A month ago today I got back from an amazing and life
changing two week trip to India. India
was one of the places in the world I said I "never" wanted to go to
and I meant it with all sincerity. The
pictures I had seen of crowded streets, bustling cities and trains overflowing
with people was enough to make me declare my intentions of never going, but I
have learned that anytime I say the word "never" God takes that as a
challenge with me. I suppose He wants to
keep me humble? I am not sure, but much
to my surprise my heart changed about going to India. Perhaps it was in having some wonderful friends
that I have made from there. I also
heard amazing stories from some of the ladies that went there from my church a
couple years ago and I had heard the leader Suresh Kumar of Harvest India speak
at a church and could feel his passion and heart for the people there and
entertaining stories (which can be read in his book Compelled available on
Amazon for a shameless plug). When a
lady at my church, who started a ministry called Daughters of the King, asked
me if I was interested in going I had no excuse to give. I knew instantly I was going! God had changed me. I will need to be more careful in my use of the
word "never" from now on.
I had been on some mission trips before. A few weekend trips to Mexico and a month long trip to Hong Kong, Taiwan
and South Korea. Those trips were instrumental
in giving me a wider world view and understanding of how fortunate we are in
the United States. I came home with more
gratitude and I would like to think more compassion for others. So this time I was positive that I would have
no trouble with two weeks in India. It
would be an adventure and I would go with many prayers behind me. I must say that I did feel prayers sustaining
me, and it was certainly an adventure! But
to say that I had "no trouble" isn't entirely true. I found after two days of Indian food I was
literally crying. I am used to spicy
Mexican food here in Southern California, but for some reason the spices were
so unusual and I really was losing any taste for them and I felt like it would
be too rude not to eat the food being presented to us and I actually cried
hard. Then to top it off, I could see
how amazingly generous they were being to us in giving us such generous
portions. As we went to villages and
handed out such simple things, such as an piece of bread, one hardboiled egg
and a banana to have these children so overjoyed by this and I was crying over
spicy food because I just didn't like it?
Not being able to throw toilet paper into the toilet was another issue I
struggled with as well as a lack of hot showers. I really suffered from some "first world
problems" which was a bit eye opening.
But the thing that really changed me the most from this trip
was joy. I think in my mind I always
knew that joy can be elusive. As I look
around me here in America it is rare to see true joy. Sure there are some selfies posted with a
smile and there is a sense in which people are happy when something good
happens in their lives, but joy is something so much deeper and lasting than
fleeting happiness. While in India we
served hot meals at the new church to 250 people that suffer from leprosy. This is a disease that is preventable and
totally curable with the right medical care.
Instead of being resentful and upset I saw something different in their
eyes, pure joy and even contentment with their situation in life and gratitude
for the simple things. As I spoke at the conference we held for 500
women, mostly pastor's wives in small village churches, some of which had never
even sat in a real chair or even had a meal that I was told would be one of the
finest that they had ever been served (a meal with a selection of three different
curries was what Harvest India provided) I saw pure joy in their eyes and they
even danced for joy that we were there with them. They gladly slept on the hard concrete floors
during the three nights there. I could
not help but think that I would not be so content. In fact, I already knew that I wasn't content
with the meal of three different curries and even my soft mat in an air
conditioned room (a true luxury in India) was not the comfort I was used
to.
The Bible speaks in 1 Timothy 6:6 of how "Godliness
with contentment is great gain." This is a verse I have contemplated many times in my life. It is something I try to ponder when I am
feeling discontent, which can be a common occurrence, I think more so in a hedonistic society that bombards us with messages of how we need to dress a
certain way, drive a new car and
entertain ourselves constantly. But in
India I saw what true contentment can bring.
They had very little but were content with that. Christmas is only a week away as I write this and it makes me think of the people in
"Whoville" that were so content, even when the Grinch tried to steal
Christmas from them. In a way the
Christians I met in India who have been "stolen" from by the neglect
of their government or even the world at large, are joyful. They sing praises to God and God is blessing
them for that. They are far richer in
His presence than we are here. They have
learned the truth that His presence is better than any presents! It is
my prayer that we can have even a taste of the kind of joy I experienced
there.
I knew that I might come back from India with a different perspective
and I have. As I walk the
malls and the grocery stores and I see the luxury and abundance all around me but the faces of
people seem stressed and unhappy it is a jarring observation that we need joy
here. We might have wealth, fleeting
happiness on occasion but what we need is the joy that knowing Jesus can
bring. There are so many different messages. We have been taught "the power is
within" but really all that is within us is sin, pain and suffering. The power is not in us at all. The true "power" to change our
hearts comes from a small baby that was born in a little town called Bethlehem.
He was God come to earth. He came to walk with us, feel our pain and
sorrow and then take our sin, the sin that keeps us from experiencing true joy,
upon himself. He paid the ultimate
price for those sins on a cross for us. Because
of Jesus we have the only reason to sing, in America, in India, and everywhere,
Joy to the World the Lord has come!
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