I am heading to India after the morning services this Sunday. It will be a quick trip with a friend who has built several orphanages over there and wants to go take a look. I will sit in a plane for several hours and arrive in a distant and foreign land. I have heard India described as a place that assaults the senses. I would agree. There is not a sense that India does not hit and hit hard. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, are all amazingly varied and complex. My friend and I will meet our ministry partners over in India. We will look into the jet black eyes of a thousand children. The most amazing thing about going to a place like India is sitting and talking to fellow Christians. We are as different as human beings can be and yet there is something in them and in me that makes us have more in common than I have with most Americans. When someone really understands the Gospel and what Jesus Christ did for them on the cross then something happens to the fabric of their soul. My older brother Brian and I are a lot alike. I have heard people who know us both describe us as being "cut from the same cloth". And so we are. And that is exactly what I will feel in India. I will see Sam and Benny and see them smile. We will sit and talk about what is going on in their lives and what God is doing in India. We will pray together and eventually I will leave to come home. But for a week my heart will beat in unity with some men from India. We could hardly be more different and still be cut from the same cloth. But such is the mystery of the family of God.
Friday, October 2, 2009
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3 comments:
Joe Talk to your brothers about the children that are sold into sex slavery and the ones that are starving and eating out of garbage dumps and the ones that can not go to school and learn. Let us know as the body of Christ what more we can do for these little ones God's little ones in desperate need.
Will be praying for safe travel. My niece was in Varanasi India this summer for 4 weeks helping some orphaned kids and helped some doctors there. She was shocked at first - Yes it does assault your senses - We are far more blessed and we can be doing a lot more -
Joe,
Just got back last night - we probably passed each other in the air. You are absolutely right on about India and about the amazing bond that exists between Christians despite language, distance and culture. It would be a powerful thing if we here in America were willing to discuss what Christ is doing with the enthusiasm and passion that our brothers and sisters do in India. We seem timid in comparison. God is moving in India and is also moving here, but we need to be willing to declare it.
I'll pray for you for a safe journey and return home. I hope you're feeling 'fish free' as much as I did!
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