India - Day 2

I have quickly realized that it will probably take me weeks, maybe even months, to attempt to write down all that we encountered and experienced in India...but, I will continue to record as much as possible here on my blog.

This morning we went shopping for traditional Indian clothing to wear while we're here. We rode on buses to a nice shopping mall with lots of security. We entered thru a metal detector and then had to zip tie every bag closed and any loose clothing to ensure no one could steal anything. 

During our second day in India, we went bak to the same church where we held the women's conference, to hold a youth conference. Youth of all ages piled in to the church for the conference, as well as men, women, and children. We opened with an incredible time of worship and then heard from several different speakers. As an invitation was given, all hands in the room shot up! Just as God had moved the day before, He moved again on the hearts of the teens of Patna. 

We were addressed again as missionaries to go and pray for all those with hands raised. As we turned around to disperse throughout the church, our hearts melted at the sight of every hand raised, eyes closed, and complete surrender before the Lord. In that moment, hundreds of teenagers cried out to God for the first time and acknowledged Him as Lord of their life.

I prayed for several young girls and then I was led to pray for a young man in the very back of the church. I literally climbed over chairs and other men to get to him. As I approached him, placed one hand on his head, and the other raised towards heaven, he continued crying out to God in prayer and tears began to stream down his face. Although I prayed in english and he only spoke Hindu, he received every word that God was speaking to him thru me. I prayed with him for several minutes and then opened my eyes...a translator was standing close by. I brought her over to translate for us. God spoke thru me to him in a powerful way. I was able to speak strength to him as a new man in Christ, encouraging him as a leader in his family, and in his country. As soon as she began to translate these words of life, he broke down, sobbing, hunching over, and barely able to breathe. In that moment, it was if I saw chains and burdens falling off of him and being eliminated for his whole family, everything, and everyone who he stood for.

Total freedom reigned in that place...over every Indian and every American! One woman who we prayed for said that her heart had been released from the grip of Satan. A man blind in one eye, regained sight. A crippled man got up and walked. AND another woman who was delivered from her past, got up on stage and began to preach her testimony! God moved on every single heart!!

India Day 1

After many hours of traveling beginning on Thursday, June 14, we finally arrived in Patna, India on Saturday morning. This was one of the first pictures I took on our bus ride from the airport to our hotel.

We met up with our team of a total of 79 missionaries (including our team of 15 from Boone) at our hotel and quickly got thrown into our adventure. We stayed awake, although we had only slept a little in the various airports and on the plane. We had breakfast, an intro meeting, put our things in our rooms, and loaded up the buses to head to a women's conference.

The picture below is of the busy street right in front of our hotel. Busy sounds fill the air and the constant sound of car/motorbike/bus HORNS are always heard out on the street.

On Saturday we participated in the largest women's conference in the history of the city of Patna. Here are a few pictures:

People were bused in from all over to attend the first conference of its kind!

They welcomed us with flower necklaces and celebration. We were ushered right to the front where we sat for the conference. 

It was hard to stay awake after being up for over 48 hours and sitting in a room with well over 400 people and the temperature being over 110 degrees! We stayed hydrated, that's for sure!! It is very hot and humid in India in June, especially when we were wearing traditional Indian dress.

One thing that stood out to me, was the warm hearts of the people of India. They are true servants with the most humble attitudes. They made sure we were treated with the most respect and honor, although we were there to serve them. It was a truly humbling thing to experience. No matter what location we were at, the hotel, the church, or the orphanages, the Indian people were always making sure we were ok and places to sit and something to drink.

People were piled in to the church from wall to wall...men, women, and children. An incredible moment during the conference happened when one of our speakers, Hannah, an incredible woman on fire for God, turned and addressed our American team and said, "Missionaries go pray for someone!" First of all, I have never referred to myself as a missionary, but at that moment I thought to myself, "I am a missionary and I am on the mission field." We were in an incredible place literally serving as the hands and feet of Christ. Secondly, as I turned around to see the response of the women to the message, I was in awe of the Spirit of the Lord moving in that place. Every single person in the room was standing, with both arms raised, eyes closed, and in full worship of the Lord. What an incredible moment!!

As our team moved throughout the room to pray for women and young girls, we found ourselves climbing over chairs and people just to reach out our hands and embrace women who were experiencing God for the first time. I had the opportunity to pray for so many people, it is hard to put into words everything that we experienced, but I'll share just a few stories.

One woman who was blind in one eye, received her sight...WOW is all I can say. I know that there were countless amounts of miracles that took place that day that we may never even hear about, but they happened and God was experienced in a new way and for the first time by many people.

Another woman was prayed for by several of our team members and when they asked if anyone needed healing, she identified a pain in her side. We laid hands on her stomach and began to pray. After several minutes, she moved her hand to her knees, and then again after minutes of prayer moved her hand to her throat, and then to her back. We wondered if she understood what we were praying for so we four someone to translate between us. She explained that as we were praying the pain would cease in the area we were praying over and jump to a different place on her body. We stood her up in the aisle and a group of us laid hands all over different parts of her body where the pain had been and PRAYED! We prayed and prayed and prayed until each of us felt a release in our spirit, as if it was finished. When we opened our eyes and asked how she felt, she proclaimed that Satan had had a gip on her life and on her body, but now all pain was gone and she had been set FREE!! All of our arms shot up, including hers and we praised the Lord in our own mini-revival experience right there in the aisle of the church.

I have never experienced such an immediate urgency to pray for people. As I approached each woman and/or child, it often took me a moment to even bring any words to my mouth to pray because I was overwhelmed with their reach and hunger for God. Although they often had no idea what we were saying to them or praying over them, they believed in a BIG GOD and knew in their hearts that we were joining with them in experiencing God in a powerful way! I truly believe that even if we didn't have someone to translate as we prayed and laid hands on people, they received a transference of the Spirit of God through us, and they understood.

Day 1 in India complete (day 3 so far of our overall trip). More pictures and stories to come.

India...Here I Come!

THANK YOU to EVERYONE who helped support my trip to India!! Whether it was through prayer, financial support, or both, I am so grateful for your faithfulness and continued support! With your help, I was able to raise over $3,100! Praise the LORD!!

Right now, we are in route to India and I could not be more excited!! We began our adventure this morning at 7:30am and we will land in New Delhi at noon on Friday, which will actually be late Friday night, India time. We have two 8 hour long flights which I am kind of excited to experience, but I'm sure it will be more fun on the way there, than on the way back.

Our group of fifteen is slowly adding members as we meet up with other groups along the way and we will soon become a group of over 100 people traveling to India. "The harvest is vast, but the laborers are few." WE ARE THE FEW!!

Please continue to pray for our team as we make our long trek to India to literally serve as the hands and feet of Christ! Pray for: safe travels, safety while we are in India, the women's conference and youth conference that we'll get to take part in, and each orphanage that we will be opening while we are there.

I look forward to sharing more as the week continues. Thank you again to all my incredible friends and family! I am so blessed and truly humbled to be able to experience a trip like this
as I love on God's people all the way across the world!

April & May - Anniversary & Birthday

I've finally found the time to post something new, but it is so hard to recap everything that has happened since my last post. Here are a few pictures to help me share:

APRIL

We started off my birthday weekend celebration with a visit to Grandfather Mountain

We hiked to three different peaks...a total of 5.4 miles in 5 hours!

Ropes, ladders, bridges...we did it all! Did I mention that we were both sick?!?! However, we were determined to have fun and enjoy our time outside together :)

Standing at the top of Calloway Peak

 For my birthday, John Mark surprised me with flowers, presents, and a card after I got home from work. I have the sweetest husband who knows just how to celebrate me and always makes me feel loved.

I am so thankful for him! 

 Then he surprised me with dinner at my favorite restaurant, Olive Garden...and two of my favorite people who we don't get to see very often, drove to meet us there for dinner as another surprise! Thank you to Adam and Elizabeth for helping make my birthday so special!! Love you both!!

MAY

On May 1, 2012, John Mark and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary! Two years ago, we had just said

"I Do", were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton for the first time, started back down the aisle, and began the start of our life together...

As I look back over the last two years, I can't help but think of how truly blessed I am and how thankful I am for ALL that God has done. He has blessed me with an incredible marriage and the most amazing man as my husband and my best friend! Every day married to John Mark is a special gift from the Lord and it just keeps getting better and better. I cannot wait to see what is in store for this next year together!

Here are a few photos from our anniversary trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto, Canada!! 

 Horseshoe Falls (The Canadian Side, aka-the better side) :)

 Our first day at the Falls!

 Golf with the Piggott Family!

John Mark got to meet my aunt, uncle, and cousins who live in Ontario for the very first time!! It had been over 5 years since I last saw them, so it was a very special visit for all of us. We are so thankful for our entire family, near and far, and it is always hard to leave and have to say,
"Until next time, which we hope is always sooner rather than later..."

I miss them already!! We love you!!

 Toronto Blue Jays vs. the Texas Rangers!! We enjoyed our view sitting 6 rows from the field, right past first base. We also made our debut on the big screen while dancing during the 7th inning stretch. :)

John Mark made his Niagara Falls visit complete when he climbed over the railing and walked down to this small point from which he had the best view and picture of the falls!

Niagara On The Lake- the cutest little town! You could actually look across Lake Ontario from this small town and see the skyline of Toronto in the distance.

Date night out on the town consisting of sushi and a movie, "The Lucky One."

I LOVE MY BOO!!

Jesus Is Alive!

Acts 4:20 says,

"For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

Last Wednesday evening at church we experienced the most incredible move of God and I must share it with you all!

In the middle of our Pastor's message, a man raised his hand, stood up, and said "I need to be saved!" Immediately he came to the front and prayed with our Pastor to receive Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior for the very first time. Our entire congregation rose to their feet, rejoicing in celebration, and began praying for God to continue to move on the hearts of every person present that evening, including our own.

The Holy Spirit seized our regular Wednesday night service and began to flow it in a new and exciting direction. It did not require a specific song, an altar call, an invitation, or even a powerful message (although the message was powerful)...it simply required us to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit in His timing. God's timing is so perfect! We had an incredible time of worship, praise, and healing that evening.

Not only did we see lives given over to Christ, but we also saw God's powerful hand of healing. I was able to pray for a girl in our church who suffered from migraine headaches. As God led me in praying for her, I prayed and prayed, and would not stop until she was healed. I remember a specific breaking moment, in which I knew the pain had ceased. I asked her if her headache was gone and she said, "Yes!"

What a mighty God we serve!! It is incredible to know that I do not have to wait to go to India or another part of the world to see God perform miracles, signs, and wonders. He is moving here...and now and He is ready to demonstrate His power, which is the same power that dwells in us!!

"Now unto Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Ephesians 3:20

The following Sunday, as I woke up and headed to church, I just knew that there would be more people who would give their lives to Christ that morning. I was filled with excitement and praised God in advance for what He was going to do. That morning several people came forward and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Praise be to God!!

Just one person was enough for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Remembering the sacrifice He made for me, and for all the sins of the world brought me to tears that morning. I am humbled by the love of my heavenly Father. As we look ahead to Easter Sunday, we are reminded of how much God loves us. Only He can love us with a perfect love. Let us never forget just how much He loves us!!