Don't you love how God works? I dreaded India, so much so that I wrote a blog about it, but from the moment I landed it has just become sweeter and sweeter! So let me break the last week down for you.
February 2, 2013
1:00 am :We land in Hydrabad ,India and my team and I get through customs and immigration smoothly , which is always a blessing, we then find our squads contact waiting for us with vehicles ready to take us to our next destination. Ok, that may all sound like a normal travel day but on the World Race things running smoothly and on time is just not something that happens, so I was incredibly grateful. My team says goodbye to the rest of our squad who is going to a hostel to rest for a couple of days and we head off so we can catch our train that leaves in 7 hours.
1:30 am :Our contact lets us know that we were 45th on a list to get a spot on the sleeping cart of the train, which didn't look good but somehow, he describes it as an act of God, we made it to the top of the list and would now have beds for our 30 + hour train ride. Oh yeah and now the estimated time for the train ride would probably only be 24 hours. I was so excited to find all this out I started thanking Jesus as my team leader started crying tears of joy! All our prayers were being answered one after another.
2:00am We are taken to the train station where we sleep a few hours in a jeep.
8:00 am : We board our train and I am sitting next to 5 guys while my two of my teammates are close by in the same cart as me and the rest of my team is 8 carts away. I am tried and scared now. I lay on top of as many of my bags as I can ,praying to God that nobody will hurt me or steal any of my stuff.
9:30 am :Not abel to keep my eyes open any longer I fall asleep.
12:00 pm: I awake a few hours later to all five men beautifully singing Bollywood songs. 🙂 I smile and feel my heart slowly begin to soften to the idea of being in India, I drift back to sleep and then finally wake up.
1:00 pm: I sit quietly in my seat, not having any of my team to talk to and not knowing if anyone around me knows english. It only takes a few minutes for one of the men to introduce himself and his friends follow with their friendly introductions. They ask me where I'm from and then conversation begins. They all are engineers who went to school together and are headed to their friend's wedding. Over the next 30 hours ( there was fog so it ended up being longer and I was surprisingly thankful for the extra time spent with new friends) we discussed everything from food, culture, politics, customs etc. We laughed together, sang together, ate together, danced together and played games together. It was wonderful. I have never felt so loved by strangers, their hospitality toward me was kind and warm, they had me taste all the food their mothers had prepared for them, it was incredibly delicious and everything was spicy which was much appreciated. They where my first Indian experience and when I got off that I train we exchanged information, took pictures and hugged each other goodbye. I was at peace and ready for more of what this unique country had to offer.
February 3, 2013
12:00 pm : Our pastor was waiting at the train station for us, we got in a Taxi and drove to our ministry site for the next month, Asha Mission, a children's home that feeds, houses and disciples 35 orphans. These children are more spiritually disciplined and mature then most Christians I know, they have so much life in them and I truly believe that though they are part of the small population of Christians that live in India, Christ is going to use them to change that. With the light of Jesus in them, though surrounded with darkness ,it will not overcome the Light! ( John 1:5)
Please keep my team and squad in your prayers, some of our other teams are having a rough month and your prayers would be much appreciated.
With love in Christ,
Ness
Stay tuned for more updates!:)
