Rahab's Rope, India |
I cannot imagine being a non-believer here and being asked
to change my beliefs to accept a new hope and salvation through Jesus Christ
when facing so much adversity. It seems one would be desperate for this new
hope and would jump at the opportunity to know Christ, yet I wonder if I would
if I were in their place when everyone around you are Hindus and that is all
you have ever known. Would you? I would like to say yes, but I honestly do not
know. That is why it is so important for the body of Christ to be united in
prayer and to be bold and fearless in loving others to Christ. We have to
support the church worldwide. We need to be in constant prayer for our
missionaries around the world and for the salvation of non-believers. It is a
dark environment here. Sometimes it can feel very heavy when you see Hindu
worship everywhere you look, in the buses we ride, mini temples on every
corner, pictures of idols in the homes, the constant smell of incense burning
in worship to idols, people who live in slums flooding into elaborately built Hindu
temples to worship carved images, homeless half-dressed children in the
streets, when we hear stories of spousal abuse often because a woman gave birth
to a girl instead of a boy, when a mother asks you to take her daughter back to
America with you to give her a better life and/or because she does not want her,
women and children begging for food or money everywhere you go, homeless men
with diseased skin sleeping in allies.
It is easy to be discouraged here and believe there is no hope for
India.
Change might be possible without Jesus Christ, but I am
convinced it will not be lasting or effective. There is no hope without Him;
without losing ourselves and finding ourselves in Him. India is in dire need of
knowing Jesus Christ, and the staff members and volunteers of Rahab’s Rope are
working hard to make this happen. I am honored to have been a part of what is
happening here. I don’t know that I have felt so alive in my faith before as I
have while here. God is moving mountains in India and the seriousness with
which the believers here take their faith in Jesus Christ is so inspiring and
admirable. It seems since there is so
much at stake, the dependency on God is so much stronger. It is exciting to
talk daily about your faith with other believers and what God is doing or
showing you. There is a deep sense of community, relationship and passionate spirituality
here in the local body of Christ that I feel is missing back home with our
comforts and conveniences, and of which I hope to inspire upon my return.
Blessings,
Rachel - Summer 2012 Volunteer
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