Hello again from India!
We’ve had a very busy day here visiting 4 different villages around Guntur. We tried something different this year which is to break off into two separate teams and visit two villages each. This allowed us the opportunity to go into people’s homes and spend time with them one-on-one rather than in a large group gathering. What a blessing it was to get to know the people better! Not only did we get to share our mutual joys and struggles, but we also got to pray through these joys and struggles with them! It was truly a blessed day.
As promised, today we have a member of our trip sharing her experience with you today. But before we get into that, it occurred to me that you might have no idea who is actually on the trip. So, let me take a minute and quickly introduce them to you using this selfie we took when we first arrived in the area of Guntur.
So now that you know who is all over here now, I want to give the blog over to Gloria Bomsta as she shares some of her reflections about our day today.
Day 3 Blog
God provides again!
It’s amazing how on a trip like this, God continues to provide over and over again. This morning our goal was to be out of the house by 8:00 so we could get some breakfast. Well we were ready…but the cars that help us get around were not here. Now you have to understand that this is a common occurrence in India. You have to remain flexible because while 8:00 may be the goal…it hardly ends up being reality. And so we wait. And we wait. And we wait. It’s very easy to get frustrated while we wait because it can feel like time is wasting away. There’s so many things we have/want to do that we want to get started right away. But you know, if we would’ve let frustration take over the morning, we would’ve missed out on God providing for us.
You see, this place where we are staying has a “watchman” which is a different way of saying “security guard”. This morning while we were waiting, the watchman came out with his wife and we began having a conversation. Through gestures, photos, and some broken English, we found out that they too were Christian and could celebrate our common Savior. What a blessed time it was not only in meeting a fellow Christian but also being able to see God provide a new relationship for us as we spend the next few days in this home. It wasn’t something planned. It wasn’t even something we had in mind. Yet God provided for us a new relationship and a way to communicate in that relationship. And in India, that’s not always easy and can require some serious planning.
And yet, even with the planning and the careful preparation, God provides for us something completely different. Not because He wants to make us uncomfortable. Not because He’s toying with us. Instead, it’s because He knows what needs to be said and provides the words. After all, Luke 12:12 tells us, “For the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say”. This is to help us to clearly communicate His love and power at work in the lives of His people. And through this clear communication, God provides yet again…community.
With the people in India, there are many things that are different but there are also many things that are the same. With the Christians in India, we both celebrate the joys and struggles that come from being the people of God. Joys revolving around our faith and trust growing in Him. Struggles revolving around real needs, real pain, and a real need for resources, Things we all enjoy and things with which we struggle. Yet because God provides for community, we are able to pray together and for one another. And while it’s humbling to be praying with young and old alike, the sight of people lined up to pray together is a wonderful testimony to God providing for all of us as His children. A sight that leaves us and them together saying…God provides again!
We’ve had a very busy day here visiting 4 different villages around Guntur. We tried something different this year which is to break off into two separate teams and visit two villages each. This allowed us the opportunity to go into people’s homes and spend time with them one-on-one rather than in a large group gathering. What a blessing it was to get to know the people better! Not only did we get to share our mutual joys and struggles, but we also got to pray through these joys and struggles with them! It was truly a blessed day.
As promised, today we have a member of our trip sharing her experience with you today. But before we get into that, it occurred to me that you might have no idea who is actually on the trip. So, let me take a minute and quickly introduce them to you using this selfie we took when we first arrived in the area of Guntur.
(Left bottom to right bottom: Pastor Joe, Nancy Dierdorf, Dustin Behr, Ivar Zemmels, Gloria Bomsta, Stan Bomsta, Terry Schmeckpeper, and Jill Mettler)
So now that you know who is all over here now, I want to give the blog over to Gloria Bomsta as she shares some of her reflections about our day today.
Day 3 Blog
God provides again!
It’s amazing how on a trip like this, God continues to provide over and over again. This morning our goal was to be out of the house by 8:00 so we could get some breakfast. Well we were ready…but the cars that help us get around were not here. Now you have to understand that this is a common occurrence in India. You have to remain flexible because while 8:00 may be the goal…it hardly ends up being reality. And so we wait. And we wait. And we wait. It’s very easy to get frustrated while we wait because it can feel like time is wasting away. There’s so many things we have/want to do that we want to get started right away. But you know, if we would’ve let frustration take over the morning, we would’ve missed out on God providing for us.
You see, this place where we are staying has a “watchman” which is a different way of saying “security guard”. This morning while we were waiting, the watchman came out with his wife and we began having a conversation. Through gestures, photos, and some broken English, we found out that they too were Christian and could celebrate our common Savior. What a blessed time it was not only in meeting a fellow Christian but also being able to see God provide a new relationship for us as we spend the next few days in this home. It wasn’t something planned. It wasn’t even something we had in mind. Yet God provided for us a new relationship and a way to communicate in that relationship. And in India, that’s not always easy and can require some serious planning.
And yet, even with the planning and the careful preparation, God provides for us something completely different. Not because He wants to make us uncomfortable. Not because He’s toying with us. Instead, it’s because He knows what needs to be said and provides the words. After all, Luke 12:12 tells us, “For the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say”. This is to help us to clearly communicate His love and power at work in the lives of His people. And through this clear communication, God provides yet again…community.
With the people in India, there are many things that are different but there are also many things that are the same. With the Christians in India, we both celebrate the joys and struggles that come from being the people of God. Joys revolving around our faith and trust growing in Him. Struggles revolving around real needs, real pain, and a real need for resources, Things we all enjoy and things with which we struggle. Yet because God provides for community, we are able to pray together and for one another. And while it’s humbling to be praying with young and old alike, the sight of people lined up to pray together is a wonderful testimony to God providing for all of us as His children. A sight that leaves us and them together saying…God provides again!
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