For the last week, I've been living at a family friend's house in Hyderabad, India, in an extremely nice house, air conditioning, comfy beds, wifi, coffee, & whatever else we desired. They took 4 of us into their home to take some girls to the doctor while the rest of our team traveled ahead to our ministry site. Five days later, we've reached our ministry site, and let me tell you, what a change in atmosphere!!
Upon arriving, there was absolutely no air conditioning where we are living. If you don't know, the temperature in India is typically over 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day. You sweat out literally anything you put in your body, and you are completely covered in 10 minutes with your own sweat. It doesn't really matter if you shower or not.
Showers on the other hand, are non existent. We are back to the squatty potty's & bucket showers we so enjoyed in Mozambique haha. PLUS, they have this thing in our city, where the power is shut off every day from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. & 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. No fans, no cool breeze, nothing thing during that time… its miserable!
Ok enough venting, aside from all of the inconveniences in hygiene, I have loved India!!
The clothes are absolutely amazing. Every woman, no matter what social class, has a different designed Saree (wrap that looks like a toga). Also a major plus — I have surprisingly loved spicy food!! I've never been a big fan, so the Lord must've blessed me with strong taste buds. What consists of our food menu every day is street food — for breakfast, lunch, & dinner. I'll write another blog on food soon, too much info!
Aside from the culture, India has put an empowerment in my heart. Over our last debrief we had a team change, where every person on P Squad was mixed up into new small teams. Now, I am on a team called B.A.M. (Bold And Mighty!). We decided that in this new phase in our race, we would be bold for Christ, for our first country together is a land of a thousand gods.
I've been trying to take this team change the best way I could. I am going to miss my N'Pursuit family like crazy, probably every day until the end of the race, but I will not let it weigh me down. One way that I tried to walk fearlessly in this team change was at my first Indian Church experience this last Sunday. We traveled to an Indian village about 45 minutes away from our ministry site, in the middle of no where. When we pulled up, we were greeted by the entire service standing, with the women on the left, and the men on the right. They all greeted us with their hands in a prayer motion, and slightly bowed their head in a salutation. We were urged to take our shoes off, then head to the front of the church where 8 chairs were seated facing the congregation. We were told to sit there and offered a Thums Up (i.e. Coke). Church started and everything was in their local language of Telegu. We could not understand a thing! All we would see was women covering their heads with their scarves to pray, then lots of singing, clapping, & vibrantly praising the Lord with their hands. If it wasn't for the language barrier, this felt like home!! I felt the Holy Spirit in that place from the second we arrived, and felt a tingly sensation in my body for about the first 30 minutes. Though it was 108 degrees outside, I was as cool as could be! So amazing!!
What happened next I'll never forget. The pastor invited us to sing a song & share the word. Mary & I grabbed the mike, where we proceeded to sing the Doxology. For those of you that know, the Doxology is somewhat of a slow song. Well this Indian congregation started putting a fast beat to it with clapping. There were tons of smiles as the congregation realized the awkwardness we felt as they tried to clap along. It was the first instance they we had a conversation with these people, surprisingly without words. As we all giggled a bit, the pastor then invited one of us to share the word. Jason (my new team leader) jumped at the opportunity, walked up to the huge pulpit, and began preaching on David and the power of prayer. I started flipping through my Bible during that time, mostly because I enjoy seeing all of the bright colors in my new ESV Bible I bought for the race. I have begun highlighting like crazy, almost anytime I read a passage, so that when I look back into a particular book, I can see notes or verses that spoke to my heart. I love it!
As I was flipping through, I looked up and Jason was done. The pastor then asked if anyone else had a message! Courtney, sitting a few seats down from me, asked, "Sarah, do you have anything?" I believe she saw me flipping through my Bible and just assumed. Well in that moment, something urged me to go. So I stood up, unknowing what I was going to share and headed to the pulpit. For the first time in my entire life (literally) I was not scared to speak in front of a congregation. I decided to talk about being adopted sons & daughters of Christ. I shared my personal story about being adopted, and how I've learned we have come into adoption through Christ.
All in all, India is definitely a culture shock. I'm still getting used to the heat, the food, the amenities, but I've loved every bit of seeing the Lord at work here. Even though this is a land of many gods, the Lord still reigns in this place.
Hallelujah, Amen!
