Today is Thursday and my flight leaves, God willing, this coming Sunday at 6:20 AM. Am I ready? I'm not sure, but I know that God is able to make all grace abound to me, so that having all sufficiency in all things, at all times, I may abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). So yes, I guess I am ready. Please pray for me, that God would go before me and prepare ways for me to serve, and that He would keep me, body and especially soul, while I am there.
This past week has been full of getting ready to go; I feel like I have done more prep work in this past week than I have throughout the entire summer. God's grace flowing through people around me has been the steam driving the engine up this hill as I prepare to go. A prime example of his grace was a new debit card arriving in the mail today. I opened a new account Monday with Wells Fargo so that I would have an ATM card from a large bank in India. When I first called the bank, they weren't sure if they could get me the card that soon but they put a rush on it anyway hoping that it would come today. I looked through the mail today with the mindset that it would be in there and I'd have it for India or it wouldn't be there and God would work something else out. It wasn't in the mailbox. That's fine, I thought, maybe tomorrow? God kept me from being anxious about it (which I am prone to do) and not two minutes later a UPS truck pulled up with my debit card. I know it's not a huge thing, but it sure was encouraging to me. Please pray that God would continue to strengthen my faith--not so much that everything would work out smoothly for me (I want that too) but more that I would have unshakable faith no matter what comes my way.
Other things to pray for:
-that Christ would get praise for himself through my life
-my group from St. Olaf
-the Indian people I will work with, that I would be a Gospel light for them
-that I would not have bouts of homesickness
-health and strength
-patience
(more to come)
Thursday, August 16, 2007
A note before I go
Instead of going back to campus for the first semester of my sophomore year, I am flying half-way around the world to South India with a team of 9 other students from St. Olaf! We will work on biology related projects under the direction of Indian researchers. We will also get to learn about the Indian people, their culture, see their architecture, the landscape, etc.
We will fly out of LA on Malaysian airlines to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and have an extended five-day layover so that our group can get to know each other before we reach India. We will then fly into Chennai (formerly called Madras) and stay there for about 5 weeks. While in Chennai, we will hear different Indian experts talk about India, Indian culture, etc. and learn how to ride the train, shop in the market and other survival skills in India. After that, our group will split up into twos and threes and going to several other sites to complete 2 research projects, both taking about 5 more weeks each.
My first research project will be in Kodaikanal, a town SW of Chennai. Kodaikanal is in the mountains, so the temperature will be considerably cooler than on the plains! Most likely, my project at Kodai will include water quality testing/monitoring. After Kodaikanal, we have a two week travel break--during which I hope to head north to see the Taj Mahal and the Himalayas! Next, I will head to Kuppam for my second project at RUHSA. RUHSA is a rural hospital that began as an offshoot of the Christian Medical College in Vellore.
All of the above is very exciting, but it doesn't explain the more exciting reason of why I even want to go to India in the first place. I believe that God is calling me to go make disciples (=followers) of Christ in the nations (not just home) and that my time in India will be used to prepare me for that purpose. I believe God will use my time in India to further open my eyes to see the needs of people of everywhere and increase in my heart a love for Christ that will in turn move me to pour out my life for them. When asked what the great commandment was, Jesus said you are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. The second was that you love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-38). Please pray that God would make these loves evident in my life--no matter where I am.
The most loving (=best) thing I can do for anyone is to pray that they would love Christ and share Christ with them. In saying that, I feel that I have been a very selfish person. I have not always loved my friends the way I should have. Its so much easier to leave Christ out of the picture when you try to comfort a friend who doesn't love Christ. It is easier to shy away from weighty matters like what you believe because it is uncomfortable. Doing nice things for someone or encouraging them without giving them Jesus is not loving on my part. Friends, if I have done that to you, I am sorry and I ask that you would forgive me--even if you don't think it is something worth asking for forgiveness. :)
It is so hard to resist the urge to blend in and put on a mask, God help me resist that urge.
On this blog I plan to let you all know what I am doing in India and some of the thoughts that go through my head while I'm there. Sometimes the posts will tell about what God is teaching me at different stages, and other times they will more informational about the places or people I am visiting. Sometimes short and sometimes long. Regardless, I hope that you are encouraged by what you read.
We will fly out of LA on Malaysian airlines to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and have an extended five-day layover so that our group can get to know each other before we reach India. We will then fly into Chennai (formerly called Madras) and stay there for about 5 weeks. While in Chennai, we will hear different Indian experts talk about India, Indian culture, etc. and learn how to ride the train, shop in the market and other survival skills in India. After that, our group will split up into twos and threes and going to several other sites to complete 2 research projects, both taking about 5 more weeks each.
My first research project will be in Kodaikanal, a town SW of Chennai. Kodaikanal is in the mountains, so the temperature will be considerably cooler than on the plains! Most likely, my project at Kodai will include water quality testing/monitoring. After Kodaikanal, we have a two week travel break--during which I hope to head north to see the Taj Mahal and the Himalayas! Next, I will head to Kuppam for my second project at RUHSA. RUHSA is a rural hospital that began as an offshoot of the Christian Medical College in Vellore.
All of the above is very exciting, but it doesn't explain the more exciting reason of why I even want to go to India in the first place. I believe that God is calling me to go make disciples (=followers) of Christ in the nations (not just home) and that my time in India will be used to prepare me for that purpose. I believe God will use my time in India to further open my eyes to see the needs of people of everywhere and increase in my heart a love for Christ that will in turn move me to pour out my life for them. When asked what the great commandment was, Jesus said you are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. The second was that you love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-38). Please pray that God would make these loves evident in my life--no matter where I am.
The most loving (=best) thing I can do for anyone is to pray that they would love Christ and share Christ with them. In saying that, I feel that I have been a very selfish person. I have not always loved my friends the way I should have. Its so much easier to leave Christ out of the picture when you try to comfort a friend who doesn't love Christ. It is easier to shy away from weighty matters like what you believe because it is uncomfortable. Doing nice things for someone or encouraging them without giving them Jesus is not loving on my part. Friends, if I have done that to you, I am sorry and I ask that you would forgive me--even if you don't think it is something worth asking for forgiveness. :)
It is so hard to resist the urge to blend in and put on a mask, God help me resist that urge.
On this blog I plan to let you all know what I am doing in India and some of the thoughts that go through my head while I'm there. Sometimes the posts will tell about what God is teaching me at different stages, and other times they will more informational about the places or people I am visiting. Sometimes short and sometimes long. Regardless, I hope that you are encouraged by what you read.
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