Vision Trip Reflections By Steven Hurry – Click here to read about ServLife’s volunteer trips and contact us for more information for your group.

We have returned from our journey to ServLife India, located in Bihar, India, in a region of the country referred to us as the “graveyard of missions”. As a team of four from Indianapolis, IN, we recently traveled to serve at the orphanage located there and help with the pastor leadership conference that was taking place there that same week. Working alongside the ServLife staff and family, we provided logistical support for the leadership conference, putting together materials and care packages for the pastors. We also spent time with the children, playing music and interacting with them as they played with some of the toys and coloring books we brought for them.

Bridget Hurry, M.D., one of our team members, provided medical care for all of the orphans and for the pastors who required medical attention. “From a doctor’s perspective, I was impressed by the current state of the children’s health, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, despite the full spectrum of troubled circumstances they were rescued from,” said Dr. Hurry. “Overall, the children were well taken care of, as if they were a member of Albert Das’s own family. They were provided for and it was evident they were being well loved through the smiles and genuine joy of their playful spirits.” We were able to provide documentation of health concerns and needs for each of the orphans and pastors that were seen along with individual packages of medicine from the donations we collected for the trip.

We interviewed all of the pastors attending the conference through a translator to provide ServLife profile information for each pastor including: prayer requests and needs, the status of their local church, and stories of how God was moving in their church. With over 50 pastors in attendance, it would have been difficult for the staff members running the conference to obtain all of this information, so we were a great help there. Don Davis, one of our team members who conducted the interviews, was deeply impacted by the experience. “This trip for me has redefined the words “I want” or “I need”. I didn’t realize how high I had escalated my own personal value system,” said Davis. “It helped me see that my highest priorities have been my priorities and that I have not been letting go and allowing God’s priorities to be the highest priorities.”

All of our team members were also blessed with the opportunity to speak at the leadership conference. Three of us gave our testimonies on our walk with God and Adam Nevins, worship pastor at Common Ground Christian Church in Indianapolis, IN, presented on a topic relating to the theme of the conference, accountability in ministry. Participating in the conference helped us see the body of Christ from a different international and cultural perspective. “The body of Christ is wide and diverse and accepting. It is a place to come and be loved and join our voice and life in praise of God,” said Nevins. “This was clearly seen and experienced at the pastor’s conference as the fellowship of the brotherhood transcended language and cultural barriers. To love believers around the world means something much more tangible to me now.”