Saturday morning started off great....in a cool, comfortable hotel room even though I had to wake up a little early to dress my wound and make sure that it was safe from the elements. We made sure all of our things were packed before we went downstairs for breakfast.....and the reality hits! We are headed home TODAY!!! Like, a little after midnight we'll be boarding a plane to head back to the US. It’s over!! It’s so bittersweet because in one way, I do miss being able to talk with my family, small group and friends, and I’m excited to see them, but I know that there is so much work to do to share the true gospel with the people here that I don’t want to leave. As I said in my last post, I know what awaits me at home and I know how easy it is to let this just be an experience and then to get sucked back into the materialism and the fleshly desires of this world and to not be intentional to pray for the people I’ve spent the past week living alongside. And, it was just a week!!! 7 days we were in the country (3 full days of travel make the total trip 10 days, but we were only in the country 7 days)!! I remember the first conversation I had with Spencer about the agenda as he reminded me how hot it was going to be (which he felt the need to do every time we talked about India).....all I could think was, “WOW....this is AMBITIOUS!!!” And, when I say “ambitious,” what I really mean is “I don’t see any way possible that we will be able to do this in this kind of heat and still be effective witnesses of the gospel.” WELL....little did I know (truly, I do know this, but I get reminders on a daily basis because I forget it often), God has this whole thing rigged! In ways I can’t really describe, He sustained us, He energized us, He gave us the words to speak and allowed us more opportunities to share His love, grace and mercy than I could’ve imagined.
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| The BrookHills Young Single's well |
Now, onto what we did Saturday....after breakfast, we loaded our luggage into the taxis and headed out to visit the Neverthirst office in Kolkata. Andrew and Roshni taught us a little more in depth about the differences between the 2 programs that are in place at Neverthirst and how they operate differently. They have a program called Water is Life and the other is the Adopt-a-Village program. The one that was the focus of our visit was the Adopt-a-Village program, so we got to see first-hand what goes into the efforts associated with this program.....and it’s totally worth every cent donated to the organization. I’m sure that any of us would be more than happy to share with you why when you have time. After spending a little more fellowship time at the office, we then prayed over all of the prayer requests for the month of May together as a group and gave God praises for the things that He has already done and is continuing to do to bring His great name great glory amongst these people by meeting a physical need that leads to the ability to be able to meet their spiritual need, which only can happen through Christ.
After our visit at the Neverthirst office, we did a little sight-seeing in Kolkata before heading to the airport to fly to Delhi. And, to be honest, I have mulled over what to say in this paragraph for about a month now, which is why this post is so late in getting finished. I want my heart to be communicated clearly and I haven’t been sure how to do that, so I’m just going to try....and hopefully you will see a glimpse of what I saw. Our first visit in Kolkata was to Mother Teresa’s house. This was, well, interesting to say the least. Honestly, it was quite creepy, to be completely blunt!! They have literally memorialized EVERYTHING of hers!! And, by everything, yes, I mean everything down to her toothbrush! There were Saris that she wore, her china and silverware, quotes from her and many, many more things that they had displayed in display case after case. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I completely understand that Mother Teresa was a very influential person and she did some amazing work, specifically amongst the “untouchables” in East India. However, the thing that bothered me most was that her theology was “Jesus +.....” not “Jesus alone.” Scripture knows nothing of “Jesus +....” and it broke my heart to see the wonderful works that this woman did and how she literally gave her life to this work, but when you measure her life against what scripture says, I am not certain that she lived by faith alone. The reason that I say this is because of various quotes of hers posted throughout the display hall and on pamphlets that were handed to us where she clearly pointed to Jesus + a work (be it the rosary, ministry activities, or any other good work). The point here is that, again, scripture knows only faith in Christ for salvation, not plus anything else...including the rosary or any ministry activity. the other thing that struck me to the core was that so many people were there to come and see this place. In a country that already worships more false gods than you or I can imagine, they are coming to visit a place where a woman did such great works, but all of these remnants of her mortal life are memorialized here. Now, I do measure her life against the words of Paul written from prison found in Philippians 1:15-18, “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” So, I have no doubt that God used her life to lead people to Himself, but I do believe that many are deceived still.
Not to be so hard on Mother Teresa because you may very well be asking, “well, you hypocrite, you travel to the other side of the planet to share the gospel, isn’t that a work?” And, my answer is, definitely, that is a work! I don’t deny that a bit, but I don’t do it to earn my salvation. My salvation is secure in Christ (and was secure in Christ) alone before I ever realized that only 5% of the world’s population lives in the United States of America, which was the only place I ever felt the need to share His gospel for years! God has used various events in the past 6 years to transform my heart to show me a love for a people on the other side of this world that I can’t explain in words.....it’s simply a matter of trusting Him and following Him where He leads....with no reservations! It’s following the words of Christ as he explains the cost of following him in Luke 9:57-62, “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of god.’ Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my house.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” Note the urgency here....and what’s so scare to me is that these men were with Christ, in the flesh!!! And, they had doubts and they had earthly desires that they wanted to take care of first. And, Jesus said, “no.” The reason that’s so scary to me is that how much more do we want to take care of the worldly things first, then follow Him; when what He’s saying is to follow Him.....period! No reservations, nothing held back.....follow Him! So, the question, then, isn’t, “are you willing to work for your faith?”, but rather, “how is God going to work through you because of your faith?” And, that’s what I hope you’ll see through the stories here and through my life as well because I hope that my faith is evident by everything that God calls me to do. And, yes, I ask the Lord every day, “Is this still where you want me today?” Today, I have confirmation that I’m EXACTLY where I’m supposed to be in the job that He’s given to me to hopefully be an influence to those He’s entrusted to me in that setting and to lead the amazing ladies in my small group that He’s entrusted to me. Now, as for tomorrow, I’ll ask Him again, “is this where you want me to be today?” and I’ll wait for His answer. Because I have found that life outside of His will is miserable, even though you can be surrounded by friends and a host of other “good” things of this world. But, I’m convinced that to be in the middle of a hut on the other side of the world in heat over 110-degrees Fahrenheit with humidity like I’ve never experienced in the USA in my life with no power and a pretty large wound on my hand is far better than living a mediocre life with good things and selfish pleasures in the comforts of the USA.
I completely realize that I’m posting this on July 4....the day that we celebrate our independence as a nation and I know exactly what I just wrote in that last paragraph. I get the inconsistencies, I promise I do. Please know that I do love the freedoms that we celebrate here in the USA. But, as I celebrate in this, my mind can’t help but drift to the only freedom that exists to man and that’s freedom in Christ and there are people who live on this planet in places where they will be born, live their whole life and die without having the opportunity to hear His gospel!! These places exist, so in the celebration of our nation’s independence, my mind drifts to these people and my heart hurts because they don’t know the only giver of life and peace in Christ.
To be honest, I’m not really sure how to close this one out, other than to say that after our visit to Mother Teresa’s house, we headed to the airport to fly to Delhi, which began the journey back to where I am today.....completely certain that for today, I’m supposed to be here in Birmingham, AL. And, as for tomorrow, I’ll see what God’s answer is to the question of, “where would you have me today?”
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