Wow, to think about my time in South Asia, my heart leaps in all that we got to do and all that God has done. Here is my best attempt to letting you have a peak into our time there:
Upon landing in South Asia, L squad split up to live only with their teams. Team Compassion and I were glad to have the month together as it gave us time to focus on building deeper relationships with each other. In living in such a community, the Lord quickly showed me what it means to live in the light. You see, for a long time it has been easy and safe to talk about everything going on in my heart and mind with the Lord and only the Lord. But God was showing me that to live in the light meant living an honest and transparent life. If I am not willing to share what is going on inside of me, then I am living with only the outside showing and hiding something on the inside. This is not fully honest, therefore, the Lord was convicting me that I had been living a dishonest life. Plus why am I to be afraid of my weaknesses when Christ’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)? We have been made to live in community, and I had not been letting myself be fully known in the community in which I was. What was sweet about living with just my team in South Asia was that I had such an opportunity right in front of me to take risk and share exactly what the Lord has been doing in my heart. In the month I saw that the risk of vulnerability was worth it as it opened up space for others to be able to step into the same which allowed us to see, know, and love each other deeper. The month of South Asia was marked by relationships turned into sisterhood amongst team Compassion. Oh the depths into which we dove yet the laughter he shared all month. Thank you Jesus!!
Our ministry hosts were first time ministry hosts, a young couple who grew up in America and moved oversees 8 years ago. They took us in quickly, giving us the lay of the land and introduced us to their community. They are both so gifted in discipleship, and they sought out every opportunity to pour into both my girls and myself. They connected us to a local pastor friend and his family who utilized us in their ministry. Compassion is so gifted in building relationships, so at the pastor’s church we were placed to build relationships with anybody who came in to learn at their community center. We also were taken to house fellowships where we would venture to someone’s house to worship, pray, and share the Word with them. Both our ministry hosts and the pastor and his community became family so quickly. What a blessing it was to serve with such passionate and gifted people in a part of the world where Jesus is not culturally understood.
Living in such a place showed me how much of a gift it is that we can talk about God freely, daily in the States. While I was living in such a beautiful and vibrant culture, it quickly became apparent that when talking to South Asians, most will accept that you are a Christian but DO NOT want to feel any hint that you are trying to convert them. So what became so powerful was learning what it meant to live a full life. Our ministry hosts often talked to us about how we were first created to be creatures of God before anything else, so believers are the only people who can truly live a full and vibrant life. By doing so, it speaks volumes to the people around who notice that there is something different and intriguing about your life. In the long term ministry life, this is especially powerful as you build relationships and they get to see how the transformation of the gospel affects every part of life.
We met several local transformed believers who understood the cost of discipleship, for in becoming a believer it is not uncommon to be disowned from your family. What a conviction. Are you and I willing and ready to give up everything, even if that means our most loved relationships, in order to live life with Jesus? It is a thought that I keep coming back to and recognize that following Jesus was always meant to be radical. Looking at Jesus, He, too, moved in antithetical ways according to culture, yet was the most alive being completely filled with the Holy Spirit and walking in love and joy. This is who I get to do life with, and who I am constantly being transformed by.
As I write this I realize how quickly I am to forget. Forget the goodness of Jesus. Forget His nearness. Forget how I have been transformed. But I want to always remember the grace of God which keeps me on the narrow path, and I pray that this little blog reminds you of just that. His goodness is everywhere. He is the same in the States as He is overseas. And His character has not changed from who He was in dying on the cross and raising from the dead to today, loving you and me.
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