India is incredible. Before coming on the race lots of people asked me what country I was most excited about and my answer was always India. I honestly don't even know why. I thought I knew what to expect but something about seeing it, smelling it, and hearing it for myself changed everything. The 41 hour train ride from New Dehli to our ministry site in Bangalore wrecked me in the most beautiful way. My prayer for this month was that I would feel more. This might seen silly to you but for me this was a huge prayer….I had gotten really good at avoiding feelings and avoiding things that were uncomfortable to think about. I wanted to be genuinely heartbroken for people like I never have before and be filled with a whole new level of joy. Well my friends, my prayer was answered within a few hours of landing in India. I thought I knew what poverty was, but I really had only scratched the surface of it before. I hadn't felt "culture shock" in a long time. The train ride was rough. There were so many beggers walking up and down the isle and every single time it broke my heart in a way I haven't ever felt before. I felt so helpless because I didn't have any idea what to do. I think the whole first day I just stared out the window praying.
This month, my team and team 14 Feet worked with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Bangalore. We stayed at their base, where they were holding Discipleship Training School. So there were always lots and lots of people around, which was so great. We were able to build some great relationships with the people there. For ministry we were involved in several different things.
For the first week and half or so we worked with Mercy Ministries. We worked in the slums doing a few children's programs, some medical stuff, and mostly house visits and praying for people. I loved it. I loved getting to meet people, hear their stories and then be able to pray for them. I loved getting to play to with the kids at the programs and just randomly in the street. I was filled with so much joy from them. Here they were living in terrible conditions but they were so happy. The sweet kids had the most contagious smiles and laughter I have ever been around.
photo by Jess Gasperin
After working with Mercy we went to a lot of different orphanages/children's homes. It was a little hard for me because we would visit some of them only once so it was difficult to really get to know the kids like I would have liked to.There was one children's home, Home of Faith that I fell in love with. The first time we went after doing a Bible story and singing some songs we broke into small little groups to pray, just talk (they all spoke English) and get to know each other. I was in a group with three of the most precious beautiful little girls I have ever met. The second time we went one of them came running into my arms as soon as she saw me. It almost brought tears to my eyes. It was so sweet.
The guy who runs this home is incredible. He sold literally everything he had to fund this place. We were able to bless them one night by having a pizza and movie night. The kids had never had pizza before. They had been asking for weeks when they would be able to have some but they couldn't afford it because they are barely getting by. The kids were so excited! We watched Kung Fu Panda and sat around and ate pizza and oreos. It was one of my favorite moments of the month for sure 🙂
photo by Katie Way
