When we arrived in India, our expectations were demolished. Thinking we would be in something we saw in Slumdog Millionaire or The Best Most Exotic Marigold Hotel, our squad was surprised to find that Northeast India is much more like Southeast Asia than India. Manipur is a beautiful state, populated people of Mongolian and Chinese descent rather than Indian. I think the initial shock wore off pretty quickly because of how wonderful we were treated immediately after arriving in Churachandpur, a city about an hour away from the Imphal airport where we landed.
The ministry we were staying at was absolutely amazing, it is known as Bibles for the World. As we were greeted with warm smiles and open hearts, we all felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and couldn’t wait to start our ministry. We stayed in a small compound area with a large tent they put up for our meals and somewhere we could just be together. John Pudaite, the leader of our ministry, introduced himself and the staff that we would soon grow to love and become family with.
Our first few days were spent getting to know the area and different parts of the ministry. We were introduced to Lawm, John’s wife, a beautiful, hardworking woman of God who became a close friend of mine. She worked at the ministry in the kitchen as well as at the hospital they opened as the director. As busy as she was, she always had time to talk and laugh with us.
Just a few days after we started there, my team was chosen to go up into the hills of Churachandpur to stay in the small villlage of Lungthulien for 11 days. We left at at 7:30am on a Friday morning and began our 14 hour drive to our destination. Our ministry in the hills was to help hand out Christmas gifts of blankets and books to the children in Partnership Mission schools in the hills. These kids are part of a sponsorship program through Bibles for the World in which Americans can sponsor kids for about $50 a semester to cover school tuition, supplies, and other gifts. Most of their parents work extremely hard just to put food on the table so it is an amazing program that provides kids with help to receive an education who might otherwise not be able to afford it. We had a great time up in the hills visiting schools and filling out sponsorship applications for children who have yet to be sponsored. But we learned that our ministry was much more than just helping the kids.
Our host in the hills was a wonderful woman named Rosie and her family. We arrived with all 7 of us, our squad leader Amaris, our driver Muansong, and our team liaison, Bieklien late Friday night and she greeted us with a warm smile and a delicious meal. She then showed us the guest house they had just finished building that day. It was a small brick building with a kitchen and living room, 3 bedrooms with bathrooms, and a beautiful balcony that overlooked the valley beyond. It was beyond gorgeous.
She lives in a home with her husband, her 3 children, an adopted daughter, 2 nieces, a man they employ, and her mother. Her home is about 300 sq ft. I was taken aback when I first realized this. But its amazing how they live. They have such a tight knit family that it doesn’t matter how much space they have because they have each other. I believe we all learned a lot about living in community those 22 days and what it meant to have a true servants heart. These people did not have much, yet they gave us anything they could. They normally eat about 2 1/2 meals a day while they provided 3 full meals a day for us. Every time we tried to do the dishes, Rosie’s nieces Laltranmawi and Irene, would rush to stop us. We convinced them only one meal to let us clean them ourselves. We did get to help them cook a few times. They cook everything over a small wood burning fire in their kitchen and a small portable stove with 2 burners. We were able to learn a lot from her nieces has they cooked for the whole house and our team.
Over the first few days we truly connected with her and got to know her and her family very well. As we got to know her, she soon opened up and told us about her life in Lungthulien as the headmistress if the Partnership Mission school there. On our first day, we went on a hike to a small field of peppers about 200m away from her home. She revealed that she had not been able to visit this beautiful place in 3 years because of how busy she is with her job and family. I was astonished. This woman works so hard she hasn’t had the time to go on a 40 min break right next to her home.
That is when we realized that our true ministry this week was to bless Rosie with a time of fun and relaxation so that she would get a break from the busy life she leads. We got to learn about her life, make her laugh and love on her the entire time. Our team learned so much from our time in the hills and I know that it will be one of my favorite parts of my race.
I’m also still fundraising as our next deadline is coming up in March for $11,000. I am currently at $9,945 so I’m close!!
Love you guys and God bless!
