The dust filled streets with their honking horns every second of the day is where we have called home for this month.
Imagine trash that litters the ground wherever you walk. Imagine rats scurrying into your kitchen every night in search for food. Imagine begging children with old ripped up clothes that are seeking love, food, and money. Imagine not knowing how to help these poor children but only able to love them and bring a smile to their sweet faces. Imagine the only women you see are those begging on the street while the higher-class ride away in a tuk-tuk. Imagine not feeling comfortable walking alone on the streets as you know how much you stand out as a foreigner. Imagine a world hurting, broken, and desperate for more than what is given to them. Imagine being in a place of poverty with no way of escape, it’s now your lifestyle, you were born to be poor.
But imagine the hope and joy that can be found with the Lord and Him alone. Imagine these people finding this hope and bring the good news to more.
This is where we have called home for this month.
So, the question that is often asked is what can we do as stewards for God here in this broken place?
Let me show you a little perspective of India:
On our journey inward from Nepal, we took a taxi with no airflow except the windows. Dust flew in caking us all with the muck of the road. By the end of the journey, one could barely tell we were white.
People in India do not use ANY navigation device for traveling, instead they would stop along the road asking strangers if they were going the correct way and where their next turn may be. No road signs and just roundabouts that tell our location. This supposedly 3-4 hour journey turned into a 9 hour drive with a stop for dinner.
We were crammed inside this little taxi with all our bags and Jake stuffed in the very back with our gear. There was no escape for the long hours.
We came across stopped traffic where any people, including our driver, turned off their vehicles, got out, and started walking down the line of cars. We were still stuck inside. One of my teammates got out to go to the bathroom in between the cars before/as they moved, while I stretched my cramping legs. Many cars behind us started to honk because we didn’t move the few feet forward that was given to us, plus our driver had yet to return.
Near the end of our journey, as we arrived in Lucknow, we pulled out our phones to find the directions to the hotel. Nevertheless, our driver did not take to such devices and proceeded to ask every person on the road where we should go. He even asked people who were DRIVING next to us.
At one point, we were told to get out and take a tuk-tuk instead!! (Those things are tiny and there was no way our giant bags were going to fit with all of us – we barely fit in the taxi!) Thankfully through prayer and arguing, we managed to convince the driver to take us all the way.
We made it to our hotel only to find out that the prices we expected were not what were issued. It was late, we were exhausted from the journey, and decided to just pay for one night in order to sleep and find a new place for the rest of our stay.
We washed off the layers of dust and grime from the long road trip and felt like completely new people as we crashed for the night.
The next day we packed our bags and journeyed through the streets with all our gear. We crossed through back alleys, walked around dead rats, and passed many staring eyes. We soon found our new home that suits our budget and sleeping arrangements. The Lord blessed us with this incredible place and a sweet host who wishes us the best stay by helping us with any accommodations we need.
However, through this experience, we found how hard it is to love like Jesus through our exhaustion, stress, and frustration. Our hearts started to reflect what we looked like on the outside: dirty. However, even through all the stress and frustration, God was still at work. He gave us a ride that took us all the way to our stop. He provided us a place to sleep and wash up for the night. He then gave us an opening at a Homestay that was more than what we could have asked for as a home. God was providing for us every step of the way, all we had to do was look.
Throughout our stay here, we have found God’s working hand guiding us to people from all over. We have created friendships with students at a university that come from Afghanistan, Morocco, Bangladesh, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Some know Christ, some ask about what we believe, and some just like our fellowship. Our host is Hindi with strong beliefs in his gods. Recently, he has left with his family to go mourn his father’s death with the many traditional rituals they perform. Our prayers and hearts go out toward his family during this time asking the Lord to do remarkable things within their hearts.
God Bless,
Laura Leigh Armstrong
