Orissa - Well Accomplished!

Despite many challenges faced this week we have completed our clinic work in Orissa and finished strong. Today was our final clinic in this wonderful region of India and the completion of pastor training by Dr. Barry Creamer.

Barry has trained 30 pastors this week in Janla on the "Doctrine of God". He has seen a mighty work accomplished in the hearts of these courageous men. The pastors in Orissa face obstacles of which we cannot conceive in our cozy and comfortable Christian lives. These men of valor face real persecution & threats on their very lives for preaching the gospel and for ministering in the villages & towns of this state. Please keep these men in your prayers!

Today upon graduating from the week of theological training each pastor was given a case of bibles translated in the Oriya language. We should acknowledge the efforts of Dr. Allen Powell, who coordinated the funds used to purchase these bibles. This was a surprise gift arranged by Dr. Janet Merrill as a part of the graduation ceremony. Also, three bicycles were purchased by the Joy India team members and were presented to the three church planters working in the Daltala region of Orissa.

Our final clinic today was sponsored by the Bhubaneswar Rotary Club and serviced a small village in East Orissa called Delanga. As with each Rotary club clinic we began with an opening ceremony where Dr Sonya Merrill & Dr. Ide Trotter gave a short address and a presentation. Our clinic location for all five teams was a small hospital with well equipped rooms and crowd control gates.

Tomorrow we travel to Bangalore. Our flight arrives late in the evening and we start our clinics early Friday morning. Please pray for the hearts of those we will encounter in Bangalore, there we can openly share the gospel in the clinics. Also please pray for the health of the team, long days and short nights are beginning to take their toll on some members. Pray that our travel logistics are smooth and free from obstacles & difficulty.

Thank You for your faithful prayer support of our mission.

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The link below will take you to Today's photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94059942@N00/sets/72157594471554321

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The link below will take you to the video updates for Joy India team (requires Quicktime): http://www.firstdallas.org/Missions/