Ask and You Shall Receive

In January of last year I started praying about leaving my job and using this 'responsibility free season' of life to go overseas again. As I began day dreaming about moving to Africa to learn French or biking through Central America, I prayed that God would open up a door and make his will clear to me. (If God had a nickel for every time someone prayed for open doors...). In June I got an email from my church choir director telling us that our choir had been invited to participate in a short term mission trip...to India. I read the email on my phone, made a kind of squealy noise and immediately called my mom and told her I was moving to Asia. 

Any of you that know me could testify to the fact that I tend to get very excited about things very quickly. Two days had not passed before I was in the Global Hope India home office in Raleigh organizing my five month internship and the details of the trip. A few weeks later, however, I began to wonder if my excitement over bright colors, curry, nose rings and yoga had run away with me, yet agian. Was this my idea? Did God actually call me here? Have I taken time to listen to Him? My prayers shifted slightly in format and I found myself asking God less for direction and more for affirmation. After all, I speak Spanish, not Telugu. I’ve never wanted to go to Asia before in my life, why now? Sometimes even when God literally blows a door down, our hearts tend to doubt. 

Amazing as it is, God listens to our prayers and over the past few weeks I have been given glimpses of what I like to call the ‘master plan’, the seemingly mysterious weavings together that is God’s Kingdom unfolding. Being the annoyingly extroverted person that I am, I have noticed that God likes to use people to speak into my life. Here are stories of a few relationships that God has used to affirm his purpose and plan for my life this Spring.

Anita and Dileep: About a month ago I was sitting at a restaurant waiting for a friend when a couple came up and sat beside me at the bar. They looked Indian enough to me, so I asked them where they were from. Mumbai. Anita and I became immediate friends and by the end of our conversation we had exchanged emails and I had been offered a place to stay with her mother if I made it to their side of the country. I promised to teach the couple how to dance Salsa if they would teach me about Indian cooking so we set the dates and planned our our ‘lessons’. Welcoming each other into our homes, laughing, breaking bread and exchanging stories gave me my first insight into Indian culture and hospitality. I have to say that they picked up dancing much faster than I picked up seasoning chicken or making chai tea, but I have promised to bring back some recipes from my trip and to keep practicing. 

(Cooking at Anita and Dileep's house) 

Shabina and Chuck: I was introduced to Shabina, Chuck and Chuck’s parents two weeks ago at church after the choir was commissioned and our trip was prayed for at each Summit service that weekend. A common friend tracked both of us down and made sure that we connected before I left. Chuck’s father, Anajanibabu, was baptized last year at Summit, and to my great surprise he and his wife are from Ongole, the small coastal town I will be living in for my five month stay. If you believe in coincidences, check out google map and see how many times you have to zoom in before Ongole even appears! The older couple had been praying about being able to get involved with missions when they returned to India and you can imagine their surprise when they found out that the fastest growing church planting organization in the world was based- that’s right- in their home town. The five of us were able to pray together and Shabina lent me some of her clothes to get me through the first few weeks in the heat. I was again spoiled with Indian cooking at Shabina and Chuck’s house and I look forward to spending time with Anajanibabu (Jonny-Boo for short) and family IN India. 

(Meeting Anajanibabu and Wife at Church) 

Summit Community: From the time that I arrived back in Durham two years ago, God has not hesitated to surround me with people that challenge me, a congregation that loves me and a community to serve in and with. As our group of 60 choir members has been meeting, packing and praying together we have already seen God’s hand of favor upon us. Knowing that a larger congregation of two languages (woot woot Summit in Espanol!), 6 campuses and over 5000 people is praying for us, for India and for God’s will to be done in this trip absolutely blows my mind. 

(Goodbye Party with Summit Friends)

I have been using Shane Claiborne's Book of Common Prayer this last week in my quite time and I have found an amazing amount of assurance and peace in part of the liturgy for Comline prayer. "We may never see the results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own."  God calls us, God affirms us, God holds the future and God created the master plan. 

Thank you to all of you who have lifted me and our team up in prayer these last few weeks. We leave Friday evening at 6:00 and are hoping to be in Hyderabad by the following Monday morning. Until then!