Take the best and worst of Africa, add it to the best and worst of Southeast Asia and the throw in some spice and you have India. After traveling the world I can confidently say that there really isn’t anywhere in the world like it. As
soon as I stepped out of the airport I was pretty much on sensory overload until I stepped back in the airport to go home. While walking down the street you are passed by just as many people with i-phones and blackberrys as you people missing arms or legs begging for food. Delhi was surprisingly developed and for once I really didn’t feel like people were watching me or wondering why a white person had come to their country.
After a 30 hour train ride, however, when we got to Ongole, our place of ministry, the old yet familiar feelings of being different started to come back. It’s odd how after awhile living in the “uncomfortable” becomes becomes your comfort zone. This month we were with Team Crash of Love and Team Rush. We hadn’tworked a lot with these teams so everyone was excited about it. Because we had three teams, we were able to spread out and help two different ministries. Half of our team worked with Sarah’s Covenant Home, an orpahnage for special needs children in the city of Ongole, and the other half worked in a village called Thertivallipallum (sp?) trying to plant a church in the their area.
soon as I stepped out of the airport I was pretty much on sensory overload until I stepped back in the airport to go home. While walking down the street you are passed by just as many people with i-phones and blackberrys as you people missing arms or legs begging for food. Delhi was surprisingly developed and for once I really didn’t feel like people were watching me or wondering why a white person had come to their country. After a 30 hour train ride, however, when we got to Ongole, our place of ministry, the old yet familiar feelings of being different started to come back. It’s odd how after awhile living in the “uncomfortable” becomes becomes your comfort zone. This month we were with Team Crash of Love and Team Rush. We hadn’tworked a lot with these teams so everyone was excited about it. Because we had three teams, we were able to spread out and help two different ministries. Half of our team worked with Sarah’s Covenant Home, an orpahnage for special needs children in the city of Ongole, and the other half worked in a village called Thertivallipallum (sp?) trying to plant a church in the their area.
While I only got to visit the chldrens home a hand full of times I could tell my girls loved it and I got the chance to just throw kids around, which is one of my spiritual gifts and take them out for ice cream which is another gift in progress. While there are a lot of childrens homes in India, very few focus on children with special needs. There are so many miracle stories at this home that I would recommend you check out a website that is trying to raise support for this home as it can be more difficult because the cost of hosting special needs children is so much higher than normal http://share11.org/ . The kids in this home needed anything from small surgeries to life care by one of the house mothers or “Iyas” as they call them. One day we took the kids out for ice cream. For some of them it would be their first time. One of the boys I was with was literally jumping for joy when he heard about the adventure so much so it was hard to get him to sit down once we got to the restuarant. But once he felt how cold the icre cream was he wouldn’t stop crying. Hey, I don’t like brain freezes either. On the other hand, another one of the boys (with more experience) meticulously licked his bowl, slurped his plate, and used his hand to finish off any trace of ice cream left within a 3 ft radius. It was great to see the simple pleasures that we so often take for granted. Even though I would have loved to stay there, I felt God calling me to invest more in the village and I was so glad for that. Planting a church and doing evangelism ws completely different there than anywhere. The Hindu culture breeded a people that didn’t care about other people’s well being outside of their class and that glady accepted Christ only to put him on a pedestal with the rest of there Gods. Because of this, baptism was very important as it told the community they were completely giving their lives to Christ. Some poeple would say things like “Can I get
baptized at night so people won’t see me?” or “I think I will wait until all of my daughters get married off to get baptized” for fear that being Christian would make it harder. That’s why one day it was such an act of God when we walked in a home of a family where the husband was Hindu and the wife was Christian, and talked to the husband only for about 3 minutes and he decided to get baptized. Our pastor translator new this was a great chance and we were in the water within 30 minutes of his decision. It was such an answer to prayer to know that God was working in people’s live before we even get there and that while this man had opportunities to be baptized before NOW was the time when he decided to do it, and to add more I was given the privilege to do it! We were able to baptize 3 people from this village that wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so if we weren’t there.
baptized at night so people won’t see me?” or “I think I will wait until all of my daughters get married off to get baptized” for fear that being Christian would make it harder. That’s why one day it was such an act of God when we walked in a home of a family where the husband was Hindu and the wife was Christian, and talked to the husband only for about 3 minutes and he decided to get baptized. Our pastor translator new this was a great chance and we were in the water within 30 minutes of his decision. It was such an answer to prayer to know that God was working in people’s live before we even get there and that while this man had opportunities to be baptized before NOW was the time when he decided to do it, and to add more I was given the privilege to do it! We were able to baptize 3 people from this village that wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so if we weren’t there. Once again music proved to be a powerful tool as many people gathered and heard the Gospel message preached 
multiple times during our stay there. One night we even got to bring out a projector and show the Jesus film in their native tongue, Telegu. I think people mistook me even moreso for Jesus after the film than they did before. There is no other way I would hve like to end my World Race time than out in the beautiful country and farm lands swimming with the boys in the river and sleeping under the stars.
multiple times during our stay there. One night we even got to bring out a projector and show the Jesus film in their native tongue, Telegu. I think people mistook me even moreso for Jesus after the film than they did before. There is no other way I would hve like to end my World Race time than out in the beautiful country and farm lands swimming with the boys in the river and sleeping under the stars. I have attached a video that I think will sum up my time in India pretty well that Ginger Larson and I made one day while walking around the village. I hope you enjoy it!
