Land of a Billion People
With a land of 1.3 billion people, India is famous for its iconic Taj Mahal, spicy food, and crazy traffic.
In 2017, Grace set foot in Asia for the first time when she went on GE’s trip to India. Originally, Grace had never felt a desire to visit the country, but when a friend asked her to consider going, Grace said she would pray about it. When Grace told God that she was available to go, God surprised her and provided all the funds needed – in a single day!
Initially, India felt overwhelming to Grace. The country isso immense with the population rivaling that of China. India is often called“The Land of Diversity” and with the country boasting over 6,000 languagesspoken and over 2,000 ethnicities, that contributed to Grace’s feeling of beingoverwhelmed. Plus, it was so different than any other culture with which shehad worked before. Then the spiritual darkness was rather daunting, and Gracefelt a feeling of helplessness. She wondered if several days of kids’ programsin each village would make a difference.
One night while on the trip, team leader Liz shared how she felt overwhelmed years ago when she visited a Romanian orphanage. Liz had been asking God if the visit to that orphanage actually mattered. He replied,
“I sent you here today to make a difference. You are my hands to love these children today. Let me take care of tomorrow. I have other people and other ways of telling these children that I love them, but you are my messenger for today.”
When Grace heard Liz share this, it was really freeing to suddenly realize she could give her all for God every day, leaving the results up to Him.
In 2018, Grace was excited to return to the country of 6,500languages. She was thrilled to see some of the same kids from the previous year,but she wasn’t sure if they would even remember her. Not only did they rememberher name, but they also showed her some of the crafts they had made the yearbefore. It was so encouraging to see that the lessons taught before were still impactingthe kids a year later!
While Grace was in India, she learned a few words and phrases in Telegu, one of the local languages. Later when she was back in the US ordering ice cream, she ran into a group of students from India. Once Grace realized what the guys were speaking, she turned around and said something in their language. The guys were shocked and excited to hear their native tongue in Cincinnati!
Even just a few words could have a big impact.
Although Grace hadn’t used the language much, she was happy to be able to use it to connect with the students in the ice cream shop.
It just went to show her that when even though she wasn’t close to being fluent in Telegu, her effort to communicate with people in their heart language was worth it.
We would love to see you join this team and experience all that God has in store in India! Click here to apply now for our upcoming India trip May 9th to the 24th. The application deadline is March 14th.
Grace grew up in a large homeschooling family in northwest Ohio. As a child, her favorite books were biographies of missionaries and she often read true-life accounts of current missionaries and persecuted Christians. Being from a large family, she was surrounded by many children and has continued to work with children up to the present day. In 2015 she went on her first mission trip to Ecuador with GE. Since her first trip, she has traveled as often as possible and looks forward to seeing what adventures God has for her in the future.