It’s never looked so sweet.
Months before leaving for the World Race I asked my alum friend, Ana, what one of the most difficult parts of being on the race was. “Saying goodbye. 11 times.”
I thought about her answer a few times leading up to launch, but hadn’t thought about it at all since we arrived in India. In the first few days on the Race I was just waiting for something to break my heart for Manipur and the surrounding area in North East India. Then I realized something. I was waiting to see hurt and pain so that I would feel the need for the Gospel, rather than letting the urgency for the Gospel and bringing Kingdom to earth drive me. I wanted to find something here that I connected to, something that I could invest in for the month during our free time.
The organization we were partnered with is incredible and they had planned ministry for us each day, but our afternoons were often free. This gave us the privilege of getting to know members of the community. For me, this meant getting to know the seminary students.
I think I had the expectation that missions trips are all about how much you can get done in a short amount of time, how many people you can share the Gospel with, and how many stories you can rack up before you leave. I’m quickly learning that this is not what the Race looks like. It’s about expanding the Kingdom in whatever shape and form that comes in.
I have travelled abroad a few times before and it is clear that soccer – or futbol, rather – is a universal language. So never once did I think I would play some serious volleyball on the race. What a simple but sweet way the Lord showed me love in India.
This month I played volleyball nearly every afternoon with a group of hilarious, intelligent, and kind hearted students from the local seminary school. Let me tell you, these guys can play. Over a couple of weeks we learned their names, developed inside jokes, had conversations about Jesus and why they’re at seminary school, sat in on classes and (even taught a few), and worshiped in ways that make me long for eternity. What a joy it will be to sing endless praises with these brothers and sisters.
During our second week of playing volleyball, there was one day of pure laughter. I realized we had truly become friends with these students. They looked forward to playing volleyball with us every day just as much as we did. They joked with us on the volleyball court. We laughed so hard it made it difficult to play at times. And for the first time I realized I did not want to say goodbye. Ana’s words finally entered my mind. But the very next day the Lord spoke so clearly to me through one Hmar phrase.
A saying that our new friend Anim uses sarcastically on the volleyball court. It means “wonderful”. Whenever someone made a silly mistake or a crucial point was lost, shouts of “amak teluo” could be heard. Sarcasm aside, this has become the definition of our fellowship with the seminary students. Wonderful. Danny, a professor and fellow volleyball player, said during a worship night with the students “how ‘amak teluo’ will eternity be dancing and singing praises with you all, our brothers and sisters”.
How right he is.
There was a shift in the way N Squad viewed our first “see you later”. As I wrote this, we had a couple of days left in India. There were already some quick tears shed, and a couple of students warned us they would tease us if we cried when we said “see you later”, but they also told us how they’re going to miss us as much as we will miss them. Investing in these students was such a lesson for me. We did a lot of practical, hands on things in our first month and we had the chance to invest in a community that is focused on Jesus. Two vastly different areas of ministry that both have an impact on the Kingdom – and I am so glad that I started to learn that lesson in the first month. Even though it was frustrating and figuring out where my heart was while we were in India, I couldn’t be happier that the first “see you later” was so tough. Our friends in North East India have taught me a life long lesson – eternity will be more than amak teluo.
Love always,
Sequoi
– more photos to come when my computer is feeling better! –
