Before coming on this trip, I relied on my friends and family and communication and internet and familiarity and language and American food and many other things.    I didn’t realize the extent to which all things “normal” would be stripped away.    God is showing me how reliant I need to be on Him and how all other things will fail me in the end.  At home, when something happens whether good or bad, I always rejoice or mourn with friends and family first, and God second.  God is showing me how He needs to come first in everthing and in every...

I’ve been anticipating great change in my life for months now and i was convinced that this trip would bring the change that i was craving. I wanted to be rid of my American mind in order to enter in to a whole new level of following. I thought that being here would force me to be rid of my desire for money, materials, and routine. Basically, i was anxious to crucify my American ways in order to take part in a new fellowship with God. I wanted to be homeless, dirty, without comfort, and without posessions. But to my surprise, growing up in America has poisoned my soul in a much deeper...

  My two favorite constants since we’ve been in India are the bus rides and experiencing the life in our work areas.  The very first day we arrived in Goa, we got on a bus and headed for our mini$try location. All of the seats were filled and the aisle was also completely full. Our team (about 5 of us that day) crammed into the already FULL bus. Hindi music was blaring, people were yelling, the bus was hot, it smelled like spices and body odor (not the best combination), and I was sharing one “american-sized space” with 3 other girls. It was quite interesting...

Last Thursday when we were eating our amazing Indian dinner at the guest house where we are staying, I started thinking about the thousands of people around me that are lucky if they get one meal a day. I felt as though I was being convicted, convicted of eating too much. Why should I eat three meals a day as I watch people around me starving to death. I felt as though I was being called to give up one meal a day to someone else who needs it a whole lot more than I do. After all, what is mine, isn’t really mine, it belongs to him, the one who gave it to me in the first place. And...

To a middle class white Texan who has been blessed enough to live in a decent suburb and have my own car sense i was 16. Never did it cross my mind that I would need to use a bus one day. I mean let’s be real, I have only used the dart train in Dallas once in my life, and never have I been in a taxi. But let me just express to you that in India, we use the bus everyday 4 times a day. And there is no such thing as personal space. HA! Especially when the bus teller tries to make a game out of the ride and see how many people you can get in one bus. Let’s just say it’s about...

“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” Songs of S 7:10 In every woman’s heart, there is a desire to be desired, to be pursued, to be loved. The L has been really teaching me about His heart for me and the depth of His love. I have always known that He is a jealous G-d and that He will continue to pursue me with a vengeance, wooing me with beautiful sunsets, a community full of love, and other little things that capture my heart. However, I have just not been able to let myself fall deeply in love with Him. I could not understand how to do that since I viewed...