Before leaving for the race, I read a FANTASTIC book called “Cross-Cultural Connections” by Duane Elmer. One of the things he talks about are some of the differences of America from the majority of the world. One difference is how people in the “rest of the two-thirds world” as he says, sees time differently. As Americans, we like to be on time–which often means being early. However, around the rest of the world for the most part, time isn’t really a thing. So when someone says they will be somewhere at a certain time, they may, in fact, be there 2 hours later.
Even in the 2 or 3ish days we have been here, I have seen this in India.
Today, our squad is splitting up to go to different parts of India to do different ministries. Some of our squad had to take busses and almost everyone’s busses where two to three hours late.
Yesterday, I went to a bakery called “Delize” for breakfeast (and for wifi), and it took me an hour and a half to get my food. Now, to be fair, there was a lot of people there and I believe yesterday was a holiday, but still.
I am conviced God is teaching me patience though. It’s a hard lesson, but I’m sure by the time I’m done with this trip, I will have it down to be streteched more later. I did pretty decent waiting for my food, although although I did complain every once in a while to a friend.
But it is interesting how God takes things you wouldn’t think of to teach you a lesson. And right now, patience is the one I am painfully learning.
A more deeper, more honest example has been my frustration the past couple days.
I am generally a very passionate person and I am thankful for it. A couple years ago I had the epiphany that I have the same passion that my Jesus has for life, His people, etc. However, it is also sometimes a stumbling block for me. When I have so much passion and not a way to use it for good, I get frustrated. I also hate wasting time.
So, the starting of ministry here has been slow and thus frustrating. First, we had launch which was a blessing transition going from work/prepartion to having the mindset that this was actually happening. But even there, I was rearing to go. I have been preparing for this trip for the past 6 months.
Then we had to travel to India. In all, from when we set foot in the Atlanta airport to wait for our flight for about 8 hours to when we arrived in India, a friend said we had “traveled” for about 30 hours.
Then, when we got to India, we had cultural training to prepare us for the differences and help us get rest from our jet lag. That also has been a blessing to have a slow transition so I can get rest, etc.
But, I’ll be honest, it’s been a little too slow of a transition for me. Time is so short and I am just ready to go. I want to talk to the people of this country and get to know them, I want to minister to God’s hurting people, I want to make a difference, I want to dive in head first.
I am thankful for the past couple days because I’ve gotten to eat some great cultural food, gotten used to some things, traveled around Hyderabad, and have gotten to spend some great time with my squad before we go about our different ministries.
But sometimes my passion which leads to frustration can block my vision. I could have spent time just resting in God’s presence and really soaking everything up (which I have, but maybe on a different degree). So I continue to learn patience and I continue to learn how to healthy handle my gift of being a passionate person.
