Go Along For The Ride

A lot of times in ministry you make plans, work hard, do your best and hope God makes something good happen. Then other times you discover God already doing something amazing and you get to go along for the ride! That’s been the case with our friend, Sai. He’s a graduate student from India who’s been in the US for one year. A few days after arriving in Chattanooga, he met a couple people from UCM who invited him to a welcome dinner for international students. He went to the dinner, met even more UCM people, worshipped for the first time and promised to come back. That first semester, Sai quickly became a regular at UCM’s weekly meetings and also was a part of our Friendspeak program, practicing English using the Bible. One of his friends back in India asked Sai, "Have you found any friends there?" He said, "No, I've found a family in UCM." A community of people welcomed Sai into their family. They ate together, carpooled together, studied together and more. God was obviously working. In the fall, Sai joined a Roots Group, one of UCM’s small groups based on Discovery Bible Study. One of his first “I will…” statements was “I will start reading the Bible every week with a friend.”

Since then, Sai has been going through major passages of the Old & New Testament each week with Tyler, a leader in UCM. Sai grew up in Hindu culture, but is now learning who the God of the Bible is and is hearing the call of God for his own life. Sai visited Clear Creek for the first time for Friends & Family Day. He was amazed at how the passages he had been reading in the Bible were the same things talked about that day. He loved worshipping and being with his community again on Sunday. He’s been a regular at Clear Creek since then. In fact, Sai tells everyone how he has rearranged his work and school schedules to be with his UCM family. He tells other people how important it is to focus on the important things and plan your life accordingly. Through all of this, Sai keeps pointing to God saying things like, “It was God that let me find UCM,” “God has me here for a reason,” “God is teaching me so much through my Bible study,” “We have to figure out how to introduce more people to God and UCM.” Next semester Sai is going to be one our student leaders in UCM. He’s committed to living a Christlike lifestyle, growing as a disciple and leading others. It’s been an amazing year of growth as God quickly and clearly pulls Sai towards the ultimate purpose.