I haven't posted in a while for a number of reasons. The main reason being that I haven't had wifi for 10 days and counting. Those closest to me have likely pronounced me dead as I have unwillingly neglected to respond to their messages. Please know that we are safe and healthy. There is no emergency. We have run into a vexing situation with our Indian family and the set of expectations they had for our stay here as they do not mirror our own.
I won't berate a group of generous and faithful people on the Internet. I especially won't do that when it will be seen by people they don't know in a setting where they can't defend themselves. I'm not that kind of a person and it is unfair to them. We have a host family of Indian nationality as I've mentioned before. They are an incredible group of believers with vision unlike any family I've ever seen. When we fell in their laps back in January, we had a purpose given to us both by God and by our American supervisors in the company. Those purposes are, although ministry related, very different from this family's own purposes. We now see that a series of misfires in communication between our company and this family, has left our schedule in the hands of Indians who arrange it under false pretenses. This is very dangerous for two young men who have clear goals in mind and not a lot of time to see them through. We need to be efficient and effective. It is challenging to be either when we are being pulled in different directions in a culture that is resistant to the idea of planning.
On Valentine's Day we awoke with news from the father telling us that we were going to the village he is from. We knew of the plan to take this trip the first week of March and were wondering why he was telling us something we already knew. He then added that the trip has been moved up indefinitely and that we were leaving that day. We ended up leaving in the afternoon and spent four hours on the road with just enough time to eat dinner and drive right back home to Bangalore that night. Later that week, after we regained stability and control over our time, news reached us that we were taking a week-long trip to the same village. This wouldn't have been a problem aside from the fact that all of our savings were surrendered to fund the trip, our Indian phones were out of money and useless and our wifi wasn't working and there would be none in the village. I was completely broke, taking a trip into the middle of nowhere, with no clear purpose explained. My parents had no clue where I was or what I was doing. I speak for both me and my teammate when I say that we hit our lowest point that week. We were starting to come into our own in our college ministry. We had good contacts and leads coming our way as we sought out a new fellowship to start inviting our Indian friends to. Everything was piecing together again. Hours before we knew about our impromptu trip, we had a student admit that he needed Christ in his life. We were soaring that evening until our wings were clipped with this news that our ministry must be paused for a week. The mother claimed that strike day (a couple of days each year in which all stores and public transportation services do nothing) is very hazardous and that riots happen as the city becomes dangerous. Although that wasn't the full truth (because we drove through the city and everything was normal), we knew we couldn't refuse the family's request. We lost control. We were mad.
We hoped the village would provide good opportunities for ministry so the trip wouldn't be a complete lost cause but there were no English speakers to teach or translators to work with. There was no work for us to do there. We would frequently ask what we could do to help. There was never a task that needed our assistance. We were supposed to rest on this compound built around a mountain range with no civilization for miles. There is a Christian school in its last stages of construction with a dedication coming soon. We wanted to help with building work but they gave us the job of removing specks of paint from the desks for one hour for a couple days. It wasn't difficult as much as it was aggravating. Aggravating int he sense that we knew we could have been painting or laying brick but they insisted that we not work and go rest. There was literally nothing to do but seek God. Our options were to seek Him, sleep, or stare blankly at a wall for a week. I'll let you guess which one we chose.
Our "house" sat at the foot of a hill/mountain. I had only seen its silhouette set against a starry sky on our previous trip as we rode back in the night. We would ascend the mountain twice every day to do our alone time with God. We climbed to reach the highest parts of the rocky hill that gave us a view of the entire village and all the surrounding ones miles away. Some of the mountains and valleys looked like the places I see in my mind's eye as I read Bible stories. I felt like I was thrown back thousands of years into the past. Stones and sand met water and vegetation across a rural landscape. Monkeys and bats sheepishly come out of their caves as we leave every night. That hill means a lot to me. As it turns out, the parents of the family have quite a history up there as well. They have gone up before us for years to pray and fast. God has audibly spoken to the father up there and called him to ministry on that hill. His father before him had a similar experience and they claim that all the prayers they pray up there have been answered and that God provides on the mountain. This affirmed what we had been feeling all week. Perhaps our time up on the mountain was the reason behind this unexpected and inconvenient excursion.
The more time we spent up there, the better we felt. God really put us at ease and spoke clearly about who we are to Him. We felt assurance that we are on the right track and that He is pleased with our work. He wants us to continue to preach with boldness and love and let salvation be the work of the Spirit. He saves people. We don't have that power. The Story of the Lamb is greater than any little tactic I learned during training week. I trust in that Story. He told me not to be afraid of failure in a "numbers-driven" community waiting for us back home. I remembered to trust His faithfulness again. He came through before and we saw good things occasionally. He won't neglect our crying out for fruit and for opportunity. We love this city and its people and He knows that. We pray according to His will. We are learning that our fervent intercession for our friends here in Asia and back home is something that pleases God. I found joy in that discipline. I learned that Jesus' teaching of seed scattering is pointing to the truth that I need to develop His patience in my life. I may not see the purpose or fruit or vision behind what happens here (both in the village and Bangalore) for years. God plans to do so much more that I could ever think up on my own or schedule out in a few months. His work is ongoing and powerful. We could come back with no disciples and not come back failures. That's what He told me. He told me ministry is a calling that I've been given. It may take me back to the field. It might be India or it might not. I may never come back to the field. I may only do short-term stuff. The point is that He loves the fire and hunger we have to find the lost and show them Jesus. We hate days when we don't get to share. We take our work very seriously and we labor hard in the field. Our supervisor and family are constantly trying to make us take a break. They want us to have fun days for ourselves sometimes. We won't give ourselves that until we feel like we've earned it. We have so much work to do and too much time has been wasted as it is. We have urgency and drive that is alarming some of our peers and superiors. We just hate seeing a nation yearn for the divine so sincerely and earnestly without ever seeing the Truth. I hate that Satan is running amok with billions buying into his lies. I can't rest with that on the doorstep. That (among other things) was what I learned on the mountain. My purpose is clear. I wanted to go back to Bangalore.
We did eventually get back and on our way out the door to leave we were told we needed to come back again in a few days. We respectfully refused to do so. We have so much to do and the clock is ticking. Our prayer is that the family will come to grips with the reality that we are not here to rest. They are under the impression that we are simply wanting to experience culture, take a holiday and see the world. They also have a culture that treats 21 year old men as boys. To them we aren't even close to adults and you aren't seen as independent until you are 30 or so. You live with your parents until then in India and sometimes married couples stay with the parents. They see us in the same light as their middle school sons because we are unmarried. They don't know that I moved away from my parents and worked to make money all while going to school three years ago. We consider 18 year olds to be more independent and adult-like with mature responsibilities in America. We gave them the benefit of the doubt out of respect and understanding the cultural barrier. Communication between them and the company has been poor and dug us into a hole. We are lab rats for this company and are trying something new for them. We are mapping the city's hot spots for ministry and telling them what is working and where it's working. Village trips with no planning or purpose are a real hindrance to that vision and we are making changes to loosen the bonds we have with them. They are terrific and we have nothing but respect for their ministry. It's just not why we are here.
So, as usual, I will end with prayer requests. We just came out on the other end of an extremely rough time of wrestling with God and with our circumstances. God has spoken and given grace and we are back home with something of a fresh start. Pray for the family to be open-minded as we slowly divorce ourselves from their ministry. Pray for the plow we intend to lay our hand to as we move onward. We have more leads and contacts that we know what to do with and could really get a lot done in a couple months time. Pray for the hearts of the people here to be convicted of their sin so they can see a need for Christ in their lives. Pray that we are given opportunities to follow through with people. Sharing is easy. Discipleship is hard as the culture is comprised of flaky individuals who struggle to keep their word. We are fine. We are healthy and are back on track. Your prayers Helped get us through the hardest week so far. God's strength will get us back to you in one piece. May God do whatever He needs to to make sure fruit comes. Even if it means we don't come back in one piece. We'll do anything. Whatever it takes.
