A few weeks ago, not long before I left for the race, my team and I found out what our ministry in India would be and we were so pumped! We would be working with an organization that fosters children with disabilities and special needs. Adventures in missions talks about this organization often and I heard so many people saying how amazing and fun this month for us would be. The excitement intensified over the past week or so as we started to travel to India.
When we got to our ministry site we found out that we weren’t actually going to be doing anything that we originally had thought. We were told that instead of working with the children, we would be cleaning, organizing and moving things.
Though I didn’t show it outwardly, I had a pretty bad attitude about it.
The first day of ministry we were asked to wipe down walls and scrub the pen, crayon and henna marks off. Next we took an inventory of every piece of furniture in every room in one of the 4 story homes.
You’ve got to be kidding me. This was not what I had in mind at all! This isn’t even ministry, we’re supposed to be with the kids. I definitely didn’t sign up for this.
Wrong. This IS ministry.
Before long the Lord convicted me, and my teammates and we started regularly saying “Heart check guys” or “Joyful hearts everyone!” We all knew this wasn’t what we were hoping for.
But this trip isn’t about us.
I decided to go on the world race to bring Jesus to people, to meet needs and serve the Lord and the people around me no matter what that looks like. I’ve been saying that for months! But I came into my first month of ministry with a very selfish mindset, which is not Christ-like and not what my heart should look like when I’m working in ministry.
Not long after my team and I did a serious “heart check” we were given the opportunity to play duck duck goose with some of the older girls in one of the homes. The kids were thrilled and I had a blast!!
A day or two later we were also asked to come over and take the younger kids on a walk, kiddos ages like 1-4 or 5.
What a blessing!
The people in India often look at people with disabilities or special needs as cursed and disgusting so walking down the street with about 15 kids with some sort of disability we got quite a few nasty looks from the locals. But I was having so much fun! These children are not our idea of “normal” but they are precious! Each and every one of them has a personality and you can see the love of Jesus shinning through them and around them. He loves them and He made each and every one of them just as much in His image as He made us.
After our walk we were invited to come back and work one on one with some of the kids. How cool?!
This might not be exactly how we envisioned this month to go but God knows what He’s doing and He has us right where He wants us. I told Him I would follow Him no matter the cost and that I would bring His name and His love to people in every capacity. I’m confident that this month is going to be great, that I’m going to learn a lot and that my team will be a blessing to this organization. Please keep us in your prayers, for us to continue to have good attitudes and joyful hearts and that the things we say and do reflect the heart of Christ.
Below is my video that shows a little bit of our first week here 🙂
