Break Every Chain.

Hey USA! Christmas is around the corner! I actually broke out the christmas music this morning. I was inspired by Taylor's "Elf-Yourself" video of our family. Tay, your hips don't lie.. your hips don't liee. So, I'm sorry that I haven't emailed some of you back. An overwhelming amount of my friends are struggling with different symptoms but the same sickness, so I thought I'd talk about it in my blog because it's something that I was dealing with too and I'm certain I will again because our walk with God has high mountains and low valleys. But for real guys... Who cut in front of you? You were fighting such a good fight? Why are you putting out the Spirit's fire(1 Thessalonians 5:19)?

Sometimes things can sound really enticing at the time but then it turns out to be an illusion and your stuck with the consequences. My freshman year of college a few friends and I went to a diner called John's Plain and Fancy almost every saturday night of spring semester (we'd always request the fancy side but get stuck with the plain side). We'd all have the munchies and like clockwork, 3 am would roll around, we'd hop in the car, arrive at the diner, order chicken caesar salad and listen to the juke box on the table.

This one particular night I was really craving something sweet. I remember they had a showcase of glazed doughnuts, cakes and pies that all looked like they could be on the cover of a food magazine. My eye caught the chocolate eclair and instantly I knew I needed one. The funny thing is.. I normally hate eclairs? But it was 3 am, I wasn't sober yet and it was calling my name. I remember the excitement of the waitress bringing it over to the table and my mouth watering as I impatiently waited for everyone else's food to arrive. I knew it was going to be the best thing I've ever tasted in my life. Once the caesar salads came I closed my eyes, sunk my teeth into the glaze, and braced myself for perfection. To my horror, I chomped down on something fuzzy, opened my eyes and realized the inside of the eclair was completely covered in mold.

Oswald Chambers says it best "Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief and pain stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions." I didn't suffer any injury, grief or pain from eating the eclair that night, but there are many instances where circumstances lure us in and we DO suffer the consequences. I've had to take classes over from my first year of school because illusions of gratifying the pleasures of my flesh outweighed studying for exams or writing papers. I've had to endure deep hurt and pain when a boyfriend decided his happiness and his "needs" were more important than commitment to our relationship. Last year I remember looking in the mirror and being disgusted by what I saw, it took a lot of crying out to the Lord for me to overcome the disillusionment of what I thought my body looked like and how eating less would make me feel better. Can anyone relate? These illusions do not satisfy, they never will satisfy.

The world says freedom comes when we can say "yes" to a situation.. when the truth is that true freedom comes when we can say "no". Saying "I can't stop cheating", "I can't stop drinking", "I can't stop lusting", "I can't stop lying" means that you are a slave to those things. How free are you?

The day of Jesus' crucifixion Pilate asked Him what truth was. It is a pretty philosophical question that both philosphers and laymen alike try to answer. What is truth? I see it all over facebook too and I have no idea what it means, maybe I'm outdated, but I see people posting status' that say "Truth is.....". We are all searching for it. In our heart of hearts none of us want to believe a lie. So here it is, the same day Pilate asked that very question, Jesus was nailed to a cross, was punished for our iniquities and took the shackles off every person that would believe in Him. Truth is.. you don't have to be a slave anymore. You are liberated by Christ-but you chose to be imprisoned by yourself. If you are a believer, you have the power to overcome temptation. If you aren't, may God have mercy on you because you are straight up powerless and have no chance to resist it. You may be able to say "no" temporarily, but only through Christ can you have permanent freedom.

You have an enemy and whether you choose to believe it or not, he is out to seek and destroy your life. Wake up America! Wake up friends! It's a daily battle and some of you are getting out of bed without preparing yourself for war. Paul says we need to take up the full armor of God. Put on the breastplate of righteousness-that piece of armor protects your heart. Take up the shield of faith-if you have no faith, fiery arrows will pierce your soul, the shield also protects us from depression and loneliness and all types of hopelessness. Put in place the helmet of salvation-this will cover your mind from questioning God's love for you. And finally, take up the sword of the spirit, which is the bible. The sword is the only piece of equipment that kills- you can kill the enemies lies by simply carving off the sugar-coating of disillusionment.

You need to put this on IN FAITH every morning. I can't stress that enough. We walk around and we cannot see armor, but God can and the enemy can. When you forget a piece of equipment at home you are subjecting yourself to the temptations of satan because he can see your vulnerabilities and what you forgot to put on that day. Stand firm in faith. And after you have done this.. keep standing.

I read about a magician once.. maybe it was Houdini? Anyways, he was doing a trick in a prison and he had to get out of the cell without a key. He tried and tried for hours to pick the lock and finally agitated and frustrated at his defeat he gave up. When the prison guards came to get him out, they simply opened the door... the whole time it was unlocked! Why are some of you sitting in an open prison cell? Get up and walk and know your faith has healed you.

You can't be free on your own, and if you wish to spend the rest of your life held down by the standards of the world-the pressures of the world-the chains of the world, go ahead, but you are only deceiving yourselves. True renewal of your thoughts and your ways only comes from genuine repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Are you free to say no?

Shut Locked Bolted

As I write this, I'm humming "Farther Along" by Josh Garrels.. it's been stuck in my head for the past few days, especially the verse "Even when I fall I get back up with the joy that overflows my cup". I've had to repeat this over and over to myself, almost as a reminder that failure is not final. If Jesus is living in you, failure can never be final. (deep sigh... just need to keep telling myself that).

It's nearing the end of October and I know Lynchburg is turning into Drenchburg (am I right LU?) The worst part about living on East campus during rainy season was trucking through the tunnel, up the hill, hauling my backpack up four flights of stairs... all to find that I left my key in my room, and no one was home to open the door. The RA's were at class. My friends were in Demoss. It was just me and my sopping wet hoody waiting for someone with a key.

Sometimes in our walk with God, He won't bring the key for a while. It's purposeful. We can be waiting hours on the steps before He lets us in. Lately I've been thinking "God, why are you allowing this to happen? Just bring the key already, I'm cold and alone standing out here. Don't you care?" Or another thought that's been going through my head has been "Geez, God, I forgot the key again? Why do I always mess up? Why am I so careless?" It's our fleshly tendency to want to rebel against the Lord when we don't understand what He is doing, or just get mad at ourselves when we fall once again. What I'm learning though, is that discipline is a blessing in disguise. Pain is a blessing in disguise. If we don't see the blessings of pain and discipline we won't handle it properly... and it could be really dangerous. Paul says "Rejoice in suffering"-when someone wrongs us or when God disciplines us. The attitude of living by the Spirit will be a heart of joy when we are hurting-living by the flesh will only harbor bitterness and resentment. God's ways are not our ways and if our sincere prayer is to walk in His ways, we need to understand it will look like complete foolishness to the outside world. When we're on the door step knocking our knuckles off, looking for the fire escape or a nearby window in a rage of anger, remember that the door is most likely locked for a reason. Stop looking for another way in and ask God for understanding in the situation.

You may also want to leave and just wait at a friend's house until the door opens. I've been learning this past week that waiting too long for man may be too short for God. We try to speed up the process, right? Like.. hello, God? Things look like they won't get any better so we decide to "help God out". We've all been there. But the thing is, God doesn't need our help. We need God's help. And unless we allow God to treat us like children, we won't become more like Him. He's patiently peeking through the blinds, waiting for us to humble ourselves. It's the flesh to think failure is a bad thing, sometimes it's the best thing. And when you're going through hard times, go to God, not your friends. Their just fallen sinners like the rest of us. God is so worthy of your trust. That's a huge lesson I've been learning. 2 Samuel 24:14 says "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men". He knows what we need exactly when we need it, and He's the only one who will leave you fully satisfied.

And God is a promise-fulfilling God. He tells Abram in Genesis 15 "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your very great reward". He doesn't say I am your shield AND your very great reward. The Lord is shielding us-the Lord is protecting us-the Lord is guiding us.. and that IS our very great reward! God is a giver not a taker. He doesn't want to steal your life, He wants to give it to you. He is merciful and beautiful and loving and wants the absolute best for His children. So don't try to pry open the door if it is bolted shut. Allow God to deal with you, the way He knows you will learn best, He could very well be shielding you from your own demise. Don't grow bitter towards Him not answering your knock right away. There is a purpose, there always is a purpose. Grow to have a grateful heart and thank him for the promises He will fulfill in your life when He is ready to give you the key.

Please keep praying for me. I've never felt such warfare as I've been feeling lately. I was sick for about a week with really bad stomach problems that left me weak and bedridden for a few days, all during finals week of my classes. I've also been placed in a leadership position, taking care of my ministry friends from Germany, Singapore, Canada and USA (The Lord knows, and many of you that I am NOT a natural born leader). It's really difficult for me taking care of the needs of seven people, finishing my degree, doing administration work for the ministry and coming up with creative ideas to teach my third graders multiplication during study hour. I've felt really defeated lately.. like a failure when I mess up.. and helpless when I walk away from study hour thinking my kids still don't understand math. It's a huge lie, but it's very difficult nonetheless. The Lord is doing big things here though, and I wouldn't trade all the hardships for the world. I think about the comfort of being in my warm bed in the US at times, waking up to a real shower and Dunkin Donuts coffee in the morning. I think about what the fall looks like and smells like and the excitement of Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner. But all of that will fade away, it won't last. The work the Lord has given me to do in India is eternal and I need to write it on my heart every day to remind myself of why I am here. I join with Paul in saying "We are not known, but we are well known. We seem to be dying, but we continue to live. We are punished, but we are not killed. We have much sadness, but we are always rejoicing. We are poor, but we are making many people rich in faith. We have nothing, but really we have everything."2 Corinthians 6:9-10 .

A little look at India (my friend Mirjam Klinge took most of the photo's you'll see in the video)

Is This Real Life?!

God. Is. Crazy.
I would never have guessed I would be back in India so soon! The Lord moves and works in my life like an on-looker watching a potter mold a piece of clay; my life may look like clumps of mud, the outsider may even question the Potter's abilities... but the Lord knows it's not until I have been refined in the furnace will my faith and my purpose be enhanced. "My rarest and choicest jewels and my finest gold are those who have been refined in the furnace of Egypt" -Isaiah 54:11.
So here I am, being put through the fire, and it's getting pretty heated. I had asked the Lord to show me humility- and it's been humiliating (if you pray that prayer, don't expect anything less), I had asked for his plans for my future-and they seem impossible (God never asks us to do things we are fully capable of doing on our own).. I thought maybe there could be a shortcut, you know? But the Lord doesn't believe in shortcuts, unfortunately.
But His plans and His purposes come with perfect timing, Habakkuk 2:3 says " For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay". Did you hear that! It won't delay.. which means God's vision and purpose for our lives is right on time. Yesupadam accurately said the other night, "Waiting is not wasting". Don't ever think you are wasting your time when you wait on Him.
Other than that, there were Hindu festivals last week, they built the biggest statue of one of the gods in the center of the city, it actually is going in genesis book of world records..but the day they were going to take it down, it completely collapsed, landing on it's knees. Every knee will bow before the Almighty, True, Powerful God one day. "Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak...But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him". In India, idols are so easy to spot, people are visibly bowing down and worshiping wood, silver and gold. The United States is so much more insidious. Our idols come in the form of our work, money, computers, and other human beings..just to name a few. Be careful what you are giving your life to.
It's so good to be back with the kids, I actually prayed the other night with a twelve year old. If you ever get the chance to pray with a child, do it. It is so powerful, their prayers are so pure. We just confessed our sins together and lifted up songs of praise to Jesus. It was such a good time.
I'm jealous that you are all experiencing the fall right now.. eat a slice of pumpkin pie for me, and Tay, drink some Chai tea latte from Starbucks for me as well. Missing you all, love you so much, Mackenzie

A Fragrance Offering

Jesus,
Now... even now will You please guide my life for Your Glory and for Your Greatness. Thank you for the desires you have placed in my heart, thank you for holding my hand- I feel it entwined in mine and I know I am safe even in the most dangerous, darkest places. Move Holy Spirit. Where You go I will follow, Lord I am on my knees begging for more grace and strength and boldness. Thank you for tears of truth tonight, You are good, God, even though I get lost in the meaningless american pursuit, You so lovingly bring me back to where You want me. I am Your servant, send me. I am ready. Make my paths straight and your direction clear. Be exalted, Oh Lord. You are pure and beautiful. I will praise You forever and sing of Your goodness. My heart melts like wax in Your presence, I can't compose my thanksgiving; my soul jerks and twists in overwhelming joy as I hear Your voice. Please God, let Your will be done in my life.
In Jesus' name, Amen.

Empty Handed But Alive in His Hands

It is starting to get hot... and I don't mean the sit in the sun and get a tan hot.. its the run from the sun or else your skin will burn off hot. haha.. maybe not to that extreme, but its almost 100 degrees everyday, and its so muggy. Some days its so hot I can barely think, but praise Jesus He gives me another sunrise to watch go up over the mountains and smiles that give me the fuel I need to get through the day. So much has happened in the past two weeks, sorry I haven't been updating this the way I should- I've been in over-drive since we started getting ready for the school concert on the 15th. It's been so rewarding to see the kids go from not knowing one of the dance steps-to learning and understanding it and enjoying the choreography me and my south african friend have put together for them. It reminds me of our walk with God. We must push through the hard things to get to the good things. For me, it's so hard to learn "suffering", but over the past three years God has been showing me how to push through and find joy in the midst of it all. Like the concert, where we will show off what the kids have learned on stage in front of their parents-When God teaches us something and we finally understand it, He shows us off and uses us to teach others what we learned.
On sunday Yesupadam got into a car accident. The man in the other car was furious because it was a new automobile-but he was in the wrong, and on top of that, he didn't have a drivers license or car insurance. Even though Yesupadam did nothing wrong, he paid half of the bill. He sat us down at breakfast this morning and told us the story I just shared with you, and how sometimes money looks most important, but it's not. He paid half of the guilty mans car costs( while trying to feed 150 hungry mouths at the ministry), because he knows what is priority. This man is going to go back to his family and friends and his testimony will affect Yesupadam's name and the ministry and Christianity. Sometimes we get into battles over the cost versus the cause, and we always make the cost most important. But if we see Jesus- the cost of Him going to the cross was His life. But the cause was salvation to the entire world. Which one was more important? One man's life or eternal salvation for everyone? Jesus knew the cost, but He paid it anyways for US. He bought us with His blood. Praise You, Lord!
Just a few thoughts for the week:
1. God doesn't let the righteous fall. My family is going through some difficult times right now, but God PROMISES to never leave or forsake us. He promises to give us hope and a future- and trusting that is important when bad things come our way. Listen to His voice, most of the time it comes in a whisper, and we must strain to hear it over what our friends and family are telling us to do. I've had abounding joy the past few weeks, where I should have had fear and anxiety because God has told me the end result and I have nothing to worry about. Sometimes too, God rejoices over a cry for help over a Hallelujah, so take your baggage to the throne. He is listening. Besides, if God is for us, nothing can ever stop us.
2. I am getting baptized on sunday! I wrote a friend to tell him the reasoning for this baptism, so I thought I would share it with you as well:
I truly believe I started a real relationship with Jesus two years ago. With that relationship came a union with Him that I can't really express in words. I know now that I have been crucified with Christ.. I used to go back into my old sin all the time because I didn't understand the cross. But now that I know what Jesus has done for me, I don't want to do the things I used to. I never truly believed His promises for me and I never really had faith that He was for me. This baptism is showing what happened spiritually when I accepted Christ as my Savior and gave Him the rights to my life.. my old self of unbelief and idolatry and rebellion died, and a new me of faith and obedience and treasuring Christ came into being. That is what I will confessing to the world and to heaven when I get baptized on sunday. Pray for me! It should be an incredible day.
Besides all of this, life is great. I cannot believe I will be returning to the US in 10 days. How did that happen? Have a great day! Enjoy God's Grace.

Pray, Pray, Pray

Hey USA! Just got in from a mean game of dodge ball with the kids. Me and my South African friend owned it on the courts. Lots to be grateful this past week.. so much answered prayer, so much of God’s presence in Vizak. Life doesn’t get much better than this. A girl from LU was saved, my friend got a job, my cousin’s brother-in-law was taken off life support and can now breath and talk on his own, I had banana pancakes on Saturday (my first American meal in 20 days!), an awesome church, The Summit, helped my parents unpack their moving van, and many more answered prayers came about in ONE week. Pray. That’s all I have to say. God loves you and listens to the prayers of those He loves. He is power. He is almighty. He cares. Sometimes we have not because we ask not. Ask for anything in Jesus’ name and the Father will answer it if it’s according to His will.
I read a book this past week called “Tortured for Christ” by Richard Wurmbrand. He spent 14 years tortured in a communist prison where corrupt, evil men ripped off his fingernails and put him in a stand-up coffin embedded with nails. He was put in a freezer until doctors told the torturers he was minutes away from death. They would then proceed to defrost his body and do it again. How does a man who undergoes such brutality say “ A flower, if you bruise it under your feet, rewards you by giving you its perfume. Likewise, Christians tortured by communists rewarded their torturers by love.” Over and over again he told the reader how he loved the communists but hated the sin. He said he would gladly die if it brought one of the communists who beat him to a relationship with Jesus. That kind of love is not humanly possible without Christ. This is the power we have received. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And while our enemies sin against us, we must still love them and share the power of the cross with them. We do this because Jesus joyfully was nailed down while we still “esteemed Him not” (Isaiah 53:3). We must not look at those around us as they currently are, but as they will be. God never sees us where we are at, but where we will be. Praise Him for that. This is the hope we have for our friends. We don’t need to be burdened and held down by where they are at-but have vision for where they will be, by God’s grace.
Yesupadam gave a pastor from a neighboring village a motorcycle on Wednesday. I have never seen a more grateful person. Everyday he would walk 10 miles to and from the church he preached at because he couldn’t afford any other form of transportation. He was filled with so much joy-it overflowed into my spirit. What a beautiful thing to witness. We must learn to live more simply so we have room to receive. It is a blessing to people to give to you.. what good is it to you though if you already have it? Likewise, save room in your wallet to give to others. Yesupadam says the secret to receiving is giving. Take this advice.
I washed my clothes in a bucket on Saturday.. the end result wasn’t very pretty. The detergent was so strong, it made my hands peel, I look like I have a disease. Haha. The girls here are like the most caring mother. I came into study hour this week and it was the first thing they noticed. They took my hands in horror, but attended to them and put lotion on them. They would seriously give up anything for you. I am a very affectionate person, and God knows this. That is why I am convinced that He cares about the small things. I’ve needed the love that these girls have been showing me. Their faces light up every time I walk in the room, they cling to me and love me and hug me.. and every hug, every hand held, every kiss on the cheek is like the Lord’s affection, and the Lord telling me how much he cares about me and my life. It is very beautiful.
All I need is You, God. Take my life and use it.
This morning in prayer, I got so much direction for my life. My heart burned for the things the Lord showed me. I am so excited to see those things play out. He has great plans for my life, I love listening to Him and obeying Him.. He wants me to have every blessing. He wants you to have every blessing. Listen to Him. Have patience with Him, He will meet you right where you are at. Obey what He says, even if it sounds crazy.. that’s how I ended up in India. That’s all for this week. Sorry it took longer this week to write, the internet doesn’t last for long periods of time. Pray for me as I do for you. Love you all. God loves you more.

He Fights for You

This week I've been working with 2 and 3 year old's. Oh, how the Lord is teaching me patience. I also had to sing.. apparently I'm getting over all of my fears here. Thank God you can't go wrong with twinkle-twinkle and old mcdonald. The kids learned how to write three letters yesterday-T, U and V. There is a large upper-case letter that they trace with the help of our hand over theirs. I realized at one point that the T looked like a crucifix so as I guided the child's hand, I prayed for them to one day know the Lord and for them to know the cross that they were tracing. It was only me and God that knew what I was doing and it made it so much more powerful.
I am with all ages of kids in India. In the morning I teach pre-school and in the afternoon I tutor 8 and 9 year olds. The girls in the afternoon are amazing. They just want to be with you and love you and hug you. It's beautiful. It was so heartbreaking though the other day when one of the little girls came up to me with tears rolling down her cheeks. She told me she missed her daddy. It kills me. I look at the world and how messed up it is and I plead for restoration. I'm learning though how little by little the earth can be pieced together by prayer. Nothing could have comforted her in that moment except the love of her ultimate Father who promises to "never leave or forsake" her. So I laid my hands on her fragile little shoulders and started to pray. In seconds I could feel her sobs lessen, her breathing return to normal and a rush of peace flow through her body. Nothing can take away pain like the love of our Father. Nothing. And this isn't just for children, amen? If you see someone hurting, don't be a wimp and keep your prayers to yourself, be bold and go pray for them. There is POWER in the spoken word.
I've been struggling a lot this week with the questions Harvey has been having. He challenges me with the things he deals with,I guess because I deal with the same things. Like why are our friends falling away from God? Why does He allow us to stray? This week God has been revealing answers to me. I've been learning that we are the ones who walk away from God, he NEVER walks away from us. Or.. the sheep walks away from the Shepard, the Shepard NEVER walks away from the sheep. The word sheep has never been a term of endearment. They are dirty creatures. Hundreds of years ago when sheep would wander away from the flock, the Shepard would break its leg and carry the sheep over his shoulders and feed it out of his hand. After the leg heals, the sheep is so in love with the shepard because it was taken care of and watched so closely- It relies on Him now. We were given life to depend on God, so if you feel crippled, it's not without purpose. He wants you to grow to need Him and be fed by Him alone.
I also got the chance to sit out on the porch with Yesupadam today. He is so wise and insightful. It is such a blessing to be here. All the money in the world couldn't pay for the knowledge and wisdom I am receiving at Love-n-Care. Today though we talked about how to counsel our friends... how the most important thing to remember is identifying ourselves with those we are advising. The greatest example of this is Paul in N.T. The bible says that he went to the third heaven..He could have boasted and pridefully thought he was better than everyone else. Instead, he not only relates with the people he writes to, he considers himself the "worst of sinners".
We all go through dry spots in our walk with God. The enemy will tell us that we are worthless, guilty and scum of the earth. But the first thing we need to remember and grasp a hold of is the promise in Romans 8 that there is "no condemnation in Christ". When we remember that God is our "daddy" and loves us unconditionally we can start to loosen the chains that weigh us down by shame and disgrace. It's good to know too that it's not us that is doing wrong, it is our sin. People will tell us to "pray and read the bible"- but honestly sometimes you feel paralyzed, like you can't read scripture and you can't pray. But God says in 2 Chronicles 20 that " the battle is not yours, it is God's". When we feel like the enemy is beating us senseless and there is no air to grasp in the middle of his spiritual suffixation-we need to know not to be afraid or discouraged. All we need to do is "stand firm and see deliverance". Give thanks to God for where you are at.. suffering for God produces righteousness. He will fight the battle for you, and when He wins it for you, you will be like Juduah and Jerusalem and fall down in worship before the Lord. When we think we are alone, we never are. The bible says that God's eyes are "fixed on you". Rest in that, it was a great lesson to learn.
Anyways, that is all for now. I'm learning new things every day. It's amazing the wisdom the Lord is showing me. Continue to pray for me. There are panthers and cheetahs and cockroaches here. Oh Lord help me. ha.

The Year of God's Presence

They say the grass is greener on the other side, and without a doubt India is greener and much sweeter. Everything from the banana's to the bread to the coffee-natural or man-made, life and food here have the ability to make your heart curve up into an over-joyed, mouth gaping, teeth showing grin. Everything and everyone is so beautiful. I read this morning in Colossians that " whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." This verse describes the children with such accuracy, you'd have to see it to believe me though. They never approach you with a shallow "Hey, what's up?"..instead " Bless you sister, praise God for this day!"- Little four year old girls say this..can you imagine? I wake up every morning at 5 am to the praise and worship coming from the school downstairs. The light breeze whisps past my bed, almost like the Holy Spirit coming in to tell me it's time to get up..and with that I know my day will be good, not because of my circumstances, but because of His deep desire to be with me.
There has been a huge revival here the past few days. A well-known pastor has been coming and speaking to Vizag . People have been healed in the name of Jesus. I've seen a woman get her hearing back, another woman cured of her cancer, still another man cured of his blindness. Salvation has come to hundreds of people the last three days and it's with great honor and humility to see God change hearts right in front of my eyes. If you are reading this and you're not a christian, believe on the miracles that I've been witnessing. Its all so crazy and so real. I was told a few weeks prior to my coming that a villiage woman was raised from the dead when people from the church prayed over her. The US doesn't see these kinds of miracles because we don't rely on Him.. we rely on doctors, health insurance and ourselves. They don't have that here though. I love the speakers and the pastors because they don't sit on a rock and preach until they are blue in the face.. sure they have a message, but most of their time is spent healing and prophesying and through that, God shows His mighty power and strength. It's a testimony of His existence and people run back with great excitement to tell their families. It reminds me of Jesus' ministry.
The most powerful thing I've seen so far though was last night at the revival. The speaker called us up on stage in front of thousands of people. He had the crowd raise their hands up to God and then sway them back and forth. They looked like wheat blowing in the wind. He encouraged us with the story in Matthew about how the harvest is ready but the workers are few. Last night though, he told us to look out at all the thirsty people craving to know Jesus more and said that the workers ARE ready.. it's time to reap the harvest. It was incredible and so true. This is the year of God's presence in India. Exodus 33:14 says " the Lord replied 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'" God is giving people rest here-He is healing them of anxiety, shame, disgrace, and all sorts of diseases. He wants so bad to do the same in us.
Pray without ceasing, love without bounds, and know that God cares for your life, otherwise He wouldn't have sent His son to die for it. Love you all! I'm missing home so much, but I'm so content where God has me. By the way.. apparently the rumors of Cobra's are true. The missonary's son just found a 6 foot long snake skin. ahh haha.