As I prayed this summer for God to come and be present in my life, I didn’t think He would bring me to serve in India. I have spent time preparing and working toward this time and it’s finally here. As we come together as a team and as a group of about 80 college age students God has met us here. We have spent time listening and coming to know that we have a God who loves us and who will fight for us. Even in the beginning of this adventure here at training camp I have seen the hand of God more clearly than I have in a long time. We have worshiped, ate, slept, learned...

   This past week we did a prayer walk in the biggest city in Goa, Margoa. One of our ministry partners is trying to start a ministry there working in the red light district, so we came to cover the area in prayer. We first went to a slum on the outskirts of the city and walked through to pray for the tuition kids in the area and for that ministry in particular. After that we headed into the center of the city. Margoa is very crowded and very busy. We weaved in and out of cars and buses and people and motorcycles and finally made it to this wall with a gate. We really had no idea...

This week our team finally celebrated our own holiday. In a country full of holidays just about every month, we were excited to celebrate a (pretty) traditional Thanksgiving holiday, stock full of fellowship and of course (American) food. We invited some of our Indian family to join us in the festivities and we spent the morning cooking (or resting), the afternoon at the beach, the evening around the dinner table eating tons of food, and the evening laughing at silly videos and lighting off fireworks. It was a wonderful holiday spent with the people I love in one of the many countries I...

          Once a year in India there’s a huge holiday called Diwali. It lasts about 3 weeks and is celebrated by every Hindu. Even if the family is very poor they will choose to buy lights to decorate rather than food. So, on the first day of this holiday my stomach wasen’t feeling so good. After a day of willing it to feel better it was only getting worse, and it seemed like my appendix was the cause. So, while all of the craziness of Diwali was happening my leader, a teammate and I got a taxi to the hospital and visited the ER....

Scene. Dark homes. Adversity within. Dissension and discord interlaced. Hidden cries for help masked behind smiling faces. Overwhelmed with disorder. Discouraged by the system. Tears held back as we hold their hands. Empty words that are not heard. Our senses not able to be blinded by the darkness. Yellings and beatings behind closed doors. Hope offered but lost. Endless sighs. Silent thoughts. Loud prayers lifted. For them that are lost, left stumbling in darkness. Left gasping for hope. For freedom. Scene. In midst of the darkness, comes a rising. A bright light resonates. It brings...