9.2 Back in Scotland

Suddenly the final week in India was upon us. It was a weird experience; there were so many times prior that I wanted to leave, but by the time it came around it was harder than expected. The strangeness of it all had become normal. I had settled and finally got used to it. I had become content.

Arriving back in Scotland was such a huge contrast to India! All the green, all the space and most of all, the air quality! It was an amazing experience! Driving ‘home’ from Glasgow airport… as we drove over the final hill and started descending down to the coast… it was a nostalgic sight! The weather was amazing! It felt as if one could peer over the edge of the world. It was like Scotland / West Kilbride welcomed us home! It really felt like I was arriving home! I felt like I really belonged! (In comparison, returning to South Africa was an anti-climax.)

After returning from outreach, we still had 3 weeks of lectures after debriefing. During this time I was asked to share a testimony from my time in India…

One day, during our last week of local evangelism, my group and I went to central park. On the way, [ID] spoke about having read the Sermon on the Mount that morning. As she spoke I had a revelation: I had been so driven to ‘see’ something happen, and to ‘do’ something, that I had put a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself. Almost all of my ‘best encounters’ were with people who had come to me… The light on the hill – the moth to the light; the hunger of the spirit within people, searching – brought them, much like the crowds that came to Jesus. The wonder of it all! After sharing that with the group, we joked about it, and how cool it would be if it happened to us.

Upon arriving at central park we sat down to rest. During this time I saw a guy dressed in purple in the distance, and I felt God nudge me, saying, “Go speak to him.” So I told the group that I was going over there to talk to the guy, and promptly left. I walked over, asked whether I could join him, made some small talk, then suddenly another guy, who had been sleeping on a bench nearby, came and joined us. I thought they were friends, but it turned out they didn’t know each other. After a while I asked if they had ever heard of Jesus, and then asked whether I could tell them about Him, to which they agreed. I proceeded to give a 5-10 minute overview of the Bible – the creation, the fall of man, Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, sending of the Holy Spirit, life with Him and finally the Kingdom of Heaven. After this I asked whether they wanted to accept Jesus into their lives. They responded positively, but then while trying to lead them through the prayer, communication started to break down, (Hindi – English) and I wondered how much they had actually understood. Just then, we were interrupted when one of them got a phone call. While he was still on the phone, another group of people came and joined us. Their leader sat down and asked, “Are you a missionary? Are you preaching the gospel?” At this I froze! We had received warnings and some instruction on how to handle these situations, because public ministry in India (at least the part we were in) was illegal. Feeling quite uncomfortable, I beat about the bush, trying to avoid an answer, until it came out that he was in fact, a local pastor, and knew the local base leader. Round about this time, the guy who had received the phone call returned, and with the help of the local pastor, who could speak Hindi (and translate for me), I could re-tell the gospel story. During this time, more people would walk past, stand around for a bit, and then come join us, so that by the time I had finished, the group had grown to 21. God had sent me a translator, but not only a translator – a pastor, who could help answer their questions. God provided without me even knowing I’d need one. The two guys, to whom I had first started speaking, both accepted Jesus into their lives, and many more became affiliated with a local church. I could not take responsibility to nurture the new converts; usually I’d have to find a local church or home group to mentor them. In this situation I didn’t need to, because God had already. Then the rest of my DTS team joined us as we had planned to do some Bible reading. I invited the people to also join us. They did, and some even downloaded the Bible onto their phones to read with us. We read Matthew that day, and were just so blessed to have a pastor who could explain concepts and answer questions that they had, in Hindi.

The day before I left India, I arranged to meet them again at a café. I had befriended the owner who ran the café as his ministry. That evening, the new converts brought friends with to meet and encounter God too. They also gave their lives to Christ. I thank God so much for this experience; for teaching me about simple obedience (talking to the guy in Purple) and for a chance to partner with Him in the harvest! It really allowed me to leave India on a high.

During the short time back at Seamill, before coming home, I received two prophecies: one that my time in the UK was not over, and the other was that there was something for me to do back in South Africa before returning. I shrugged these off as I intended to come back and do my MA at University.

I had planned a few days of sight-seeing after DTS, before returning to South Africa. For some reason, I had left a day open, which turned into two days, due to a tour being cancelled. This was wonderful, as having these ‘off days’ meant that after having said goodbye to everyone at Seamill; I got to meet up with [Kat, Ant & Elf] again in Edinburgh and got to tour around the Scottish capital with them for one last time. It was really fun and very special.