India was the country I least wanted to come to. It was the country that made my insides squirm with discomfort the most, thinking about the food and the trash and the stray dogs. My cousin moved to India a few years ago after she fell in love with the people (and culture, and food) and I watched her life from thousands of miles away thinking, “thank God that isn’t me!”
Isn’t the Lord funny sometimes? I have found in my life that God takes my never statements and flips them upside down, usually asking me to do exactly what I promised I would never do.
“I’ll never work with teenage girls.”
“I’ll never be an international missionary.”
“I’ll never go to a country like India, and I most definitely will not fall in love with it!”
From college up until I left for the WR, my job and ministry revolved around teenage girls. I am currently on the World Race. International? Check. Missions? Check. Right this minute, I am in India, and I’m falling head over heels.
India…man. Every day I find myself softening. I am falling in love with the people, understanding the culture a little more, and trying really hard to enojoy the melt-your-face-off-spicy food. There are lots of sweet women and girls who live in the houses on the way to our ministry. Saying good morning to them is one of the many bright spots of my day. Observing the way people decorate their houses with flowers and meticulously sweep off their driveway makes my heart smile. Playing with the kids in each of the houses breaks my heart and makes it soar in equal measure.
Every day is an adventure, and every food you put in your mouth takes you by surprise. You honestly never know what something is going to taste like, even if it is an American product like Coca Cola. Oreos and peanut butter are easy to find and we default to those when the biryani and curry are too spicy to handle. I am trying really hard (and being from Texas, I handle spice pretty well) but my eyes tear and my nose runs every time I eat a traditional Indian meal.
Once, I ate a pepper [accidentally] that was so hot it made my ears burn.
People are kind here. Men stop and offer to help you carry your groceries or lift a stroller over a tall curb. Granted, sometimes they expect you to pay them, but still! People are curious about the 7 white girls wandering around their neighborhood and stop us to ask questions and take pictures. The man at the corner store smiles and rattles off words in the local language every time we come in. We have no idea what he’s saying, but we know he’s thrilled to see us, even if only because we spend most of our money there.
The children at each of our homes run/scoot/crawl to meet us at the door and squeal with delight or run around telling everyone that the “sisters are here!” Everyone calls me sister here. I think it’s a term of endearment! The ayahs (women who care for the children) chatter in their language and smile at us. Sometimes they offer hugs, knowing we love them, even if they don’t! The foster parents are always a sight for sore eyes for us- it’s incredibly strange being the only Westerners around.
Being in India Month One is equal parts exhausting and exhilarating. Every day brings something new. Sometimes we get to experience Indian birthday celebrations, where they feed each other cake and smear frosting all over each other’s faces.
(I have a picture of Maddie and I with cake all over our faces but I can’t find it…we have a zillion pictures from this month. When I locate it, I will put it in this blog!)
Sometimes we take 25 kids to the zoo and accidentally break every single rule while there. (No strollers/bags/water bottles/outside food, follow the path, no off-roading, etc.) Sometimes you tote an entire house of kids, ayahs, and foster parents to a park down the road and do an impromptu family photo shoot. Sometimes ministry looks like singing gospel songs and jumping on the trampoline, and sometimes it looks like reading bible stories and coloring rainbows.
Every day here has presented something new and challenging. Every day, God has produced fruit and love in my heart. Every day I have fallen just a little bit more in love with a country I was dead set on disliking. God is good, and he does crazy things, even when we don’t cooperate.
I am starting to see the world how God does: full of people who need his truth and need to be loved. I am starting to see the people how God sees them: beautiful, broken, and forgiven.
This month, God is making both our muscles (carrying kids up and down 4 flights of stairs is no easy task) and our hearts strong. Saying goodbye in just a week is going to be so hard. But we know that in all things, God works the good for those who love him.
India-I didn’t want to, but I absolutely love you.
