College team update

Share the gospel with the lost. Engage the people. Spread the good news. Any of these terms can sum up a typical day for our team. It is infinitely surprising how different each day can be when we set out with the same plan.

We just got back from traveling for about 5 days.

We got on an “ordinary” bus, which means an unairconditioned plain bus of the same caliber as a run down school bus, and started a 9 hour journey. I love long bus rides. In the mountains, with the window down, it doesn’t even matter if there is no air conditioning. If I have a seat, it’s just 9 hours of uninterrupted thinking time. I thought a lot about what I would do during the next school year, lifestyle changes and commitments, I planned a new art project. I also prayed each time we passed a temple, I prayed for that surrounding area and the people who lived there. I prayed that the people’s eyes would be opened to the truth, that they would lay down their false idols and only worship Jesus. John 3:19 says:

And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

How true is this! The light is Jesus, yet even as his followers we so often chose to love the darkness rather than the light, because our intentions are dark and darkness cannot exist in the light. It is much easier to reside in the dark when you love darkness, than to stumble into the light. I thought about this and prayed that these people would come to love the light.

We reached our destination and got two hotel rooms. One of the girls was sick with a stomach virus that had already affected a few members of the home where we had been staying, so we got her settled in the room and the rest of us went out.

There were two summer students there, doing the same thing we do each day. But in this town, there is a large Tibetan community. Reaching Tibetans looks different than Hindus. We visited a temple and Alyssa remarked that “it felt peaceful, and that scared me”. People spin wheels with prayers on the each day, to get credit for all the prayers enscripted on them. The root of Buddhism is luck, and joy while Hinduism is fear based. When people are suffering from demon possession and living in such extreme darkness it is easier to convince them that Jesus is the answer than when they just want peace and luck. Sharing in this city was interesting, many people were open to hear but we still heard the analogy of a mountain with many roads over and over again.

It rained almost everyday, and one day in the midst of a down pour we were stuck inside a shop, and a woman just began talking to us. What?! We struggle all day to get women to talk to us, they are usually incredibly shy. We weren’t able to share with the woman, but she was incredibly friendly and invited us to her home in the capital city before we fly back to the us. We plan on having some chai and sharing with her then! The rain also gave us the opportunity to meet two Tibetan sisters and speak with them. Usually when it rains it means our day is shot, we will have to stay in because no one will be out in the rain. But this rain was a blessing, and gave us context to start some conversations.

We had a great time in that city, if nothing else it was a change of pace and scenery. We were encouraged by brothers who work there and were able to meet some women. Now we are back, Austin is traveling and Alyssa and Paige are sick. So today I will go out with a national sister and continue to try to meet people to share with. Everyday, you guys, it’s what we are doing. It isn’t always successful and that’s okay. I am learning a lifestyle of sharing the gospel that will be extremely important when I get home. I challenge you all to be intentional in your relationships and to look for opportunities to share each day as well!

Finally, I encourage you to continue praying for India.

Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their own hands, to what their own fingers have made. Isaiah 2:8

In love,
Julia

Austin making friends on the bus

Traveling through the mountains

Excited about the rain?

Tibetan prayer flags and rocks

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so The Lord surrounds his people”