Sunday, January 8, 2012

One Life...


Well, it's 12:30 am and I've been home for a few hours. I got a decent nap and now that I'm awake, my head is spinning with a million thoughts and emotions stemming from this trip. So I figured I would blog since I didn't get much of a chance to do so while in India. As I lay here, re-living as much of the trip in my head as humanly possible I'm trying to think of how I can possibly convey what just happened to those who will want to hear about it. It's virtually impossible to break these kinds of trips down into a short story.
One thing that was said during our morning devotions has stuck with me throughout the trip though and that's what I've chosen to blog about. One morning, Jay (one of my teammates) pointed out a person whose life was influenced by a Christ follower years ago. And then how that person had influenced many others... and those many others and influenced even more. One of those people was his mother... and the impact was passed on an on. I spent a lot of the rest of the week reflecting on how much impact we can have on the world if we can focus on changing just one life. Showing one person the love of Christ over a matter of time can have such a ripple effect that it can change the world. And it will... the Bible declares that one day every tribe, every nation, and every tongue will declare that Christ is Lord... and I believe it. In a matter of a year I have seen a village completely transformed. The transformation started long before I started coming to Kalivai, but I have had the honor of being there 3 times within the last 12 months and the rate of transformation in this village absolutely blows me away. And it all started with a little old woman named Miss Lily. The first and at one time, only Christian in the village. I nearly cried when we were in our small groups discussing who was the first person to show them what the love of Christ looked like and one of the men pointed to Miss Lily. To see these people expressing such joy and to hear them talking about Christ in ways I've never heard before was so humbling. To think that God has blessed me so that I could be a part of it... to even witness it... words can't express how this makes me feel. But it didn't stop with Lily... and it doesn't stop with us. Impacting one life is important... Showing one person what the love of Christ looks like is crucial but set your goals higher... I know I'm going to. But know... that if you can impact just one life... it may just change the world.
Jennifer

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