India.

F I V E   D A Y S  

   until we head out.

It seems surreal. 

Months & months & months ago, God put India on my heart. I thought it was really random, because I have never wanted to go there before... but about 6 or 7 months ago, God kept putting the people of India in my mind or I would see movies about India... in my heart I knew I would be there one day. When preparing for YWAM, people would often ask me where I was going on outreach. I would tell them I didn't have any idea, but that I really felt it would be India because God had planted this nation in my mind.

...Well, now it's June & I'm leaving super soon for  india. It's so cool how God speaks & works things out. We've been hearing some really intense things about India... lots of hard things, BUT I still have every confident in the world that God has a HUGE plan for our trip & that it is without one doubt the place I am supposed to be.

So we leave @ 4:30am on June 13. We are flying to Seattle. From Seattle to Seoul, S Korea. From there to Delhi, India, where we will be taking a   26 H O U R train ride to Kolkata! We will spend our first couple of days exploring the city & getting familiar with our surroundings. Then we will partner with the base there & come alongside of them & the work they have been doing. The first month will be spent there. I know that we will be working in Mother Theresa homes, in red light districts, & with kids of prisoners. That's all I know right now about Kolkata.

We will spend our second month in the city of Varanasi. This is like the mecca of Hinduism. Lots of spiritual oppression- the Ganges River runs through Varanasi. Hindus believe the river brings healing, forgiveness & salvation. So people offer sacrifices, cremate people on the steps, drink, bathe & place dead bodies in the water. It's super sad, because people are trying to gain forgiveness & be healed in this water that is filthy & filled with disease. Thousands of people go there daily.  I'm not sure of what type of work we will be doing in Varanasi, but clearly there is a great need for the beautiful, free Gospel of Grace in this city & I pray we have plenty of opportunities to love these people.

If you'd like to pray, here are the ways you can:

     / / pray for the safety & health of our team as we travel & adjust to the Indian culture. 

         we've heard that people get super stomach sick in India & that the culture makes all

         of your senses go crazy. smells. sounds. sights. feels. tastes. everything. it's apparently 

         like overload.

     / / pray that God would prepare relationships for us over there & give us plenty of conversations.

     / / pray for boldness for our team. I know I want to be led by His spirit & don't want to doubt 

         what He is capable of doing. I know I want to be used by Him, too. 

     / / Brokenness over these people. Compassion & LOVE. Pray that He gives us HIS heart 

         for this country. He is already working there, we just get to be a part of it.

     / / Salvation. That God would awaken the sleeping hearts of these people & 

         they would understand the Gospel.

     / / Spiritual warfare & oppression.

That's all I know for now.

I'm so so so blessed to be here & to have this opportunity! God is so good & I'm excited to see the ways He is working in India. He has a huge love for that country & I get to somehow see a small glimpse of it. It will be amazing & I can't wait to tell all of you about it!

Thanks to all of you that are supporting me. Thanks for praying. Thanks for reading. I'm blessed by you & grateful for each one of you. Feel free to email me with any questions or comment or whatever...

Love you all.

xo