God's Ways are Mysterious

Photo by Dewang Gupta on Unsplash

Thinking back over the past week and a half, I must say that sometimes when one chooses to say “yes” to whatever God may call him or her to do, surprises just may be around the corner. Take my case, for example. A week and a half ago, I was all set to intern with a special needs orphanage in Andhra Pradesh, India and now, I am currently sitting in my new “home” for the summer in Orissa, India – a ministry site which houses a school, orphanage, church, and a church planting ministry. Yes, indeed, God’s ways are mysterious and one never really knows what may happen when human plans and ambitions are placed into His hands.

Already, I have been made to feel quite welcome by everyone here. I am looking forward to seeing what God will do throughout my stay here and am excited to serve in a variety of capacities. I will be spending a couple of weeks working in the office, primarily helping to move the offices to their new quarters and likely will also begin working on some projects, such as planning and implementing new forms of communication and media in an effort to continue spreading information about the ministries offered.

The school here starts on June 17^th, and I will be doing some teaching and working with students who are struggling in their English studies. I will also be helping with a tailoring class which is held here once a week. There will probably be other things that I will be working on throughout the summer, but I am not certain what they will be.

I am quite impressed with the work being done here. The ministry is gradually expanding and currently, they are working to prepare the classrooms for school, expanding the staff quarters, adding guest quarters, and many other things. In addition, they are preparing for a church planters conference which will be held here in a couple of weeks. It will be interesting to see some of these projects being completed this summer. Speaking of which, they are praying for God’s provision so that they can continue the expansion, so I would like to invite you to join us in praying toward that end.

The day I arrived, I was resting while the pastor’s wife and her nephew were at the market in Vishakhapatnam, and decided to look out the window of the hotel room they had rented for the day. As I look down at the bustling streets and out across the city landscape, I was reminded of the fact that the majority of the people passing by on the street might never hear the Gospel. This is quite sobering. There are over 1 billion people living in India, and there are still a great number who have yet to hear the Gospel. Even before that, I found myself pondering this on my flight into Chennai. I was sitting behind a mother with her two young children (they were maybe 3 and 1 years old – and so adorable!). It crossed my mind that these two precious children (and the rest of those on the plane as well as all the adults) might never hear the good news of Jesus Christ. This is why ministries like this, who are run by nationals, are important as they work to minister to their own people, preaching the Gospel and working to meet some of their physical needs as well. There is something really incredible about someone preaching the Gospel to his or her own people, and that should be our goal in missions – to train up nationals to share the love of Christ with their people.

Our responsibility as fellow believers is to stand behind the national churches in prayer and in partnership, so that the work they are doing can continue and so that the Gospel will continue to be spread. So, my encouragement to all of you is to pray for the national churches and also prayerfully consider supporting their ministries through an organization such as Global Hope India or one that supports an aspect of their ministries like Compassion International.