You might guess what this blog is about, me being really real. The world has been awesome, and God is doing incredible things. But we all have moments, mine came in Qatar. During our last week in Swaziland, I spent time mentally preparing myself for India. As some of you may know, I’ve been to India before. And if you’ve ever heard me talk about India, you’ll know that I had an awful experience. I mean really quite dreadful. It kind of left me scarred. Now the reason I had such a terrible time is largely because of the team I was with. Long story short, no one wanted to be there and people had terrible attitudes and my co-leader bulldozed me the whole time. I keep reminding myself that it was the people not the place. My head knows but the rest of me hasn’t quite gotten the message. I mentioned to Andrew, my squad leader who has also been to India, that we went through Kokata. He said “oh that’s rough” . To which I replied “it is???”. I imagined all of India to be similar to Kolkata, and I was relieved that it wasn’t the case. But anxiety was still there, and growing. If I was completely honest with myself, I straight up did not want to go back to India.
Fast forward to our layover in Qatar. We had all of 22 hours to explore Doha, the capital city. Quick brief about Qatar… It is in fact in the Middle East. It’s pretty much like a small Dubai. It is a very Muslim country, but they are also clearly trying to increase tourism. We arrive late at night and I’m lucky enough to have a room to myself. Granted I over slept and had to rush down to breakfast and had absolutely no idea what anybody was doing and if I’d even get to leave the hotel. As I sit down with my breakfast plate, I immediately start crying. I cracked. All at once, everything hit. I was terrified of going back to India. I have such a heart for the Muslim world and I’m finally in the Middle East, but I’m not even sure if I’ll get see the city. And my next financial deadline is in a month and I still need $4000.
Thank goodness for the goodness of God. As I’m sitting there surrounded by Muslims crying over breakfast, I make a decision. I’m going to go take a shower and come back down to the lobby, if there’s people going to the market, then I’ll go. If not, I’ll FaceTime my mom. Lo and behold, I returned to the lobby and within five minutes I was in a car to the market. I finally got to see the Middle East. And I can’t wait to go back. Fast forward to landing in India. It has been a completely different experience in Hyderabad from Kolkata. I feel a peace that I know is God’s hand on me. And I find I completely love India. I know that I’ll be back. I don’t know when or for how long but I know I’ll be back. And I can’t quite believe I’m saying that out loud.
Now for the last thing. Finances. If God is good enough to give me a day in Qatar and a love for India, I know He’s good enough to provide the funds to keep me on the race. Please pray about donating to keep me on the mission field. I need $4000 by April 1st. You can make a difference in places like Swaziland and India and nine other different countries.
You can share in the inheritance.
