This is Joy. He looks tougher than he is. He is taking care of us here, to make sure we don't get mugged or ripped off or food poisoning....nah...he isn't really concerned about the food poisoning part.
Anyway, there is some good news and some bad news today.
The good news is that finally last night in a very mysterious and sudden way, as we walked onto the beach, we were swarmed by the natives. That was extremely strange since the day before and even early yesterday evening we were all being looked at like we had leprosy.
Me and K. Vance went out on the beach at about 5 o'clock or so yesterday evening and had only one young boy speak to us. We were stared at with glaring eyes or just simply ignored by those we passed. We went back to the room about 6:30 scratching our heads and wandering, "How are we going to start up a conversation with these people?" We gathered everyone up, went to eat supper, and walked out of the hole in the wall restaurant we ate at and crossed the road. As we stepped out of the road and onto the walkway above the beach we were surrounded.
Me and K. Wade talked with a man from Saudi Arabia who just walked right up and engaged us. We also talked with some young Muslim men for a long time who we will hopefully see again tonight. We were caught off guard when they asked, "What do you do?" Ugggghhhh....we are teachers! That is what we do....we are teachers. We just did not tell them that we teach the Bible. T. Malley and K. Vance had a very long discussion with some more Muslim guys that they are supposed to meet again tonight at 8:30 or 10 a.m. Saturday morning CST. J. Shorter and S. Roberson are having many ladies, mostly Hindu, approach them with big smiles. Things definitely turned around abruptly. Thank you to everyone who is praying.
We also found out that there are some Mapilla believers. Here comes the bad news. We haven't found any in Calicut. What we learned this morning is that if a Mapilla converts to Christianity they soon move out of Calicut. The hostility to the Gospel that is here among the Mapilla was not expected, but we believe that God has a plan and a people among the Mapilla. We really need to find that person of peace that God will raise up to reach their families, their friends, and their neighbors in the face of persecution. Pray that God will bring them out and that we will be able to discern their presence when they show up.
Anyway, things are definitely going better now. We are going out to the beachfront again in about an hour. We will have supper and try to spark up more conversations. It is our hope that we will be able to share the Gospel in its entirety or at the very least be able to start up an email conversation after we are gone. Muslims do not have a habit of converting on the spot. They generally have to read, and think, and count the cost for at least several months before they respond. The likelihood of us coming back with 10 converts is slim. Our goal is to build some long term relationships that will lead to conversion and church planting among the Mapilla. Pray that God would work.
Tomorrow morning we are going to preach and share our testimonies in local churches (made up of converts from Hinduism). Tomorrow evening will be back on the beach. Until next time...
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