Last Sunday my team & I spent our final day in Romania before heading to the airport in preparation for our morning flight from Bucharest to Moscow to Delhi. I arrived in Dehli on Tuesday morning feeling pretty dazed, but super excited! Our taxi ride from the airport to the train station was pretty surreal as we were trying to take in all of the new surroundings. Our driver tried to drop us off at a little travel agency run by his friends to convince us our train had been cancelled & we needed to buy new tickets, but we were clearly too smart for that ol' trick. After a 17-hour train ride, we arrived at our stop. We were told we would be spending the month in Varanasi, which naturally meant a small village about 2 hours outside of the city.
We're working with a ministry called GEMS (Gospel Echoing Missionary Society), and after a few short days here, I'm already thoroughly impressed by everything they are doing. We're staying on their campus, which is pretty much its own little village. They have over 30 ministry outreaches, which seek to better the lives of the Indian people in the region & help them to know their Savior. I can't even begin to describe all that they're doing, but check out their website to learn more: http://www.gemsbihar.org
One of the ministries that really got to me is their daycare center for children whose mothers are involved in prostitution. GEMS has a center open for the children to come to during the day where they are given food, education, and learn about Jesus. At night the kids have to go back to their homes…their 2-room homes where 1 room has a TV playing pornography & the other room is where their mothers are with the customers. That's not an environment any child should grow up in.Yet the staff members told us all about what God has been doing in their lives. The Holy Spirit is at work in their hearts, and the kids are full of the life & hope of Jesus. The children decided to reach out to those in a nearby village similar to theirs to tell the people there about what God is doing. The church where they live is comprised of children…children who are setting the example for their families. Can I just emphasize one more time that we're talking about kids here?! Kids who could easily be drowning in hopeless lives right now because of all that they've seen & been through. But their Heavenly Father, who far surpasses any earthly father, is reaching out to them – and the faith of a chid is all it takes to accept His love & walk in His Truth. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven…and they're bringing the Kingdom to those around them!
GEMS also has a polio home on campus. Polio is very prevalent around this area, and the polio home here reaches out to children of all ages. Last night we were able to visit there for the first time and will definitely be returning frequently. I talked with a small group of 14-15 year old girls, all of whom were absolutely beautiful and as sweet as could be. All of a sudden one of the girls told me she is very sad because she is lame. And she asked me to explain why God made her that way because she couldn't understand. What do you say to that?! I told her that God has already planned out each day of her life and that He loves her more than she could possibly know…that even if she can't see it, she's perfect. I told her that God doesn't like for us to be sad, but that He wants us to be thankful for the good that we do have. Because He is good. Even when we don't understand, He is good. So we played a game to name the good things that were around us. We both have eyes to see, a mouth to speak, the ability to laugh, there was a bench to sit on, clothes to wear…and on & on. Then she told me how thankful she was to see me…and I could only tell her how much more thankful I was to see her. We prayed together to thank God for the blessings He gave us and to help us more fully understand how great His love is & the plans He has for us.
So here I am…living life in northern India. I'm so excited for the month ahead and feel so humbled to be able to share in the various ministry opportunities here. I know I'll be ministered to as well as my heart is already breaking for teenage girls in a polio home who are fighting to find their identity in Christ (definitely not something I would ever have expected to be involved with). Also, I may or may not have added being a traveling English teacher in the mountains of northern India to my list of future possibilities. I have never sweat so much in my entire life, and the fact that it's almost winter here absolutely blows my mind – I cannot fathom what a summer day would feel like! I have never been more thankful for cold showers and the 10 seconds of non-sticky relief that follow before the humidity sinks in once more. Ceiling fans bring joy to my soul, and I cannot tell you how much I love Indian food & the 4-7 cups of chai I drink on a daily basis! God is good!
