Delhi Belly

                This
past week, my first month of squad leading came to a close.  All members of the U Squad are still alive
and relatively healthy – success!  My
time in Malaysia was amazing.  It was
beautiful (lush green palm forests), the food was delicious (succulent Tandoori
chicken and garlic naan), and the ministry was rewarding.  I visited four teams, and did everything from
scraping paint inside a church, to organizing street feedings, to prayer
walking through dark, brothel-lined streets. 
As always, the month flew by, and before I knew it I was on a plane to
India, and God began to answer my prayers.

              

                One of
the costs of squad leading is selling yourself to no sleep and mucho meetings during
squad debrief times at the end of each month. 
After a few days of late nights and hard work, we spent about 20 hours
traveling from Malaysia to New Delhi. 
These indeed are the ingredients for bodily harm.  My “pneumonia” (I don’t know what it actually
was) and sinus infection set in the following day.  At my best moment of the race, I was sitting
at 3 AM on the concrete floor of the orphanage we were at, dripping in sweat,
and unable to lay down because I couldn’t get enough breath into my lungs.  I contemplated waking someone up, I was
legitimately scared because I was as out of breath as if I had just run a
marathon, and was on the verge of requesting my first hospital visit.  At that moment, I remembered all the prayers
for “refinement” that had come from my lips during the previous weeks.  I flipped open my journal to January 6^th,
and read one of the resolutions I had written before starting the race:

                “I
resolve that I will learn to rejoice
in suffering, because it is God’s chosen tool to refine my character.”  1 Peter 4:1

                Don’t
worry parents, I know that this rejoicing must be balanced with sanity, and I
promise I wasn’t being masochistic, but as I read that resolution a sense of
peace overcame me.  It sucked, and I
spent the most of the night sitting up and hyperventilating, but slowly over
the next few days my breathing improved. 
Thank you Ciprofloxacin.  In other
news, though my breathing is about 80%, I am now rejoicing in what many racers
have affectionately called Delhi Belly – I will leave such a condition up to
your imagination!

                Despite
facing a little bit of adversity, my spirit is good, and I am SO excited to be
in India (and alive)!  This month I will
be spending most of my time with a team in New Delhi at an orphanage called
Asha Mission.  I will write another blog
about the orphanage, but the kids are UNBELIEVABLY adorable.  Today they went around and wished all of the
female staff a, “Happy Mother’s Day.”  It
broke my heart.   Also, even the eight-year-old kids spend many
hours a day LEADING prayer and bible study. 
It is so awesome to watch!