PRAISE THE LORD Dear Joynetters,
I am Dencil. I have been following all the mails whenever i got the time. It is wondeful to know that 1000+ share Jesus everyday. So, what happened to me now? Dear friends, the Lord our God showered His grace upon me to attend the National Campus Conference that was held at Ernakulum, Kerala. The program was for 4 days, 12, 13, 14, and 15th of this month. We had actually been expecting 15 people from coimbatore, but only 10 of us were able to go for the conference. The 10 lukcy and chosen ones of our Lord and saviour were Shobith, Ginu Sindhu , Josephine, Mercy, Vimal Raj, Geo, and myself. Robin and Gibson ( Rex bander) later joined us. We attended the mass at Gandhipuram church and received the blessings from the father. As it was pooja holidays there was a lot of rush as every body were going home and the buses were all full. But He who split the red sea to guide His chosen ones showered Hid Grace upon us. We got seats and we started off from Gandhipuram at 10:30 p.m. We! reached Ernakulum at 3:00 a.m. As we could not go to the St Theresa's college until it was 6:00 a.m., we had to spent our time at the bus stand itself. The girls went to the ladies waiting room. We bought 2 news papers and sat there in the bus stand, singing praises to the Lord. We also said a rosary of mercy together, it was a wonderful experience. Then, we managed to get a nap. After that at 6:00 in the morning we went to the venue. When we reached there, it was raining heavily. Slowly everyone started to arrive in ones and two's. The program started at 9:30 a.m. with the music ministry starting off with the beautiful song, "I am trading my sorrows." It was a beautiful experience singing and offering praises to the Lord. There was praise and worship sessions, and talks throughout the program. There were representations from B'lore, Manipal, Nagpur, Andhra Pradesh, Katpadi, Bombay, and from CBE. Our accommodation was in a school at Kacheripadi. The first day passed, and we! were being kindly lead by the spirit. We could feel it in each song, in each praise, in each mass, and in each prayer we made. The second day, we had confession, I was able to make a good confession. In between the praises, the worships, and the songs, my mind was wandering here and there sometimes. In fact i felt jealous towards some of them who had been there, i do not exactly know the reason why i felt that way. But i prayed to the Lord to take all the things that was keeping me away from Him. After the confession, i was a better person. I was again a bit disturbed, i still do not why. But, when the Lord chose me to be close to HIm, my heart leapt with joy. If I try to to put in words how i felt, i think i would not be able to do justice to the true essence of it. I thanked and praised the Lord for his UNCONDITIONAL AND UNCOMPROMISED GRACE that he was showering upon this UNFAITHFUL SINNER. Then, the third day came, the highlight of that day was the one-to-one evangelisat! ion that was scheduled on that day. Everyone was very eager to go out into the streets and proclaim the Word of God. There were classes explaining how to go about it and share the Good news in a more apealing way. We found those classes very much interesting. Although, we all wanted and were eager by then to go out and proclaim the Good News, we were still somewhat unsure as to how we would go about when the time came. There was still a heavy downpour. We prayed to the Lord to stop the rain so that we could go out to proclaim the Good News. It was planned for 4:45, and the time came soon, Hallelujah, the rain stopped. We were divided into teams of 24 members. The team that I was in was to go to the South Railway station. We reached there. We were given 1 hour. We went inside the railway station. One by one each of us started looking for the person that God wanted us to share the Good news. I was very nervous, but still i wanted very much and prayed to the Lord constantly to ! lead me to the person he had chosen for me to proclaim His Word. I walked to and fro and up and down, but i could not muster the courage to go sit beside someone and tell him about Jesus. I cried in my heart to give me the grace to share Jesus to atleast one person. Then, as i was walking i saw a person sitting all alone. So, i went and sat beside him. I did not know how to start the conversation. I asked to Lord to give me an opening. I looked at his hand to see if had a watch so that i can start off by asking the time, but he had no watch. I sat there for a whole minute praying to the Lord to help me start at least. I just looked out, the rain was still pouring down heavily. Then, somehow I smile at him and commented on the rain. Then, he also started talking about the rain and how it had been there for 4 days continously in various parts of Kerala. Then i asked him where he was going, his name, his place, his family, and the conversation progressed. But, i was not there t! o waste time in conversation. I told myself, i have to tell him about Jesus. How would i do that, how could i bluntly tell him about Jesus. His name was Mathew and he was a Pentecost and he was from Wayanad. He told me about the falling prices of coffe and pepper. I asked if there was a church near his house, and there was one. I asked if he prayed and he was a man of faith. So, now what would I do. I told him about how Jesus transformed me very shortly. But, i made a mistake there, although i was praying for him constantly in heart, i did not ask him whether i should pray for him. Then, I went and searched for another person. I met a Hindu named Baskaran Nair who was working in the airport as a security guard. I listened to his family background and his problems. I constantly kept reminding him of the love of god for us, he also agreed about that, but then he stood abruptly and went in search for someone to know the time. So, i could not share Jesus with him. I was very sad! , i prayed to Jesus to show me a person, so that i could share Jesus. The time was running by and it was almost 1 hour. By that time, i had learned some lessons, and i felt the fire to proclaim HIs word and His Good news burning inside me. I looked around, there was 1 person sitting lonely. I went and sat beside him. This time, i did not shuffle, i smiled at him with a 100 watt smile. He smiled back. I prayed to the Lord for His grace. As usual I commented about the rain. I soon knew that he was not a Malayali because he did not understand what i said, but he said something in english or hindi. I switched to english and asked him where he was going. He told he was going to Gujarat. I asked his name, his name was Deep More, he was a Hindu. With prayers in my heart constantly, i started enquiring about his work and his family. Throughout all this i felt the spirit guiding me to ask the right questions and giving me the patience to listen to his problems. It turned out that he ! was searching for a job. He sounded very depressed and dejected, but he still had a smile. Earlier, he had his own business in Gujarat and a good job. But, everything was wiped off in the Gujarat riot. He had lost everything within a few days. He had lost about 6.5 lakhs worth of property and also his job. So, he was searching for a job without success. I slowly told him to keep faith in God.I told him that God loves him and cares for him. But, he told that he did not believe that God loved or cared for him. He told that he was always faithful to God, and always helped others when he had a chance and still the God was not helping him in a time when he needed Him the most. He was very depressed. I asked him if he knew about Jesus, he told he knew but not much. He told that he had a Christian friend and that he used to go to the church with him. I told that Jesus loves him. I told him that Jesus cares for him. He did not seem to agree. Then, I told him how Jesus transformed my! life very shortly. I told him that Jesus died not only for me but also for him. I explained the pain Jesus had to go through so that we may be saved. But, still he was not convinced about the love of God for him. Then, i asked him if i could pray for him. He told yes, i praised God for that then and there. I then prayed for him, his family, and his problems. I do not how i prayed, but i prayed a wonderful prayer. When i was praying, i could feel my heart rejoicing, joy was bubbling in me. I have never in my life experienced such joy. I told him that i would pray for him everyday and told him that Jesus will surely protect him. I asked for his address and i gave him my mail ID. I also gave him a picture of Jesus. When i left him, i felt a changed man. Now, i think i can never be able to rest until i have shared the Good News to more people. Now, i find how easy it is to share Jesus. What we have to do is just take one step in FAITH, and let THE SPIRIT GUIDE US. It was 6:30, ! by then. We all came back to the venue, and we had a sharing session. Everybody had wonderful experiences to share. We had adoration then. It was a beautiful adoration. The hall was set with a large vessel in middle in which water was filled and it was covered with flowers and flower petals, and candles floating in it. In the center, the Blessed Sacrament was kept. During the adoration, i gave everything to the Lord. I felt the infilling of the spirit, whenever i said Hallelujah from my heart, like a little shock running through my fingers to the palm. Praise the Lord. The next day there were sessions and classes and by 2:30 p.m. it was over, but we knew that it was only the beginning. Now i pray to the Lord to give us the Grace to continue to proclaim the Good news to those who are ignorant of God's wonderful plan and will. Let us shout to the north and the south and sing to the east and the west that Jesus is out LORD AND SAVIOUR. Let us say YES to the ALMIGHTY GOD. Amen. --------------------------------- Get a bigger mailbox -- choose a size that fits your needs. **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join To get a standard help message on the list services send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
