Imagine this! You are sitting on a bus with several Indian people. You are most definitely the only “white” people in the area, maybe even the first that these people have ever seen in person. All eyes are on you (but of course when on the Race this is something you get used to after awhile). You try to carry a conversation over the loud honking of the bus horn literally every 15 seconds but eventually give up and begin to look out the window. You are headed into the middle of nowhere India, and the scenery outside shows it. The cities are getting smaller and smaller as miles pass and pretty soon all you can see is rice and salt fields to your left and right and the occasional herd of Water Buffalo in the middle of the road. You can tell you are far from civilization due to many aspects. The air has become fresher, the landscape is greener, and villages begin to get poorer and further apart. You have no idea what to expect as you travel onward for hours. All that you have been told is that you are traveling to villages where the poorest of the poor live and India Christian Ministries has set up centers that educate and give the children of the people in the lowest caste in India an opportunity to do something with their life. No matter how many details of these remote village are given to you nothing can really prepare you for what you are about to see.
As you get off the bus and begin to walk down the road it begins to get smaller and smaller until you are on a small dirt path surrounded by beautiful scenery of trees and untouched vegetation. After a long while of walking the brush clears and there it is: the village! This is crazy! You have merely dreamed of this day of walking into a village full of people where no Americans had ever been before. The living conditions around you are something like you would see in movies or National Geographic Magazines. This village is made up of small huts, wagons and carriages, and hard working people. “So this is what Jesus meant when He said ‘go to the ends of the earth’!” you think as you try to take it all in. As you walk along, the people stop what they are doing to stare at you. Their eyes are wide as they look upon your light skin.
Finally, you reach a small building and you can hear a commotion inside. You take off your shoes and duck your head to enter the small doorways. After a few moments, your eyes adjust to the dark room and there before you are some of the most beautiful smiling children you have ever seen! They are dressed in their “nicest” clothing for they heard the Americans where coming. Their eyes are huge and round as they look at you in amazement and they hang on every word you say. You sing songs with them, tell them bible stories, (all with the help of your translator of course) give them candy, and play games with them outside. You go from village to village and finally you come to a small hut and a lady invites you inside. She signals for you to sit on a mat placed on the floor. As you sit she begins to shovel a mountain of rice into your plate and then tops it with the spiciest chicken curry you have ever encountered in your life. You try not to think about the fact that the chicken you are eating was probably running around with his friends outside just a couple of hours earlier and the fact that your mouth is on fire. You gratefully give your thanks as sweat drips from every pore on your body and you’re sinuses drain as you eat every bite…not with a fork or spoon but with your hand, your right hand to be exact! With a belly full of rice, you step out of the hut to find yourself greeted by many villagers that have lined up for prayer. First a small baby, only 15 days old, whose beautiful face is covered in makeup. The mother hands her over to you and asks that you bless her baby. Next, two old women with migraines are healed right in front of you as you lay hands on them to pray, then a blind and mute child is brought to you, then a wounded man, then a woman whose skin has turned gold and scaley due to the fact that she went to a witch doctor and the “medicine” she took ruined her skin. Then a woman whom the villagers say is full of evil spirits…and the list goes on and on and on! You now know a little bit how Jesus felt as He went from village to village healing and pouring Himself out to each place He came across!
You end the day climbing back onto a bus and spending your trip back talking to your translator, an Indian man named Abraham. Abraham tells you story after story of crazy things he had seen god do in his time in the ministry. He had been diligently going out to these villages daily for the past twenty years and had brought many to Christ and planted hundreds of churches. His faithfulness blows you away as he tells of the hardships he and his family have been through in order to preach the gospel all over India.
When you finally arrive in the city that you are staying in you get off the bus exhausted yet disappointed that the day has come to an end. Today was by far your favorite day on the Race. God has given you a heart for His people, the beautiful people of India!
On the way to the villages in public transportation: from left to right – Abby, Susannah, and I
The chaos of the Indian Bus Station!!!!!!!
Praying for healing over the village woman telling them that Jesus will heal them
I had this baby (only 15 days old) placed in my hands to pray a blessing over her
Praying for healing over a village mans wounded foot
Children of the poorest of the poor villages in India…such beautiful children!!!!
My personal favorite picture: Big brother trying to get his little bro to smile for the Americans! haha
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Quick financial update: I am 82% funded!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for all that have supported me! I’m so excited as i get closer and closer to being fully funded! Initially, now I need a little less than $3,000 by December to be able to stay the complete 11 months! God is moving and I love being his hands and feet in these places he has called me to! Thank you to all of you who have already invested in and have made this mission possible. If you feel led to give click on the SUPPORT ME TAB on the left side of my blog screen! Thank you and much love from India!!!!!
