From The Field India: Serving With Friends

Written by Olivia Lasater

And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 

I’m so thankful I go to a school that preaches the humanity of Jesus. I have felt very human on this trip. Being here with our friends in India has been a world of different, and a perfect opportunity to see what is going to come out of our team as we’re pressed and presented with different challenges. We have needed God. Seeing a portion of what he sees everyday has had us on our knees, desperate for his presence, his guidance, and direction for our time here. 

What i’ve been most thankful for on this trip, is the Biblical education I have had the privilege of receiving. I’m so thankful to have been taught that God’s focus is on the building up of his people as his work that he is invested in. If I didn’t know that God’s mission is iterative, and implemented over the course of time as people are invested into and given a Biblical education, it would be very easy for me to feel hopeless in the face of what I’ve seen. 

Kids and mothers with newborn babies tapping on my window, asking for money, signing for food, isn’t an everyday sight where our team is coming from, but it is for my friends who live here. The makeshift homes and kids sifting through trash I see on our daily commute isn’t a sight I’ll ever get used to. But it's one my friends have grown up seeing.

If I didn’t know that Jesus’ vision is for all who are idle in the marketplace to have meaningful jobs, I would be crippled by the amount of men I’ve seen sleeping the hunger and heat away as they wait on the side of the road for someone to book their rickshaws. I wouldn’t be able to see how powerful the work is that G.O.D. does, providing jobs for our staff here in India. If I wasn’t taught that Jesus was moved to compassion at the sight of crowds who were harassed and helpless, I wouldn’t know what to think about the crowds I saw gathered at the gates of the mosque, people of all different ailments, holding out their hands for food or spare change. If I didn’t know that God’s heart is for the widows and fatherless, I wouldn’t know to prioritize giving food to the malnourished, nursing mother in a sea of hungry faces seeking shelter from the rain. 

If I didn’t know that Jesus’ mission began with 12 friends, reclining at a table together, I wouldn’t be able to see the time spent fellowshipping with our friends as the coming of the kingdom of God. The deep, familial bonds that have already begun to be built with our staff here are friendships I know will last a lifetime. And I believe that together we will and are changing the world, but first we are being changed by God, his Word, and one another. I know I need my friends to do what God expects us to do as his people. 

I’ve seen Jesus’ command he gives his disciples in Matthew 28 coming to life for us every day. Everyday, we’ve had an opportunity to teach what we have had the privilege of learning from Jesus through our classes at the Institute for GOD, and as we’ve done so, we’ve seen light and life coming to the eyes of people who are hungry for the Word of God. We’ve been given much, and we know that because of this, much is required of us. 

Something a mentor shared with me before I left was this:

“Friendship is the whole heart of the Gospel, the LORD’s heart is to be friends with us, and for us to experience the same depth of love and friendship with one another.” 

While he was on earth, Jesus fed the hungry, clothed the naked, healed the sick, and raised the dead, and he did it WITH his friends. He invested into each one of them with the belief that they were going to do even greater things. Getting to immerse ourselves into the world of our friends with them as we follow God together has been the greatest adventure. We’re learning how to navigate their world while having transformative moments with each other as we all share our hearts, discuss what God has done for us, what our hopes and dreams are, what we want Jesus to teach us, and how much we want to do his will in the world. A three cord bond is being built between us, one that is not easily broken. One that will allow us to not only face the harsh reality of need in the world and of the people around us, but to respond to the need with the capacity that has been built in us. 

We’re making each day count. We’re doing the hard work to figure out how to teach what Bible we know in a manner that is contextualized and applicable to our team’s everyday life. Much of it, apart from the facilitated times of worship, Bible study, and prayer that we’ve done, has come through us just being who we are. After a long day, I received a message from one of the staff members here, who said to me “I am so grateful and thankful to God for you all and for the time we get to spend together. Trust me, every time I talk to you, I learn something new that I try to apply in my life.” I have so much faith in my friends, in what the Lord is building in them, and who it is that they can become. The strength of our friendships that we have begun to build, is only something that will become more meaningful and impactful as time goes on as we continue to be brought together across language and culture, united through the Word of God and the calling that we share to be his people in the world.