Here it is, the 12th of July, and we have two days left before we leave for the U.S. It’s hard to believe that we’ve come to the end of this trip that seemed like it would never end. God has taken us through some amazing things here, but certainly not the kind of things that we guessed might happen before we left to come here. God is like that though, always surprising us, and not always in the ways that we want. You can’t come to the end of a trip like this without reflecting back on all of the events that transpired.
The Tough Surprises
Before the trip, we had envisioned that we’d meet a lot of local people at the apartment complex, do bible studies, and those noble sorts of things. It didn’t pan out. When we got here and saw that we had a spare room, I thought how great it would be to use that room to house a missionary or someone like that who might need a place to stay during a visit here. Nope, didn’t happen. The room stayed vacant. I prayed that I would meet some European or American who I could fellowship with, who would be my close friend and partner in everyday life here. While this didn’t happen specifically like that, I did meet some Europeans, and Indians as well, who became my friends, but none who were Christians that I could fellowship with. Plus, we only got together one day a week. I felt that each thing that I prayed for fell on deaf ears with God. All I got was 6 months of isolation and loneliness, and trying to manage my kids’ emotional breakdowns over missing home and living in a difficult culture.
As I recounted in my many blog entries of the black days of crushing loneliness, I struggled to understand why God would do something that seemed so ‘meaningless’. I read the other day in a book by Alistair Begg, an account of a British woman named Dr. Helen Roseveare. She went to the Congo to serve Christ as a doctor in the mid-1960’s. When she got there, she was engulfed by utter chaos and watched as rebel troops shot many of her colleagues in the head and dumped their bodies into open graves. She couldn’t understand the situation, but in the hour of her greatest need, God gave her the phrase, ‘Can you thank me for trusting you with this experience, even if I never tell you why?’ I found that very powerful. God not only asks us to trust Him with the trials that He gives but to thank Him for trusting us with them.
I might never know what God’s purpose was for the loneliness and isolation. I have come to know Him in a much deeper way though, a way that I would never have gotten to in my day to day walk with Him in Idaho. I think this old poem best summarizes it:
"I walked a mile with pleasure and she chattered all the way,
but left me none the wiser for all she had to say.
I walked a mile with sorrow and ne’er a word said she,
but oh the things I learned from her, when sorrow walked with me."
He knew what my weak spot was, the place where I was the most vulnerable, and He asked me to trust Him. I am thankful for that.
The Wonderful Surprises
A few years ago, Pastor Daniel who runs the Mercy Homes programs here in India, came to visit the US and stayed with us. We had dinner with him and our friends the Siekers, and it was an incredible time of fellowship and prayer. During prayer, Pastor Daniel felt God telling him things about the future ministries for both of our families. For me and Adam, we were going to be used like Barnabas- as encouragers. At the time, I was really wanting to go on a missions trip and thought, ‘Encouragers?! That’s it?!’ Again, I was hoping for something more glamorous.
Being that God of surprises that He is, we now see in retrospect what a blessing being encouragers really is. We feel that one of the main reasons for this trip was for us to encourage the pastor of Radiant church, our little church here in town. One of Pastor Thomas’ mentors was visiting two weeks ago, and he told Adam that our involvement in the church had finally validated within Pastor Thomas the fact that he was indeed the lead pastor. Just a month ago, he decided to commit to being the full time pastor, and we were blessed to witness his ordination ceremony at the church. In the past few months we were able to bring other American Christians from Adam’s work who were visiting to Radiant, and Adam also worked with Thomas to build a website for the church. In our few months there, we have seen two new families join the church. This little church has the ability to transform many lives in this city, especially with its target group of professionals at Technopark, the technology center where Adam’s work and many other companies do business. God has surprised and blessed us by allowing us to be a part of His plan for this church in this city. We also grew to dearly love Pastor Thomas and his family and the other family that we first met at Radiant. It was very hard to say good-bye. Even Jackie cried last Sunday night before bed, saying that she’d miss church. That was quite a transformation from her not wanting to go those first few weeks.
During this visit, we also got visit Mercy Homes and spend some time with Pastor Daniel and his lovely wife Lilly. We met many amazing people from all over the world. Adam was also encouraged to preach, which he did several times. And lastly, the needs of the missionaries that we support have been made crystal clear to us through this trip. We hope to be better able to support them when we return.
Thank You!
I’ve said it before, but we are eternally grateful to our friends who have been such a support to us. Your prayers and care packages made the unbearable times bearable. We can’t wait to see everyone in a few short days!
All of our love,
The Getchells
Monday, July 12, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thankful for the Fleas
In a previous posting, I mentioned the book ‘The Hiding Place’, based on the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her sister during World War II, and how they were imprisoned in a concentration camp. Corrie’s sister was almost not of this world- instead seeming to belong to the heavenly realms. Her faith was unlike anything that I’ve read or heard of. The part of the book that impacted me the most was actually just a minor event, but its life application, I thought, was tremendous. During the latter half of the their time in the camp, the sisters were moved into a much more crowded women’s dorm with deplorable conditions. Worst of all was that the whole place was infested with fleas. Corrie’s sister, above all, was always thankful for everything, and when they arrived in the dorm, she excitedly demanded that she and Corrie give thanks for all of the women they could now minister to- and also for the fleas. Corrie said that there was no way she would give thanks for the fleas, but her sister convinced her and she begrudgingly did. As time passed, they could not understand why the guards never came in to search them, leaving their smuggled bible undiscovered and allowing them to read and minister to the women there. It was when Corrie’s sister was dying that the reason became apparent- the guards refused to set foot in the dorm because of the fleas.
Are we thankful for the fleas in our lives? Here’s another example- our pastor here told a story about how a business deal that their family business made led to him being taken to court in Delhi. The judge, after looking at the plaintiff’s papers for 10 seconds, decreed that he’d look at it in a week, which meant that our pastor would have to spend that week in prison while he waited. Think ‘Midnight Express’ or the stories of the ‘black hole of Calcutta’, and that will give you an idea of what prisons here are like. But the pastor’s first reaction was to praise God and give thanks. He didn’t know how he’d get through it, but he had peace and stood there calmly. Inexplicably, the judge stopped the next proceeding and reached over and took his papers again, and announced that he would actually deal with the case then and there, and the matter was settled.
With our return date of July 9th, the girls and I have been counting the days. Last week, Adam’s work decided that they needed him to stay for an important meeting in mid-July, which meant adding extra days to our trip. Even though it was just 4 extra days, it was a real blow for me and the girls. It’s like telling your kids two weeks before Christmas that you decided to have it after New Year's instead. I really struggled with this and was, quite frankly, very angry and depressed. After a day or two, I came to terms with it and tried to move forward. Then, two days later, Adam’s company said they need to move our return out another day on top of the four. Again, that went over as well as the proverbial lead balloon. I tried to tell myself to be thankful for the fleas and prayed that God would give me that spirit. The next day I tried to get out of my dark mood, when lo and behold, we were told that there were no flights on that new date, and we’d have to add yet another day. I was again extremely angry and tried to remember the fleas but sadly could not bring myself to be thankful for it. Its like God was saying, ‘Okay- let’s try it again…’.
So I failed the being thankful for the fleas test, but what I did learn was a huge lesson in the incredible awesomeness of God’s grace and forgiveness. I was really angry with God and told him so. I've never done that in my life, even in very bad situations (of which I've had my share). When I regained my senses, I realized what I had done- I had dared to tell the Creator of the Universe, the Alpha and the Omega, that I, the puny insect person, was angry with Him. I’ve done a lot of things, and still do things, that I’ve had to repent of, but for me this was completely over the line. I know all sin is equal in God’s eyes, but I felt like me expressing anger toward the Almighty was worthy of me being crushed like a bug. I am humbled by the thought that, thanks to the cleansing blood of Jesus, I could again come before the throne of the Father, completely forgiven.
Our new return date is July 15th. Thank you God for the fleas….
Are we thankful for the fleas in our lives? Here’s another example- our pastor here told a story about how a business deal that their family business made led to him being taken to court in Delhi. The judge, after looking at the plaintiff’s papers for 10 seconds, decreed that he’d look at it in a week, which meant that our pastor would have to spend that week in prison while he waited. Think ‘Midnight Express’ or the stories of the ‘black hole of Calcutta’, and that will give you an idea of what prisons here are like. But the pastor’s first reaction was to praise God and give thanks. He didn’t know how he’d get through it, but he had peace and stood there calmly. Inexplicably, the judge stopped the next proceeding and reached over and took his papers again, and announced that he would actually deal with the case then and there, and the matter was settled.
With our return date of July 9th, the girls and I have been counting the days. Last week, Adam’s work decided that they needed him to stay for an important meeting in mid-July, which meant adding extra days to our trip. Even though it was just 4 extra days, it was a real blow for me and the girls. It’s like telling your kids two weeks before Christmas that you decided to have it after New Year's instead. I really struggled with this and was, quite frankly, very angry and depressed. After a day or two, I came to terms with it and tried to move forward. Then, two days later, Adam’s company said they need to move our return out another day on top of the four. Again, that went over as well as the proverbial lead balloon. I tried to tell myself to be thankful for the fleas and prayed that God would give me that spirit. The next day I tried to get out of my dark mood, when lo and behold, we were told that there were no flights on that new date, and we’d have to add yet another day. I was again extremely angry and tried to remember the fleas but sadly could not bring myself to be thankful for it. Its like God was saying, ‘Okay- let’s try it again…’.
So I failed the being thankful for the fleas test, but what I did learn was a huge lesson in the incredible awesomeness of God’s grace and forgiveness. I was really angry with God and told him so. I've never done that in my life, even in very bad situations (of which I've had my share). When I regained my senses, I realized what I had done- I had dared to tell the Creator of the Universe, the Alpha and the Omega, that I, the puny insect person, was angry with Him. I’ve done a lot of things, and still do things, that I’ve had to repent of, but for me this was completely over the line. I know all sin is equal in God’s eyes, but I felt like me expressing anger toward the Almighty was worthy of me being crushed like a bug. I am humbled by the thought that, thanks to the cleansing blood of Jesus, I could again come before the throne of the Father, completely forgiven.
Our new return date is July 15th. Thank you God for the fleas….
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Climbing the Mountain
Over the past two days, I’ve experienced a huge transformation. I am out of the valley and climbing up the mountain again. I believe that this is the blessing that I was waiting for in June. I have a feeling other blessings are still to come.
There is so much to tell about this week. I’ll begin with the healing that I’ve had. It was right around the time of my last posting, when we had taken Hailey to the hospital here. I felt like I was at my breaking point. I felt almost mentally unstable, not knowing how I was going to endure the remaining weeks here and envisioning every horrible scenario imaginable. I don’t know what a nervous breakdown feels like, but I can imagine I was close to it. In a nutshell, I was gripped by an overwhelming sense of fear that was suffocating me. Not knowing what to do, I sent an e-mail in the morning to our Pastor’s wife, asking for prayer and expressing my feelings of fear and being overwhelmed. Not only did they pray, but they came over that evening to spend time with us and pray more. It was an incredible time of fellowship and prayer. Both Pastor Thomas and his wife Molly encouraged me with scripture and prayers. Most importantly, I think, is how they showed me that I have been living under the oppression of the spirit of fear. I agreed and had even told Adam the night before, in the midst of the fear, that it really felt like spiritual warfare and I now needed to fight.
Pastor Thomas and Molly could see immediately that it was spiritual oppression. After a time as we were praying, Thomas’ eyes went to the china cabinet in our living room with a lit display case. In it, we had a large carved ceremonial elephant as well as many other small ones. Knowing that we’d most likely spend a fair amount of money on them, Thomas asked if he could be frank with us. We of course said yes. Unbeknownst to us, elephants in full ceremonial dress are Hindu idols, and we had put it in a place of prominence in our house. He said that we should consider removing them from the apartment, and showed us scripture to support this. The bible is very clear about God’s displeasure with idols. While Adam and I discussed it and how we might handle it, we thought of giving them to the Hindu guy that manages our apartment. We prayed some more and literally the SECOND that we stopped praying, the doorbell rang, and it was the apartment manager (who never comes in the evening, mind you!). We promptly bagged up the carvings and gave them to him to take away. The thing that really convicted us to get rid of them too was that the very night that we bought them, I started being plagued by demonic dreams. I had a strong feeling that it was something to do with the carvings. Another neat thing that came out of the situation was that Pastor Thomas mentioned later in church that the speed with which we made our decision and the equally quick action was a lesson for him in his habit of procrastination.
I have had another experience like this before involving spiritual warfare, and at the time I didn’t understand why God would allow it. Eventually I realized that He allowed it to bring a bad situation to light so it could be dealt with and removed from my life once and for all. This is definitely the case here. It wasn’t so much having to do with getting rid of the carving. The main point was to bring to me to that place where I was so utterly backed into a corner that I had to do something, like make the decision to fight the oppression and accept Jesus’ truths. Thomas used a great analogy from a Malayali movie, where a guy robs another guy by putting a carrot to his back, pretending it was a gun. The analogy really struck a chord with both me and Adam. The enemy is holding a carrot to our backs! Why do we give in to him so easily? We give the enemy way more power than he has or deserves.
We have been blessed in such a tremendous way by Pastor Thomas, Molly the son Rohith, the daughter Manju, her husband Jereen, and Manju and Jereen’s one year old little boy DJ. Its like we’ve known them for years. Yesterday was Adam’s birthday, and the whole family surprised Adam and came over in the evening with a cake. Jereen was traveling to the US later that night as well but still came over. It was a very touching and special gesture. We only have three more Sundays with them. Its heartbreaking to think of leaving them.
Praise God for being such a faithful father, even when we don't understand the work that He is doing in us. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
There is so much to tell about this week. I’ll begin with the healing that I’ve had. It was right around the time of my last posting, when we had taken Hailey to the hospital here. I felt like I was at my breaking point. I felt almost mentally unstable, not knowing how I was going to endure the remaining weeks here and envisioning every horrible scenario imaginable. I don’t know what a nervous breakdown feels like, but I can imagine I was close to it. In a nutshell, I was gripped by an overwhelming sense of fear that was suffocating me. Not knowing what to do, I sent an e-mail in the morning to our Pastor’s wife, asking for prayer and expressing my feelings of fear and being overwhelmed. Not only did they pray, but they came over that evening to spend time with us and pray more. It was an incredible time of fellowship and prayer. Both Pastor Thomas and his wife Molly encouraged me with scripture and prayers. Most importantly, I think, is how they showed me that I have been living under the oppression of the spirit of fear. I agreed and had even told Adam the night before, in the midst of the fear, that it really felt like spiritual warfare and I now needed to fight.
Pastor Thomas and Molly could see immediately that it was spiritual oppression. After a time as we were praying, Thomas’ eyes went to the china cabinet in our living room with a lit display case. In it, we had a large carved ceremonial elephant as well as many other small ones. Knowing that we’d most likely spend a fair amount of money on them, Thomas asked if he could be frank with us. We of course said yes. Unbeknownst to us, elephants in full ceremonial dress are Hindu idols, and we had put it in a place of prominence in our house. He said that we should consider removing them from the apartment, and showed us scripture to support this. The bible is very clear about God’s displeasure with idols. While Adam and I discussed it and how we might handle it, we thought of giving them to the Hindu guy that manages our apartment. We prayed some more and literally the SECOND that we stopped praying, the doorbell rang, and it was the apartment manager (who never comes in the evening, mind you!). We promptly bagged up the carvings and gave them to him to take away. The thing that really convicted us to get rid of them too was that the very night that we bought them, I started being plagued by demonic dreams. I had a strong feeling that it was something to do with the carvings. Another neat thing that came out of the situation was that Pastor Thomas mentioned later in church that the speed with which we made our decision and the equally quick action was a lesson for him in his habit of procrastination.
I have had another experience like this before involving spiritual warfare, and at the time I didn’t understand why God would allow it. Eventually I realized that He allowed it to bring a bad situation to light so it could be dealt with and removed from my life once and for all. This is definitely the case here. It wasn’t so much having to do with getting rid of the carving. The main point was to bring to me to that place where I was so utterly backed into a corner that I had to do something, like make the decision to fight the oppression and accept Jesus’ truths. Thomas used a great analogy from a Malayali movie, where a guy robs another guy by putting a carrot to his back, pretending it was a gun. The analogy really struck a chord with both me and Adam. The enemy is holding a carrot to our backs! Why do we give in to him so easily? We give the enemy way more power than he has or deserves.
We have been blessed in such a tremendous way by Pastor Thomas, Molly the son Rohith, the daughter Manju, her husband Jereen, and Manju and Jereen’s one year old little boy DJ. Its like we’ve known them for years. Yesterday was Adam’s birthday, and the whole family surprised Adam and came over in the evening with a cake. Jereen was traveling to the US later that night as well but still came over. It was a very touching and special gesture. We only have three more Sundays with them. Its heartbreaking to think of leaving them.
Praise God for being such a faithful father, even when we don't understand the work that He is doing in us. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
One Month Left
Today we experienced what I’ve been dreading during the whole trip, which was going to the hospital. There are no private doctor’s offices here- everyone just goes to the hospital. Hailey has had an infected ingrown toenail for a few weeks, and we’ve been treating it at home. With it not showing much improvement, we finally decided to take her in. The hospital building itself was better than I expected, and I wasn’t worried about the quality of the doctor because there are a lot of smart, talented people here. My main fear was the equipment and its cleanliness, and the masses of sick people that we’d have to be around while waiting. Sure enough, there were a ton of people. When we finally did see the doctor, he barely spoke English and essentially just cleaned her toe and gave us some antibiotics. I’m extremely thankful that it didn’t need anything more.
This is a rough time of year here because with the monsoons come the host of horrendous mosquito-borne diseases. Cases of H1N1 are on the rise, as well as that brutal Chikunguyna that I had when we were here in 2007. It made your body ache so badly that even laying down hurt. Worst of all is that Dengue fever has now made its way here, and people are contracting it throughout the state. Prayers for our health and safety are coveted more than ever!
We have 3 ½ weeks left in the trip, and I’ve been reflecting on the whole trip over the past few days. All I can say is that it has been weirder than I ever could have imagined. I knew we’d face a lot of boredom, as we did last time, but I never thought it would last as long as it has and that the isolation would be so severe. I had thought I’d find a friend that I could hang out with. I realized that God has brought me several different friends but only for very short time periods. There were the missionary ladies from America who were there for one weekend. Then, there were the European ladies for a few Friday nights out and a Wednesday lunch, but they all left for their home countries months ago. Then there was Janice and Mohan who provided the two weeks out at the summer camp for the girls. We have some great fellowship with folks at church here as well, but that is only for three hours on a Sunday. The rest of the 90% of our time has been total isolation. The hardest aspect has been not having regular support and fellowship with another Christian woman like I get from my friends at home. Again, I thought I’d somehow find that here.
I’m at a loss to explain what this has all been about. I have faced many stressful situations in my life before but never like this. More than anything, it’s been psychological punishment. I feel like I’ve been taken to the edge of all that I can stand, and then God brings me back just one inch. I’ve had to trust Him even when I’ve felt like He is turning a deaf ear to my prayers, which has been most of the time. I’ve cried out angrily to God about what has seemed like an utter waste- for the girls and I to be stuck in isolation in our apartment for so long. Then I read about some missionaries to China who were beheaded one week after they arrived. Wow- talk about feeling like it was a waste! I can’t imagine what they must have been thinking, like ‘Are you kidding?! I came all the way here to be killed in the first week!’ Further reading revealed that a huge surge in conversions took place because of their deaths. I’m hoping that the lessons learned here will have some impact on people we encounter throughout our lives. Perhaps it won’t. Perhaps it is just a test.
Many blessings have come about in this trip, to be sure. We are blessed to have been involved in Radiant, our little church here. The people are amazing, and I know that Adam has been a blessing to them through encouragement, speaking, and building their website. I’d like to think that I’ve been an encouragement to the pastor’s wife as well. I think Adam overall has received a lot of blessing in this trip. He has had amazing success at work and has been recognized for his talents. The downside of it all has been that he’s had to deal with me and my emotions! I’m sure that’s been his cross to bear during this trip.
Thanks again to everyone for their prayers, especially to my friends who have put up with my constant whining e-mails. I can’t imagine how these past five months would have been without e-mail support!
This is a rough time of year here because with the monsoons come the host of horrendous mosquito-borne diseases. Cases of H1N1 are on the rise, as well as that brutal Chikunguyna that I had when we were here in 2007. It made your body ache so badly that even laying down hurt. Worst of all is that Dengue fever has now made its way here, and people are contracting it throughout the state. Prayers for our health and safety are coveted more than ever!
We have 3 ½ weeks left in the trip, and I’ve been reflecting on the whole trip over the past few days. All I can say is that it has been weirder than I ever could have imagined. I knew we’d face a lot of boredom, as we did last time, but I never thought it would last as long as it has and that the isolation would be so severe. I had thought I’d find a friend that I could hang out with. I realized that God has brought me several different friends but only for very short time periods. There were the missionary ladies from America who were there for one weekend. Then, there were the European ladies for a few Friday nights out and a Wednesday lunch, but they all left for their home countries months ago. Then there was Janice and Mohan who provided the two weeks out at the summer camp for the girls. We have some great fellowship with folks at church here as well, but that is only for three hours on a Sunday. The rest of the 90% of our time has been total isolation. The hardest aspect has been not having regular support and fellowship with another Christian woman like I get from my friends at home. Again, I thought I’d somehow find that here.
I’m at a loss to explain what this has all been about. I have faced many stressful situations in my life before but never like this. More than anything, it’s been psychological punishment. I feel like I’ve been taken to the edge of all that I can stand, and then God brings me back just one inch. I’ve had to trust Him even when I’ve felt like He is turning a deaf ear to my prayers, which has been most of the time. I’ve cried out angrily to God about what has seemed like an utter waste- for the girls and I to be stuck in isolation in our apartment for so long. Then I read about some missionaries to China who were beheaded one week after they arrived. Wow- talk about feeling like it was a waste! I can’t imagine what they must have been thinking, like ‘Are you kidding?! I came all the way here to be killed in the first week!’ Further reading revealed that a huge surge in conversions took place because of their deaths. I’m hoping that the lessons learned here will have some impact on people we encounter throughout our lives. Perhaps it won’t. Perhaps it is just a test.
Many blessings have come about in this trip, to be sure. We are blessed to have been involved in Radiant, our little church here. The people are amazing, and I know that Adam has been a blessing to them through encouragement, speaking, and building their website. I’d like to think that I’ve been an encouragement to the pastor’s wife as well. I think Adam overall has received a lot of blessing in this trip. He has had amazing success at work and has been recognized for his talents. The downside of it all has been that he’s had to deal with me and my emotions! I’m sure that’s been his cross to bear during this trip.
Thanks again to everyone for their prayers, especially to my friends who have put up with my constant whining e-mails. I can’t imagine how these past five months would have been without e-mail support!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Return Date - July 9th
We finally have a return date locked down. We leave India on July 9th, at 4:30 AM. It looks like we arrive in Boise on the 9th as well, even after more than 24 hours of flying, thanks to the many zones we will be passing through. Our arrival time is 10:30 PM, so that’s kind of rough, but we are all thankful to make it home on a Friday night so we can attend church on Sunday without being totally wiped out. We also go through San Francisco, which has got to be better than the chaos we faced in immigration last time in Los Angeles. The total lack of order there was really shocking. There were no lines and everyone was crammed in a hallway, pushing their way in. We get enough of that in India! :)
On a different topic, I thought I’d share a story about what happened a week or so ago. As I’ve mentioned before, we go to Pizza Corner every Friday night for dinner. It’s our little family outing, and we occasionally bring others along like the lady missionaries from the US, or folks from church, etc. It’s also where we met the Dutch family early on. Anyway, we almost always see one or two Europeans there every time we go. Often, it is just a single person sitting alone. The last time we went, I told Adam that if we see one of these lone Europeans, we should make it a point to invite them over and have dinner with us. We prayed that God would bring whoever He wanted that night, but secretly I hoped it would be a guy so Adam could do most of the talking! We sat down at our table and literally 30 seconds later, in walks a lone young woman. She looked right at us, then sat down at a table across the room. Adam and I both chuckled at it, and I got up my nerve and walked over and invited her to have dinner with us. Her name was Michelle, and she was Dutch. She was 22 years old and had come to India for 6 months to work teaching other teachers how to help kids with autism and other mental illnesses. She was working with a team in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu and had come to Kerala to go to an ashram here to do yoga for two weeks. We asked why she was interested in that and discussed her Catholic background. We then tried to share with her the dangers of yoga and why people who are Christian shouldn’t practice it. She kept stressing that she and her family weren’t ‘strict’ about their religion, which we eventually found meant that they didn’t go to church or much else. We shared stories about our experiences in India, and Adam and I talked a lot about what God was doing in our lives and what He’d done while we were here.
This experience with this girl made the practice of yoga among Christians weigh heavy on my heart, so I want to take a minute to address it. Many Christians want to believe that it is just stretching and breathing and that if you use the name of Jesus instead of Hindu gods, its okay. I wish people who want to adopt this practice could take a look inside one of the Hindu temples here, experience the utter darkness that comes out of there, and tell me if they think that adopting something that stems from this is godly. Or maybe look at the guy that we saw who was suspended by the hooks in the skin in his back, or the demon possessed guy in the Hindu procession, or the kids with the sticks drilled through their checks. This is Hinduism. This is where yoga originated from and been practiced for thousands of years. Are we in the west that lacking in exercises programs, videos, and outdoor activities? The Lord calls us Christians to be separated from such things. God condemned the Israelites time again for incorporating the practices of their eastern neighbors. Isaiah 2:6 says “For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with eastern ways; they are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they are pleased with the children of foreigners” Why would we want to compromise just for a workout? The ‘sun salutation’ for instance is the common pose you see advertisements. This position is designed for the practitioner to worship the sun! Another big red flag is that Indian Christians, like K.P. Yohannan of Gospel for Asia, have warned westerners in no uncertain terms that is pagan and not of God (see his book ‘Revelution in World Missions’).
Even though this girl Michelle did not seem like a true follower of Christ, it was very, very sad for us to see her taking the Hindu path and not the path of Christ. We gave her a ride to her hotel, and I gave her our contact information and told her that if anything went wrong at the ashram or if she just wanted to leave, she could call us anytime. We prayed for her and still hope that the Catholics that are on her team can steer her toward the truth.
I’d like to wrap up with a request for prayer for our girls. Now that we have a return date, it feels like we are going home soon, but we still have many days to go. Over the past few days, they are suddenly feeling much more bored that ever before and patience is running quite thin. We need to finish this well, and they in particular need endurance to see it through with grace.
We miss everyone and can’t wait to see you all!
On a different topic, I thought I’d share a story about what happened a week or so ago. As I’ve mentioned before, we go to Pizza Corner every Friday night for dinner. It’s our little family outing, and we occasionally bring others along like the lady missionaries from the US, or folks from church, etc. It’s also where we met the Dutch family early on. Anyway, we almost always see one or two Europeans there every time we go. Often, it is just a single person sitting alone. The last time we went, I told Adam that if we see one of these lone Europeans, we should make it a point to invite them over and have dinner with us. We prayed that God would bring whoever He wanted that night, but secretly I hoped it would be a guy so Adam could do most of the talking! We sat down at our table and literally 30 seconds later, in walks a lone young woman. She looked right at us, then sat down at a table across the room. Adam and I both chuckled at it, and I got up my nerve and walked over and invited her to have dinner with us. Her name was Michelle, and she was Dutch. She was 22 years old and had come to India for 6 months to work teaching other teachers how to help kids with autism and other mental illnesses. She was working with a team in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu and had come to Kerala to go to an ashram here to do yoga for two weeks. We asked why she was interested in that and discussed her Catholic background. We then tried to share with her the dangers of yoga and why people who are Christian shouldn’t practice it. She kept stressing that she and her family weren’t ‘strict’ about their religion, which we eventually found meant that they didn’t go to church or much else. We shared stories about our experiences in India, and Adam and I talked a lot about what God was doing in our lives and what He’d done while we were here.
This experience with this girl made the practice of yoga among Christians weigh heavy on my heart, so I want to take a minute to address it. Many Christians want to believe that it is just stretching and breathing and that if you use the name of Jesus instead of Hindu gods, its okay. I wish people who want to adopt this practice could take a look inside one of the Hindu temples here, experience the utter darkness that comes out of there, and tell me if they think that adopting something that stems from this is godly. Or maybe look at the guy that we saw who was suspended by the hooks in the skin in his back, or the demon possessed guy in the Hindu procession, or the kids with the sticks drilled through their checks. This is Hinduism. This is where yoga originated from and been practiced for thousands of years. Are we in the west that lacking in exercises programs, videos, and outdoor activities? The Lord calls us Christians to be separated from such things. God condemned the Israelites time again for incorporating the practices of their eastern neighbors. Isaiah 2:6 says “For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with eastern ways; they are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they are pleased with the children of foreigners” Why would we want to compromise just for a workout? The ‘sun salutation’ for instance is the common pose you see advertisements. This position is designed for the practitioner to worship the sun! Another big red flag is that Indian Christians, like K.P. Yohannan of Gospel for Asia, have warned westerners in no uncertain terms that is pagan and not of God (see his book ‘Revelution in World Missions’).
Even though this girl Michelle did not seem like a true follower of Christ, it was very, very sad for us to see her taking the Hindu path and not the path of Christ. We gave her a ride to her hotel, and I gave her our contact information and told her that if anything went wrong at the ashram or if she just wanted to leave, she could call us anytime. We prayed for her and still hope that the Catholics that are on her team can steer her toward the truth.
I’d like to wrap up with a request for prayer for our girls. Now that we have a return date, it feels like we are going home soon, but we still have many days to go. Over the past few days, they are suddenly feeling much more bored that ever before and patience is running quite thin. We need to finish this well, and they in particular need endurance to see it through with grace.
We miss everyone and can’t wait to see you all!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Return and Healing
RETURN DATE
The past few days have been interesting. On Tuesday, Adam’s boss- seemingly out of nowhere- said that he may want Adam (and us) to go home mid-June, so that Adam could give presentations to accounts in the U.S. He and I were cautious about getting our hopes up for an early return, since things constantly change at his work. Even so, we were still excited, and against all common sense, I started to mentally plan for it. We did not tell the girls however, because that would be a crushing disappointment for them if they thought they were going home and things fell through.
Later that night, I started to feel guilty about that June return date; I’ve had the feeling for several months now that our purpose for being here would come to fruition in June. I’ve shared this with friends as well, so when I e-mailed some friends about the situation, my friend Michelle thought perhaps this was what was going to happen in June. I tried to convince myself that maybe she was right, but deep down I knew I was kidding myself. I’ve felt that it is when God is supposed to show us why we’re here, not take us out of here. I felt like I was taking things into my own hands and forcing God’s hand. I tried to push aside the feelings of guilt, because hey- I get to see my dog again, and the girls get to have a life outside of these four walls again. Even through my many mental justifications, I still felt irritable and uneasy, so I prayed that we would surrender to God’s timing and not our own so that we would not miss the blessing.
So here we are today- Adam’s boss is out of town today, but he sent an e-mail this morning saying that he was now thinking end of June/mid-July as our return date. Adam will talk with him tomorrow to see what the future business plans are and what his boss thinks is needed. Adam made a great point about this experience- here I’ve been talking for months about this feeling of God revealing his plans in June, yet here we were, more than willing to leave in the middle of June.
We both feel peace about the new time frame, which is actually earlier than the original late-July/early-August plan. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that we aren’t disappointed, though. I’m praying that God will provide things to keep me and the girls occupied over the next several weeks, and that we all finish the race with joy, patience, and endurance.
HEALING
It seems like a visit to India is not complete unless we witness supernatural healing. The last time we were here, God worked through Adam at Pastor Daniel’s church to heal our driver’s bad back and a lady of asthma. As many of our friends know, I started getting a toothache a few weeks ago. It was in a tooth with a crown, which spells ‘root canal’. The idea of getting a root canal here was, shall we say, less than appealing. Two weeks ago at church, a guest pastor talked about healing. Long story short, he had Adam pray healing over me for my tooth. That day, I struggled because I wanted to believe that I was healed, but I still felt pain. I wrestled with the whole issue of ‘is it God’s will for me to be healed, or is it His will that I’m not, or is it that I just don’t have enough faith?’ Apparently it was His will that I was healed because the next day the pain was way less and now it is entirely gone.
Thanks again to everyone that is keeping us in prayer. It has really made a huge difference. We can feel God’s covering.
One last note- Adam will be preaching at our church this Sunday, and Hailey is going to sing a solo song acappella!
The past few days have been interesting. On Tuesday, Adam’s boss- seemingly out of nowhere- said that he may want Adam (and us) to go home mid-June, so that Adam could give presentations to accounts in the U.S. He and I were cautious about getting our hopes up for an early return, since things constantly change at his work. Even so, we were still excited, and against all common sense, I started to mentally plan for it. We did not tell the girls however, because that would be a crushing disappointment for them if they thought they were going home and things fell through.
Later that night, I started to feel guilty about that June return date; I’ve had the feeling for several months now that our purpose for being here would come to fruition in June. I’ve shared this with friends as well, so when I e-mailed some friends about the situation, my friend Michelle thought perhaps this was what was going to happen in June. I tried to convince myself that maybe she was right, but deep down I knew I was kidding myself. I’ve felt that it is when God is supposed to show us why we’re here, not take us out of here. I felt like I was taking things into my own hands and forcing God’s hand. I tried to push aside the feelings of guilt, because hey- I get to see my dog again, and the girls get to have a life outside of these four walls again. Even through my many mental justifications, I still felt irritable and uneasy, so I prayed that we would surrender to God’s timing and not our own so that we would not miss the blessing.
So here we are today- Adam’s boss is out of town today, but he sent an e-mail this morning saying that he was now thinking end of June/mid-July as our return date. Adam will talk with him tomorrow to see what the future business plans are and what his boss thinks is needed. Adam made a great point about this experience- here I’ve been talking for months about this feeling of God revealing his plans in June, yet here we were, more than willing to leave in the middle of June.
We both feel peace about the new time frame, which is actually earlier than the original late-July/early-August plan. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that we aren’t disappointed, though. I’m praying that God will provide things to keep me and the girls occupied over the next several weeks, and that we all finish the race with joy, patience, and endurance.
HEALING
It seems like a visit to India is not complete unless we witness supernatural healing. The last time we were here, God worked through Adam at Pastor Daniel’s church to heal our driver’s bad back and a lady of asthma. As many of our friends know, I started getting a toothache a few weeks ago. It was in a tooth with a crown, which spells ‘root canal’. The idea of getting a root canal here was, shall we say, less than appealing. Two weeks ago at church, a guest pastor talked about healing. Long story short, he had Adam pray healing over me for my tooth. That day, I struggled because I wanted to believe that I was healed, but I still felt pain. I wrestled with the whole issue of ‘is it God’s will for me to be healed, or is it His will that I’m not, or is it that I just don’t have enough faith?’ Apparently it was His will that I was healed because the next day the pain was way less and now it is entirely gone.
Thanks again to everyone that is keeping us in prayer. It has really made a huge difference. We can feel God’s covering.
One last note- Adam will be preaching at our church this Sunday, and Hailey is going to sing a solo song acappella!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Janice and Mohan
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) I have never experienced this well-known verse more than I have over the past two weeks. My attitude toward all of the challenges that we face here has taken a complete 180 degree turn. I finally feel able to take each day as it comes and accept whatever it is that God has for me, whether it is staying in the apartment all day or getting out. Adam and I were even talking last night about how we could live here if we had to. Its not that that is what I want, but I could do it, whereas even two week prior I would never have considered it. I can’t point to any epiphany that lead to the change; I have prayed the same prayers since I got here about God changing my heart. I sincerely believe that God allowed to me experience such depths that the turnaround would give Him even more glory, because there is nothing that I’ve done that can explain this sudden change. I think He wanted me to experienced the sorrow deeply enough that I could live in the joy more fully. Its been a difficult but amazing journey, and I thank God for His goodness in knowing what each of us needs.
God has provided for us in many surprising ways this past week and a half. Last week, a client from America visited Adam’s work and had brought his 14 year old daughter along on this trip to India. Usually, there is someone at Adam’s work who would have taken her around sightseeing, but it was a holiday (yes, another holiday), so most people were gone. They then asked Adam if I would mind taking here around. The girls and I were more than willing to do it, so we had a lovely day of shopping and having lunch at a resort with this girl. It was really fun for the girls to hang out with this girl, especially because she was British born and had just moved to America two years ago. Hailey is fascinated with Great Britian and really wants to visit there.
This past week was one of the best weeks we’ve had here. We had heard for some time from folks at church that there was a Canadian lady and her Indian husband who lived near to us. They are Christians, and she is homeschooling two young boys from our apartment complex. Back when I was in a lousy state of mind, I didn’t feel like reaching out to them. They put on a summer leadership camp (its summer break for kids here), and Hailey agreed to go so I signed her up and left it at that. Over the next several weeks, several other people, including non-Christians from Adam’s work, told us about this couple and said that we should meet. The guilt of being disobedient to what God obviously wanted finally got to me, so I reached out to the wife, Janice, and we went over to their house on Saturday. They are an awesome couple doing some great things for the Kingdom. Janice, while of Canadian heritage, was brought up in another part of India, where her parents were missionaries and had a children’s home. She is much more culturally Indian than she is Canadian.
Mohan, Janice’s husband, has a crazy story as well. He comes from a family who has been Brahmans (the high priestly class of Hindus) for many, many generations. He began schooling to be a Brahman at the age of four. Very shortly into his studies, he began to questions what the Hindu priests where teaching him; things like how their religion originally believed that there was one God, and then later they believed there were many Gods. He kept questioning them about the many contradictions he was seeing. Once you meet Mohan, you can just imagine these priests tearing their hair out at this rebellious kid! Rebellious continued to be the watchword for young life. His family had enough of his, and he eventually left home in his teen years and went to a big city and became part of a gang that sold drugs, exams answers for the major school, you name it. He eventually went to a university there and met a guy there that introduced him to Christ. And not just any guy- a guy who went around dressed as Sherlock Holmes…. This guy was apparently very fond of Sherlock Holmes, but it was his way of coping with his shyness and helping to share the gospel by getting people’s attention. Who would have though! Anyway, Mohan found Christ and became a passionate follower. He and Janice have recently adopted a baby girl named Sara, who is just adorable.
Janice and Mohan held their camp for Hailey’s age group this past week, and it was such a blessing to us all. For the first time, Hailey interacted on a very personal level with many Indian kids her age and learned some really great lessons through the camps activities. The most important lesson that she learned, which she shared with us, was that she now feels comfortable about socializing with Indian kids because she realized that they have the same issues as every kid no matter where you are from. She was also able to handle it when the kids would slip into speaking Malayalam. The cool thing about the camp is that because it’s a leadership camp, kids from many important families in town go there, including many Hindu kids. Janice and Mohan share each day some aspect of the Gospel in camp. On the last day, Mohan even shared his story of being a Hindu and challenging their beliefs and finding truth in the bible. It could see the impact on one girl in particular, so I will be praying for her.
On a final note, prayers for peace for our driver Rinish and his family would be appreciated. His father died three weeks ago, and his uncle just died last week. Its been rough on his family, especially his mother whose brother it was that died. Another prayer request is for a wife for him. Even among Christian families, marriages are still often arranged, and it is the role of the father to find a bride. Rinish has been anxious to get married since we first arrived here, and since his father died, it makes it that much harder for him to find a wife.
Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and e-mails!! We love you.
P.S. This is a shout out to Carie Lopez in Chicago- I am so glad that God has used me and Margaret to encourage you! God bless!
God has provided for us in many surprising ways this past week and a half. Last week, a client from America visited Adam’s work and had brought his 14 year old daughter along on this trip to India. Usually, there is someone at Adam’s work who would have taken her around sightseeing, but it was a holiday (yes, another holiday), so most people were gone. They then asked Adam if I would mind taking here around. The girls and I were more than willing to do it, so we had a lovely day of shopping and having lunch at a resort with this girl. It was really fun for the girls to hang out with this girl, especially because she was British born and had just moved to America two years ago. Hailey is fascinated with Great Britian and really wants to visit there.
This past week was one of the best weeks we’ve had here. We had heard for some time from folks at church that there was a Canadian lady and her Indian husband who lived near to us. They are Christians, and she is homeschooling two young boys from our apartment complex. Back when I was in a lousy state of mind, I didn’t feel like reaching out to them. They put on a summer leadership camp (its summer break for kids here), and Hailey agreed to go so I signed her up and left it at that. Over the next several weeks, several other people, including non-Christians from Adam’s work, told us about this couple and said that we should meet. The guilt of being disobedient to what God obviously wanted finally got to me, so I reached out to the wife, Janice, and we went over to their house on Saturday. They are an awesome couple doing some great things for the Kingdom. Janice, while of Canadian heritage, was brought up in another part of India, where her parents were missionaries and had a children’s home. She is much more culturally Indian than she is Canadian.
Mohan, Janice’s husband, has a crazy story as well. He comes from a family who has been Brahmans (the high priestly class of Hindus) for many, many generations. He began schooling to be a Brahman at the age of four. Very shortly into his studies, he began to questions what the Hindu priests where teaching him; things like how their religion originally believed that there was one God, and then later they believed there were many Gods. He kept questioning them about the many contradictions he was seeing. Once you meet Mohan, you can just imagine these priests tearing their hair out at this rebellious kid! Rebellious continued to be the watchword for young life. His family had enough of his, and he eventually left home in his teen years and went to a big city and became part of a gang that sold drugs, exams answers for the major school, you name it. He eventually went to a university there and met a guy there that introduced him to Christ. And not just any guy- a guy who went around dressed as Sherlock Holmes…. This guy was apparently very fond of Sherlock Holmes, but it was his way of coping with his shyness and helping to share the gospel by getting people’s attention. Who would have though! Anyway, Mohan found Christ and became a passionate follower. He and Janice have recently adopted a baby girl named Sara, who is just adorable.
Janice and Mohan held their camp for Hailey’s age group this past week, and it was such a blessing to us all. For the first time, Hailey interacted on a very personal level with many Indian kids her age and learned some really great lessons through the camps activities. The most important lesson that she learned, which she shared with us, was that she now feels comfortable about socializing with Indian kids because she realized that they have the same issues as every kid no matter where you are from. She was also able to handle it when the kids would slip into speaking Malayalam. The cool thing about the camp is that because it’s a leadership camp, kids from many important families in town go there, including many Hindu kids. Janice and Mohan share each day some aspect of the Gospel in camp. On the last day, Mohan even shared his story of being a Hindu and challenging their beliefs and finding truth in the bible. It could see the impact on one girl in particular, so I will be praying for her.
On a final note, prayers for peace for our driver Rinish and his family would be appreciated. His father died three weeks ago, and his uncle just died last week. Its been rough on his family, especially his mother whose brother it was that died. Another prayer request is for a wife for him. Even among Christian families, marriages are still often arranged, and it is the role of the father to find a bride. Rinish has been anxious to get married since we first arrived here, and since his father died, it makes it that much harder for him to find a wife.
Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and e-mails!! We love you.
P.S. This is a shout out to Carie Lopez in Chicago- I am so glad that God has used me and Margaret to encourage you! God bless!
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