As I reflect on the past six months here in India, I am reminded again and again of God's desire for India to know Him as the One and Only true God. That He is the most powerful, the most holy, the most loving, and the most gracious supernatural being that there is! I am also reminded with every ringing bell, every Hindu shrine, and every Muslim call-to-prayer that an understanding of God's true character is not yet part of their reality. How God longs to draw these people to Himself!! How sad He is that they are living outside of a relationship with Him! I long to see the spiritual landscape of India radically changed. I want to see droves and droves of Indians come to Christ and surrender their lives to him. Instead of the call-to-prayer to Allah, I want to hear people singing praises to our heavenly Father. Instead of shrines to man-made gods every couple of blocks, I want to see churches where people are worshipping our God Almighty. Instead of hearing people ring bells to appease harmful spirits, I want to hear people praying to God alone to provide for and protect them. Sometimes, as I think back on the past 6 months, I wonder what difference it makes that I am here. I feel like I could live here for years and years and still never see the change I want to see. What can I, one Christian, in a small group of other Christians, do against so much evil, so many lies, so much pain? How many people can I truly reach? How many people that I cross paths with will surrender their lives to Jesus?
I don't know the answer. I may never know. Success by God's definition is not measured by results, but rather by obedience to God. I think of Elijah, who after he ran into the wilderness, cries out to God, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10). I imagine Elijah wrestling with God, saying, “When I said yes to You, I expected radical change! I thought that these people would turn to You and follow Your plan--instead, they hate you and want to kill me! Why God?! Why is obeying you not bringing the results that I expected?” And God responds. He tells Elijah to stand before the Lord and shows him a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire. But God is not in any of these, but instead in the sound of a “thin silence” (1 Kings 19:12). God is telling Elijah, “I don't always work in the way you expect me to! I'm not always in the spectacular moments of an earthquake, or a fire, or a strong wind. Having a relationship with me is not like following flashing neon signs. It is about seeking to know me, for Me. It's about discovering the sound of my voice and followingit in the midst of all other competing noises. It's about trusting me enough to obey Me, even when you don't understand why and even when nothing that you do seems to make any difference.” So I take comfort and hope. As long as I'm following after God and obeying Him, I can say I've been successful. And God will get His glory among India and among all the nations of the world at the end of all things!! Praise be to “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of lords...To him be honor and eternal dominion!” (1 Tim 6:15-16).
God is so gracious as to give me glimmers of hope, to show me that He is working out his victory here and now among the people of India! I saw one of these glimmers at a one-day storying workshop we put on at OM's Bible Training School at the end of March. Twenty men attended and they were all SO excited to be there! Every time we asked for volunteers, people would immediately stand up, raise their hands, and sometimes walk to the front before we had even called on anyone! One of the participants was a man who was crippled in both legs due to a childhood accident. He would walk on his hands, while his legs dragged limply behind him. He came to the training, which is designed for people who want to become pastors, as an unbeliever, simply because he had heard about Jesus and was curious about Him! Sometime during the training, he surrendered his life to Christ!! Despite his physical challenges, he now has a hope and a sense of acceptance he didn't have before. I am so excited for this man's future, now that he has Christ, and I look forward to witnessing God use him in mighty ways to reach his own lost and hurting people!!
I saw another glimmer of hope during our recent visit to Nepal. We visited a storying ministry right across the border in a town called Nepalgunj. I met a pastor there who, along with reaching his own people, has a passion for sending missionaries outside of Nepal as well. He related that he is frustrated though, because the Christians in his church have not yet caught a passion for giving. The leaders have a desire to send out missionaries, but they lack the material resources to do so. Thank God for this pastor's heart to reach the nations!! Pray that God would stir up in the Nepali church a deeper love for Jesus and that their love and “joy would well up in rich generosity!” (2 Cor 8:2).
Other events this past month included Pi Day and an Indian holiday called Holi! My teammate Lindsey was a math major, so on March 14, we baked five pies and ate them all day long in celebration of the number 3.14! Holi was on March 17 this year and is one of the biggest holidays in Indian culture, next to Diwali, which is in November. To celebrate, people smear colored dye on each other and have a water fight! We got to join in with our apartment complex neighbors and are thankful to God for bringing us even more relationships with those we live around!
Thank you all so much for all your continued prayers and/or financial support!! Take courage this month in the promise that “God will fulfill his purpose for us; His steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 138:8).