Another kiss from Heaven

We went to a church I had never been to. It was by far the largest church I had seen in Tenali (other than the college church that is still under construction on the Harvest India campus) . Apparently, this church is well established and mainly consists of Hindu converts. As we pulled up, the children were having children's church in an overhang to the left of the main courtyard and singing "B-I-B-L-E" in english... precious. The pastor was amazing; such a powerful speaker! He took us all over the Bible and the congregation held on to his every word. Once the message was through, they opened up a wooden box in the front for offering as one of the men on staff sang. Literally every adult got up and put rupees into the box; first the men, and then the women.

I left the sanctuary to take a quick restroom break once the offering was complete, and on my way back into the building, Ravi, a man on staff with HI that I had met on my first trip nearly 2 years ago, called me over to meet his family. I recognized Ravi the first time I saw him on this trip, but did not try to reconnect with him since it had been such a long time. During my first trip, we got into a casual conversation about school and my life plans. I had plans to get a second Bachelor's and a Master's in nursing (I was actually applying for programs when God put this residency team on my heart) and Ravi's wife is a nurse. At the end of our conversation, Ravi entered my name into his phone which was a comic relief in itself. My name is spelled "R-e-n-e-e" but is by no means pronounced "Ree-Nee". His expression was priceless when I spelled it out; my name really fails to translate as they tend to pronounce it phonetically from it's spelling.

Anyhow, after a lengthy backstory (I am after all female), now comes the kiss from heaven. Ravi introduced me to his wife, his aunt, and his two boys (they're 3 and 4); he has such a beautiful family! He then went on to explain to me that his aunt recognized me from a picture they have up in their home. They pray for me often. So beautiful! How is it that God is so good to me? That He can overwhelm me with His love through a few simple words? I don't deserve this yet He continues to pursue my heart even when I think its too much love to take. Will I ever be able to fathom or begin to understand His love? I think not..... but we can try <3 His love overwhelms my soul and it is so good!!!

Ravi gave me a prayer request. His aunt lost her husband a few months back. Please join me in prayer for comfort and healing. 

"Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows."  - 2 Corinthians 1:3-5