The final day for Team 1

After a time of prayer, we headed out to visit a final village and engage in our last three thirds fellowship of this trip.  We were humbled by one of the ladies who had travelled 3.5 hours for the fellowship in the knowledge that we would be there.  When a previous team came to Kolkata last year, she shared her story of violent persecution by her husband who then came to faith and is now a supporter of her ministry, cycling her around village to village.  We were inspired by how her faith and ministry has grown and developed even from then, where she continues to risk persecution from her neighbours and crosses 2 rivers to care for the 50 fellowships that God has grown through their faith.  She asked us to now pray for her daughter who she hopes will join her in this ministry.  We in turn asked her to pray for our children. 

Zoey had shared in previous fellowships about her coming to faith through Biglife.  We had been inspired by the woman in the village giving her current testimony. Telling our initial testimonies is powerful.  Sharing our current testimony (witness to what God is doing in our lives) is just as powerful.  Zoey shared that when you make your initial decision to follow Jesus, this can be a leap of faith rather than a 'knowing', with doubts still mixed in.  Her heart's desire was that sense of knowing the presence of God.  She was able to share that being surrounded by the faithful obedient people we had met in India, praying with them, reading scripture with them, sharing small parts of life with them, God has blessed her with that sense of presence.  Fellow travellers recognised that sense of presence came from the act of obedience of stepping outside the comfort zone in difficult times. 

When we visited the group, they were expectant that we were going to pray for them.  And although we did pray for them, they were surprised that we asked for prayer for the UK.  We explained that in India they have a culture of belief.  Whereas in the UK, we have a culture of independence and belief is not the norm.  We asked that they would pray for their brothers and sisters in the UK; that we would have our hearts set on fire for Jesus, and that our churches wouldn't just be places we attend but a body of Christ we are actively living in having lived out living faiths. 

It was great to be able to talk to some of the leaders of the fellowship and ask questions.  One question we asked was where in the Bible they start with those who are interest to learn more, those seeking faith and new believers.  They enthusiastically recommended the Gospel of John as a good starting point to learn about who Jesus is.  We asked about the Biglife way and they have experientially tested guidelines which are not rigid structures but provide a framework which can support seekers becoming believers, believers becoming disciples and disciples becoming disciple makers. 

We spent our final evening with the senior Biglife leaders Sister Gillian and Brother Benjamin, in their home, where we ate together.  We were thankful for their generous hospitality and all that they have given us space to see in Kolkata this week. It was great to hear their rendition of God's history in Biglife, right from its beginnings to today.  After debriefing from all that God has taught us through this experience, we prayed for one another.  We prayed prayers of thanks for all that God has blessed us with in India and cried out to Him that these blessings would not be diluted or diminished once back at home.  We prayed that God would go before us to our families, friends, neighbours, colleagues and church communities; that He would raise up allies and prepare the ground for what we are bringing back with us.  We then turned out attention to Team 2 coming in and prayed for them.