A brief recap of Month 7, India. Thank you for reading and I hope something in this encourages you, spurs you onward in your walk with the Father, or challenges you to rethink something in your life.
I absolutely loved being in India last month which is a testament to the goodness and kindness of our Father – I expected to absolutely dread India. Something about the chaos, smog, and dirtiness of my stereotypical expectation of Calcutta just didn’t appeal all that much to me. As it turns out I found myself only having to say in that city one night before boarding a plane which carried me whimsically away to the mountains and pine trees of Northeastern India, the little town of Sielmat, and the wonderful Hmar people.
We received so many blessings from the many generous Hmar Christians there. The incredibleness of our contacts and how they blessed us in every way was humbling to say the least. Some of the blessings of this month were: lodging in a TCS Seminary, sharing a bathroom with only one other person, hot bucket showers, opportunities to hike in the mountains, amazing quiet times before hearths and under pine tree canopies, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, thunderstorms, all you could eat food everyday three times a day, great ministry, and amazing contacts! Whheewww I miss that place! Being greeted by a crackling fireplace after a crispy early morning’s walk up from the seminary to our contacts bungalow numbered among my favorite blessings from the month. My early morning quiet times with the Father were divided between the here and the glorious pine plantation which grew in their front yard – oh how I had missed pine trees!
A look at what we did for ministry: assisted in the construction of a church, which by the way only cost about $20,000 to build, and all of the funds were donated by one generous man! (Let’s give more money to build churches in other countries folks! It does not cost much in terms of our churches in America!!) Teaching in Christian schools, visiting local churches with the seminary students, manual labor at the Christian hospital just down the road, helping facilitate Bible quizzing for the high school students, encouraging the seminary students, and for some fortunate ones of us, making the long haul up into the mountains for a few days to the village where the Gospel of Jesus first came back in 1910!! What an honor it was to be in that place!
It goes without saying that this mountain village excursion was my most memorable experience there. Greg, Vivian, Megan, and I, the driver, and our two guides (not to mention the myriads of people piled atop of the material in the bed) rambled along a relentlessly bumpy winding road through the misty mountains until at long last reaching our destination. We spent two solid days among a group of villages (a sizable village being 500 or so homes) wherein we visited the Christian schools there, spending time with the students and gloriously faithful faculty. The welcome we received at these schools made the whole month itself. We felt like some sort of heroes as we received whole programs planned just for us and numerous native garlands and fabrics. Being able to see how God had redeemed these villages from being ruthless headhunting tribes to thousands of faithful Christ followers in less than 100 years, from the obedience of one man, was truly hard to wrap my mind around. The things that are possible with the Creator God of the Universe, our Father, on our side! Oh we have so little faith in the omnipotence of our heavenly Father! I put God in a box, do you? I am so critical and cynical at times. I want back a childlike faith in my Father! The possibilities, the change, the lives saved if only we would say yes to more seemingly impossible things! 100 years ago Watkin Roberts said yes and illegally and fearlessly brought the Gospel of Jesus to a headhunting tribe; the effects of which are now too great to quantify!
What seemingly daunting task is the Father beckoning you to undertake for His Kingdom? Say yes and begin swimming in the deep joy and fulfillment of a life where God takes your faith and the small might of your love-motivated actions and multiples them a hundred full! (Oh and by the way if you haven’t read Love Does yet, please do!)
