This blog post is a long time coming! It’s been too long since I posted one so here I am. Since my last post I’ve had a team change and traveled into India. Here in India we don’t have WiFi more than once a week but I’ve been so busy with getting adjusted that I never notice. I’ll give you a quick overview of what life looks like here!
Ministry: For the last three days my squad has been running a free medical camp! We get stationed throughout the clinic and usher patients through the hospital. Through walkie-talkie communication (complete with code names) we move patients from one station to another and get their various ailments seen to! Cervical exams, eyeglasses, and random maladies are all free for these patients. Just today we saw over 1,000 patients! The day before was 860 and before that our number was 600! In just three days this hospital reached over 2,500 people. Later on we’ll be helping build a new church and run a VBS.
Culture:
Imphal (Northeast India) is much less traditionally Indian than what you might think. The people look very different, they dress slightly less conservatively and the food is a little different from the south. Overall people are friendly! They smile and ask for our photos. Women wear their babies on their backs with a scarf tied to keep the baby on. Everybody speaks the Mar dialect and all the children can get by in English thanks to the ministry’s awesome school system! The Mar tribe is 100% evangelized to thanks to an English missionary in the late 1800s, but they’re not 100% Christian.
Day to Day Life:
I wake up at 6AM, take an hour with the Lord and then walk up the road to the bungalow. I always dress so my knees and shoulders are covered since culturally that’s appropriate. There we have this beautiful pavilion on a lake and a tent where we sit and eat our meals. Chai tea is always ready for us at breakfast! After that I walk down for ministry by 9AM and stay there till 4PM. For the hour between ministry and dinner I read or listen to music. Sometimes I just hang out with my squad mates! 5:30PM means a dinner of rice and either curry or curry. During dinner I love to refill through hanging out with my squad or reading! Recently I’ve found that the Lord shows me a lot through secular literature and music. For instance, the song “Only Us” from the musical “Dear Evan Hansen” really describes my current season with the Lord!
Prayer Requests:
My parents arrive in 10 days so please pray for safe travels! My squad got sick with colds when we first arrived so continued prayer for health. Thank you all so much for the support! The Lord is doing great things this month. Pray they continue with strength!
