I’ve been in India for 10 days now. Today is my first day off of ministry since arriving in Ongole and I am currently sitting in a coffee shop, mooching off the wifi because there isn’t any back at the ICM (India Christian Ministry) headquarters where we are staying for the month. Getting to India was such a long process that it made arriving so much sweeter!! We had a flight booked at 7:30pm last Monday, but due to hurricane Irma the flight got canceled and we ended up having to stay at a local church in Atlanta who graciously opened up their doors for us. The next afternoon we drove to the airport, loaded with our million pound packs. We had gotten a new flight faster than we expected! 13 hours to Qatar. 4 hour layover. 4 hours to Mumbai. 12 hour layover. 2 hours to Hyderabad. I felt like I was never going to leave a airplane or airport. Then we had an hour long bumpy bus ride through loud and crazy Indian streets to where we were staying for orientation, which I managed to sleep through because I was just. That. Tired. But here I finally am, surrounded by beautiful new friendships, a new culture, language, and country to explore, and so many unreached people to share God’s love with (literally 1.8 billion just in India). Somehow this alone is enough to make long travel days, upset stomachs from spicy curry, no service or wifi, and sleeping on the ground so worth it.
For ministry, my team and I have been doing “Community Development.” This means visiting different local villages and planting fruit trees, teaching them about sanitation, sharing testimonies and stories from the bible, and then going on prayer walks through the streets. We also have a very spontaneous ministry host who brings us to the beach on a whim to play with children. 🙂 The first time we went he didn’t tell us ahead of time, and when the ocean came into view we all had the best freak out moment!
Life here is so drastically different. Culture shock is a REAL thing. I can’t say that I’m used to the heaping piles of trash everywhere, or the numerous stray and starving dogs roaming the streets yet. It breaks my heart. But so many things about this country also touches me heart. The hospitality that I have received at each village we visit is so sweet and so pure. The first day we went to the beach we came back wet and covered in sand, and the uncomfortable thought of having to stay in those clothes all night was on all of our minds. But to our surprise they brought us into their homes, gave us fresh water to rinse off and new clothes to wear. They fed us a hot and delicious meal. Then to top it off, they put real flower wreathes in our hair! The greatest thing of it all is happy they are to serve foreign strangers.
Here I am across the world from my own home with the intent of teaching people about the love of Christ, but having received this kind of love from the people here in India, I realized so many more ways that I can willingly love and serve. This is such a good lesson in humility and an example of how you can always learn from others even when you didn’t expect to. I can’t wait for the many more things I will learn from this culture, and for all the ways I can apply it in my life and the way I relate with those around me. India has definitely been an adventure, and it’s only just begun. <3
