Also wonderful news, our team was able to see and treat over 1500 people in our medical camps. This included people from rural villages in central India and we also held a camp for Burmese refugees in northern Delhi. The people, mostly women and children, would patiently wait in line for hours just to be seen. There were a lot of people suffering from anemia, malnutrition, worms, tuberculosis, and malaria-problems we don’t see much in the USA. Of course, there were problems that are common everywhere- upper respiratory infections, arthritis, ear infections, etc.  Every patient received a month’s supply of multivitamins and a worming pill, as well as anything else they needed. I was amazed at the number of people who were anemic, but the people do not eat meat and do not have many sources of iron. I felt like a giant during our camps, as most of the people were tiny from the lack of good nutrition. Things that are considered simple in the USA are deadly in India; for example we saw a baby whose mother died 2 days prior due to diarrhea.  

On our trip I brought an evangecube which presents the gospel in picture form (www.evangecube.org). With the help of a translator, I was able to present it to multiple groups of people waiting for treatment. The man in charge of Evangelism at the Bible academy had never seen an evangecube before, and asked if I could send some more over. So sending enough over for Bible students will now be a goal of mine for the next year! It was awesome to see people crowd around to hear the story of Christ; each time I wondered if they would ever have another chance to hear. Three teenage boys wanted to become Christians, so the native pastors will be doing follow up with them.
          Central India Christian mission was really a spot of hope in the midst of despair. They have a children’s home with 50 orphans, a nursing school, a Bible academy, and distribute bags of rice to local children. The mission also is the base for 600 native evangelists who go to unreached villages. The goal is for each evangelist to make contact with 3,000 people one-on-one to present the gospel. We got to attend Sunday service at a local church- 150 people who met, sitting on the floor of their little building that had no air conditioning and only one little light from a generator. I wish you could have seen the joy on the faces of those Christians though-I will never forget how eagerly they sung out praises to God in their native language.

This is dangerous work; we met a young evangelist whose wife had been murdered by Hindu radicals just before Easter. He had also been beaten, his arm still in a cast when we met him. He told us with tears in his eyes that his wife’s Sunday school class had grown to 180 kids in the 3 years of their work, and that he still planned on returning to the area to preach about Jesus.

I wanted to share some insights I came away with on our trip:
1. The boldness and sacrifice Indian Christians have for Jesus. It put me to shame to see people who gave their all for Christ; they lost jobs, families, homes, money, reputations: all for the sole reason for choosing to follow Christ, rather than Hinduism. And being bold to speak up about their Lord!

2. How easy our lives are in the USA- I never realized the simple things I take for granted, like turning on a water faucet and getting a drink! Owning a car and a house are a luxury! It will be hard to complain here in America when I remember how thankful people are to get a bag of rice!

3. The number of lost people who have yet to hear the Gospel of Jesus. There are so many precious people who have never even heard the name of Jesus! We saw Hindu temples and shrines all over! There are town with millions of people where there is only 1 evangelist working…Yet it was encouraging to see the work the native missionaries can do at 1/10^th the cost of an American missionary. It takes only $75-100 a month to support a native missionary, so even if I can’t physically be there, I can help support the work!

          Again, thank you for your prayers and support! I was so humbled by the support I received and encouraged to know that you were all behind me! It was only with your help that I was able to go on this life-changing trip in the first place!  I know God has His hand of protection on us due to your prayers! And thank you for praying for the Indian people-keep praying that God will raise up more workers to go! Pray for the evangelists as they reach people for our Lord!

I love you all! Oleg also sends his love! He was so supportive
during the trip-he had sent me a letter to read each day
that had verses and encouragement! J
May the Lord bless you and keep you!
Much Love,

Sylvia Joy Zakusilov