Go Beyond

Dubai en route to Houston

Kingsland Students in Kolkata

I don’t often have the opportunity to travel with students. With the exception of our summer student missions initiatives, all of the teams I lead are made up of adult volunteers. However, the past two weeks with our students are among the most memorable I have enjoyed in recent years. Theirs was not an easy assignment. Our students worked twelve-hour days in very hot and humid conditions. And, they took it all in stride. They served in five of Mother Teresa’s homes in Kolkata, worked with children and teens in a slum area of the city, and built lasting relationships with young girls who have experienced some of the worst abuse that evil people can conceive. I especially enjoyed the evening worship and debriefing time with our students. We used this time to worship and to reflect on the events of each day. I offer the following observations about our students and their service in India.

First, our students talked about Jesus and how wonderful He is. It seems that at home we tend to talk about everything but Jesus. We talk about our church and all of the great things that we offer to the people of our community. We invite people to studies and events and gatherings of various kinds. It’s actually easier for most folks to talk about these things instead of about Jesus. However, in Kolkata our students could not talk about any of those things. They could only talk about Jesus and how wonderful He is and how He loves and cares about people. It was all very much like the first-century when the church talked about Jesus and not about the church. My prayer is that as our students return to their normal lives at home their default setting will be to talk about Jesus first and make Him the focus of their conversations.

Second, our students connected with people. They devoted long-hours every day to serving people in need. They lost sight of themselves and their own interests and placed the interests of others above their own. They embraced the privilege of serving others and of helping those who are unable to care for themselves. They learned to pronounce and remember difficult-sounding names. In many cases, it was not possible to know the names of those they served at Mother Teresa’s homes. So, they referred to these residents as “my friend in bed number x” or “the lady who suffered severe burns” or in some way that connected them with these individuals. It was great to see the faces of the residents at Mother Teresa’s light up when they saw our students approach. At our evening debriefing time our students talked about the people who had touched their hearts that day.

Third, our students wept. Every evening, when our students shared reflections about their day, someone would weep. Our kids faced some tough situations this week – such as people in pain, people near death, girls who have faced unimaginable trauma, people living and sleeping on the filthy streets of Kolkata, poor children begging in the flow of dangerous traffic, and more. Kolkata offers visitors a troubling smorgasbord of painful sights. By the end of each day, the weight of these sights and the demands of serving the least of these took an emotional toll. The pensive looks or agreeing nods of students listening to the reflections of their friends indicated that they all were processing the same thoughts. I could not help but wonder about what, if anything, had caused our students to weep in this way prior to coming to Kolkata.

Fourth, many of our students talked with me about how they can better prepare to serve God and His purposes for a lifetime. Some wanted to know how God can use them to champion the cause of the oppressed or to care for the least of these. I was encouraged by the number of students interested in making a life rather than merely making a living. We make a life by what we give. We make a living by what we get. These students seem to understand or are beginning to understand the difference between the two. God can use this generation to change the world if they will continue to demonstrate the kind of compassion, courage, and audacity of heart that they have demonstrated in India over the past two weeks.

I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to spend this time with these young men and women. They have blessed and encouraged me beyond measure. I believe that God is going to use them in significant ways because of what they experienced and learned in Kolkata. Parents, you have every reason to be proud of these students.