Over the past week, you’ve had the opportunity to read about what members of Beautiful Savior have been experiencing during our time here in India. You’ve had the opportunity to read about what came alive for them as they interacted with the people and as they saw God at work…not just in India… but in their own lives. And, who knows, maybe along the way, you might’ve learned something about them as well. I know I have! Do you know what I have learned about them? They hav

A Hindu, a Muslim, and a Christian enter a church..... In the United States this would be a pre-amble to a joke or a story analyzing different religions. Here in India this is not a joke but the reality of those attending worship. In Romans 10:14 we are asked “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” As Bible Faith Lutheran Church wo

Being in India where our mission is to connect with, pray over, and encourage people who don’t understand us is not really in my comfort zone. I am much more comfortable behind the scenes being tucked back in the Sacristy with the Altar Team, or in the kitchen. Doing a task is my preference. I like to be busy. I have been surprised to find that the thing that has made me the most uncomfortable is having others do tasks for and take care of me. From the moment we landed it beg

Every day in India brings new opportunities and great blessings. Today was no exception as the day started with many of the Moriah School’s children returned from holiday and we were able to greet them as we awaited breakfast. Our journey south to our church visit wound through towns and villages before the road became a single lane and travelled alongside the Krishna River leading us to the village of Lankavani Dabba. God is at work in this village surrounded by rice fields,

"Vandanaloo" This is the only word I can say in Telegu, the local language. It's a good word which means, "hello" and "thank you". I would like to add a second word to my vocabulary and hopefully that word is not only easy to pronounce but also multi-purpose and easy to use. The reason for this? Words are very important. Words and language allow us to share out stories and connect with the world around us. In Sunday morning worship, I heard three perfect words -words fou

Semper Gumby. It's become a motto of the trip thus far. Steve Hoem introduced it to us as we were learning of some more schedule changes on our congregational visits. Basically it means, "Always Flexible". The ironic thing today is that it actually lead us to a place of stability. Our initial plan was to visit three separate congregations today. Instead, we ended up at a congregation that was celebrating a building dedication. They had just completed major interior renovat

Don't you just love misleading headlines? Titles that make you think one way and then suddenly switch over to another way? Yeah. I don't either. But here I stand before you guilty of the same crime that has been committed over and over again. So I ask for mercy based on a technicality because there truly is a problem within the Bible Faith Lutheran Church congregations...it's just not what you think. Today we were able to visit three congregations that were actually in clo

There's a newer(ish) Christian song called Do It Again and it's performed by Elevation Worship which is the worship ministry of Elevation Church, based in Charlotte, NC. Every time I hear the song, it digs deeper into my heart reminding me of who our God in Christ really is...that He is a God who can make ways appear when it looks like there are no ways...that He is a God who moves the mountains so that we hear His word clearly. And what's become more real lately as we arri