India has been a crazy mix of emotions for me. Coming out of Africa I was used to being very close with the people we were serving and many people already being Christians. India is far from Africa geographically and spiritually. We have had to fight for our time here in India. It’s funny because there have been quite a few opportunities to serve this month and I was just not attracted to any one of them. In the beginning of the month the team leaders decided that we had to be more intentional about battling spiritually for our teams and the squad. The Lord specifically was calling me into a month of learning to pray for people. I used to say that I would pray for people but rarely did. Being a person who enjoys being around others it’s hard to think that I came to India to sit around and pray, but it appears that I came to do just that. I am learning slowly how important it is to pray for people. Staying back and praying for people is not really blog worthy but here I am telling you about it.
When we first arrived in India we debriefed Africa for a few days. At that point the Lord was teaching me about not carrying other people’s burdens. I tend to be a fixer, perfectionist and a people pleaser. All of which don’t go very smoothly with being a leader. I found that at every previous debrief I was sick or so worn out that I would stay in my room away from the crowds the majority of the time. Most of which was a result of me carrying people’s burdens or trying to prevent burdens from happening. Many times I wouldn’t even realize that I was holding on to things that I could do nothing about. So I started learning again about laying all of those burdens down at the Lord’s feet, what a relief. HAHA! Then a few days later the Lord, who can be so humorous, put me in the position of being the squad leader for 24 other people. Oh how the Lord’s timing is precise.
I know that I cannot hold on to 24 people, 5 people or my own burdens. I cannot fix all of the problems people come at me with. I will not have wisdom for all of the situations! I cannot be responsible if someone rejects my ideas or goes outside of my authority. My responsibility is to pray and to allow the Lord to do his work through me. I am here to guide as my guidance counselor shows me the way.
Step by step I will learn to lead as a humble servant of the king!
