India is a place of such unique lifestyle and traditions, particularly in relationship to animals. You have to be on your toes for sure! This week my team leader was reading the Bible up on the rooftop of our building when she found herself face to face with a baby monkey and an angry mama. She first decided to stay calm and not move a muscle until they started batting at her and she found herself running for her life while they chased her down the stairs. Thankfully she was physically unharmed but quite shaken up as you can imagine!
This monkey fight broke out in the street right in front of our van:
In Hinduism many animals are revered as gods and serpents are often worshiped and feared. Even in the Indian church, many Christians still believe if you hurt a snake its family will come and kill you. Our missionary contact Theresa was telling us the other day that they have these huge ant hills here where snakes take up residence after the ants leave. The locals celebrate with a Hindu festival where they sacrifice sweets and treats and put firecrackers around the hole so the snakes won’t come out. If they can’t find an anthill they just dig a hole and throw treats in it which seems like such a waste of perfectly good snacks J.
As you probably know, in the Hindu religious tradition cows are viewed as a symbol of life and are never to be killed so they freely roam the streets. You won’t be finding any Big Macs around here to snack on. It is not uncommon to see goats or chickens or pigs in the road either. It looks like a regular barnyard in the streets sometimes!
One day this week we were organizing and cleaning cabinets, which was supposed to be a quick and easy job, except that a family of rats had taken up residence in the cabinets and came jumping out when we opened the doors! We spent the rest of the day disinfecting the place and rat chasing (although most of us girls were just standing on furniture screaming) J. God is teaching me what it means to truly love and lay down your life, even when that means doing things that are uncomfortable or unpleasant.
This is definitely not a culture or lifestyle that we are accustomed to and it has its challenges, as I expected. Last night I did my first load of bucket laundry and it took much longer than I thought! When I started washing it was light out and when I finished the city had gone dark. I am reminded once again how blessed we are in America and how we take the littlest conveniences for granted! I encourage you today to look for ways to be thankful for the smallest blessings God has provided and remember to pray for the millions of people still lost in darkness who are worshiping animal deities and have not yet found true salvation. I know that God cares for each one just as He watches over you and I!
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” -Matthew 6:25,26
