It's dark. We don't know where we are going or what we are going to do when we get there. We are being led by our translator. We are surrounded by children who cling to us. They are dressed in rainbow colors, they are clothed in finery, rags, and emblems of idols.
Trikes and cows pass us as we walk into a night filled with dust and stars. We are bought to a lit porch where an old man stares at a tv. Our translator says "encourage him". We flip frantically through our Bibles praying God will give us something meaningful and possibly life changing. Someone reads a Psalm. We gather around him and pray. Then we walk into the night again.
Our translator walks us to a square between homes. Neighbors bring out chairs and Sprites. We sit and the translator demands that the children sing, and they do – an exuberent, lengthy, shrill, meandering song with dance and hand motions (which I mimic). The song ends in a "Hallellujah!" Which I yell too. Then the translator turns to us; "now you sing". We look at each other uncertainly and sing two songs from our time of worship, "I love You Lord" and "I exalt Thee".
My favorite line in "I exalt Thee" is "You are exalted high above all gods". This is a land of many gods, to say that One is above all others is not a small thing. Then one of my teammates talked about Jesus. We then prayed for the sick, the discouraged, children and babies. The people we've met here in India love prayer. So when I pray a blessing I ask God for the presence of Jesus and the knowledge of Jesus.
We go back to the church we've been staying at this week. We eat rice, curried potatoes, and curried lentils. I wash the dust off myself with water out of a tiny tupperwear container with a baby wipe. I am asleep on my airmat by 9pm. I wake with the sun.
Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:12
