2nd India Training

We had our second training meeting last Sunday. We talked a little bit about the process of applying for our visas, what it will be like to share our testimonies, and what ministry teams we will be on in India. 

The majority was spiritual preparation training, so we know what to expect leading up to our trip. Andrew, the mission pastor at Rock Harbor’s Costa Mesa campus, came and spoke to us about the “threshold principle.”  Essentially, this principle states the closer you come to a threshold, or an event in which you will be doing something for the glory of God, the more resistance you will experience. Meaning, the closer we get to leaving on this trip, the more spiritual resistance we as individuals and as a team we will experience. 

It was strangely a comforting message to hear, since I felt the spiritual resistance all week long. I was discouraged and exhausted, not as a result of any particular event or situation that happened. Just as a result of living. 

While Andrew was teaching, he reminded us that everything we think, act, feel, do, even our interactions with those around us, reflects the true state of our spirit or heart. He challenged us to look at situations around us and ask ourselves “How is this reflecting my heart?” as well as “How am I being shaped to my core by these things?” 

The most basic purpose for this trip is that lives would be changed to better reflect Christ’s life. Both the lives of those we meet in India as well as our own will be shaped and formed. Challenges leading up to the trip can teach me. By reflecting upon my reactions to these challenges, I am starting to see the state of my own heart. God is going to use this to make me more like Him. And if that on it’s own was not cool enough, He may even be gracious enough to let my being present with others, before and during the trip, help to make them more like Him as well.

Andrew also challenged us to pick a spiritual discipline to regularly be practicing leading up to the trip. The one that stood out the most to me was submission. At first it didn’t really sound like a discipline to me. Then I realized this entire trip will be characterized by submission to those we serve, and those we serve with. I realized that Christ’s entire life was marked by submission, to the point of his death. I started realizing how often my pride keeps me from submitting to my brothers and sisters in Christ. Also, my strong immediate desire not to pick submission was a sign, I should probably pick it. We will see how this one goes...

Side Note: The two ministry teams I was placed on were Teaching and Worship. If you know me even a little bit, you know those things terrify me. If you know me a little bit more, you probably have heard stories of me passing out when speaking in front of groups of people. So prayer would be greatly appreciated in these areas.