Invision:India

Just a timeline update...

2010-04-20T08:22:00.000-04:00

After Josh returned from his last trip to India, we knew we would have a clearer timeline of our departure and move. Because of some political unrest and changes in government leadership, our move date has been moved. The location of our home and the seminary has been rezoned as an industrial zone, so we are moving it down the road a little way. Construction on our house has already begun. We are very excited and trust that all these changes are in God's plan. So...Josh will be taking some long planning and foundational trips over the next several months where he will set up the seminary and begin teaching. He will also make sure that everything is ready for our family to move and be able to settle right in when we get there. We plan, with God's direction, to move the entire family in May or June 2011. Please continue to pray that we are following God's guidance and pray that our financial support will be raised in this "extra" time that God has given us. We love you and appreciate your care for us!

7 More Days and Counting

2010-02-07T00:43:00.004-05:00

On Wednesday, January 27, Josh left for a 16 day trip to India. I have been able to hear from him almost every day since he's been gone. He has brought good reports of safety, no sickness, and most of all, the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

One way they are able to share the gospel is through health clinics in the villages. This year Josh is working with an eye clinic for the first time (previously he worked in dental and health clinics). As each native waits to be seen by the doctor, someone shares about who Jesus is and what he has done one on one with them. All this is done through an interpreter, of course. (I guess that would make it two on one, then. : ) Anyway, they have seen hundreds and hundreds each day and have had to turn people away for an eye exam on one day because they simply ran out of time.

Josh has also preached on the streets of the village as the group walks through. The Indian leader will just say "OK, here is a good spot," and Josh will just start preaching through a megaphone. A crowd will then begin to gather as I'm sure they wonder who this tall, white guy is who is yelling another language at them. Their curiosity is instantly peeked, and the Holy Spirit has drawn many to believe in Christ through this. Josh has been starting the message all the way back at creation because the Hindu Indians need to know about which God he is speaking, the ONE and only God. Then he basically gives a brief synopsis of Christ's story through the Old and New Testament. I am so thankful that God has given him the knowledge and understanding to be able to clearly exposit this to them. The Christo-centrality of the Bible is probably clearer to some of the American Christians in the group after they hear Josh preach. (I know I have sure learned a great deal!)

The kids and I have been managing just fine, although we miss him greatly. We talk about him and pray for him all throughout each day. I am so thankful for all of you who have watched the kids for me, cooked for us, had us over to your home, and most of all prayed for us. Sixteen days is a long time to us, but it is not as hard as it could be if we did not have our family in Christ.

Please pray that the rest of Josh's time there will be productive and Christ honoring. Pray for the hearts of those who hear the message and may even still be chewing on it in the months to come. Pray for the Indian believers who will harvest the seeds.

"The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." Mark 1: 15

I pray that you will believe, also.

Sponsorship

2009-11-23T21:55:00.004-05:00

I am posting this information for those of you who have asked.

To support this work financially we are asking for both one-time and monthly gifts.

You may send donations directly to:

Tom Cox World Ministries

c/o Josh and Allison Powell

P.O. Box 2

Mountainburg, AR 72946

(please write "Josh & Allison Powell" in the memo section)

You can send a voided check for automatic, monthly withdrawals from you bank account.

TCWM
Phone:(479) 369-4260
Fax: (479) 369-4039
Email:office@tcwm.org
Web Address:www.tcwm.org

Please contact us or the TCWM office above for questions. May God bless your generosity! God has already been so faithful to call out some of those who will financially support us. Like Josh said, we will NEVER beg you for money. We will leave that conviction to the Holy Spirit through your prayers for guidance on this issue. We will however, beg you for your PRAYERS! Please pray for us as often as you remember us. We have prayer cards with our picture on it for you to put up somewhere in your house or car to help you to remember to pray. Please let me know if you would like for me to mail you one/some.

Thanks so much!

Invision:India Dinner

2009-11-21T09:23:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder, the Invision:India Dinner is tonight, November 21, at 6pm. It will be held at First Baptist Church Gilbert Worship Center, 441 Lewie Street, Gilbert, SC, 29054. We are having good ole southern barbeque! Thanks to all those who have been up for a LONG time cooking the pig!

We are so excited to share God's plans for us with you. It will be a great time of worship through Scripture, testimonies, pictures, videos, and song.

If you could not make it to this dinner, but are interested in receiving more information on our ministry, please email us at thepowellsinindia.blogspot.com. We can send you the information. Also, In January we are beginning to travel and speak in churches about our ministry. If you would like for us to come to your church, we would be grateful to share about the spiritual needs of Bobbili. Please email us at the above address.

(This is a ticketed fund raising event. All tickets have already been sold.)

2009-11-18T08:39:00.002-05:00

Here is a map of India. We will be in Andhra Pradesh on the southeast coast. Bobbili is about 2 hours inland.

No birthday presents for me, please!

2009-11-17T22:45:00.003-05:00

Thirteen year old young lady. Birthday. Cake. Party. Presents...not for Addie! Instead of telling her friends and family she wanted gifts for her birthday, she told them to GIVE a gift...to the India mission that we are doing. So, she had a party and collected the donations which totaled over $570. What a sacrificial idea! I know God will bless the money that Addie raised and many people in India will hear the gospel and grow in their faith. I think we can all learn a little from Addie ...I know I sure did!

All Dressed Up Photography

2009-11-17T21:57:00.001-05:00

Recently our family had a photo shoot with Brantley at All Dressed Up Photography. She was so gracious to donate her time and talents to help us have pictures for our "media stuff." It was a great reminder to me to use whatever desires and talents God has given me for His glory.

Please check out their website at www.alldressedupphotography.com. They will do a great job for you! Thanks Brantley!

"Mom, are we goin' to India on Sunday?"

2009-11-17T15:16:00.007-05:00

"Mom, are we goin' to India on Sunday?" Levi asked yesterday. "One Sunday we will, but not this Sunday," I answered. Although Levi, our 3 year old middle son, doesn't quite grasp the concept of time, he knows that one day soon our family will be making that long flight across the ocean to a place where many people worship false gods made with there own hands. Wilds, our 6 year old, understands that God wants us to go and tell them the truth...that Jesus Christ is the only way, truth, and life. We often discuss how it is our responsibility to go and tell them...if we don't go, then they may never hear. But how did we get to that point in the plans for our family's future?

It all started about 19 years ago when Josh was 15 years old. (Wow, Josh is gettin' old!) His dad, Pastor Butch Powell reluctantly agreed to go to India to evangelize Hindu villagers. Butch continued to go for the next couple years, and in 1993 he missed much of Josh's senior high school basketball season at LHS because he was in India. At the time, Josh didn't understand why his dad had to go to India at such an important time in his basketball career. Butch continued to faithfully go to India for 14 more years before the opportunity opened up for Josh to go with him. In 2007 Josh went to Bobbili, India and his life hasn't been the same since. When Josh arrived, he saw the faces of those Indians to whom his dad had proclaimed the Gospel message through the years. As he was speaking with one Indian pastor he asked him, "When did you become a believer in Jesus Christ." The man asnwered, "In 1993 when your dad preached in my village." God immediately reminded him that 1993 was the year his dad missed all those important basketball games. He realized that had his dad not been in India then, then that man, and many others, may not be followers of Jesus, much less pastors.

God began to reveal His plan in Josh's heart. Now, many of those men that Butch evangelized in India through the past 19 years have become pastors in their villages, and they are in need of even the most basic pastoral training. It only makes sense that Josh would continue his father's work and his Father's work and start some sort of training for these pastors. Josh prayed about this need and burden God had given him and decided to confront the Indian leaders in Bobbili with the prospect of starting a seminary there. He was hoping that the proposition didn't arouse any offense in the Indians. When the meeting time came, Vijay, the main Indian leader, said "Before you start with whatever you need to say, I have something that I want to tell you. We have been praying for a year that God would send someone to start a seminary for the pastors here, and Josh, we have been praying that God would send YOU." Josh's eyes filled with tears as the Holy Spirit revelaed that God was simultaneously working in his heart and theirs to bring about His sovereign plan. Not only were the Indians not offended by the seminary proposition, but they brought it up before Josh even got the chance. The Indians were afraid that Josh wouldn't want to come. I'm sure it was a joy for God to see the reality of his plan unfold in the eyes of his children.

Since that day, our family has been heading toward the goal of moving to India and starting a seminary there for pastors. God started financially providing for this through the death of my sister, Carla. While Carla's husband Michael was writing the obituary for the newspaper, he felt impressed to include a sentence (without our knowledge) somewhat like this, "In lieu of flowers, please send memorial gifts to Josh and Allison's work in India." When my dad told me that Michael wanted to do that, I began to cry...Carla's death was becoming a means to God's provision for us to go do His work in India. Through that memorial fund, approximately $30,000 has been raised. Guess what...that is the exact amount that was needed to build the seminary president's home where we will live! We are naming the house Carla as a reminder of God's provision for the seminary and saving grace in my sister's life. Even though Carla will never be able to come see God's work there, her life and death are a major part of it.

Recently, God allowed us the opportunity to move closer to our parents in South Carolina so we can spend time with them, minister at First Baptist Gilbert, and finish up PhD work. Also, we will be working toward our goal of raising enough prayer and financial support to live in India. Based on advice from the Tom Cox World Ministries board and the Indian leaders, we need approximately $50,000 - $60, 000 a year to make it. This money will go toward airline tickets for our family of five (totaling atleast $13,000), food, housing, transportation in country (we have to leave India every six months because of our visa), health insurance, emergency fund, supplies, seminary needs, etc. We are in need of 100 people to commit to giving $50 a month to God's work through us in India. As soon as we reach that goal, then we will be able to go and start the ministry there that God has ordained and for which the Indian pastors are continually begging us. We want to be there by June 2010 (which is only 7 months away!). We ask that you would pray for us as we prepare to accomplish these goals through the help and guidance of the Word and the Holy Spirit. If you would like to help financially with this ministry, please email us at thepowellsinindia@gmail.com. We understand that not everyone will be led to give $50 per month, so if you want to give a one time gift or another monthly amount just let us know. Every step of the way God has confirmed this plan for us. We know that God will provide the funds needed to do His work, too.

Please also keep our family in your prayers. In the following months we must get passports and business visas secured for all of us, immunizations for living in India, home school materials, and other missionary training. Our prayer for our children is that God would prepare their young, impressionable hearts and little bodies to go to a place where life will be so different from life as they have experienced thus far. To say that it will be a big adjustment for them is an understatement of the truth, but we are honored that God would call us to this life. Our children will see what it means to trust God for care and they will be removed from many of the materialistic not so necessary necessities of which Satan has convinced our US culture. Pray that Josh and I will stay healthy, strong, and wise as we have a short time to carry out the plan that God has laid on our hearts.

India...here we come!