Summertown Baptist Church, recently sponsored a four-member evangelistic and medical mission team to Vijayawada, India where more than 3,300 salvation decisions for Christ were reported as a result of four crusades, according to Pastor Howard Kitter.

"The entire church was a part of the mission team through prayer, fund raising and making items to take on the trip", said Bro.K, who served as the team coordinator and crusade preacher. "It was a joy to walk with God where He wanted us to walk. The church went on the mission trip with us. We were the feet. Our people prayed at church and prayed in their homes for us while we were gone overseas".

Besides the pastor, the Jan. 1-16th team was comprised of Paul Thompson, associate pastor/minister of youth of Summertown Baptist, Scott Surles, student from Columbia State Community College, Columbia, and Connie Vineyard, Nurse Practitioner of the Franklin Bone and Joint Clinic, Franklin.

For Bro. Kitter this was his third mission trip to India. He had previously traveled with Blessings Ministries of God, A Baptist ministry in India, led by Emmanuel Mandala, who serves as a pastor of God's Church in Christ, Vijayawda, and also is an interpreter.

According to Bro. K after prayer with Mandala, the Lord told them to go to India and lead crusades and medical clinics. during a Summertown Baptist business meeting, Bro. K asked the church to consider a mission trip to India and sense if it was God's will for them to go on mission.
Within three months, Summetrtown Baptist and other churches had raised around $32,000 for the mission trip.

Blessings Ministries handled the arrangements for 12 nights of crusades in four area vilages of Vijayawada, which is located in the southeast quadrant of India. Medical clinics were held during the day while the crusades were held at night.

"Even though there were no salvation reports during the medical clinics, the medical clinics were used for the people to see Jesus in us" said Bro K. "We also had more people at the crusades on the second days, because they had learned about the crusades at the medical clinics."

During the clinics, Vineyard treated the people and handed out prescriptions while Surles drained ears and banadaged wounds. Next Thompson and Kitter prayed for the people who came to the clinics. Around 1,340 people were seen during the four medical clinics, which each lasted around seven hours.

The team visited a Christian orphanage in a church in Vijayawada where they distributed handmade teddy bears to school children. Other children at a medical clinic in Miryalaguda also received bears. Over 515 fleece teddy bears were made by members of the Tennessee church.
The bears were the brainchild of the Woman's Missionary Union Director, Susie Barker, noted Kitter. In addition, the church's Girls in Action group also sent handmade "fully rely on God" (FROG) bracelets.

During the medical clinics, we were assisted by an Indian obstetrician/gynecologist doctor, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, nurses and others who sent medications.

"God supplied everything that we needed on the trip from medicines to land for a future ministry. We had more than enough medicine for even more clinics, which was a miracle of God," Bro Kitter said.