Dear India,
Thanks for the fabulous chai tea, and the even better coffee. Thanks for reigning in my coffee intake by serving 2oz cups. But can we talk about your food? WHY SO SPICY? For real, I swear I could breathe fire after some meals. Thanks for not making (some) of your bread not spicy. However, can we admit that chapatti body is real – regardless of how much you run? Speaking of running… I ran the outline of the building I was staying in because your traffic is terrifying. I mean, you don’t even have lanes drawn most of the time, yet you safely create three lanes of traffic? There are cows, cars, autos, tuk-tuks, busses, bikes, and people walking all on the same strip of road. And your use of horns? *hey I’m here* *hey I’m passing* *lets get going* *move your cow* I swear you honk more in 10 minutes than most people honk in their entire life – even on your night buses.
Thank you for your modesty. For reminding us ‘wild American’s’ the importance of thinking about how we dress. Thank you for these fun kurtas with sleeves that go to my elbows, and the bottom of the shirt going to my knees – they are actually really comfortable. Although, I must admit that I hated running in sweatpants for the first week, leggings under my shorts was a little bit better, but still far too much clothes for my preferences.
Ministry was fun. I think my whole team was slightly uncomfortable preaching, but it was so good for all of us. To fully dive into one topic each weak, enough to write a sermon on, and share it with a new village was good for each one of us. To be forced out of our comfort zones and proclaim the gospel, and pray for people who couldn’t even explain their needs to us because of the language barrier forced us to further lean on the Holy Spirit – which we all needed. We walked through a lot of spiritual warfare within your boarders. From statues of gods along the side of the road, to masks put up to ‘keep evil spirits out’ that seem to instead invite them in. My teammates had one house say “the devil lives here, pray for that”. We had a woman literally pass out as soon as we laid our hands on her and began to pray, thankfully we caught her.
Thanks for giving our team an environment in which we grew together quickly. Living in a building almost by ourselves gave us a great opportunity to live in community with each other, and get to know each other. We greatly enjoyed the movie nights, cooking breakfast over fire, hammocking on the roof while the sun turned into a tiny orange dot dancing behind the smog until it disappeared behind the horizon.
Dear India, you have a special place in my heart, and I loved exploring your beautiful landscapes, while interacting with your people. I will probably say that about every country, but that’s the thing about traveling – each country is so different from the next that they can all have a special place in your heart. If you’re willing to allow yourself to leave a piece of you in each country, you will carry a piece of each of them from each country. I hope I left more hear than I have gained, I sure gained a lot from you.
Thank you, India
-M
p.s. hopefully Nepal will provide stronger wifi to upload photos to this blog.
p.p.s. I still have a bit of funding to raise before April 30th, so if you feel led to donate, click ‘donate’ next to my fundraising bar! Thank you in advance <3
