Hello, my name is...

India is 10.5 time zones away. Between the 10.5 time zones and four flights, we had no concept of what time it was anymore, a refreshing, though confusing experience. We finally get to India after way too many hours of travel and get settled into the hotel. Hannah and Diane were my roommates; and yes, I introduced the comfy pants dance.

The next day the pastor and his wife and daughter showed us around. India is gorgeous! Humid, but gorgeous, and the Arabian Sea is beautiful! Fishing boats floated carelessly out in the distance as the waves crashed against the shore spraying ten feet into the air. The salty breeze made the trees dance to the rhythm of the sea. There were men sitting nearby fixing their nets and a boy rode by on his bicycle. Busses, cars, and motor rickshaws pass us and people stare out the windows at us. We must have been quite the sight, six fairly white girls, a girl who could pass as an Indian and a young guy and an older man all obviously American in our dress and lack of knowledge of the language (Malayalam... or some spelling like that) and customs of Kerala. It was pretty amusing watching people watch us.

We got to meet a few of the church leaders and translators before Pastor Royson and his wife showed us around the area and took us shopping for our dresses. I can’t remember what they are called but they are ornately decorated and beautifully colored.

That afternoon we meet in our teams and practice the Evangecube. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it is a cube with pictures on it to use as you present the Gospel. I got to work with Mike, a grandpa who really loves the Lord. He has a deep love for God and for the lost and God has given him much wisdom. I wish I had more time to learn from him. We then met with our translators and the church members we would be working with. I got to work with Samson and Suma. It was such a blessing seeing the joy on their faces and God’s love shining through them. Samson has a heart for the hurting and the lost and it was so encouraging seeing his and Suma’s faith and passion. Suma and I would just smile at each other because we had no idea what the other was saying.

That night Hannah, Joanne and I got to talk a little and get to know each other better. One of the great things about short trips like this is you don’t waste time talking about the things that don’t matter. You jump right in and talk about what is on your heart. It was so encouraging hearing from these ladies’ hearts and their stories.

Living in Freedom

On our plane ride to Dubai I was really struggling with letting a fear from my past control me. The past month or so this had been growing. I had a chance to talk to Abby about it before I left which was really helpful but I dreamt about it on the plane. I woke up and I was frankly a little mad I was still focusing on this. So I just rebuked it and it went away. The most amazing peace flooded over me and I was in freedom. I love that I can’t explain it other than God. God took away the fear and the bondage instantly and began healing my heart. God’s freedom and His peace is astounding.

This is something I wrote after this:

We often allow ourselves to fall into bondage to something—a past mistake we keep reliving, doubts, fears, distractions. We all have them. We can name many of them at the drop of a hat and others we don’t even realize we are in bondage to until we are so deeply enslaved we can’t see the way out. We allow these bondages to become our gods. We settle for mediocrity knowing full well we can be free and are called to be free. We say “it is our cross to bear” (a total misunderstanding of what this phrase actually means) and can’t imagine life without our strange and twisted security blanket. With the amount of times I’ve struggled with this, you’d think I’d have it figured out by now that Christ’s freedom is so much better than what I chose to live in. But thank God for His forgiveness and grace! My mistakes keep reminding me I need a Savior.

Paul tells the church in 2 Corinthians there is so much more to life than the bondage they’ve allowed themselves to fall into. He loves the church too much to let them keep living in slavery. We are to God the aroma of Christ (2:15). We aren’t the smell of death but of Christ now. We are new creations (5:17). “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (3:17). We are the temple of the living God (6:16) and the temple is where the LORD lives. So why is it we allow ourselves to live in fear and bondage? What is holding us back from the true freedom Christ intended for us? We are told the Holy Spirit gives us power (Acts 1:8, John 14). He is the one who helps us overcome these things that hold us down. It is a two person work though. We have to be working alongside the Spirit allowing Him to change us from the inside out. We have to surrender control so He can free us.

The reason we are to get rid of this bondage is because of the price Christ paid to free us. We were intended to live with Christ (5:4). When we are living as we are intended, we flourish amazingly. Abby told me a story of a tulip in Alaska. Because it received sunlight 24 hours a day, its beauty shone forth in a way it does not in our climate. It was living in the sunlight it was created for and it shone that much more radiantly for it. When we are living in Christ’s love and understand who He is, we shine so much more brightly. It is Christ’s love that compels us (5:14).

But stand strong! When we are discouraged, God is our great Comforter (7:6). Godly sorry brings about repentance and not regret (7:10). We aren’t to look back to what held us down like the Israelites did in the desert as they looked back with a fondness to their slavery in Egypt. Not only does God comfort us with the Great Comforter but He also sends people to encourage us (7:6). Paul was harassed physically and emotionally but God comforted Him and sent Titus to comfort him as well. He encourages the Corinthian church with this: “I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.” When we are in need of comfort and encouragement, we only need ask. The Great Comforter will respond. He’ll place people in our path to encourage us as well.

When you travel, go without a map... it’s more fun

One of the things about traveling that I thoroughly enjoy is getting lost. Sometimes this creates stressful situations but for the most part, it takes me to places I would never have gone otherwise. (For example, try to drive through back roads from Nashville to Charleston without a map and a questionable sense of direction but with a big sense of adventure. It is the most gorgeous drive, albeit long, one you will ever take!) This time, I was going with a map and it gave us the wrong directions. My grandparents graciously offered to drive me to the train station Monday afternoon. We had printed off directions and the directions were wrong. Thankfully, I’d been that way before so after a few wrong turns we made it to the station, and on time at that!

The train took me to Minneapolis and my friend Mikalia’s apartment (though the train took an extra hour and a half with technical difficulties. Technical difficulties are just there to remind you that you aren’t in control despite your best efforts). The next day was full of visiting with friends. I got to talk with Mikalia for a few hours then we met up with Amanda, my dear friend Abby, some of the girls in the Bible study (who are like my family), and some Northwestern friends. I even got a call from my roommate who is currently climbing big things out in Colorado. My friends were so encouraging! Seeing the love in these women’s hearts was such a blessing. I hope you ladies know how much you mean to me.

Amanda took me to the airport the next day and I was pretty nervous. I figured that as long as I made my first flight, it would be easy sailing from there. I met up with a few members of the team in Chicago and the rest of the team in London. We were all really tired by this point and it made for some funny conversations. We walked around the airport trying to stay awake so we could adjust to the time zone difference, a challenge to be sure.

And so it begins

This past year I have been making it a habit to ask God to replace my dreams with His. This can be a dangerous thing to do because God will change your heart to be more like His when you seek Him. Prayer is a powerful tool I don't use as often as I should but God is changing my heart on that. God has been deepening my faith and growing me in some pretty amazing ways my whole life but these past years especially. It has been a time of intense growth and it has been painful but phenomenal.

In November, God laid on my heart India. Now I had no idea what this meant and my roommates and friends can attest to my wonderings. Italy had been my heart for the past 10 years or so (mainly because of their history) and I was hoping to possibly live there one day. I often joke that I am Italian at heart and the amount of pasta I consume weekly confirms it. It took a lot of wrestling in my heart and a lot of surrendering to God before I fully accepted this is what God was calling me to.
It was an amazing process God brought me through and is still bringing me through. There are so many things I had to work through in my heart and so many things I had to surrender to God. He showed me the many idols in my heart including my security, my dream of Italy, my plans for my future and my pride. I have to totally trust God that He is going to get me exactly where He wants me. My plans don't matter. Only Jesus and His glory matter. I'm sad to say it took me a few months before I firmly believed this again instead of just giving Him lip service in the name of my pride and reputation.

In March I signed up for a trip to Kerala, India through e3 Partners.  It was amazing to watch God bring support in. The generocity of my supporters and the speed at which the money came in was something only God could do. It was such a blessing seeing God work everything out. One of my prayers for this trip was that God would show me more of His plan for me and if that included India or if it was just this trip that would include India. Reguardless, this was going to be a very stretching experience.

I began studying more about the part of India I would be going to and praying for the team, the local church and for many to come to Christ. God was working in my heart in a mighty way and changing it to be more like His. Now the next thing to do was to get on the plane and head to India.