Wheels in Kerala, India 2023 – Blog 4

Wheels in Kerala, India 2023 – Blog 4

Two members of the wheels team talk with a young indian boy and his family to assess him for a new wheelchair

Kerala Mission Daily Blog – 19th March 2023

The Wheels for the World team are hard at work in Kerala, India until the 25th March, changing lives through the free gift of a wheelchair or other mobility aid. Here, Peter, a member of the team, tells us about the 4th day of the trip...

It was Sunday and we were feeling gratified about our achievements the previous day and refreshed at breakfast time as we recounted some of our highlights.
It was time then for us to attend Dr C V’s church – and what a wonderfully reflective and joyful time it turned out to be!

We were so warmly welcomed by all the pastors and congregation alike as we gathered outside and before long we were honoured with front row seats and both Through the Roof and each of us individually were introduced, welcomed again and thanked enthusiastically for our mission and all that it represented.

Naturally the majority of the service was in Hindi but the passion, the fervour, the love of God that was evident throughout was not lost on us. And the singing! It was from the heart, it filled the hall…it was a delightful surprise. Those of Welsh heritage (like this writer) who are renowned for their voices and love of singing would have loved it! We joined in as best we could and it more than made up for the language differences.

We all participated in the breaking of the bread and later our pastoral care person, Susan, gave an excellent devotion which was very skillfully translated by Dr C V. Our team leader, Martyn, who delivered an interesting and indeed inspiring talk, again translated by DR C V, drawing on stories from the Bible and his own life experiences, both before and after his acceptance of Jesus as his saviour.

And what a lunch the church had prepared for us – another time when we felt so honoured and appreciated. Once again we had many requests for photos to be taken with members of the congregation and the children who were clearly fascinated by our appearance being so different to what they were accustomed to locally.

After the service and lunch we were able to enjoy some personal time in the afternoon before meeting up in the evening for a delightful dinner infused with those unmistakeable and aromatic Indian spices.

Praise the Lord for another wonderfully memorable day.