We have had our first official day of ministry a while back and it was SO GOOD. The first bit of our time here in India was spent doing cultural orientation in the city. India’s culture is very different than ours and we had a lot to learn; we eat with our hands but only the right hand because the left one is seen as unclean also you can’t point your feet at anyone because that’s rude. Here they do a little head bobble and the meaning of said head bobble is up to interpretation, it could mean yes, okay, they agree with you, I am slowly but surely mastering the head bobble. Sharing and community is really valued here and that extends to sharing your water but they all waterfall it into their mouths which is a skill I do not have so there has been many spills but I am getting better. In between learning all of this and more we enjoyed chai breaks delivered from the chai guy. INDIAN CHAI IS DELICIOUS. This transition time in the city was also spent to fight the jet lag and buy kurtas, traditional Indian clothing, here’s one of my kurtas.
All of this was so good and I am so grateful for all we got to experience in the city but I was anxious to start ministry. My team has been given the ministry of “Sunday School Development” which is similar to hosting a VBS. We headed off to a village to start our first day of ministry, excited but, not too sure what to expect. We actually got to the village church an hour and a half early so we took that as an opportunity to warm up to the kids who came early because they were curious as to what we were doing.
Our first day of ministry honestly couldn’t have gone any better. Don’t get me wrong there were a few kinks, some of those involving injuries (my teammate Carly has written a blog about her battle with the short Indian ceiling fan. Find that here.) We sang songs (they loved the banana song and I sing it many times every single day but I wouldn’t have it any other way) played games and I got to deliver a little message to the kids about the parable of the lost sheep.
One thing that the people, especially the girls and women here struggle with is knowing that they have value because their culture is continuously telling them otherwise. It was so special and really an honour to be able to speak over these kids that God sees them and that they are loved and worth being know and sought after. We ended the evening with prayer; we prayed for everyone and even anointed a few with oil which is so special.
I would say there where around 50 kids there plus their parents and my prayer for them is that they will grow up and know that they are loved and seen and that their identity is in Jesus not in the lies of unworthiness that their society throws at them.
So much good happened in this first day and I cannot wait to see how the Lord will continue to move.
