We got to spend our day of rest at the Indian Ocean! We brought the whole family with us as 17 of us crammed into an 8-passenger vehicle (can I let you know how much I am going to have a hard time wearing a seatbelt and riding in a seat with only one person per seat when we return?). We rode for about an hour and a half sitting on top of laps singing songs and trying not to bonk heads or fall out the back of the vehicle until we reached the beach. It definitely looked like India, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. There was garbage all over the beach, men swimming in their underwear, the waves were brown and of course we were continued to be stared at and asked to take pictures with them.
It was so much fun being able to bless the family and being blessed by them. It was the pastor’s first time to the ocean in over 20 years. The joy that he expressed was contagious! He was running around like a child, jumping in the waves, rubbing sand all over his body and head—exfoliating his skin. He was such a joy to be around. The pastor also asked if I loved this beach, and asked if it was a beautiful and clean beach. Pastor, I love it here.
Some events that happened at the beach, I got stung by a jellyfish (I am OK Mama, it stung for a little bit but it went away and no one peed on me), saw some beautiful sea shells, played with a hermit crab, touched a dead jellyfish, saw one of the brightest red crabs walking across the beach, spent some wonderful time with the team and spent some extraordinary quality time with one of the pastor’s daughters. It was wonderful being able to get some one-on-one time with her and just bless each other.
One of the fun things about being on the Race is realizing that you are always in ministry. After the beach, we went to one of the pastor’s friend’s house and were served a late lunch. He wanted us to sing songs, do a skit, preach and pray for the villagers. We told him that because it was our designated rest day, that we would sing a song and pray for the family. We are planning on coming back to the village later this week so that we can pour out into them on one of our ministry days because we really need to respect our rest if we want to pour out all that we can. We do not want to be exhausted all the time and be worn down, especially in our first month of the Race.
Later when we returned to our haven, we got to watch Rock-A-Doodle. It was a wonderful day.
Prayers: This is our last week in India (next stop: Kathmandu, Nepal!), pray for encouragement and strength to continue fighting the good fight, to enjoy the moments where God has us, for health. A lot of my team has gotten sick and a lot of other sickness is affecting a lot of our squad. Praise that I have not gotten sick.
