My God Speaks

Let Him Lead

2012-02-11T08:20:00.002-08:00

As I was having my quiet time with the Lord today, he spoke some specific things to me and maybe this will speak to you too. He lead me to scriptures about letting go of my selfish desires and letting him lead in all areas of my life. The ones that he used to speak to me are:

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight." (NAS)

Proverbs 16:3-4a says, "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. The Lord works out everything to its proper end." (NIV)

Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." (NIV)

Isaiah 14:24 says, "The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen." (NIV)

Believing in those scriptures, how can we not trust the Lord? He says, that HIS plan is perfect and never fails. He has his hand over our life and no matter how much we try to force our own plans into our life, he is going to redirect our steps if we allow him to. We must be willing to surrender it all and wholeheartedly trust that he will work all things out for the good. Why would a God that loves us so much neglect us? He wouldn't, he gave his son for you and for me!

...LET HIM LEAD

No Matter the Distance, He Answers

2012-02-09T07:59:00.002-08:00

My heart is so happy right now...

Today, I was sitting with my niece and nephew playing games and as I was sitting there I heard my niece singing "God of Wonders". So I joined in and she said that was her favorite song. I then started asking both of them more questions about Jesus and what they believed. They said that they love Jesus and that He is the ONLY God in the universe. My niece continues to say, "I love Jesus and he is my best friend!". Then my nephew recites me scriptures he has memorized. To hear that made my eyes well up with tears. I have been praying for their salvation for years and God answered. I truly believe that they both have given their life to Christ. We continued to sing more songs like "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children". Then they sang me "The B-I-B-L-E" and "I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N".

I always wondered how God would answer my prayers and speak into their lives b/c they live so far away from me. Now I know that NOTHING is impossible for Christ. He will draw people near to him in his timing and reveal himself to people all over the world. Please join me in prayer for the rest of my family to know Christ personally.

Thank you Jesus for all you do! You are the light of the world and all glory belongs to you!

Praying in a Different Light

2012-01-20T15:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, God uses people through books to speak to me. I just started reading "Kisses from Katie" by Katie Davis, who has a relentless love for the sweet orphans in Uganda. I haven't gotten very deep yet and she already amazes me. I wanted to share an excerpt with you that caught my attention:

"For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite Bible verses has been Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will you give you the desires of your heart." I used to believe it meant that if I did what the Lord asked of me, followed His commandments, and was a "good girl," He would grant all my desires and make my dreams come true. Today, this is still one of my favorite passages of Scripture, but I have learned to interpret it in a totally different way. It is not about God making my dreams come true but about God changing my dreams into His dreams for my life."-KD

Psalm 37:4 is one of my favorite verses and I have never realized what it really meant until now. I will be praying that God will change my dreams into His dreams for my life. I am excited to see what God will do. We all have desires and sometimes we have a hard time letting God have control of them and just letting him do what is best for us, but I will allow him to take full control and do what he wants. I believe with all my heart that He is a Sovereign God and that I have no reason to worry about anything!

Do Not Worry

2012-01-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

Today was such a great service at church and I wanted to share something that Bill preached to us on Luke 12:22-34 about worrying that might speak to you, like it did to me...

He said, " Worrying is believing something about God that is not true; it's questioning/doubting his faithfulness, his care, his goodness, his sovereignty. Worriers look ahead to tomorrow and say God won't come through."

Switchfoot - Restless

2012-01-07T15:44:00.000-08:00

My new favorite song by Switchfoot "Restless"

God Answered.

2011-09-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

God finally answered a prayer of mine that I have been praying for the past 2 years now. I have been really wanting to get out of a bad situation I was in and He answered. I got the best news today and I am excited to see where God leads me in my new position. I pray that God will bless me and will bless others through me. I hope to be a light to those around me and always be encouraging to them.

Glory to God in the Highest...

What great things God has done...for you?

2011-08-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

"O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord"
-I Cor 15:55-58

The past two weeks at Fellowship Bible Church have been amazing. Hearing testimonies about the great things that God has done in people's lives left me with increased faith! I am so grateful and thankful that I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Each and everyday I am thankful for the life that God breathes in me. He is my Rock and my firm foundation that cannot be destroyed. Nothing or no one can stop him for carrying out his perfect plan for me. I have been through several peaks and valleys in my journey and each time I have came out stronger. There are things out of my control and situations that I am going through right now that I am struggling with, but he tells me to trust him and to give him full control b/c he is SOVEREIGN. I am also thankful for the grace he has had on me and for the freedom I have in Him. If I didn't make the decision to follow him 14 years ago, I would be so lost without Christ! I am so thankful for the many believers that God has put in my life that are walking out his purpose. I am so blessed and no love, no money, no materialistic objects can compare to the sweet love that I have for Jesus. I pray that God will bless me with a man to love and children/orphans that I can bless, in due time...

What great things God has done...for you?

Beautiful Things - Gungor

2011-08-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite songs that I wanted to share with you all! Enjoy!

Quote Of The Day

2011-07-17T18:39:00.001-07:00

“I tend to live the way I drive. I want to get from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time and by the easiest route possible. But I’ve come to realize that getting where God wants me to go isn’t nearly as important as becoming who God wants me to be in the process. And God seems to be far less concerned with where I’m going than with who I’m becoming."

Mark Batterson

Chris Tomlin - I Lift My Hands

2011-07-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

Have faith in God. Believe in Him!!! This is one of my favorite artists and his new song, "I Lift My Hands", is so beautiful!

Royal Tailor - Hold Me Together with lyrics

2011-06-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

I am really liking this new artist!

2011-06-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

"Hanging onto fragments, leaves one broken, but hanging onto Jesus, leaves one whole" - Cissy Etheridge (my bff)

2011-06-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

Sweet Jesus, today I have felt a sense of peace in my life. I have realized that I do not need to worry about what today or tomorrow holds. I have tried to control my own life and it’s not working Lord. I surrender it all to you in pursuit of your good and perfect will for me. You, O’Lord, have a perfect plan for me and I will trust in you. I give up everything to follow you wherever you will lead. I am yours and only yours. Lord, I pray you will remove all the things in my life that are impure and are causing me to walk off the path you have carved for me. Forgive me for the sins that I have hidden in my heart. I want to glorify you in my actions and in my words. I pray that I will love unconditionally. I know that right now I don’t see why you have me in the position I am in, but you do have a plan for me. Soon enough, I know you will reveal your will to me. I am so very thankful that you have your hand over me and that you hold me in your arms. I am the apple of you eye and I am your beloved. Thank you sweet Jesus for being my friend and the Lord of Lords! I love you, Amen!

2011-06-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

I was feeling a little discouraged and came across this verse.

“For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay." Hab 2:3 (NASB)

Dreams Come True

2011-04-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

Back in January I had told a friend of mine that I had a vivid dream that she was four months pregnant in it. She discounted the dream because she was tired of being hurt by not being able to have a baby. She miscarried several times and all she wanted was a family. She and her husband decided that they were going to start the adoption process to bring home a little angel from Africa to be a part of their family. Last night, I found out that she is expecting and that God has been so faithful to answer her prayers. So, not only are they going to be having this little sweet blessing of their own, they are going to still adopt a little sister for the baby! She told me that I was the first of three people who have told her that they have dreamed about her being pregnant. It's awesome how God uses still uses dreams to reveal prophecies! God is faithful and dreams do come true...

Breaking Free From A Lie

2010-08-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

I want to share with you about a recent incident that happened to me two weeks ago that has helped me to break free from a lie that I have believed for the past 15 years. Praise the Lord for working in my life and for reminding me that I am made in his image.

LIE: "Falguni, no one will ever marry you or date you because you are short. You just need to settle for this guy."

I have struggled with this lie for years and years and it had made me cry many tears. Satan always had a way of making me feel insecure about my petiteness. The way this lie crept into my life was when people fed it to me over and over again. The first time I heard it was when they all wanted me to settle for a guy b/c of my height. To this day, it had always been in the back of my head and I really did feel like no one wanted to date me because of my height. What I should have been thinking was, that God is just protecting me from being with the wrong person and that I am made in his perfect image.

Whoever said, "sticks and stones will break my bones, and words will never hurt me" is so not true. There is so much power in our words and they can affect our self image. People can speak negative things into our life and they will stick in our head forever. I have prayed for years and years that God would help me to be content with my height and to stop comparing myself to others. God finally answered my prayer and now I am living in freedom and confidence. I encourage you to be careful with what you speak out of your mouth b/c there is so much power to it!

TRUTH: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16

The way I overcame this was when I asked a co-worker who is 6'3'' to reach for something I couldn't reach. He said, "Fal, I am use to this b/c my wife is only 4'10" and then another co-worker who is 6'4" married a girl that is 5'1". This made me realize that no one really cares how tall/short you are; what matters is inner beauty. Funny how God works! So thankful that he used my co-workers to help me break free from this lie.

OUTCOME: The chains are broken and I am FREE!

2010-06-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, it was the day before my friend's rehearsal and I was driving down Old Hickory and was talking to God saying, "When will it ever be me? Why am I not the one dating or getting married? Why, God, Why?" and he immediately spoke to me. I was at a traffic light and I looked up and the car in front of me had a license plate that said, "BIG GOD". Wow! That hit me like a ton of bricks. God was telling me, I am bigger than you think. You have know idea who I have for you. You don't see it right now, but one day soon you will. I don't mean to talk about my singleness all the time, but I feel like a lot of people can relate to me because they are in the same boat as I am. I hope my stories are encouraging to you. This is just one area of my life that God speaks to me a lot about! I am glad that I can share my stories with you!

He Spoke To Them...

2010-05-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, May 8, 2010, I helped people gut their homes after the Nashville Flood that happened the weekend before. So devastating and heartbreaking to see how many people lost their lives, their homes, their pictures, etc...

The first lady we helped in Bellevue had this painting that she had painted a while ago that really spoke to other flood victims. How ironic that it was one piece that was not destroyed and how much it spoke into other people's lives. Here is a picture of the painting.

The last lady we helped also had a little reminder from God. As we were cleaning out her backyard, I was watching her pick up some of the papers that had fallen out of her desk and one was a yellow sticky that said I Peter 5:7. She looked at it and went over to her friend and said, "isn't this crazy how God gives us reminders?!" Since I couldn't read the verse in it's entirety, I was so anxious to read that verse when I got to my car and it said, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." WOW....just WOW! God is Sovereign and in control of everything. He gives us Hope!

God is all around us and speaks to us in so many ways...you just have to be in tune and aware of those sweet reminders!

When One Door Closes, Another Opens

2010-04-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

Today God spoke to me through my friend Laisa. She had forwarded me an email with this verse:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. (Rev 3:7-8)

Recently, I have been down about not getting promoted. I was clearly being trained for the position and my bosses started interviewing other people for the position without even telling anyone. It really hurt my feelings. Am I ever so naive to believe that they have their best interest for me?! God sees what is going on and he will do his justice. I need not worry about it b/c He is faithful to me!

Ultimately, I know that my God has a plan for me and for one reason or another he shut that door and doesn't want me in that position. I trust and pray that God blesses me with something a 100x better. I know that another door will open that no one can shut and that the Lord will bless me beyond my imagination. It's great to lay in the comfort of my Savior.

Faith In Rainbows

2010-03-12T17:46:00.000-08:00

I didn't have the greatest of days today b/c I found out some bad news that put me in a situation that I never would have imagined. Something inside of me prompted me to call a lawyer friend of mine for some advice. I suppose it was the Holy Spirit prompting me b/c God is looking out for me. On my drive home, I saw the most beautiful double rainbows. I rarely see them that vibrant. I have only seen them two other times, once in Europe and once in Africa. The ones today were breath-taking, I had to pull-over and take a picture. The rainbows are a sign b/w me and God that he is always faithful! That was such an awesome reminder. It made me break-down in tears and praise my God for being who He is!

Lay Down Your Life For Friends

2010-03-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

Today I felt God speaking directly to me about friendships. Sometimes I feel like I am being used by my friends b/c I know a lot of people in Nashville and have a lot of connections. I know it's probably Satan just telling me that no one wants to be my friend and they only want to use me. I decided to try out a new church (Green Hills Church) today and I arrived early, so I sat in my car for a bit and just looked up scriptures on friendship. As I was reading, I stumbled across: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Just so happens that the sermon was on John 15:9-12. I always read a little bit further down and there it was again: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13) . WOW! God was trying to tell me something here. After reading that, I knew that God was speaking directly to me.

To Quick To Judge

2010-03-04T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today God spoke to me. I was headed to the mall to kill some time before church. I went around 5:15 and I pull up to find a close parking spot, but going a little closer, there was a motorcycle there. Out of natural habit, I always say, "Thank You, God" when I get a very close parking spot. But that day, I was quick to stop my "Thank You, God" and take it back. Not knowing God had a parking spot a little closer than that one. I felt terrible for taking my "Thank You" back. I felt God tell me, don't be quick to assume things, but expect the best. I think he is also telling me he has the best of the best husband out there for me.

Power of Prayer Through Scriptures

2010-02-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

It's been three weeks of chest pains that started on my left abdomen and moved up to my upper chest and then moved across to my upper right chest. I had been to two different doctors three times within two weeks. I was just worried it was my heart b/c the pain was near my heart. So they did chest x-rays and they came back normal. They both did EKG's and they were normal. So, needless to say, the doctors think it was heartburn/acid reflux. I don't believe it was. They also thought it could be a hiatal hernia. They have me taking Prilosec and a muscle relaxer at night. I think the pain have been caused either by a gas bubble in my chest or from stress and anxiety. It was scary, especially when the pain would wake me up in the middle of the night. I hate taking medication, period! I like natural remedies to heal me.

So, a few days ago, I kept thinking about how Joel Osteen said his mother, Dottie Osteen, got cured from liver cancer by praying and proclaiming scriptures of healing over her body. I decided to google them, print them out, pray through them, and proclaim them. I was doing it a throughout the day and also when the pain would happen. I would speak out against infirmity, sickness, and disease. I loosened it off my body and bound it in the name of Jesus. I believe the power of prayer works. I can faithfully say that Jesus Christ, is the great physician. He will answer us if we start believing in him and having faith in him.

Thank you Jesus for healing my body!

God Speaks Through Rainbows

2008-07-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

God is such an AMAZING God! He always speaks to me through his beautiful rainbows. He always tries to remind me that He is omnipresent wherever I travel! I have captured a picture of his faithfulness to me in Zurich! Be blessed friends, know that God is always there and constantly reminding us of His richness!

Ethiopia, Africa

2008-07-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

Today is July 15, 2008, the tail end of our trip is coming to a close. For some reason, I really wasn't looking forward to a busy day. I'm a little burnt out from being broken and hurting for the people here in Ethiopia. Riding down the streets of Addis Ababa, floors me to see how many people are homeless, even the pets and livestock are strolling the streets with nowhere to go. I can't phantom living a life like this, it breaks my heart to see this. Parents and children are digging through the miles of trash piled up to 15 feet high looking for something to eat. People sleeping in the road medians, under the bridges, or anywhere they can find a place, not worried if someone ran over them. Some probably don't even care to live because of their circumstances. I guess they really don't know what life is like in other countries. They will probably never get to experience it. LIFE IS NOT FAIR!

It is 11am and we arrive at one of the Mother Theresa Orphanages. The children came running to us, almost attacking us, because they see a bunch of Americans with toys. It was overwhelming to see that there are more than 500 kids at this place who are HIV positive or have AIDS or have some other disorder. All I could do was question God. Wow! How can it be? Lord, why? How are you getting glory out of this? If they go through so much pain and suffering, why did you even bring them into this world? So many questions God, what do you want to teach me, the world, the church about this? God, you see their pain; doesn't it hurt you enough to want to heal them? I know you have so much compassion on your people. You love them and care for them. But still, I can't help, but ask why them, the precious innocent children, who never asked to be infected with infirmities....why, why, why, God?

As the sister was taking us on a tour, a sweet little girl ran to me and held my hand and then kissed it before we left to tour the boys sleeping room. We then went to the place where the young orphan boys were making silk scarves. They worked so hard and diligently. It's a very tedious and time consuming job. Most take one to two days to make and they sold them for $10 each and only made $1.70 off each one. Pretty pathetic, knowing how hard they work! We spend $1.70 like it is nothing. We continued to tour the rest of the place and we come to the clinic. Wow, I'm torn to pieces again, to see two sweet little boys infected with HIV and battling pneumonia. No one knows if they will even make it a few more days. All I could do was pray over their bodies for healing. God, please hear my plea for them, I beg you Lord! It shouldn't be like this. They need to live and experience life. Breathe life into them Lord, that's all I ask of you.

As we leave the clinic, the sister tells us they bury at least one body a week. She also told us that most of the children know that they are going to die. They are fearless of dying. Their faith in God gives them hope and they know in their heart that they will spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus. The presence of God is so evident in their life. The children are making most of life. My heart cries out to God to heal them and save them. At this point, I am so overwhelmed by all this. Seeing all these kids homeless without a parent is just not right. I am deeply hurting for them and wish that I could bring them home with me so I could take care of them. After we left the Mother Theresa home, we went and played with the street kids and took them out for ice cream.

It's about 4pm and we are headed back to our guest house. Again, I couldn't stop questioning God about the poor, the orphans, and the widows. My heart is so heavy and so broken. I looked out at the city and saw God's glory radiating through the rays coming off the clouds. At that moment, I knew God was speaking to me. He was telling me, I'm shining my light on these people. I have my hand on them Falguni! I know you don't understand, but I am a caring and compassionate God. I love them! They are my people and I am their God!

Once we arrived home, I had some time alone with God and he totally directed me to the passage about the sheeps and the goats in Matthew 25. Wow, God sure does know how to speak to me! It says:

These are blessed and granted eternal life

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,

I was a stranger and you invited me in,I needed clothes and you clothed me,

I was sick and you looked after me,I was in prison and you came to visit me...

...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

Wow, God never ceases to amaze me when he speaks to me so clearly. He knew I was struggling with the questions! We are created to take care of them and that is exactly what my team and I were doing with the orphans in Africa. Every person we come in contact with IS Christ and we are to help them and not overlook them. That is how God is getting glory out of all this...now I understand!

My theme for the trip is, Life is NOT fair! We are so blessed and we truly do not know how to be happy with little. The people in Africa know how to make the most of every moment and know how to be happy under any circumstances. Us, Americans, just want more and more and more and are never satisfied with what we do have. When I look into the eyes of the Africans, they are so joyous and happy; there is a twinkle in their eyes. Always smiling and laughing!

I hope that you will join me in praying for the poor, the orphans, and the widows!

Beautiful Blessings ~ Falguni

How I Became A Christian

1997-10-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

I am a Gujrati Indian who was born in India and moved to the United States when I was two, unfortunately I haven't had a chance to go back and visit yet. Most of my life I grew up in Southern Illinois. My parents are devout Hindus who sent us to Lighthouse Assembly of God Church. How ironic…God was preparing us at an early age. He had his hand on us. You're probably wondering why? Well, the Hindus respect all religions and believe that all Gods are the same, and they believe that there are many different roads you can take to get to God. So, they thought they should send us so we can know God.

As I was growing up, my purpose in life was to be the best I can be, to be successful, and to live happily ever after. I believe that is most people's purpose today. I loved my high school life. I was a straight "A" student who was very popular, Vice-president of my class, held offices in many organizations, and was on the Homecoming Court. Most people probably would have classified me as "Miss Goody-Goody and Teacher's Pet". Then came the time to move on to college. I was very fortunate to go away to college for my last two years; most Indian girls don't get the opportunity to move away from home. At that time I was getting the pressure to get married, but I told my parents that I will not get married until I finished college. The pressures just kept coming and coming.

In the Fall of 1997 I attended Murray State University. I went there only knowing a guy that I had worked with at The Gap. I really didn't like it my first semester there because none of my friends went there. I struggled not knowing anyone the first two weeks. The guy I knew decided to invite me to a Campus Outreach (ministry on campus) meeting. I refused to go at first, but then I decided, what the heck, I don't have anything to do tonight, why don't I go to meet some new people. So, I went and it was very different. The first thing I noticed was that all the people were so friendly and full of so much peace and joy in their hearts. They treated me as if they knew me forever. At that meeting I met a girl named Codie, who happened to be living down my hall. She and I got to be friends.

God strategically placed her in my life and in the dorm next to mine. After a while she started to question me on my beliefs. I told her that I am a Christian. Then she began to ask me a lot of questions, one was: on a scale of one to ten how sure are you that you are going to Heaven? I answered a seven or an eight. She asked me why not a 10? I said because I am a good girl, I go to church, read my Bible sometimes, and pray. She then told me that it is by grace (unmerited favor that we don't deserve) that I am saved and not by my good works (Ephesians 2:8-9). She also helped me to understand that you have to have a personal relationship with God, which I didn't have because I had never heard of that while I was growing up. Then she explained to me that man is sinful and God is Holy. She showed me the verse "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord—Romans 6:23." It basically told me that for all my sins (falling short of the glory of God—Romans 3:23) I was earning death (eternal death in Hell!!!), but God by his grace gave his Son to die for all the world's sins so I can live eternally with Him. All that blew me away! I continued to ask her how I can have a personal relationship with God and how I can be a 100% sure that I will go to Heaven. She told me that all I had to do was repent (turn 180 degrees from my ways and make God the Lord and Savior of my life) of my sins and to believe (trust) in God (Mark 1:15).

So, I did a little investigating of the scriptures on my own and decided to give my life to Christ on October 3, 1997 because I realized that my life was empty. I remember praying the sinner's prayer when I was younger, but it really didn't mean any thing to me until now. (Sinner's prayer: Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for all my sins. I ask you to come into my heart and to be my Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for forgiving me of all my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life and mold me into the person you want me to be. Thank you. In Jesus' name Amen). That has been the best day of my life and if I could change anything about it, I wouldn't! I have become a new creation in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17).

The change wasn't sudden, but it took place a couple weeks later. I started to see things differently, I desired to read God's Word, and most of all I felt peace and joy in my heart, that I had never experienced before. I realized that all my high school accomplishments didn't satisfy my heart like Christ did. My friend continued to help me to grow stronger in my relationship with God through Bible Study and Prayer. I then became involved with the Campus Outreach Ministry for one and a half years; through that I received a lot of training on how to develop an intimate relationship with Christ and how to share my faith effectively. I also had the opportunity to be Discipled by my friend and to go on a lot of Retreats and Conferences to help me grow. I am so blessed to receive that! It's amazing how God brought me half-way around the world to Murray State to reveal himself to me! We had been praying for my sister to come to Christ and a couple months later she came to know the Lord in January. She and I are growing stronger each and every day. We are so blessed to have each other!

Being a Christian in a Hindu family has been a real big challenge because we were basically going against the culture. Hey, it's worth it! After sometime, I was asked to be a room leader/Discipler to Disciple girls for ten weeks straight at a Summer Beach Project in Florida. March 21, 1999, I decided to take a stand and go against my parents decision. They didn't want me to go, so it later turned into a huge personal ordeal and I didn't end up going. My parents and family literally thought we were in a cult and that we were being brainwashed. We had been praying that my parents would see the difference between Hinduism and Christianity and they finally saw that there was a difference. Hinduism is basically traditions passed down from one generation to the next. By God's protection, they never pushed it on us.

After graduation I couldn't stand being at home and being pressured about marriage and being hindered in my relationship with Christ any longer, so on April 12, 2000 I decided to leave home without telling my parents. I wrote them a letter explaining to them why I had left. Like any parents, they were devastated. On April 14, 2000 they had my sister and I come home for a family intervention with them and my immediate family. It was so horrible; my family dislikes Christians and they were grieving God so much. Everyone had said a lot of harsh things to us. My family said that we don't love our parents by the way we have chose to live our life for Christ. They said, "if you were my daughters I would just shoot you and go to jail" and the other family member said, "I would tie you both up and beat you to death." Later that night the gave us an ultimatum, they made us make a decision to either chose God or chose the family. By choosing family we would no longer be able to have contact with our Christian friends, be a Christian, go to church, and read our Bible, basically they wanted us to deny Christ. The next day we left home, because we could never turn our backs on such a Faithful and Real God. Six days had gone by, and my parents call us back and tell us that they want us to come back home and that we can be Christians, go to church, read our Bible, marry a Christian, and move out on our own. Today my family sees how much God is blessing us. They know that we are great daughters who don't want to harm anyone. Some of our family still mocks us for being Christians. In the Indian culture reputation is everything to them, so they can't stop telling us how much we have ruined their lives. It's okay because God is what is important to us, not their reputation. I consider it to be a pure joy to suffer through these trials because it has allowed me to be more like Christ and to have fully experience God's Faithfulness, Love, and Goodness firsthand! To tell you the truth, if I had to go through this again, I would always choose God! It really helps me to build my faith. God is Awesome! He works all things out for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28-29)!

Today my purpose in life is to know God at a more deeper and intimate level and to make him known and to glorify Him in everything I do. God has chosen me to be His servant and witness to fulfill the Great Commission: "Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"—Matthew 28: 19-20. My hearts desire is to Disciple girls and teach them how to make laborers for a lifetime. I want them to experience God the way I do and to show them His Greatness! If your questioning your salvation, then you should take the I John test. All of I John tests your faith in Christ to see if you really are a true follower of Him. I just want to challenge you with one last thing: On a scale of one to ten, where do you stand? and to examine your lives and ask yourselves what is my purpose in life?

I do not live with my parents anymore, but do have a wonderful relationship with them. I think through all this, they love us more than they ever have. They do see the things that Christ has done in our life. Most Indian girls are not suppose to live on there own, but my sister and I took a stand for Christ and He worked all things out. My sister is married to an American guy (January 22, 2005) and that is very badly looked upon by the Indian community. Through much prayer, God allowed my parents to come to the wedding (they were not going to come at first) and walk my sister down the aisle. They have accepted Nathan into my family and love and respect him so much. Not only that, my grandma and cousins even like him a lot. I am excited to see how God is going to use me and my future husband to reach out to them. God is so faithful to answer us and bless us in so many ways. I think my older sister may have become a believer this spring. I can't wait 'til the rest of my family does too! We never dreamt that this would be possible, but again God makes the impossible => possible.