Day 9 since arriving here at the Covenant School or Worship in Hyderabad and I have a lot to catch you up on!
The school is nestled in a beautiful hillside neighborhood with a gorgeous, exotic front garden, marble floors and a terrace overlooking the view. I know, suffering for Jesus. Before you start feeling bad for me, please note I recently found a car-sized cockroach in my bathroom so that about evens the playing field.
On a more serious (and spiritual) note, I have been extremely blessed to share my time with these hungry, eager students. They have traveled from near and far, village and town to spend 3 months here at CSOW. The school offers various classes including, voice training, drums, keyboard, leadership, song writing and guitar. That's where I come in. I have been instructing basic lessons since my arrival and am very pleased with the progress thus far. We have some interesting times during our sessions due to various factors. One of the most comical being the language barrier. So, it goes something like this: me teaching them songs in Telugu and them trying to sing them back to me in English. Sometimes, I swear there are crows squaking in the garden, but a las, it is just the harmonious sound of confusion.
It's not all as tricky as it sounds. The majority of these young men (one as young as 14) are picking up these instruments for the very first time. They are on a fast track before being let out into various parts of India to begin their internships with different churches.
I am proud of these young men. They have taken a step of faith to come here. They are excelling and absorbing more and more each day.
Each class brings new breakthroughs. Last night, we were in the middle of our nightly service and I felt the Lord ask me to call upon a few of the guys for a testimony. I asked them "what are you thankful for?". There was some hesitation, but then they began stepping out. I then felt the Lord began to press for a new song. Early in the week, I had explained the importance of tongues in worship and how the two are a necessity for excelling in life. They all accepted the Holy Spirit!!
I began to encourage them about "singing" in tongues. It was a very foreign concept at first, but after some more coaching, I just began singing "Jesus" over and over again. I knew there were more words, so I asked anyone if they had verses to add. One by one, they came forward with words from their heart. It was so powerful. Eventually, you couldn't quiet the room and everyone was pouring out their new songs. I was overwhelmed with the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord. He met us. He always does.
When we finished, several of the students approached me saying they had never felt so free in worship before and that they really enjoyed this experience. And to think, I almost quit after seeing the initial resistance. He never quits on us and He always come through when we obey.
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| My guitar class |
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| Julie helping out during practice time |
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| This young man is only 14 and had heart surgery 3 years ago. He is amazing |
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| Pouring out to the Lord |
