Okay, I see you God.
I see you in the hearts of the people on my team, the canceled flight to India, the long bus rides, the smiles of those around me and the ministry we get the opportunity to be a part of. I look forward to seeing what you are doing here in India. I love that you’re at work in the places and the people all around me even when I cannot see it.
– Travel Adventures To India –
It is crazy to think that I’ve been away from home for one week and so much has happened already! The journey started with a couple days of training in Atlanta, GA with my squad mates and other World Racers. Then we ventured to the airport where we spent time getting ready for our first stop to India. On the shuttle to the International airport I met a lady named Janey who was on her way to Colombia. You know that feeling when you meet someone that radiates joy and love and all you want to do is give them a great big hug? (If not, that’s ok) But this is exactly how I felt about Janey. As she made her way onto the shuttle I noticed that she was limping and needed assistance getting on. Once we were situated on the shuttle bus my teammate Juliana and I got to talk with her about life, family, and the journeys that we were all about to embark on. Janey told us about the trip to Colombia that she was going on and what she was going to do while she was there. She shared that she planned on meeting some of her friends to join them on a week long mission trip to pray for people who were in need of healing and to simply love on all of the people she encountered.
Fun fact: She showed us a picture from years back when she spent time with Mother Theresa in India. That was pretty darn awesome!
Later in our conversation she shared how a year prior she was hit by a drunk driver and lost all her nerves in one of her ankles/foot. Reflecting back on this conversation, I remember being in absolute awe of this ladies faith! This amazing women of God was traveling to pray for others to receive healing when she still needed healing herself. I’m still blown away and inspired by her faith, love for Jesus, and trust in the Most High! After praying with her we said our goodbyes and made our way to the airport.
It is funny because we ended up spending the day in the airport where we later on discovered that our flight was canceled due to damage to the plane. This actually turned out to be a huge blessing. The Lord was definitely looking out for us. The cancellation resulted in our whole squad spending the next 4 hours at the airport praying for the people in Atlanta, India and each other, spending time with some of the airport workers, and bonding with one another for an extra day. After spending the night in a beautiful hotel we ventured back to the airport to leave for Qatar and then India.
When we arrived to our squad base in India we had a couple more days of training where we learned more about the culture and important ‘need to know’ info. My favorite part of that was when we were given a sheet with simple sentences or questions to ask in there language. The language that we briefly learned is Telegu, one of the many languages here in India. Though many people speak English here I’ve noticed they really appreciate when we attempt to speak there language, no matter how badly we do.
Yesterday, my team and I arrived to our final location after a 9 hours bus ride. — Random fact: We only had one bathroom break the whole bus trip. For those of you who have traveled with me in the past know that this is usually a tricky one for me. But somehow I made it through. PHEWPH!! Praise! — I guess you could say we learned a lot from this bus ride which I’ll actually share more about in a later blog — coming soon! 🙂
Today we got more information on what we will be doing here in India for the next 3 weeks and I’m super stoked to share testimonies and stories with you all on what God does. Some of the things we will be doing includes preaching and sharing testimonies at church on Sunday’s, traveling to villages to spend time with the pastors and the local families, and celebrating India’s Independence Day.
Stay tuned friends! God is on the move and is doing big things here in India. Please be praying and interceding for my team, the people of India, our wonderful people hosts, and for myself.
With lots of love,
Caleigh Schuur
