The blessing of being a part of what God is doing in India was alive in my heart this week. My team was a part of so many unbelievably special moments with the people of India.
On Saturday, we got to go to a waterpark and take 12 boys from the homes with us. To put into the words how jubilant this day was is not possible. The amount of smiles and laughter that came from splashing around in waterpark with hundreds of other kids is absolutely incomparable to anything I have ever experienced.
3 kids with Cerebral Palsy were able to lay in the water and feel the splashing of the waves in the pool against their skin. 1 boy with autism walked to and from the deep end of the pool checking on all of his brothers. Several of the boys who were developing normally got to run and jump and play in an environment they usually don’t have access to.
Most of the time, I was on an adventure with this boy. Joyful and awnry, sassy but kind and sweet, he kept me on my toes as we ran around the whole park together. He and I climbed two water slide towers, getting turned away both times because he was two small. We finally found a slide he could go on, but we had to wait for an inter-tube. A crowd of older boys were huddled around the small pool, harassing those who just went down the slide to give them their tube so they could take a turn.
After about 10 minutes I could tell it was going to be a long time before someone gave us their inter-tube. I looked at the little boy clutching my hand next to me and saw the concern on his face as he realized his dream for going down the slide might be slipping away. For some reason, that gave me some supernatural strength and a fearlessness to gain some ground against those older, rowdy boys. It didn’t take long for them to realize I meant business. It wasn’t 2 minutes later they stepped out of the way to let me take a tube from two people who had just gone down the slide. I guess I had made my presence known, because even though some of them passes us walking up the tower, they still allowed us to go first when we got to the top. The smile and laughter all the way down the slide made my heart sing. I snapshotted that memory in my mind and sang my praises to the Lord for giving us that moment and this day together. I won’t ever forget it.
Earlier this week we decorated for a Valentines Party for the Ayahs. We had two parties each day so that every Ayah was able to attend at least one time. Ayah means caretaker and in the children’s homes, the Ayahs are the ones who change the diapers, feed and clothe the kids and are a constant, reliable person in the lives of the children day to day. We wanted to honor the Ayah’s along with the cooks, teachers, and nurses in the homes by throwing them a Valentines Party! Valentines Day is not celebrated in India, but we decided this particular party would be a way to represent the love and appreciation we have for the work they are doing and expression of God’s love pouring out for them.
We had a photo shoot as the each personal arrived to the party to give them a memory of the day. We also made Valentines day cards for each person and to the best of our limited ability, we wrote the cards in Telegu. We brought out paper, markers, and crayons so they could make their own card for a friend or family member. We also painted their nails. Some of us were lucky enough to get to have them paint our nails too!
When we had a break for chai and biscuits, each person was asked to tell us about their life, their family, their home, what they are celebrating and what they want prayer for. From what we know of the culture, many of them come from villages where life is very conservative and many of them have never been asked to share their life story. It was awesome and so encouraging to hear them praise the Lord for both the joyful moments and the heart breaks in their lives. For those who were not believers, it was equally awesome to see the Lord reveal himself through their peers.
Towards the end of the party, we asked them to teach us Indian dance to Telugu songs and sometimes we were successful in getting them to perform for us! Sometimes they asked us to dance for them. I was so proud of my team for getting up to try an Indian dance they weren’t really sure how to follow or do the Cha Cha Slide or Cupid Shuffle to bring some fun American culture to the party.
Needless to say, the Valentine’s Day parties were a hit. We hope and prayed for each person to walk away with a deeper knowledge of the love Christ has for them and a knowing of how grateful we are for their choice to serve the children in the homes so well!
Honestly, this was a week of pure worship. I woke up every morning slightly concerned I might not have enough energy to get through the day. And then the Lord would asked me, “you may not have enough energy, but do you have enough faith?” He knew I did, and he continued to surprise me with new blessings every day. You are a good, good father, Papa. I can’t say thank you enough for calling me here to such a time and place as this.
