After spending a day in the airport, and a whole day
traveling on a plane.. we finally arrived in Hyderabad, India on January 3 at
3:20 am. Before leaving the airport, we had our first meal in India…. One would
assume some sort of rice and curry.. but guess again.. Our first meal in India
was McDonalds. Chicken nuggets, fries, and a coke! Yum.
We spent a week in Hyderabad for launch. We had team time,
fellowship with one another, some amazing worship, and just prepared our hearts
for the journey that lies ahead of us.. There were a few things about India
that we had to get used to…
1.
No
flushing the toilet paper, there are trash bins conveniently located next to
the potties where we threw our soiled toilet paper into.
2.
No drinking tap water anymore. It can make you
extremely sick because parasites and whatever not!!
3.
Every single thing in India is spicy! They LOVE
spices. And when I mean everything.. I mean everything!
4.
THE WORST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD live in India!
Traffic lights and lane lines mean nothing here, every time I ride in a taxi, I
fear for my life!
5.
You shower out of a bucket! Yep… just use your
imagination.
6.
It is completely normal to see cows and goats
walking around the streets. No worries, they are very peaceful, so they won’t
harm you 🙂
So my team and I were extremely excited when we found out
which ministry we will be serving with India. YAYYYY for YWAM (Youth With a
Mission) in Bangalore. Their mission is to know God and to make Him known… so
after spending our first miserable all nighter in the airport lobby, we boarded
the plane and took a quick flight to Bangalore where Paul and Jibin picked us
up and took us to the YWAM base, called the Grace Mansion. Our first day we
rested, but then we jumped right in and started working with the Slum Children
at a Vision School where they just provide a safe place for the children to
come, play games, and learn about the love of God. There, we performed skits
about David and Goliath and Noah’s ark. We also sang some of my all time
favorite kid songs..
Jesus Loves
Me
I’ve got
the Joy Joy Joy Joy Down in My Heart
My God is
so Big, So Strong and So Mighty
Father Abraham
Deep and
Wide
Hallelujah,
Praise Ye The Lord
The kids just blessed
me so much because they were so willing to be loved and they craved spending
time with you. Over 60 kids from the slums are able to come every Saturday and
Sunday to just learn about Jesus and how much He loves them. They pray every
day to be better children and to have a relationship with the Lord. These
children has such a precious innocence to them, and it just reminds me of what
Jesus said.
“Let the little children
come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as
these. Truly I tell you, anyone
who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter
it.” And he took the children
in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
Mark
10:14-16
