Missions Changed My Life

Mary’s Story - Touched by Mission

Mary was originally born in Ghana, West Africa and is now living in North Carolina. She’s a widower with two children and two grandchildren. She has a degree from Fayetteville Technical Community College and is involved at Cliffdale Church. Growing up in Ghana, there were long term missionaries who came and lived in her city. They taught her the Bible, the word of God at their school when she was just an elementary student. It was truly a selfless dedication and she learned a lot from them. Even now, she could still say the scriptures they taught her and the other children. It was their missionary that had a great impact in her life and influenced her walk with God. She feels that now it is her turn to impact someone’s life.Her first trip to India, she visited an orphanage and an elderly home for many hours a day. It was during that time that memories from back home came to her and she knew that God was really working in her heart, initiating a call to save. She retired from her job in the banking industry so that she could go on mission trips whenever she had the chance and became a full time missionary, to be ready at all times. She wasn’t even scared about quitting nor was it a difficult decision to make for she knew that God was blessing her.And last fall, she was on a mission with restoration girls, girls who have been rescued out of some form of trafficking within India. She fell in love with the girls and she loved every second of her time with them. In spite of poverty and the circumstances of their situation, the people still reach for faith and love. Just as the missionaries have touched her heart and she hoped she had touched the hearts of those she had met and been with on her own missionary trips, these girls also touched her heart. There is even one girl in her group that she would like to pray for because her life has changed so much and she is trying to know Christ. This girl would like to go to the Police Academy and change her life. She also wanted to change the life of other people for the better, just like Mary all those years ago as a young girl in Ghana.____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower The Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.Missions Changed My Life Podcast: A weekly podcast for the missionary in all of us. Everyone wants to make a difference in the world. Changing the World is a daunting task, but when we go on an international mission trip God can use that to change our world forever. Fellow travelers share real-life stories of radical transformation as a result of going on a mission trip. Find yourself right in the middle of a missions team being transformed by God. Receive practical resources as God uses missions to change your life. More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.Website: kevinwhite.usInstagram: @kevinwhiteusFacebook: @kevinwhite.usaTwitter: @kevinwhiteus LinkedIn: @kevinwhiteusGHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us

Hannah’s Story: Overwhelming Need for Jesus

Hannah is married to her husband, Brandon, and they have a 20-month old daughter, Mia. They are actually expecting their second daughter in just a few weeks. Hannah holds a master's in Molecular Diagnostic Science from UNC Chapel Hill and a bachelor's in Biochemistry from Campbell University, both of which are located in North Carolina. She and her husband attend the Summit Church with pastor J D Greear. Hannah has spent several years in the choir and they have obviously participated in several small groups. Hannah is employed at Roche Pharmaceutical Company where she is a Senior Clinical Research Associate. She loves coffee and reading almost as much as she loves Jesus and going to India.She grew up in a Christian household so she was exposed to Jesus her entire life. But when she went to college, she went through a period where she almost became an atheist. It was a very dark period in her life where she was very depressed and was wrestling with faith because of a number of reasons. One day while she was in her college apartment, she just broke down and found herself crying out to God. Afterwards, she felt a huge calm come over her heart and she asked God to be her savior and to guide her life. Her faith became her own from that moment forward.Hannah has gone on two mission trips to India. She went to Orissa in 2013 where they took the children and staff of New Life Children’s home on a five-day excursion to the Capitol. She spent the week just loving on the children, getting to know them, and celebrating who they were. Her second trip to India was in 2015 where she led a team. The focus on that trip was to have a five-day discipleship program where they taught the older kids what it meant to be a disciple. They also went to a local village where they did two days worth of vocation Bible school with the kids there.When asked to describe her missions trip experience in one word, Hannah said “overwhelming”. The mission trips were mostly positive but in itself the sights, smells, sounds, and the number of people in one place just assaulted her senses when she landed there. What were also overwhelming were the color and heart of the people. There is a joy in India that Hannah has never seen anywhere else. She definitely felt the people’s overwhelming sense of need for Jesus.____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower The Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.Missions Changed My Life Podcast: A weekly podcast for the missionary in all of us. Everyone wants to make a difference in the world. Changing the World is a daunting task, but when we go on an international mission trip God can use that to change our world forever. Fellow travelers share real-life stories of radical transformation as a result of going on a mission trip. Find yourself right in the middle of a missions team being transformed by God. Receive practical resources as God uses missions to change your life. More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.Website: kevinwhite.usInstagram: @kevinwhiteusFacebook: @kevinwhite.usaTwitter: @kevinwhiteus LinkedIn: @kevinwhiteusGHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us

Scout’s Story: On Fire for God

Scout lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and works for the Green Bay Packers as a sales executive. He goes to Green Bay Community Church. Scott is originally from Birmingham, Alabama but after going on a mission trip to India, he decided to move to Green Bay. He grew up going to a Church of God church for about ten years. Eventually, their pastor left to start his own non-denominational church called Acts 2 Church and this is where Scout’s family still goes and this is what Scout calls as his home church. He went to the University of Alabama with a degree in Marketing. Scout grew up in a Christian home where missing church on a Sunday was not an option. There was no doubt in his mind that God existed, but it was during his college years when his relationship with God became stronger. Whenever he was going through a difficult time, he found himself praying and just felt the weight being lifted off his shoulders. This was when he realized that he cannot go through life without having a strong relationship with God. A co-worker who goes to Hope Community Church invited him to go on a mission trip to India, and this is where he met Kevin and the rest of the GHI team. Scout shares that going on the mission trip to India in July 2018 were one of the best decisions that he has ever made in his entire life. He went to Mumbai where he was able to go to the red light district and also met some awesome kids at an orphanage. It was a humbling experience for Scout to see the people in India so on fire for God. He even feels that he got more out of the trip than those who they interacted with while on the trip. Seeing people worship God even when they feel like everything is against them was so humbling for Scout. Coming back to the US, he felt really blessed to have everything and everyone that he has. It was moving for him to see people be on fire for God. Scout shares the story of how he came to live in Green Bay. His grandfather lived in Green Bay. Towards the end of his grandfather’s life, he lived with Alzheimer’s and dementia where he could not remember a lot of things - even their family members’ names. Through all that, Scout and his grandfather always had a connection with watching Green Bay Packers games. This was an amazing way for them to still have their grandfather as he can still remember and talk about the details of the Green Bay Packers games. Scout wrote a letter to Bart Starr and asked if he and his grandfather can swing by their place as his grandfather is a huge fan. Bart Starr invited them and it was amazing to see Scout’s grandfather talking to Bart. Scout also shares the story of how Bart Starr became instrumental in his employment with the Green Bay Packers. When asked how missions have changed his life, Scout shares that it definitely humbled him and put things in perspective. It started making him question his plans for his life and if they are aligned with what God had planned for him. It made him think about what he can do to be more on fire for God and made him want to continue God’s plan for his life. Going to India on a mission trip just reignited the fire within him to want to do more with his life and for others. ____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.Website: kevinwhite.usInstagram: @kevinwhiteusFacebook: @kevinwhite.usaTwitter: @kevinwhiteus LinkedIn: @kevinwhiteus GHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us

Amber’s Story: A Heart that Trusts God

This episode is special as I get to co-host the show with my daughter, Kourtney, who is also the Teams and Operations Manager for Global Hope India. Amber is from Fayetteville, North Carolina. She is a pastor’s wife and her husband, Joshua, pastors Cliffdale Church in Fayetteville. They have been married for 25 years, have six children, and two grandkids. In the midst of being busy with the church, Amber still finds time to be a fourth-grade teacher at the Renaissance Classical Christian Academy in Fayetteville. Amber is no stranger to mission trips, she and her husband were actually missionaries for a while but prior to going to India with GHI, she has not been to India. India was in fact on her list of places that she never wanted to go. But in 2019, a lady from her church asked Amber if she wanted to go to India with her. Amber thought back then that someone else can go, but she felt God tell her that she needed to go. So she did. She went to Hyderabad with a strictly women’s team and worked with the John Foundation. Some of the activities they did included Bible school for the children, job skills interview clinics, women’s ministry, and did BIble studies for their staff. But what really captured Amber’s heart was their ministry and the children’s homes of the orphans. It was a joyful experience to see how happy the kids were with what we would think is the bare minimum of survival. They were just so happy to show the little things that they have. It made her realize that things that we easily take for granted. When asked to describe her mission trip to India in one word, Amber says the word for her is “trust”. She had to trust that the Lord was going to keep her safe. She also had to trust that the Lord was going to use her in ways that she may not even see all the effects. There is so much trust involved in that beyond the supernatural. And in light of what everyone is experiencing right now with the Covid19 pandemic, Amber says that Christians should be trusting the Lord that no matter what, we're going to follow Him, no matter what and where we are going to be, and trust in Him that He will get us through this difficult time. ____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.GHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us

Brad’s Story: Testing and Growing Faith

Brad is a graduate of Appalachian State University in North Carolina with a degree in Electronic Media and Broadcasting. He attends Hope Community Church with pastor Mike Lee. And he is a professional videographer and photographer. He is actually serving at Sit Means Sit Dog Training where he enjoys combining his love for dogs with his love for photography. This means lots of photos for families and their pets. Brad is a one trip alumni of Global Hope India. He shares his mission trip experience where he went to Orissa and stayed at an orphanage with over two hundred children. Before going on the trip, he shares that he was really on the fence about it. He was thinking that a mission trip might not be for him so he started to pray about it. When he did, it became very clear that God was telling him to go. Despite resisting for the longest time and waiting past the deadline to sign up, he still felt like God was pushing him to go. And so he did. He further realized that going was the right thing to do the moment he got to the orphanage. The children greeted them and he received a sweet handwritten note from one of the kids. He has kept that note and still has it up to this day. Brad shares how he was able to establish a connection with some of the kids there. He was amazed at how smart and strong the kids were. He believes that they taught him a lot more than he taught them through the way they live their lives. When asked how missions have changed Brad’s life, he says that it has given him a different perspective. He shares that this different perspective is multifaceted and not just one particular thing. Going on a mission trip affirmed a lot of things for Brad. He realized that living a life of faith is not easy. He believes that God grows our faith by testing it. ____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.GHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us

Alita’s Story: Jumping in Feet First

Alita just graduated from Senior High School at Cary High School and will be heading into college at North Ridge University for a Nursing degree with the US Navy. She is employed at Chik-fil-A as well as the Taylor Family YMCA. She attends Hope Community Church and just returned from India. Alita shares her experiences from her first mission trip to Hyderabad, India. She talks about jumping into the culture with two feet first and immersing herself in the culture. She got to connect with the young minds of the children at the orphanage, and also got the chance to connect with women who were learning how to get jobs. For Alita, it was such a dynamic experience that she never knew was possible. She also talks about a memorable experience where she had to be taken to a hospital in India where she met an Indian national who had the Galatians 2:20 verse tattooed on his arm. She found out later on that her mom has the same tattoo with the same bible verse. When Alita got back to the US, she got the same bible verse tattooed on her wrist. This has become another way for her to share the gospel even more. For when people ask her about her tattoo, she gets to tell them the amazing story behind it. Alita knew that she had wanted to go into the healthcare profession. She has always loved medicine and wanted to help people. But when she went to India and saw how other medical systems work, it made her yearn to help them. Her experience at the hospital in India just cemented her decision to be in the medical field and become a nurse. It made her realize that not everyone can get the same kind of healthcare. When asked to describe her mission trip experience in one word, Alita says the word for her is “faith”. She believes that she could not have gone through that hospital experience if she did not have faith that God would take her through the other side. When she called her parents from the hospital, they showed faith. When she called Hunter, he pointed Alita to faith. It was God’s way of telling Alida to just have faith.____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.GHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us

Caitlyn’s Story: A Breathtaking Mission

Caitlyn is a soon to be senior at Green Hope High School in Cary, North Carolina. She is currently a Sunday school teacher at Crosspointe Church, and she works at the Triangle Aquatic Center where she is a Site Manager. As a Site Manager, she oversees the daily maintenance and the staff. Caitlyn has gone on a 10-day mission trip to Hyderabad with Global Hope India. She was able to serve with our church partner and connect with the kids there at the orphanage by teaching classes and performing with the children. Caitlyn also shares the story of her connection to Hayden and Emma (both have also shared their stories on the MCML podcast). Hayden was Caitlyn’s very first friend when she moved to Cary. In fact, it was Hayden who convinced her to go on a mission trip to India. Caitlyn shares a funny story from her mission trip experience where she and Hayden had to sleep in the “swamp room” of a three-star hotel. You need to listen to her story to find out why it’s called the “swamp room”. She also shares some of the adjustments that she needed to make while in India which includes getting used to wearing pants every day. India’s modesty level is a lot higher than the US and so all the females were encouraged to not wear shorts outside their hotel room to avoid being stared at. When asked how missions have changed her life, Caitlyn says that she started praying more than she did before. Where she used to pray for a meal, before going to sleep, and maybe once or twice a week during her day; she now talks to God every day - when going to work, coming home from work, and even while working she tries to talk to God as much as she can. If she will describe her mission trip in one word, the word would be “breathtaking”. Everything that she saw in India was mind-blowingly beautiful and their culture was something to be admired.  ____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.GHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us

David’s Story - Being a Light in the World of Darkness

David is from Durham, North Carolina. His dad, Chris, is a Global Hope India trip alumni and board member. As a kid, he grew up going to church with his dad who made sure that they always went to church. But it just felt like going through the motions for David, and it was not so much about faith and really trusting and believing in God. Later on in life, he turned away from God due to things that happened to him. So he turned to drugs and spent over a decade addicted to drugs. About a year and a half ago, he went to live with his mom and just had the feeling that he needed to get some help. So he told his dad that he needed to go to rehab and he went to Converting Hearts which is a Christian faith-based rehab center. Converting Hearts is where he met Pastor Doug who has an amazing, no holds barred teacher. And it was incredible for David as he learned more and more about the Bible through Pastor Doug. He started to really feel God’s presence in his life and that’s when he actually actually felt the Holy Spirit coming into his life. He had already cleaned up his act and was sober for some time when his dad asked him if he wanted to go to India with Kevin and Justin. David agreed to go and shares that it was probably one of the best experiences of his entire life. That mission trip became a part of his healing. The mission trip to India was indescribable for David. He used to be so incredibly selfish and always loved helping people, but helping people for the wrong reasons. And to really just put himself with God and to walk His path for your life and to do something unto Him for others was just the most amazing feeling. From then on, David knew that if he returned to doing drugs, he could not be a light in the world of darkness. He knew that if he goes back to drugs, he cannot do the things that God wanted him to do. He knows that God has a lot in store for him and He is making sure that David has some more patience. This is one of the things that he’s learning right now. He knows that God's future plans for him are just going to be great. And he will trust in Him and His plans fully - 100%. David talks about how sharing his story with high school students in India became a pivotal moment for him. After the mission trip to India was over, he came back full of vision. And not only was he focused on what God had just done, but he was already seeing a vision of what He was going to do in the future. David wants to be able to spread the word of God and be able to provide physical help at the same time. And this is the reason why he took a class in phlebotomy. He knew that he could be very useful for the International Red Cross because they don't have doctors and nurses that want to travel. When asked to describe the mission trip in one word, David said, “indescribable”. Everything that he experienced and learned so far through God’s grace has been indescribable. ____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.GHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us

Rebekah’s Story - The Spirit of Excitement

Rebekah is from Fort Worth, Texas. She is a nurse and she graduated from Texas Christian University. She attends the Christ Chapel Bible Church where she is involved in the young adult ministry. She volunteers there as a small group leader for the high school ministry. Rebekah is an ER nurse in the in-patient psychiatric care unit for adults and adolescents at the Mesa Springs Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. Rebekah lost her mom when she was 11 years old. When she was in fifth grade, her mom was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. This was an intense period as she remembers seeing her mom going through a lot of treatment. Her mom passed away in just less than a year after her diagnosis. Rebekah remembers having such peace from the Lord and just remembering that her mom would be in heaven and she would see her there. God gave her faith at that moment. Rebekah shares her experiences while on a mission trip to India. They set up medical clinics and went door to door to share the gospel with the women in the red light district. It was sobering for her to meet with the women and hear some of their stories. She talks about how open the women were to prayer. It was an amazing experience for her to go to the red light district where it is spiritually dark, but when she’s going in the presence of Christ, she feels protected and also appointed to be there. And that makes all the difference in the world. For Rebekah, her life has been changed by missions by opening her eyes and by God showing her how to have a heart for the world. It is such a privilege and joy to use her gifts as a nurse to serve and bless those who need to hear about Him. We can be in prayer, help financially, and just be part of what He's doing all over the world. Rebekah feels that God specifically continues to give her a heart for India. When asked to describe her mission trip experience in one word, Rebekah says, “exciting”. She has had the heart and desire to go for several years and it was definitely exciting for her when she finally got to go to India. It was also exciting for her to just be on the mission field and share the gospel, serve at the clinics, and touch lives at the same time. Rebekah also encourages those who are thinking about going on a mission trip when the opportunity to go returns. She says to just prepare for God and to be able to touch lives through His spirit in ways that they would never expect. ____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.GHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us

Josh’s Story: Miracles and Appreciating Differences

Josh is from Los Angeles, California. His parents were born in Korea, which makes Josh a second-generation Korean American. Josh just graduated from NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. He attends the Summit Church and he works in a Korean barbecue cafe as well as owns a Korean barbecue food truck. In 2016, Josh was involved in a terrorist attack during an international layover. He was going on his second trip to Uzbekistan for a short term mission trip. The layover was in Istanbul, Turkey, and they were just supposed to be there for eight hours or so but near the end of that eight-hour layover, as they were going to the terminal gate, a group of ISIS terrorists barged into the security lobby and started shooting off AK-47s then blew themselves up. This happened right down the hallway from where they were. Thankfully, everybody in their team was safe. Looking back on that incident, Josh realized that he is just a very small piece in a larger machine of life. In the summer of 2018, Josh went to Mumbai, India with Global Hope India. Their purpose there was to partner with the local Indian church in Mumbai and partner with them in hosting free medical clinics, working with neighborhoods there in some of their community outreach programs. Aside from India, Josh has been blessed with the opportunity to also go to Pakistan, The United Arab Emirates, and Turkey on mission trips. He recognizes that not everyone has been given the opportunity to do this. He shares that he has been fortunate to have so many people around him who were willing to invest in his growth and his vision for reaching the nations. He counts himself as fortunate to have God that provides everything he needs and to have a community that supports him. When asked about the adjustments that he had to make during his trip to India, Josh shares about a moment when he was wrestling with himself and the guilt that he was feeling for coming from a very well off place, and coming and experiencing a place where poverty and suffering are very real. He found himself taking a step back and asking God to clear his mind and heart. And in that moment, Josh felt God’s presence fill him and he felt God’s heart for the nation of India. His heart was purified and he was overcome with emotion. He was blessed as God has been preparing his heart for the miracles that He was about to do. Josh believes that missions have changed his life by broadening his perspective. Going on missions has made him realize how similar everybody is and it has also made him appreciate the cultural differences. These differences should complement us instead of dividing us. God did a beautiful thing by creating different countries and different cultures. And we should appreciate those differences instead of trying to get rid of them.  ____________Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.More about Missions Changed My Life Podcast.Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Missions Changed My Life Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.GHI Resources & Contact Info:Resource CenterGHI FacebookMCML Facebook PageGHI Instagram: @globalhopeindiaGHI Twitter: @globalhopeindiaEmail Us