Hello From India!

Well,

I am so excited to be able to write to you guys again!!
Incase you didn't know... After 50 hours of traveling - 3 plane rides, 2 bus rides, and a 6 hour bus ride, we made it to India. Immediately we had a party, so that was a bit exhausting. haha. But...
India is... Amazing. It's everything anybody says... They do say "no problem no problem" all the time. The colors are everywhere and very vibrant. All the food is spicy, and there is LOTS of it!! It's just wonderful here.
We are working under Pastor Daniel. He pastors a church and is also connected with a lot of the ministries around, so we've basically been following him around for a little less than a week serving him, and it's been wonderful. We've done our dances, spoke at churches and crusades and all the typical stuff you would normally do.
But in order to really explain whats been happening with me personally, I was to share with you 3 experiences i've had so far that have flipped my heart inside out.
The other day we visited a Leprosy Colony. I was telling my friend Lindsay here how before I was really asking for grace for when I saw these people because I had never been in contact with it, and honestly I didn't think I was going to be able to handle it - well the Lord answered my prayer. As soon as I walked up to them all I wanted to do was hold them, hug them, touch them ... and I did. Every person I saw I went up and shook their hands - some didn't have any, but I did anyways... and we prayed. We smiled, we touched the untouchables... and my heart was rocked like crazy. In that same place we had the honor of putting their rice for the week in the bags for them, and that was an awesome experience.
The day before the Colony we went and did a church service on the side of the street for Beggars. They have it every week on Sunday nights - it's called the Beggars Church. I was sitting there, with 10 homeless men and women - broken bones, souls, hearts, spirits... hadn't showered in probably months... who knows when they ate last... but in every way they were hungry, and we were able to feed them spiritually and physically. We prayed with them, laughed with them, fed them, worshipped with them. I looked around, and here I was in the middle of all of them - worshiping the same God... Being the hands and feet of Jesus as best as I could. Again, i was rocked. Something in me stirred so deeply to do something back home. I don't know what, or how, or when I could... but I know that the Lord is beginning to plant things inside of me that I had no idea would ever be planted.
So then the last thing, but maybe the most stirring. Yesterday morning I baptized someone for the first time! It was incredibleee!!! The girls name was Amudha and she was 17 years old. So then later that day Lindsay, Nate and I took a walk through town to an internet cafe. On the way back we basically took pictures of everybody we passed, and just gave people smiles and hugs... it was awesome. We actually got to sit in an ally way with 6 men and have legit Indian Chai tea with them and talk with them about what we were doing - it was awesome. Well before Lindsay and Nate had been to this childrens home and wanted to take me there. So we get there, and 2 hours fly by like 5 minutes. These kids are Special Needs children... and who knew I was get so moved by them? I cried, I laughed... I really laughed for the first time here in India. It was incredible. My heart was so moved by them, all I wanted to do was sit when them for days and have fun. We taught them some english, told them that we loved them and are committed to them. And then they taught us how to say I Love You in Tamil (which is the language here): Naan anbu unnai :). The guy who runs the home is Kumar. His mother started it in 1988 or so and she passed away so now he is doing it - he's only 20 years old. There are about 10 or so kids there. They are the most incredible kids I have ever met, their hearts are so full of life and joy and beauty. I had one of the most incredible times of my life thus far spending it with them. We plan to go back every week and invest in their lives. The thing is, I know there is more for me and them than just these 2 months. I don't know what yet, but I feel something else is going to be birthed between the two of us out of this day.
So needless to say after that, Things in India are amazing. I love it. It's hard for sure, the culture is different, SO different... But I really believe the Lord is giving me amazing grace for this time to not have to deal with that and inside be able to really invest these 2 months for all I can. India is beautiful, the people are beautiful, the colors are beautiful. Everywhere you look yes there is trash, dirt everywhere, smells (bad) everywhere... but when you are in the place that the Lord has called you to, you don't see that really - you just see the beauty He has placed there... and that is what I am seeing.

If any of you want specifics on what to pray for for our team. Here are a couple of things.
1) Our leader is sick right now (Jessica) so she isn't able to get out of bed and do our stuff with us, which sucks because she is really awesome and we love having her around. So that she would get 100% better
2) That everybody on our team would get well. Multiple people are suffering with stomach problems or jet lag or culture shock, and it's really put a damper on things. We want to work as a team and it's hard when only half of us can fully engage in ministry. So that we would really be able to fight this off and the enemy wouldn't have any power over our team.

I was spending time with Abba this past week and one thing He showed me so strongly was Psalm 91:1 which says "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
We've heard this verse a million times, and it's an awesome verse. But for some reason when I read it - the incredible intimacy, equality, and honor of it all just burst out of the pages of my Bible.
Okay so... Most High - Higher than ALL else... ALMIGHTY - All Mighty, All powerful, All wonderful... Above all else. This man invites ME and YOU. He doesn't invite a certain class or level of persons, He invites ALL of us to come and dwell. To Dwell... Not to visit once in a while when we need a refreshment, or when we need to be revived or encouraged for the moment. He invites us to dwell, to live, to walk constantly in this place with Him. So then He says when we accept this invitation, automatically we abide under His shadow. We are protected, fought for, loved on, loved through... Everything we need comes out of dwelling in the secret place and abiding under the shadow of my Papa.
In this place we are restored. In this place our hearts are healed & renewed, we are refreshed. And this is an invitation to never leave. Can you imagine living in the fullness of this verse?
So reading this, my spirit got SO excited... There must be more! If in this one verse there is so much fulfillment with our Abba Father... then there has to be more. If we are allowed to live with a King, to eat and drink with the most High Priest at His table, there must be more. All we need is Him. We can walk in a constant state of living life in fullness and lacking NOTHING if we really choose to live in this Secret Place.
So I just want to encourage you. Just because you are not in India or out in some foreign country, does not mean you cannot have these experiences. It doesn't mean you have to wait to go somewhere in order to experience who God really is. Because He is inside of you, you have access all the time to who He is and how He works. When you choose to dwell with your Papa, He jumps on it and starts working. Just because things around you don't look the way you want them to, just press in to HIM. 2nd Corinthians 2:7 it says "I will walk by faith and not by sight." So walk by Faith, by knowing that when you are dwelling with Christ - you are also Abiding with the Almighty, who knows what you need and delights in giving His children what they need.
Dwell with the Father, Abide with the Almighty. Accept the invitation to a different way of living!


Thank you so so much for all of your prayers and thoughts. I appreciate them so much and really they are carrying me through this time!! Please comment so I know you are reading if you want to :) I would love to hear from you guys.
Also, I have my phone that will receive texts if you want to send any encouragements or just let me know how things are going back home. I cannot send texts back but I'd love to hear from you!! The number is +001 (704) 724-1175.

Love you guys so much :) Jesus loves you a whole bunch!