Living Water

In India there is a serious problem. The water in India is very unsafe. Everywhere we went we carried 1 Liter bottles of bottled water. We had to stay hydrated to stay healthy, but the water coming from the faucet is unsafe for even brushing your teeth. This is a picture of Gabe, a little Indian boy. He is the son of our missionaries and has lived in India his entire life.

He is only about 6 years old, but still I cannot imagine living my whole life unable to drink the water from the faucet. Fortunately his parents do have a water filtration system in their house which saves them from having to buy water all of the time. However, there are literally million children in India who do have to drink the water from the faucet or go thirsty. These poor children develop viruses and diseases, and parasites that ail them because of the water they drink. This aspect of Indian life is one of the most heartbreaking to me. I want to quench their thirst.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
~John 4:13, 14

Rachel & Amol are trying to meet the physical needs of the community around them. They have dug wells in many places where they own buildings. Although people have told them that it cannot be done, that there is no water. Amol & Rachel are faithful and they dig wells anyway. Their obedience is blessed and they see water literally spring up from the ground up to 100 feet into the air. They share the new source with the people around them.

Open & Close Doors

"What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut."

~Revelation 3:7,8

I live my life with an "Open Door/ Close Door" Policy. Anytime I face a major decision in my life I look around at the doors of opportunity. Before I walk towards any of them I ask God to open the ones he wants me to walk through, and close and lock those that I shouldn't walk through. This is my way of discerning God's will for my life. I'm not that Christian that is gifted with just knowing what God wants me to do. I'll pray for days on end and still be confused as to what I need to do. However, since I initiated my open door/ close door policy I have felt much more at peace with my decisions. Many times God has closed doors that I really hoped would be open. At the time I thought that the doors that were closed were opportunities that I was missing out on. But in hindsight, I'm grateful for locked doors. God has shown me his perfect plan for me, and I have been saved from heartache and despair.

I challenge you to pray for open & closed doors. Its not always easy to let God make the decisions in your life. However, God is creator and planner of the entire universe. He knows what will happen from creation through eternity, so trust him. I promise he won't lead you astray.

No U-Trun

India has taught me that there are no U-Turns allowed. There are many times in our life that we would like a "do-over" but that's not how life works. Even if we try our hardest and turn our cars around, it's not the same as doing life correctly the first time around. God has taught me that we are called to make the most out of life RIGHT NOW!There is no sense in wasting our life waiting around for something big to happen.The big things in life are made up of little moments and little decisions. There is no sense in looking back on life and thinking "what if..." Life is made up of the decisions that we have made, there is no point in soaking in our regrets. Instead let's spend our lives making the best decisions possible, and learning the most we can from our mistakes.

Perry Noble said in his blog, “If I allow my past to define me then I will NEVER truly become who God wants me to be!”

The Beggar

This is a photo of the very first beggar I met in India. The orange bundle in her hand is her baby. If you notice, she is in the middle of the road. A motorcycle just drove by very quickly. If she wasn't careful, she could have been hit and both her and her baby would be in very serious trouble.

He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done. ~Proverbs 19:17

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. ~Proverbs 21:13

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ~1 John 3:17-18

I wish I could tell you that I gave her my life savings. Or at least 500 rupies (about $11) but I didn't. I wish I could tell you that I gave her a bible in her native language and shared the story of Jesus with. But I didn't. You see it's not that easy in India. In India there are millions of beggars. They are all over the streets. The problem is, if you give to one they all expect you to give to them. And they expect you to give to them until you no longer have anything to give and you are a beggar yourself. If you allow them to get too close to you, they will steal from you. If you have ever seen the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, you know the dangers of giving to children. Give to a poor child, and the adult that "cares" for them will hurt them. They know that the more pathetic a child looks (missing body parts, scarred skin, carrying a baby) the more money the child will receive. So for our safety we were advised that we were not allowed to give to beggars. This was one of the hardest aspects of the trip. To look a person in the eye and tell them no. We had to learn how to look them in the eye and memorize their face so that we could pray for them.
Here is the picture of the last beggar I met in India.

Whenever I look at this picture, I see all the beggars of India. I challenge you, I BEG you to say a pray for this woman and the millions she represents.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

I can't believe that it has been so long since I've blogged. Lame, Katherine, really lame! I've been to India and now I'm back to tell my story. I'm still a little jet-lagged, but I wanted to go ahead a give a little update as to what God has been doing.

26 people (ages 16-25) felt the call to India for Christmas. We each raised $3,200. We all met up in Boiling Springs, NC and began a wonderful journey together. When I arrived at Boiling Springs I didn't really know anyone. I wasn't scared though. I may not have known intimate details about the lives of these 25 people, but we all had something in common. We all loved Jesus enough to give up Christmas with our family and travel to the other side of the world for Him.

It didn't take long for my team to get real close real fast. When you travel the world with someone you are each others comfort. When you rely on each other for medicine, toilet paper, snacks, direction, and safety, you can't help but become close. When you are together practically 24/7 and there is never any personal space you just get over having a bubble and embrace everyone. I have to say though, that God really blessed us with unity. It was amazing to me that 26 people could all come together under a common cause and supported each other every step of the way.

In my next few blogs I will unload some of the stories of what happened during my 2 weeks in India. Its impossible to tell every story, and there are some stories better left untold. But still I hope to effectively convey to you how God is moving in Nagpur and in my heart.

God Speaks & Mountains Move

So, yesterday I woke up with Laryngitis which is not fun in and of itself. I really had to strain myself to say anything, and it put me in a awful mood yesterday. But to make the situation extra challenging, I had an appointment speak about India this morning. I was a little worried, but still had faith, that God would be able to speak through me with no literal voice. I asked for prayer, and someone (or someones) must have taken that request seriously. I woke up this morning fully able to speak. Not only speak, but able to sing God's praises!

So this morning myself and 3 other ladies arrived at the little Baptist church and were directed down the hall of the adult classrooms. The girl in the front of the line said she would rather not go first, so I, without missing a beat stepped up and took the first room. It would later be revealed to me that I was meant to speak to that particular room of people. I introduced myself and quickly told why I was there. I shared of my summer in Beaufort as a LCM VBS Director, and then gave a brief synopsis of my plans to go to India for Christmas.

It was a miracle in and of itself that I was able to be so brief. (If you can't tell, I'm tend to be very long winded.) I asked if there were any questions. The only questions they had were (1) "What is your testimony?" & (2) "Can I give you money today?" So I shared a brief version of my testimony, and shared my support letter with them. I told them where to find more information about my trip, my facebook page, and my blog.

One man stepped up and wrote a single check for me, asking for two wristbands. I figured the check was probably for $3 for the bracelets, maybe 10 or 20 dollars if he was being extra generous. But no. God proved me wrong. He showed me to have more faith in total strangers. He taught me that my enthusiasm for this trip is enough to inspire people to believe in it. The check was not for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 75, 85, or 95 dollars. It was for $100.

I was absolutely floored when I got home and discovered this little surprise. And what made it even more special is that I have a feeling this man doesn't have that kind of money to just throw it away on a whim. The address listed on the check was for an apartment.

My God is so BIG. He can move the mountains. But even more so, he can allow us to have so much faith in him that WE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS!

Thank you for helping me to move mountains, by watching you do it by your generosity. THANK YOU!

Half way there...almost! :)

Hey guys! Thanks so much for you support! I'm excited to say that God has provided $1,558.07 for my trip so far! This means that I have met my deposit deadline, I have surpassed the minimum by $58.07 & I am $41.93 away from having 1/2 my support money raised! This is incredible!!

I still have a billion bracelets left to sell, so please let me know if you want one! They cost only $1.50, are fashionable, & the best part is: They are a great reminder to pray for me and share about my trip with the people around you!

Just FYI, most of my support money raised so far has been from small donations of about $2. Sure, I have some ultra generous donors (who have given amounts of 10,20, 50, 75, 100, and even 300 dollars!) But all the same, so much of my support has come from people literally collecting pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters in the name of Christ!

All of this is to tell you that God is moving in a HUGE way but sometimes the journey is made in the smallest of baby steps. This makes me smile :)

Prayer Requests:
*Sharing about India @ Rawlinson Rd Baptist Church on Sept 12
*Raising the remaining $1,641.93 + the cost of my visa (TBA)
*My heart be prepared for what will happen in India
*My current life struggles never overshadow what God has planned for me.
*My team & all the people I will encounter in India
*My health prior to the trip (specifically the little illnesses I'm catching from my 5th graders) and during the trip (specifically my stomach handling the intensely spicy food).


THANK YOU!! God is using you to make his name known HERE and across the WORLD!!