Kuala Lumpur

July 28, 2008
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This country and city are so very different than what I expected. The official religion here is Islam. It is a very diverse group of people and several natives have said the country prides itself on welcoming all religions.

Kuala Lumpur has the largest buildings in the world…the Petronas Twin Towers. They are striking and I remember seeing them on TV for the 2000 New Year Celebration.

One of these building houses an opera house and a huge mall. We visited the children's museum inside the building and it was terrific.

Friends we met in the museum…everybody wants a pic with us. :-)

Our taxi driver from the airport to our hotel was a delight and gave us the history of Malaysia as well as many other parts of the world…he was like an encyclopedia and we thoroughly enjoyed our ride with him.

We made friends at the Starbucks in town. These guys were very friendly and we were able to share the Gospel with them.

Two of them said they were Christians and a third was Buddhist.

Please pray for them.

God touches hearts

Monday, July 7, 2008
Another small village in India

God touches hearts
By: Gloria Gault Geary

I don’t believe in coincidences anymore. I believe that everything is a part of God’s plan. I also am beginning to understand that when God uses us to bless others He also blesses us in some way.

Today is the 7th anniversary of the death of my husband. I don’t dread this date like I used to. I accept it as a day to thank God for the time I had with my husband and also to thank Him that I know my husband is in Heaven. This year it was also a time to see how far God has brought my family. I awoke early in the morning and realized the date. I spent time with the Lord and feel back asleep, I did not think about the anniversary again until I was in the middle of my talk to a group of widows.


As I began talking God prompted me to tell them the story of how He spoke to me that morning Bill died. As I began to share the story I remembered it was the anniversary and shared that with them too. After we shared the Gospel with them we prayed over them. There was a woman who requested prayer whose husband had died within the last year. She has two girls and her mother has leprosy and she is also sick. The minute she and I touched hands she broke down crying. One of our team members was praying aloud over her. The widow cried and began praying aloud too. Of course we could not understand what she was saying, but I knew she was pouring out her heart to God. I also knew that was exactly what she needed to do and I knew God was reaching down into her heart to give her healing. It touched my heart that God would use my story to touch these women half a world away and I began crying too. We cried and prayed together. Soon the team stopped praying out loud and just let her cry and pray as we quietly prayed around her. It was a precious time for all of us.

It was interesting to me that on the morning of Bill’s death, God would have me speaking to a group of very young (early to mid-teens) widows here in India. I felt blessed to be with these young women whose struggles are more than I have ever imagined having. It is very possible that is the reason God put me with these women today. If I would ever think to fall into self pity about the fact that my husband has died I need only to think of these young women. They are more on their own than I have ever been. My church, my family and my friends gathered around me to support me enormously after Bill died. These women have few to none who have surrounded them. I have the peace of knowing my husband is in Heaven and one day I will see him again. They often do not.

There were 10 students and 3 past students there for the meeting, Eight of them accepted Christ after we spoke. God was there with us and He was speaking to hearts. We gave them Bibles and they were truly thrilled to receive one.

Please pray for these precious young widows. Pray for God to draw them near to Him and use them to be a witness to others. Pray for provision for them and this ministry.

The Medical Clinic

Chilakallu Village, India

This year the ministry has opened a medical clinic for the local citizens.

The cost to the community is minimal (approximately 2 rupees for 2-4 visits) and has proven a great way to minister and share the love of Jesus.

We visited the facility which is right outside the compound.

They see about 30-40 patients a day.

There is one doctor (thanks to a Canadian mission team who raised the funds to pay his salary for one year) and several nurses and nurse helpers. Because it is a small community the women will often make visits to homes to encourage those who need to come in to the clinic.

The clinic is bright and cheery and very clean looking. We heard a little about their ministry and how they have seen what a blessing it is to the community.

We laid hands on each of them and prayed for God to pour out His healing touch on each of them.

Visiting The Children of India

Tuesday July 1, 2008
Chilakallu Village, India

Today we are finally getting on track with the time change. The first big event this morning was that Harrison got invited to go see the local monkey. There are many different animals and bugs here that the boys are enjoying seeing. Wild monkeys are all over the place and suddenly show up in trees above us.

We spent time with the boys from the orphanage in the morning and shared the Gospel with them using the salvation bracelets and soccer ball. They were quick learners. My boys stayed there and played with the soccer ball and match box cars with the local boys. I rarely saw them the rest of the day.

Visiting the Widows

Visiting the Widows
Chillakalu Village, India

I must admit that this is one ministry I have really looked forward to being a part of.

Being a widow myself, I always feel an immediate connection with other widows, especially younger widows. And when I first learned of their program here, my heart leapt with joy at the thought of coming and seeing this first hand.

First you need a little background on the Hindu faith and widows. It has been a custom in this culture that if a husband dies, then the widow would be burned to death with her husband’s body. The Hindu faith taught that this would move the family 14 steps closer to nirvana. This practice was officially outlawed almost a century ago. The practice continued long after that and to this day there are still some widows who die along with their husbands. Because of this custom, widows who lived were considered outcast and often not helped by family members. Widows receive little sympathy in this culture.

In order to minister to these widows, IPCC has created a sewing school. The widows take 5 months of sewing lessons. When they graduate they are given a sewing machine, table, chair, material and all they need to start a sewing business so they can support themselves. There are two classes on the compound and several others locally.

When I walked into the first class, it was all I could do not to burst into tears. They were all standing at their sewing machines to honor me coming to visit them. As I looked around the room I was overwhelmed by their youth. I never asked their age, but there were many there in their mid-teens. Even Reid noticed their youth and asked me how old they had to be to get married.

The widow on the left accepted Christ after we shared the Gospel with the women.

We gathered around in a circle and I shared with them about us and our mission call. We shared the Gospel and they each got salvation bracelets. This would be our first of several visits with this group.

We were blessed to have one widow pray to receive Christ that day.

Backpack for the kids of Chilakallu Village, India

Chilakallu Village, India
House of Hope
By: Gloria Gault Geary

We got settled into our rooms and had lunch. Jaipaul went over some of the customs and guidelines we needed to know. After a time of rest, we got to meet and play with the orphans for a while. They currently have 35 orphans. We had purchased school backpacks for all the kids and some toys and games (thank you Calvary United Methodist Church for your support of this!). They were thrilled to get the goodies and it turned into a playtime for all of us. We had bought some tea party type toys for the younger girls. When we gave them the toys, it didn’t appear they knew what to do with them, so I sat down in front of them and started playing.

They laughed as I pretended to drink tea and gobbled up the chicken.>
I offered the tea cup to a little girl who just looked at me, so I drank it again and then offered the cup to another. She caught on. My boys couldn’t help themselves and they jumped in too. Soon all the girls were cooking, serving and eating.


We had purchased games for the older kids and match box cars for the little boys. I wish I could have caught on camera the eyes of the little boys when they saw the cars. Everyone one of them came up to me at some point and showed me the car they had gotten.
Making roads in the sand for their cars.



They were proud of their car and wanted me to know it.>

The event turned into a giant playtime for everyone and at one point I stopped and just looked around. A very simple toy and some time focused on a child. I began praising God for bringing us to these precious children. What joy I felt to spend time loving on them and what joy exuded from their hearts to just be kids and play.

<Katrina and Hepsa

Katrina is part of our ministry team.
She grew up in Haiti where her parents were missionaries. She has a depth of knowledge about the Lord and a humble, giving heart.

Chilakallu Village, India

Monday June 30, 2008
House of Hope
By: Gloria Gault Geary

We left the hotel at 5:00 am to travel to the village. We were a convoy of three SUVs, the last one was carrying all the luggage. It was a 4 hour plus drive and we slept a good portion of the way. The Indian countryside was a mixture of beautiful sights and fascinating people. Watching individuals live their daily lives of walking their oxen to get water or move their lambs and goats to market provides great entertainment for new visitors.
We passed many shrines, temples and too many idols to count. Seeing the locals drive is a whole different story. In order to get a driver’s license in India, one simply buys it at the store. Traffic was heavy and there is a mixture of buses, large trucks, auto rickshaws, motorcycles, oxen, goats, bikes, and pedestrians, not to mention the occasional Mother Hen and her family.

In order to pass the slower traffic one must get in the lane of oncoming traffic. The traffic going in the other direction is also passing the slower traffic. There were many moments I spent in prayer for our safety as we would narrowly miss a head on collision going about 60-70 miles per hour. I noticed the locals were not the least bit fazed by it. This is normal travel for them. I felt like God had sent out an extra army of guardian angels for us this morning and they were going before us making the roads safe. My guess is the guardian angels who take care of India must do a lot of overtime on the road.

We stopped at one point and watched a local woman prepare a fresh coconut for us to drink. It was delicious. Suddenly our cars stopped and there seemed to be a parade in front of us. Isaac put the car in park and said, “It is a welcoming party!” We all jumped out and there filling the street were about 100 kids and adults. There were 5 men with drums beating them wildly and as we walked up each of us were greeted with a lay of fresh flowers. Harrison got two. They were shooting off fireworks and paper poppers everywhere. I was handed several small flowers from different girls and women and everyone was saying welcome to us. It was an overwhelming and humbling welcome. The boys were being welcomed too and everyone was trying to get close to shake hands or touch us and the girls who were a part of our team.

The welcoming party began walking down the street and locals were standing on the side watching and observing these missionaries who were visiting their village. We walked a couple of hundred feet and then entered the House of Hope compound. I looked up to notice large signs welcoming us by name. The fireworks and drums continued. We were all covered with colorful confetti. As we came near the main house, they brought our team up to the porch and the others stood on the lawn. Jaipaul spoke briefly in their native language and made some introductions. He then asked me to pray. I was so humbled by their warm welcome I wept as I prayed for God to bless these people and our time with them.

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Mark 9:37

Please pray for us as we minister, that God would guide us and would touch those here.

A scorpion comes to dinner!

We were enjoying a lovely dinner with our Indian friends when a scorpion showed up without an invitation!

Yes, George (far right) caught it and brought it in for us to see.

George is known for the animals he catches…snakes, monkeys, rats, and more.

Jaipaul offered to deep fry it if one of us would eat it!

We love our new friends and invite you to pray for them too!

Arriving in Hyderabad, India

Sunday June 29, 2008
Harsha Hotel Room 205
By:Gloria Gault Geary

We arrived India after 11:00pm on Friday and got checked in and settled into our hotel after 1:00 am Saturday. Our travel time from Ghana was almost two full days, we drove four hours to Accra from Aflao, then flew to Lagos, Nigeria to pick up more passengers. From Lagos we flew to Frankfurt, Germany and had a 5 hour layover there. Finally we caught our last flight to Hyderabad, India. Both Hatcher and Harrison had fevers while we traveled and God bless them, they never once complained.




Jets, my seatmate who was a delight to fill me in about India history.



Jets was raised Christian in India and is currently studying in the UK. He was coming home for the first time in two years.

Hyderabad is the fifth largest city in India. It is considered one of the friendliest cities and a great place to visit in India.

The boys and I already like India. The people are kind and gentle. We again are a bit of a rarity here and continue to get stares everywhere we go. Harrison also has many people reach out to touch him here as in Ghana. Often men will stop the boys to shake hands with them and speak to them. It really is sweet how kind they are to my children and I can tell they are genuinely interested to see American children here.









Hatcher’s seatmates who also are currently living in UK.


We have spent the last two days sleeping, eating, and learning a few customs. One of the most interesting customs to me is the fact that when someone nods yes here, they nod the top of their head from left to right (versus we nod with our chins up and down). When I first noticed this, I thought they were stretching their necks. Then when I realized several people did this while I was talking to them I had to ask the meaning. It is a bit humorous at first (as I am sure my nodding my chin up and down must be to them), but I am trying to teach myself to nod differently while we are here.


We shopped for some India style clothes for me


Our hosts here are Pastor JaiPaul, his brother Isaac and several others involved in their ministry, India Pentecostal Community Church (IPCC). This ministry was started by their father almost 40 years ago and this family has been a major influence of Christianity in India. Currently India is approximately 70% Hindu, 26% Muslim and 4% Christian. In the past several years Christians have been given a tough time by the government, but that has subsided recently.

Two of the Praise and Worship team members at Pearl City Church.These ladies worked at Google here in Hyderabad.

We have four young girls who are from New York and we will all be ministering together. Tomorrow we head to the Village.

Our Sunday feast after church at Pearl City Church

What a treat to worship with believers in India!




See the AutoRickshaw at left…on the streets of Hyderabad.

Hyderabad, India

Please pray for our safety in India and that God uses us to His utmost!

Charminar, the most enduring symbol of the city.

Hyderabadis, as residents of the city are known, have developed a distinctive culture which is a mixture of ancient Hindu traditions of Telugu people and Islamic Culture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyderabad,_India

According to Wikipedia, some 909 million of India's 1.13 billion people are Hindu. Muslims make up 151 million or 13.4 percent of the population.
Only about 2.3 percent of Indians - or 26 million - are Christians.

To find out all about India's 5th largest city just click: http://wikitravel.org/en/Hyderabad

Please pray that all we meet joyfully receive the good news of Jesus Christ!