Jesus said for us to take up our cross daily and follow him. I didn’t think that would be manifested in such a realistic manner.
We were carrying bags of fleece blankets from the Partnership Mission Society headquarters, the mission organization that we are partnering with, to the seminary that is hosting us as we stay in the village of Sielmat in the township of Churachandpur, which is located in the Hmar region in the Manipur state of India.
Partnership Mission Society
The Partnership Mission Society, or PMS, is an organization that supports small village schools that ensure children have high-quality schooling that includes daily devotions and Christian education. As my team collaborated with another team to prepare books, blankets, and other supplies for these schools. There is another team that will be taking a ten day excursion to these remote villages to deliver all the materials. Part of the preparation required two of the World Race teams to carry bags of blankets from the PMS office partially up a mountain. Here’s a fun physics question: how much of a struggle will it be for a 5’2 female to carry a 2’x2’x1’ bundle weighing 30 pounds for a distance of one mile? Answer: not even a fraction of the struggle that Jesus suffered as he bore his cross on the walk to Golgotha. As I huffed and puffed up that mountainside I felt sorry for myself for a few seconds until the Holy Spirit reminded me of what Jesus did for me.
There have been a series of reminders of how the cross I bear could be a lot worse or heavier or uncomfortable and I haven’t once felt bad for myself since that first day of ministry. In this first week of digging into ministry in India I have had the pleasure of spending most of my time with students at Trinity College and Seminary, or TCS.
One of the heavier parts of the cross that I bear is the weight of choosing to quit my hopes of becoming a teacher and pursuing my teaching degree back in 2013. I was ashamed of quitting, but God has bigger plans for me. I was led to pursue a degree in Discipleship instead. It didn’t make much sense at the time, but I’ve slowly seen the path that God is leading me down. These past three days I have had the sweet opportunity of guest teaching a Discipleship course at TCS. It has been my utmost pleasure to serve God in this way because I’ve learned invaluable lessons from these students. Outside of teaching, I spend part of the day tutoring students on their English. This is the best part of the day because we engage in candid conversations about God, family, culture, etc. I cannot fully capture the essence of the Indian people of the Hmar region, but they are hardworking, tender, servant-hearted, and dang! They love to bring glory to God.
What I find most interesting about the Hmar people is that they are mostly Christians and they are dedicated to bringing God glory in everything they do. They are not messing around! From sun up and well past sun down they are busy devoting themselves to God’s ministry. One student I’ve worked with has the following daily routine:
4am Wake up for prayer time
5am Tutor children at neighboring orphanage
7am Help prepare family breakfast and get siblings to school
930am Attend school
3:30pm Tutor siblings
6pm Dinner
7-10pm Volunteer/tutor at orphanage
This is his routine 5 days a week. Want to know what he does in his “free time”? He serves at church or at the orphanage. This is only a glimpse of Samuel’s story and it is not atypical. When I asked another student, Emmanuel, what he does for vacation he responded that he typically volunteers at church or helps organize camps for local kids. They eat, sleep, and breathe glorifying God! They inspire me, but it is obvious that it is only Jesus who inspires them. They say that it is the love of Jesus dying on the cross for them that strengthens them to pour their energy out into those in their community. Their lifestyle of living in godly community has shaken me to my core. Just as they’ve challenged me I want to challenge you to evaluate how much you are pouring into your local church or into the lives of those who live right beside you.
Yes, Jesus said to take up our cross daily and to follow him, but that isn’t the end of the plan. We have a community of brothers and sisters to carry our burdens with us. Does your life reflect the model of the early church or like the Hmar people? Are you taking care of one another and pursuing Christ together?
