Counting the Cost (again)

After I graduated college in the US, I immediately wanted to move back to India without a question because of all the amazing lessons, internships and ICMC's I got to be a part of and learn from. How could I not share everything I had learned and gained the last four years? Part of my motivation came from feelings of distress and sadness because I never had anything like that growing up in the church. The other part came from wanting to show God how much I really loved him and how I'd give up anything for him.

Fast forward to when David and I got the call to move to Sri Lanka...we had been dating two months and were campus ministers on two different continents. Of course we wanted to go. It broke our hearts to hear that other people had been asked and said no. We didn't know anything about leading a church, but we both felt for the people who didn't have full-time staff for almost fifteen years. The church had shrunk from over 200 to about 20, and the people were crying out for help. David and I both prayed and felt confident that if this was God's will it would work out and we wanted to serve in any way that we could. God was bigger than our cross-continental relationship, marriage, and finances.

There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. - Proverbs 21:30

Along the way we faced a lot of challenges, uncertainty and insecurity. I also decided not to follow my dream of getting my masters and being a university art professor, and chose to follow David instead and move to where he was. (I knew he was the one for me because of how much he loved God, and me pursuing further studies was a way for me to delay/escape God's call for me in the ministry and feel secure and smarter about who I was). God answered such specific prayers, it blew my mind. It worked out! We got married!! We moved to Hampton Roads, VA to train for a year for Sri Lanka. That entire year we lived with other families and relied on their generosity as we were unpaid interns, and David worked another part time job. It really stretched, encouraged, challenged and built our faith. We learned so much with Ed and Deb Anton, and built some amazing friendships that still encourage us now.

It took approximately two years after the Sri Lanka idea came up (and it had almost flickered out in between), that we moved to Colombo on a one month tourist visa. We had just given away all our newly wed stuff and sold everything. Along with all that paperwork we filled when we got married for me to become an American citizen, which was sad only because of how expensive it was in the first place, but totally worth it for the mission! The biggest challenge was our visas. We only had temporary tourist visas that we could extend for up to three months, after which we had to leave the country and come back on a one month visa. We looked for ways to enroll as students, we looked for jobs, anything that could get us a visa to stay even if it meant working another job, but nothing happened. When we would reach out there was this one university that caught my eye. It looked really cool and on researching it, I found out it is one of the best design colleges here. I never thought they'd hire me, especially since I didn't do my masters and gave that up way back when. I asked different disciples if they had any connections with the people who worked here, but we had nothing to go on. I prayed again, if this was something that was going to feed my selfish ambition and take me from the mission I didn't want this job. But if God could get us this, David would have a spouse visa and we'd be able to stay much longer. They called me for an interview and I made it a point to be completely open about David and I leading a church here and how that's a huge part of what we do. To my surprise they were totally fine with it, and wanted me to help and talk to students who were going through difficult challenges. They hired me in January 2016, and gave us the visas we needed for almost 2 more years. Now it has been two years since we've lived and served in Sri Lanka, and we've only been married a little over three years. I love our life serving together, and in every hardship God has been holding my hand and helping me see him more clearly.

Not only do I consistently get to inspire and influence so many young people, but I also got to see how much better God's plan was than my own. Yes, I never imagined the twist of a full-time hectic job in addition to serving in the ministry but I'm surviving! And God is moving! The challenges have been overwhelming at times but this scripture really came to life, when Peter said:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. - 1 Peter 4:12-14

We have so many regions within our cities themselves that have to be reached, apart from the places where we don't have any churches yet. My heart yearns for the places that don't have strong churches.
To my friends who are actually moving abroad to serve, thank you for answering the call. I hope you can inspire more people to dream counter-culturally. We had a few people come to Colombo with us, and a few while we've been here, most of whom had never studied the Bible with anyone before Colombo. Currently, 4 of them are serving in the full-time ministry across the world.

The church has grown from 20 to 61 disciples.  And the best part is, it's not because I'm front and center or anything of that sort. In fact, I've not been able to do as much as I wanted to because I work from 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday, and sometimes on Saturday too. But I've got the chance to learn how to follow my husband and go to him for help. I've seen him call me higher, and move the church to be more faithful and dependent on God. I've seen the women rise up quickly and they have grown so much! They are amazing at reaching out to the lost, serving and planning things together. We currently have a sister from Singapore helping out with the singles ministry - Rebecca Fxy - and she is doing such an incredible job getting the sisters unified, loving each other more deeply and being outward focused. We also have a brother from San Diego - Alex Barke. He used to do sound for his church back home, and here he's a song leader! We definitely need all the help we can get to build up God's kingdom.

One of my friend's who used to be a Muslim and then converted to Christianity always says "if Muslims make it a point to visit the Hajj at least once in their lives, I think every Christian should make it a point to be on a Mission Team at least once in their life." That brought to my mind the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." - Matt 13:44-46

What we have received as disciples is immeasurably more than we could have ever imagined. Even if we just think of the one aspect of our sins being forgiven, it's mind-blowing. Paul really understood this grace and he said:

By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 
- 1 Corinthians 15:10

If you're wondering about how you can make a difference, why not do a One Year Challenge?
Or spend your family vacation visiting a small church that needs encouragement (we'd love to welcome you in Colombo), or do a Hope Corps trip. Pray for God to help you see where you need to serve. It could be really close by, or really far away. But life is too short to miss out on your adventure with God. It's the best feeling to be able to go to bed every night and know you're doing everything you can (not you, but the grace of God in you) to please Him (& not yourself) because you love him so much, and you're so grateful that he has washed away all your sin.

After all...This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. - 1 Tim 2:3-4

Jesus promised us all 'life to the full'. And I keep seeing that fulfilled in my life, year after year as a disciple. We can all have that life to the full if we consistently choose the count the cost with our faith and make sure we are at any and every point willing to give up everything for Him. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. - Luke 14:22 
It doesn't matter how we started out your Christian life, it matters how we end the race. What you did in the past, has passed...what will you do today can make all the difference in the world. I didn't know much when I left for India the first time, and while I knew a little more before we got to Sri Lanka...I really didn't have any experience. But if God is with us, what do we need to worry about?

The end of a matter is better than its beginning. Ecc 7:8