my first Indian Christmas
Merry Christmas friends and fam,
So it's my first Christmas away from my family, and I think I will be just fine. Don't get me wrong, I miss every last one of my 18 family members (and my friends too...don't think I've forgotten about you guys!) but I think I had prepared myself for something close to a mental breakdown during this season and that's not even close to how I feel. God has, once again, been faithful to comfort me. Plus I was thinking, it's pretty neat that I get to spend a Christmas on the eastern side of the world, closer to the actual place where Jesus was born!
Last night we had a Christmas party at Saji and Bindu's and did a gift exchange thing, tomorrow we will go carolling from home to home in our neighbourhood, and Christmas Eve we will serve the host families by providing them childcare and waitering for a "Christmas Satsung." Instead of a regular candlelight service it will be a Hindu-style worship night to celebrate Jesus' birth to this earth. They promised we'd still get some goodies out of the deal, just in case some of you were worried for me. :)
Since we've returned from Punjab (which was neat...we saw the Sikh Golden Temple and some famous...rock garden...?) I have been spending my days with five young women, teaching some basic English, playing games with them, and taking some of the load off of the woman who lives with them 24/7. These girls have been either rescued out of prostitution, abused in some way, or banished from their homes for various reasons and they now live together under some supervision. It is quite amazing to see the laughter and happiness in that home. It has God's grace written all over it, just as His grace is waiting there for any of us.
That reminds me, I have been learning a lot from God about his grace. Here is a verse that has been encouraging me. Hopefully it can be the same for you. It goes, "But (Christ) said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9,10). I sure feel weak a lot of the time--thank you Lord that you can use me best in those times!
I thank God that he sent his Son, Jesus, to be born in this crazy world. He is my Saviour!
A few prayer requests to end things off:
-That our team would take delight in having an Indian Christmas away from our usual families.
-For the 30-year-old woman who lives in, 24/7, with the five "sisters" I wrote of. She needs another live-in woman to help.
-Please pray that the rest of my funds for this trip will come in.
-That God would continue to mold me and form me into who he created me to be.
Thank you and God bless!
love, Bethy
p.s. I can't download pictures right now but I'll keep trying!
So it's my first Christmas away from my family, and I think I will be just fine. Don't get me wrong, I miss every last one of my 18 family members (and my friends too...don't think I've forgotten about you guys!) but I think I had prepared myself for something close to a mental breakdown during this season and that's not even close to how I feel. God has, once again, been faithful to comfort me. Plus I was thinking, it's pretty neat that I get to spend a Christmas on the eastern side of the world, closer to the actual place where Jesus was born!
Last night we had a Christmas party at Saji and Bindu's and did a gift exchange thing, tomorrow we will go carolling from home to home in our neighbourhood, and Christmas Eve we will serve the host families by providing them childcare and waitering for a "Christmas Satsung." Instead of a regular candlelight service it will be a Hindu-style worship night to celebrate Jesus' birth to this earth. They promised we'd still get some goodies out of the deal, just in case some of you were worried for me. :)
Since we've returned from Punjab (which was neat...we saw the Sikh Golden Temple and some famous...rock garden...?) I have been spending my days with five young women, teaching some basic English, playing games with them, and taking some of the load off of the woman who lives with them 24/7. These girls have been either rescued out of prostitution, abused in some way, or banished from their homes for various reasons and they now live together under some supervision. It is quite amazing to see the laughter and happiness in that home. It has God's grace written all over it, just as His grace is waiting there for any of us.
That reminds me, I have been learning a lot from God about his grace. Here is a verse that has been encouraging me. Hopefully it can be the same for you. It goes, "But (Christ) said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9,10). I sure feel weak a lot of the time--thank you Lord that you can use me best in those times!
I thank God that he sent his Son, Jesus, to be born in this crazy world. He is my Saviour!
A few prayer requests to end things off:
-That our team would take delight in having an Indian Christmas away from our usual families.
-For the 30-year-old woman who lives in, 24/7, with the five "sisters" I wrote of. She needs another live-in woman to help.
-Please pray that the rest of my funds for this trip will come in.
-That God would continue to mold me and form me into who he created me to be.
Thank you and God bless!
love, Bethy
p.s. I can't download pictures right now but I'll keep trying!
posted by Beth at 2:28 AM
1 Comments:
It sounds like God is holding you close and taking you on a great adventure. I hope that you had a great Christmas. I pray that God will fill you up as you pour out into other people's lives. I pray that God will fill you so much with him that wherever you go the love of Jesus will spill over into other people's lives. I praise God for you. I praise God that He is using you to spread his fragrance to India. God bless you!
-Amanda
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