India was one of the countries I was the most excited to visit on the race. I was excited to experience the culture, learn from the people, and eat authentic Indian food. When we arrived, I learned that my team and I would be doing village ministry, which meant that every night we would be visiting a different village, preaching, sharing testimonies, and leading worship songs. We stayed in a church that was attached to our hosts home, Grace and Solomon, and got to live life with them and their three beautiful children for the month.
We spent our days sitting in the church or spending time with Grace and Solomon; we weren’t allowed to leave the church unless we had to go to the grocery store or run other errands, but nevertheless, we had so much fun. We used this time to talk to each other about what God was teaching us through his word daily, we came up with unique workout plans, we prayed and worshiped. We also got to eat the best Indian food in the entire country that was lovingly prepared by Grace. We learned about the culture through our hosts and through our evenings in the villages.
I was tentatively excited about our ministry. I don’t enjoy public speaking and dread the idea of singing in front of people, but I knew that God would move through my teammates and I if we just trusted that we were where he wanted us to be. Each evening we visited a different village. We all took turns sharing testimonies and preaching, and we all sang worship songs together. After the services we were led to someone’s house where there was dinner prepared for us. This always consisted of rice and dal, and sometimes an egg, chapatti, or curried vegetables. Yes, it was spicy, and yes, we ate with our hands.
Our very first night of ministry we were led to a family’s house and sat outside in the area that could be considered a front porch. There were mats laid down on the concrete floor and some chairs placed around the perimeter. We quickly learned that this was the church. They didn’t have a church building, so they met at the pastors house. The next night we went to a village and held church in the middle of the road under a single street light. People sat on mats in the road and rocks around the edges and pulled furniture out of houses for us to sit on. The next night, we held church in a three walled wicker “building.”
Every time we went to a new village, the church met in places like this. If they didn’t have a church building, people would meet wherever there was space. It didn’t matter where church was being held because the people were so passionate about God and so hungry to hear his word that they would go where it was being spoken. Worship wasn’t led by a big band, but was led with their voices and a single drum. It made me realize that the people in India truly understood that the church isn’t a building, it’s a body of people.
I loved our ministry in India because it allowed my team and I to spend time with locals and encourage them in their faith. It showed me how desperate Christians can be to hear the word of God and how little huge facilities and amazing music actually matter when people just want to seek the Lord. So many times at home people switch churches because they don’t like the music, or their attention isn’t always held by the pastor, or they don’t like the programs being offered. So many of us lose sight of what church really is, what it really means to be a unified body of Christ. If American churches didn’t have huge buildings or loud music, would we still be going to church?
My time in India has taught me about the strength and unity of the body of Christ. It taught me what it looks like to be a walking, living, breathing version of the church. God has been so good and so faithful to my team and I, and we’re eager to join together with a fresh mindset as an example of Christ’s church for the remaining four months of our race.
