Senior | Biola

“No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.”  - Isaiah 54:17

Coming into STSM, my idea of what missions would look like in India was very unclear. I had heard the stories and testimonies of past India teams, but I found that even my view of the country was muddled. Through this mission trip, the Lord opened my eyes to my misconceptions, sins, and the unrest of my soul by showing me that He is very much the same God in India and that He is raising a generation of believers amidst the darkness. I’ve fallen in love with the country, the beautiful creation that God has carefully crafted, especially the people – an enamoring for the children, students, disciples, teachers, pastors, and missionaries. I also experienced the breaking of my heart for their struggles and the brokenness around them, and the necessity of desperate prayer for the Lord, truly crying out to Him in a way that I hadn’t before.

What I learned since the first morning prayer session at St. Paul School was that the crux of their school and ministry was desperate, longing, yearning prayer to the Lord. I learned to be thankful for the seeds that are being sown in the people, whether it be the students, their families, or the surrounding people of Jalpaiguri. Even in the face of idolatry and persecution, I saw God using His servants to minister to all, opening their doors and humbly serving God in such a pure and reverent way. The joy in which they served could only be explained by God’s goodness. Idols made of wood, silver, and gold will never satisfy the soul. True joy only comes from Jesus. Our hearts long to seek Him out knowing that nothing and no one can cleanse us of all sin and give us the ultimate gift of salvation.

God's beauty was on full display during this trip. Seeing Him be exalted to the highest in song and praise in a language that I didn’t understand yet fully knowing that they were praising the same God – this was one of the most beautiful truths that God revealed during this trip – that He is very much the same God in India as He is back home. He is just as powerful, just as loving, just as wise, and He is moving through these people in ways that we can’t always see. But even in our unbelief He makes the blind see and the deaf hear, what a great God He is.

God gave me so much regarding what I got to observe of His kingdom work, but I graciously blessed so much through the power of His healing and the answering of prayers. God used me in all my weaknesses to witness to the locals and share His word with them, something I never imagined doing. In those moments when I was presented with these chances to serve Him, I was initially filled with so much anxiety and nervousness. I was overcome with the inadequacies of my flesh and the feeling of being unworthy to share God’s word in this manner. I’m weak, yes, but God is strong enough to achieve these feats. He always has been and always will be. So when we truly call on Him through our prayer and worship, His strength fills us up and bolsters us in our shortcomings. Through trusting and abiding in the Lord's strength, He provided me the scripture of Matthew 10:19-20, which states, “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” In the moments before sharing the gospel and His goodness with locals, I was fearful and anxious. My tongue was tied. But when I finally confided in Him and sat down to share, all manner of limitation by my flesh was lifted, for it was the Holy Spirit that was speaking through me at that moment. This verse became God’s meditation for me for this trip. That I would trust that the Holy Spirit would be the one speaking through me. That he would deliver the right words in a manner in which only He can and the people of India would be blessed through these words.

This was my trip. Growing in my trust in God, not only in our ministry but in my prayer. He was and is strong enough to handle all of my burdens, so He calls us to be desperate in prayer to Him, to cry out and yearn for change and healing in the lives of those around us. To believe that He is the one true God that stands against all the falsehoods of man. Do not put limitations on God, trust Him with everything for Jesus already paid the price of the sin that weighs you down so heavily. My heart for India has grown so much and now moving past this mission trip, my prayer is that I will be more missional in the way that I think, pray, and act in my daily life by living out the lessons that God graciously revealed to me during this trip.