Early Friday morning, my team of five people embarked on a journey from the Logos Hope to a small town named Chenannur by way of bus, tuk-tuk and a lengthy train ride. Our mission was to represent the ship's ministry as well as the entire organization of Operation Mobilization at many mission conferences that were being held throughout the rural Southwest. The program we brought included: introduction of ourselves, ship and organization information, personal testimonies, and a sermon. The organizers of our team decided to make me team leader, which was a new experience for me. I've led church teams in the past to 1-day locations, but never anywhere this far away for so many days.
Other than myself, the people represented the countries of: Canada, Papua New Guinea, Peru, and the U.K. Needless to say, the local people (most of whom never left their small town) were astonished to not only see, but personally meet people from all over the world...four different continents to be exact! Our host, an overseer of 18 different churches was also Director of Hospital Ministries India(HMI). He picked us up from the train station in the "HMI" van and took us to his home for dinner before dropping us off at the orphanage where we'd sleep. No matter where we drove, the land was a thick and lush bright green jungle contrasted only by a rainbow of strikingly painted homes. Perhaps it is a cultural fad to have a house bright blue with orange and green trim? Or a home with three shades of pink? For some reason, they did not seem out of place once you are introduced to their colorful culture and personalities.
As the title explains, we had to visit nine different churches in only five days which would've only been accomplished with team unity. My goal was to meet every morning and have a daily briefing, devotion, and prayer for one another. Without that, the cohesion wouldn't have been nearly as strong. We tried hard to look after one another and esteem with encouraging words. This is one of the specialties of OM ships: so many nations in one place for one purpose and goal.
Besides preaching at churches, we also spent a lot of time eating. Indians love to eat and show hospitality by giving more food to guests than one could handle. We would have a big breakfast, drive to church, eat, drive to some one's house, eat, drive to another church, eat, another home, eat...not to mention that every bus ride included a pit stop on the side of the road to purchase fresh fruit (that was filling in itself). Not a single meal went without Indian tea, which complimented the Curry and other spices quite pleasantly.
My Indian experience was nothing less than sensational. The amount of knowledge I've gained from the culture, the public speaking experience (with a translator) and the overall lesson to be flexible with an attitude of being prepared at all times, taught me infinitely more than if I would've never left the ship. I suppose that is one of the purposes of a challenge team: to stretch oneself out of any comfort zone and look only to God for comfort and peace.
