One of the reasons that I wanted to participate in the World Race was to experience different cultures. I wanted to break out of my sheltered West-Michigan bubble and strive to better understand other people. In my time as a History/Social Studies major in college, I began to understand that we are all situated in time and space and what seems right to us, may not seem right to someone else given their upbringing, cultural norms, and the way they understand the world.
Prior to coming to India, the impression that others had given me was that India was polar opposite of the United States. Yet, as I’m coming to know the people of India, I’m realizing that they too are people with the same innate desires to be known and loved. These things transcend time and culture because they are Godly desires meant to be filled by our Creator—who made us to be in relationship with Him.
Here are a few glimpses of some people I had to privilege of interacting with this month:
- The sales women who pressured us to buy two kurtas when we only really wanted one and gave us our first glimpse of the Indian head bobble (equivalent to nodding). They smiled excitedly and told me I looked nice when they saw us the next day with more of our team wearing the outfit I had purchased.
- The tuk tuk driver who made us get in his tuk tuk to get out of the rain and adamantly insisted we pay his inflated price.
- The leaders of a Nigerian Church that got us up and dancing on a Monday night after we were all just ready to eat and sleep after a long travel day.
- The woman at the homeless shelter who greeted us all with a hug and a smile at least six times each.
- The children we helped tutor after school who called us ‘auntie’ and ‘akka’ (meaning sister), wrote down all our names and birthdays, gave us high fives and hugs every time we left, and all asked for our autographs on our last day.
- The sales woman at the corner store who sold us countless cookies, Thumbs Up (similar to Pepsi), and laundry soap.
- The man at the homeless shelter who babbled on to me in a language I didn’t understand as I just stood and listened.
- The ten and eight year old brothers who already know four to five languages and engaged in conversation with us about running, basketball, Pokemon, and school on their kitchen floor while their mom served us chai.
- The little neighbor boy who followed us from house to house, sat in our laps, and gave us impressive high fives.
- The neighbors of the two brothers that invited us in after they saw us praying over their family. And the warm smile and the hug of the 18-year-old girl who was the only Christian in the household, plans to finish eighth grade this year, and graciously offered us cookies after we prayed over her family.
- Our beautiful hostess who spent most of her days preparing food for us in the kitchen, dressed us in saris, took time to share her story and listen to ours, and opened her home to us.
- The daughter of our hostess who loves to sing and dance to “Despacito,” played with my hair, and calls me “Pages.”
- The orphaned sixteen-year-old girl at an HIV/AIDS clinic who let me teach her a clapping game and smiled as we sang around her, prayed for her, and gave her hugs.
- The young woman who had been living with our host for almost two months and graciously served alongside us, offered to share her wisdom and her chocolate, and listened intently to our stories.
- The pastor who worked along side us, advocated for us when we were told to pull out perfectly good grass, insisted on cleaning his own plate, and serenaded us with beautiful Kannada music at night.
- The woman at the elderly care facility who shared her love for Jesus and the ways she has witnessed to those in her life through writing letters and helping those in need even when she had very little.
- Our host who has worked hard to make sure we stay healthy and safe, cracks jokes with us, and has our best interests, and the interests of his community at heart.
- The man who has sacrificed his time this week to drive us around town to different ministry locations, often just to take a nap in the van, and who is patient with us despite his limited English.
- The man who works with our host, left home to serve with us this month, calls his dog his daughter (who we video chatted with while floating down the river in a tiny boat), and made sure to observe our food being made in the restaurants we went to while traveling so that we wouldn’t get sick.
I can’t believe how fast this first month flew by. Tomorrow night we leave our ministry to start our journey to Nepal where we will hopefully arrive on Tuesday.
Here is a picture from our adventure day on Tuesday:
