A first was registered when Lynne Scherencel from Port Angeles, Washington, was the speaker for a series of evangelistic meetings in Parchuru, Andhra Pradesh, India. Hosting nightly crowds approaching 2000, Scherencel’s evangelistic series, supported by her husband, Rod, Mike and Merilee Krier, Centralia, Sarah Griswold, Port Angeles, and Leroy Fuller, Forks, was part of a 50-village mission sponsored by Merlin Fjarli, from Medford, Oregon.
In a male dominated society such as India one might have expected a negative reaction against a woman preacher, but just the opposite was true. People came in large numbers to hear her, graciously but powerfully, present the Gospel message. Using the New Beginnings DVD series she vividly illustrated the messages night by night. Both before and after each meeting and in the surrounding villages during the day women crowded around her for prayer. They identified with her and felt there was hope for women in this world. Men, too, sought her out to pray for them. Hundreds of both men and women made decisions to accept the Savior that she so magnetically represented and reflected in her love for people.
Her husband, Rod Scherencel, Port Angeles and Forks district pastor, and a three-time leader of an evangelistic series in India says, “I was happy for Lynne to be the speaker. I was curious about how people would respond, but confident that Lynne would win them over. I believe this experience should encourage women to cast aside their reticence to use the gifts that God has given to preach the Word. Women have a power to reach women that is special, but they also appeal to men just as powerfully. I believe the time has come for women evangelists in larger numbers to herald the soon coming of Jesus more widely that ever before.”
Three other series were conducted at the same time in the Ongole area and baptisms are continuing on an almost daily basis. •
Lynne Scherencel from Port Angeles, Wash., was the speaker for a series of evangelistic meetings in Parchuru, Andhra Pradesh, India.
