The Springfield (Ore.) Church had a special service in October to ask God’s blessing on lay workers preparing to work for Christ, including a group heading to India. Church-sponsored fund-raisers and private donations added to the lay workers' own funds for trip expenses and 3,500 Bibles printed in the local language of the area they visited in India.
The Springfield team took evangelistic and health outreach presentations to small Indian villages where churches had been planted by Indian Global Mission Pioneers. The New Beginnings visuals, texts and scripts were presented in the local language. Praising, singing and shouts of “alleluia” marked the tone of the gatherings. Team members were pressed by crowds to lay on hands, anoint with oil and pray for blessing and healing. Members led out in church dedications and visited homes. The Springfield team's efforts, combined with that of four other teams in the area, resulted in more than 3,000 baptisms.
The Springfield team took evangelistic and health outreach presentations to small Indian villages where churches had been planted by Indian Global Mission Pioneers. The New Beginnings visuals, texts and scripts were presented in the local language.
Praising, singing and shouts of “alleluia” marked the tone of the gatherings. Team members were pressed by crowds to lay on hands, anoint with oil and pray for blessing and healing. Members led out in church dedications and visited homes. The Springfield team's efforts, combined with that of four other teams in the area, resulted in more than 3,000 baptisms.
As team members visited villagers, they encountered a man and his wife who requested prayer. As one team member laid his hands on the woman to pray, a demon manifested itself. As the woman fell, the team members kept praying, and the woman became quiet. She accepted the invitation to the meetings with joy.
Another encounter involved a newly-baptized farmer and his sick ox, which couldn't stand and was near death. A team member laid hands on the farmer's only means of livelihood and prayed for God’s blessing. As they turned to go the ox stood, healed.
The Indian pastors and Pioneers live on $40 per month. Some of the team forfeited the opportunity to buy souvenirs and gave their spending money to the pastors instead.
The Springfield Church has been blessed immeasurably by the efforts of their lay evangelists. They radiate a special joy that permeates the entire church, having seen the results of doing the Lord’s work firsthand.
Jim Blackwood and India team leader Richard Gilbert wear marigold leis at a church dedication celebration in India.
Jane Blunt prays for a villager following the Indian tradition of placing a hand on the suplicant's head when praying,
The woman on the left was relieved of a demon while Springfield members were praying for her.
