We welcomed month six on a new continent. Going to India had been on my bucket list for a while, so getting to go here on the race was such a gift. India was also the biggest culture shock I had ever witnessed. The clothes, the smells, the language, the culture, the food; it was all so different than anything I have ever experienced.
We lived in a small village a couple hours outside of a large city. We slept on our sleeping pads on the floor of a church, went to the bathroom and showered in an “outhouse” that consisted of a bucket and a squatty potty (google image “squatty potty asia” for clarification). We washed our clothes in buckets that we drew from a giant well and brushed our teeth here also. We had no wifi and were not able to leave the church during the day due to the possibility of persecution for our host family. We had no mirrors, no AC, no place to store food of our own, no running water, and no where to go. Surprisingly, this was one of my favorite living situations on the race.
A woman who attended the church and lived next door would make our breakfast and lunch which usually consisted of rice, vegetables, curry, fried okra and peanuts, idli with nut chutney and of course Chai. We loved her cooking a lot, but we loved her even more. She didn’t speak any english except “hi” and “thank you.” She wore silver anklets, a nose ring, and colorful sarees everyday. We cried when we had to say goodbye.
Ministry occurred in the evenings, when we would be driven out to other villages where there were house churches. We would prepare testimonies, a message, worship and a time for the congregation to come up and ask us for prayer. The worship was either a capella or led by my teammate Ashley with her ukelele. We also would enjoy their traditional worship which was to the beat of a tambourine and clapping. We would crowd together in backyards, living rooms, or front porches for these church meetings.
The girls on our team had to wear kurtas and leggings, with a scarf to cover our heads for prayer. The guys either wore pants and a kurta or if they were feeling adventurous they would put on their lungis, which is basically just fabric wrapped around their waist and between their legs that resembles a woman’s skort in America (this is also a worthwhile google image search.)
After we were done with church each evening, the pastor’s family would make us a meal that consisted of rice, chapati, some kind of curry (chicken, eggplants, or my favorite: potato), and Chai. The families would serve us so selflessly and wouldn’t serve themselves until we had left for the evening. They loved when we complimented their cooking by saying “Chala Bagundi” and would then always offer another heaping spoonful of rice. We left every night so full we thought we would explode.
Our rides out to these villages was one of our favorite parts of the day. We left at sunset so the smog filled sky reflected colors of orange and pink as we drove past rice fields being harvested by men in lungis, herds of goats and cattle strolling along the side of the road, and many curious Indian people staring at the seven white people huddled in the back of a van in rural India. We would jam out to worship music, play games, talk about life, pray, and take in the sites as we would drive 1-2 hours one way, each evening.
During the day, I would spent time reading my bible and preparing sermons, I sort of learned to play Ashley’s ukelele, played card games or watched the tv show FRIENDS with my teammates, or we would just hang out and talk as a team.
On our off days, we would go into the city and hit up places where rice and curry weren’t the only things on the menu, to give our stomachs a break. We even found a Buffalo Wild Wings which had us feeling like we stepped back on to American soil. We walked through local markets, purchased Sarees of our own, and spent time at coffee shops using their wifi to get in touch with people back home.
I grew so much in India because of how culturally different it was from America, from having to preach for the first time in my life, and from learning that the Lord is sufficient in all things even when your circumstances say otherwise. The faith of the people attending the village church was so encouraging to me. They would ask for big prayers and expect God to move in big ways on their behalf. In a country that is less than 3% christian and with the risk of persecution being as high as it is, to see their bold faith on display each and every night blew me away.
. . .
I’ll miss potato curry and rice at the village churches.
I’ll miss our afternoon team worship sessions that were followed by drinking Chai before heading out for the night.
I’ll miss wearing Kurtas everyday- so easy, so comfortable.
I’ll miss watching FRIENDS and drinking Chai in the evenings when we got back home.
I’ll miss the colors, the landscape, and the people.
Songs that remind me of this month are:
- King of my Heart by Bethel Music
- Reckless Love by Cory Asbury
- 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord Oh my Soul) by Matt Redman
- Mahima by CSOW
Want to know more? Ask me about:
- The van we rode in each evening and our driver and translator
- My favorite sermon I gave
- The night I felt like I was getting ready for my wedding as we tried on Sarees
- The time I ate the heart and brain of a chicken
- A song we learned in the local language
