Our initial sense was that upon landing in Kochi, we wanted to be an encouragement and support to the local church we had connected with in 2022, and in particular form relationships with the people that make up its congregation. For ourselves, we feel privileged that over the years God has shown us the importance of each member of Jesus’ body becoming mature and attaining to the full measure of the stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13), and by His loving discipline has led us both into further maturity. We therefore feel it is a privilege to encourage others to be matured by God, by seeking real and vulnerable relationship with Him and with each other. We also want to learn from others and hear about their own walks with God and how He has led them.
It has therefore been lovely that even within the first few weeks of being here, we have been provided with many opportunities to push into relationships with other believers at this local church. This includes attending Sunday services, prayer meetings, life groups, young adults meetings and early-morning Zoom meetings. But beyond these more formal sessions, we have particularly enjoyed having the chance to enjoy informal fellowship with members of the church over meals. This includes the pastor and his wife, who have not only drawn us into times of fellowship, but have also opened up about the realities of leading that church. We have also been blessed by the care and involvement of another couple who have a teenage daughter and young son — despite their schedules and busy family life, they have really made an effort to welcome us and have times of fellowship together. We have been stirred by how much they give to this church community in various ways, and we have loved encouraging them in their ministry to others.
We have also experienced how the Holy Spirit can provide a bridge to touch hearts with believers despite the barrier of language. We can often feel embarrassed that we don’t speak Hindi or the local Keralan language, Malayalam. Fortunately for us, most people in Kochi speak some English and the church we have been involved with is an English-speaking church. One older woman who attends the church does not speak English that well, however this has not prevented her from seeking us out and drawing us into her life. Without really knowing us, she invited us to her house for a meal and to share her testimony with us — and also to see the elephants which were being kept in her neighbour’s front yard! There was a Hindu temple festival that night and the elephants were being fed and cleaned ahead of the festivities.
This woman’s testimony is quite incredible and her ongoing faithfulness to God is clear. She was raised Hindu and only after marriage and two children did her entire family come to know Christ. And despite the many difficulties life has thrown her way (including losing her husband in a tragic accident) her faith in God has not wavered. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, she has been an extremely passionate evangelist, bringing many people to Jesus. This woman sometimes reminded us of our own grandmothers as she is bold, blunt and tells you exactly what she wants you to do!
Aside from the many touching things she conveyed in her testimony, she also showed us a way to read the Bible which has stayed with us. She took us to Psalm 121 and asked Alex to read it out loud. She then told him to read it again, but this time to replace every ‘you’ with a ‘me’ or an ‘I’. In this way the Psalm became intensely personal, talking about a God who watches over me and does not let my foot slip. We feel like this opens up a more intimate way to read the Bible and apply it to ourselves, testing whether we actually believe those words when they are about us individually, as opposed to about God’s people in general.
God has also encouraged us with a pretty incredible ‘alignment’ between us and a couple we have met from Mumbai who attend the local church in Kochi. Just as the Holy Spirit has led us to leave everything in Australia behind and come to Kerala, this couple also felt the Spirit was directing them to leave their jobs, their house, their belongings and move to Kerala. This was all happening at the same time that God was talking to us about the same things, and they also did a short trip to Kerala initially, but upon returning home knew in their hearts that there was more for them in Kerala. The similarities in our stories and the timing of God’s direction was by itself pretty incredible, but then there was a further, more significant connection which requires a bit of backstory…
Right before we left Australia, God gave Alex a vision of a trapeze act at a circus where Alex was one of the trapeze artists and the other was Jesus. In this vision, Jesus was asking Alex to let go of his own swing and leap into Jesus’ hands as He dangled from the other swing. But the place was dark and Alex was afraid to make the leap, worried about getting the timing right or not swinging far enough. Then he consoled himself with the fact that even if he messed up, there was a safety net beneath them. No sooner had he thought this, then Jesus told him to go and cut away the safety net, which Alex did and then went back up to take the leap of faith. He hurled himself into the darkness and was caught by Jesus — which is not surprising as He is completely trustworthy! This vision felt appropriate for us in taking the ‘leap of faith’ to actually leave our lives behind and step into the unknown, with the assurance that no matter how scary it might feel, Jesus was there on the other side of the leap.
Amazingly, this couple from Mumbai had also felt God speaking to them about moving to Kerala through a trapeze display which they had witnessed at a circus show — down to the detail of the trapeze artists removing the safety net before their final act! They had not told anyone about this and when Alex shared the vision he’d had, they were just as shocked as we were. Although we don’t know the significance of this connection between God’s direction to them and His direction to us, it was an amazing experience to see God’s hand working in each of our lives — all part of the grand tapestry He is weaving which only He can fully comprehend.