Eye's Wide Open

On October 12, I returned from my trip to India. I was there for about 2 weeks and in that time I was able to see and be apart of things that I would have never been able to understand while living here in the USA. It is impossible for me to tell you everything In one blog so I hope to be able to share my experience through multiple blogs which will cover a wide range of things.

The first blog tonight I will talk about the experience I had at the Taj Mahal. The morning began at 4:30am. We had to be up and at the train station by 6am to catch the train leaving Delhi going to Agra. On the way to the train station, riding in the cab we, on occasions were forced to stop not by stop lights or policemen directing traffic, but by the shear grace of God preventing us from wrecking.

Once we were stopped there would be 5 to 6 children that could not be older than 6 or 7 that would be at your window playing drums, dancing or trying to sell you something so they could get money from you. This of course broke my heart to see these little kids in the middle of traffic begging for money. We were told not to give them any because most of them would take the money back to another individual who would keep the money for themselves giving barely anything at all back to the children.

Once we arrived at the train station you saw a mass of people coming at you at once all wanting money, begging, pleading, offering to help you carry your bags so that they may have something to go buy food with. Due to the number of people you did not dare pull any money out for fear of getting rushed by the crowd. Once you were on the platform you were able to see people laying everywhere sleeping and begging for money because they had no where else to go.

Moving on, the train ride itself was unique because it gave you a much different perspective that what you saw in Delhi. In Delhi, things are not as dirty or as run down. Once you are outside the big city you begin to see and only partial begin to understand the magnitude of what poverty is really like.

Once we arrived at the Taj Mahal we were made aware that it was a Holiday and that Muslims would be coming to the Taj Mahal to pray and the price of admission would be free. Once we made our way through the gate the Taj Mahal came into view and it is truly an unbelievable site. I have to be honest though the thing that amazed me the most was seeing so many people gathering to pray in one area.

It made me think of what it will be like in Heaven, when all of God's children are bowing before HIM and singing HIS praises. Just thinking about that, it got me very excited for that day. After I began watching the prayer a little more I started thinking just how lost people really are and how desperately people need Christ.
After the prayer was over there were a number of people who made it very clear that they did not want our group there, either through a look or something they said that I could not understand, but it was one of those things that you did not need a translator for you just knew it was not good.

Then, another group of people that had just got done praying wanted us to take their picture and were very receptive to us. So the difference between the people was truly amazing to see and I cant help but believe GOD wanted us to experience that difference. Well that is the day at the Taj Mahal, I looked forward to sharing more soon. Enjoy the pictures.
In His Grace

Testimony

Recently, I had to write out my testimony and share it with a group of people. As I was writing my testimony I began thinking a couple of things. One, how have I shared my faith as of late? Two, How can I help make a difference in someones life, by something I either say or do. As I prayed about that I realized that I already had my answer. First, let me share with you my testimony and then I will let you in on what God revealed.

Growing up my mom would take me, my two older brothers and two younger sisters to church every Sunday. My mom wanted God to be something that we had in our lives at a very early age. The problem was, at least for me it got to be something that I was being forced to do instead of something I wanted to do. I remember trying to get out of going to church by talking my friends into asking me to spend the night on Saturday night in hopes that my mom would let me skip church just that one Sunday.

I could not understand why it was so important for her, for all of my brothers and sisters and I to go to church, it just did not register. As I got older I became less resistant to the idea of going to church because I did not want to hurt my mom’s feelings, but I certainly was not going because I wanted to be there, I was going because I had friends that went to the same church and I wanted to go see them. As, time went on the brother that was closest to me in age, Steve and I got to be very close. We did everything together.

His friends were my friends and we hung out all the time. Then it came time for him to go to college. I assumed I would see him on weekends, holidays etc. The first year it was pretty much like I remember it even the second year he was away was pretty normal, but when I became a senior in high school something very odd happened. My brother would come home and start talking to me about Christ. He would ask me questions like on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being absolutely positive how sure are you that you are going to heaven? I remember I told him I was about a 6 or 7.

That entire year every time he came home he was talking about Christ and what I need to do to be certain that I am going to heaven. Needless to say there was a change in my brother and I noticed it. I did not like those conversations with him I always felt like I was a bad person and I felt guilty for the things that I thought or did. Little did I know at that time it was God beginning to work on my heart.

My senior year was coming to an end and I only applied to two colleges NCSU and APP. I was a die hard wolf pack fan and I was bound and determined that I was going to NCSU. Then the school I wanted to go to so badly put me on the waiting list. APP however did not, they accepted me and since I was very stubborn I told NCSU to forget it and I was on my way to the same college that my brother was at. Again, this is God working in my life!

So, during the summer I remember my brother telling me all the people he wanted me to meet which was not odd because we always hung out with the same people anyway, I figured it would be the same in college as well. He also spent the entire summer talking to me about Christ. I continued having a heavy burden which I felt very strongly and I was not sure what it was all about, but move in day arrived and I remember my parents dropping me off at the dorm and leaving me in that dorm room and I never felt so scared and alone before in my life.

A couple of days into my first year of college my brother told me he had someone he wanted me to meet and would I be willing to talk with him over lunch. I knew right away that this guy was going to talk to me about Christ, and I did not really want to listen to it but I agreed for my brother’s sake. So I went to meet a guy by the name of Shane Seagers. He was a staff member of Campus Crusade for Christ. We sat down to lunch and like I thought he was talking to me about Christ and what I need to do to be saved.
Shane and I talked for 2 hours that day and at the end of the conversation he looked at me and said Keith God is calling you, are you ready to let him in? Are you willing to ask God to forgive you of your sins so that you can share in the eternal life that HE has promised us? If you are you can pray right now and God will hear you and he will change your life forever.

That was the day that I prayed to receive Christ as my savior. If it had not been for God giving me the brother that would not quite talking to me about Christ or the Mother that would not let me skip Church or a man like Shane Seagers that was willing to talk to someone that he had never met before in his life and talk to him about Christ, I may not be the man that had to write his testimony and post it today. So, what was it that I realized? I realized that God was working in my life, even when I was blind to who HE really was. I realized that God already had everything under control and that HIS will is perfect! Has God been working in your life? It may be time to let him in!

In His Grace.