This post is written in the early morning after a tough night. My main speaking partner for the conference, pastor Joe Durai, had been missing for two weeks! I thought he perhaps he was out preaching somewhere, but it turns out the rumors i had heard about him being in an accident were true. I got a call from pastor Mohan of Chennai’s Assembly of God Church and he told me that Joe had been hit while riding his new motorcycle back from a prayer retreat and was taken to the hospital for head injuries, and was unconscious for 12 days. I was able to see him right away and when I did, I saw a man, a friend in a miraculous state of recovery! He was sitting up and had been conscious for 2 days. He was filled with fire from God. He immediately asked about our ministry dreams together and spoke of what he saw the Lord doing with us in his absense this week. One way to know about Joe’s attitude toward healing is to check out his School of Divine Healing website. This man is literally in authority by God’s Spirit over his body, and recovery is already a given. He’ll be going home in a week. We prayed together and I left rejoicing over this hero of mine whereas an hour before I was in shock.

Now, we are faced with having to rearrange the whole speaking schedule. Pastors Joel, Joshua, Aruldas and I met right after the hospital and went to work on it. We now have the bases covered and we are trusting God that He knows our need and has already determined to bring breakthrough despite the attacks on our efforts. We are not unaware of the spiritual forces that want to keep pastors from hearing from God together to build partnership for their cities. We are right on the front lines and the adversity we feel is making us all stronger as a team.

Joel (us team) and I preached on Sunday with the team and it went well. It was a good introduction for the 4 first timers to Indian people, church culture, and eating soup with your hands!

We all can really feel you praying for us. I feel like the tip of an arrowhead, ready to penetrate God’s target, and your prayers are the weight behind the impact. God is carrying us through the battle and we will prevail. I can’t even list all the other challenges we are facing beyond what I mentioned. All I can say is to pray for the supply lines of the team… their friends and families… as this is where we historically are vulnerable in mission trips like this.

Love,
Indi-Andy

Greetings all.
Andrew here…
All seven of us are sitting in my office doing a joint post.
Joel suggested we do this.. Ok Joel… shout it out…

Joel:
Wow. What a trip! After two days and nights of travel we are here. I am very tired so forgive me if I ramble a bit. I can’t believe all the people here. Thousands upon hundreds of thousands of nameless faces. All different yet all unique. All loved by our Lord Jesus Christ. What an amazing opportunity to tell the Good News. Thank you everyone who donated to this trip. God will bless you greatly, in this life and the next.

Helo, Bryan here. Just want to say that the weather here is like mississippi. Hot and humid. I’m also finding myself tired. I met an india that looks like my uncle except india and thinner.

helo this is rolland. I am 20 years old and have been to india ones before and its better then i remeber. God is good !!!

hey, hey. it mimi. i guess all i have to say is that this whole experience is awesome so far. im looking forward to what lies ahead. oh and im definatly a little tired. Keep us all in your prayers.

Andrew to conclude…
We hope to update the blog daily… but it will be hard where we are going. Real quick, I went to Kanchipuram on Wednesday after we (The India CGI team) that pastor Nesayan’s church was burnt to the ground Tues night! It was tragic. I preached there last year after the Kanchipuram revival. I gave the pastor the money I had in my pocket and we prayed. All I can say now is that we are fighting a real battle against the powers of darkness.. you know. The resiliancy of the Indian people is like nothing I have ever seen. I am just privileged to be associated with people who put the lives of sacrificial saints like him. We’ll post pictures next, as we prepare to head out to the conference grounds.

Greetings. Once again its my pleasure to update you all with the developements of the upcoming Pastors conference and Crusade. As we look ahead we have only 8 days to go - Haleluiah. God has opened doors in an awesome way for us (team India) to meet with pastors fellowships and pastors individually and invite them for the conference.
There has been a trememdous response pastors and leaders are calling in to register for the conference and we believe that the two days is going to be powerfull and there is going to be a mighty pour of the refreshing Spirit of God upon his leaders.
Preparation for the Crusade is on full gear the fliers are being distributed and posters are being stuck the word is spreading, the local leadership and pastors are giving their very best in workin towards this crusade.There are still last minute things that need to be taken care off please pray for God’s favour and strenght to uphold and sustain us.
Here are some pictures of pastors and leaders of kalpakkam, kanchipuram and chegulpeth please i urge you to take a step of faith and lay your hands on the screen praise God and pray that God will use them to bring revival to the district of kanchipuram.

I am mentally determined to think in Indian time zone as I travel. It is approaching midnight in my mind even thogh people are eating lunch all around me…. I am ready to pray and sleep.

As I am sitting in Cincinatti for 6 hours, I am slowly letting God help me switch gears from scrambling fundrasier/business guy mode into Indi-Andy… lover of leaders and crusade evangelist. First of all, I really am grateful for the amazing response we received from friends in raising over 30k overall. We met our goals for our conference budget, so now on the financial front, we are just looking ahead to managing well, and praying for additional money so we can really make our events remarkable. Ministry in India is really a lesson in flexibility, as budgets, situations, invitations, and possibilities come at the last minute. Kudos again to the great business leaders in Clark County who came through to fund this effort. My gift back to you is to report that every dollar is being used effectively, that all members of the team are volunteers, and that all administrative efforts used to bring this together was volunteered.
Above and beyond that, there are pastors and future leaders in India who will be refreshed equipped because of your efforts. We are geared up to bless them by the grace of God.
So anyway, I think I am done venting on finances. I had to just get it out as a way to help me switch gears. Thanks for listening.

While I am waiting 5 more hours, I am going to read, read, read and write notes for the messages. I received great prayer and words of encouragement from my team at work, at church, as well as a special encounter with Pastor Douglas Chieza on departure day.

Bottom line, although I have felt way out of my comfort zone lately in preparing for this years trip, I am 100% confident that God has equipped me and that we are going to secure a win for the kingdom. There will be healings, repentance, clarity of vision, and most of all salvations! Please pray with me for over 700 decisions for Christ at the crusade and unprecedented participation from the district churches.

We are all bridge builders!

Hi friends.

It was embarrasing how poorly the main event page communicated until now. I hadn’t updated it since April, and the schedule was all out of whack.

I hope you can take a minute to check it out now, as it has a clean breakdown of the three parts of our journey. It will give you the best, summarized picture of what we are doing next week through the end of July.

Hey, BTW, remember Ananias? No, not the one who fell dead along with his wife, but the good one. I mean the one a couple chapters later in Acts 9 who God spoke to about taking a risk and reaching out to Saul, the infamous Christian killer. Ananias resisted, and Gods reply to him was simply that He had already spoken to Saul that Ananias would come to pray for him. Wow God. You mean others are depending on my obedience to You as well?

Ok, I’ll do it.

We who are about to travel salute you!

As I have done prior to each crusade, below is a letter I am sending through Joshua to all the pastors in the Kanchipuram district. This year, I have spent more time praying about it than writing it, and I truly hope it reflects the heart of God. I invite you to read it also, and to pray that each appeal inspired by God will ring true to the reader.

Greetings to the beloved shepherds of the entire Kanchipuram District!

I cannot tell you how delighted I am in coming to you this year, not only for another great crusade, but also to hold our first annual pastors conference. I am amazed at what a great location we have and the fact that we can spend two solid days seeking the Lord together. This conference is not only for pastors, but also for aspiring leaders in the local church. I believe this will be a time of releasing for those who want to be leaders in the kingdom of God.

When I first came to Kanchipuram in 2004, before we had the crusade, I stood before 200 pastors in Chengulpet and I made a commitment. That commitment was to walk as a servant among you that I might not only preach boldly for the sake of the harvest, but also to walk humbly in your midst so we can build a life-long partnership together. This commitment has not been a burden to me, but a joy. At that time, you may not have been sure of my commitment to you, but now we can celebrate together in what the Lord has done over these last two years as well as what He is doing now. This is just the beginning stages of how the Lord is building relational ties between us. As we continue to seek the Lord for amazing change in our lives, powerful ties will be built in our hearts. Man to man, pastor to pastor, woman to woman, student to student and child to child. Relationships will also be built team to team, church to church, and district to district. This is the vision of the bridge. Imagine churches in the US and churches in Kanchipuram having direct relationship. Not just pastors knowing each other, but children and students emailing each other. Commitments, accountability, change and growth.

I do hope you can come to the conference, and if you are in the Kalpakkam area, can participate in the harvest at the crusade. I believe the Kanchipuram district is reaching a spiritual tipping point, and God must be glorified by His church at this critical time.

Finally, let me say on behalf of Pastor Joshua, Pastor Joel, the organizing team AND the financial supporters in the US that this conference is not a foreign production- it is OUR CONFERENCE. The full power of ministry the Lord wants to do in your life through these meetings depends on whether you come with a sense of partnership and commitment, or simply as a spectator. What I am asking is that those of you with financial means would consider bringing an offering to present that will help us offset a portion of the costs, which will allow more pastors and church leaders to attend. I firmly believe that partnership without investment is impossible, and that in the long run, revival will come to India as ministry investment is liberal among local leadership. So please consider this in prayer and seek to bless those poor pastors who need to come and be refreshed, but cannot afford to participate beyond the nominal registration fee. None will be poor forever in a kingdom where there is an unlimited supply of God’s love.

God bless each and every one of you in the matchless Name above all Names, Jesus Christ our Lord!

Brother Andrew Deal

As many of you already know, the next trip to India is just about upon me and I am counting down the days for my departure.

I want to start our by welcoming all the new subscribers to this blog. Some have added themselves, and many I just added myself after going through a long history of friends I have emailed in the last two years. It took a while to go through, but I felt it was important to take a thorough look at all friends I have been in contact since we started out on our Indian journey. It is amazing how many people we all touch and it is more work than ever in our busy lives to maintain all the connections we would like to keep. I feel very strongly at this time to do just that, as this particular crusade preparation has had such a different affect on me. I have reflected deeply on all the people who have supported our dream for India, as well as those who have encouraged my development as friends and mentors. I for one never like to see a bridge be lost.

With all that being said, I hope you all opt to stick with the subscription. If it was just for my vanity, I wouldn’t blame you for opting out, as we all have just too much mail to deal with every day. But the good news is that this site is not about me, but about the pursuit of a calling to reach India for Christ. A calling you share with me, because of our relationship. I not only want to keep you in the loop, but I hope each and every one of you, my friends, will discover the value of keeping a strong interest in what has been going on for us in our now yearly ministry visits. CGI Ministries is growing and this year we are dong our first pastors conference! Well, all the details are there on the site to get caught up on.

I need your comments and encouragement now more than ever. The opportunity has eclipsed my expectations and is challenging me way beyond my capacity. Me speaking to 800 leaders is huge. Another 3 day crusade is huge. Although my partners in India have great confidence in me for this, there has been a lot of pressure and distraction to fight off as departure day approaches. Apart from a direct calling and unfolding vision, I am counting on your prayers and support to encourage me at this time.

Some of you I hope can afford to help financially as well. We need another $15k in 2 weeks to allow us to house and bless the additional attendees that have surprisingly come forward to register. if you want to know more about that, please reply or comment here, and I will send you more info.

God bless you all. I will be blogging here with updates, and only selectively sending these posts to your emals.

thanks.

Greetings! to all in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We stand in awe of how God has used CGI to be a channel of His blessing to the District of Kanchipuram ever since we started. We believe this 2006 Pastors Conference and the Crusade is going to be Exciting, Powerful and Awesome.

After the last crusade at Kanchipuram there has been a tremendous out pour of God’s Spirit and Power uniting pastors, churches and Believers to stand firm together in Proclaiming the Gospel and praying for great revival. God is doing wonders as you all must have heard about the rain last year (such a blessing is what the district needed). Churches are resonating with testimonies of people being healed and hearts being transformed, a terrific stir among the young people as they are committing to lead lives that please and honor God, last but not the least there has been a favorable change in the political climate.

The preparations for the conference and the crusade has commenced with prayer and waiting upon the lord. We have been meeting regularly with the district and area leaders, pastors and they have given their full support and commitment to work with Cgi in extending the kingdom of God. The conference is going to be held from the 18th to 20th July’06 at the Camp site of TWR (Kanchipuram) located along the East Coast. We are praying and expecting an attendance of 800 leaders. The registration forms and brochures have been distributed to the respective areas. Having commenced registrations the forms have already flooded our office. There is going to be a series pf pastors meeting next week during which we would spread the word about our conference and crusade. The crusade will follow the conference from the 21st to the 23rd of July’06 at Sadras seashore, Kalpakkam which would be an ideal setting for people in and around the areas to assemble comfortably.

On the 5th of July we have scheduled a meeting at Chengulpet for pastors’ and leaders’ of Kanchipuram district where we are going to spend time in prayer and ask God’s hand to lead us and shower his grace on the district.

Please pray for God’s divine protection and provision for individuals and families that involved in the preparations. We will update you as we progress through the weeks.

God’s Love and Blessings….

Pastor Joshua Victor and team India

I love it when a plan comes together, especially when you know it is God inspiring all the elements and all the people involved. As I have been praying amidst planning, God revealed to me the theme of our first conference — The Tipping Point.

The Tipping Point represents a moment of critical mass when an idea, movement or trend changes from being a labor to get others involved with into somthing that no one can stop. The idea came to me simply by seeing a new book cover by the same title, but no further explanation was needed. Immediately, my memory was sparked regarding how most every drama chronicled in scripture involves a tipping point. Tipping points are reached by a variety of events both large and small, and can create nearly unstoppable momentum for either good or bad. The character flaw of one leader taking a shortcut, like in the case of King Saul when offered sacrifices without the presence of Samuel, can be a tipping point that harms the whole national morale. Conversely, the faithful obedience of the early disciples in waiting for empowerment of the Holy Spirit lead to the tipping point moment when the church age began.

When Jesus declares us the salt of the earth, He defining us the “change agents” of the world. What a shame it is when the church loses it’s edge and instead of embracing change, fights to establish religious traditions.

My hope is that as we minister to 700-800 pastors and leaders next month, we will all emerge with a clear idea of what it means to prepare for and to create profound change in our culture for Christ.

Just a quick update…

There are many great happenings with the formation of the team for India. A slide was shown at church this weekend and we have had a few come forward wanting to go. I reply to requests now along the lines of “we are only adding people to the trip at his point if the fit is extraordinary”. A video guy is likely any day now. YESSSS!

Also, we will soon post pictures and put together our brochure for the pastors conference. The location is amazing and I am working on finalizing the speakers list as well.