Hello everyone! I’m finally here! The time of preparation is over and I’m now officially on the World Race! We left the Atlanta airport on Wednesday and arrived in Sielmat, India on Friday night. Our first travel days were quite a doozy, and I’ll be posting a video about it soon. When we arrived to our home for the month it was already dark, which made waking up the next day like Christmas morning! The part of India that we are staying in is nothing like I could have imagined. Our little town is surrounded by mountains and it rains almost every day. You can see luscious green plants in every direction you look. We joked that the streams from the rain and mud look exactly like the chai tea we drink every morning.
So leading up to the World Race I have had a couple expectations. The AIM staff tells us to not have any expectations for what our trip will look like. So my expectations weren’t related to that, but more directed at how I think God will work in me over this year. I expected God to do big and crazy things right off the bat and completely blow me away. So when we arrived in Atlanta for launch I was hoping I would start seeing these changes right away. Instead, I was feeling a little disconnected and no real emotions towards the fact that I was leaving for a year. This was frustrating because it seemed like everyone else was having these revelations and moments that I wanted to be having myself. During worship one night one of my squad leaders prayed for me. Without me even needing to tell her, she started praying for me to not feel a need to perform or act a certain way. I felt like God was telling me to just be still and be patient (not what I wanted to hear).
On our first full day in India we got the opportunity to hike up a mountain they call Prayer Mountain. Once we were at the top we just had quiet time to do whatever we wanted. I found a nice spot to sit where I had a great view of the town below. As I was sitting there I felt like I was supposed to walk around the top of the mountain. I got up and started walking in the opposite direction we had arrived from. Shortly after I started walking I was in the middle of a ton of trees. From within those trees I actually couldn’t see the view, and I was thinking that if I didn’t know any better there was no way to tell that I was actually on the top of the mountain. I came to a point where the trail split into two different directions, and I decided to follow the lower of the two trails. Almost immediately after I started walking again I slipped and fell. I laughed though, because how can you be upset when you’re on top of a mountain? I ended up switching directions to walking on the higher of the two paths. This path led me around to another beautiful view on the other side of the mountain.
Often times you hear the metaphor of “mountain top experiences” relating to our faith. So through this literal mountain top experience in India I learned a lot. Here’s what I wrote down in my journal:
So maybe sometimes the trees will block my view of Your mountain. That doesn’t mean I’m not still on top, it just means I might not be able to see the big picture. And maybe when I slip or fall I should just smile, because You are changing my direction to keep me on the mountain and learning from You. In all things, find JOY and PEACE. I need to always have FAITH that God is leading me atop the mountain, even if it doesn’t mean I have the mountain top view I expected. Because I might just be smack dab in the middle of the mountain.
I know I need to remove any expectations I have of God and how He is going to work in me this year. I’m continuing to stay faithful and patient in this season, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.
Our squad is working with Bibles for the World this month. We have had a few days of ministry, which looks like construction, helping our hosts cook food, working in a hospital, and meeting locals in the surrounding towns. I hope to be able to update y’all soon on how all of this is going!
Fundraising update! I am now 62% funded! I have another financial deadline coming up on November 31st and will need to have $13,000 by then. That means I still have about 2,400 to go! If you want to donate go click the “Support Me” link to the left!
