Calvary Chapel Bible Fellowship

India 2001

“And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.” Luke 10:5-7

We were all set to send Brother Wil to India. The plans were made; the airline tickets were purchased; nothing was left to be done. We had called Isaac and Sushma at the orphanage in India one last time to confirm our arrival date. We were ready to go. We had planned our ways, but Jesus was about to direct our path.

It is probably important to give a little background on how Jesus had opened the door and called Wil to India. Wil was a Hindi monk who had traveled to India to become a hermit in the ice caves of Gangoti. It was there in his search for “god” that Jesus found him. He was on a suspension bridge walking the trail that led up to the top of the mountain when he found himself unable to move. He did not know why, but after several minutes decided that it was “god’s” way of telling him that he was not to go and become a hermit. He packed up and prepared to return to New Delhi. While waiting for the bus, he noticed an Indian woman walking by. He caught her attention, so she came over. Wil proceeded to share all that had just happened to him. She looked right at him and said, “You need Jesus!” Her name was Sushma. She and her husband Isaac run an orphanage in Dehra Dun. It was through their testimony that Wil came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and it was through them that Wil received an invitation to return to India.

We ended up flying on KLM airlines, which put us in Amsterdam for four hours. This was an incredible blessing because it meant that we would be able to spend some time with our Brother Ralf who was on furlough in the Netherlands for a couple of months. The flight went well until Detroit. There it was canceled due to technical problems. We ended up having to wait almost four hours to catch another flight and missed our connection from Amsterdam to New Delhi. At first, this was very distressing, but then we realized that instead of four hours in Amsterdam, Jesus had given us a whole day to spend with our brother Ralf! It was a great time of encouraging both him and us in all the Jesus had been doing.

“Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.” II John 12

From there we were off to India, rather certain that nothing else unexpected would happen. We arrived in New Delhi, but none of our luggage made it with us. We sat in the airport until about 4:00 a.m. waiting to see if we would have clothes to wear. God provided. Not only did the luggage come through, but we were also given a fair sum of money for the inconvenience. Our train was scheduled to leave from Delhi at 7:30 a.m. We arrived in plenty of time only to find that the train was overbooked, and the next available train would not leave for two days. We needed another option.

The only other way was to rent a car and driver. Praise the Lord! It cost us exactly what we had been given by the airlines for our luggage being late. Six hours later, almost delirious from jet lag, we arrived in Dehra Dun.

As soon as we arrived at the orphanage, we knew that something was not right. The plan was for Wil to stay at the orphanage for about six months while he acclimated to the culture. What we found out was that Jesus had a very different plan. Only two days before we arrived, the church that supports Isaac and Sushma had laid down an ultimatum that no one who was not from the church could stay at the orphanage even for one night. If they allowed Wil to stay, they would lose all support for them and the children. Heartbroken and confused, we rented a hotel room in the city, sent out some emails asking for prayer, spent some time prayer ourselves, and exhausted, finally went to sleep.

The next morning took a good portion of the morning just seeking Jesus. I was scheduled to leave Wil and return to New Delhi that evening, and we had no idea of what we should do. We checked email; Ralph had written, encouraging us to contact some of the Christians that he had met while he was in India. One in particular caught Wil’s attention, a Christian bookstore. It was not easy to find, but we did manage to get there.

What happened next is difficult to fully describe. At this point, we were completely uncertain of what was going to happen. We were in an unfamiliar city that had little to no evidence of Jesus anywhere. When we walked into that bookstore, an incredible peace came over us. There were Bibles on the shelves and Christian music playing softly in thebackground. When we walked in, one of the gentlemen behind
the counter asked, “Are you from YWAM?” (You see, although Wil looks very much like he could be from India, I do not blend in at all.) “No, we are from Calvary Chapel.” The gentlemen turned to Wil and said, “You must be brother Wil! Ralph has told me all about you.” This man was Pastor Babu. As soon as he heard that Wil was staying in a hotel, he immediately insisted that he come and stay with him — not just for a night but until the Lord called Wil elsewhere. Jesus had a perfect plan all along.

Wil has been serving with Pastor Babu now for almost five months. He goes into the Hindi temples to share the love of Jesus with anyone who will listen. He has been teaching in the church, encouraging the brothers and sisters. I encourage you to write him and be blessed with all that Jesus has been doing there. You can get in touch with him at wilsoncharles7@yahoo.com.

In His Grace,

Dave