I had the privilege of traveling to India for a HOPE61 trip with my good friends Darren Sweeney, Tom Overton, and Luke Rafferty. The journey was filled with days of planes, trains, rickshaws, long layovers, bumpy roads, crowded church gatherings, and countless cups of coffee.
This time in India was far more than a mission trip for me; it was a deeply personal encounter with God’s presence and purpose, as well as a return to a country where I spent a year as a high school exchange student back with my local Rotary Club. I saw, during our travels, in many different situations, how God consistently weaved his presence into conversations. I witnessed the hope that people have amid such a dark issue as human trafficking.
I find great similarities between entrepreneurs, ultra-endurance athletes, and missionaries. Reflecting on the trip, I am reminded of our arrival in Chennai in the middle of the night after a long train ride. We were all exhausted, yet a welcoming group of people quickly helped us gather our things and settle in for the evening. In the midst of the new environment, the lack of sleep, and the long days, we were surrounded by God’s presence, and I’m convinced he paved a path of provision at each step along the way.
One of the most impactful parts of the trip for me was the opportunity to reconnect with Darren (current director of HOPE61). We have known each other since high school, where we wrestled on the same team, which gave him the opportunity to share Christ with me on a bus ride home so many years ago. To stand beside him on that trip halfway around the world, uniting in the fight against human trafficking, was a God moment. It gave his entrance into my life so many years ago an even deeper meaning. It reminded me that seeds planted long ago can bear fruit in ways that cannot be imagined at the time. Being on the mission field together has given me a deeper appreciation not only for our friendship but also for the faithfulness of God who weaves our lives together in such mysterious and marvelous ways.
Throughout our trainings in India, I was aware of the people’s desire to make a difference in their communities. Many had traveled long distances, often with physical challenges and limited resources, to learn how to protect the vulnerable in their communities. I was also aware that doing ministry together can bond friends even more as we trust God along the way for our provisions. The unity within our team continued to grow with the passing of days, the changing schedules, the long hours of travel, and each of our own idiosyncrasies. By the end of the journey, I saw how our skills as communicators, videographers, teachers, and preachers complemented each other.
As we sat together during our final debrief, I knew God had not been shaping only those in the training, but also each other as teammates and brothers in Christ. This trip with my good friends made even clearer that the human trafficking prevention ministry of HOPE61 is not just training; it is aligning ourselves with God’s calling on our hearts and being a small part of equipping the church to transform the communities in which we live.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5 NIV).
