Unshackled Ministries—India 2002

 

While most young people spend their summers earning extra money, going to summer school, or relaxing, 12 young people committed to going to India to serve the Lord on a mission trip in Trivandrum, Kerala. This group of young people, the Unshackled Team, came from different cities (Dallas, Houston, and Chicago), different backgrounds, and had different personalities, but we had one common goal: to proclaim God’s glory in India!

Our focus was to minister to college students and young professionals, as well as encouraging and supporting the believers already living there, through music, skits, and building relationships. Working alongside Hebron Christian Assembly, we put together several programs:

 

U       Encounter 2002 was advertised throughout the city; Christ was proclaimed through the music, skits, and Gospel message. Through this, we were able to make contacts, and those who were interested to hear more were invited to a coffee shop meeting.

 

U       The coffee shop meetings provided an opportunity for smaller group settings where we were able to engage in one-on-one discussions and deepen our relationships. There were three coffee shop settings during our time there, and 7 young men came to know the Lord. Praise God!

 

U       We visited several colleges and conducted short programs using music and testimonies. Contacts were established, and several came to the coffee shops.

 

U       We invited many local missionaries serving in the Trivandrum area who are not consistently supported by organizations for a tea/snack time. We praised God together and heard about their ministries.

 

U       We visited Rehoboth Girls Orphanage in Trichur, Kerala. Ms. P.N. Treasure left her homeland of New Zealand in faith 45 years ago and has been faithfully serving the Lord through this orphanage since then. We met her and “her” 172 children. Praising God with the children is a memory etched in each of our hearts.

 

U       There was a “Believers’ Meeting” that was conducted to encourage the local believers. John Kurian delivered a powerful and motivating message.

 

Each of us has returned to our home cities as changed men and women and have truly experienced no greater joy or satisfaction than living for and serving the Almighty, living God! We come back with a fire and passion for His glory to be magnified in our communities…where hundreds live in darkness, separated from God. We pray that God will take us back to India next summer and hope that others will join us. Please pray for Hebron Christian Assembly who has the enormous task of following up on 600 contacts that were made through the programs, the 7 new brothers in the Lord that they might grow in their relationships with God, and the Unshackled Team members that their lives would bring more glory to His name.

 

--Renee William