Back to life....back to reality

So coming back to America this time was much easier.  India is still on my mind, and I'm still processing everything I experienced and learned, but it's definitely not as difficult as the other two times I went.  Maybe it's because I'm older, and have my home and my family, or maybe it's because I knew what to expect .  I think when you go to a place like India for the first time you are totally shocked and taken aback by the extreme poverty and filth, and the apparent indifference of most of the people living there.  And you want so badly to be able to do something, but feel almost completely helpless.  You know giving a beggar kid a few pennies isn't really going to help for more than that moment.  You know that being loving, and putting a smile on somebody's face isn't going to provide them with all their needs.  But as Andy told me, if you can't help a hundred, help one.  So this time I went focused on what I could do, even if it was for just a few.  I also came back focused on what I could continue to do to help the ministry with future groups going over, and knowing that I would back as often as I could.  

As I sat in church this Sunday I was faced with the stark difference between the American church and the International church.  Specifically churches who face persecution.   We all get so stuck on our own struggles and what we're going through that we fail to see the bigger picture.  I think a lot of Christians need a huge reality check.  We need our eyes opened to what really matters, and what it really means to suffer for Christ. 

 While we were in India we got to know an 18 year old bible college student who was imprisoned for 3 months when he was 16 for reading a book about the lies of Hinduism.  Just because he checked out a book and read it!  And he continues to love the Lord, and to study and learn about the Bible so he can go back and tell everyone about Jesus.  To look in his eyes you can see the strength of the Lord, and the grace and wisdom and peace only He can give.  I don't know too many 18 year old American boys that could have gone through that.  

Just being around him, and many other kids who have been persecuted for their faith gives me a boldness to be more outspoken about my faith.  It seems like a lot of us are so scared about what another person might think, or if we'll say the wrong thing and offend them.  But if that's the worst thing we have to experience through sharing our faith, I'd say we're pretty lucky.   

That's my rant for now...more stories to come.