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| Abigail and Rita |
When I moved to Bangalore in the late 80s as a young 24 year old right off my honeymoon, I had big dreams, dreams of helping Indian women and making a difference. I was very scared, very inexperienced, and yet I fell in love with the Indian women. They were so different from me. They had received a very different upbringing, been taught different values, had different expectations. One thing that always stood out was how humble they were and how vulnerable they could be. Their joy in the midst of hardships and persecution has always been so convicting.
My first few months in India were a whirlwind; it was all very exciting and yet at the same time overwhelming. We were blown away by people's response to the Gospel as well as the intensity of the persecution.. 150 got baptised in our first year in Bangalore. So many wonderful people made it. Many of those people have become some of my dearest friends. One of the very first women I studied the Bible with was Rita. She came to church as a zealous, dynamic teenager, full of beans! It was obvious from day one that she was going to have an impact.
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| Three Generations |
I never thought at that time that God would allow me to still live in India 23 years later, be in a totally different city, and have the incredible blessing of studying the Bible with Rita's daughter. Studying with Abigail is like deja vu for me. She is so much like her mom, full of zest for life! The added blessing was being able to study with Abigail with my own daughter Esther. Rita had studied the Bible with Esther and helped her become a disciple 6 years ago.
Right now in the Delhi church we are all studying with one another's children. It is so exciting, very challenging as well as we have to confront issues in one another's lives we might have overlooked otherwise, but overall it is incredibly inspiring!
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| Abigail and Esther |
Our family will be moving from New Delhi in a few months' time on our way to our next adventure. It has been so wonderful being in Delhi these past few years. I love the church and the disciples here. They have made us feel loved, valued, and useful. Bottom line, that is what I want for my life. I want to be used by God wherever I am and in whatever capacity I can serve the church and the poor, full time in the ministry or not.
