Junior | Pepperdine

Going to India was never on my to-do list. I wasn’t even planning on going to missions this year because of internships but my schedule started clearing up and circumstances started to align. I felt like the Lord was calling me to go but I was still very hesitant because I was in a season of my life where obeying the Lord seemed scary. I learned that obeying God didn’t always mean that everything would be smooth sailing. I recently went through one of the hardest seasons of my life after I obeyed the Lord; although I did grow a lot from it. However, I chose, once again, to trust the Lord and obey. No matter how hard missions may be, I believed that if God was calling me to go, He would be there with me. 

Going to India missions turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. God revealed to me what a true heart of desperation and love looked like. I saw examples of faithful men and women of God who lived out a Christian life that I’ve only conceptualized. At our home base in India, we had morning prayer every day at 5:00 AM with the missionaries and the staff. I was in awe at the way, every morning, these people would pray with such fervor and desperation for their neighbors and families. The wife of the missionary there shared with us that it does get discouraging to see no change in the people you pray for every single day and that she has gotten bitter. However, once she lifted that bitterness to the Lord and asked the Lord for a heart for the people, He would once again soften her heart and she would end up in tears praying for the community of unbelievers around her. It’s amazing to witness the fruit of her prayers as many of the people who opposed them at first were now a part of the staff at the home base. I began to understand the importance of daily, fervent prayer and the importance of the trust that goes into praying to God and believing He will answer. 

I also began to understand a bit more of God’s heart for those who did not yet know Christ. India is a hard place for Christians to live because of the way their society was built on Hinduism. There is persecution of Christians and shunning of family members who get baptized. Christian females are forced into Hinduism because their husbands are Hindus. Evangelizing is illegal in certain states and dangerous overall. The work of the enemy is also very prevalent in India. People believe in Hinduism and continue in their traditions because they experience consequences when they go against it. One of the staff at our homebase shared how Hindus have to pay tribute to their ancestors every year and if they don’t, they will get sick. I thought it was just superstition but when I asked her about it she told me matter-of-factly that they get sick. I was shocked by how physically evident the work of the enemy was. As I learned about these conditions and interacted with the people there my heart began to break for them. My prayers for the people of India became desperate and I began to be more intentional during ministry times. I then began to think. There are also unbelievers in America as well. So many on my very own campus. I began to pray that the Lord would open up opportunities for me to share the Gospel with these precious souls near me. I wouldn’t do it by my strength but watch where the Lord is moving and follow Him there. 

In India, no one can afford to live a lukewarm Christian life because the conditions do not allow it; you’re either Christian or you’re not. Whereas in America, we have freedom of religion and distractions that pull us away from the Christian life. After coming back from missions, I decided that I did not want to live out a lukewarm Christian life. I wanted to live in fervent prayer and develop a skill in applying the Word to my life so that I can live missionally even at home. I want to continuously fix my mind, heart, and soul on the Lord.