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
