A string of dried leaves hangs in the doorway. We step shoeless into the small and overcrowded room. The air is humid and we are all sweating in our traditional Indian clothing. A group of small children follow our footsteps and push themselves into pockets of empty space. Women stand around the room with their heads covered and beautifully patterned attire. This is a small village in India and they are all here to listen.
Jesus has already found his way into this village. The majority of it’s residents have already given their lives to him and are eager to hear the word of God. Our goal for the evening is to pray with and encourage our fellow believers.
Our translator, a strong seventy year old woman, prods us to open the word of God and share what is on our hearts. We have never done this before and are all a bit nervous and uncomfortable. But that is okay because Jesus begins to speak out through us. Quickly we all realize that this is not going to be a month of depending on our own strength and abilities. It is going to have to be the power of God giving us strength.
It has always been a struggle for me to discern what the voice of God actually sounds like. How will I know when it is him prodding or just my own flesh? How will I know exactly what he wants me to say? Until that perfect moment and the time is right I don’t think I will actually know. But I do know that it was all him that evening. Every time I opened my mouth to speak, I felt my mind go blank. But words continued to pour forth. Jesus was speaking and he didn’t need my intelligence or eloquence to make that happen.
The orange sky has now faded to a starry black and the house visits have concluded for the evening. We gather in a central part of the village to have worship and a short message of hope for our Indian sisters and brothers. Adults and children alike sing out “Our God is an Awesome God” loud and proud. It didn’t take long at all to teach them this song. Their beautiful voices of praise fill the muggy evening air.
This is what I envision heaven to be like. Cultures of all kinds. No one worried about our differences or disagreements. All singing out our praise to the only awesome God. From what I know, this is going to be the norm of ministry this coming month. I am blown away just knowing that the hope of Jesus has literally reached to the ends of the Earth. In the middle of nowhere there is hope. The light of Jesus has invaded the darkness and our job is to empower those who carry the light already to be bold and courageous.
Pray for me this month as I continue to listen carefully for the leading of Jesus. Pray for my team as we press on into new and uncomfortable ground. And pray for the hearts of the Indian people. Pray that they would be encouraged by our visit and that they would be open and willing to let Jesus burn brightly in them.
