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.

Introducing Me!

Hey!  My name is Sudha and I’m 21 years old. I just graduated with a degree in commerce and business in May. I gave my life to Jesus when I was in 2^ndgrade during a fasting prayer. My biggest breakthrough in life was when I was in 7^thgrade. Up until then insecurity was my biggest stronghold and this kept me away from God. I was angry and hurt because I believed the lie that I was an accident and that God made a huge mistake when He made me. I hid that hurt with and never let anyone know, including my mom. I pretended that my life was great and fun and that I had no struggles. 

  In 7^thgrade my mom helped me open up to her and when I did, I felt this heavy burden just lift of off my shoulders and it was a huge breakthrough. She helped me talk to God about it and when I did the Lord spoke to me through the verse in song of songs 2: 10. “My lover spoke and said to me, arise my darling, my beautiful one and come with me.” He started speaking words of truth and covering me with words of love and showing His thoughts towards me. I found my identity in Christ and since then I used His truth to rebuke the lies.

    I also found my calling during this year. I feel called to minister and work with  Muslim women and girls. To help them find their identity in Christ and to show them hope, freedom and justice. 

The Qur'an.

 This May, I attended a one- week course on Islam in Hyderabad and the institution that led it was called ‘Henry Martin Institute for inter religions and research'. This course taught me about Islam, prophet Mohammad, the history of it all, how it spread, and the Qur’an. My teachers were all Muslims, so I   found   it interesting to listen to their perspective of their religion and beliefs. But the biggest lesson God taught me during this one week was to stand firm in my faith. To not falter in my beliefs and to not compromise my faith for the sake of peace between Christians and Muslims.

  
I am very excited to tell you that I joined Sons and Daughters. We had a one week retreat and it was my first time! That was where I became an official member of the Sons and Daughters agency. I got to know what Sons and Daughters was all about during that week. It was a time of rest and getting to meet the other missionaries who joined before me.  I was amazed to see how God was using these missionaries in different parts of India and listening to their stories was so awesome!! We had sessions on wisdom, sabbath, Holy Spirit, emotional and mental well- being, budgeting and financing, and social empowerment. We also had slots allotted for sharing and prayer and those times were the best during the whole retreat. The best thing about Sons and Daughters for me was just to see how everyone was treated importantly and that it didn’t matter how many years you served or if you just joined, everyone was treated equally. I felt like I was a part of the group, not an outsider or a newbie. The whole time I was there, I could feel the presence of God in communion with the people around. 

Islamic books.

Now, I am attending a three months course on Islam in a bible college called SAIACS. It’s good because the classes are more discussion based rather than lectures. This month we’re doing a comparative study of the Qur’an and the Bible. It’s very interesting to see how the Qur’an got its stories from the bible all mixed up.  We’re also learning on how to improve conversing skills with Muslims when approaching about their religion without attacking them with what’s wrong about their religion but using their Qur’an to lead them to think and wonder about why they do what they do.

  
Some of my prayer requests are:

1.    Please pray that as I study God would give me understanding and patience when I read the Qur’an.

2.    Pray that I will be able to continue keeping Jesus as my focus in all of this.

3.    Pray that I would continue this journey of growing and learning with the same energy and joy I had when I started it.