HUDSON LEE

I decided to go on missions this past summer primarily because I wanted to see God’s work in other countries. And for the first half of my mission trip to South India, I was blessed to see and meet countless people through whom God was working to advance his kingdom. While the heat, humidity, fatigue, sickness, could be difficult at times, they did not compare to the joy of doing ministry where I was able to witness firsthand the effects of the gospel in people’s lives. In spite of some challenges, the first two weeks was a comfortable experience for me that gave me so much joy and fulfillment. 

In particular, I loved the opportunity to disciple students at St. Paul High School in Bangalore. Monday through Friday, we would lead discipleship groups with 8th, 9th, and pre-university students for an hour each. While some were Christian, most came from Muslim or Hindu families. We would lead them through the core ideas of Christianity, and all the while asking them questions about their own faith and answering any questions they had. This was my first experience actively having to explain the gospel to non-Christians, and it filled me with so much joy and purpose to be able to talk to the students everyday. All the students spoke of their religion’s salvation through the lens of humans earning salvation and favor from a god. So as I shared my testimony and defined my beliefs again and again, that only by God’s grace are we as sinners saved, I felt my own faith being sharpened and refined and reaffirmed. The liberation and freedom of the gospel was made so clear to me as I heard the contrast in students’ sharing about karma and works-based salvation. And seeing some students come to this realization was worth all of the fatigue and discomfort of the trip. 

But towards the end of the trip, my team and I went to Varanasi, which is a holy city for Hindus. The travel portion of our trip was focused on praying over cities, and thus was far less tangible or fruitful for me to experience. In Varanasi, the city is filled with Hindu temples with people practicing rituals and worship and prayer on every street to countless Hindu gods. Varanasi is also where Hindus come to bathe themselves in the Ganges River, which they believe to be holy. People cremate their dead and dump the ashes into the river, while still others bathe themselves in the water. The general environment of the city did not fill me with sadness and compassion, but instead filled me with judgment and disdain. I thought to myself that God could not let such an evil city to exist, let alone be saved. 

Yet as I left the city, I was convicted of my lack of faith in God’s plan and sovereignty. We were told to pray over the city and to ask God to soften the hearts of its people, but I felt myself become filled with despair over the city. I doubted in my heart that God could redeem such a broken place. But who was I to deem what God could save and what He could not, especially as I was such a lost sinner myself? And despite their idolatry and spiritual darkness, I saw just how fervent Indians were in their faith, even if it was in the wrong things. The people of India are fierce in their faith. Countless people from the surrounding villages make 50 kilometer pilgrimages barefoot to collect water from the Ganges river and to bathe themselves in the river. Hindus living in Varanasi regularly wake up at 4 a.m. to bring water from the river and offer it at their temples as sacrifice. While it broke my heart to see them put their faith so blindly into the wrong things, it also gave me hope for the future of India. I am confident that as more of India becomes Christian, God will use them so mightily to advance His kingdom throughout the world. Though they believe in lies and deceptions, they sacrifice so much of their lives and energies to their beliefs. How much more would their devotion and religious fervor become if they discovered the truth and freedom that we have in Jesus? All of this encouraged my own faith, as I found greater hope to pray for the people of India with confidence that God’s plan is always in motion even in the midst of our sin.