Darjeeling, India

I recently led a team of seven to Darjeeling, India for six weeks. We had our tickets booked to leave on the 4th of June, but we ran into some visa problems and had to re-book our flights. We were waiting on three visas to arrive and i was told by the consolate that it would takes at least two weeks for them to be approved. As a team we prayed and felt that we would get the visas on the following Tuesday the 9th. On Tuesday we got our visas and on the 10th of June we were on our way to India!
Darjeeling is located in the Himalayan Mountains in the Northeast of India between Napal and Butan. Darjeeling is one of the most beautiful places i have been to. I would wake up in the morning surrounded by clouds and green mountains in every direction i looked. It was so amazing!
The team arrived in Darjeeling and spent the first week working with the Ywam base up there. We helped out at a lot of schoolas, went to a hospital to pray for the people there, and went to a Drug Rehabilitation center. It was a good week to get to know the culture and to get prepared for village ministry.
The first village we went to was called Takdah and we worked with a bible college there. We taught on the school and got to spend some time with the Napoli people. It was a great first village and from there we went to a village called Chotta Hata. We got to live with a family for four days and do some house visits and a kids program. It was so much fun to be living with a family and to learn how to speak different words in Napoli and to watch and help cook meals. We really got to get more of a taste of the culture and learn about their history and struggles for being christians.
From there we went back to Darjeeling and helped the base run a Justice Conference and their official opening of the Ywam building. We got to be there almost exactly five years after the base director felt the call to move to and start a base in Darjeeling. It was great to be a part of that and to serve them. We then went to a village in another state called Sikim about a four hour jeep ride away. It was very hot there because we werent as high up in the mountains. We got to serve the pastor by helping build the church building and doing church services almost every night. It was so cool to see the passion this village had for God and to be able to pray and encourage them.
The very last week we had in India we spent in Darjeeling. We did a lot of the same things as we did when we first arrived. We helped with schools and had two days of camp. It was really fun and it was a great way to end our time. On the 18th of July we headed back down the mountain to Calcutta. We took a train back to Calcutta that would have taken 10 hours but took us 20 hours. There had been a train crash in the train behind us and that caused a lot of slowness even though we were ahead of the train that crashed. We were very lucky to be on the train we were on because we just made it to the airport for our flight back to Australia.
God did a lot in me during these five and a half weeks. I led a team by myself and i didnt know how i could do it alone, but i got to rely on God more that i ever have before. I learned how to lean on him and to get strength and wisdom from Him in situations the team was put in. I grew a lot in my confidence as a leader and i have a new understanding of who God is and his love for me. God moved a lot in the team and through the team. And i couldnt have asked for a better team to lead.

He never lets go.

I feel like the past week has gotten busier than it has been for awhile. I am doing reception, helping with hospitality, trying to still make time for my friends, keep in touch with friends and family from home. I have laundry and a house to keep clean. It feels like so much.

But what i never seem to do is stop. I just need to stop every once in awhile to allow God to fill me up. I feel like crap, but he is still there. He is there waiting for me when i run out of time in my day to be with Him. He is there waiting and he will never let go.

This morning we had community worship and we sang a song that goes:
"Oh no you never let go, through the calm and through the storm. Oh no you never let go, every high and every low. Oh no you never let go, Lord you never let go of me."

It got me thinking. Do i really believe this? I had to let the words soak in and i realized that I didn't fully believe that.

As I look back on my life I see that God was there through everything. He was there when my parents got a divorce, when both my parents remarried, when i tried to take my life and i was in ICU. He was there as i chose to follow Him. He is there through hard times and easy time. As i am in a storm or if its clear. He is there rejoicing and crying with me. He held my hand through it and i can fully believe that he never lets go. He will never let go of us. Not now and not ever.

Do you believe that He never lets go?

waiting

I am waiting. I feel like i have been waiting for a couple months now. I am waiting for my next step. For God to give me a glimpse of the bigger picture.

The thing about waiting is that i always get impatient. I want to take my life into my own hands. I have done that too many times before.

It is hard to be able to just wait. To let God do his thing in our lives. But He does do his thing.

That is what i seem to forget in the waiting period is that God is still working on me. I know that as i have been waiting, God has given me the ability to focus on what I'm doing at this moment in time. To be able to focus and be all i can in this season without worrying what i will do after.

That is the thing about God, He doesn't give us the whole picture, but a little bit at a time so that we can focus on one thing at a time, one thing that he is doing in us at one time.

HE is amazing. He cares for us enough to give us time to wait.

Time to look back on our lives and see how He has been working and how He was there the whole time. Waiting or not He was there and will be there.