So, we're moving to a different country

This goes way back to 8th grade for me...

My parents supported a ministry in India called Gospel for Asia. .
One day, a representative came to our house to tell us about what they had been doing and share testimonies from various pastors and new converts. While watching a powerpoint he was showing, I specifically heard God tell me that one day I would go there. That was all. That night, we went to church, and I went to the alter to pray about what I had heard, and God gave me simple faith to believe that this was a calling that I would one day fulfill.

Fast forward to college. Jonathan and I were just beginning our friendship. We were in the drive through at Wendy's and something lead Jonathan to tell me that he had a desire to do ministry in India someday. I hadn't really talked about my calling to anyone, my parents knew, but that was pretty much it. Every time the local church had their summer missions groups (http://touchinglivesforchrist.com/) I kept hoping that they would go to India, but they never did. In fact, in 2010, Jonathan signed up with TLC to go to India, but the plans and team fell apart. It wasn't time for either of us to go to India. Regardless, the flicker of hope and desire to go where God had called me never died.

Jonathan--Not in India..haha, it turned into a trip to Spain.

When we signed up for YWAM, we picked a DTS that specifically said India was a possible outreach location. When we finally heard back from them, they told us that they felt we were better suited for Comm Trans. Comm Trans only stated that New York, Cambodia, and South Africa were their possible outreach locations, so in our minds that kinda threw India out...again. Nonetheless, we were excited to see what God had in store. So we pressed on.

This week, everyone was kept in the dark as to where all the outreach locations were. All I knew was that there were 14 different teams. Finally, Wednesday afternoon, we all gathered together to pray about our outreach locations. So they finally released the list of countries by scrolling through pictures one by one in a powerpoint. Suddenly India flashed up on the screen.

It was like electricity shot through my body. My heart started to race, and my hands started to sweat (ew?), and I had this bolt of energy hit me. I was so excited. But I wanted to make sure this was what God wanted. Jonathan and I were able to go off together and pray about it. Neither of us said a word to each other, but we were both thinking the same thing. After praying that God would show us clearly what we needed to do, we both experienced the same amazing peace about our unanimous choice. We opened our eyes and shared what we had just heard, and following the staff's instructions, wrote our names on a piece of paper with the word "India" scrawled in blue ink at the bottom, and dropped it in the bowl on the podium. But it wasn't over yet. We still had to wait until Friday night to find out if that was the final decision from the staff. We weren't allowed to tell anyone what we had written.

waiting...

Friday night,We all gathered in the Pavilion with nervous anticipation. The energy in the room was tangible. 103 young people were awaiting the news of where God wants them to be for 3 months (or maybe even longer)!

Our staff had a plan though...haha. We were going on a scavenger hunt to find out who our team was, and where we were going. After going to a tree to find my name on a piece of paper, and then running to the mailroom the 6 of us in our group (not including our leader's family) opened envelope #2 to see the words "Greetings! Team Russia!" WHATTTT???? We all looked at each other like, "did you choose Russia?" Suddenly another group showed up and asked if we had found an envelope... Then we started to laugh. We forgot to go to the next location. Haha. So then we ran to the Banyan Tree Cafe, where the six of us discovered the CORRECT #2 envelope that said "Greetings! Team India!" Ahhh!!! There were many a "hoot'n holler" right there and then. I've never seen a bigger grin on Jonathan's face. :)

What a great night. :) So now we have 3 months (approximately 70 days) to bond as a team, and learn some good missionary skills as we prepare to go the great land that is India.

deep apologies for the blurriness...we were a bit excited :)

Moral of the story: never underestimate what God tells you when you are young. Great things can come of it! :)