E-pray: October 2011
Hello dear praying friends!
All day I have been thinking about our son, Josh, who is on his way to India right now! When people have asked me how I am feeling about him being gone for 6 months to India, well, I say I am SO happy and excited for the opportunities that he has, and, I am really going to miss him, too!!!
I will include part of a letter he wrote so you will know a little bit about his plans, and so you can be praying for him… thanks!
As you know I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to India for the next 6 months and learn. I will be staying and working at a missions campus and studying at a language university, which will take up a majority of my time. I will have a 2 hour language class 5 days a week so that I will, in the end, hopefully be able to speak, read, and write Telugu, which is the language that my dad speaks and is used throughout the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Last April I was able to go with a ministry team for 2 weeks to India. It was on this trip that my eyes were opened to this opportunity. I never was sure about what I wanted to do, and India had always been something I was open to but never really thought though about doing. I had no idea what going to India meant, and how could I if I hadn’t had any experience of what it might be like as an adult on my own. Much of this trip is for the purpose of deciding whether or not India could be a part of my future, and if it is, preparing myself for that. A big part of preparing myself and understanding what it might mean to stay in India is learning the language.
I am in need of lots of prayer for these things that will take place in my life along with the overall goals that I have.
My goals by the end of the trip are:
To be able to be fluent in Telugu
To make good connections and strong friends
To be confident in where God might lead me next
To feel that I have learned as much as I possibly could
None of these things would at all be possible without strong, consistent prayer. There are many things in India that are difficult and many places that are filled with darkness. My only protection comes from the Holy Spirit, and your prayers are what allow me to be there with confidence. I cannot tell you how much the prayers of others have impacted my life. For my entire lifetime there have been hundreds of people that have prayed for my parents, my brothers, and me. God has had His hand in our lives because of the prayers that He has faithfully answered. Finding prayer support is possibly the most important resource that we can have.
If you would like to be praying specifically for Josh and get updates from him, you can send him an email (nanda.joshjm@gmail.com) and let him know. We know how vital it is to have you all praying for us and it would encourage him, and us, greatly to know you are joining with him in prayer. Thank you!!
It is so nice that John is there to help Josh get settled in these first few days. Then John will return to the Training Center (about a 14 hour train ride away) to continue his work in the process of getting approved for the accredited teacher training program. He was able to get the application with all the required information (45 pages long) turned into the office before the deadline. /Thank You, Lord!/ Now he will be working with the construction/remodeling of the specific space required for classrooms, laboratory, library, computer lab, etc. The space is there but some changes will have to be made to meet all of the qualifications. There will be an inspection that all the requirements are met before they will give the final approval. Please keep praying for this process and all the details to be accomplished easily. We continue to feel very excited about all of the potential this opportunity will bring for great work to be done!! Thanks for praying!! J
We are so grateful for all of you!
His peace & blessings,
Love,
The Nanda’s