Reflections on a day in a village


Four of the team share their reflections:

I discovered that the village that we visited yesterday did not have a name, as it was a relatively new settlement.  Names are a central part of our identity.  When someone asks who we are, we tend to give our name first.  So, not having a name implies a lack of identity.  In Isaiah 43 vs.1 we read that God has called us by name – he knows who we are, he sees our identity.  I was reminded of how God both sees me and also sees others individually and also those in the town with no name – they are not nameless to him, but loved by him.

For me, India is a very new culture and context.  It was good to see the “entry strategy” for Biglife where they express God’s love in practical ways offering basic healthcare, and fun and games for people in the village.  In this and in walking around the village we prayed to meet people of peace (Luke 10) who welcomed us and were interested to hear our stories of faith and receive prayer.  For me the environment is very different to the UK, but there is an encouragement wherever we are to reach out with the love of Jesus.  We are called to be witnesses (Acts 1vs8) wherever we are.

For me loving relationships are vital.  We met a young woman at a simple shop, and she welcomed us in and offered great hospitality with tea and biscuits.  We were not customers but welcomed friends.  We were joined later by her husband and young child.  You could see and sense their love as a family and this was a great representation of God’s love.  She was keen to tell us that she had a love marriage and not an arranged marriage, and this brought her joy.  As she talked of their love as a family, we then had opportunity to share about our own experience of the love of God, and then to pray for them.  Love is a universal language, and seeing this in the light of God is incredible.

I had a real sense that we were not bringing Jesus, but that he was there ahead of us.  In the medical camp we met a couple of people who had encounters with the Christian faith in the past.  We were all pushed out of our comfort zone, in terms of the culture, and also in terms of living faith out in this setting.  I was challenged to seize the opportunities that the Lord placed before me.  People were open to receiving prayer and to hearing about faith, and I was challenged to not make decisions for people in my home setting, but to be bolder in offering prayer and sharing faith.

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