Dear friends and family,
I swear I’m still alive, and doing well over here in India. There is so much that has happened since I spoke to you last. This time, here is a giant info dump to fill you in:
- After spending the night at a gracious church’s gym in Atlanta to wait out the storm, Hurricane Irma finally let up enough to allow us to fly out of the country. We hurdled across some time changes and also experienced a wild 12 hr layover. There was A LOT of patience demanded in this first period, and it was such a relief to finally touch down in India, at last.
- Thursday the 14th we reached our first church, and I remember the ride there in sequences similar to a dream. We were passing through a large city, and although I’m familiar with urban life – growing up in the LA area – I marveled at how many people could live in one place. I observed banners of clothes hung out to dry from the skeletons of concrete buildings, a menagerie of livestock wandering the roads, people piled onto the backs of speeding motorcycles. There are ads plastered everywhere in the native tongue, but more often than not they are in English too.
- The first church that hosted us also served as a location for our cultural briefing. In this way we were introduced to India before going out to do ministry, taking a three-day period to review cultural norms, some native phrases, history, and taboos. We also explored the neighborhood, drank a lot of chai, and on one occasion, got slapped by some beggars when trying to go to a pharmacy.
- We have since moved to another city and begun ministry. Our squad of 42 stays together at one church, and each of our 7 teams have been assigned to different ministries during our stay, according to the different needs of the community. My team was assigned Sunday School Development, which means that from 3:00ish – 10:00 we drive out to different village churches and spend time playing with & teaching the kids. There are songs and games involved, along with a Bible story – and I love this work with my whole heart. At the end of the night, we have dinner with the church’s pastor and pray over different people in the village. We have a wide age range, with a variety of kids 10 years and younger, and a few older ones that shyly sneak into the services. It’s one of the most wonderful things I’ve had the privilege of being involved in. Some churches have 50 kids that show up, while others have had numbers closer to 20, but being welcomed into these people’s lives as guests and teachers and mentors has been so incredible. My team of six, plus our awesome Indian translator, visit a different village each night, which is one of the harder things for me. I love the kids we visit and it’s difficult for me to let them go, knowing that I won’t get to see them again. But at the same time, if I never went on to the next village, I would never meet the new faces waiting for me, and each community has been unique and unforgettable in its own way.
Here’s an excerpt from a reflection I wrote after one of these ministry nights:
09.22.17
“I always want to cry coming back from ministry because this is my life
Because I get to be welcomed into villages and tell the love of this God who breathed life into dust, dust like the grit that flies into my eyes as we ride across the country
Country green and lush and sometimes clogged with plastic, often clogged with plastic.
I’m fascinated by
The swaying gait of water buffaloes, ribs too prominent on some of the livestock
I send a prayer on the wind for their bones their hearts their hooves
And for the careful gaze of the dark eyes that watch over them
…
Tonight the village children were so clingy and some little hand was always grabbing mine, little faces were always eagerly watching my every move. They called out to me, “Sister, Sister!” and giggled when I smiled at them. I loved their energy their enthusiasm their joy; I had children draped across me almost every minute, asking for hugs or holding hands or sitting in my lap or pointing across the circle to show me brothers and sisters”
Some closing thoughts:
We’ve been blessed with a spacious host church with fascinating architecture. Since we spend a good deal of time within the compound, this building’s quirks are something I appreciate. I love this one archway in particular, a white stone doorway opening up into a balcony. Rows and rows of young trees bend and sway in response to every wind whisper. A plastic chair waits for me on that balcony, and I could probably spend hours seated there. It’s already become a go-to retreat for meetings, pensive conversations with others, and conversations with God.
The staff at our host church are absolutely incredible, as are our ministry hosts and my team’s translator. I’ve drawn portraits of a few of them and the happiness that I’ve been able to pass on to them through my art makes my heart warm. We play volleyball together sometimes, and they are really good. Other times we just talk about life and culture differences, or they teach me their language and I help them improve with English. All in all I’m grateful for every one of them, and their generosity; thankful for their kindness to us and dedication to their work.
A stray dog sleeps on the first stair landing, tucked into the corner, seemingly without a care in the world. The scratches and wounds that dot his fur testify his struggle, and his pointy ribs are further evidence of a hard life. Whenever he trots down the hall, it is also obvious that he has a hip injury. One of the first times I saw him, two of my teammates were sitting on the stairs a foot away, softly crying. I sat down between them and hugged them gently. Shed a few tears myself. The suffering of another living creature is difficult to bear witness to. But looking at that little dog, I quietly prayed thanks that he looked so peaceful taking a snooze on the floor of our church. Here he was relaxed and safe. It reminded me of some verses in the book of Matthew that talk about how carefully God looks after the sparrows and arranges the lilies. He is attentive to his creation and loves even the littlest of creatures.
Sure, there are bugs everywhere, and directly after taking a shower you’re already sweating buckets again, but we have so much to be thankful for over here. I was sick for a second (just a cough cold kinda thing) and am already over it, so thank God for that! We’re also eating a lot of rice, curry, and chapatti, and have access to clean water we don’t have to filter ourselves. We have about two weeks left here before Nepal, and I already know I will miss India incredibly- and leave a part of my heart behind.
Much love to you all. I am happy and healthy and this blog is still just skimming some of the wonderful things going on over here. We only have wifi select days, but I look forward to writing up more blogs to share with you all soon.
- Please continue to pray for the health of our team. We have to be extra careful staying hydrated since we sweat so much, and in the past week a few of us have been sick. Health seems to be back though, and hopefully it stays that way.
- I would love to do a Q&A blog post soon, so if you have any questions for me, feel free to ask in the comments below. 🙂
