“And it’s going home on furlough when you feel like you have just begun.”

“And it’s going home on furlough when you feel like you have just begun.”

I think I had just begun to settle into my new way of life in India when it was time for me to come back home. The roads didn’t freak me out. The smells were just normal. The food was yummy and cook-able. I think one day I could actually do this myself.

It’s not that the country is the best in the world. They government is corrupt. The people are not always the most welcoming and honest to outsiders. It smells and trash is piled u everywhere. There are major population control problems. The largest population of orphans in the world live within its borders.

You have to go where God is calling you. If you try to fight that, even if means going to a smelly, corrupt country, you will never get over it. Trying to deny what God is calling you to do or to run from it just doesn’t work out. Take it all in stride. Whether it is learning to love someone when it’s hard, giving up a luxury, or moving to a foreign country, if He has called you there, He will prepare the way.

The same promise that God gives to Abraham, He has given to us:

“The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”

Genesis 12:1

Why in the World?

When I was reentering the USA I had to answer some immigration questions. I had talked with the officer and left him quite confused.

I’m sure his thoughts were something like:
Why would an 18 year-old girl travel to India for 3 weeks by herself? Why would she go and not really purchase that much stuff? What could one do to fill 3 whole weeks ‘touring’ a country?

Thankfully what I have to tell that officer is not al

l there was to my trip.

I got to do so much more. He probably wouldn’t have understood, actually I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t.

“Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint”

He could not understand.

I got to be part of a move of God. I saw people being

transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lives were changed and destinies altered.

Foreigners entered a land that they had never given thought to before. They will never be the same. How could they? They left their country, their families, and gave up their idea of a regular Christmas to experience India and begin a partnership. Forever their lives will be tied to God’s work in India. They can no longer pretend that all they know is their own country and lifestyle.

The nearly 30 visitors to Nagpur, India, have seen part of how God is working in India. They now carry the vision of this ministry. I pray that all of us, me included, will fervently lift up the work of God and that we would join with the body of Christ, that we would never be able to forget what we saw during our trip, and that we could accurately portray the vision of this ministry.

Kyle

During my time this year in India, I got to interact with and get to know the Crossroads team that was there. One of the people I came to know better was Kyle Wilkinson. If you don't know him, you probably should. He is a true worshipper in so many senses of the word. He leads worship through music but he also uses his everyday life interactions to express his worship.

He recently wrote a blog about his experience while being in India.

Please take the time to watch his videos and check out some of his pictures (which are partially mine). He will help you see a fresh, new perspective on this whole thing.

http://kylewilkinson.tumblr.com/

In honor of my dinner outing tonight:

I had the chance to TrySomethingDifferent (we call them TSDs) tonight with a group of Honors students. We visited a South Indian restaurant near Charlotte. The food was very authentic and delicious. Here are some images of just a few meals that I had while visiting India in 2009.

Where all the magic is made:

Who ever said you couldn't have chicken curry and birthday cake?

Some of the best times were spent just sitting on the floor, drinking chai, and hearing the Family tell stories.

Chokardani: a fun outing with a plate of food filled like this:

A dosa with my adventurous teammates

A second lunch of the day: PB&J with chai and masala flavor chips.

Ministry

In my New Testament class we are currently studying 2 Corinthians. One of the main themes of this book is Christian ministry. Reading some of the scripture took me back to India because I saw a mark reading "India 12/09". We used this passage throughout our trip last year.

Check out this whole passage! It will change your life if you let it.

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died."

2 Corinthians 5:14

One Man's Trash

Throwing garbage on the street is just a part of life in India. It made me mad when I first got there. I didn't understand why they would just continue to put trash on the ground. Why doesn't someone start a movement and clean up the country? If people would stop throwing trash out their car windows and everywhere, eventually the place could be clean, right? This was how I felt until I was told by a local, "Even if I stopped throwing my trash on the ground, others still would and the mess wouldn't be cleaned up. I would just be working harder for nothing."

It is interesting to think about. Could one person who stopped littering really change a country?

Could one person really loving people change a world? One person's love might not change everybody in the world, but it could change one heart. Is that one heart worth it? I'm taking the stand to live in love. I don't think I will change the world just as one person but I will make a difference to someone.

Skyline

It can be so powerful to take some time and pray over a city. One time during my first trip to India, for our group morning devotions, we had a time of worship and then spread out around our rooftop and prayed over all corners of the city. We took time to pray for God to move mightily in the people of Nagpur. It was amazing individually and as a team to pour our hearts out over the city. That can cause you to really fall in love with a skyline.

www.crosspointofindia.org

The Power of Your Heart

Pooja is a sweet-spirited girl that I met on my first trip to India. She, at the time, was one of the children in the children's home and was attending school. She had been in the children's home since very close to the opening of it. Her English was good, which made it much easier to talk to her. One of the best things that I learned quickly about Pooja was her giving heart. She could have done what most kids would have and just used her English to hog the time of the team members by talking us herself. Instead, she became a bit of a translator for us. When we were in a group setting, she would gladly help interface between the languages. She gave the chance to many of the girls to talk with us and us with them, that wouldn't have happened before.

When I returned the next year, Pooja was still living in the children's home but had completed her regular schooling (our equivalent of graduating high school) and had started her year in the Bible school. Her English was better than ever and because of her willingness to serve, the ministry had given her a job that utilized her gifts. I know God has blessed her because of her servant's heart.

I am also thankful for the insight I gained while getting to know Pooja. She has a quite voice but leads the girls that live in the children's home. She allowed me to ask quite a few questions in our time together. Oddly enough, her name Pooja means worship. Right now I don't remember all the specifics of her story, maybe I'll tell it sometime. I do know that it is amazing how her given name reflects her total attitude of worship, even in the small tasks.

www.crosspointofindia.org

Pollution

The sunsets in India are magnificent. The colors are so brilliant, unlike anything I've seen before. One night watching the sun go down, my team and I were discussing how awesome the sky looked. Someone brought up the fact of pollution in the air creating the colors. I had never thought of that before. How could chemicals so terrible create sunsets so beautiful?

This reminds me so much of God's love for us. We do all this crazy stuff and work hard on our own but all we get in our lives is clutter, trash, and pollution. The haze is so strong that often we can see what's right ahead of us. God loves to take the trash of our lives and use it to teach us. He takes the pollution that clouds our view and paints a beautiful sunset before our eyes. Isn't our God great?

www.crosspointofindia.org

Vikky

From time to time I will be telling a story of a student in the Bible college or a child from the

children's home. Here is one:

Vikky was one of the original boys in the Crosspoint of India children's home. He was the oldest at that time. He was born into a Hindu family. Before he had even turned 1 year old, his father was killed by a street dog. His young mother, wanting to remarry, sent him to live with his grandparents. They were old and in poor health and struggled to care for him. His grandmother cared for him until she was able to get him into the children's home. He grew up there, finishing school and growing spiritually.

Vikky loves music. He plays piano and drums. He completed the ministry's 1 year Bible school program while still in high school. He has succeeded in school and shown great interest in ministry as he grows older.

This year he will be attending a Bible college in another part of India. He i

ntends to complete his schooling and then return to be part of the Crosspoint school's leadership. He truly is a man with a heart for his own country and people. He could pretty much anything, but he has chosen to return to the ministry that changed his life.

www.crosspointofindia.org

*Photos courtesy of Rachel P.

The Gospel

One of the very first things I was told in preparation for my first trip to India was to always be prepared to share the Gospel. These are a few pictures of one evening that after working on cementing the wall (on the land for the Crosspoint of India future children's home), my team had an opportunity to sit down with the construction workers and flat-out share the good news of Jesus.

December 2008, my team was asked to tell the workers of the 'good news' that we have and to sing a worship song to help prove our point. One team member told the story of the salvation of men from Genesis, with the fall, to Revelation, and the 2nd coming of Christ. He stated it all so plainly that the men, who had probably never heard any portion of the Bible, could understand it all. We then sang the song "Mighty to Save" (by Hillsong) with our one acoustic guitar. Those few moments are forever ingrained in my mind.

We didn't have a huge revival among the workers, no one gave their life to Christ, and from the looks of it, nothing really happened BUT I know that God was working in their hearts. I don't know all the results from what was said that day but I'm believing that the seed was planted. Also each of us that sat there that day learned a valuable lesson. By being prepared and willing to share the Gospel at anytime, lives can be changed, destinies altered, and our own perspectives shifted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-08YZF87OBQ