South Carolina had always been just one of those states I drove through on my east coast route between Washington, D.C., and Palm Beach County, Fla., and nothing more. I never had any reason to stop there for more than the 10 minutes it took to fill up the car with gas and grab a Yoo-hoo to keep me going for the rest of the trip.

However, all that changed at the beginning of 2005 when the South Carolina Baptist Convention entered a partnership with the International Mission Board’s South Asia region to help impact with the gospel the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. I was confident that the partnership would change lives and communities for the good in South Asia, but I was clueless at that time how deeply it would bless my own life, for with that partnership came instant friendships.

My first trip with South Carolina convention staff and volunteers was early in 2005, shortly after the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami had wreaked havoc on the coastal areas of Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives. The days were long. The weather was dripping hot. The stories we heard were heart-wrenching beyond imagination. And the Internet lines were terribly slow. When the e-mail came in with the test results after my mother’s mastectomy saying that 21 of 24 lymph nodes were cancerous, God had placed around me exactly who I needed for support at that time. I ran into one of those team members earlier this month, and almost the first question out of his mouth was inquiring about my mom. He had remembered, and he had been praying. I was happy to report to him that nearly five years later, she remains cancer free and is doing great.

Since that first trip, I have followed South Carolina’s volunteers across South Asia. I have been with them as they dished out curry for hungry tsunami survivors, pushed past sickness to meet radio listeners at early morning hours, and braved treacherous roads to offer Vacation Bible Schools to Hindu children in the hill country. I have stood with them as they wept over lostness inside a Buddhist temple, presented Isa (Jesus) as Savior to not-so-open Muslim leaders, and patiently discipled new Christians. I have chronicled their adventures as they led South Asians to salvation through Jesus, bolstered weary missionaries, and encouraged local believers who were suffering persecution.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken” (HCSB). Such are the friendships I have made with South Carolinians these past five years. They are strong, deeply intertwined, and eternal.

As I have seen the South Carolinians show the love of Jesus to everyone they have encountered and have heard the cries of their hearts during their morning devotions and evening debriefs, my own heart has become tightly wrapped around theirs. Now my e-mails ring out South Carolina. I burn up the phone lines to and from South Carolina. Many a Christmas card goes to South Carolina. And I have been blessed to stay in homes across the state. I even wear a South Carolina T-shirt, though I confess that I still am not sure what a gamecock is!

Yes, South Carolina has “made it” to my map, but most importantly, South Carolina has changed the face of lostness in South Asia. In April, South Carolina volunteers held a small medical clinic in South Asia. In May, volunteers led a whole family to Christ. In June, seven Muslim women trusted in Jesus during a training South Carolina volunteers offered in chronological Bible storying. In September, volunteers taught women who need additional income how to sew. In October, South Carolina volunteers prayerwalked in a strategic city where a long-term Christian presence has yet to be established.

The South Asia-South Carolina Baptist Convention partnership officially ends Dec. 31, but churches that have developed partnerships with personnel or people groups in South Asia will continue those relationships beyond Dec. 31, said Debbie McDowell, director of the missions mobilization group at the South Carolina Baptist Convention. In addition, the convention will have a focused strategic relationship in one megacity in India beginning in January 2010, she said.

No, “a cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Such are the partnerships that have formed across South Asia with South Carolinians these past five years. They are strong, deeply intertwined, and even eternal.

 

*Name changed for security reasons. Frances serves among South Asian peoples as an IMB writer. Learn about the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s mission opportunities for 2010 at www.scbaptist.org/international/article214696c2826103.htm.