Monday 4 January 2010

Three Street Children at the Stone Church

From Dec 23rd till the 27th
there was Christmas Festival
at All Saint 's Cathedral also called
Paththar Girja or Stone Church.(above-main entrance)
Each evening different groups presented
the Gospel message through music dance,
skits and the spoken word.
The cathedral is situated right in the city center
and since it was an open air event
it drew large crowds from all
walks of life specially non-Christians.



We went on the last night . There
was an audience of more than
five thousand people.People did not mind the cold evening air. The Cathedral is more than 100 years old and
is an important landmark of our city
It has been awarded the status of
a Heritage site.

Here we were under the impressive
facade of this magnificent building.

In the audience
Namria,Mishael, me
(front) Rayguel and Abner
This young man . a gifted preacher
and musician , captured
everyone 's attention.
He really has the gift of evangelism.
In the midst of this throbbing melee
came three street children.
Awestruck by the dazzling lights, music
in the electric atmosphere.
They walked right up to the
stage, spellbound by the display of
sound and color.
Mouths open,
black eyes aglow in wonderment.
Their thin tattered clothes
and bare feet provided no protection
from the chilly wind.
What is this
so far away from our slumdog world?
Dwarfed by huge TV cameras,
speckled by blinking digital cameras ,
confused by buzzing mobile phones,
they stood -
almost frightened and overpowered.
When Jesus walked on earth
people from the fringe of society,
the poor, outcasts, lepers,
people of ill-repute and
the downcast followed him.
He ignored no one.
He called out;
Who touched me?
Come down from that tree,
I want to come and eat at your house,
What do you want me to do for you?
Allow the little children to come to me.
He peeled away their tattered clothes of
disease, shame and sin and sent them away
whole in body and soul.
He still gives beauty for ashes.
(Abner and Rayguel riding a toy train)
Here are 2 videos from the Festival.






21 Fertilize my soul:

Felisol said...

Dear Amrita,
A new great post from you.
The three street children drawn to the goodness and welcome of the gospel being served on the street; isn't that just how the Bible tells us it should be. Go out on streets and invite to the great wedding in Heaven.
I am so thankful when I read this is being done.
From Felisol

monsoon dreams said...

amrita,
wonderful post,dear.i'm glad you had the time and mind to take notice of these young angels.and i loved the way you related it to the bible.Wishing u peace and health in this new year.

Gabriela said...

Hello Amrita:
I come from Michelle's blog just to say hi and express my best wishes for a great 2010.
¡Saludos desde Lima!

Olde Dame Penniwig said...

I rarely cry anymore, but the three little street urchins makes me so very, very sad and downhearted...Of course you, with your big heart, noticed them...

Anonymous said...

oh..what sweet faces.....was anyone able to minister to them personally? I am praying so....

Julie said...

How sad the street children. It must have been like magic to them the colors and sounds. Love your photos and videos.

David Edward said...

knowing what a great and loving heart God has given you I am sure you wanted to take them home with you.
Let your heart be broken with what breaks the heart of God.

Buttercup said...

What a wonderful post. As Penni said, with your generous heart you saw the children. Blessings to you and thank you for your friendship.

Amrita said...

Hello Gabriella ( love that name) Thank you for visiting from Peru, it is such a beautiful country. I wish I could read Spanish.

Bhavesh Chhatbar said...

hmm! interesting post!!

Bhangarh

Michelle said...

I loved the photos!!!!! Great post! :)

David C Brown said...

I've said before that the biggest problem I have in India is the poor, especially the beggars in the cities. The Lord valued the poor and we can comment these little ones to His grace.

Grayquill said...

Thsi post is very interesting. Pretty and sad.
Thanks for sharing.

Amrita said...

Dear Felisol, God bless your heart for suporting those engaged in sowing seed.

Hello Monsoon Dreams, I have thinking of you.Pray you are doing well, Mahima also.

Dear Penni, my heart just broke when I saw those children.

Dear Dani I am sure someone reached out to them. I saw a gentleman taking them aside.

Dear Julie, there are thousands of thee unfortunate children on our streets. Thankfully many social organizations are helping them, they can live in orphanages and shelter homes. But more is needed.

Hello David Schmidt, my adopted sister Sonia was an abandoned child we rescued from cruelty and child labour.Now she shines like a jewel in the crown of our family.She is happily married with a son Abner.

Hi Buttercup, thank you for your visit and comment

Dear Bhavesh, you are an acomplished photographer, I like your colorful blog.

Dear Michelle I praise God for the way you 've been ministering to street kids in the Ukraine since the past 11 years.

That 's right bro David C Brown, you 've been to India and have seen the situation first hand. The Lord is merciful towards the poor .

Dear GreyQuill, thank you for stopping by.I enjoy your blog very much.

Pia said...

amrita, hi. i'm just curious. isn't christianity an undergound thing in india? i mean, you don't get arrested for delaring your faith in Jesus? because when we have to pray over the countries we'll be sending our missionaries from the philippines to, india together with china and iran is one of those nations that missionaries should be very careful. but i also wonder if that's the case, how come pastor benny hinn was able to preach in a stadium in bangalore india? what's your government has to say about christians?

Debra said...

As always...great photos and videos. It was so wonderful to hear those young men singing for Jesus and seeing those 3 children watching as they sang!

Amrita said...

Dear Pia, Christianity is not an underground religion in India. Our democratic republic gives complete freedom to one and all to practice and propogate one 's religion as long as it is not anti-national or disturbing the peace. This is our fundamental right. We are allowed to openly preach the Gospel.

But of course right wing religious groups and government
factions don 't like it and oppose evangelism. Conversion is a very big issue here. Christians are accused of bribing or forcing people to convert. It is false. There can be no forced conversion.

Benny Hinn had crusades in Mumbai and Bangalore which drew humungous crowds and there was a lot of opposition too, Benny Hinn had a special banquet and meeting for top government officals and members of the judiciary and business community. That was very successful too.

Joyce Meyers has meetings in Hyderabad .
Foreign missionaries have to be very careful as they can be falsely accused of forced or bribed conversions etc.
India has stopped issuing missionary visas as before.Foreigners can come as social workers or teachers and students or tourists.

All of us have to be very careful as our enemy prowls around to seek whom he may devour.We have been threatened many times.My late father falsely accused of all kinds things.In all this Jesus reigns supreme.

Dear Debra thank you for your sweet comment.

Sharodindu said...

Nice post...enrich with pure thought!

Sharodindu said...

where exactly it is located?

Abigail Jasmine said...

Wow.
Beautiful.

And I love those 3 little children-xoxox!!

I pray to our Lord your ministry reaches out to many people and many souls will be saved :)

I love seeing this world through your view..

Terry said...

dear amrita..this is so great that there is a certain amount of freedom in india that such a gospel concert could be had.
i just wonder how many people will accept the lord through this?
amrita..what does the verse say at the back of the speakers?
amrita..i wonder if the elderly lady with the four children was at the meeting..oh it would be something if she remembers your kindness and turns to the lord!
this is a beautiful post!
amrita,could you once in a while put a post like this over at the pals?
the real reason that i won't give up on the pals amrita is because little missionary julie is always on my mind and she so enjoys post such as yours!....love terry