Its the World Raaaaaaaace!!!
Some days on our trip nothing eventful or exciting happens. We have boring days over here believe it or not. However, somedays are crazy exciting full of different smells, noises, people, etc! We have this saying… “it’s the world raaaaace!”, when something crazy happens, or anything happens that we expected to happen. Like eating with our right hand, no utensils in india…pooping in a field, sleeping in a sheep pen in your tent, pooping in a squatty, while sick, where the whole contact’s family can hear you. haha. Riding elephants, seeing people come to Christ, roughing it by staying in our tents, getting scabies, having termites, picking ticks off your teammates ….”leg”…, picking out lice for one another, showering every 4 days… Or preaching or telling a testimony at a moments notice.
Today was one of those days that was a crazy world race day! It was simple and yet exciting at the same time! We had new believers come to the church to be baptized, it’s Saturday by the way. Drew, Casey, and Chelsea shared what it means to be baptized. They shared the beauty of the symbolism of dying to your old self and rising up the new. That it symbolizes our sweet Savior dying and on the 3rd day being resurrected from the dead. It tells the world that you are now His. Your identity is found in Him!
This was really beautiful because in India, being baptized is a big deal. You can tell who is really sold out for Jesus, if they are baptized or not. Also, if they are they may pay a price, esp if they are from a higher caste. So, we walked down to a granite quarry to baptize them. It was beautiful… but the water was stagnant with animal and human poop. That didn’t stop the boys!!! I was so proud of them! They just moved the poop out the way and the people started going one by one to be baptized. They would sing praises during the baptisms and when the people came up out of the water everyone would clap and raise their hands! It was beautiful!!! Last minute surprise was the pastor’s daughter who is 12 and nephew who is 14 yrs old decided to get baptized! This is a big deal, because normally they don’t get baptized until they are adults! We were so excited! Rebecca and Naveen have become like a little sister and brother to us! We love their joy and servants hearts!
On the walk back there was a huuuuuuge herd of water buffalo blocking the road! A car and a tuk tuk had to wait until they got off the road to pass them. There are water buffalo everywhere in India! In fact, we have a game where we see how many we can tag while on foot or driving. It is so fun! (I know… we are in a different world!) The people herding them gave us their sticks and taught us how to herd them! And then of course we tagged a cagillion! I got like 20 points that day! hahaha! Drew even tagged a wild bore with his foot while riding on the outside of a tuk tuk! He got extra points for that!
So, at the end of the day we looked back and said, this day was amazing! Baptized around 8 people in a quarry with human poop and herded like 200 water buffalo! No big deal! …Well… it’s the world raaaace!!!!
