The past few days have been a whirlwind of emotions. I’ve had lots of “lasts” and said lots of “see ya laters”. I finished yet another last day of work, drove my high school/college/post-college car for the very last time,and had a final Chick-Fil-A lunch with my parents, but I’ll admit, saying goodbye to my little Boston Terrier, Mimi, was probably the most emotional. But now, as I sit in the Atlanta International airport surrounded by my beautiful squad mates, eating airport tacos and drinking a London Fog, I just want to go go GO.
A few weeks ago, when it dawned on me that I was leaving so soon and had so much to do beforehand, I had a minor emotional breakdown. My dad told me “I bet you anything, once you’re on the plane, you’ll be ready”. Well, guess what… My dad was right. I’m ready. At 7:45 tonight, I’ll be heading out for a 17.5 hour trip to Hyderabad, and then an 8 hour drive down to Bangalore, where I’ll begin ministry on the 16th.
In Bangalore (Bangaluru, Karnataka State), I’ll be working with a ministry that’s got me pretty excited. There are many unique aspects of this ministry, but the part I’m most excited about is getting to work with temple prostitutes. These young women were dedicated to serve as prostitutes by their families, and the ministry we’re working with (whose name I won’t mention, for security reasons) has been doing incredible work with these women by holding annual conferences for them, and working to educate their children. They help to educate and train pastors and provide jobs for them as well and the temple prostitute children. We are lucky to be staying in a relatively safe area of Bangalore in the home of our ministry host. Our goal is to serve this city and our ministry hosts as best as we can!
Now, l think of the times when people asked me if I was excited, and I lied and said “yes” when I was actually terrified. If I’m being honest, I was spending no time with the Lord whatsoever. My mission was in the background and my fear was front and center. Now that I’ve spent 3 days in Atlanta preparing and praying and worshipping, I can truly say that that fear is gone. My God tells me “perfect love casts out fear.” Unfortunately, my love isn’t perfect, but His is.
I’m outta here! Bye USA!
