Throughout this month (October) I’ve learned a bit about the culture in this particular area of India and and encountered some misconceptions…
Misconceptions:
Coming here I had a way I thought Indians should look.
Instead I was met with people who looked more like their Chinese ancestors than their fellow Indian friends. I learned about a group of tribal Indians who never get a special on Nat Geo (at least that I’ve heard) and that make up a good part of the 2% of Christians in India.
We would evangelize on our mission trip.
This is mostly true but can be pictured in different ways. This month a good amount of what we did included encouragement and relationships. Just like in the USA although some of these people grew up in the faith, they have never really started their own relationship with Jesus. So in a sense we did evangelize, but not to people who were completely ignorant to the truth.
The USA is 100% Christian.
This was a common thought among the Indian students I met. We were staying in hostels that belonged to the seminary and participated in many activities including English conversation with them. This was a great way to get to know them and allowed a lot of good conversations. I explained about the different religions and that although many profess to be Christians many don’t actually live like a follower of Christ. Overall they have this idea that we know more and live perfect lives, it’s really crazy!
Americans can each English.
This was one of the funniest and interesting parts of coming to this place. We were blessed with the opportunity to attend seminary classes but sometimes we were actually the ones teaching; English. We soon realized that they knew more about actual grammar terms and reasons why “am” is used after “I” in some cases. After a few minutes of failing miserably we ended up teaching them slang terms useful for youth interactions. Needless to say we will have to brush up on our English (college level) for next time.
There will be no beef eating in India!
We have eaten all kinds of meat here mostly because of the region we are in but yes, I did have beef.
Dog is mans best friend.
In America this is definitely in the loyal sense of the word. In this region dog is their favorite meat in many cases. Apparently it taste like beef. Instead of having a pound to take unwanted pets they just cook it for dinner haha. Down the street I was told I could get a cup of dog for 50 rupees (66 rupees make a dollar)
Rain is not a blessing.
Many days we groaned and moaned over rain because of the mud, the fact we couldn’t do laundry, and it was just muggy and gloomy. We were told however that the rain is what helps the people in the area make a living since they depend on agriculture. So what was a curse to us was really a blessing to this area. This made me think about how sometimes we wish away blessings in life, hardships that make us stronger and seasons of growth.
ALSO:
- One man said he never thought he would meet an American. Others have dreams of living in the states.
- Some of our squad actually taught English really well for the record.
- These students go to school together and play sports together and live together, it’s really nice how they all really do life together.
- The men are also very affectionate towards each other which is refreshing to see, they lock arms often and hug each other frequently
The last day that I had English conversation with the students in their school, it truly hit me how much we take for granted. One student’s dream was to watch a Hillsong concert live, many others wanted to come to the U.S.A. I also had a hard time explaining rides and theme parks and it just hit me how much we take for granted. I want to be a a good steward with my blessings. I don’t understand and I don’t know if they will be able to visit the states one day. I pray and hope that they will be able to achieve any dreams they have one day, I truly do.
Pictures: A river and dam, playing guitar on prayer mountain, some of the seminary students, at the market, with my liaison and friend Francis
