It’s hard to believe that month one of the race comes to an end today. We are back in Hyderabad from Ongole and head to the airport tonight to head to Nepal!!
As I entered January 2017 ready to launch for the World Race, I found myself incredibly exhausted and burnt out. Worn out for various reasons, but knew God still wanted me to leave this January. I prayed as I left for India that God would provide me with the strength and stamina needed to serve our ministry well and be present with my team in month one.
God’s ways are always higher than ours, so instead of just giving me what I asked for, He opened the door for so much more.
I have always struggled with seeing God as a God of rest. I struggle because I don’t know how to find complete rest in my own life. I have always been “too busy” to carve time out of my week to rest with God. One of the biggest goals for this year has been to seek out God in rest and reflection. I want to know the Sabbath God, the one who created the entire world and then stepped back, wiped his hands of work, and rested.
So, sure enough, upon getting to Ongole without really knowing it God opened the door for rest. Our ministry didn’t start until 4pm Tuesday-Sunday with one day completely off. Each day God would lead me to the rooftop of our compound. Whether it was for a run or to sit on the ledge and be in His presence, God provided complete rest. Through out each day I found myself just sitting in God’s presence and being renewed and recharged.
In month one, God taught me the importance of finding time to rest and how much we are blessed through taking time out of our busy lives to rest in Him. I am grateful to begin the race learning about our Sabbath God and look forward to continuing to grow in seeking out rest with God through out this year and the rest of my life.
Thanks for continuing to follow me as I embark on this kingdom journey. India has a very special place in my heart and I am really sad to be leaving, but know God has so much waiting for my squad and I in Nepal!
Ahava Chara is doing well! No one has been severally sick or hurt, praise the Lord! We are growing as a team and diving really deep which is awesome! Please pray for continual unity and growth as a team!
Until Nepal, may you all be richly blessed!
Michelle
(P.S. Since I haven’t been on Wi-Fi much in India I wasn’t able to post as many updates so here are some photos from this past month! Enjoy! Also, thank you to everyone who is posting comments on my blog and emailing me, I truly enjoy and appreciate hearing from you all!)
Team Ahava Chara on our last night of ministry in the villages! They surprised us with flower chains!
Meet baby Grace! The Lord laid it on my heart to pray over this sweet babe and to name her Grace! We spent a few hours a night praying over the people in villages we visited! God’s grace is abundant and I’m so excited to see how baby Grace is a reminder of God’s grace for India!
“Praise the Lord!” We would randomly shout this out if there was awkward silence in the church and it was so fun to watch the congregation say it back to us!
*I am unable to get great wifi over here so I will post more photos when I can to this blog post! I hope to write one more blog post about India after our debrief, so stay tuned!
**If you made it this far down the blog post…then I want you to know that I absolutely LOVE India and would totally consider moving there long term!!! 🙂
