DWARKA & DELHI
…praising and worshipping God from the rooftop of our house in Dwarka; the sky around us exploding with Diwali fireworks celebrating Hindu gods…
…on the metro I was listening to my iPod. I pulled one earbud out to listen to which stop we were pulling into. The woman next to me promptly picked up the earbud and started listening; she muttered something about English and then handed it to her son for a listen, then on to the daughter. I let them all listen in as much as they wanted…
…another evening on the metro, a little girl smiled at me, and I enjoyed about 15 minutes of smiling at, tickling and talking to her. Her father seemed pleased. He was a good dad, I could tell!
…in a shop on a day off, I met a Burmese girl and connected with her when I told her I had been to her country. Turns out she is a Christian and much in need of an encouraging sister. We texted back and forth a little and I stopped by her shop a few times when I was able…
…handing a beggar food (pb&j sandwiches or leftovers) only to have her motion with her hands to ask for money. (this happened repeatedly)
…walking home from the market one day, my grocery bag burst, spilling vegetables all over the ground around me. I stood there having no way to gather them until a couple of teenager boys came over and politely asked, “May I help you, Madam?” They ended up finding me a new grocery bag so I could go on my way. …
…on a team day off, going to the movies, watching it all in Hindi yet still somewhat understanding the plot, and ordering popcorn & Pepsi from my seat during “Interval”
…chai, chai, and more chai: every time we visit a home, it is the host’s way of welcoming us. And I felt blessed by it every time…
…every time we walk down our street in Pochanpur Village, our little neighbor kids run to us with their arms stuck straight out in front of them, dirty little hands stiff to be shaken, shouting “hello! hello!” with huge smiles on their faces…
…ordering paneer naan at our favorite street restaurant in Dwarka, Life Positive Food Centre, run by one Scholar Sikri, who is always eager to talk with us about America and its scholars and how to live a positive life. Always trying to slip a word in edgewise to tell him I have a positive life but only through my belief in Jesus Christ and the ways He is changing my heart. He talks a lot and listens little, but now I know to pray for him to find the Way, the Truth, and the Life that is the only truly Positive Life!
…visiting the little beauty parlor on our street to get my eyebrows threaded (plucked/shaped using nothing but some strings in a fascinating twisty way) for 20 Rupees, or about 40 cents.
…hearing extremely rude and inappropriate comments from some men and teenage boys as we walk past them on the street. …
…during a tour day around Delhi, we visit the Lotus Temple, the largest Ba’hai temple in the world, looking like a ginormous version of the lovely flower it’s named for. Inside, I pray the Lord will reveal His truth to all who are seeking truth, and I notice how similar the sayings of the Ba’hai prophet Bahaullah are to those of Jesus Christ (who lived 1900 years before him)…
DRIVING
…driving home from ministry one day, we passed a car & motorcycle accident. There were dozens of bystanders lining the street; we finally saw the reason–a body laying in the street, covered by a tarp, but with one foot sticking out from beneath…
…the strange co-existence of cows, street dogs, rickshaws, motorcycles, auto rickshaws, cars, trucks and pedestrians on the streets of Delhi. I have seen cows respond to car horns by moving out of the way; likewise with street dogs, who know cars won’t stop or swerve for them.
…another day leaving ministry, a motorcycle that had run a red light (quite commonplace actually) hit the front right corner of our vehicle as we pulled across the street. His head slammed onto our hood before he fell to the ground; I was terrified he had broken his neck or been killed eve, but he got up in five minutes holding a bloody lip. He and our driver had a shouting match, our driver offered him money even though the accident was the moto driver’s fault, and eventually we drove off with nothing else happening, because that’s how it works here…
…getting pulled over by the cops multiple times on random stops, always praying we’d be let go of since we had our papers in order. But one time, the cop said we were speeding and we should pay a 4000 rupee fine (about $90). We weren’t about to be bribed, so called our Indian contact for advice; we ended up paying 400 (still way more than Indians would pay) for our driver’s fault of speeding…
…driving home from Asha House one day, we get stuck in the same spot for about 45 minutes. Our vehicle is literally surrounded by about five huge trucks, and we’re wedged in so tightly we can hardly look up at the sky. We wait for the traffic to untangle, as it always (eventually) does…
