30 years ago I felt the Lord calling me to serve Him and teach school overseas in Asia....now all these years have gone by and finally I am heading there to do that very thing! I am going to India for a 13 day mission trip to work in
The Good Samaritan School in New Delhi. I am going with
Children's Hopechest which is an organization that seeks to serve orphans worldwide. I will be leaving in 35 days and I am thrilled to be able to take this trip. I am scared too. Children's Hopechest is an amazing organization and they do so much to eradicate the alarming situations that children worldwide find themselves in. Our trip will be a vision trip to observe the school and hopefully establish a type of ministry partnership. Part of the team will travel for several days to Mumbai on a fact finding trip to bring awareness to the sex-trafficking that plagues many places in our world. Those are the facts of my trip...now to share my heart...my story thus far....
I was reading on facebook one day when a friend posted " Photographers/videographers/Bloggers WANTED!!! HopeChest has a trip to INDIA planned June 20 - July 3. They'll be working with Delit Children (think Slumdog Millionaire) and possibly safe homes for victims rescued from trafficking. Will you come and share the story? Price approx $2500 incl airfare! Who's in??? Spread the word! via Children's HopeChest" and I thought to myself...I could do that and posted interest in the trip, tongue in cheek, that yeah, I would love to go, but $$$$? Then 2 days later he posted again, "India trip first deadline is April 25. Only the bold and brave need apply. Focus will be slum kids and trafficked women". In between my friend's two posts I casually said to David, "hey, I don't want you to say anything right now, but I want to tell you about something" to which he replies his standard answer..."oh no....what is it." So I mentioned the trip to him, how I heard about it and then asked him to pray about it. After my friend's second post I responded that I had asked David to pray about it and he and his precious wife responded that they would pray too. Well, 2 weeks went by and it was no small miracle, but I didn't say another word to David. Not a single word about the trip. I knew the money was huge...I knew the time was huge...I knew this was a huge thing, but it was still a desire God had placed on my heart, although I held out not much hope. I just thought...someday...someday I would like to go on a trip like that. On the deadline day...April 25th...I was talking with David in the kitchen and he said he needed to teach me some new things about the computer. I balked at this instruction. Any other technological illiterates out there who are happy in their ignorant bliss??? Well, I am. Computer stuff is just too hard for me to understand so I began to whine....at which point he responded, "well, how are you going to be an international blogger/photographer person without learning some of this stuff?" to which I replied, "WHAT??? YOU THINK I SHOULD GO ON THAT TRIP???" David is a man of few words and he calmly said, "if that is what you think God wants you to do you should". Then I said, "well, I don't know if He wants me to go or not....I just thought I could see myself on a trip like that." And then my sweet man said, "well, I could see you on a trip like that too." A few minutes later I was on the phone to my friends who work for Hopechest asking lots of questions and feeling so excited by all I was hearing. The next day in my time of prayer in a way I can't really explain...I heard the Lord say "I want you to go." and I thought...oh, I am just hearing things...that is my own thought....but the words "I want you to go" would not leave my mind. If you haven't heard God speak to your heart while you are just quiet then it is difficult...no impossible to explain...but I knew it was Him. I shared this with David and we began to make plans. So, I am going to India!
Some days I feel terrified and completely irresponsible....after all I have 3 children still at home that need their momma....what might I see there that will be too difficult to forget....will I be able to be gracious as I visit areas that will smell and eat food that I don't prefer....this is my first missions trip....who do I think I am to go traipsing across the world, after all I am almost 49 years old...that is so much money to spend....all of these thoughts and more have kept me awake nights and yet I cannot get away from the words God spoke to my heart, "I want you to go." I am not brave...I am no hero...I am a servant of the one true God and I am trusting Him to work in and through this lowly woman to touch the lives of children across the globe. His M.O. is doing the impossible so I think He's got me covered.
I would love for you to pray for our team as we prepare for this trip. There are about 12 of us traveling together...did I mention that I don't know a soul going...that God would knit us together and allow us to be His hands and feet to the people we come in contact with. After I agreed with God that I would go on this trip I heard a song I had heard many times before and it took on a new and more real meaning. If you want, you can listen to it
here. So that's the story of my trip to India, with more to come. I leave in about a month. Oh, pray for my family here, too, would you? Thanks from the bottom of my heart. (p.s.I sure would love to hear what's going on in your world...)
Much love,
Jackie Sue
And these are just for fun...Ellie's Ballet Recital
