There is only one word that comes to mind when I describe India: Love. India has completely blown away my expectations. To be honest, I was not that excited about India when I signed up for the World Race. The only thoughts in my head were ‘heat’ and ‘smelly.’ Now, as I sit here and prepare to say goodbye to my new family, I can’t imagine what life would be like if I hadn’t come here. Being here for only a month has totally changed me. I think I love this place so much because I strive to see it through the eyes of Jesus… the One who loves us the most. I’ll try my best to describe this month in one blog, but it will not be easy!
If you read my first blog from India, you would notice that I was pretty
freaked out by how hot it was in Delhi. 
Yet, even though it was unbearable, I still experienced love from the kids at the Children’s Home we stayed at and I could feel the love of Christ just pouring out of them. Not only the kids, but the adults that cared for the kids and treated us like family. My sister and I even had a couple invite us over to stay at their apartment so we could get good rest. These people were totally selfless! Then, we boarded the train to Bangalore. I don’t think I can include that 47 hour ride in this blog since it’s about love… and that ride was anything but love! 🙂 It’s something that I’m glad I experienced, but only want to do it once.
When we arrived in Bangalore, I noticed the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler with no humidity. God loves me. We instantly fell in love with our contacts here at the YWAM base. They are amazing. They are brothers and sisters already. They have shown us so much love and appreciation, it’s unimaginable. We were so blessed this month with these relationships!
The first week of ministry for my team was to help a family ‘re-do’ their school. This is one of the most amazing families I’ve met. They have 3 beautiful children, and they run a Kindergarten/ Lower Primary school in a rough part of town for slum children and families. It is a school by day, and a Christian study center by night. It is just amazing what this family is doing for the Kingdom. So, we got to know and love this family as we cleaned out the classrooms, organized all of the school materials, put ‘carpet’ on the floor and made decorations for the school. It was such a rewarding experience!
Week two was a little different. Here at the YWAM base where we are
staying, they have a big basement area
where they meet together for worship or classes. The walls were painted dark blue and it was hard to see down there… so you can imagine what we did. 🙂 2 full coats (3 in some places) we had that room completely transformed into a bright, clean place to worship. It was a lot of hard work, but we were so happy to be a blessing to our amazing contacts!
Week 3 was basically a mix of different ministries. Each day was something different. This was my favorite week because I got to experience soooo much love from everyo
ne we met. On Sunday, we
got to visit our friend’s church and lead worship and share a testimony. It was a lot of fun! We made instant connections with the people at the church. Their hearts for the Lord almost brought me to tears (this is becoming a trend here in India). On Tuesday, we got to go to a Rehabilitation center and share our testimonies and do a skit for them. It was an amazing experience to see so many men that were turning to the Lord for help with their addictions.
After that, we were invited over to some other friend’s house for dinner and fellowship. It was so much fun getting to know this family and learning about their ministry (music school) here in Bangalore. I didn’t realize that the World Race wasn’t just going to be about doing ministry in each country… but also about building relationships along the way. It has been so amazing! On Wednesday we got to go to another Children’s Home for girls and do some ministry with the kids. We played games, did a Bible study and sang songs. The girls we SO loving and just full of joy from the Lord, I had to choke back tears at least 3 times. They sounded like angels singing worship songs and when we left they were all hugging us and telling us how much they loved us. I’ve never seen a group of girls so filled with love and I know that it is because they have the peace and joy from God. They know they may not have a mom or dad on earth, but they have a heavenly Father who loves them even more… and they have an amazing family to take care of them while they are here!
In between all of this, we got to visit several other Children’s Homes that were run by amazing
Christian families. The kids loved to worship, loved to play, loved to get hugs and just talk to us. My heart was completely melted every time I walked in to see their smiling faces. I know this is how God feels when He sees us. I can’t even imagine his love for us, if I love these kids so much after just one day! I am completely certain that this type of ministry is my calling in life, and I’m so thankful that I got to experience just a little bit of it. I can’t wait to see what my future holds, it’s so exciting and so relieving that it’s all in God’s hands. I know He will put me where He wants me and I will make myself completely available to Him!
Finally, I got to experience love in a different way. Maybe the second night we were here, I wandered up to the roof (which is actually the 4th floor) of the building. There is a patio, but if you go to the edge, you can sit right on the ledge and you can see the whole city of Bangalore. This was one of my favorite spots this month to be alone with God. As I was laying there looking at the stars, feeling the cool breeze and just listening to the noises of the city, I couldn’t help but think to myself… God LOVES this city so much. He loves every single person here. As I prayed and just sat in silence, listening to God’s voice… I just realized how deep his love is for us. I thought about the thousands of people in this city, and how He loves each and every one… then I thought about all of the cities in the world… and I got a little hint of how vast His love is. As I prayed for the city, and asked God to help me see the people through His eyes, I just got an overwhelming sense of peace because I know that God’s will is going to be done in this city, and I was surrounded by people who are going to be the ones to do it. Man I love India!
