Gearing up!

Just had my first India team meeting on Sunday. Wow! What an incredible team. We have a group of eight women and one male (poor guy). We are all so diverse in age, ethnicity and what led us to this team, but we all share a similar passion to serve the Lord in India.


Please continue to pray for the details of the trip to come together. We have our "blueprint" for our time there, but we truly want to be open to God redirecting our plans. It's easy to stay so focused on OUR plans and MISS what God has planned. We realize that with out listening for God & obeying His calling we'll only be able to do as much as humanly possible. God is much more capable than me and see's things differently than I do so my prayer is to remain open minded and purposefully listen for His guidance while we are serving in Delhi.


More specific details to come :)...

My Support Letter for India!

Delhi, India

Dear Family & Friends,

I am writing to tell you about a great opportunity that I have this spring. I will be going to Delhi with a team from my home church,Cornerstone Fellowship. On this journey our team will serve as God’s hands and feet in the slums of India by reaching out to others with the love of Christ.

My heart and passion for India took root about four years ago as I listened to Dr. K.P. Yohannan speak about the conditions and disparity of the lower caste people of India. The Lord distinctively placed a fire inside my heart and gave me a passion for India, specifically for the women and children in the lower caste group. The past few years I have had time to grow and mature in my desire to serve in India. God has shown me through much prayer and a series of events in my life that I need to step out in obedience and faith to His calling to go and serve in whatever way I can. I am willing to submit to God’s will for me, and as a result He has presented this opportunity to go.

The trip will be from March 6^th through March 18^th. Our team will be focused on four main purposes. Our first will be to help medical clinics and assist native doctors by taking blood pressure, temperature, diabetic testing and assist with the distribution of meds. Secondly, we will serve at one of the homes Mother Teresa opened in Agra by distributing food to the children and adults that they care for. Thirdly, we will visit a leprosy colony to perform a children’s program for the kids that live there. Lastly, we will be hosting other children's programs at one of the schools Harvest Missions has in the slums, as well as at the Harvest Missions orphanage. 

Currently I am praying for God to rise up a team of people willing to share in the experience of this mission trip through prayer and/or financial assistance. The total cost of the trip is $2,900, to be paid by February 21, 2011 (contact me directly if you would like to financially assist after this deadline). Please prayerfully consider supporting me on this journey.

In Christ’s Love,

Diane Rutledge

To stay current with me on this mission to India and to get involved please check out my blog at http://www.dianerutledge.blogspot.com. I will post updates weekly and would love to share this with you.

To contact me directly my email is dleiva15@hotmail.com.

Some India Facts...

1. India is about 1/3 the size of the United States, yet it is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of 1,166,079,217. India is the seventh largest country in the world, at 1.27 million square miles.

2. Many Indians find toilet paper repellent and consider it cleaner to splash water with the left hand in the appropriate direction. Consequently, the left hand is considered unclean and is never used for eating.

3. More than a million Indians are millionaires, yet most Indians live on less than two dollars a day. An estimated 35% of India’s population lives below the poverty line.

4. Dancing is one of India’s most highly developed arts and was an integral part of worship in the inner shrines of every temple. It is notable for its expressive hand movements.

5. A widow is considered bad luck—otherwise, her husband wouldn’t have died. Elderly women in the village might call a widow “the one who ate her husband.” In some orthodox families, widows are not allowed near newlyweds or welcomed at social gatherings.

6. The Indian flag has three horizontal bands of color: saffron for courage and sacrifice, white for truth and peace, and green for faith, fertility, and chivalry. An emblem of a wheel spinning used to be in the center of the white band, but when India gained independence, a Buddhist dharma chakra, or wheel of life, replaced the spinning wheel.

7. In India, the fold and color of clothing are viewed as important markers of social classification. Additionally, women will be viewed as either a prostitute or a holy person depending on the manner in which she parts her hair.

8. About 80% of Indians are Hindu. Muslims are the largest minority in India and form approximately 13% of the country’s population. In fact, India has the third largest population of Muslims in the world, after Indonesia and Pakistan.

9. Indians made significant contributions to calculus, trigonometry, and algebra. The decimal system was invented in India in 100 B.C. The concept of zero as a number is also attributed to India.

10. Most Indians rinse their hands, legs, and face before eating a meal. It is considered polite to eat with the right hand, and women eat after everyone is finished. Wasting food is considered a sin.

11. On India’s Independence Day, August 15, 1947, the country was split into India and Pakistan. The partition displaced 1.27 million people and resulted in the death of several hundred thousand to a million people

12. India experiences six seasons: summer, autumn, winter, spring, summer monsoon, and winter monsoon

13. India is the world’s largest tea producer, and tea (chai) is its most popular beverage.

Sigh!!!

Just finished stamping, labeling, addressing and posting my support letters for India!!!!! I hope that many of you are looking at this blog for the first time because you received my letter and were interested in what I am going to be doing there! It's late and I am on my way to bed but starting tomorrow (1/11/11) I will be updating this blog and devoting my energies and time to bringing awareness about India, as well as keeping you updated on the things happening in my life. Much love to you all! And thanks for checking this out :)

I Refuse

Great song written by Josh Wilson. He said he wrote it when he was personally challenged by God to take action in helping the Haitian people. He was raising support but was not personally invested in the cause. This was God's challenge to him not to sit around and watch but to step up and get involved. We can be an answer to prayer if choose to take action! I'm challenged and motivated by this song.

An Open door

This is a devotion from Dr. Charles Stanley. In this short devotion he is able to put into words how I desire to live for God. In my preparation for India it is devotions like this that keep me motivated and focused on the bigger picture and plan for my life.

For a great and effective door has been opened to me,

and there are many adversaries. 1 Cor. 16:9

If  we listen to the whispers of the world, it is possible for us to lose our focus in life. We can get caught up in life and forget about God's big picture of redemption. We could miss the open door of opportunity swinging wide in front of us.

As we enter into a relationship with God, we find out that as much as He cares about us, He cares just as deeply about everyone else in the world. And as we mature in our walk with God, what is important to Him should become important to us as well.

People are important to God. He cares about mankind- it's motivated behind sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die for our sins. Paul wrote,  "God our Savior... desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

So, here we stand at the beginning of a new year with opportunities circling all around us- opportunities that could impact the world in an eternal way. God doesn't open doors for us to simply peer through them; He opens them so will pass through them with faith that He will empower us to do His Kingdom work.

Standing before an open door never resulted in a single changed life. Walking through an open door has changed the lives of millions. Are you willing to walk through it?

Lord, give me the singularity of heart to seek the doors You open for me, and the courage to walk through them.

Why India?

How many times have I asked myself the question, "Lord, why India?". Lord why do I have this desire be an advocate for the women and children of India? It's been four years since the first seeds were planted in my heart for India. I was tempted at times to hop on a plane and go because I could not stand the thought of women and children living each day not knowing their worth and value in Christ. In God's wisdom I was held back from hopping on that plane, and He simply said to me, "Not now. Wait and pray and I will tell you when". Ugh!!!! It's grueling waiting and not knowing, but He had spoken so I waited...and waited. 

Over the course of four years my heart and passion for India grew, specifically for the women and children there. I do not fully understand God's plan for me and India but I do know that I am grateful to be a part of it with Him. I have said YES to this calling whether it's to be a part of it through prayer continually for the women and children who are being oppressed, or if it's to be their voice here at home to bring awareness, or if it's to actively serve them my entire life.

At the end of the day my prayer is best spoken through the words of Isaiah when he says, "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?" So... Yes, Lord I want to be a part of this with you. Please break my heart for what breaks yours and fill me with the courage to do the things I have been called to do. I love you Father and it's in You I put my hope and faith.

In Christ's Love,

Diane