This month I have learned so many things about myself, my team and India in general. India is such a wonderful country and so very different than many other parts of the world. I decided to share a little bit of what I learned since being here.
1) Arranged marriage is a thing.
Almost everyone we met were brought together by their families. There were only a few that were actually together because they fell in love beforehand. There is no such thing as “dating” here. Most get married within months of meeting each other. The man on the plane next to me coming into India hadn’t even met his fiancé in person yet and was getting married to her in the month that he would be home.
2) Ankles are scandalous, but midriff is not.
In india, woman are not allowed to show their ankles. They have outfits called a kurta and a sari that women wear on a daily basis. When wearing a kurta, it goes to about knee and elbow length and you wear leggings or baggy pants down to your ankles. Sarees on the other hand, is a crop top with a fabric dropped over and another piece of fabric for the bottom, as a skirt. This is where showing your midriff is okay. Their culture was fascinating and I loved seeing all the different colors, designs and confidence these women possessed.
3) Saying NO to more food is nearly impossible.
Boy do they like to eat here! Especially when you are in villages and someone welcomes you in to their home for a meal. In order to show that you like their cooking or are grateful for their blessing, you eat more. And more. And more. The woman of the house is constantly standing over you trying to offer you more rice, curry, and of course chapati. Sometimes the trick with covering your plate with a hand stops them or saying “small small.” However, there were many times where the women were smarter than that and put two more chapati and scoops of rice. There were many days where I thought I would have to be rolled back to a pastors home.
4) Even if you are visiting someone else home, there is always time to squeeze in a nap.
So, after we have eaten what is felt like 500lbs of food, we either head back to the pastors home/church we were staying in or we would have to go to another local village families home to have tea, biscuits, and bananas. After consuming all this food, I feel like I do on thanksgiving and all I want to do is take a nap. With the help from our translator and new friend, Mounibab (who also loves nap time) she did the unthinkable. She called the woman of the house over, ordered another bed to be moved into the house and told us to split into pairs of two and it was now nap time. IN SOMEONES ELSE HOUSE. I couldn’t believe it. And if you are thinking surely this was a one time only thing, nope. I took naps in multiple strangers homes this past month. They seemed happy to provide.
5) Recipes can be used as songs.
In one of the villages, the children had drained us of all our songs. Jokingly we told our teammate Bri to sing about her favorite recipe. It was a hit! The kids had no idea and all of us ended up joining in. I also now know how to make a sopapilla cheesecake now.
6) Because of the color of my skin, locals think my prayers for them mean more than theirs.
Aside from all the other somewhat funny other things I learned this month in india, this one hit me hard. Since coming on the race, the fact that I was american and a white one at that drew some attention everywhere we went. This I was used to. What I hadn’t, and still haven’t gotten used to is the fact that many of these locals didn’t believe that their prayers to God mattered. We prayed for countless families and we were happy to do so, but they made it seem like we had this super power. It was intimidating and also disheartening. I felt distraught and angry that they couldn’t believe that no matter who prays to our Father, that their prayers can be answered. Because we found this in all the villages we went to, I started to pray for their eyes to be opened. I also started to pray that He would heal them or fix the situation they were in in His time. He was going to do it anyways, but I wanted these people to know that these miracles were coming from GOD and we had nothing to do with them.
7) Always be prepared to name a baby.
We knew this going in. We had been warned by other World Racers and by our local ministry hosts; however I did not take it so seriously. We were walking around the villages praying for people when we stopped in a home for lunch. Shortly after we prayed for the family, they handed us a baby and asked us to name him. We were shocked and unprepared. We all had a look in our eyes that read, “Oh no, I didn’t think this would happen to us.” Side note about India, many parents don’t name their baby until they are three years old. Until then they have little nicknames for them. So my team prayed and we felt let to call the baby Peter. It wouldn’t be for another year and a half he would be named this. The best part about this story, was a few teammates of mine ended up back at that house the next day and asks them to pray for a new name because “Peter’s” grandfather had the same name and they didn’t want that.
8) My team is full of rockstars.
I couldn’t end this blog without mentioning my team. One thing I learned this month about them is I couldn’t be more proud of how far we had grown. Many don’t know, or do, that in the beginning just four months ago, we were not so excited to be on a team together. We knew God had a plan for us all but we had no idea what that was. We were asking questions like why would he put six girls together who barely had a conversation before this together. We knew it was going to be hard and we would have to actually put some work into working together as a team and walking through life together. We exceeded all our own expectations. The team I see today has fulfilled our team name “OnePulse.” We have grown to love each other and enjoy each others company. We build each other up and are constantly speaking life into each other. We have a passion to help each other and aren’t afraid to give some tough feedback. We aren’t perfect and I am not saying we all magically became best friends, but I know I can count on these five girls wherever I am in life. They are supportive and loving. I would not be the same person I am today, or wouldn’t have been able to change as much as I have without these women. I am so beyond grateful for them.
Logistics for next month: Cambodia
> We had two amazingly wonderful squad leaders these past four months who have done the race already and have been guiding us in all the right directions. Unfortunately they are only on the race with us for the first five months. In just a few days, 2-3 squad members of mine will be raised us to take over their position. This month they will be going through training and at the end of month five our previous leaders will head back home and these new leaders will take over.
> Because 2-3 members will be raised up, there will also be a chance for new team leaders and treasurers to be raised up for each team. There will also be training for them.
> Lastly, that team I just spoke so highly about will sadly no longer be my team. Because of all the other changes, we need to move around the teams. This is something that all of us knew since the beginning but most didn’t want to acknowledge until…well now. Things are about to get real!
Many things are about to change and in a strange way, I am excited about it. My life has always been change. Change of home. Change of environment. Change in walk of life. I crave it. I grow most in it. In just a few days, my “Race” is going to be flipped upside down in the best kind of way. I have had many conversations with God and he has given me so much peace about it. My team took work but we are now an example to others. God has a plan for all of us and how can I not trust that He is going to be just as wonderful with my next team as He was with my team now?
“Not that I have already attained, or perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”
-Philippians 3:12
Prayer requests:
Debrief in Cambodia where all these changes are going to happen
All that God has done thus far and what He has planned for the future
Andrea, her father committed suicide and I pray that her family draws closer to God in this time.
Michelle, I pray that you kick cancers butt! You are an amazing woman and I can’t thank you enough for the amount of support you have given me on the race. I pray God gives you peace and healing during this time.
Also, send an extra prayer up for my squad and our families during Christmas time. This is the first christmas for me, and almost all of my squad, away from my family.
