Our daughter Josie surprised us with her announcement following a reception for Southern Asia Division delegates to the General Conference Session, "I want to volunteer for a year at an orphanage in India." Within a few days, she was accepted into the student missionary program at Andrews University and on her way to the REACH International hostel in Madurai, India. We were excited to discover she would go to a school Maryann and I visited in 1993.

I just spoke with Josie this morning and she gave me a most incredible report of what God is doing in her life. Josie said she feels like she is God’s partner. Circumstances have forced a dependency and relationship with God she has never experienced before. “Now I know what Paul meant when he said to pray without ceasing. I don’t even say, 'Amen,' because I’m never finished,” she said, almost surprising herself at how close she and God have become.

Josie spent last weekend fasting and praying for the children and staff, recognizing she is in the middle of spiritual warfare for their souls. “I pray for God to be so evident in my life that when the children observe me, they see His character. I pray for His protection, and thank God for the food; I ask Him to bless the hands that prepared it, and I always add, 'Please don't let it kill me,' and I’m not kidding!” She’s been to the hospital twice.

Josie has challenged us to consider our own partnership with God, and to ask ourselves, “How dependent am I on God? How essential is my partnership with God to my work, my family, and the everyday things of life?”

Gary Burns is the Lake Union Herald editor.