I. Being Called

For a while, I struggled with what it means to be "called" to go on missions. I had heard many people use that term, but did not know what that looked like. I would ask myself, ‘How do you know that it's God speaking, and not your own selfish desires or over-spiritualization of the situation?’. Nevertheless, others’ testimonies and a curiosity born from zero prior experience sparked my interest in missions. As it turned out, God called me loud and clear at this year’s Wintercon on the first night. I was very compelled by the speaker’s words, which were exactly, “Keep going until the Lord says no”. In other words, if there is nothing keeping you from going, take this opportunity to go. In a way that it had not before, it made perfect sense to me. While my natural response might have been to stay home for the summer after a whole semester abroad, in that moment, God reminded me of His sovereignty. Thus, I had nothing to fear, and the only natural response would be to obey and to go.  As someone who has a knack for overthinking, this mental clarity was surely supernatural. And by the grace of God, He removed obstacles that would keep me from going, making a clear way for me to be able to go this summer.

II. How God Spoke to Me

The best way to summarize my trip was that I re-discovered the joy of the Lord, and that it was truly my source of strength. Going into the trip, I realized that I could only rely on God. Thus, while in India, every morning I prayed the same prayer; “Lord, guard my heart; give me strength for today, because I can’t do it without You”. It was by adopting this posture that I was able to receive God’s strength and serve him tirelessly throughout the whole month. Furthermore, this godly joy drew from two truths: being saved, as well as being part of the body of Christ.

While I already knew about the joy that it is to be saved by Christ, I truly got to re-experience it through hearing others’ testimonies. Whether it was my teammates or locals sharing their stories, knowing that their lives were better because they gave their lives to Christ was a privilege, a beauty, and a joy to witness. In addition, this joy was also mine, which I was reminded of when I had to share my own testimony in the IEC Phuguri church. While initially hesitant when asked, I realized this was a God-given opportunity to share my testimony properly this time. In order to clearly demonstrate the difference in my life before and after truly knowing Christ, I heavily emphasized my idolatry of man’s approval even after being saved, and how it was only recently that I properly repented from that sin. The dance we performed after I finished, ‘The Joy’, felt like the cherry on top. I danced with all of my might, rejoicing in the fact that I was free from my sin and how God had used me that day. 

Something truly special about the body of Christ is how it unites all believers over all differences. While we are all different, we are all the same because of the God we believe in and worship. God revealed this truth to me on multiple occasions throughout the trip, but it was particularly memorable during our last week of ministry in Jaigaon, a city close to the Bhutan border. I was particularly blessed by the Small Group time with the youth leaders we were ministering to. Over the span of four days, we had the privilege of hearing their testimonies, sharing prayer requests, and making friendships. One particularly precious moment for me was when one of my Small Group members, a Bhutanese woman my age, was sharing her favorite Bible verses with me. In doing so, I was struck by the beauty of it all. Diving into the Word with someone halfway across the world and encouraging one another in doing so was a unique God-given opportunity. At that moment, I felt the borders between India, Bhutan, and the US dissolve, all because of our great and mighty God. In that same week, He also dissolved the borders between myself and my team during a prayer session with the girls on my team. That night, we were praying over some spiritual darkness and hardships that we were experiencing. As we were holding hands and lifting up our prayers, I glanced around the circle and was filled with joy and assurance. Up until that point, I had struggled with a sense of belonging on the team, as well as questioning the unity between the girls on the team. How wonderful it was that even though we may not all get along perfectly, because of the same God we worship, we can come together as sisters in Christ and support one another as God intended for us. Praise the Lord for his unifying power!

III. #send

After witnessing the power of prayer and being inspired by the local believers’ piety, I have a renewed desire to be more diligent in my spiritual disciplines, specifically prayer and reading the Bible. And after the blessings that God poured out onto me during my time in North India, the only appropriate response would be re-dedicating my life to Him. To put this in action, I have made personal commitments to read the Bible daily and have early morning prayer once a week. Furthermore, the sisterhood in Christ that I glimpsed and experienced in India is a cultureI want to help cultivate on my own campus. Truthfully and wholeheartedly, my biggest prayer request is that God will use me to help send more people at Pepperdine KCM out to the nations in the next couple of years. All the glory to God, Amen.