BAM!


BAM!
And India hits you just like that.

The smells, the sights, the sounds, the people.

India is and it isn’t.
You have and you don’t have.
You do and you don’t.

I think learning India is about learning each city is so different, each day is different. India is changing and vastly increasing in knowledge and ability and technology.  And in other ways, India is still very much the same as it was years ago. I am not sure there is a norm to be learned, but rather an understanding that there is no norm and learning the new norm is a daily process.

I forgot the smells of the polluted air, the oil, the smog, the mildew, the garbage, and the incense burning to the idols.  I forgot the way the smell gets so permanently ingrained in the towels and sheets of the guest homes.

I forgot the sights of Hindu temples, colors galore, signs and saris flashing as your drive by the streets. I forgot the men standing on the side of the street urinating, I forgot the young children walking in the middle of the road on crowded streets. I forgot the dazed glare from the man who just bowed down to his gods.

I forgot the sound of dogs yelping as they fight the leopards in the night. I forgot the sound of the chanting and humming of millions of Indians as the bow to their statues. I forgot the ache in my heart that I feel as I watch, and see, and smell all these things.

While I may have forgotten the sights and sounds, I have not forgotten the call to be here. I have not forgotten why- that call rings louder and truer than ever before. I love India. I am excited to be here and the time in NOW. There is a wind stirring, and as I talk to team members, we each feel it.  The time is now. We are here, and we must not forget the bigger picture.  I must look beyond the man bowed at the temple or beyond the chant of the temples, and I must see the greater works, which are to come for those same people.  We must believe and not give in to doubt.  We must GO and PRAY, and INVEST. We must make disciples.  My director said something profound yesterday.  Jesus said, “HE will build his church, and the gate of hell will not prevail.”  We are called to make disciples.  He builds the church. 

Matt 4:16"THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED."

Matt 4:19- Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of man.”

Matt 28:18-19- And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."


May HIS great light dawn over India today.  Pray with me for many to come to know the ONE True God and follow Jesus. Pray for open doors and deep conversations. Pray for words and wisdom as we navigate the road of bringing Hindus and Muslims to deeply know Jesus and follow him, while not giving up their identity and culture as an Indian.  I am not here to make Americans. I am here to make Christ followers.

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