Hey all, so I wanted to start this off by saying, if you, or anyone you know of who would possibly be interested in helping to keep me out on the field, PLEASE donate because other wise I will need to be going home if I can’t raise the rest of the money. You will be able to get a deduction on your taxes if you donate, so please do. I don’t want to go home, but need your support to be able to stay. You can donate by clicking on the tab here on this blog, or by sharing this blog on social media or with people you know who could and would be willing to help me.
Thanks guys! 🙂
So.. my squad and I have officially been in India for a week now, and I wanted to sort of fill you in a bit on some of the culture here, and our work we are doing here. We arrived with the whole squad about a week ago and did a couple days of orientation as a whole group and then split off into our separate ministries with our teams. My team got placed working with a foster home for special needs children, where we have been basically helping hands for the people who work here. The organization we work with (must be kept anonymous due to safety reasons), has been in the process of moving, and so we have been doing manual labor to assist them.
We have been painting, cleaning, assembling, and moving furniture around to help them. Not to mention, the kids! They are beautiful children, and have been so happy and excited to be meeting new people. It’s been hard interacting with them though, because we are told not to embrace or hug them, so that they don’t get overly attached to new people to quickly. A lot of them may have experienced things in their pasts that would cause them to maybe have inappropriate boundaries with people that they don’t want us enabling, as much as we want to love them in that way. Sometimes love doesn’t always look the way we think it should. But, we can dance and play Legos with, and give as many high fives to them as we want! So that’s pretty great. I’m really happy to be here and getting to spend time serving them, and loving them in the ways that they need through helping them meet their physical needs in the homes and getting to bring them joy in the process.
So that’s been a bit about what we are doing here…now for a bit of info on India as a country and what we’ve been experiencing!
-India’s population makes up for 18 percent of the entire world’s population, and boy let me tell you! It is PACKED! There are soooo many people here. The roads are absolutely covered in people, dogs, and cars that honk at each other literally every 3 seconds it seems. They honk just to let you know that they are going to pass you, or are turning right or left, or simply just because they feel like it. Lol its nuts!
-The food is amazing! There is a lot of spice, and curry of course. But the most important things that one must eat here in India is the Biyriyani and the chai. So so delicious
-The “head bobble” is real. It’s seen as a way of saying “yes”, or like an acknowledgment to you speaking. We have all picked it up. It’s pretty great.
-People don’t smile very often at you, and we were told not to sing in the streets or make any eye contact or say hello to any men on the streets, as it is seen as “being loose”. The women here are deemed as much less valued and worth hearing here, and it is very evident in what is culturally acceptable and what’s not. (It’s been really difficult to adjust to this, but it is necessary out of respect for the culture).
-We all have to wear clothing that completely covers our shoulders and ankles at all times. (The sweat is REAL guys!)
-“Thumbs up” is the version of soda that they drink here.
-Women will shave their heads here as an offering to the Hindu gods.
-2.1 billion here have never heard of Jesus! It is also illegal for us to speak about him to people. We could get arrested if speaking about him to people, and the government or the police find out about it.
-Several churches are burned down and pastors openly beat in front of people here if found out that they are Christian by radical Hindu groups here. Knowing, and choosing to follow Jesus is definitely not something to take lightly. It truly is a sacrifice for people if they decide to become Christian. We are not here to convert people. We are simply just here to show love because of the love we are given. Never to rub it in anyone’s face, or to intently try and change anyone’s paths.
-It can get up to 130 degrees farenheit here at times ! (Again…the heat is real folks) lol.
-The chai tea… again, I must mention this. It is SO GOOD! They have tea time here everyday at 10am and 5pm, and have made us chai to drink with them almost every day that we have been here. It’s amazing! It’s giving coffee a run for it’s money! Lol
-You must eat with your right hand (no utensil, with your hand only). You also must only hand things to people, and receive things with your right hand, as your left is seen as dirty. That is the hand that they use to wipe with, and so naturally it is seen as the dirty hand and is disrespectful to do anything other than use the toilet with your left hand. I have forgotten a couple times, but most people have just brushed it off and politely waited for me to switch hands to give them the item. It’s also been really fun learning to eat with my hands, especially when it’s piping hot rice! Lol
-There is a LOT of poverty here. Most of the people here live on $1.28 every day. There are families living in cement houses with tin roofs, and sometimes just clothe on top of wood planks. Huge amounts of garbage are also all over the roads and many of the roads have been damaged and torn up from flooding. It is very run down in a lot of places, and with a lot of people in lack. There are a lot of people (men and women, children, and people with severe disabilities) begging on the streets. It hurts me to see, and to have to walk past, unable to do anything for them.
-It’s required to walk bare foot inside of homes and even stores out of respect and cleanliness.
-If you have a belly, it is seen as you having wealth, and is more of an attractive feature for people to have here, as it says that you are fed well.
Alrighty, so there ya have it folks! I wanted to fill you in on what we have been doing and some stuff about India. I am soo excited and happy to be here. It’s really been an adventure so far, and a huge honor to be walking alongside them to help in any ways possible. I am incredibly thankful and excited for the rest of this month. Thank you so much for following my journey, and I hope this blog painted a pretty good picture for you guys! 🙂
