You may be wondering, “Why haven’t I heard about Jennifer’s trip to India yet?” and I would like to apologize for my long awaited letter. I’ve struggled over the past month as to how to put into words my journey into any form that would do it partial justice and some of these feelings continue even as I’m writing this letter. I pray that as you read about my journey you’ll encounter the Holy Spirit and what he wants to specifically share with you and finish my letter with at least a glimpse of the Lord’s work in India that I was blessed to be immersed in over this past summer.
My team to India consisted of 3 other girls: Aubrey, Tamra, and Meret, which I met a week before leaving the country! After 40 hours of traveling, we arrived at our Indian home in a town called Musiri. The Spirit quickly laid it upon my heart that we weren’t meant to minister exclusively for planned events outside the home, but that my team needed to focus on ministry among each other during our down time as well by living in a deep, honest, and vulnerable God-centered community. The Lord used each of my teammates this summer to either: set an example, encourage, or spiritually challenge me.
While in India, we attended a Children Development Center (CDC), a Nazarene Compassionate Ministry, most afternoons. At the CDC, I would build relationships and love the children by playing with them, helping with snack, and teaching English to twelve year olds. After the CDC we would make house visits to either local church members or children and their families from the CDC. I loved house visits because I was blessed by their hospitality and got to experience the beauty of communicating to my Indian friends through broken languages or nonverbals. During services, I got the opportunity to preach four different times, share my testimony, and sing both Tamil (their language) and English worship songs. We also got to finance and physically paint two churches and the CDC.
Throughout this entire summer, the Lord stretched, molded, and taught me many things. Here is an excerpt from one of my sermons that describes one of the challenges and analogies God handed to me in the middle of the trip:
“…A week ago we were returning from a Nazarene conference in Mumbai (India) and I was feeling very homesick—desiring to be in a familiar atmosphere. We went to have dinner in Coimbatore at Kingsley’s (my site coordinator) grandparents’ house and it was very refreshing. Being in the presence of a family brought some source of comfort and familiarity. I felt like it was an extension of home. I felt put at ease and comfortable. We (my teammates and I) wanted to stay the night there but we had to go and drive to the mountain (Kotagiri, India)—the next step on our journey. So we left the comfort and ventured into the night, trusting because I couldn’t see a thing nor did I know the final destination or how to get there. As we drove higher and higher into the mountains we couldn’t see much but dark hills and valleys, more stars than I’ve seen in my entire life, we felt a breeze, and words don’t describe how much I felt at peace. I was so content and thankful that I was on this journey and that we’d left (his grandparent’s) home—everything familiar—to climb the mountain.”
God reminded me through this experience that our relationship with him is to always be a climb—always committing to and trusting more in him, even if it means leaving the familiarity or comfort where we currently are. He promises in Jeremiah 29:11-13 that his plans are for us to prosper and as we journey through life, if we seek him we will find him—what a promise! God challenged me and asked me, “Will you give your all? Will you follow me even when it’s hard? Will you trust me and my plans I have for you above your own?” I don’t know God’s specific will for my life right now, but I am earnestly seeking what he wants instead of making my own plans. I do have more clarity from the trip as to the type of ministry that God has called me to and I want to pour myself into throughout my life. God has placed a strong passion in me to be in community with others, especially girls around the high school/college transition age, and journey with them as they sort through many different memories and feelings as they discover and love who God created them to be. I desire to be a faithful and safe friend/mentor in the midst of their mess, and to share of mine when appropriate.
Below is a picture of my teammates and I in Indian attire with four girls we got very close to. From left to right (myself, Deepa, Aubrey, Archna, Tamra, Mercy, Christy, and Meret.) The three older girls were three of my children at the CDC in which I taught English.
In closing, the Lord called and sent me this summer to accompany Him in his redemption story in India. I’ve returned not only having ministered, but having journeyed two more molding months with the Lord into a deeper personal relationship, and having been ministered to by our fellow believers and other beloved friends I met there. Once again, thank you for having been a vital part of my life and sharing in this life changing journey. I thank you also for your prayers—my teammates and I felt the difference and saw how God answered many of them. Many of those I met asked me to share their story and ask my fellow friends at home to pray for them. I now ask you, will you lift up in prayer the following?
-Our fellow brother and sisters in India. That they may be encouraged in their faith, develop deep community among one another, and continuously encounter the Spirit in a real way.
-My friends I met that aren’t a Christian and that they may come to know the love the Father has for them and believe that he is the only Living God and give their life to him.
-God is physically healing many in India—they are dependent on Him and believe in His power so deeply. Please pray that he continues to take care of their physical needs.
-My teammates and I as we continue to adjust back to our usual routines. That we may never forget those we met and what we learned in India, and that we will give ourselves grace as we strive to make changes in our lives.
Thank you for taking the time to read about my journey to India and how the Lord is working in lives around the world. If you would like to hear more details of my trip you can contact me (jdfuhrman@mnu.edu or 417-399-5477) and we can set up a time to meet!
May you be filled with Christ’s Grace and Peace,
Jen
My prayer and mission verse while in India: “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
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