Namaste!
It feels so good to finally send ya’ll an update with everything that’s been going on! Thank you all for being so supportive and eager to hear about what God has been doing in India. My team and I have safely made it to our ministry location in southern India. ( WAHHOO ) It took a while to get here, after flying from Atlanta to Chicago, to New Delhi, and finally to Hyderabad- where we struggled a bit with the immigration officers- and eventually stayed a few nights for additional training. In total we have been here in India for almost 2 weeks!
Time is flying by when I think about it, but to be honest most days feel long. Experiencing India has so far been my closest experience to living life on another planet. Seriously! It’s planet where you are ALWAYS sweating, there is absolutely NO using your left hand, smiling// talking to men older or around your age, or using toilet paper. HOWEVER it has also been a place where smiles and endless laughs have sufficed for verbal language, where community and time spent with people triumphs any and all time commitments, and where most peoples overall concern is “Am I serving you well and giving you my very very best.”
Slowly India has been breaking my heart- but in the most sincere way. My team and I have been given the ministry this month of church planting. When I was first told the news that this is what our team and I would doing, I was a little less than enthused- but quickly the Lord has shown me his faithfulness.
My morning usually starts somewhere between 7:00 and 7:20am. Our team has team time each morning (asides from Saturday) at this time to talk about what’s going on in our days as well as our walks and daily lives. After team time some of the team will stay on the roof and exercise- the heat of a roof can really be a scorcher so its not a very long amount of time but its usually something fun. We are then free until Lunch, which usually comes around 12:00, and then free also until 3:00 when our translator comes and we head off to ministry. In total there are 11 (right now 12 including our awesome squad leader Erika) who squeeze into a SUV where we will drive up to an hour some days to different villages.
Once we arrive to the village, we are quickly greeted by the village pastor and at least a dozen little kids. We go inside where they always have plastic chairs awaiting us along with cold sodas. They treat us so well I often feel bad that they go through such lengths to have us feel comfortable but I know that in their culture they would not want it any other way.
After we all sit and talk for a bit, we will start our prayer walk- the time length varies, as do the sizes of the villages. Sometimes we go in groups, sometimes we don’t, but we often go house to house and will pray for each family despite of their faith. Having only had done this a little over a week I have already seen so much and it has truly been a privilege to pray with these brothers and sisters in India.
After we pray for the village, which can sometimes last a few hours, we will eat dinner with the pastor. It is always the same: chapatti, chicken curry, rice, and curd. It is always SO good! Its fun to see how different villages prepare the same meal because they are always a little bit different- one village used coconut in it and it has so far been my personal favorite! Its weird to think about how at home I would never need to have the same thing but here in India its almost the same thing three times a day.
After dinner we start the church service. There is a microphone set up to a big speaker so that even if not everyone in the village comes out, they can still hear it. While the church service starts, the people will come in and sit on the tarps that have been placed on the ground for them. The women and children take turns passing the microphone singing songs of worship in Telgue (the language they speak) while we sit in the front of the church in plastic chairs. After they stop singing they usually like to hear a song or two in English, so we sing some for them. They are always different ones sometimes they are more so for the little kids and have hand motions that they can do with us, other times it’s a song that they know and while we sing in English, our translator Monibob will sing in Telgue. After worship, someone will share their testimony and then another team member will share the gospel.
Church in India is very much like a big “event” so sometimes kids will stand up and dance as well as sing. After we speak the pastor will pray and close out the service. Then each member who attended the service will come up to one of us for prayer. Once everyone leaves we talk to the pastor and pray with him and his family, blessing their ministry and whatever else they need prayer for. On average we leave the villages around 10:30.
The Lord has been so faithful to our team although we have definitely have been experiencing our fair shares in sickness and other distractions. However understanding that Jesus took on the cross with joy for each and every individuals potential yes to Him makes these longs days so so worth it. Please continue to pray for the people in India, for the Lord to soften their hearts and meet their needs in a way that they see Him and only Him. I plan on making my next blog one filled with photos so you can have a glimpse of what I see each day! Thank you for following my blog- I am still in need of financial support (around 6,000) to stay on the field until next June.
If you would like to and are able to partner along side of me, you can do so on the side of my blog where it says “Support me”. Any and all donations are tax- deductible and help me continue to love and reach the least of these.
All my love from India,
Samantha Ziobro
We serve a God who fulfills his promises, and it is His delight to reveal Himself amidst a swirl of troubles. He calls us to be still and wait patiently, and in His goodness, even gifts us with the faith to do so (Ephesians 2:8) .
