Our return to India this year was as exciting as it was fast and furious! Four guys joined me for what I call my ‘Dream Team’: Fane Campean, Jonathan Campean, David Phillips and Bryan Bettis. All these guys have high skill levels of musicianship, they love to teach, love worshiping God and they loved the students. It was a great combination that carried us throughout our time there in February.
Fane, Jonathan, David and I flew through Dubai on to Delhi on Sat Feb 13. Bryan joined us the following Tuesday. After a short night of sleep, we ministered the next morning in Gurgaon (just outside of Delhi) at ABC Fellowship in Gurgaon (Pastor Raymond Massey). After a great worship set by the local team (led by Prateek – a former SOW graduate) we stepped up to lead what ended up being an hour-long time of worship with songs and exhortations and prophetic words being shared in between. It was a powerful time of hearing and receiving from God, His Word and presence permeating the room. Many people weeping, some kneeling, all receiving His grace and encouragement for a new day in the church. We felt a strong anointing for a new strengthening, equipping and purposing of the church there. We found out they are looking at starting a Bible College and School of Worship there too!
After a great Sunday service with our friends there we then flew to Lucknow to meet up with the students at the International School of Worship in Midway. After settling in with them and getting to know them we ate and then slept, anticipating a great week here. Monday morning we went right to task with worshiping with them, praying with them, teaching them and ministering to them. It was powerful from the very beginning due to their receptivity and eagerness for things of worship and the Spirit. We split the day up for different emphasis: Morning sessions were more for inspiration and in-depth teaching on worship and leadership. Afternoons were given to practical teaching on guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals, music theory, songwriting, etc. In the evenings we would gather for two hours of intense worship and praise, learning new songs, letting the prophetic song be sung over and over and praying with each other.
Monday morning was getting to know the students and worshiping a lot with them to hear their hearts and their voices. Lot of potential sitting in that room. I taught on the Vision of Worship after a great time of worship and singing through a Psalm! Then Fane shared his heart with the group. In the afternoon we split up into small groups for personal instruction on guitar, bass, drums and keyboards (we did this throughout the week) The guitarists ended up meeting many times throughout the day and into the late night too! They just don’t quit! Ha!
Tuesday was more teaching and challenging and worshiping and praying/singing through the Psalms. The students were so responsive and we got them singing/praying over each other prophetically. I also sang over each of them spontaneously for about 10 minutes! Powerful time. In the afternoon I did my vocal class and got them in-tune with their voices. Love to see the change come over them as they learn to sing properly, many for the first time! In the evening we once again worshiped, learned new songs and prophetically sang over each other. Bryan came in from DC and joined us for dinner and chocolate!
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all amazing days with a lot of teaching, worshiping, dancing, laughing, crying and new songs. Bryan was brilliant sharing his story and experiences of worship and engaging the students at many levels. We co-taught a class on songwriting that stretched the students. One very powerful moment was when I had the students in a circle singing to each other and then Dave got in the middle, exhorting them to find their song and look each other in the eyes while singing to them. Something really broke that day! The evenings continued to be a powerful culmination of each day as they got bolder and more engaged in playing and singing with us. I had a great new song ‘Sweet sweet song of Jesus’ that we ended up singing for about a half hour and went into a Reggae feel that was really sweeet! It’s so much fun to create new things in God’s Kingdom!
Bryan had to leave Friday so he could minister in Zurich, Switzerland (Wow). We had a great last day on Saturday with the students, finishing with them in a circle again and us sharing words of encouragement and exhortation over each of them for about 3 hours! It was powerful and the Holy Spirit really opened up some good words over all of them. The team was so sensitive to each student, I was very proud of them and what God was doing so uniquely through them. Love to do it all again!
Saturday afternoon we all took the bus back into Lucknow and stayed at Brother Tony’s house (he can sleep over 100 people there! Pretty amazing). The trip in was pretty exciting for the team as they experienced India traffic first-hand! Ha! and they lived to tell the tale! Sunday morning we had the whole service so I had the students join us on the platform for worship with many of the new songs they had learned throughout the week: No Longer Slaves; Good, Good Father; Joy; Then I had the team members each share with the congregation their heart for India and God’s work in their lives. Wonderful and transparent thoughts came pouring out. I love what God was doing in each of them as well as the students! Then I shared on Gideon and the Insignificant Factor in all of our lives, how we limit God’s work in our lives by arguing with God and creating a ‘who am I’ hedge around ourselves. I challenged the balcony and back row specifically on God’s call in their lives – and we had a great response at the end to address fear and insecurity in our lives. At the very end the young worship team led by 9 yearold Aaron sang some great songs too! Great day – that afternoon we got to experience a real outdoor market with haggling and everything! The team was pretty blown away by their adventure there. That night we all celebrated Pastor Rocky’s 35th birthday and I heard that some of our team stayed up till 3 practicing guitars with the students still! Ha! Love it!
We headed home the next day amid many tears and goodbyes. We were delighted to leave 3 guitars a bass and many pedals with the students this time. Pretty cool. We flew back to Delhi and then to Dubai and finally back to Seattle and drove home to Portland from there – 24 hours later! What a great adventure with sweet fruit of our labors now going out into all of India! Dave said ‘I’d do it again in a heartbeat’ and that sums it up for all of us! God bless India!
Dr. Tim Smith – your worship missionary
“O India, my India”……that is the refrain, like a mother cooing to a babe in her arms, that I kept hearing knocking around in my brain the whole time I was in India. It seemed as though for the stretch of a few short days that I had some how tapped into the mind of God and was able to experience his heart and love for his people in this strange and foreign land. The experience softened and ultimately melted me. This was something that many people in my life had been praying for and I had been subconsciously longing for myself for over a decade. I have to be honest though, I really wasn’t expecting much. And yet, maybe that is the very secret ingredient to the formula that helped me to tap into God’s heart. I didn’t place expectations on Him or myself. I just showed up and was willing. I’ve believed for years now that one of the simplest ways to be successful in business is just to show up and do what you said you’d do. 8 times out of 10 that puts you in a place to beat all the other guys. It keeps occurring to me that this holds to be true in this situation as well. There is no doubt in my mind; God reached out and touched me in India and it was in his timing and at the place of his choosing but I can’t help but thinking that perhaps I helped facilitate the experience through my willingness just to show up and do what I said I would do with no expectations. There is also no doubt in my mind that God used me to deeply touch and change the lives of all the students we ministered to in India and that this is the very way that he touched me vicariously. These kids were like sponges. To be able to look deep into their eyes and impart teaching and truths while also building them up as human beings renewed in me a since of usefulness and purpose. It was humbling. I think a part of me wanted to go to India to “find myself” and hear God speak to me but instead he showed me a way to find within myself a purpose. He demonstrated to me, in the best way possible, the rich fulfillment that can be found in being a conduit of His love to others. I believe the trip has changed my life.Regards, David Phillips Saratoga, CA