I don’t need diamonds or pearls. I’ve got GEMS!

Things are going full steam ahead here in India. It’s been a long journey to get to India. We had to take a rocky 2 hour ferry from Zanzibar, fly from Dar es Salaam (saw rapper Ludacris at the airport) to Addis Ababba, Ethiopia, and then from ADD to Delhi. The main mode to get long distances in India is by train. We heard trains were a little on the sketchy side, but it was our only choice. We were split up in two different cars. Dex was in the train car ahead of us because we didn’t want to have one of our girls alone in one cabin. Myself, Keryn, Moto Moto, and Sarah were all in the same car. You would think by month 11 we’d be used to people staring at us, but the way people stare here in India is a world of it’s own. Keryn and I shared a bunk row and I was top bunk and she was bottom bunk. The other two were bunked in different rows. I didn’t bode well with the staring, especially when all the men would stare at my girls. 

There was one fella that kept bothering moto moto by staring at her really awkwardly and talking in Hindi. I could see it all go down from where I was laying, and finally I couldn’t stand it anymore so I went an switched with her so she could sleep peacefully. So she went to sleep above Keryn and the dude never looked that way again. The train ride was overnight and took like 16 hours or something like that. The morning we woke up I went back to my bunk and Keryn had just woken up. I wish y’all could’ve seen the look on her face when she asked me “Where did you sleep?” Well I slept over there. “Well who’s sleeping above me?!?!?!” Haha…don’t worry Keryn, Fuji is up there. Then this one dude kept staring at Keryn in the morning. I knew we only had like 20 minutes left on the train so I decided to have a little fun with him. I went and sat directly across and stared blankly at him for the rest of the ride. I’d occasionally make stupid faces, but most of the time it was more of the “I’m watching you like a hawk, buddy.” Then as we got off at our stop, another guy that was sitting next to us came up to me and said, “sir, why were you staring at that man the whole time.” I just said, “I don’t know.” And then we were off to our ministry site. Trains are crazy here in India. I can’t say I’m a big fan of traveling by train. I’ve done it once and I’m happy to have had the experience. Praise the Lord we were able to find a different way back to Delhi at the end of the month.

 

 

Bunk Buddy!

 

 Crammed train.

 

We were greeted by a hot breakfast, western toilets, a beautifully temperatured shower, and our OWN beds! The guys room has three single beds, so I’ve combined my bed and the spare bed together to make……..MEGABED! I can sprawl and stretch without caution and without having to worry about waking up Dex (We had to sleep in the same bed all last month).

GEMS (Gospel Echoing Missionary Society) is a huge 23 acre campus with so many ministry opportunities. It reminds me a lot like KIM in The Philippines. There’s so much to do and our contact just wants us to do whatever we feel the Lord calls us to do. Our main contact, Brother Rajesh, or shall I say Dr. Rajesh, is extraordinary in helping us get whatever we need. Anything we want, it’s just a phone call away. Tailored suits? Custom made Saris? Extra keyboard when your laptop one doesn’t work? He’s got the hook-up for everything. I’m half tempted to ask him if he can get me World Cup tickets. We also have great helpers named Philip, Peter, Kingston, Marush, and Selva-just to name a few. Selva is our main helper when Rajesh isn’t around. That dude cracks me up. We were painting one day and we needed some lights so we could see. He was setting up the light bulb near me and he tells me (imagine all of this said with a super heavy Indian accent) “Don’t touch!” Why not? “Because, you touch, you get your passport and visa and go straight to heaven!” He’s not the biggest Indian I’ve seen, but he’ll mess with us by trying to scare us and he’ll even try and play fight with me and Dex.

Our main ministry this month is just helping out where we can. The schools need classrooms painted so we are painting murals of Bible stories. Luckily, we have a fantastic artist by the name of Keryn that has led us into creating such wonderful masterpieces. We’ll be painting murals at the hospital as well.

Since there is so much to do, we all have different schedules.

Here’s a peak at what a day in my schedule looks like:

8:30am-Breakfast

9:30am-11am-Break/Painting at the hospital.

11am-12:45pm-Teach PE classes at high school

1:00pm-1:45: Lunch

2:00pm-3:00pm: PROFIT (Organization for Professionals) case study writing

3:00pm-6:00pm: Out in the field playing game with the kids. Soccer, volleyball, badminton, tag, etc. Otherwise if it’s raining (which it does ALL the time) then we help paint.

6:00pm-8:30pm: Clean up, internet, sometimes play badminton or volleyball with the older guys, relax.

8:30pm: Dinner and tea!

9:15-?: Wind down-read, journal, worship, prayer, watch Planet Earth, Swamp People, or a movie with Dex, BED.

Sometimes we’ll have little side projects, but the schedule is pretty standard.

My favorite part is playing with all the little Indian kids!! You get treated like a celebrity and they all want you on their team. When you walk by they’ll wave and say hello. They don’t stare and call you “Mzungu” as they did in Africa. Even though GEMS students are mostly Christian, some come from Hindu background. Rajesh says it’s important to interact with the children and to share the reason why we are here. We get to show them Christ’s love while kicking a ball around a field. Loves it.

All in all it’s a great place to be to end The World Race. I couldn’t ask for a better blessing.

 

 

 

 

Traffic in India is nutzo. I’ll take 5:30pm on 494/35W anyday over this.