1. Mumbai 4-6 Oct

Hi all,

I have returned safe and sound from an amazing trip to India, thank you all so much for your prayers and support! I was there to see what the Lord is doing in India through Gospel for Asia, and I was overwhelmed. We saw 5 Bible colleges, 5 churches, 7 Bridge of Hope centres, and 5 different states of India. We heard testimonies from students, missionaries, and church members. I really felt like I had stepped into a copy of Gospel for Asia’s “SEND!” magazine. Here is the first part of the trip:

Monday 4th October

We arrived at the hotel about 2pm on Monday, after an extremely scary car ride. Apparently everybody ignores traffic laws, and lane markings are only a suggestion. People drive as if they are pushing through a crowd, and right-of-way seems to belong to whoever arrives first.

Inevitably we had curry for lunch(!), but curry like nothing I had tasted before and it was to be the first of a long train of culinary delights.


After eating we went by car to see our first Bridge of Hope centre, here was the entrance up some steps:


As soon as I walked in I was stunned. Located in the slums of Mumbai, it was surreal to see this ray of light, hope and joy separated only by four walls from the despair and poverty of the surrounding slum area. It was suddenly all so real. I had seen photos and videos and read about Bridge of Hope many times, but the photos and videos never shook my hand or asked me my name.






The children welcomed us with bouquets of flowers, bottles of water, prayers, dances, recitals and songs, and I was humbled by their high regard for us and their happiness to see us.


We had the great experience of teaching them a children’s action song (“Our God Is So Big”) and getting them to do all the actions with us.


We also got to see the church building a few doors down from the Bridge of Hope centre, which is basically the pastor’s home, and barely enough room for the people that cram into it.




The Slums Of Mumbai

“Mumbai is an example of everything that’s
wrong with the world” – Catherine

The slums of Mumbai have to be seen to be believed. I cannot imagine living in such conditions as I saw (largely because I am uncomfortable imagining it), but for about 7 million people here there is no choice. It is hard to believe that such poverty can exist in the financial capital of India.








Just before this photo was taken one of these kids was playing in the open sewer (bottom right):


This is a video that Matt shot as we overlooked the grim view of the slums:



Tuesday 5th October

The next day we visited our second Bridge of Hope centre.


I really was not prepared for how taken aback I would be. Having already seen one Bridge of Hope centre I assumed that I would not be particularly impacted by another. I was once again stunned; a small room in the midst of the Mumbai slums crammed with seventy children in Bridge of Hope uniforms, the same as the last yet completely different, completely unique. I was beginning to process the reality of so many individuals being affected by this ministry.




The children welcomed us with garlands of flowers, drinks, and traditional dances.




We were then treated to several recitals and I was humbled at how much scripture some of the children had committed to memory.




We also heard some remarkable testimonies. This lady had piles for 15 years, leprosy for 3 months, and for 12 years was possessed by a devil that caused her to fall down often. She was prayed for and God healed her, and she became a bold witness for Christ.


Through her testimony her neighbour who had a brain tumour also came for prayer, and was also healed.


I thanked them for their testimony and met their children who currently attend the Bridge of Hope centre.

This girl had malaria and the doctors thought she would die, but the Lord healed her. When we saw her she had been back only one week, after being away for two months. The only thing contagious about her now was her smiley, happy face!


These four children are orphans. The two older ones have an elder brother who is 13, but no other relatives besides him. This 13-year old brother is the breadwinner for the three of them, and they live alone in what was their parents’ house, in the slum. Their parents both died of HIV, the mother after enrolling them in the Bridge of Hope centre. Some other people are trying to take their house from them, but the Bridge of Hope tutors went to the orphans’ house to stick up for them, a beautiful example of true religion, pure and undefiled.


At meal time we were able to interact with the kids a little more and got to know a few of them.


I talked to the orphans and found out that they know very little about the Bible, so it’s all the more exciting and heart-warming that they are here learning about how much Jesus loves them.




Catherine learned a little about their studies:


…and Trudi introduced some of them to the wonders of the iPhone:


Here are the staff that work at the Bridge of Hope centre, including project manager, teachers, house visiters and cook:


...this is a video that Matt shot while at this Bridge of Hope centre, describing its ministry and fruitfulness:



Our next stop this day was the Mumbai Bible college. I had read the Gospel for Asia e-mail about this college in May, which said that a mob had attacked the college, beat up the students, and vandalised the campus. Suddenly that e-mail became alive; I was now in the very place where real attackers had really come to beat up my Christian brothers and sisters… and they had stood firm. I don’t think I will ever look at a Gospel for Asia e-mails in quite the same way again.






The worship service was out of this world. Seventy men singing out to the Lord as if there was no-one else in the room, and yet in wonderful unison. It was a beautiful sound and a joyful noise.


Brian gave a teaching...


...and then we heard testimonies from a couple of the students:


I was struck at how their testimonies reminded me of the missionary testimonies that we print out at the York office. All of the missionary testimonies that I have seen in England suddenly came alive, each one a student like the one I was staring at, studying the Bible to be equipped to share the love of Christ with the lost, needing prayers and financial backing to fulfil God’s call on their lives.

We had the wonderful privilege of praying with the students in groups of eight, focusing on the ministry happening in Mumbai and nearby areas. Afterwards we had some time to chat with the students, take photos, shake hands and give hugs. The students I talked to asked me to remember them in prayer.


It occurred to me that I may read more e-mails about them in the future, as these men whose hands I have shaken follow God’s call on their lives and face opposition and persecution. Matt also shot a video while we were here amongst these students:



Wednesday 6th October

The next morning was spent at our third Bridge of Hope centre. We arrived at this one early so some of us took the opportunity to spend more time interacting with the children. A lot of the children had learned a good amount of English and we told one another our names and ages, and they taught us some words in Hindi.








We were honoured with flowers, psalm recitals, and traditional dances.






We heard testimonies from parents, including one lady who had been healed from TB, and another who had been healed of cancer.


We were introduced to the staff, including the cook who spends much time over the hot stove to cook the children’s meals.




Catherine told the story of the feeding of the five thousand and then we taught them our action song as a group.




And then, after a short time for more photos, we had to go, beckoned by our flight schedule.












This had been our last stop in Mumbai, and although saying goodbye was hard my mind was racing with imagination about what we would see in our next location in Rajasthan. Lord willing I will tell you all about that soon.

Bye for now!

JP