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Judy* is a Mission Society missionary and a nurse who serves in northern India. The hospital in which she works provides medical care for 11 million people. She previously served for 14 years in Central Asia.

Here Judy shares some of the hard lessons God has taught her during her first two years in India. Read her story and be encouraged by what God can do with ordinary people who desire to serve Him.

I knew this town in India was going to be a hard place to live, but I didn’t truly understand how difficult it would be. I thought all of my years in Central Asia had been good preparation for what I would experience, but they were nothing compared to what I came up against in India. The spiritual climate here is so, so dark.

There are so many problems, even among the Christian community in our town. When I arrived, I saw the fighting, the need for control, the lack of forgiveness. I was so discouraged and frustrated that I couldn’t help. On top of that, the temperatures were in the triple digits; I had a terrible case of heat rash; I couldn’t sleep, and I was just miserable.

I was whining to God one day and He very clearly said, “Well, thank you for letting Me know about that. I'm shocked. I didn’t know there was a problem here. I thought everything was wonderful until you came here and started complaining to Me."

Once again, I learned the lesson of God telling me, “Do you think I don’t know? Do you think I don't know that there are problems here? Do you think that I don’t know that this is not an easy place to be? Do you think that these poor people don’t have reasons for all their struggles? Do you think there was a reason why I brought you here?"

So I began to pray, "Okay, this is not a surprise to You. These people are a mess. I know I can't fix everything, but what's the part You want me to play? What do You want me to do?"

That was the beginning of some amazing months of ministry.

I thought I would be able to use my nursing background in the hospital, but it turns out that God just wanted me to be a mom in that place. There are actually some days that I don’t leave my room at all and am exhausted by the end of the day, because there is always someone there to pray with, to listen to, to counsel.

God taught me that our burdens are not unbearable when He's in charge. Once I stopped complaining and let Him work through me, I saw Him work miracle after miracle.

*Pseudonym used for security purposes.