Alright y’all- real talk. It’s 10 pm here in Sielmat, India and I’m leaving tomorrow at 6 AM to hop on a bus for about 12 hours to head into the “hills”. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect, all I can tell you is that I’m beyonddd excited for it.
This blog is exactly what the title says- just an update. I realized the other day that most of my blogs are pretty deep in the feels which is not a bad thing by any means, but today I wanted to write a fun one. ( WARNING: this is a lot of sporadic external processing, just a disclaimer)
So I’m going to tell you about some of my favorite things about living on the field, and update you about what the heck my squad is doing in India!
This month we have been working with the organization Bibles For The World, and have been living with Trinity College here in the district of Manipur. A typical day for me looks like waking up at 6 Am, working out with my team and then heading down to breakfast where my squad enjoys a hot cup of Chai. Then ministry includes one of the following: helping teach at a local elementary school singing bible songs and teaching english, working construction, working at a drug/alchohol abuse rehab center or helping host medical clinics where we assist doctors and pray over the patients as they leave. One of my favorite days of ministry actually happened during an event called PVT. (Parent vision trip) yep, my Madre and Padre had the opportunity to fly alllll the way here to northeast India for 4 days to do ministry with us! During that time my Dad and I sat in the prayer room one day praying over patients for healing, and this cute old man walked up. He told us and the pastor that He couldn’t hear out of one ear, that he had chest pain and his eye sight was bad. So we prayed over him and afterwards he told us that he had no pain whatsoever, and we tested his hearing and he was completely healed! Praise the Lord!
The Lord is so cool. The ways I have seen Him show up this year have been jaw-dropping, in the largest and smallest ways. This is one of my favorite parts about the race- the way my relationship with the Lord has grown and changed. Back home I was content with just reading the word and honestly keeping God in a box… but here I’ve learned how to actually let Him be God and WOW me every single day. He speaks to me through the forest and rain, through butterflies and gusts of wind. He is sassy and He loves to sit and just chat about life while I enjoy my chai or instant coffee. A walk down to the store is now a deep coversation with my Lord and Savior, when at home it was just a walk to the store. We serve such a personal God who loves to meet us right where we are at if we are willing to listen. What a cool dude.
Another one of my favorite things is my incredible squad- my family and community. Our squad mentor since day one has called out in us that we are a squad of honor- a family unit that lives and opporates as one body constantly lifting each other up… and honestly that describes them perfectly. We were known at training camp as ” that loud squad” and late night dance parties are pretty regular. But on the flip side of that I’ve never gone deeper spiritually or emotionally with anyone else. I know I can fall apart in front of them- be fully myself ( a mess of emotions and all) and they will give me what I need to pick myself back up again. They aren’t afraid to say the hard things to call me higher, and dang are they encouraging. They make me want to dig as deep as I can every single day into the Lord as His word and I am so privileged to be a part of it.
They are such a sad place, and I’ve never felt so able to be vulnerable and myself with any other community before.
Now, there are manyyyy favorite things I have about being on the field- I love it. But the last one I’m going to share tonight is the moments I’ll never forget. You know those times where you sit back, look around the room and say, “dang. I am going to miss this and I am so blessed to be living right here in this moment”. I have so many of those… cliff jumping in Greece and breaking down barriers of fear, watching someone accept Christ for the first time, laughing until some of my squadmates peed thier pants, hiking Machu Picchu, dance parties, crazy nights of worship where the Holy Spirit is moving, sunsets on the beach, late night stargazing on a basketball court, rain pounding on a tin roof- just to name a few. Every day on the race has been a whole new adventure, and it blows me away how the days feel like years and the months pass by in a blink of an eye.
I’m going to miss this- and I know going home will be hard, but I get to look back on this year and say, ” dang, I am so blessed”.
None of that would have been possible without y’all. You guys have been my support- finacially with the money you’ve so generously donated; emotionally with all the letters, facetimes, and messages; and spiritually always lifting me up in prayer. Thankyou- honestly from the bottom of my heart. Also, thanks for listening to this spontaneous blog- sorry it jumps around quite a bit! Love y’all, headed to sleep now.
Byeeeee
