And The Letter Goes Out [from Courtney]

Hey Ya’ll!                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

It is hard to believe a whole year has already passed since I returned from India, and it has been a grace-filled one, to say the least. As many of you know, God led me to withdraw from classes and take a job in the business world just over a year ago. That was undoubtedly one of the biggest ways I’ve seen His provision, as this plan made no sense to me at the time. Around the same time, I moved out into the rolling hills of these Ozark Mountains with an incredible family from whom I have learned so much.

The move and job change have so flawlessly testified to God’s faithfulness in my life this year, as He has used this adopted family to show me such a tangible picture of His own love for me. Looking back, God has used this year to restore a lot of brokenness and solidify my own dependency in Him above all else. I am thankful it is a process, and certainly have not arrived, but I see a spirit of steadfastness growing.

Another year of International ministry has really allowed me to see the body of believers here in NW Arkansas catching a vision to reach out to these students in noticeable ways. It has been incredibly humbling to be apart of.  Most of my time has been spent studying the bible with a group of girls from Korea, Japan, and Indonesia. This past fall, a new program was launched, birthed from vision God gave me last year to further connect American University of Arkansas college students with internationals. The “Friendship Cousins” program has been a huge success this year and God continues to use relationships built for His glory, even through a secular program.

In just a couple weeks, I will be moving into a house with two other believers who also share in this desire to see internationals reached with the gospel. We look forward to hosting plenty of events and bible studies in this awesome house God provided! I recently accepted a new job as a nanny here in Arkansas as I continue paying off school debt. I am just several classes away from graduation this August! I have watched God provide in such miraculous ways this year. Just recently, He has presented an opportunity for me to return to India this summer!

As the year has progressed, I have kept in close contact with the Pastor I got to serve in India last summer. India has remained constant in thought and prayer as I have tried to remain faithful to what God has called me to here as I wait for His timing and confirmation of returning. Now it’s time!!!  

The Lord has graciously provided a dear friend and sister in Christ with the desire [and the guts!] to adventure into the mountainous villages of India alongside me! God has so meshed our hearts and lives together this year and it is a privilege to embark on this journey with her.

From July 3^rd to July 30^th we will be teaching English at a school in the middle of many small, impoverished villages. Just having us there to teach & share the gospel through English classes in that schoolhouse will bring much credibility to the school and the ministry work it funds. We also hope to offer several classes on sex-trafficking prevention, as many of these village women are prime targets of this awful crime. In addition, we hope to be an encouragement to the local church & persecuted believers who call these rural mountains home.

The school we will be teaching at.

While in India, we plan to keep a blog! This is such an awesome opportunity for YOU to be involved through our whole journey! We hope to articulate with more clarity the needs of this Pastor and his ministry as well as stories of what God is doing. As we are going into a primarily Hindi culture with some deeply rooted resistance to the gospel, please pray that hearts would be softened while we share and do life on life with these beautiful people. Also, pray for the Pastor and his family who continue to serve so faithfully day in and day out, despite persecution. Pray for God to show us how we can best serve them through our time as well.

As I am going into this trip with the specific intention of prayerfully considering returning to the same location to teach the children and minister to the Hindi women long-term within about a year, please pray for God to provide direction in this as well.

As God has so graciously drawn me to Himself through the way the local church has encircled, provided discipleship, and loved on me this year, it is humbling and exciting to actually be sent out by my own church on this trip! We need to raise $2,500 for this trip by June 28^th, 2013. If you feel led to support us on this journey, please make checks payable to University Baptist Church. All donations are tax-deductable. Please don’t put my name on the check.

Thank you for continuing to walk with me in this journey, trusting God as He leads me back to India for this season! Your continual prayers and support are always so appreciated! 

In His Glorious Grace,

Courtney

And We Are Officially India-Bound!

Hey Ya'll,

Thank you so much for joining us in our upcoming journey to India!

For now, the main focus of this lovely space will be the stories to be had of however Christ should choose to use two [blondish] prideful, broken, American girls who decided to go live [for a month] on a rural mountain in the middle no where India in hopes that God will work through our brokenness, that His name might be known to all ends of the earth. Whooh!

How He choses to use us, completely ineloquent in word and deed, unversed in this missionary lifestyle, and still slightly dreading the squatty potties, heat, and odd foods, we have only an attempt at obedience to His calling listed on our qualification record and yet, I just know this is the gospel going out in flesh and I want to offer it up faithfully with a lose grip.

It's not mine to hold tight, anyhow. Not in the sense of keeping it quiet and personal.

I never thought I would teach, or even think about thinking about teaching. I haven't ever had this divine moment where I felt called to India either. I just love these people. And I am humbled to hear testimony of what God is indeed already doing through these villagers hearts and lives. And so when the invitation was expressed, I knew this was a door being held open by steel bars of God's grace in my life and as the year has progressed, the holy spirit has nudged me on through.

And after the Lord worked in some sweet ways, my friend Sydney decided she was supposed to go too!

I am so thankful God is sending this girl with me because:
1. Our hair is closer to matching and more likely to make us stand out--maybe that 2am impromptu hair dying session was a mistake, but team bonding at its finest--check.

2. The boys I nanny have asked where "Miss Sydney" is about ten times today and it's only noon.

3. She likes food, all food. She really likes trying new, weird food too. And I am quite possibly the leader of picky-food-eaters anonymous. Perfect, you see?

4. We already have a book list too weighty to fit in only one checked bag--so now we can use two bags  AND share books. Hah.

5. She is moving across the country after this trip, so we might as well make the separation a bit more painful by spending a month together in India first. And we both agree.

6. She knows how to roll with the punches like the best of em' and she is patient. So while I wrestle my schedule and to-do lists into that red dirt, she will flourish on "India time" and maybe teach me a thing or two in the process.

7. God has gifted her in language skills while He's refining my gifting to write. So she can communicate while I scribe. Watch out, ya'll.

8. Over dinner last week, I asked a semi-rehtorical question regarding details listed in the ten plagues of Exodus. Her interpretation was completely different then mine. The wrong vs. right faded as we talked scripture to each other over pasta. A month of this, God will use to teach me much.

9. On a more serious note, we prayed together for forty days and through it, God called us to this trip--so ultimately obedience is fleshing out in the going together and trusting the Lord with the rest!

10. God spoke to me through a burning bush last week--and here we are some "Moses--Aaron" wanna be combo.

This is a safe place to wrestle and encourage and challenge and story tell.

We are going to serve with a ministry called Life Change International, hence the blog address. We hope to be able to continue sharing updates and information via this blog even after returning from our trip. We will see how that all plays out. But for now, please join us in the journey!!

You can check out my India journey last year that led to this return trip over here. 

Again, thank you for your support and prayers. We are excited to see what the Lord is doing and continues to do!