Being a Disciple and making Disciples.

     Hey Family and friends,

YWAM friends!

    My life in Lonavala, YWAM these past 6 months have been crazy, exciting and filled with experiences of learning and growing. The first month of my stay here I felt like I was on a vacation, a camp of some sort. There were new rules, new schedules, new people, new classes, new activities, new environment, new roommates, new food etc. The classes were very basic and for newborn Christians and I wasn’t very happy or satisfied with my classes but the Lord reaffirmed me that he was concreting my foundations and everything I learned at home. He was teaching me that I needed to have a very strong foundation before I left for outreach. Within my 3^rd week, I was feeling homesick and lonely. I started believing the lies that I was alone, my family didn’t care about me. I was drowning myself in self pity and self doubt. I also started doubting about my calling but God was so patient and faithful to me. He was reminding me constantly that my family was my biggest blessing, my support and that my mom was the best role model of a missionary and living out her calling. He spoke truth over me and reminded me of my identity in him. He reaffirmed my calling through Isaiah 62, where I would help women rediscover themselves and who they are in Christ and give them new names in Christ.

  He’s been teaching me how to discern dreams that are from him and those not from him. I have been having really disturbing dreams and he’s been showing me how to discern which ones are from him and which ones are from my own fear or from Satan himself. He led me to the verse in 1^st John where he says to test every spirit and the spirit which leads to Jesus are from God and everything else which leads to fear and doubts are not from him. I realized then that I have been unintentionally giving the devil a foothold over my dreams and fear. The Lord set me free through the truth!! I am now able to sleep peacefully as I have no fear in perfect love!! The teaching phase passed by really fast. One of the lessons I really enjoyed was hearing God’s voice and I have been able to hear his voice so much clearer and louder since coming here. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned and am still practicing is patience. Patience with my leaders, roommates and different people here at the base is a big lesson that the Lord is teaching me.

   The Lord has also answered my biggest prayer point. He has given me a really good circle of friends. He’s blessed me with 4 really good friends of ages 27, 24, 22 and 19 and all girls. Their names are   Vingshong, Jungla, Achi and Danielle. I truly believe that we’ll be lifelong friends. They help me when I need it, they help me run closer to Jesus and I’m still teaching them how to be sarcastic! Danielle and Achi are getting the hang of it but I gave up on Vingshong and Jungla.

 I finished my lecture phase and for my outreach I went to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bangalore. 

House visiting.

   My outreach experience has been the real testing period of my Christian living. Before leaving for outreach the lord promised me through the scripture in Isaiah 26:2-4 and 7 that he would make the path leveled and smooth for the righteous ones and that our testimony when we got back from the outreach would be Isaiah 26:12,13 and 15. The first few weeks of outreach was in Telangana where we visited 13 village churches in 13 different villages of Telangana. The services all took place in the evening and went late into the night. I could see how hungry and thirsty all the people were to hear God and we got to rekindle their passion for Jesus. It was a lot of travelling and very exhausting but it was fun at the same time. I could say that we were living out Matthew 28:17,18.  The next location was in Andhra Pradesh and we stayed there for a month. It was during this month that I had to really stand firm in my teachings and values that I grew up with. We stayed in villages that had no tap water but we had to draw water from the well. It was exciting but also hectic because of no clean water. We painted a church and got to conduct a service in that newly painted church. We also got to baptize 4 people at the beach from that church. The ministry was really, really good but the real challenges for me was in the team. My teammates were the obstacles for me but the Lord has been teaching me how to handle each one and understand each one differently. There were so many arguments, misunderstandings and things happening that weren’t right and pleasing to the Lord. When I confronted them about it they did not respond well to it. My leader did not know how to lead but the Lord was using him to teach me how to be a good leader by showing me the things I shouldn’t be doing as a leader through him. We spent a week in the slums doing ministry among the people that lived in the slums. We got to bless the kids by giving them their baths, new clothes, feeding them, taking tuitions, teaching them songs and spending time with them. We distributed pamphlets and door to door ministry and spreading the gospel. It was literally living out Luke 10. I got to lead 4 women to Christ through this ministry. The Lord has been really keeping his word and making smooth and leveled paths for us and hence making our testimonies glorifying Him and expanding the nation!!

Preaching and Teaching.

  The last location was Bangalore and for me coming back home to do ministry was funny. It wasn’t my choice to come here but the Lord had his reasons for me coming home. We spent 2 weeks here. We got to do Muslim/kids ministry. It was so fun. The kids were too cute but we had to be very careful with them as to not say anything about religion or Jesus. Instead we had to show Jesus to them and it was the most satisfying throughout the outreach. We finished our outreach and got graduated too! During my teaching phase I felt the Lord asking me to stay back and help with the next school and the next batch of students. I went through a week of workshop on how to run the school and handle the students. The school started on September 30^th and it has been 3 weeks since then. I have 35 students and 9 other staff leaders. Most of my students are older than me and my co leaders are all older than me. But the Lord is showing me that it’s not the age that matters but how much they need Jesus.

Kids  ministry!

   Some prayer requests are:

1.       Please pray that I would live out Jesus more than speaking about Jesus.

2.       Please pray for my students that God would open their eyes, ears, hearts and minds to hear him, see him, know him and feel him.

3.       Please pray that I wouldn’t be satisfied with how much I invest in my students but go the extra mile in loving them.

4.       Please pray for my outreach and for my outreach team. We’re still praying about the locations so please pray that God would lead me where the need is the most.

Hebrews 4:16!!

Hello family and friends,

  

   This month God has been constantly reminding me to trust him and lean on him. My biggest fear of leaving home is disappointing God and my family. I am afraid that I will backslide or make one bad choice that will disappoint God and my family; especially my parents. I let this fear get a foothold of me and I couldn’t get free from it. It was all I could think of and it laid heavily on my mind. I stopped having my quiet times and fell far from Jesus.  I knew that I could talk to Jesus about it but every time I tried, my fear would get the better of me and I would dwell on this fear and spend my time focusing on the fear instead of on Jesus. I couldn’t take it anymore and I hit rock bottom.  The same time I was going through this, I was teaching my friends about Jesus and asking them to follow him with all their hearts and to trust him but I haven’t been following what I’ve been teaching them. I felt so guilty and knew that I wasn’t the best role model. I asked God to use someone else better than me because I am not.

  

Hebrews 4:16!

    On the morning I realized I hit rock bottom and that I couldn’t take it anymore God spoke to me through the bible. In Hebrews 5 and all the way to 10, Paul talks about Jesus being the high priest and the best sacrifice. He died once and for all for all sinners. He bore our shame, guilt, fear, sin. He took it all on himself. And because he did this we can approach God confidently and boldly for we have a high priest who has been through everything that we are going through yet he overcame them all and he will definitely help us overcome them too. After reading these chapters I was encouraged to go to Jesus. It wasn’t easy because my fears kept creeping back into my mind. The verses that I keep reminding myself, is in Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” God spoke to me through this verse. That week wasn’t easy, but I was able to keep pushing through because he kept reminding me of this verse.

  

     It was at the end of that week that God kept showing me that I could trust him and lean on him. I was so worried about my finances for my dts but that Saturday my mom tells me that sons and daughters would help me and pay for my dts fees. I was overjoyed!!! I could hear God telling me to trust him. I felt him saying that now that he’s provided my finances, I must trust him when he says he won’t let me fall. The next week he comes through for my family with our needs and reminds me again how much more I must trust him and lean on him. I am not weighed down by my fear as much as I used to. I can happily say that God broke that chain in my life. I am free!!

Sana,Anna and me

  

     On my house visiting and prayer walk this week I got to meet with a schoolmate of mine. She was in 6^th grade when I was in the 10^th. She’s a Muslim girl and we became friends. She invited my friend and me to her house. i got to open the subject about Jesus through asking what her name meant and what mine meant. My name means ‘living water’ in Sanskrit. So, I got to tell her about Jesus being the living water and that she doesn’t have to feel clean and satisfied only during Ramadan but every day.  We got to pray for her and her family. I loved catching up with her and sharing Jesus.

  

   Some prayer requests for this month are:

1            1.  Please pray that I would continue trusting God and leaning on him.

2           2.   Please pray that I would meditate on his word day and night, have them in my heart and mind.

3          3.   I am really nervous to be leaving home. Please pray that I wouldn’t let this become fear but make the best out of it.

4        4.To use every opportunity to share Jesus and be like Jesus.

REACHING OUT

Hello family and friends,

This past month has been one where I have been able to reach out, share the gospel with some of good friends and people whom God had led my way. I am still learning as God is leading me to lead them. God has been teaching me to discern, to speak Godly wisdom, to be spirit-led and listen to God and not pretend that I know it all but I need his help.

RITIKA AND ME

This is a little update on my friend Rithika. I was able to give her a Bible this year and she was so grateful for it and mentioned that it was one of the best gifts she has ever received. She started reading it and she love it. I was able to answer questions she had on it and helped her understand it better. I meet with her once a week and have a good time of prayer and fellowship.

My other good friend Deepika whom I was able to pour out into her life as well is growing slowly too. She has been in the Lord for sometime and now I have been teaching her to invest into others lives as well. She has been asking questions and growing deeper in the knowledge of God. I meet with her once a week too and it has been going well. 

I have been able to go on house visits too. I was able to go around many houses but was invited to only one but we still did the prayer walk for the others. In this one house that we went into, we were able to talk to the man who was the head of the house. He was an intelligent man with lots of wisdom but believed that nature is God and he is God himself too.  He believed that nature treated people according to their actions. His biggest question was like that of many people who did not know God asked’’ why is there suffering in the world if God exists’’?

He has only heard the name of Jesus but does not fully know who Jesus is. He is searching for truth. We were able to answer many of his questions but we realised he was not in a position to receive the truth fully or be open to search for real truth. We encouraged him to ask the Lord for that revelation himself and that God would show him.

This encounter had taught me that we cannot force our belief or thoughts on someone but only do our part and let the Holy Spirit convict and speak to him. We dusted our feet off and surrendered him and his household to the Lord. 

DAILY BEAN CREW

This past month work has been good. I was able to have good fellowship with my colleagues and able to help and make the new ones welcomed into the Daily bean family. I am going to start YWAM in the month of April and I’m super excited to see what the Lord is going to do in my life this next season.

Some of my prayer points would be:

·       Please pray that the Lord would help me continue my fellowship with my two friends whom I’ve been helping even after I leave for YWAM.

·       As I was able to make new friends at work, pray that God would help me make new friends in YWAM too.

·       Please pray that the lord would help me prepare my heart well inside out as I go to  

Blessed to be a Blessing to others!

Hello family and friends,

Christmas Carnival 2018!!

Happy New Year!!!!  Last month was a month of giving, serving and being a blessing to others. My family and I did that by hosting a Christmas carnival for kids who are underprivileged and from other children’s homes. We started preparing for it from November and met up once a week discussing and planning some more. It was so awesome to see everyone working hard and doing it with so much joy. We had around 15 stalls where they could play games for prizes and get snacks. There were paddle boats and a big pool where the kids could ride in. We also had a bouncy castle for the kids,It was definitely one of the best days of 2018! Some of the stalls were fish for gifts, cake walk, magic mango tree, ring toss, balloon busters, decorate your own cookies, tic tac toe, popcorn stall, face painting, a football shoot out, story time  station,  and many more fun games . On 16^th December, we woke up early to set the whole place and were fully ready for the kids around noon.  The Kids arrived on buses and we got to welcome and cheer them up. It was exciting to see all these kids come in with joy and smiles so big. I had so much fun playing with them and making them laugh. It was a HUGE blessing for me to be a part of this whole carnival. I could see Jesus in my family and in the kids. There’s more joy in giving and blessing others than receiving. God’s presence was tangible that day.

   Christmas is a season for family too!! On Christmas Eve we had a big party with competitions, games, and a huge dinner. We were divided into teams of three and the games began. It had been a while since I had this much fun with the whole family. There was laughter, noise, arguments competitiveness, trash talk, allies but more so unity and love.  We had a big dinner and some last minute decorating for Christmas morning. On Christmas day, we woke up early and had a short devotion with completing the advent story, prayer, worship and finally the presents.  Later that morning we had service at church and family Christmas lunch. One of the presents we got was a trampoline which is one of the best gifts. We spent most of the day on the trampoline.

Deepika!

     For 2018, God has shown himself to be my teacher and he still is. I can’t wait to see how and what God is going to reveal himself to be for this next few months. For the year 2019 I feel like God's telling me that this year is not about me but others in my life. My friends, family and the people I’m about to meet in YWAM. I'm  believing God for my friends this year. I have two friends whom I’m really praying for. One’s my best friend since 6^th grade and her name is Deepika.  She gave her life to Jesus in 11^th grade and is still growing. I am so proud of her and love her so much. I’m praying that  God would show her his commission and that she would be willing and submitting to his calling. She’s talked to me about her dreams of her parents acknowledging her as a Christian and lover of Christ but still standing in doubt and confusion. I’m praying that God would lead her to tell them about Jesus. The 2^nd friend wants to believe in Jesus but is still holding on to the world. I’m praying that God would draw her to him and help her choose him. I’ve been talking to both of them and truly believe that this year God would change their lives completely.

  
       Some prayer points:

1. Please pray for my friends.

2. Please pray that God would give me wisdom to speak into their lives

3. Pray for patience and endurance even when I

Start of something New!!

Hey  family and friends,

  

Prayer walk with the school.

    I’m really excited to tell you that I completed my three months course on November 23rd. For the last month of my course; we didn’t have many classes but focused more on praying for the muslim people all over the world. We had intercession prayers, fasting, prayer walks in different cities of Bangalore and also visited a place called jama masjid. Its like a mosque but not a mosque. It’s a prayer place where women are allowed to enter.  We spoke to a few women there and prayed over that place and the for the people of that city. During one of our prayer walks I got to meet a muslim woman who sits near the mosque everyday with three children. I got to listen to her story and pray for her. We had a few classes where I learned how to communicate with muslims and how to refrain from using certain words while talking to them about Jesus. For example; while sharing about Jesus to a muslim saying that Jesus died for you doesn’t really work for them because they believe that Jesus didn’t die at all. So instead of saying Jesus died we can use the word sacrifice because they believe in sacrifices and it means a lot more to them and they understand a lot more when you say sacrifice. I completed my course on November 23^rd and we had a small ceremony for completing the course with a certificate and prayers. I was also given an opportunity to share my testimony.

 visited a Jama Masjid

  

    In my previous blog I mentioned about deciding what to do next after completing my course and how I needed God’s wisdom and grace to make decisions. Now that I’ve completed my course I have decided to do YWAM in Lonavla. The YWAM in Lonavla is offering a separate course just for Muslim ministry. It’s a 6 months course where the first 3 months is the teaching phase and the next three months is outreach phase. The outreach will be fully focused on Muslims and the states that have a large population of muslims. I’m super excited to be attending this course because I will have experience with ministering to Muslims.  This ywam starts in April 2019 and ends in September 2019. I have complete peace about this decision and am sure that this is where God wants me to go. Until April I’ll be working  throughout the week and on Saturdays I’ll be ministering with muslims in different cities. I met a friend named Anna, who has a group of women ministering to muslim women every day of the week. So what we do is walk around the village praying for the place and we meet women and start talking with them. We start casual conversations and then ask them if they would like to be prayed over. We then start talking to them about God and his peace.

  

Receiving my certificate for completing the course.

    We follow the passage in Luke 10 where Jesus sends out his disciples with instructions and some dos and donts.  We pray that God would show us where people of peace are and if the invite us into their homes we go in and pray for them and talk with them. But if they don’t we just pass by. Anna’s teaching me how to discern if people are interested about Jesus. She’s also teaching me how to start conversations with women about Jesus and to see if they are interested in listening and hearing more and if they do we start teaching them about Jesus.  This is the start of something new in my life right now.I am starting to become bold, confident and fearless. I got to share my story to a few college girls during my ministry. I was very nervous at the beginning but got a little bolder as I kept talking. The harvest is full and ready to be reaped!!  The week before I  went out to ministry God’s been teaching me how to be a servant and a good worker through the book of Timothy. He’s been preparing me and encouraging me. This year God has been my greatest Rabbi and teacher, and he still is . I am grateful for that.  Previous years he’s shown himself to be my Father, my lover, my best friend but this year he’s shown himself to be my teacher.
    Some of my prayer requests are:
1. please pray that I would have a spirit and mind of learning more from God and the people he's using in my life.
2. Pray that I would be an instrument and vessel that carries God and uses.
3. As I learn how to be a servant and steward of his gospel, I would not grow weary of doing good. 

Highlights of 2018!

Hello   family   and   friends,

Santhiya's   wedding!

    This   month  has  been  one   of  the   BEST    month   I’ve  had  in  the   past  3   years.   I   say   the   best   month   because   this   month   one   of   sister   got   married!!!  The   first   girl   in   my   family   to   get   married!!!  Her   name   is   Santhiya   and   she   is   a    close   sister   of   mine.  I   am   so   excited   and   happy   for   her.   It   was   a   beautiful    wedding.  

Swimming  in  Pushkar

    

My   family   and   I   got   to   go   to   Delhi,   Agra   and   Jaipur,    “ The   golden   triangle”    vacation.  It   was   my   Mom’s   dream   to   take   us   to   the   Taj   Mahal.   I    loved   every   minute   of   the   trip   and   am   so   blessed   to   be   a   part   of   this   family.   We   stayed   in   Delhi   on   the   first   day.  Some    visited   the   Gateway   of   India,   others   went   shopping.    A   few    that  is;  my  mom,  my   sister  and  I   stayed   back   playing   card   games   and   searching   for   a   milkshake   store   that   we   never  found   but   had   quite   an   adventure   looking   for   it.   The    next   day    we   travelled   to   Agra ,    spent   a   day   at   the   Taj   Mahal   and   visited   a   place   called  Chowki    Dhani   which   was   a   beautiful   place   that   had   camel   riding,   elephant   riding,   Folk   dancing,   magicians   and   many   more   fun   things.   This   was   one   of   my   favorite   days   in   the   trip.  The   next   day   we   travelled   to   Jaipur,    visited   the   Amber   fort,   did   some   more   shopping   and    had   a   thanksgiving   dinner   with   the   family.   It   was   the   highlight   of   my   entire   trip.  We   spent    the   last   day   in   Pushkar   which   was   a   beautiful   place.   We   went   swimming,   had   a   big   dance   party,   and   did   some   more    shopping.    This   trip   was   and   will   be   the   best   family   vacation   ever!!

Family  at  the  Taj   Mahal

   This   month    will   also   be   the   last   month   of   my   course   on   Islamic   studies.   I   have   learned   so   much   in   these   three   months    and   will   continue   learning   wherever   I   go.  This   month,   I   learned   what   Sufism   is,   the   life   of   Prophet   Mohammad,   the   status   of   women   in   Islam,   and   business   with   a   mission.   If   I’m   honestly   speaking   it   has   not   been   easy  learning  everything .  There   were   times  I   wanted   to   give  up  but  God   helped   me   persevere,   endure  and   helped   me   keep   my   eyes   on  the  prize  and   continue   running.   I’m   still   deciding   what   I   want   to   do   and   where   I   want   to   go   next   after   this   course.   I   have   a   few   options   but   am   still   praying   and   asking   the   Lord   for   clarity,   wisdom,   and   peace.   This   course   that   I’m   taking   requires   me   to   commit   2   years   to   serving   in   any   YWAM   or   ministry   with   the   Muslims. 

Some   prayer   requests   are:

1.      1. Please  pray  that   I   would   finish   this   course   strongly,  and   with   the   same   excitement  I  had  when  I  first   began  the   course.

2.      2. Please   pray   for   wisdom,   discernment   and   peace   as   I   make   decisions.

3.       3. Please   pray   that   I   would   keep    Jesus    the   center   and   focus   of   my   choices   and   decisions   that   will   glorify   him. 

Month of learning!!

Hello family and   friends,

   This month I have been learning   a lot about   Islam.  In  September  I  learned  all  about  the  Quran  and  the  bible.  I  got  to  do  a  comparative  study  of  the  bible  and  the  Quran.  Honestly speaking, reading   the Quran   was   not   easy.  It was very   confusing and overwhelming.  Since  the  Quran  is written according to the  length  of  the  chapters;   chapter  2  being  the  longest   chapter  and  chapter  114  being  the  shortest,  and  not  in  chronological  order  it  was   difficult  to  keep  up  with  the  flow  of  the  accounts  and understanding  the Quran was  a  lot  harder  than I expected.  But  through  this  God  taught  me  to  persevere  and  endure  till  the  end.  Because  it  was  a  very  slow  process  I was always  frustrated  and  felt  stuck  when  I  couldn’t  understand  it.  God  also  taught  me  patience , which  I’m  still working on.  The  after  lunch  sessions  are  my  favorite  because  every  week  somebody  new  teaches  us. All  the  teachers  are  Muslim converts and learning from them is very exciting and  listening  to  their  testimonies  are  my  highlights!

team hanging out

     The  first  week  I  learned  about  the  status  of  women  in  Islam. There were things  I  wasn’t  aware of  before, till  the teacher  taught  me  about  them. It was  heartbreaking  to  hear  that  women  were  treated  like  dogs  and  the  injustice  they  go  through everyday  just  shows  how  much  more  they  need  Jesus.  It  stirred  my  heart  a  lot  more  than  before,  like  the  Lord  was  fanning  my  flames  bigger. A  Muslim convert woman taught me this class.  The  2^nd  week,  I  learned  about  the  customs  and  cultures  of  Islam.  It was interesting   to see   how   the   different   sects   celebrated   the   same   festival   differently.  The  Muharram  festival  is a day of  celebration  to  the  sunnis  and a day  of  mourning  to  the  shias.  The  shias  hurt  themselves  and  cut  themselves  in  a  procession/ parade  to  remember  the  war  and  the  death  of  many  devout  Muslims.  For   the sunnis   its   the   new   year.

apologetic session 

    

The  third week  we  learned  about apostolic  anointing  and  how  teams  are  very  important  and  effective  in  ministry. Teams help us in long term missions and   encourage   us   when   we   feel   like   quitting. They   are   accountable   and   uplifting.  The   last week   was   all about   apologetic and my second   favorite   session.  They   taught   us   to  take  the   Bible  at  its  word  and  let  the  Bible  stand  for  itself  against  the  questions  asked  by  the  Muslims.  They  also  showed  us  how  very  important  it  is  to  know  the  bible  inside  and  out  and  to  stand  firm  in  your  faith. 1 Peter 3:15,16  is the  very  definition  of  apologetic  for  every  Christian. 

A  few  weeks  back  I  got  connected  to  my  old  teacher  from school  who  is  a  Muslim  and  it  was  through  her  that  I  heard  God  calling  me  to  minister  to   the  women  of  Islam.  I  had  a dream  about  her  and  felt  God  telling  me  to  share  about  Jesus  with  her.  So   I’m   slowly   building   a    relationship   with   her   again.  I   am   on   very   thin   ice   with   her   and   am  scared  that  I  might  break  the  relationship  if  I  say  one  thing   wrong.  I  need  God  to  give  me  boldness  and  courage  to  open  myself  to  the teacher.  Her   name   is   Asra. 

steven cochrane and the team

  

Some   of   my   prayer   points   are:

·        * Please   pray   that   everything   I’m   learning   I   would   put   to   practice.

·        * Please  pray  that  I  would  get  out  of  my  comfort  zone  and  fear  and open  myself  to  Asra  teacher.

·         *Please  pray  that  I   would  be  more  sensitive  to  His  spirit  and  say  what  he  says. Let  the  spirit  put  words  in  my  mouth  and  let  him  lead  me. 

·         *Pray  for  boldness  and  courage.