June First-Lasts

This morning, my alarm went off as usual, and-as usual-I pushed the snooze button to sleep for five more minutes. I was awakened after only two minutes by one small thought that sent my head whirling: It's June First. Can it be that our five-and-a-half months of serving overseas has dwindled down to a measly twenty-nine days? At first, I thought that my heart would be happy to hear this news, but that wasn't the case. 

All morning, I've been thinking of friends I've talked to who have yet to receive the saving love of our Sav*or, and of the fellowship I've been able to have with other bel*evers here, and my heart just breaks. Like Mary at the tomb, I just want to fall to the ground and shed tears over what I'm losing as I look into the dark space. For Mary, that dark space was the mysteriously empty tomb. For me, it's June 30th-our departure date. How sorrowful among women we would both be had Mary not encountered Jesµs that morning! Her story reminds me that there's more going on here than what I can see. You see, Mary's sorrow (as mine is today) was based off of what her human mind could comprehend. It was only when Jesµs came to her and called her by name that her eyes were opened to the glorious plan of Our Father! Because of her experience, I know that that same plan is the one that is guiding my life today. G0d's plan to save the lost brought us to South Asia, and is sending us home at the end of this month. Of this I am confident, and that's why I can rejoice! 

There are a lot of "lasts" that we will be experiencing (last conversations, last village trip, last cup of delicious coffee...), but we know that G0d has it all under control! Praise be to Him!!

Please continue to pr*y for those friends who are being sought after by G0d and that His timing would be perfect in their lives. Also, pray for us, that we can fa*thfully continue to "run the race" all the way to the finish line!

Some of you might be wondering, "What do James and Ali do for fun?" or, "Do they ever have free time?" You will be interested to know that we are knee-deep in writing the second chapter of a novel! The idea came from James' ever-imaginative and amazing mind. About a month ago, he showed us (me, Ryan and Cameron) a picture of a superhero he created named Wolfman. After seeing that first picture, the four of us sat around the dinner table and excitedly discussed Wolfman's backstory. What would he be like? What would be that tragic happenstance that would draw him to a life of fighting crime? Who is his worst enemy? It was not long after the second conversation of that kind that James was choreographing fight scenes. He would do one move at a time, and I would excitedly type them out for Wolfman to use in defense against his foes. Needless to say, this novel is going to be pretty amazing, and I hope that you are as excited about it was the rest of us are. I look forward to telling you more about Wolfman as he progresses... who knows? Maybe someday you'll even be holding a hard copy of it in your hands in the middle of Barnes&Noble. You'll smile to yourself as your thumb runs over the gold "Best Book Ever Award" sticker on the top right corner and think to yourself, "they did it." ...Or maybe not. 

Obviously, that's not all we do in our free time (otherwise there would be more than two chapters written...), but that example was to give you a little taste of our lives here. :) 

Until next time. We love you.

Seasons - In and Out

Well, it's officially hot. At the beginning of our time here, we would sometimes comment on the warmth of the day. The response would always be, "you just wait, it gets WAY hotter!" Turns out, they were right. We've been experiencing this "summer" weather for a little over a month now. Just a few days ago, this city hit its highest temperature in fifty years! I have never more appreciated a cool drink of water, or the work of a rickshaw wallah! Those guys pedal and sweat all day long for much less than what we would call "minimum wage". James took this ^ picture a while back of the rickshaw wallahs in action! See the guy in the light blue shirt? Let's just say, that if this picture was taken yesterday, it would be a DARK blue shirt!

With the coming of the hot season came the end of the semester with our friends at the university. It was a good semester, filled with new friends and intentional conversations. It was good to see G0d work by bringing so many people into our lives. In this break time, we've really had a chance to step back and see which of our friends are really interested in the Good News that we're sharing, or those who just like to talk to us. Although we love them all, we know that the reason we're here is to talk to people who the H0ly Sp*rit has already been preparing. James and I have both taken this past week to be intentionally seeking out our friends and getting an idea of who's who. Since my time here, I have written down the names of all the ladies I've met and shared with. Among those thirty or so, there are ten who have shown true interest at one time or another. Not just in me, but in the Good News as well. I've been working from this list of ten ladies, and crying out to G0d that He would reveal Himself to them (along with the other names I've written down over the past few months).

One of the friends on my "ten's list" is a girl named Mary (that's not her real name... I'm not even sure if I have to disguise her name at all, but since everyone else does it, I'll just err on the side of caution). Mary was brought to my attention by our housemate, Cameron (uh oh...that IS his real name, but I know I've used it before in my blog posts... please don't stalk him or anything, cyber world), who had met her, shared with her, and been encouraged by the interest she showed in what he was saying. She made it clear to him that her family rel*gion didn't seem to her like it was "the true rel*gion". I talked to her for about an hour one day, and, like Cameron, was glad to hear that she was really seeking something real. It seemed, however, that she had more of an "anything that seems right to me must be the truth" mentality. As we talked, I became increasingly discouraged, seeing that she was listening, but not hearing. 

I contacted Mary this past week, and set up a time to meet again. I knew that her response to our conversation would end one of two ways: 1) She would hear the Good News and come close to (if not, arrive at) a restored relationship with her Creator, or 2) I would see that her heart was not seeking or accepting the Truth of Jesµs and would have to move on down the list to the next girl I'd been pr*ying for. As much as I wish I could talk and talk until people started believing, I know that those walls can't be broken down just by me. Their hearts need to be soft enough for the Truth to speak into. If I spend all of my time with one person who will never believe, I might miss two or three who really are ready for the Good News. 

Mary and I sat and talked over coffee for almost three hours. I trembled over my latté, feeling the weight of the conversation, yet knowing that I wasn't the one speaking. I remember thinking, "wow, this is easy... how is this conversation flowing so well?" Obviously, the H0ly Sp*rit had His hand in the conversation, and was speaking through me directly into Mary's heart. After a while, Mary and I arrived at one of the hardest concepts to understand in Chr*stianity: the Triune G0d. Sure, we know that -in its most simple form- it's Jesµs who dies for our sins, G0d who reigns over us, and the H0ly Sp*rit who lives and moves within us, but how can we explain worshipping all three as one to someone who has never heard of anything like it? Mary's reaction to the explanation was extraordinary. "Oh!" She said excitedly, "I never before understood how I could worship both Jesµs and All*h, but now I understand that they are the same!" Ladies and gentlemen, if this was not a clear sign that Mary's heart was very near the Kingdom, I don't know what is! It was that easy for her to understand something so difficult. It was like her blindfolded eyes had finally seen the light. Our time closed as Mary explained to me that she wanted to believe, but it was difficult for her to follow. This week could be the hardest, most confusing time of Mary's life. Please pr*y for her as she reads G0d's word and seeks His truth. If she decides to follow, she will certainly face persecution. From her family, her friends and her school-mates. Not only that, but the culture in which she's been living her entire life will flip upside down. Being from a Chr*stian background, I have absolutely no idea what that must feel like. Yet, being saved from the darkest night and brought into marvelous light, I also know that this decision is the best she will ever make. She will no longer be a part of her old culture, but she will be adopted into the only culture that means anything in eternity: that of the Kingdom of G0d. 

Mary was the first of two very encouraging meetings I've had this week. As Jesµs once told a man who was seeking truth, these two girls are "not far from the kingdom of G0d." Please, join me in begging our R*ghteous Judge and Merciful Sav*or to show them His truth; to open their eyes, and bring them to Himself. 

As I write, I pray that the weight of eternity will hang heavy on our shoulders and that we will be fa*thfully proclaiming the most important Truth the people of this world will ever hear. 

Thank you for your fa*thfulness. Until next time.