We are almost done with month four and it is often easy to get caught up in the “I miss _____ “ and the “what I would do for a ______.” We have been submerged in a culture that could not be more different from our own, surrounded by a language we don’t understand. It’s easy to fantasize about how good life back at home is. When I start feeling this way, God usually gives me a much needed dose of reality. I was stuck in a funk all last week just feeling exhausted and down. I often didn’t want to go to ministry. I didn’t want to preach again, I was tired of being stared at, and I didn’t think I could drink one more cup of “thumbs up” if I tried. One night in the middle of ministry I had my grumpy face on and my arms crossed. A friend was sharing her story with the village and the little girls in front of me would not stop playing with my feet! The longer I sat there being grumpy, the more comical it actually became. I could feel God telling me to let it go, soak it in, and look around. After going back and forth in my mind with Him for about five minutes, I finally gave in. I looked around at the 80 faces staring back at me and down into the faces of the little girls literally sticking their fingers in between my toes. I started laughing and more and more memories started flooding my mind. I don’t know which one finally broke the funk I was in.
It could have been the infectious laughter of the little girl who screeches every time she sees her face on camera. The concept of taking a picture and being able to view it instantly is literally unknown to her. To watch the wonder turn to fits of giggles was both hilarious and precious. I will never forget the sound of her adorable laugh as she posed for picture after picture.
Maybe it was the day we pulled up to a village we had never been to before and yet the boy whose face I could never forget was staring back at me. He waved and laughed and stuck by my side all night. As I watched my ‘little boy in green’ worship, I heard God tell me “you’re welcome.” He had given me the best gift I hadn’t even known to ask for. I got to spend one more day with him and do everything I missed out on last time. I learned his name was Enode and that he was seven. I hugged him a lot, gave him a bracelet, and told him I loved him.
Or maybe it was the day I watched a mother carry her extremely sick child out to be prayed for. You could see without a doubt that her life had been hard. She had experienced far more pain than I could ever fathom. Yet there she was faithfully believing the Lord could and would heal her child. Crocodile tears slid from her eyes as she lifted her face to the Lord while listening to us pray for her sick boy.
It could be the way mothers trustingly hand me their 24 day old babies to hold. Without knowing who I am or where I come from, they literally trust me with their entire world because they know I love Jesus. There is something both humbling and empowering about a mother placing her infant in your arms without even knowing your name.
And just maybe it was the time I was walking through a village surrounded by excited Indian faces. I felt a small hand gently grab mine, and I looked down into a little face with big round eyes. As she smiled up at me, she said one word that changed my life forever. “friends.”
It’s these little moments that remind me…this is why I’m on the world race.
It’s for their faces.
Their laughter.
Their friendship.
To pray for people who don’t yet know Jesus.
To encourage those who already do.
I came on the world race to love.
Yes, in traveling it is inevitable to miss home.
And sometimes you literally think your brain might fall out of your head right there in church if you have to get up and preach again.
But I would not get on a plane right now even if you handed me an already paid for flight. These people are probably changing my life far more than I’m changing theirs. I’ve come to understand a true joy that only comes from God himself. I’ve fallen in love every night, over and over again with the beautiful people of India. It’s easy to get caught up in missing home. But when I look around at all of these experiences….the big hopeful eyes, the beautiful laughing faces, the trusting hearts, I realize it’s even easier to get caught up in all that’s going on here in this place right now.
And here is exactly where I want to be.
