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.
