Mission Trip to India Transforms Young Life
A heart for missions led Heather Adams to India on a Prestonwood Young Singles mission trip three years ago. Wearing traditional Indian clothing and standing outside a Buddhist temple in a city of a million residents, she distributed Bibles to people who had never before owned one. That journey—9,000 miles away from home—transformed her life.
"I grew up in a Christian home, but when I really 'got it' was when I saw what they go through in India to stand up for our God," she said. "I really understood why it's so important [to tell others about Christ]."
That realization led Heather to reach out to the lost from Brazil to Boston to South Dallas.
"There is great joy in pouring into others' lives… to helping them feel Christ's love through service with H.I.S. BridgeBuilders in the Bonton community, handing out granola bars at the mass transit stops in Boston, or playing with the kids along the Amazon River," Heather said. "Getting to know people around the world I realized we're all alike. We have a need to be loved and needed, and [we all need] a hope."
In 2007, she set out to help lead the lost to Christ in Brazil and has plans to return this fall. But her love for missions began in India, and that nation will always hold an important place in her heart.
"We helped at a missionary training school for girls (ages 14 to mid-20s) there. They leave their homes for two years, knowing when they go back they might be killed for their beliefs," she said.
The harvest field for Christ is plentiful in India, a nation where 80 percent of the population practices Hinduism; less than two percent of the people are Christian. But God prepared the way, opening doors and hearts for the Young Singles mission team. At the University of Allahabad, they learned of a girl who had been secretly searching for a Bible. They met her on campus and gave her one. Later, the team led a Vacation Bible School, sharing God's love with children.
"The mission trip to India gave me a passion, a more defined purpose and a 'huge heart' for people in other countries," she said.
No matter where she serves, Heather builds new friendships that continue to impact her life. In India, she met Miss Shinde, a teacher at Kalvari Bible School in Allahabad.
"It's like we were friends forever," she said. "We still keep in touch via e-mail…. It was awesome to find a friendship that far away and in that different of an environment. I wanted to invest in her and her mission field; that's why we keep in touch. She's sent pictures and testimonies of the girls there."
Nationally, Heather has made multiple trips to Boston where Prestonwood Young Singles once spent four days at subway stops, handing out 250 granola bars each day. Before leaving, they had touched the lives of 10,000 people with a simple act of kindness and a card saying, "God loves you." (The card also included information about Hope Fellowship Church in Cambridge, which Prestonwood has partnered with for years.)
While at one subway stop, Heather had the chance to visit with a man waiting on his wife and grandchildren. He was an atheist, but they shared a meaningful conversation about God. And she left him with much to think about, asking him, "Do you find it amazing that trees give off oxygen so we can live? How does that exist without anything great in place?" "That's a good question," he responded.
Back home, Heather attends the Reality Bible Fellowship Class and continues to strengthen her walk with God. She also leads a Bible Study for international students, teaching English and the Gospel. She credits Prestonwood and its church family for helping her understand the hope she has in Christ's redemption.
"By being a part of the different ministries, I continue to learn," Heather said. "It takes the focus off of my own issues, problems or concerns which God does not want us to dwell on anyway."
Whether at home, or abroad, she calls Prestonwood and Young Singles her "lifeline."
"It's my source of accountability and focus," she said. "The place and people have helped educate me, train me, and encourage me to follow the great God we have further and further."
