It’s amazing, the experiences that you hear about before the World Race (or on it) that seem so far fetched and dramatized…until you live them and find out that they’re even more unbelievable.
I was talking to my sister-in-law about the two-day train ride I would be taking in India and we joked about how it was like “Darjeeling Limited”.
It all sounds so glamorous, doesn’t it? Like you’re living in a movie.
Some things are so Ephesians 3:20 that you can’t understand (or even begin to) until you’ve been there. But with meager words, here is my humble attempt to convey to you the happenings from that blessed “Bangalore Express” sleeper train.
Our train was to board at 8:30 and we arrived around 7:30. When we pulled up, I could feel anxiety trying to restake some old grounds of fear in my spirit, but instead of worrying, I began to pray. And I guarded our bags like a hawk. Actually, it was more like buffalo style…goods in the middle and flank around it.
Once we got down to the platform we would be leaving from, our skin appeared 27 shades lighter- we were the ONLY white people. There were a whole lot of onlookers. One creep in particular just stood so close and never once tried to mask his gawking. I don’t think he diverted his gaze for most of that hour.
At one point, the sweet man from the orphanage asked Brittani something about our seats, so she pulled out the ticket. Sir-creeps-a-lot is shamelessly looking over her shoulder to see where we are sitting. Rachel and Papa would have been so proud of my blank stare directly into the depths of his soul saying, “I dare you”. So I just started praying out loud. Asking Jesus for his protection and covering. And who shows up, but Jesus in 6’10” Indian form?! One of our other team’s contact came- in total answer to our prayers. Instantly there was calm. Sarah swears he’s a Nephilim. I’d totally believe he’s half angel.
The only “experience” I had with a sleeper car was from Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”, so I’m thinking cramped little bunk beds in a private room.
But no…we’re in India.
There are no doors. No AC.
Just a narrow walkway with six bunks in each little corridor…three in on each wall. The bunk looked like that nasty surface of the chair/table you sit on at the doctor’s office, but sans the removable sanitary tissue paper.
You couldn’t sit up fully- or partially, really. Our packs were piled high in the middle where our feet would have gone. Several times that first night, I saw a little mouse scurry by….
We had to sleep in shifts so no one got looted or roofie’d. Carrie woke me at 2:18am for my shift to start. I played word warp and MASH on my iPod until I could take it no more. I beat myself to stay awake. Finally, at 4:18 on the dot, I woke up those next in line for sentinel duty.
I awoke hours later to someone sitting at my feet…and at Sarah’s feet. And those sweet someone’s never went away- for 40 hours. So nine people and nine people’s stuff in a place for six…Naturally we were really cozy. That train ride stretched me in ways I can’t tell you. The only food I ate on board was white bread, some chappati (glorified Indian tortilla) and a curry puff. 2 days. TWO days.
I was able to capture one particular moment of delirium on my iPod notes…
May 7 “I’m 17 hours in on a 40 hour train ride in India. The only airflow is blistering heat through my barred window. My water is hot. I haven’t brushed my teeth or washed my face.
There’s so little water in my body after all of the sweating that I have only gone to the bathroom once.
Oh, and by bathroom, I mean metal squatty potty with a straight shot to the train tracks. Stay classy, San Diego.
We have assigned seats, but somehow, mine keeps ending up with hop-ons no matter how close I sit to the edge. I awoke to one woman actually sitting on my hair.
What seemed funny at the beginning of this journey no longer seems glamorous or exciting material for future stories- it just makes me want to jump out of the train.
But it’s moments like this that I am reminded about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It’s not just supposed to be there when it’s convenient or easy- it’s these moments where I absolutely hate everything about a situation that His strength can be most perfectly displayed!”
Ok, so now that I’m a week and several bucket showers removed from the situation, it is pretty funny! I’ve kind of adopted 2 Corinthians 2:8-10 as my World Race anthem… “we thought you ought to know about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia…we thought we would never live through it…but as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely on God…”
If you only knew…haha!
Thanks for all your love and encouragement! Keep sending the prayers up. We feel them!
