For some reason I fell out of love with India. I found myself deliberately staying away and wondering if I would ever want to return. Yet to my delight I returned this month, after a seven year hiatus and I can safely say that India still has my heart, good and proper.

What an utterly beautiful trip this was. It was the stuff the sweetest dreams are made of. Being back with all my little adopted brothers and sisters at the Immanuel Home that my mum founded, was SUCH a gift! Before my mum had around twenty children that she looked after in what was an Orphanage, but over the years it has developed into a home. And now the children only number seven. Each one has been adopted by my mum and this is the only home that most of them have ever known.

At the home you have Jyothi who is now 23 years old. She is the life and soul of the party. She is so full of passion and vibrancy. She is like a firework. A real comedian. Loves fashion, performing and being the centre of attention. You have Pia who is so beautiful. Mature and hardworking. She is around 22 and she looks after things. She is wise and steady and loyal. There is Rahul who loves the Lord. He is so full of rest and always has a smile on his face. He is blind and attends boarding school so I only managed to see him for one day. When I asked him what i should bring him next time I come back to India he said a Braille Bible!! Aaah he’s so precious.

Then there is Jaan, arun, Heera and Sitara. They were all either left for dead at birth or saved from abortion by my mum. My mum has offocially adopted these precious ones and my mum is the only mum they have ever known. They adore my mum. And they adore us too! The feeling is nutual. It is a joy and delight to be their big sister. We had such a gorj time together and celebrated the 19th year anniversary of the home with an annual thanksgiving service! Getting them kitted out in their suits and indian dresses was such a dream. They beamed in their outfits! All the kids organised the event and performed a gazillion songs and dances, coordinated and compared by the ever creative Jyothi. Arun stayed away from the performing but helped with the media.

I had the joy of preaching at the ceremony. I am always blown away with God’s grace in enabling me to preach in Hindi. Considering I am self taught and never speak it outside of India, I am never without surprise when something coherent comes out of my mouth. And I am all the more floored when heaven graces it to not only sound decent but it move hearts and beckons people closer to the Lord.

Enjoying such sweet times with my gorgeous mama was truly precious and having my friend Leah with us was so so fun! She was so easy to be with and savoured all the beauty of our lives in India, embracing every moment with child like wonder and a penchant for life.

Visiting Jaipur, the Pink City was a first and I loved the architecture, the vibrancy and the food! Getting to enjoy the fabric markets of Delhi again and work on some stuff for my Living in Light fashion label also brought back so many memories of first launching my label when I’d be back and forth to India on the regs! Ministering out there was also a joy and preaching my first message on Sexuality in Delhi was so encouraging! Poeple were SO encouraged by God’s design for sexuality! This is a big deal because India is a nation that despite the existence of the Kama Sutra has limited freedom and true understanding of the purposes and power of divine sexuality. With the deeply rooted religious presence found in this nation, sexuality is often repressive, filled with taboo and shame or very liberal and experimental. And to have a group of Christians embrace and get super excited about God’s liberating, supreme, truly fulfilling design for Sexuality was joy to my bones.

My sister also came out there for the last four days of my trip and lavished us with a lush spa stay complete with a Swedish massage and fine dining! Awww! It felt so good to finish the trip with this super pampered hotel stay and a sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal. This mesmerising wonder of the world will never lose it’s appeal and I could visit it again and again and would always want to go back. Such a beautiful experience to visit it as part of my mum’s birthday treat, whilst staying in such a beautiful venue and enjoying it at sunrise

One of the funnest, most gloriously epic moments were when me, Leah and my mum were on our road trip to Jaipur and we stopped to drink some fresh coconut and have a lil munch and stretch on the hard shoulder and this random patrol guy ended up hanging with us. Once he checked we were okay he just leaned up on the fence next to us chilling in the sunshine and wasn’t looking like he was leaving any time soon so we offered him a snack. We found out that his son had been killed on the very same highway the month before. We were so saddened and we prayed with him. And then the Lord totally showed up and he got saved, his nephew showed up and got saved too and then two other blokes jumped in on this holy roadside alter call and also gave their lives to Jesus as well. How utterly glorious!!!

Woohoo, loved every minute of that salvation encounter in the SONshine and loved every moment of this beautiful beeeeaaautiful trip!!

My heart is full and I can’t wait to go back again!!! To have my love affair with India reawakened is such a joy and I am so expectant for how God might want to bring me back here again and again with fresh vision, compassion and desire. I loved blogging the India Series a decade ago and I am excited for the stories that are yet to come from this beautiful land that I am so grateful to be part of. x