India Dream

I started to dream about India November 2010! While I was journaling one night before bed God gave me a scripture: Isaiah 55:5 “You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of, and nations who’ve never heard of you will come running to you Because of me, your God, because The Holy of Israel has honored you.” In my heart I knew right away God was talking about India. God took my dream and multiplied it. My heart was thinking about India more than it ever had before. My husband Noel and I planned a trip to India for Christmas holidays so that we could visit his family. We planned to spend two weeks with his family in Ooty – a beautiful hill station in South India and then one day in the exciting upcoming city of Bangalore. The time with his family was wonderful.
I started to get a glimpse of Indian culture, Indian food, Indian colors, Indian people, and I was very quickly falling in love with it all. By the time we left Ooty I felt like I really wanted to get to know India more!

The day we spent in Bangalore was way too fast. We walked around MG Road and Brigade Road (we did not even know about the amazingly massive and modern shopping mall or the Great Kebab which has quickly become one of my favorite places to eat in India). The people were so friendly.

I was able to smile at people and start conversations, I met wonderful people in Cafe Coffee Day and they answered so many of my questions about living in India. We looked in different shops and markets and I was amazed that everything I missed about Canada and everything I loved about Japan all met in one place … INDIA!

The first trip to India answered two key questions for Noel and I.
Could you imagine your life in India?
Would you move to India and make that home?

The answer without any hesitation was YES! We could imagine life in India and we were willing to make it home. We had one more question to answer: Should we move to India and start a Jesus Lifehouse?
We planned another trip to India for the end of March!

As soon as we got back from our Christmas India holiday I began to pray to God; I asked Him to also speak to Noel about us going to India and our purpose there. God heard my prayers and spoke clearly to Noel. Exodus 3:7-10 – I have looked, I have heard, I know and now I’ve come to help. Pry them loose. Get them out. Bring them to a good land. It’s time for you to go back. I’m sending you to bring my people out! Noel knew God was calling us to India so we could be a part of starting a fun, relevant, life-changing church that will add value to the amazing people of India.

March holiday in India was OUTSTANDING! We were in Delhi for two days and knew without a doubt that the answer to the questions ‘should we?’ was another absolute YES! India has a population of 1.2billion people and 50% are under the age of 25. Most people have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ and there are very few youth focused city churches. We both felt that someone would build a church in India, that the youth would come, and that lives would be changed in amazing ways. We knew God was giving us the opportunity to be a part of this and we didn’t want to miss out!

When our Pastors Rod and Viv Plummer first went to Japan to start Jesus Lifehouse they received a vision from God. That a wave – like a Tsumani – would go all over Japan, but instead of bringing destruction it would bring amazing hope. They knew God was going to move and that God was giving them a chance to be a part of it! Noel and I felt the exact same way about India. God is going to move, now is the time and we wanted to be a part of it.

We had SO much fun in Delhi, driving around in the auto, searching for cool hangout places, eating amazing food and meeting some of the coolest young people! Delhi is a very global city that is changing very quickly. Development is moving at a rapid pace, with housing developments, shopping mall, major hotels, businesses from all over the world opening offices, metro and public transportation – things will not stay the same for long. There is so much potential for growth, and so many new opportunities for the younger generation coming up. We are SO excited to be a part of Jesus Lifehouse Delhi! We are pumped for the next generation of India!

Our second trip to New Delhi was a massive confirmation of what we felt during our first visit. It is time for an amazing youth focused church in New Delhi. A church that is fun, relevant, and life-changing. A church that will inspire, equip and empower the next generation.

This time we met with many Christians and non-Christians and the response was outstanding. The youth are pumped about their city: they LOVE their city and are so proud to be ‘Delhi-ites.’ Every young person we spoke with had a massive vision for their future, they are dreaming big, and all their dreams involve the city that they love – NEW DELHI! The Christians that we met are so excited about having a youth focused church! There are churches in New Delhi doing great reaching families and they are growing. There is a need and a cry for a youth focused, discipleship based church and we are so pumped to be a part of starting that. The needs are there, people are open about what they want and need, and we are so excited to be able to bring Jesus Lifehouse to such an outstanding city.

In November 2011 we had our first Vision Night! We got out on Facebook, Twitter, this Blog and my husbands www.awarriorlife.wordpress.com and we started inviting. We had 35 people come to check it out. At vision night we shared about Jesus Lifehouse. Who we are, what we do, why we do it and what our plan is for the future. People were pumped. We asked people to respond, showing interest to be a part of helping us out and 20 people responded positively to lend a helping hand. We were so excited. Some of the great comments we heard were:

“This is a church I could invite my friends too!”
“I like how you pray to God, simple!”
“This is really exciting”
“The worship style is so much fun!”

In March 2012 we will have another Vision Night as well as our very first Pre-Service! We are so excited to invite the friends we have and for them to invite their friends. It is going to be an amazing weekend.

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This March 2012 trip to New Delhi was more than I every could have dreamed or imagined! We had such an amazing time! It all started for me with Vision Night on Saturday March 17th. We had 34 people attend and nearly half were people we had not yet met. It was great to share our vision and heart for New Delhi and what we plan to do as a church. Jesus Lifehouse is so excited about being in India.

On Sunday March 18th we had our very first Demo-Service. 28 people came and four people responded to the message wanting to know more about Jesus and the plans He has for their life!

Dan and Nozomi Jospeh, our worship directors from Tokyo, came out to lead worship for us. They were amazing. We had first time visitors up at the front, jumping, dancing and freely worshiping our amazing God. The message and testimonies shared by Noel and Shelley were heart touching and very inspiring. We had a lot of great feedback.

“I have more vision for my city.”
“I want to be the difference in my generation.”
“I want to be a successful business person and make a difference for Jesus.”

Amazing, this next generation is just simply amazing. I can not wait to be a part of the city, a part of this amazing local church and be a part of the difference!

A few of us girls hung back and spent the week doing real life stuff and building relationships. It was so memorable and all of us were not ready to leave when it was time to catch our flights. We are building relationships and seeing friendships grow and people are starting to dream bigger and bigger, it is really an exciting time for India!

Noel and I will be back in New Delhi in the first half of June this year. Our senior pastor Rod Plummer will also be coming with us to do DNA training, we will have another Vision Night, and hopefully another Demo-Service!!

more to come on India Dream … check regularly for updates!