This is a collage of our Beloved Warriors team at around 3am on Launch Day right before we got on a plane for INDIA!
This is a pic of being stuck in Oslo, Norway for 5 hours on a plane on our way here! Glad to be with great people!
Where to start, dear ones? Goodness, first of all, I am simply grateful to be right where I am supposed to be right now. I want to thank all of you for joining this team and mission, making something possible that is changing lives both here on earth and for eternity. If you are reading this, know you are someone who has made and is making a difference right where you are.
I LOVE this. Love it. It is stretching, it is fun, it is hard, it is heartbreaking, it is beautiful, it is dependence on God, it is community with others…it is learning…it is life.
I am grateful for my teammates and the other team we are serving with this month. We are getting to know each other and it’s been such a blessing. Please continue to pray for team and squad unity, strength, health, joy, wisdom, guidance from God, and fun! We leave for Nepal on October 1st, and our whole squad will be there. Please pray that God continues to lead us where He wants us to be and to the people He wants to touch through us.
Here’s a practical lowdown :o)…Sorry, it has gotten long, but you can read as much as you’d like. The wifi is faulty, so even at times we’ve hoped to communicate, it’s been impossible. There are stories, random things we’ve experienced, and just what might happen in a day here. God bless you all. I am so grateful for you. Please continue to tell me how to pray for you, as well. You remain in our prayers.
We are in the city of Bangalore. We have breakfast at 8:30am each morning. Before that, we can exercise, have a quiet time with Jesus, and possibly get a bucket shower. This means you fill up a bigger bucket with cold water and use something that resembles a large measuring cup to pour water over yourself…shower from a bucket…aka bucket shower :o).
We then start ministry…we have worked with rescued temple prostitutes, spending time with them, hugging them, attempting to communicate, writing their names with hearts all around it, praying over them, and laughing and just being together, treating each other with respect and love. In order to raise money for the ministry that funds their lodging, clothes, food, etc., the women make jewelry and other awesome crafts from simple materials such as thread or newspapers.
We have also gone to a ministry called Autoraja…unbelievable. There is a man named Raja who founded this ministry. This man is incredible and basically is an Indian version of the story of the prodigal son and Saul turned Paul all in one. Without being able to read or write, he made good money with a car business. He lived in a worldly way and squandered money, ultimately ending up on the streets…poor, homeless, shamed, hurting. He met Jesus and received the hope of life and that more abundantly and the perspective of living for eternity. He began in his father’s garage, bringing people off the streets, nursing their wounds, giving them food, clothing, shelter, and education and sharing the gospel of Jesus. He is first Jesus’ hands and feet practically. Then he helps them understand the hope of asking Jesus into their hearts and receiving Him as Lord and Savior here on earth, and also having the joy of heaven to look forward to when they die. He has over 450 men, women, and children in his care and those who help serve and now owns a compound run mostly through donations for these people to receive a home and care. Some of the people are in very bad shape when they are found and 2-10 people die each day. But Raja’s heart for this is that at least they are given a proper funeral and die knowing they were worth finding and caring for. When asked how many people can stay at a time he replied, “As many as come. This is God’s house, not mine. All are welcome. He will provide.” Again I can’t write about this without tears coming to my eyes. He has given up all for this. He stays at the compound with everyone else. His family does, as well, and his whole family helps and beautifully serves. He does the horrific surgeries himself. Why? When asked he said, “Doctors can do, but they do without love. I love them and want them to be healed with love.” Of course, if a case is too severe, they are taken to the hospital, but some of the doable surgeries are difficult and grotesque, such as removing ingrown rings and bracelets, and still he does not shy away from performing them himself with care. The before and after pictures and smiles are amazing.
While at this ministry, we were able to hold the hands of women and children who were taken from the streets. We played London Bridge with them and played with their hair. They showed us their scars. One woman lifted up her shirt to show her stitched up stomach just to reveal the joy on her face that she was fixed and no longer in pain. We prayed over these precious ones and they taught us Indian dances and attempted to share their language with us. I can only imagine what they look like in Jesus’ eyes and can’t wait to get to heaven to hear more of their stories and dance with joy as sisters and brothers under the care and delight of our good Shepherd. If you or your church are interested in volunteering at this ministry site sometime, please let me know. He says people come for short amounts of time or longer amounts of time to help.
Each day 2 people stay back to help cook and 2 stay back to clean our living areas. Because of this we have gotten to learn how to cook some Indian food and it’s always from scratch! It’s so good! Granted, we have never eaten so much rice in succession before, but it’s been wonderful learn about spices and different cooking methods and simply to spend time with our sweet cook, Mamatha. She is a beautiful Indian gal of 26 years and is a precious soul. She is patient with us as we learn and helps us understand Indian culture more and more. Arranged marriages, dancing, dress, etc. It’s going to be very hard to say goodbye. We’ve all developed friendships here that we aren’t going to want to leave. Thinking of doing this 10 or more times still is a bittersweet thought. God has beautiful brothers and sisters around the world! This just increases the joy of the hope of heaven…one big party!!! And one language!!!
We each lunch around 1:30 each day and dinner around 7:30. Many times in the evening we get to sing songs with our Indian hosts and dance and praise together! So fun! These people have rhythm!!!
Please ask questions if you’d like to know something I am not sharing. There are so many sights, sounds, smells, and just little daily things that happen. We were able to go shopping one day! What an experience! Most of us girls picked out material for a saree. In our search for cheaper material, we accidently entered a wedding saree shop! So beautiful! Our sarees are being tailored right now, but I’ll try to get a pic up when I can of all of us :o). There is so much tradition and beauty here along with the pain.
We do pass a ton of statues to Hindu gods every day…temples and such. Some of the statues have been over 4 stories high, including a giant blue monkey god. We have gone into houses with Hindu gods and people have broken down in tears as we have prayed. We pray over fellow believers, as well. One woman named Sarah, a believer, about 80 or so years old, began belting out a song of praise to our Lord after we prayed together. Experiencing the humble power of that moment will never leave me, or I hope to God it doesn’t. Please continue to join in prayer that the people’s hearts are turned to the one true God and that He shines through us and our fellow Indian believers.
This is Sarah. Please read about her in the paragraph above.
We have gone into homes that are the size of a bed, yet house a grandma, her daughter, and her 2 grandchildren. We have been served rice pudding and chai and cookies from people who have barely anything to offer. We have prayed together, sung together, shed tears together.
We have heard stories such as a woman who was possessed and writhing on the floor with boils forming all over her. They thought if they built a temple to a Hindu god that she would be healed. Nothing. She got worse. While in a store bathroom one day, the lady cleaning the floors gave the girl’s mother a tract about Jesus. The family accepted Jesus and the girl was healed. Now 5 more families around them have accepted Jesus into their hearts! What a challenge to always be prepared to share the hope that we have in Jesus and the power of a single, simple moment to change the lives of many.
There are so many street vendors, cows, stray dogs, rickshaws, trash piles, etc., everywhere! Some little things that have been interesting…watching construction workers…no helmets or cords to hold them for safety. They walk back and forth on a small surface high above the ground as if they were just walking around their house. We have a roof we can go on where we are staying. It’s fun to look out over the neighborhood. Children in uniforms running or walking with backpacks as big as they are, stray dogs wandering, a single cow or a whole herd meandering along, horns honking, rickshaws going by, a woman carrying a baby, a group of men going somewhere.
Rupees are fascinating. The exchange rate is 1 dollar to 60.68 rupees…just let that sink in. You might not be rich, but you do feel rather rich when you are walking around with 1000 rupees in your purse ;o).
We went to a prayer revival meeting that lasted 6 hours. These people are serious about getting the gospel of Jesus everywhere. We didn’t have a clue what they were saying, but it held its own might just being in the room knowing that Jesus understood every word that was said from all languages present. There was a translator there just for the 2 different Indian languages :o)!
We went to an English speaking church the last 2 Sundays. So good! This last one made us feel as though we were in Africa! The believers who came here from Congo and Nigeria gather in a church, but all are welcome and there were many nationalities there. The worship was off the charts! And the people were decked out to the nines in African and Indian dress! It’s hard to believe that just 2 weeks ago we were in jeans and tshirts. We now have a few Indian outfits, as well. If you’re reading this, you were there in spirit! We are all one Body!
God bless you. Wish I could give you a hug right now. I miss you and am thinking and praying for you often. I can’t thank you enough for your prayers and support. You have blessed me and so many others more than you know. Thank you.
Love in Him,
Julia
