By Bill Webb
Word&Way Editor
Heather Herschap of Waco, Texas, has a dream of returning to Bangalore — the third largest city in India — for a year or so to minister to the disabled there. It is a mission to which she is convinced God has called her, ultimately for an even longer term.
Herschap, a December 2007 graduate of Truett Theological Seminary, took month-long mission trips to Bangalore in 2005 and 2006 with the help of Truett students and WorldconneX, the Baptist General Convention of Texas missions network.
In recent weeks and months, she has been preparing for her trip, participating in cross-cultural training and orientation under the auspices of proVision Asia at Mission Training International in Colorado Springs, Colo. This month, she travels to the Seattle, Wash., headquarters of Mission to Unreached Peoples.
Herschap has completed weeks of required reading for her trip and has nearly raised the $15,000 required for her much-anticipated year overseas.
But Heather needs to fulfill one more requirement, and it is significant.
This committed young woman who has a heart for ministering to India’s maligned disabled population is disabled herself and has been since birth. She has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair and has only limited movement in one arm.
She needs a caregiver who will travel with her to India and work with her once they arrive — “the last piece of the puzzle,” as she describes it.
“I have raised most of my financial support and I am in the process of having Mission for Unreached Peoples (MUPs) to back me with insurance, benefits and members of their team to come and check on me from time to time to make sure I’m alive and well,” Heather wrote in an essay in advance of her mission.
“What I really need is a caregiver to go with me, to help with my daily needs as well as writing long extensive e-mails and typing reports,” she wrote. “This woman needs to have a heart for the nations and for the disabled. She would be commissoned by MUPs and receive a three-part training, just like myself.
“She will be the American counterpart for a team of Indians who are providing care for me,” she explained. “This would allow each team member to have personal time and rest breaks.
“Although I see myself in India long-term, I have committed initially for one to two years to work out the logistics of living overseas with a disability and would like for this woman to commit to that time as well,” she wrote.
Heather invites everyone to join her in prayer. To request more information, potential volunteers or others interested in knowing more may call Heather on her cell phone at 956-235-0380. Her need is unique, but she is uniquely qualified to minister where she is going.
