We made it to India!!
We spent our first week in India together as a squad going to different villages and praying for the people in the villages. I will never forget the crowd of children waiting to welcome us with hand shakes and a “Hello, How are you?”; or “What is your name?”; or the time we were welcomed by a village with a parade including drums, flowers being thrown in the air, and dancing! These are memories that I will look back on when I go home.
Normally, we would go to 1 or 2 villages each day. We would go house to house offering to pray for the residents and then hold a service for the village. Our purpose was to support the believers in the villages – letting them know they are not forgotten. We prayed for healing, salvation, blessings over the family and showed the believers how they could pray just like us. We encouraged them by letting them know that the same power that was in us is also in them.
One of my favorite parts was when we would ask the Lord for a word for the person for whom we were praying. Seeing their face light up when we shared what the Lord had told us was priceless. As we walked from house to house, the children would follow us holding our hands and asking what we were doing. My teammate Kaliey asked the children to to pray with us. It was amazing to see 15 children stretching out their hand and praying for God to heal the people.
Love can translate even if you don’t speak the same language – whether it is a smile, sitting and holding a hand or praying for that person. One Sunday we went to a church and there was an older lady who wanted me to sit next to her. She just held my hand while we sat there smiling at each other. Even though we could not verbally communicate, we could smile and motion with our hands. In that moment, I asked the Lord to let her feel God’s love though my smile. Holding her hand, in a room full of other people, we shared an intimate moment. Praise God that His love makes a way even though I could not speak her native language.
Looking back on the past week, brings back many special memories. It was all so amazing and I loved every moment, although it was also very tiring. Mainly because we spent a lot of time in the sun, endured long bus rides and I did not always get a good nights sleep. (Imagine waking up completely covered in sweat and so thirsty you gulp down lots of water). However, it was all worth it for the people we met and I would do it all over again with no hesitation. During those times when I had zero energy, I learned to lean upon the Lord, asking for strength and energy to keep going. After spending time with the Lord, I would be so full of joy and energy that I was ready to go to another village. I am learning that the Joy of the Lord is my strength and I need to let Him fill me up with His joy. I am also continuing to trust God in everything I do.
This first week was great and I am excited to see what the Lord does over the next couple of days as we hold an “awakening conference” with another squad (more on that later).
Also I will be staying with Team Two this month and we will soon be heading to our new city!!
Sorry it took so long to post I will have another blog coming soon about Awakening conference and about our city in India.
