I have now been in India for just over 2 weeks. I have one more week left before I head out to Nepal. Our squad just found out what we will be doing for next month! As I mentioned in my last blog, normally our whole squad of 55 gets together for one month of the World Race, but that isn’t usually until later on. We spent the month of January as our whole squad and I loved it. We just received news now that we will also be spending next month in Nepal all together as well!
This was an unsuspected surprise. We were all prepping ourselves to leave next week, to be separated and be with just our team of 7. Now my squad and I will spend yet another whole month sharing life and doing ministry together. I personally am really excited for this. I love my squad and getting to know them deeper has been really amazing. However, this is going to make the month of March really difficult as we separate after spending 2 whole months together.
My time here has been really good. I usually start off the morning by waking up at 5:30am and walking up the hill to our main meeting place. Here I read the Bible, put on my iPod and worship, or walk into the forest and talk with Holy Spirit. I’ve learned over the past few years that the morning is the best time to get alone and spend time with God. It sets the trajectory for the rest of the day. The days I do this are easier and more enjoyable. The days I don’t, well… they are just not the same.
At 8am we eat breakfast which varies from day to day. (We are quite spoiled with our meals this month) We’ve had French toast and fruit, oat meal, omelettes, hard boiled eggs and more.
After we eat we usually have some prep time to get ready for the ministry for the day. It varies from day to day from VBS’s, construction, teaching in a Seminary, proof reading papers for students, medical camps and more. My team has done mostly construction stuff. I really love that the most. It’s about 28*C during the day and I get to work out and get a tan while serving Jesus by building churches, hospitals and walls for the organization we are serving.
We stop at 1pm for lunch which varies in what we eat as well. We’ve had grill cheese sandwiches, various soups, rice, lots of rice, coleslaw sandwiches, noodles and more.
We go back to ministry after lunch and work until about 4-5pm. We eat supper at 6pm. Supper has been the most delicious. We’ve had fried chicken, rice with curry made different ways, salads, rice with meatballs, potatoes and more. The there is dessert some nights. That’s right. Dessert. And it is delicious. Some nights it is thin noodles with a coconut sauce. The other night we had a fruit salad. And there is coconut flavoured rice pudding as well. Mmm, it is sooo good. I’ve really had to watch how much I eat for this trip. They say most guys lose weight on the World Race, but if I’m not careful, I may be the few percent that gains. I have my team mate Scott keep me accountable and he says if I can go for seconds or not.
During the evening we spend time as a squad playing card games, worshipping, talking, watching movies, having Bible studies and various other things. I go to sleep around 9-10pm.
That basically sums up my days here in India.
Something God has been teaching me lately is that I am His “bride”. I heard a preacher say that, “Girls have to be okay with being ‘sons of God’ and guys have to be okay with being the ‘bride of Christ'”. I’ve been learning to accept this and learn what it means to be a good wife. God was teaching me that a good wife serves her husband. And Jesus says in Matthew 25:40, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”. He was showing me that if I am to be a good wife and serve Him as my husband, then I need to serve others, because serving others is the same as serving Him.
I know people who have a gift of serving others and it comes very naturally to them. It’s not that way for me. I rarely go out of my way to serve others. I’m really good at receiving service from others. That is an area people who love to serve others are not often good at. I throughly believe we all need to be balanced when it comes to giving and receiving. That’s in all areas. Whether it be money, gifts, encouragement, rebuking, love, or serving, we need to be able to give and receive these.
So God is working on my giving part in the area of serving.
Things to pray for…
1. That Holy Spirit would remind me to serve others above myself.
2. That my transition to Nepal would go well physically, mentally and spiritually
3. My team would continue to grow closer in relationship with each other and God
4. Whatever else the Spirit leads you to pray for
Thanks and God Bless!
