We were asked to write a blog about how we felt before leaving on this mission trip. Here is what I'm expecting... hot hot weather, being pushed and stretched in ways I cannot foresee, crowded streets and beauty of this incredibly foreign land, and having close bonds as a team. At the moment I am excited to leave; but also excited to still have a few months before we depart. I am looking forward to the chance to see friends at home and reconnect and have the chance to share with my friends how I was called to the mission field. I'm not really worried about much, I know that there is political and religious strife in most parts of India, I know that I will see things that will blow a western mind, people- thousands of the- living in the street, the tangles of telephone and internet wires set up illegally, sights and smells that have never entered my sensory vocabulary, and in knowing all these things I know there is so much still that I don't know. Though that thought might be somewhat terrifying to some, I take great comfort in knowing that there are mysteries awaiting us and that no matter what my expectations I will be moved and changed and shown that things are not always as they appear. When I think about leaving, actually getting on a plane and flying halfway around the world and what it will be like when we first arrive I feel combination of excitement and nerves. I hope God will be revealed, in the mysteries initially that will become known by the end, and over time and in our conversations with each other and the relationships that are made. I hope to see God move in our work and that I can surrender everything before God, dying to the self and allow Christ to live more fully in me. (Gal. 2:19,20)

 

I would like to ask for prayer to prepare myself mentally and emotionally for this trip. I need prayer for me to be able to enter into the trip with a mindset ready to really just leave my world behind and remain in the present moment. And prayer also that my support letters and updates to people will continue to be received with open minds and open hearts and generous giving. It's easy for me to worry about being able to raise enough support, so I pray and ask for prayers that I can let go of trying to control something I really cannot control.

 

"It is for that very reason, that I know you are."

     -Price Caspian: The Return to Narnia

 

Do not worry that you are not strong enough before you begin,