We are home safely

God is good ... All the time!

We arrived safely home last night around 6pm after quite a long journey. Our bodies were weary, our emotions were high, but our souls were refreshed. 

God's hand of protection has been upon our group the whole trip and we are so grateful. We had no real illnessss (just a few minor colds and such) and no big travel or safety issues. The unrest in Delhi that was happening prior to our arrival was much worse than any of us realized, however, God worked mightily and the riots were finished before we landed. 

Our many, many hours of traveling allowed us time to reflect on our trip, both individually and together. Our team meeting in the bus was a nice time to build each other up and share our positive qualities along with what we learned about each other. 

We had time to think about and remember all of the amazing people that worked with us and befriended us along the way. I will never understand how those bonds can become so strong after only a few days, but God makes it so! 

As our mission trip comes to an end, it's important to remember that the mission itself is not over. While we are home and no longer meeting new people in India, God is still working there. I am reminded of Paul's words to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 3 where he is talking about being co-missionaries with Apollos. "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth." We were so blessed to have been able to plant some seeds while in Punjab. Pastor Daniel and his ministry have much growth and have done much planting already and we were blessed to partner and plant a few more. You see, through the clinic, we were able to touch over 800 unique individuals through the eyeglass clinic. And our witness station shared the gospel of Christ with all of them. They all received a New Testament bible to continue reading about God's love for them. Many of these people wouldn't have ever stepped into a Christian church, but they did because they had a need for vision ... They saw their need for physical vision (and we provided that in the form of glasses); God saw their need for Spiritual vision (and provided that in the form of sharing the gospel in their native language, giving them witness bracelets to remind them of this gospel, and sending them with bibles to continue to learn about it). These are some of the seeds that we were blessed to have been chosen to sow. Now Pastor Daniel and his ministry team will continue to water those seeds, as they've faithfully done for so long. And we leave the growth to God. We have seen Him grow so many of the seeds along the way. You've already heard of some of the growth .... People joining the church because of the clinic; people coming back for reading glasses because they wanted to be able to read the bible they received; community members wanting to serve alongside us and being able to see Christians in action! God is just so good!! We know that all of this is only possible through His hand. 

And we cannot express our thankfulness to all of you. You have supported us, encouraged us, prayed for us and with us, and loved us along this journey. We are so grateful for all of you. You can't know how much you've impacted us. So, thank you again. Thank you for sending us! May God richly bless each of you to see how you've impacted missions around the world and how you can continue to be missionaries where you are or in a future trip. 

Love from, 

Your India Mission Team