::Where Our Feet Will Go::

Craig and I are getting really excited about India as the time of our departure draws near. The Call for missions however is not just for India. The gospel is needed everywhere!  Wherever the Lord has placed us is where we are called to represent Christ and for now that is here in America in our neighborhoods, dorm rooms and wherever else we may find ourselves. Missions is a lifestyle that we are all called to as Disciples of Jesus Christ. With these things in mind we are very ecstatic to have this unique opportunity to serve in a country where few know the good news of Jesus Christ.

Here is a list of things we will be doing in India during our two months there. 

• Conducting programs at schools, orphanages and for street kids in the slums. The programs will include sharing our testimonies through interpreters, playing music, teaching Bible stories, playing games etc. 

• Traveling to villages through connections with national partners (through missionary contacts) and sharing the gospel, telling Bible stories and sharing testimonies. 

• Assisting Kolkata Christian fellowship in medical clinics: We would help with pre-clinic interview and share the gospel through this medium. 

• Doing street evangelism at local universities, sharing our testimonies and handing out bible stories/ tracks.

• Assisting with Childcare of IMB missionaries and working with their youth. 

• We will also be traveling to Thailand for a short period of time to assist with a IMB Conference being held in Chiangmai. 

::The Journey::

"Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you."         -George Whitfield

Life itself is a journey; it is embedded with the dreams of mankind to have significance, and to find love and acceptance. As a child of GOD every stop on the journey has the potential to change the lives of the oppressed, the searching, the lost and the countless weary travelers and spiritual seekers who have sold their lives in pursuit of purpose and happiness beyond the corruption, duplicity and incapabilities of society to fulfill the innate longing of the human soul. There is no doubt that the world is united in a pursuit for happiness, peace and truth. Everyone is on the search but few seem to find the treasure that they set out to find. Life is a journey, but a lonely wandering indeed without the reality of Jesus...of GOD. We can search through every continent, in every shrine and temple, and yet will continue unsatisfied because the truth remains that GOD alone is where real peace will be found. It is in following Him, accepting His gift of love, His gift of forgiveness and reconciliation, that we will truly find ourselves. Yes, I am headed for India, but as I have been preparing my mind and heart for the journey ahead I keep coming back to the question, "What does it really look like to live life here on earth, as a sojourner and as a child of the living GOD?" One thing is definite: that a life fully surrendered to GOD will be a life full of joy, rooted in purpose, full of love and full of a peace and a satisfaction that no pleasure of the world could ever compare with. Will it cost you your life? Yes. But in surrendering your life, there you will find life. Have you fully surrendered your life to GOD? So many people around me have already planned out their entire lives, have 'figured it all out' and in the process of believing that they have successfully planned their life of ease and leisure are on a fast track to living their whole lives for a dream that will have no significance in eternity. In the book of James it says, "Listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If it is the Lords will, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil."(4:13~15) Life is the journey, but let us not forget to live every moment of it, filled with the love and passion of Christ. The lost, the hungry, the weary, the broken, the misguided travelers are all around us. wherever our journey takes us they will be there. There will be struggles and victories, sorrows and joys, hardships and comforts along the path, yet Christ will be sufficient for us through it all. Join me in this life of a sojourner, living life here for the Lord while looking ahead to our home in heaven.

::A Sure Consistency::

2012 has run its course, been lived and made its place in history.  A new year has come and with it an endless list of uncertainties. I cannot help but be reminded of how fickle we really are as humans. I cannot control whether or not I wake up tomorrow, whether I will be healthy, whether I will be able to speak in the morning, where the chance of time will take me...the list goes on. I do not even know if I will live past this year or even past this day... Life is full of uncertainties. What is at bay this year for each of us is only known by GOD. No matter what plans we make or how detailed we make our schedules, the reality is that our lives are just a mist and we do not even know what will happen tomorrow. In the book of James it is written, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. In stead you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that'."
Only GOD knows what will happen this year and this is precisely my point. In the midst of such a chaotic world where so much uncertainty, fear and unanswered questions exist, there is One who will always remain consistent in our Lives. Our job as humans is not to have all the answers but to have faith in the One who does have all the answers. To love Him, follow Him, live for Him, trust in Him and delight in Him in the midst of all the valleys and peaks that life will bring us through. Will there be struggles and trials along the way? Indeed, there will be. Yet, as Christians out hope does not rest on our circumstances but rather in the GOD whom we believe in and worship. May our trust be in Him alone this year, no matter what we go through, in the joys and the sorrows He is Lord, He is our Savior, our shield and our hope forever. Praise HIM