Getting out of the "Short-Term Mission Trip Mindset"

Well, I've been in India for 3 weeks on Sunday. Something that has been difficult to process is the short-term mission trip mind set. For those who haven't been on a mission trip, they are packed with hands-on work or evangelism for the majority of each day. Days and hours and minutes are not wasted, and for good reason - make the most out of a possibly expensive short-term trip. Having gone on many mission trips, local and international, I have been accustomed to their packed and purposeful schedules. But this is not a mission trip. I am living in India. I often feel guilty for not doing "missionary things" - sharing the gospel, serving my neighbors, praying with people. I've been reading a book about Mother Teresa, and something that has encouraged me about her life is that she was in India for 20 years before she moved to Calcutta and started Missionaries of Charity. Wow! Was she useless during those years? Of course not, she was living out what God had called her to do in that moment. So that is what I am doing. I have been called to India today to teach a missionary's daughter and I want to be faithful in that calling, also trusting that his plans are good. I believe God has also called me to other things but I want to be patient in seeking God's will about them.

There are currently two opportunities to teach at Indian schools. I visited Havillah School on Thursday. They are in need of a computer teacher. They have 5 computers in a small room, and the children are anxious to learn more. But since they don't have a teacher, they have stopped classes. After looking at the curriculum and meeting a couple of the teachers (Ajano and Benri), I could see myself teaching there (probably 3 days a week in the afternoon). I am also visiting a school on Monday. It is associated with a church in our neighborhood, so I could just walk there. I think I would probably teach English there, which is intimidating to me since I do not know very much Hindi. But I'm assuming I would use a lot of pictures, and they have curriculum so I would just need to get used to it. Please pray for discernment in knowing where to serve.

ps - I actually like when it rains in India. For some reason, it's not depressing like it is in the US. Maybe it's because it makes it cooler!

UPDATE ON VICTORIA:

We went to the doctor twice yesterday, and the doctor finally said that she doesn't have appendicitis but it is probably a urinary tract infection (even though she has no problem going to the bathroom). So they gave her antibiotics and told her to give a urine sample today to see if it is UTI. Please pray that they would find the true diagnosis and that Victoria would feel better. Also, pray for wisdom for Jeff to know what to do and for Trish who is still in Texas and very worried about Victoria.