back home in Iowa...and still HOPE-ing!

After a safe but grueling 12 hours in the Delhi Airport, going through security a billion times, a 15 hours flight to Chicago and making it through U.S. Customs, we are THANKFUL to be back home in the corn state.  Jet-lag hasn't been too bad and my family has been so loving and caring.  I am way blessed beyond what I deserve!  All this has softened the blow of going from 100 degrees in Kolkata to 30 degrees here.  


I wasn't sure how much I would begin to say about our experiences in India..but from moment-one, I have been unloading and processing. (Thank you dear family!)  Back at Genesis yesterday... we heard John 14 and assurance that God has not abandoned us or left us as orphans. I am reflecting on that truth today and how it applies to our experience in India...to those suffering in Haiti...Japan...and all over the world.  (Can't stay there too long, or I get overwhelmed with the needs.)  

Much of our trip to India focused on orphans.  One of the main reasons for going was to visit and encourage Lindsey, who is living in India for a year to gain guardianship of the child she and Ajay are adopting.  Our time with her was precious, and I in turn was encouraged and inspired by her spirit of surrender, strong faith and gracious disposition in the face of trials.  I was reminded again....when we serve others, it is never one-way.  As we give, we also receive.  

Life in India over the past four weeks was a daily reminder that "pure and lasting (undefiled) religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us." James 1:27 NLT   The needs of orphans faced us constantly...from spending time with Lindsey and her precious gift from God....to our time at Paul and Caroline Wiig's home at The Haven of Hope School and Hostel for orphans....from looking in the faces of children in the village of Begalur singing "We Shall Overcome" to having children on the streets of Kolkata hang on us, begging for our leftover scraps from dinner.  

Each day we visited small villages and traveled every two to three days to further villages for ministry.  Those days consisted of speaking, telling our stories, and praying afterwards.  Sometimes we'd pray over 30 or more women a day.  I never really stopped to count, but was reminded of how draining and refreshing at the same time it can be to truly engage my heart and pray for people one after the other.  Other ministering friends we met in Kolkata said it simply, "It takes stamina.  You have to be in shape...that sounds weird, but it reminded us of how important it was for Jesus to take his time up the mountain with His father everyday before getting "pressed in" by the crowds."

It had been another hot muggy day as we visited the homes of families in Andra Pradesh and prayed with them.  A visit to one home quickly led to many other visits as we walked the dirt neighborhood streets.  The word spread quickly that white women were in their hood.  We had served all day in the heat, teaching and praying. We headed out that evening at dark toward the winding streets of a poorer neighborhood to pray with an elderly woman who was very ill and possibly close to death.  She was a convert of first generation missionaries that came to the area in the 40's.  As we approached her small clay one room shelter, she literally came running towards us with open arms and tears in her eyes.  As we settled her back down into her chair, she said, "White people have more love."  If only she knew.  So many times as we listened to the stories, the pain and prayed over the women lined up to receive hope and healing, we were treated like "white rock-star Christians" with some kind of pipeline to Heaven that they couldn't access.  We tried to communicate that they too could ask their Father for help and healing...that their earnest, whole-hearted prayers were just as powerful as ours.  


HOPE was the focus of our message.  HOPE was what we needed too.  And HOPE was all we hung to some days when our cups were empty.  OBEDIENCE in the face of waning HOPE took first place at the end of three weeks.  For two hours we rode in the back seat of an air-conditioned vehicle (a rarity) that was loaned to us for the day.  I attempted to gather my physical energy and emotions (my wits were already gone), in order to speak to the women at the Cherial Women's Bible School.  Confessing to the Lord that I had nothing left in me...my friend and traveling companion, Felicia, once again stuck the other end of her earplug from her Zune player into my ear.  Together we listened to Casey Corum sing "...dwell in the midst of us...come and dwell in this place...dwell in the midst of us...come and have your  way...dwell in the midst of us...wipe all the tears from our faces...dwell in the midst of us...you can have your own way..."  We worshiped and wept...and gained just enough strength take the next step of OBEDIENCE on our journey of speaking HOPE to a room full of hungry hearts.


During that song, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to share. His sweet soft voice spoke, and I boldly asked Him to tell Felicia what passage He wanted us to share from His word.  And He did. Nothing sweeter in my book.  I shared from Romans 5:1-10... praising them for taking the step of faith to leave their families and friends and come to Cherial for two years to learn about Jesus and how to tell others about Him. Their desire and integrity of heart to serve Him and be obedient to Him is what would give them HOPE on this journey. (Psa.25:21) 

Felicia is a friend who helps me and HOPES for me.  Alongside me in India, she shared over and over again about a time when she felt totally helpless, how God came into her life, and gave her a reason to live and HOPE.  I was always blessed and humbled when she shared part of her story, and verses from Jeremiah 29:11-13.  Not only does God have a plan for our lives, His plan is good and it gives us a future and HOPE.  She went on to say that this promise of HOPE requires a heart of OBEDIENCE...for as we earnestly seek Him, we will find Him.  Just as we cannot walk through the process of transformation alone, as described in Romans 5, we shared, that they too, need each other to bear one another's burdens and to hope for each other when hoping for ourselves is difficult.

A young Hindu woman listened intently.  After our words, she came up and asked for prayer...as is always the case.  Padma lives not to far from the Cherial Women's Bible School and had been coming there to learn to sew.  She wanted to invite Jesus into her heart!  Seeds had been planted and we had the privilege of reaping the harvest.  Too amazing for me to comprehend!  Praise the Lord - the enemy did not have his way that day!  She looked with such wide-eyed intensity at us...a connection that was undeniable.  We were different just like her...we, white...she, the only Hindu present. 

Grace and truth spoken in love was available to be open with who she was...a person in need of HOPE and a savior.  Padma listened to the Spirit's still small voice (Psalms 46:10) and she followed her heart's intent. What a joy to be used that day despite weariness and discouragement. Redemption and restoration cannot be defeated by the antics of mere humans.  We did not speak the same language...but HOPE was clearly evident in her eyes. Padma is no longer an orphan...she is our sister in Christ!