Never has my heart been so broken and yet so full as when I visited India

India: where do I begin? Never have I seen such poverty and spiritual oppression. Never have I seen so many temples and people worshipping false gods. Never have I seen such filth and people abandoned in the streets. Never have I seen such sickness and suffering. Never have I felt so helpless and guilty, knowing the comforts I would be going back home to. On the other hand never have I heard such worship or heart felt prayers, for those who are truly desperate are not afraid to cry out to the one true God. Never have I seen such overwhelming faith and belief despite of harsh circumstances. Never have I felt so much love and acceptance despite of cultural differences. Never have I seen so many people desperate for answers to their prayers and witnessed miracles and heard of instant healing. God is moving in this desperate nation. God is faithful to show up and hears the cries of his people. I was challenged this week in every aspect and so far beyond my comfort level. I asked myself questions like would you sit on this filthy soil to hear about Jesus, when in all honesty I didn't even want to set my bag on the ground. Would you run desperately to seek answers to your prayers like these woman did or will you remain reserved not wanting to bring attention to yourself? Would you be willing to touch the untouchables on the streets not knowing for sure if the diseases they carry are contagious? Would you be willing to lay down your life in hopes of someone coming to know Jesus? Would I be willing to speak openly about Christ knowing in this country they do not have the freedom to do so? I came back home with a greater appreciation for so many things we take for granted, the freedom to share Jesus openly with others, the safety and comforts of home. I fell while I was there and I would have rather have had a broken hand for 4 days than gone to the hospital there because of how filthy everything was. We have clean streets and areas for our children to play. We have parks and places for them to run.  We have clean air to breathe and water to drink. We have so much we take for granted, not to mention all of the materialistic stuff we possess. How differently we would shop if we truly knew at what cost things we purchase  were made: did it come from good working conditions or sweat shops and child forced labor? Would you still by it then? May I never forget the eyes my eyes locked with or  the faces of hopelessness I have seen.  May I teach my children to have hearts that run after desperate situations instead of running away. May we be fearless in the face of evil and know we serve a mighty God, one who is near to the broken-hearted and hears the cries of the poor and oppressed. We know the answer to hopelessness is Jesus and may we bold enough to speak his name and cry out to him in our times of need. Please continue to pray for India and the lost around the world. This week we had the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with thousands of women, children, and men. We had the privilege of handing out bibles, praying for desperate situations, asking for healing and deliverances, going to schools and performing skits and sharing the message of Jesus with them, visiting an orphanage and loving the girls that lived there, we trained young girls in anti-rape seminars, we prayed over the city and sanctuary for hearts to be changed and to trust in Jesus,  we had the privilege of watching how a different culture worships Jesus, and feeling like a minority as we were the only white people I seen while we were there (with the exception of two beautiful women one from Africa and the other an African American) Time after time we got to witness how God heard our cries and showed up to answer our prayers. We had the privilege of serving together and working as a team unified to share the love of Jesus even though some of us had never meet before: 14 in all one from North Carolina, one from South Carolina and one from Kenya Africa, and rest from all over New York. How I loved our devotional time at night, and Stephanie's heartfelt worship songs as we got together to share where we had seen God show up that day and then we would close in prayer for one another. This time in India has left my heart broken and full all at the same time. May God use this to impact the way I do life here in America and how I teach my children to live their lives here as well. God is so good and I'm so thankful he allowed me to see the hurting world around us. May this experience make me more like Jesus. Amen.