First official story...
I am going to try to start to tell stories about the trip. It all seemed so overwhelming, so I figure I will just start at the beginning of the trip and talk about the stories in order.
Leaving Atlanta was good, but hard. I was so excited about taking this trip, but I was also very nervous about leaving Nathan for that long and being on the other side of the world. I knew that this was an area that I had prayed about and that God would take care of us both. So I left and left Nathan in the very capable hands of Jesus. On the flight we kept one of the ladies in our group talking because she was terrified of flying, but of course another answer to prayer came through because she did not struggle at all with any of our flights! Once we were finally in Bombay (after traveling straight for about 24 hours) we went to gather our bags and go through customs. The only problem was we were missing 4 bags! There were 3 ministry bags that were packed full of antiseptic, shampoos, soaps, and other important medicinal things to get to Rahabs home. The other bag was a personal bag of one of the team members (at that moment we were all glad we packed extra underwear in our carry on). As we prayed about which man in India to approach about our missing bag, Jane (the group leader) made a bee-line to one specific person. As "G" (since the internet is open to everyone I am going to protect his name... just in case, who knows) began to question us about the bags and what their contents were, he got very curious as to why we were in India (and why we had 200 bottles of shampoo and conditioner packed in a bag). Now, our visas said tourist, and we were going to see the sites and meet people, but our plans were a little more specific than tourism. Jane, constantly praying for guidance, began to share why we were really there. We all thought "this could be very good or very bad". After explaining that we were there to share the love of Christ with women that have come out of prostitution, he asked us a very interesting question. "Would you pray for me and my family?" WOW!!! Jane immediately replied, "We will pray over you and your family right now if you want" (remember we are in the middle of customs in a very foreign country). G replied "You have the authority to do that?!" to which Jane answered, "yes, because we are the habitation of the Most High God. Jesus lives in us and we are able to pray with His authority." G was blown away and soon the group began praying for and over him in the middle of customs in the Bombay Airport. We had no idea what God had in mind when we lost 4 bags, which by the way were delivered very quickly to our doorstep in Bangalore (these were the heaviest bags...) right in time to be used. Situations like this happened consistently in India. God placed us in a circumstances that at first glance that did not look very good to us, but He replies with "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11. He knew His plan was for us to be able to pray with G and pray over his family. What a blessing that day was! God is truly a personal, loving God. The God of details and of touching hearts, one at a time.
Travel Pic from Bombay Airport:
Leaving Atlanta was good, but hard. I was so excited about taking this trip, but I was also very nervous about leaving Nathan for that long and being on the other side of the world. I knew that this was an area that I had prayed about and that God would take care of us both. So I left and left Nathan in the very capable hands of Jesus. On the flight we kept one of the ladies in our group talking because she was terrified of flying, but of course another answer to prayer came through because she did not struggle at all with any of our flights! Once we were finally in Bombay (after traveling straight for about 24 hours) we went to gather our bags and go through customs. The only problem was we were missing 4 bags! There were 3 ministry bags that were packed full of antiseptic, shampoos, soaps, and other important medicinal things to get to Rahabs home. The other bag was a personal bag of one of the team members (at that moment we were all glad we packed extra underwear in our carry on). As we prayed about which man in India to approach about our missing bag, Jane (the group leader) made a bee-line to one specific person. As "G" (since the internet is open to everyone I am going to protect his name... just in case, who knows) began to question us about the bags and what their contents were, he got very curious as to why we were in India (and why we had 200 bottles of shampoo and conditioner packed in a bag). Now, our visas said tourist, and we were going to see the sites and meet people, but our plans were a little more specific than tourism. Jane, constantly praying for guidance, began to share why we were really there. We all thought "this could be very good or very bad". After explaining that we were there to share the love of Christ with women that have come out of prostitution, he asked us a very interesting question. "Would you pray for me and my family?" WOW!!! Jane immediately replied, "We will pray over you and your family right now if you want" (remember we are in the middle of customs in a very foreign country). G replied "You have the authority to do that?!" to which Jane answered, "yes, because we are the habitation of the Most High God. Jesus lives in us and we are able to pray with His authority." G was blown away and soon the group began praying for and over him in the middle of customs in the Bombay Airport. We had no idea what God had in mind when we lost 4 bags, which by the way were delivered very quickly to our doorstep in Bangalore (these were the heaviest bags...) right in time to be used. Situations like this happened consistently in India. God placed us in a circumstances that at first glance that did not look very good to us, but He replies with "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11. He knew His plan was for us to be able to pray with G and pray over his family. What a blessing that day was! God is truly a personal, loving God. The God of details and of touching hearts, one at a time.
Travel Pic from Bombay Airport:
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