Prepare

The word running through my mind the past few days is, PREPARE. I’m leaving for South Asia in less than a month. How do I need to prepare?

 

God has prepared my heart to go since February when the last team got back and reported on their trip. I knew I wanted to go. I told Matt, I want to go next time!  And so the chain of events cascaded.

I had to commit mentally. I had wanted to go, but there was some discouragement at first when I decided to move forward with going. So there was a slight crisis. Was this really what God was leading me to do?

About that time I also met a young man online who lives in Rwanda. (I know, you’re thinking, scammer, but I assure you he’s not that. I even had a missionary that travels back and forth from Rwanda to Texas for her ministry tell me about his character. We video chatted all the time, and he didn’t hide things from me, and he even sent me a care package from Rwanda with many little gifts.)  Anyhow, we “dated”, whatever that looks like for cross continental dating, and I tried to break it off three times. It’s finally over. But, right when that happened, I was raising support and planning this trip to India, and I actually think he was expecting me to not go to India anymore and just go to Rwanda to see him. I don’t know. I still have questions.

I drug my feet for a long time on sending out support letters. A really long time. I had a letter written, and then it took three weeks, and having to re-write the letter several times, before I finally printed my first batch.

So the past few weeks have been amazing to see money coming in for the trip, and watch God provide financially for me! I prepared by raising support, I prepared to see God provide!

I also prepared for the trip by becoming familiar with the Bible study, Masterlife Together, by Matt and Allison Willis. These are the discipleship materials we’ll be teaching to our South Asian friends. I’ve led a Bible study the past two months and we’ve worked the book together!

Of course the past few weeks mom’s started worring about logistics. Am I prepared with new luggage? Am I prepared with meds? Am I prepared with what clothes to wear?  So many little details! 

But the other night, the Holy Spirit whispered, you need to prepare in prayer.

It’s been said, a prayerless life is a powerless life. I believe it. Prayer unleashes the power of God in our lives like nothing else. And I certainly want the power of God to be at work in this trip and beyond.

I will pray for South Asia, the believers who face persecution on all fronts, their faith to be strengthened and deepened to withstand any threats, their joy to be a witness and draw more people to Christ.

I will pray that our teaching will help strengthen the discipleship efforts of the South Asian church, so that not just the church leaders but the lay people will have deep faith as well.

I will pray the strongholds of Hinduism and Islam would be dismantled, and the Holy Spirit would invade the land with the Gospel, sparking a church planting movement so big only God could get the credit and the glory.

I pray the gospel would transform lives, and those changed lives would attract more to Christ.

I will pray for our team to work together well, to encourage each other, to stay safe and healthy during the travels… (food poisoning while overseas is no bueno, don’t want that again!)

I will pray that my own heart would soften for the peoples of South Asia, the many unreached people groups there, the billions who still have never heard the Gospel, that I would be driven to regularly pray.

I’m sure I will pray more as led, as God is telling me my preparation is prayer. I would ask you to pray with me. I don’t know what God has in store for this trip, but I want to be prepared.