I haven’t been blogging. I’m not really sure why, though. Oh well. Better late than never.
So, let’s just broadly cover india so far. January was a great month. Didn’t have a lot of ministry to do, but got to spend A LOT of refreshing time with the Lord, and grew in intimacy with Him. We spent that month in two locations, most of which was in a smaller village that wasn’t really evangelized yet. We got to do ministry at the local churches and led a lot of VBS type stuff. One thing I learned quick about India is that whenever you show up to something, they are gonna ask you perform some kind of program, whether you’re expecting to or not. So, let’s just say my team and the team we were with have performed The Wobble on multiple occasions.
The end of month four going into month five was met with team changes. Now for those of you who don’t know much about AIM, this meant that the team of six I was with for the past 4 months was no longer going to be my team of six. Which, you might think is a sad thing, but it really ended up being a wonderful thing. Now, I get to love my old team, Meraki, in a different way. I get to love them as friends. And I love them much more as friends. At the end of debrief we were given our new teams. Much to my satisfaction, I am now on an all guys team, called The Forge. Cheesy name right? Well its got a fantastic meaning. As we were assembling our team for the first time and discussing our visions and dreams for this new adventure, we all agreed we wanted to become men. Not just manly men, but men of God, men. We talked about that one verse, ‘just as iron sharpens iron, another man sharpens another man,’ and so with that, we had our name. The Forge. A Place we all agreed we’d sharpen and mold each other into the men God created us to be. And it’s going great.
Now month five of ministry was weird. We got thrown into a school and told to teach some kids, but not told what to teach them. So my teammate Joe and I just play games with our senior class and talk about life and Jesus and just really try to build some kind of meaningful relationship with these kids. Granted they are not learning anything, but I think they are getting something better. Oh and those kids are amazing! One day Joe and myself came into class and just asked them what they wanted to do and they said they wanted to sing. So of course, we sang, but not just silly songs, we worshipped God for an hour and a half at the top of our lungs. It was cool. Loved it. I will forever remember it. The rest of that months ministry was some sports ministry, and then I got sick and threw up a bunch. Yippee.
And now, we’re starting month six. MONTH FRICKEN 6. I can’t believe it. It’s going so fast. I mean, we leave for Africa in 27 days. But anyways, I want to learn something new for me. I wanna learn to just be love to people; to be Jesus. I have to find the balance between my personal relationship with God and how much time I’m giving that, and focusing on being a relational human who loves the people around them. If you want a better idea for what I’m trying to get across, read Love Does by Bob Goff. You’ll love it.
Anyways, that’s been my life the last few months. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I’ll get back into this blogging thing. But if you have an Instagram, and would like to keep up with me better, then follow me @jared_celo
Also, If you have supported me, in anyway, THANK YOU. From the bottom of my heart. This experiences is shaping a new Jared, with a whole new perspective. Can’t wait to share it with you face to face, someday soon.
