Hello everyone!
First off I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has donated! I am only like $100 away from being fully funded and with those who are supporting me monthly I will be completely funded soon. Before I actually applied to the World Race I asked (and kinda told) the Lord that if I was going to do this then he would need to bring the money in before I left. Before I left in January with all my monthly supporters and some last minutes donations I was essentially fully funded (it just hadn’t all come in yet). Praise the Lord, he is so awesome!
Here’s an overview of the past couple of weeks and some things I’m learning:
For one of the last two weeks of ministry we were at one of the homes with the older girls. In India you call each other sister or brother, so this was a home of our sisters. We helped run stations for our sisters to go to in the morning, and it provided some structured time for them. We had reading (that was mine!), craft, sensory, and outdoor stations for them to rotate through in the mornings, and then we had a music and movement class in the afternoon. We would have them try to follow the beat with sticks, bells, and egg shakers and then we would play with the parachute and have a little dance party. After a week of being there we got to know our sisters a little and were able to see their personalities more. He taught me in a different way just how much he makes us beautifully and wonderfully made. That is true for me, for you, and for these sisters who can’t communicate like you and I can. By the end of our time there I didn’t see their disabilities as much as I saw the child who wanted to run around and toss a ball back and forth, to have you tell her that her hair is pretty, to show you the book she’s reading because it has some pretty cool colors in it and she can tell you the names of those colors.
To show her she is worthy of your time.
To tell her she is loved.
These sisters and all of the sisters and brothers in the homes are loved so deeply by the people who are there long term. We had the privilege to work alongside some of these volunteers and staff who provide loving structure for these kids. It is difficult and tiring to pour out constantly, but they have been called and they have chosen to love and give of themselves.
This was not the only ministry that we got to do for our time in India though. One day we were at the mall eating lunch and after we prayed for the meal a man behind us asked if we were Christians. We said yes, and he told us that he was a Christian pastor and then told us about his ministry. He and his family run a school for kids in poverty, as well as vocational schools for women to learn how to sew so they can start a business for themselves. Many women have been in prostitution because they cannot provide for themselves or their family, or have husbands who have left them, or do not provide for them, so they need a job skill in order to have income. We had the privilege to go to the school and sing some songs with the kids, tell Bible stories, and then present graduation certificates to the women. Afterwards we were invited to lunch at pastor’s house and it was the best Indian food we had all month!
The Lord places people in our path and gives us ministry opportunities even when we’re not doing “ministry.” This is something I have always known, but I have wanted to grow in this area because many times I shy away from taking those opportunities. In the past couple of weeks I have found that when I am most in communion with the Lord that it comes more naturally. As I grow more confident in my identity in the Lord, as I see more of his heart, then I hear his prompts to ask certain questions and have the boldness to ask. It was an honor to get to know this family, and we have kept in touch since leaving India and will continue to pray for one another’s ministries. Please pray for the ministry that’s going on in India. The Lord is at work everywhere!
As we are entering into month 2 in Nepal I am reflecting on what the Lord has taught me and my team, and looking to what this next month will hold. Something we have been learning is how to have vision for the future. The World Race has this model called the Here There Pathway and it has been really helpful. You look at where you are at right now (Here), how you want to grow/where you want to be in the future (There), and then the steps you need to take to get there (Pathway). Super simple but really great. I’ll give an example for what we as a team want to do this next month. We want to know what our spiritual gifts are, start walking in them, and be able to encourage each other in them (There). Right now most of us do not know what our spiritual gifts are, or we do not know what it means to walk in them (Here). So this month we are going to be praying for the Lord to show us what our spiritual gifts are, be praying for each other to know, and read scripture to know more about the gifts and how to use them, and read some books to get other’s wisdom (Pathway). What vision of the future is the Lord showing you? What deeper place is he wanting to take you to? He is always wanting to take us to a deeper place. Sometimes he waits for us to ask, sometimes he puts a growth opportunity right in our face, but he is always there with us drawing us to himself.
Today we are starting ministry here in Nepal and there is part of me that is nervous stepping into a new ministry setting and not knowing what it’s going to be like. I have confidence that the Lord is directing our steps and am working on being expectant of what the Lord is going to do, not have certain expectations of what I think it should look like. More to come!
Thank you for following the journey with me! I struggle with writing my thoughts down for everyone to see, but I’ve been learning how to see it as God’s story. So this is my accountability to you: even if it’s a short story about what’s going on I am going to write at least one post a week (granted wifi is available). So there it is! Talk to you soon!
Malia
