If I had to pick one word to describe my time here in India it would be: uncomfortable. All sense of normality has been stripped this month, not only for me but for everyone on the squad. There are few things that are similar between the United States and India. In most other countries I’ve been to thus far, I’ve been able to establish some sense of familiarity with my surroundings. In all honesty there hasn’t been a country YET that hasn’t offered the basic necessities we receive in America. Most places have felt like home to SOME degree. India is not like that.. I’ve experiences my first real sense of culture shock here. Here are 5 things that rocked me.
- Public defection one of the biggest culture shocks that I am still trying to adjust to even after 6 weeks. There has just recently been a push against public defecation by the government which REQUIRES most public places to have a toilet in the building for their patrons to use but it’s a recent movement.. which still leaves a lot of men and women peeing and pooping out in public. They also don’t use toilet paper here to help with waste which I won’t get used to (we carry around our own toilet paper and dispose of it in trash bins). Most places here have “squatty potties” where you crouch down while standing to relieve yourself. Here’s a link to wikihow explaining the process https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.wikihow.com/Use-an-Indian-Bathroom%3famp=1
- Hinduism is the most popular religion here. The worship of idols is rampant and it’s odd seeing statues being worshipped all over town..
- THE SMOG. I’ve been sick most of my time in India because of it.
- Traffic is like something crazy. It’s hard to even explain.. they drive on the left side of the road here and the lines in the roads don’t mean much. Most everyone has a motorbike but the roads are still filled with cars every hour of the day.
- Arranged marriage is how most of India goes about finding a husband or bride. They tell their parents when they desire to wed and their parents normally go out and find eligible people to pick from. Marriages that are not arranged are very rare. This is something that has shocked me to my core. A dowry is a set amount of money paid to the groom by the brides family (sometimes up to 9,995,716 INR which is $140,000 USD ). Demanding a dowry has been outlawed in India for some time but most people still expect one in marriage which leads to terrible things such as child marriages (where the dowry would be less), domestic violence, and sometimes even death. Because paying a dowry is still a thing in some areas, having a daughter is an unwanted burden. Most hospitals aren’t allowed to reveal the sex of a fetus to a pregnant mother during an ultrasound due to high rates of abortion when the sex is found out to be female.. and sadly the deaths of infant baby girls even after birth is common in low income families.
This month we worked with an organization that spreads awareness about the dangers of child marriages and supported mothers with children so that they felt that could provide for their family. We spent time with little girls in a rural community and helped them feel loved and valued.
Before this month really started, I was talking to a friend about “counting the cost”. In Luke 14 Jesus talks to people who claim they want to follow him and asks them if they are ready to give up everything, and if not, they should reconsider before committing to anything.
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it — lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
When I was discussing this before hand, I talked about how confusing it was to be told to “count the cost” before having your mind opened to reality. 1) I don’t think we so much get a choice in whether our eyes are opened or not because we cannot open our own eyes.. only the Holy Spirit can do that – and 2) if my eyes had been opened, I can never go back. Once I’ve seen reality, what is there to go back to? How can I count the cost after I’ve had my eyes opened?
These were all things I was wondering and then BOOM.. crap hits the fan with everything this month has to offer. All the culture shock, sickness, less than ideal living conditions and a Christmas spent away from home. And suddenly I can see what counting the cost would mean..
If God asked me to stay here for the rest of my life because there are children here that he wants to bring out of darkness.. would I do it?
This month has forced me to confront my privilege, my priorities, and my pride. If I am not willing to suffer beside those who are suffering.. if I am not willing to forsake my comforts from home.. then those comforts become my god. It’s been humbling to think of my response. I’ve really had to pray about it.. and it takes away any sense of pride in my feeble human faith.
“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:8-11
