India is another world. I have been to 12 different countries now and India by far has been the most unique…and I am enamored by it.
Their cultural differences are more apparent.
Bare feet everywhere. Even to school!
All cooking takes place on the kitchen floor where everyone walks.
You do not touch the rim of a cup when drinking (I’m getting better, but sure have been wet more than a few times).
Piercings, bangles, flowers, markings, and tattoos are a normal on almost every woman.
Babies have eyeliner, bracelets, anklets, necklaces and markings no matter the sex.
Women serve the men at all cost.
Cows are everywhere and know that they can rule wherever they go. They really do think they are gods!
Guests eat and finish eating before the host even starts to eat.
It has been delightful to try to accustom ourselves to their culture. In the first village we visited, Kamalapuram, we were the first WR team and I think for many the first white people they have seen. By now we are very used to constantly being stared at. But this time they were literally standing right next to us caressing our skin, eyes glued on us. As we painted the outside of the home, we had about 7 women just sit on the street and watch us all morning and afternoon.
But one of the biggest differences that stood out to me is their religion. Because they believe in many gods (30-3,000,000), they are extremely spiritual people and love to talk about their gods. With that being said, they are interested in hearing about my God! Many of them have heard of Jesus (the first country that has heard about Jesus and doesn’t know who Justin Beiber or Facebook are!) And some of them say they “believe� Jesus and worship him. Because they worship so many gods, why not add another god? So the problem isn’t believing that Jesus is real, it is believing that He is the one and only true God.
One of the Hindi women invited me over to her home. Chelsea, one of my teammates, came too! Upon arriving, she pointed to two different pictures of her gods. And then she wanted to show us the temple. When we got to the temple they opened it up for us so we could see inside. The guy that was there came out and unrolled a picture of Jesus because they told him that was my God and put it in the middle of the other gods that were in the temple.
Afterwards the lady took us to her peanut and sunflower farm! I was amazed by God’s creation. I just felt His incredible peace as we walked through the fields smiling and trying to communicate.
