 |
| Two little Indians! |
A small journal thought from my (Bethany’s) mind:
March 18, 2011: “The Lord is absolutely AMAZING! Such small understanding I have of Him, yet I must know more. Teach me what it means to be like You, to fully enjoy Your company, and to know Your ways with assurity and delight. Last Sunday I spoke to the church on the inheritance of the saints—prayer and communion with God. Oh, what a joy of my heart to walk out this blessed gift from my Father and Lord, who grants me such a rich and overflowing gift. The more I use it, the more I find that I have. I am learning to ‘spend’ this bottomless inheritance with delight and without restraint. In this one thing will I be frivolous and wasteful. ‘Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!’ (Romans 11:33).”
We are learning to delight in the presence of the Lord to a degree which we have never comprehended before. Almost every activity of our day is centered around our great God. In constant prayer together and alone, in memorizing and meditating on the scriptures throughout daily activities and cleaning, in reading out loud the Bible or other writings which dwell on the magnificence of Him, in discussing the world around us and our experiences in light of His nature, in preaching and encouraging the believers about the goodness of our Lord and Savior, in journaling and telling stories to people back home about His faithfulness, in our dreams and when we wake again; through it all, we find Christ and the wonder of God growing in our minds continually.
When we are dragged back to earth by people talking about their worries or about perishing worldly desires, we are so reluctant to engage in these conversations. It is our great longing to take the hands of those who are so concerned and focused on such temporary wants or needs, and pull their eyes and hearts into heaven and the incredible communion with the One who sees and knows all things. How can we worry in His presence? What do the temporary wants matter in the dwelling of the eternal One?
 |
| Eating a completely American breakfast! |
We fear that even as we learn more of the customs and language of these people, we are becoming more and more strange in their eyes. What will those who know us well think of our strangeness when we come back home? May the Lord give us all grace to be patient with one another and may we challenge and build one another up in the faith and anticipation of our Lord’s return and our eternal inheritance.
How well our Indian family takes care of us. We are beyond blessed by the love and care that is continually poured out upon us and we simply do not have any means of repaying them for this great gift which they are giving to us. Over and over we pray that our Great Father in Heaven would bless them to a great extent in return for the kindness they are showing two of His small children. “Father, pour out great blessings of strength and health upon our Indian family; give them the greatest gift in return: that Your presence would dwell in and among them in an ever increasing measure. And, Father, would you provide for their great financial needs which ministry and service to You has brought such burdens upon them.”
This past week were several momentous sightings for us: First, we saw a live camel!!! …Right at the end of our little street (approx. 100 feet away from where we live). A very smily man had it all geared up and was giving camel rides to the little children of the neighborhood (for a small fee, of course). Nethan and Havilash both greatly enjoyed climbing up the great height and swaying back and forth to the awkward motion of the camel’s pace. Chelsea and I got to hang out with the camel as well! (No, we did not ride on the camel. You may call us chickens if you’d like; we prefer to attribute our declining to the fact that two white girls riding through the streets on a camel is enough to bring out the press and create a parade of children long enough to shame even the highest officials.)
 |
| Hello Camel! |
Last week we took a night on the town (in the best sense) with our beloved Indian family. First we visited a building expo (where some of the sellers misunderstood, thinking we were the primary buyers, and directed most of their talking points to us) so that David and Suhasini could look over options for the parish and church building the Lord has laid on their hearts to build. The parish is already 75% built, by the grace of the Lord, though they still need finances to finish it; the family is currently living out of two small, rented rooms and sleeping on the floor of the current church.
Following that, we all went shopping: new cheppulu’s (sandals) for their family, petticoats (underskirts for Saris) for Suhasini and us, nighties (girls nightgowns that go from shoulder to floor with sleeves) for all us girls, and a few treats and fruits for everyone. We closed the evening by going to a delicious and not too expensive restaurant where we were treated to a chicken and noodle dish, a rice/vegetable/multi-meat dish, and a small dish of Indian-style ice cream. YUM! At this restaurant we had amazing sighting #2: A whole group of 5 or 6 white women!!! We think they were European and weren’t able to talk with them, but, they smiled at us so friendly and made our hearts very happy to see them.
Other memories:
Sunday morning last week was a lot of spiritual and physical fun. We taught the Sunday School about Paul and Silas in prison and the way we can praise God in all situations. We had them act out the story including a live jail door of children who launched themselves across the room when the “earthquake” came to the prison. Acting out the stories is a great way to overcome the culture and language barrier; and it helps the children remember the different stories and the truths in them.
During the main service, as mentioned above, I spoke on the inheritance we receive now that we have been born into the family of God. Being born into God’s family, we have received the eternal inheritance of knowing Him. We know Him here on earth through prayer and the Word. This is confirmed by Him creating all of us in the church to be “a kingdom and priests to our God” (those allowed to approach the Lord in His holy place). If we shirk off our responsibility and gift of prayer, then we are “selling” our birthright (I used the example of Jacob and Esau). Don’t sell your birthright or give away your inheritance!
The after-church youth meeting included some worship in Telugu, a short practice of the “hip-hop dance version” of the song Our God is an Awesome God, and a brief but clear message from Chelsea explaining why we pray “In Jesus’ Name.” Names in the old Jewish culture embodied the purpose, character, and identity of the person. When we pray “in Jesus’ name,” we’re not only adding His “signature” to our requests, we’re also checking our requests against the very character and purposes of Christ. Those things we ask which don’t match with Christ’s character and purposes are not going to happen, no matter how many times we say, “in Jesus’ name.”
 | |
| Playing with Nemo under the mosquito netting |
I believe this is a faithful retelling of most of our main experiences in the past several days along with a little explanation of our spiritual journey.
We hope you are blessed, encouraged, and find enjoyment in the things we share.
Andariki Vandenalu
(Thank you all so much for reading!)
(Thank you all so much for reading!)
No comments:
Post a Comment