Incredible India

I first stepped onto Indian soil seven years ago. Before I came that first time a friend of mine told me that everything you never expected or thought you could see you will probably see in India. She was right. India is a place of intensity. The culture is aggressive and vibrant in all its various outlets...the food is spicy, the colors are bright, the language is loud and never seems to pause between sentences. The traffic is constant, the people are piled and packed and squeezed together, the sun beats down with ferocity, the gods are innumerable, the poverty is overwhelming, and the daily experiences are unpredictable.

When I first came to India, I left with this thought in my mind, "Oh God, I'm so thankful I'm not called to India." I laugh now because God has brought me back to this land a few times and each time, my heart is more and more opened to this place and its people. There is an incredible open door here to work with Afghans. As I've been here in India this time, my experience hasn't been one of just trying to breathe in the midst of the culture shock I was undergoing, but this time I feel at ease and have been able to enjoy and learn and appreciate so much of India. I've made friends, not just "dealt with" people. And many days I've had this feeling like I was quite at home.

I think often times it's the people that make a place and an experience. This trip was not an exception to that. We have met and shared our lives with some incredible people who are living for the Lord here. Afghans, Iranians, Indians from all over the sub-continent, westerners, business people and ministers. Moms and teenagers, pastors and lay people. This has made this trip. We came here to serve and bless. I believe we did that to the best of our abilities. But the people also blessed and taught me so incredibly much.

 This trip to India has opened my eyes in many ways. Delhi is a metropolitan place where people from many nations take up residence and put down roots or reside until they move on to the next place. It's a meeting place of cultures and nations. It's at the intersection of major empires from the past and it's a gate and a hub for many trying to escape a difficult life or searching for a better one.
I also have had my eyes opened to the hunger and the need for truth in this place. Churches and individuals are hungry to feast on God's word, and some just don't know the best way to pick it up and ingest it. The tools that we were able to off through Titus project sometimes felt small in the sea of needs but the individuals that we were able to spend time with I know God touched and challenged and spoke to during the time here. This makes it all worth it. We will leave this place, not just having entertained or had a good experience ourselves, but others have encountered God and will continue to after we are gone.

So India has proven to be an unexpected delight and joy. Our original plan never included India, but God led our team step by step to this place and I stand at the end of it amazed at all the beauty that it has revealed.

Before we left for our outreach, we had a prayer time and someone gave us a word that God wasn't giving us Plan B but his plan was always Plan A. This was a promise we held on to this entire time as our locations, contacts and time of ministry all changed even up until the last minute we left. God knew what he was doing even when we (I!!) couldn't see it.

 And though the sun is setting on this short season of our outreach, I believe there is another sun rising in my heart for things for the future. I sense God just asking me to return to Taiwan to finish well and to seek him there. I believe more of that plan will be revealed in this upcoming year, but it's exciting to me to know that God is in control and he has some open doors and plans to continue to reach Afghans, Muslims and many others with his Word and to encounter Jesus Christ.

And of course, this trip would not have been the incredible experience it was without my team. God blessed me with being able to share two months with these people who love the Lord, who are willing to serve and who teach with passion and authority. I have been challenged and sharpened by each one of them and they have shown me so much of God's heart over these last two months. I could endlessly brag about them. I'm just thankful for their friendship and that we got the privilege to serve in ministry together here in this incredible land.