Fifteen young singles experienced a 10-day mission in India in the fall of 2005. The group partnered with Prestonwood member and former Young Singles teacher John Paul, who served in India for two years. Young single Britney Parker shares the experience from her perspective:
When I stepped off the plane in India, I stepped into another world. India is a world of chaos. It is a world full of people and full of noise. Most of all, it is a world of desperation. India is opposite from the United States in almost every way. India is a dark place, with more than 3 million false gods. People worship any and all gods, praying that one will have favor on them and set them free from the never-ending cycle of reincarnation. The people of India are empty inside because they spend every moment of their lives trying to attain something that is unattainable. All of this is because their gods are not real. India is a country of creators worshiping their creation.
While in India, our group had three major goals: encourage the workers (missionaries), meet people they could follow-up with after we left, and take the presence of God to the streets of a dark world. We did all these things through prayer walking. Everywhere we walked, we were in an attitude of prayer. Because Jesus, the Light of the world, is in us, we took His light and His presence wherever we went. It also allowed us to be ready, if the Spirit led, to talk with people about the hope we have. Lastly, every moment spent with the workers was sweet and uplifting.
I will never forget being on the campus of Allahabad University. We were divided into teams of three, and I was teamed with Eric and Heidi. When we arrived, Eric, at 6’5”, was immediately surrounded by about 40 or 50 college-aged Indian men. Heidi and I eventually met some girls who invited us to see where they live on campus. As we were walking, Heidi leaned over to me and said, “All week, God has been impressing on me the color purple.” At first, what that meant didn’t register, but she quietly motioned to the girl who was leading the group. My entire body broke-out in goosebumps as I looked at the girl who, from head to toe, was covered beautifully in the color purple. God had led us to that specific girl, and He had led that specific girl to us. It is amazing to grasp the greatness of a God who, in a country of more than 1 billion people, cares about each individual so much that he would arrange such meetings.
Because we live in a country founded on the One True God, we can never understand what it is like to live in a world of total and literal darkness, to walk through life and never once hear the name of Jesus or the Good News of His salvation. Jesus said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” India is the third most densely populated country in the world, and, yet, there are fewer missionaries to India than almost every other part of the world. The only way to spread light to India is for believers to take the presence of God with them. Please pray that the Gospel will continue to be spread in India, and pray that the stronghold the enemy has on this people will be broken so that eyes and ears will be open to the message of Jesus Christ.
