bro. Mathew's good home. His dear wife and daughter prepared our meals in their house, while we stayed in their village for three days. It was a joy to be in their country and to witness the work of God going on in their midst. All three of Bro. Matthews' sons are preachers, and they all speak good English so we used them as translators for our messages in the village of Kanekal, which is in the state of Andhra Pradesh, one of the very poorest states of India.

The twelve-hour drive to AP was highlighted by different kinds of scenery. We were traveling due north into the more mountainous and dry terrain of that region. We were able to see a lot of little monkeys that played near the road hoping the passers by would throw them a part of their banana or lunch, which I noticed several people did. The closer we got to Anapatur, the more I noticed the dryness of the land, reminding me a lot of the land in NW New Mexico. The mountains are rocky and they mine a lot of granite stone and coal in them. The trees are short and look like West Texas Mesquite. The farmland is mostly flat and you could see farmers working with buffalo and oxen in the fields. They had several grape vineyards, papaya groves, dhal plants, peanuts, pepper plants, oats, rice patties, wheat and grain sorghum, as well as corn and potatoes. Most of the crops looked withered and dry. I do pray they will get some rain.

We held services in three remote villages and were blessed with the attendance and the attentiveness of everyone as we bragged on the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Some had some issues with the doctrine of particular redemption, but when they came to understand that everyone for whom Christ died would certainly be brought to heaven because their sin debt was paid in full, they rejoiced just like we did and looked as though they had believed that all their lives! It was interesting to say the least.

The highlight of the trip was in teaching the basic TULIP Doctrines to the Church in Kanekal, which has over eighty members and over one hundred attendants. We preached our messages to well over a hundred each service on Saturday and Sunday, but Monday was mainly the ministers and their wives. A cobra came into the compound about noon yesterday and caused quite a stir, but they kept him from coming inside the building where we were teaching so we moved right on. Following the TULIP series, we brought a message on scriptural baptism and communion, which was well received by everyone. We were able to finish earlier than we thought, so instead of staying another night in Anapatur (2 hr. drive from Karekal Village), we decided to drive all the way back to Chettipatty and save the hotel costs involved with that. Bro. Sake (pronounced Saw-kay) went with us back to Anapatur because Bro. Guna does not speak their language (Tunelegu), which we appreciated. We bought his bus ticket back home. I see a lot of potential in that young man.

We drove without incident through the night and were amazed at how many trucks and buses were on the road, even late at night! It slowed us down a lot and the roads were mostly terrible. We averaged about 25mph getting back to Chettipatty about 1:00AM. It was another twelve-hour drive. I heated my water and took a good, scrub-down shower before hitting the hay about 1:30PM and slept soundly in our clean room. Bro. Jamey hardly moved after he went to bed. We both slept later than usual this morning.

It was good to see the smiling face of Sis. Karen when we got up this morning. Mrs. Mary had our breakfast waiting on us when we came down to eat. We had oatmeal and bananas with toast and coffee. Hey, you can hardly beat that combination! I then took Jamey and Karen on a little walking tour of the compound, explaining the development of the huge compound during the years we have been coming. It is amazing to see how God has blessed the vision of Bro. Guna to become a reality!