Lesson Time...

Most of us have heard the Ten Commandments many times in our lives. We know not to kill or covet, and even not to take the Lrd's name in vain. The first 2, however, aren't ones that I have ever thought much about. Sure, we Americans may idolize some things, we may make our job our "god" but that is only the American manifestation of what these verses were initially referring to. Today, I saw what the Lrd was speaking about when he said we should have no other gods before him and we should not make idols and worship them. We went to a Hindu temple today. A very large and popular one. This temple is so used to visitors that there was a special walkway we went through (up stairs, around corners, through rooms) that allowed us to observe but not participate, which was nice. Inside the main room at the top of the last flight of stairs was what made the biggest impact. This temple is a krishna temple. And in the center of this huge marble and gold plated room stood three huge idols. Not images of saints, not pictures of a god, not even a reenactment of something historic or significant. They were golden idols that had faces, clear characteristics, clothing, and many worshipers. Each idol was a different "form" of krishna. People would lay on the ground, bow down to, and lift their hands to these golden forms. They continuously chanted a mantra that, they believe, helps them to meditate and focus their lives and become closer devoted to krishna. The better devotee they are, the better their next life will be.

As we walked through and observed this event, I was trying to be as intentional through pryer as I could but all that could come out of my mouth was “Gd help. Gd bless this place. Gd help.” That was my mantra.

I was aware of the act of the evil one in this temple. I was very aware of his power and his influence. His reign in this city. I started to think about how much it must break our Father’s heart to see a place like this. To see his beloved children bowing down to these statues and seeking fulfillment in manmade attempts of holiness. Then the pride that had started to develop inside me was shattered… That feeling is exactly how our Father feels every time we disobey Him. Every time we don’t seek Him for fulfillment, every time we- Chr!st!an Americans- look to manmade efforts to solve our desperate condition. The Father doesn’t see me and my sin any different than those who lay prostrate in front of krishna. 

This realization shook me and humbled me to a completely new level. Thank you Father for loving me. Loving me even though I have seen your love and still disobey. Loving me though I know truth and still accept lies. Loving me in my pride. He Loves Us! Amazing grace. Truly amazing.

This Fourth of July, let’s thank our Father for freedom, and grace. And let’s pry for those who haven’t had the blessing of hearing the truth of the gospl. Please, please join me in this. There are so many people living in darkness so vast that they don’t even know it’s not the light. Let us be the light in the darkness.

My time here is very quickly coming to a close. I leave Tuesday for debriefing up north. 4 days is not much time so please pry that the Father would multiply our final days!! I have an Indian friend that I need to meet up with before I leave, and my D group girls will be back soon from holiday! Pry for the Spirit to move in these relationships that He has ordained to develop!  

Love Love Love

Molly Kate

P.S. PTL I am feeling OH SO MUCH better! Huge pryer answered because it was getting bad! Oh what love He has for us!!

Give this song a listen... I LOVE it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxsQP2Hf698

Sick Sick Sick

So I am sick. Kinda bad sick, but i'm better than I was a few days ago. kinda... Well last Friday night I woke up feeling awful. I had a fever, sore throat, clogged sinuses, and stomach issues to top it all off! Needless to say I did not get to go to the village with my team, which was really sad! Saturday I went to the doctor, which was a fun experience, and got some antibiotics. Basically all of my symptoms worsened over the next few days, fever reached about 102.5 and I thought I was dying, for real. Thankfully I had some great M families to help take care of me and give me some much needed TLC! By Wednesday my fever was gone and I started to feel a bit better. Today is the first day in a week that my stomach hasn't given me any problems!! PTL But my sinus infection is moving into my lungs, unfortunately. I finished my antibiotic and am afraid that what I've had/got is a combination of the stomach flu, the flu, and a sinus infection. Which means the rest of this will just have to run its course! Thanks India!

In other news, I only have one week left in our City. And that is CRAZY. The nursing students got surprised with a 2 week holiday rather than just one which means they have been gone this last week and will return the night before we leave! One more night to see my girls! Prying for a good night of closure and hopeful conversations!

I do have some really good news about work!! Our boss is letting us have freedom to make our own schedules this last week so that if we need time to meet up with some of the initial contacts we have made then we can! That is SUCH a blessing! Because fitting all of that in after work would have been difficult!

Requests...

HEALTH! That I would be restored to full health ASAP. So sick of being sick!
Strength and wisdom in balancing our work and "frontline" duties of our last week!
Good intentional conversations with the girls the Father has allowed us to meet and become friends with.
Strength in leaving this place that I have called home for the past 2 months...


Love Love Love
Molly Kate

Finally another update!

I know it has been a long time since my last update, sorry! We have been incredibly busy! 

I have met with my Dgroup girls twice since I last updated, and let me just say it is going GREAT! Last week I had planned on talking about Gds love for his daughters and how our relationship with Him is not dependent on anyone but Gd… but 30 minutes before our meeting, I changed my mind! OR should I say, He changed my mind. He reminded me of this passage in Romans 12:9-21 that I had read a few days earlier. It speaks very straightforwardly about how we, as His followers, should react in all situations. So I quickly got some guided study questions together and went to the hostel to meet my girls! One of the big themes of the passage is persecution, and that spoke straight to the hearts of 3 of my girls. They are experiencing persecution from some other girls in the nursing school. Gd used this passage to speak life into their situation and encourage them! It was so clearly a work of His hand because I hadn’t even prepared what I was going to talk about, but He knew how to use it! Then we met again earlier this week. I taught them a method called SPECKA (look it up, it’s pretty good!) because I wanted them to be able to duplicate it later on when I’m gone. We Looked at John 4, the woman at the well. The girls were very interactive and spoke up a lot during our discussion, which is an improvement! They are getting more comfortable with me and that is definitely an answered pryer!  I also shared more of my vision with them concerning Dgroup and that my pryer is that once I am gone, they would continue to lead it. They (surprisingly) accepted that challenge and said it was something they felt Gd calling them to! And one of the girls volunteered to lead it next week!! So… yeah, Dgroup is going well!

2 weeks ago we got a visit from Kyle. He is the head supervisor who organized all of the summer projects like mine. He leads orientation and debriefing.  It was a great visit because he met one on one with each of us to ask us about how the summer is going, any problems we are having, what Gd is teaching us, and all that good stuff! It was great to share with him the things Gd has been teaching me and the way I have seen Him move already this summer! (It’s always exciting to share that kind of stuff with others!) Then we all went out (research team, “frontline” team, and Kyle) and had a “fun night” which was relaxing and much needed! 

Last Sunday, Ashley, Gabrielle, and I went with a local pastr to a village HC! It was great to experience the way Indians wrship in the village and to join them! We left at 8 and drove about an hour. We arrived at this tiny house packed with people ready to hear the Word! We sang many songs (mostly in Telegu, so we mostly listened), read the Word, proclaimed the works that Gd has been doing in our lives, sang some more, and the pryed for each other! It was about a 4 hour service, but it was GREAT! Then we dorve about 20 minutes to an actual Chrch bldg where 5 brothers and sisters were getting dunked! The “pool” was literally underground and it was an amazing sight to see, let me tell you! After that, we went out to this big field where the Aunties cooked us all lunch and we ate picnic style. Then we drove home, arriving around 4:15 pm! It was a long but wonderful day!

On Tuesday (which is our afternoon off to go out into the city with the “frontline” team), Ashley, Gabrielle and I went to a mall hoping for a divine appointment! We were all feeling overly timid and a bit intimidated by all the girls we saw! So we huddled together and pryed for boldness and the words to speak, and then we headed to a table of 3 girls that we saw sitting at McDonalds. We just started chatting about some touristy things and then a group of girls walked in wearing burquas. Knowing what they were, I asked the girls “we’ve seen a lot of girls wearing those things, what are they? Why do they wear them?” And that started us off on a great discussion on religion, tradition, and culture! Over the next hour and a half we were able to share the entire gspl and present it in the context of their religious worldviews. The 3 girls also shared their beliefs. To our surprise, one was Muslim (but not wearing a burqua), one a Hindu, and the third an atheist. We had a really good talk and were able to exchange contact info with them. Hopefully we can meet up with them again! 

That night we went to the hostel for one of the nursing student’s birthdays! Ashley brought a cake and we were able to celebrate with her! That was really fun and encouraging for her because the students aren’t allowed to leave campus at all, ever. And she, otherwise, wouldn’t have had any sort of celebration for her birthday! 

As far as work goes, we are getting A TON of stuff done! Our boss told us the expectation for the summer and we have already far exceeded the work he expected us to finish! But he still seems to fund plenty to keep us busy, haha… so we are still there M-F. Today we got to leave early to rest before we leave tomorrow! Our boss and his family (wife and 4 kids) and then the three of us are going to a village for the weekend! We leave at 6 am and will return Sunday evening. The plans are very tentative (as are all attempts at planning in India) but I think we will be doing 2 services, one Sat night and the other Sun morning. We are going to talk about the parable of the sower and do some skits! That will be fun. We may get a chance to do some sight-seeing as well, but nothing is for sure. 

Next Tuesday (on our afternoon off) we get to meet up with some friends we made a few weeks ago! We planted the seeds with these 2 girls and now are trying to hang out with them as much as possible while we are here and pry for the seed to take hold! They have had exams for the past 2 weeks but are finally finished, so I am excited to see them on Tuesday! Also on Tuesday we are going to pryr walk in some Mosques which will be great, I can’t wait for that either!

 OK, I think that basically sums up my life! I know it was long, but if you made it to the end, congratulations! Haha And thank you so much for your willingness to read this whole thing!

Continue to remember my Dgroup girls, my team, our m!n!stry, and our health! (I am feeling sick)

And please pry for my dad who is also sickly. And if you can, go hug him for me! This girl misses her daddy (and the rest of her family)!

Love Love Love

Molly Kate

Another Great Week In India!

I am literally having a hard time describing the way I am feeling about India at this point. I have absolutely fallen in love, but it is way deeper than the emotional level. I feel like I have found a part of myself here that I never knew I was lacking. This place, as stretching, challenging, and uncomfortable as I may be at times, feels like home. And that is quite scary actually. I know that Gd, however permanent or temporary it may be, has placed a desire to live here on my heart and life. The great part about it is that Gd is in control and I don't have to worry about it! So I guess I am just really excited to see where I end up!

We did slum m!n!stry today which was really great! Me and my teammate Adrian had a classroom of 40 kids to ourselves in a 6' x 10' room. They were packed in like sardines! We shared several stories from the Word and sang a lot of songs with them. They had a lot of fun and so did we!

I had D group with 6 nursing students last Wednesday! It went SO WELL! I had them write down answers to some personal sp!r!tual questions so I could read them and know where each one was at personally. And their answers were so beautiful. I asked things like "Who is Gd to you?" "What would your life be like without Jsus?" "What does it meant to be a follower of Jsus?" And their answers made it so evident that they know Gd so personally. It was very encouraging to get to hear from each of them. They all said that they want to start meeting twice a week for a Bble study! We are going to meet on Sunday and Wednesday nights starting this Wednesday! I am so thankful for the blessing that this opportunity is! Pry that Gd would give me the lessons to teach them that will be beneficial as I leave and they continue to teach others.

We got another teammate on Friday! Her name is Gabrielle and she will be working in the same office as me and Ashley. We spent the weekend helping her get acclimated to India and we helped her buy some clothes and that kind of thing. It was a fun girls weekend for us!

We only have 4 more weeks in our City. I can already tell it is going to be very difficult to leave this place. Please be Prying that I have peace in returning home, and hope for the future. Also peace that I must finish my bachelors and masters before coming back. I know that that is Gds will, but I just really wish I didn't have to finish school!


Love Love Love,
Molly Kate

Henna Storying

If you want to see how Mehendi (henna) is used to share truth and hope, you can find over 25 stories on this website, www.hennastories.org  It is such a great tool!!

Getting Into the Swing of Things

We have been in our City for a full week now! It is starting to feel less like a trip and more like my life, which is definitely a good thing. Most of this week I have been in the office working. Monday-Wednesday we weren't able to get out in the city much to meet people or share the gspl because we were working so much, but on Thursday there was a strike. Petrol prices in India have been rising and there was a nation-wide strike on Thursday where no one could get out on the roads and drive because protesters were out burning tires and throwing rocks at any vehicle that was driving! This meant that the office was also closed because most people we work with drive here everyday. Because we didn't have to work, we got to help out with a "retreat" here on the campus where we are living. Another group here (from Texas) had planned a sp!r!tual workshop type thing for any student who wanted to come, and we got to help! We had w0rship, sermon, small group, game, repeat. We did that four time throughout the day with the same group of students. Each session was about somethings different. Each of us had a group that we led during small group discussion time and our group stayed the same through out the day. This was great because I was able to meet 12 girls, spend the day with them, share the gspl with them, and become friends with them! They all attend ch@pel here on Sundays where I also go so we will have many opportunities to spend time together and I am pr@ying for an opportunity to disciple them in a natural setting. Friday we worked in the morning and then went out with the other EV team in the afternoon. We went to a college campus in the City and talked with different girls and got to share our stories and the gspl with them! We made appointments with them to hang out with them again next week. All in all, it has been a good week! :)

My schedule is starting to become more concrete. We will work M-F 9-5 except for Tuesdays we have the afternoons off to go out with the EV team and continue the relationships we have started already.

Yesterday a Jgirl here gave me some mehendi (henna). It is a specific design that I can use to tell the story of the sinful woman who was forgiven in Luke 7. I love this story and often tell it when I tell my story. Something I have learned about the people here is that many of them learn through story telling- that is the culture here. If you have a story written on you arm in the form of mehendi, it makes sharing it VERY easy and people here are excited to hear our stories.That is one open door we have found..."Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm..." SoS 8:6 :)

Things you can pr@y about...
That when we present the gspl, it will be clear and not bound by religious background or family obligations
Clarity in communicating truth
Love and unity for our national partners and teammates
Favor in the slum when we go Sunday afternoon to do m!n!stry
Focus and dedication to our original purposes here (it is easy to become frustrated with only sitting in an office all day and not being able to be out with the other team, but the work we are doing does have eternal worth, it is just hard to see now)
Trust that the word of the Lrd will not return to him void but will accomplish all it was created to
Patience in adjusting to an Indian lifestyle (power often going out, no time schedule)
A deepening love for those we meet and understanding of where they are sp!r!tually


Thank you all so much for your continued thoughts and support!

Love Love Love
Molly Kate

PS If you want a little taste of life here in India, watch this video :)

http://youtu.be/dKkryfdtMNQ

Ladies and gents, we have arrived!!

We are officially in country! (We have actually been here for about a week now but I am just now getting to where I can use internet on my computer!)

Here's the low down on how this past week has been...in one word: AWESOME!

We spent Sunday-Friday morning in a city in northern India. That is where we had orientation. We had meetings from about 9-4 that helped us become acclimated to the culture, people, traditions, logistics, religions, etc. of the country. The meetings were kind of long, but VERY informative and super helpful. In the afternoons/evenings we were put together in groups (my group was me + 3 other girls) and given a task. One day it may say "Go to blah blah blah rd and share your testimony with 3 people, and share a B!ble story with 3 people" The location would usually be a market of sorts and we would just catch an auto (autorickshaw- picture a 4-wheeler but with 3 wheels.. and a turtle shell shaped cover.) and go there. When we got there, our first task would be to find women that we could talk to. In this culture it is very inappropriate for a woman to start a conversation with a man that she does not know well, so we were on the look out for women that we could talk to! Another issue is that we were out during the heat of the day, and let me tell you it was HOT, so a lot of the women were inside their homes and not in the markets. All of this being said, we were kind of on our own to go walking around/ ride an auto to other markets until we found some people to talk to. Thankfully, we have a great Father who guides and directs our paths so we eventually found exactly who He wanted us to talk to! I had the chance to share with a girl about my age and encourage her in her current situation and it was just a totally spirit filled conversation! PTL it was an incredible week!

There are quite a few more details that I will leave out for the sake of your eyes probably not wanting read a dissertation on my past week. haha But that was the basic gist. [For the remainder of my time here I will be living/working with a girl named Ashley so when I say "we" I mean Ashley and me.]

Friday morning we left orientation to head south to our City that we will be in for the next 6 weeks. We arrived in our City on Friday afternoon right around lunch time and we moved into our flat. We are living on a hospital campus ground that has guest houses/apartment complexes for rent and they are really cheap so that's where we are staying! Our office that we will be working in is also on this campus, just a 3 minute walk away! Speaking of work... we will be working in an office from 9-5 M-F. During the evenings and weekends we will be mostly on our own schedules to do as we see fit. Hopefully our after-hours time will be spent working with another team of students here that are doing some EV in the City and also building relationships with the girls we meet! So that will change day to day. We have a chapel in the hospital that we will be going to in the morning for ch*rch and there is also a house ch*rch (HC) that meets on Monday nights that we will go to. I am excited for tomorrow to experience an authentic Indian service!

That is a scattered and brief description of my life this past week! I am feeling at home here in our City already and I am SO excited to see what the Father will do this summer. I am also pr@ ying that this summer He gives me some guidance as to whether this city will be a more permanent part of my life or not!

OK... here is what you can be pr@ ying for us about:

Health and safety- the food is good but can do a number on your digestive tract, also mosquitoes are bad!
Spiritual readiness- there is a LOT of spiritual warfare waging all around us here so we want to be ready to move as the spirit prompts us and take advantage of the time we have here.
Boldness to share our faith
Unity among our team- there is nothing the enemy would like more than to distract us and take away from our power as a group.
Positivity in all that we do, and a servant's heart

Thank you for reading the whole thing, I know it was long!!


Love Love Love
Molly Kate

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms...

Well, this is my last night at home, and I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. I am very excited to be in India and see what God has in store for us this summer, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to say goodbye to America yet.

When I got back from Africa last summer I almost got depressed because I felt so out of place in America. God really confirmed my calling while I was there and coming home was a really hard transition for me. I am clinging to the confirmation that He gave me last summer and even though my head is telling me I should just stay home this summer, my heart knows I belong overseas.

It's a hard thing to learn to trust what you know more than what you feel. What I know is that God loves me and has designed me to be sent out to a far away place to share His love with others. What I know is that God is my creator, provider, sustainer, and keeper. I know His promises are true and His steadfast love endures forever. So, rather than acting upon my feelings, whether they be fear, apprehension, anxiety, or weariness, I will act in faith upon what I know. I will lean on Christ and be the dependent being I was created to be.

God's desire is that we depend on Him. I desire to be carried and cared for. I guess we're a perfect match. The adventure starts tomorrow...


Love love love,
Molly Kate

He Loves Us.

Wow. 17 days. 17 DAYS!

Well, if I thought it was feeling real over a month ago, it is definitely feeling real now! There are so many variables that have been falling slowly into place, and still a few that are in the works. My passport and visa are ready to go, and I have gotten almost all of my support in! I also recently found out that it will not just be Ashley and me in our apartment but there will be 2 other girls there too! I am very excited about that, I can't wait to get to know all of them and I know God is going to unify us so much!

So, I had a cool and new experience with God yesterday. I was about to go to bed and I was writing in my prayer journal, I decided to go back and read some of the things I had written in it over the past year and I was overwhelmed by how faithful God has been to me! After I was done reading I went back to writing and thanking God for being so amazing and loving and something weird happened. Out of no where a song popped in my head. A song that I had never heard before. I immediately wrote them down and as I did, more lyrics came to me. Before I knew it, I had written a song and had a melody in my head.

For those who may not know, I am NOT a song writer. I have always wished that I was talented in that area, but I just never have been. As I sat there in my bed, amazed at the artistic-ness that had just happened, all I could do was thank God. As if He hadn't already shown me His love and faithfulness, He blessed me with a song, a beautiful song from my heart that as of now, only He and I know. That just blows me away.

This is all to say this: God loves you so much. Not only does He want to answer all the prayers in your prayer journal, He wants to bless you with a unique, beautiful song. He knows your heart's desires and He knows the things you long for. Honestly, He knew before you did... He gave you those desires. So, sit back and get expectant that He will blow you away. He love us.


Love Love Love,
Molly Kate

Starting to Feel Real

Well, I sent out my support letters today! Now that they are out, I feel like this whole thing just feels more real- as in, we leave in 67 DAYS!!

Lately God has been teaching me a lot about living in the now, not the future. I have been looking forward to this summer so much that I let the days pass by me like they are not just as purposeful as this summer will be. And all of the time I have been wasting by wishing my life away could have been used for His glory. That being said, our God is not a God of condemnation, but conviction; so my response in this is to make a change, apply this knowledge to my life today, not wait for this summer. I am learning that I don't value my relationship with God near as much as I should, and the best way to fix that is not to talk about it, but to actually start valuing it more. I don't impress God with my words and saying what He means to me, I prove my love through my actions and how I treat God- even when no one is watching. And in that, trusting that He will make all things work together for my good when I put Him first (Romans 8:28).

I feel like this is very basic stuff and something that isn't new to me, but God has just put it in a new light I guess. If I want my relationship with God to grow and and be fruitful, I have to value that relationship. I have to value it over TV, Facebook, even homework (which is a hard one for me).

So, that's where I'm at. Kind of deep for a first post, but I figure it will do.
I am excited about tomorrow, and what God will do here in Conway. Ready to do work, here and now.


Love Love Love,
Molly Kate