Brother Jack Turney and his sweet 89 year old wife, Ruby, joined us the following day. They have traveled and worked with the missionaries in India for more than 25 years. We finally received our luggage and took a 5 hour trip in rental cars to Tirivuru. The 5 hour trip was interesting and we prayed much! We dodged water buffalos and goats, motor cycles, rickshaws, bicycles, buses, trucks and other vehicles on a 2 lane freeway (free-for-all!)
After arriving at the mission house, Pastor Carrigan preached the graduation ceremony to the Bible College preachers. These preachers will go out into the surrounding villages to pastor churches that they have been working to establish during the years of their Bible Study. Bro. Joshua Madusa and his family and staff at the Bible College took good care of our group in the mission house. They provided 3 meals a day, and transported us to the villages each morning and evening where Pastor Carrigan preached with an interpreter. Many souls were saved! On Monday, at 11:00 a.m. our team participated in the dedication service of the Morning Star Baptist Church of India. We received a "Royal Welcome" in the village of Reddygudam followed by the revealing and reading of the plaques and cutting of the ribbon of the new church building. We were introduced to the pastor of this church, Pastor Joseph and his family. We were excited to see the church building full and overflowing with people standing outside the building. Pastor Carrigan preached a wonderful message and many were saved. It was an honor and privilege to be a witness of the first message being preached and the first souls being saved in the new Morning Star Baptist Church of Reddygudam, India. On April 19, we took a 5 hour train ride to Hyderabad where we departed India and traveled 22 hours by plane to Charlotte, NC. We arrived safely home. We thank the Lord for allowing us to have a small part of the work He is doing in India.