Thankful: Jan Pierce and Her Love for India

My husband and I travel to India for several months each year. We support a variety of

Indian ministries including orphanages, schools and house church networks. I love India and

I love our visits. But I have to confess that I’m always glad to return to my nice soft bed in my

comfortable home. I’m thankful for clean water to drink and garbage pick-up at my curb. I’m

thankful for plenty of food to eat and good health care when I need it.

    When we return home from an Indian trip I miss the people so much. I always go through

a time of pain in which I’m constantly comparing my life in the States with life in India. The first

time we eat in a restaurant in the States I’m thinking to myself, ” Let’s see, $25 plus tip—that

could pay for Krupa to attend school for three months, or $10 for two desserts, that would

buy Uma’s family rice for a month.” There’s no getting around the fact that there is inequity in the

distribution of wealth in this crazy world.

    The truth I always return to is this:  God, in His mercy and for His reasons placed me in

this part of the world and in this time. He has graciously allowed me to see life in another part of the world

and to make my small efforts to share generously with people there. He knows their need and He

knows mine. So I’ll choose to live my life with a thankful heart. I’ll intentionally live my life in service

and generosity. I’ll go when He says go, and stay home when He leads in that direction. I’ll

respond to needs at His leading rather than try to be God to the people.

    I can’t fix all of the problems in India. I can’t feed all the hungry children or provide education

for all of them either. But I can do my part. Our little ministry pays for over thirty-five children

to attend a good school. We buy sewing machines for the graduates of a Women’s Bible

College so they can make a living when they strike out on their own. We give a scholarship to

the top graduates at a Mission School and we encourage and love our friends who give all

they have to minister to their own people. I do the things God has shown me to do.

    And then I leave the rest to Him.

Jan Pierce

www.onehandfulofrice.org  website of Teams India

www.janpierce.net/blog  Words for the Journey

I’m a retired teacher who has taken on the cause of India and also picked up a writer’s pen in my retirement years. I’m published in devotional quarterlies such as Fruit of the Vine, Devotions, The Quiet Hour, and the Secret Place. I also write for various Christian publications such as Evangel, The Gem, Bible Advocate and others. I write for a grandparenting website in Europe and for a homeschooling site here in the states. I write about family life and education topics. I also have an essay in the anthology entitled Just Moms, and a journal article in Young Child. I’m beginning a new challenge as I move into fiction. I’m telling the story of a young Indian girl in the mid 1800’s who becomes a Bible Woman. Bible women were the native women trained under the missionaries and sent into villages two by two to share what they knew about Jesus.

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