Well, month one just flew by!! Here is a video to sum up my month! I hope to do one every month. FYI, regulations from SCH—we aren’t allowed to post pictures of the kids with their faces, so that’s why you won’t see any faces in my video. Which is sad, because the kids are so perfect & beautiful…
**for best viewing quality, watch in HD!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KZluAexBCU
Also, don’t be fooled by all of the happy faces and fun times in the video! Although there were so so many good times this month, it wasn’t always rainbows and butterflies.
Not shown in video:
- The beautiful smiles of the SCH kids
- The joy of the Lord radiating through the energy level of the kids
- Smiling & waving at random women and kids on the street
- So many bucket showers (with only cold water)
- Hand washing our laundry (and the clothes never smell clean)
- Serving on the cafe team at church alongside 10 amazing indian people
- Prayer walks with Regan
- Random fellowship meetings with our church friends
- Amazing listening prayers with The Lord
- The growth in character seen in every one of my teammates
For me, ministry this month did not come easy. Unlike a lot of my teammates, I don’t naturally gravitate towards kids ministry. And usually not special needs kids. I would rather be out in the villages preaching and praying for people because that comes more naturally for me.
However, because of where God placed me this month, I learned to see the world through a new lens. I learned that ministry doesn’t have to look one way, because Jesus’ ministry didn’t always look one way. Of course, Jesus went out and prayed for people and healed and casted out demons and brought signs and wonders. But also, sometimes Jesus just sat and loved on his friends. And sometimes, Jesus just rested in the presence of His Father in a quiet place.
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” [Luke 17:20-21]
I think at the beginning of the month, I thought that the kingdom of heaven looked one way. I thought I had to be walking in signs and wonders and praying for people to see the kingdom come. But reality is, the kingdom of heaven is inside of every believer. Aka everywhere we walk, we have access to an open heaven all around us! Sometimes, the kingdom looks like walking in signs and wonders and miracles, but other times, it looks like sitting with a special needs child who can’t walk and just needs to be loved. Above all, the kingdom of heaven is rooted in LOVE. If we’re walking in love, then we’re showing Jesus to people. If what we’re doing isn’t rooted in love, then it’s not God. That’s been my biggest takeaway this month: learning what it looks like to choose to love even when it’s hard and even when we’re different. Because God doesn’t look at our weaknesses or differences, He looks at our identity in Him and sees our differences as beautiful and unique!!
Soo yeah, I’m very thankful for my month in India! Now onto debrief and all squad month in Nepal!!
