"So What's Your Gig?"
This question was once imposed on a young minister by an older, no-nonsense man of God. This was his provocative way of asking, "What are you all about, young man?" This is the question everyone wants answered when they meet us. It has become the question we ask ourselves daily. Of course, only time spent with someone can begin to reveal the true answer, which only God fully knows. We understand that no self-proclamation can be taken too seriously. However, we can offer a glimpse...

Although there are great spiritual and practical needs where we live, we are ultimately motivated by our desire to know Jesus, be known by Him, be like Him and follow the path that He, not man, has set before us by availing ourselves to the all-sufficient grace He has provided  to live a godly and productive life. Of course, fulfilling our roles in the Great Commission is an indivisible part of His plan, which has led us to India. We can look back and marvel at the work He has done in and through us, but not without admitting that we have also failed to hit many targets. However, we are determined to "forget those things" (accomplishments and failures) and "press toward" God's goal for us as we move forward with each new day.

Who, How and Where We Are...
We are the Ham family:  Charles, Dana, Joel and Jonah. We work under a missions organization called Moved With Compassion. We are also commissioned by our home church in Addis, Louisiana, River Ministries International.

We have two sons, Joel and Jonah. Joel was born in February 2005 in Plaquemine, Louisiana and Jonah was born in August 2007 in north India. We are currently awaiting the arrival of our third child, due in late-September 2009.

Dana and I met in Hammond, Louisiana in 2001 and were married less than a year later in Dana's hometown church. A month later, we were invited to have dinner with Dana's cousins, Steven and Barbara Nicaud, who were visiting from India. Through what we thought would be a nice insignificant dinner, the Spirit of the Lord met us with a challenge to join the Nicauds in Mumbai (Bombay), and thereafter He would not relent!

In October 2003, we landed in Mumbai and began serving in local churches and learning to adapt to Indian culture. After spending three years in Mumbai, we made a one month visit to a language school located in the foothills of the Himalayas. But as we were returning to Mumbai, the Holy Spirit provoked us again to relocate to that same north India region. God had already shown us that we would eventually work in the north.

So, in March 2007, we moved to our current location, a city about 150 miles northeast of Delhi in the second-largest valley in Asia, with the western Nepal border to our east and the Himalaya mountains and Tibet border to our north. Here we are focused on advancing God's kingdom through partnering with local Believers with whom we share a common vision of taking the Gospel to the unreached, making disciples, and planting churches.

Most of our activities include:  studying the Word of God and language, Bible teaching, worship leading and training, helps ministry—which involves things like small construction projects, preparing Hindi materials for discipleship training and songbooks, transporting ministry-related items and teaching practical skills. Then there is the daily routine of children and household chores.