.bloggage.

This week I was at a new (as in different than last week) ministry site. WE still taught preschool in the morning, but in the afternoon we did tutoring (which they refer to as "tuitions", which doesn't even make sense) with the kids in the village. I think that preschool is difficult and frustrating. Sometimes it feels like we are doing so little that it would make no difference if we were there or not. But on e of my roommates and I were talking this morning about that quote from Mother Theresa (bless her India-loving heart)-- "We can do no great things. Just small things with great love."
I have been thinking about how much better everything would be if I would just stop trying to accomplish something and instead be satisfied by loving. Simply loving. It is in the small things that God's great love is shown. Nothing is pointless.Or at least it doesn't have to be. And in loving it benefits me as well.
I am learning better what it means to share the gospel in a closed culture. During house visits on Thursday my new friend Saresh encouraged me and pushed me a lot to ask questions to the mother of the household. As her eight-year-old son translated, I was able to tell her that Jesus Christ is the only one who can save us. It reminded me of how the Word says, "From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise"
There are a lot of girls from the ages of 13-20 that I see every day. These are at the most risk for being trafficked. Pray that I would think of creative ways to love and serve them. Though we are not encouraged to directly share the gospel, if they ask, we can answer.Pray that opportunities to explain the truth would arise and every kind of hope and strength would shine through it. Pray for doors and hearts to be opened and strongholds demolished!

Color and Dirt

After a week, I think I am finally adjusted to life here in India. No bathing every day, washing clothes in a bucket, everything being slightly damp (if not totally drenched) all of the time, and only drinking water from bottles or jugs. Most of the work done at Rahab's is prevention against sex-trafficking. We go into a small town nearby in the slums and work at building a better community that will empower the women and give them good options for work as well as a resource center to come for if they need any kind of help. We spent each morning this week working in a pre-school and each afternoon/evening in sewing classes with women from the slums. My favorite part is when we have the translator sit with us and translate stories that we share from the Bible and from our lives with the women. Sometimes they get to open up and share as well.
On the day that I shared, I told a story about my life and how God worked in it for the morning class. But for the afternoon class I felt lead to share the story of Hannah who prayed for a son and gave him over to serve God. I learned later that one of the women, Netra, has been struggling for a long time because she cannot have kids. She cried when the story was over. A lot of the women have struggles with their husbands and with their families because of the religious animosity towards believers. Many fathers and husbands have drinking problems. Most of the girls are married at a very young age. My friend Cincoa was married at eight years old to her uncle, whom she is now seeking a divorce from.
I'm not sure I anticipated how hard it would be to hear about other people's sufferings, and to even watch it happen. I feel like I don't know what to do or how to help a lot of times. They language barrier has been really difficult for me. I struggle because I feel like I have nothing to offer.
But yesterday during women's nutrition, I stayed outside and played with the kids. It was a riot because Soni, a girl in my pre-school, had a live crab on a string. They were dragging it around like a pet. There was one little boy whom I started to play with. He was responding so well to me, even though he didn't know what I was saying. We played the whole class, just different little games and he laughed a lot. When the class was over one of our team members informed me that he was deaf, and that his family did not take care of him so he spent a lot of time with one of the other women who comes to translate for the nutrition classes.
It was just really cool because I know that I communicated with him yesterday and that we both found joy in each other. It didn't matter that he could not hear me. He understood me. It gave me hope that if I could give the message of love to this little boy, then there are ways to love all people without necessarily being able to speak words to them.
I would love to have your continued prayers for strength and persistence. Pray that God's love would be shown as strong as it really is, stronger than any darkness in the world. Pray that more opportunities would be evident, and that we would have truth always on our hearts, ready to share. Pray that I would be more and more willing to rely on my team members for help and guidance. Pray that we would work as the body of Christ is supposed to. Pray that we don't get discouraged, but grow stronger each day. Pray that in all the dirt and grime, we would celebrate and praise God for the beautiful colors. Pray that walls would tumble down and the truth be obvious, that Jesus Christ is the one true God who saves us.

Bananas for Breakfast

After a three hour bus ride from training camp to the airport in Georgia, a small layover in Newark, NJ, a fifteen hour flight from the states to Mumbai, a twelve-hour layover at the airport there, and one more short airplaine ride, we finally made it to Goa. Our first day I hardly remember anything. The jetlag had some of us (including myself) sleeping upright on the bus... and if you know anything about bus rides in India, this is no simple feat. Most of the time they jam as many people as could possibly fit, WAY beyond the comfort level we are used to, and they BLAST Hindi music. It is a bumpy, sticky, sweaty, twisty-turny adventure, every single time!
But everything here is taking a little bit of getting used to. The food is spicy, the smells are strange, and the language makes things really fun to try to figure out. Yesterday, when I was much more awake, we had our first day of ministry in the slums helping teach school and a health class for women. We also spent time doing house visits. The women were so excited to invite us into their homes. I tried to put myself in their position, lving in conditions like that, and I could honestly not even imagine it. There were rats in the ceiling (GIANT rats), dirt floors, ten people living in one room, and everything was dark and smelly. But the women are not dispirited by any means.
My favorite part of the day was when we did Mahandi (or Henna) with the women in our little classroom. Preyma, the woman who did the mahandi for me was extremely nervous because, even though she was thirty, she had never done it before. Some of the girls were very skilled and quick, and she was afraid she would mess up. After much encouragement from me, she began to try. Her hand was shaking and I could tell it was difficult for her. But she got better as she kept going, and by the end, both my hands were beauitufully decorated with this ancient Indian art. I told her, "acha hai!" which means, "good!" and is one of the only words I know in Hindi and I could tell she was pleased.
Later, during the health class, she had her two children with her. She made me show my hands to them and I gladly did. She was so proud! I loved being a part of empowering her to do something she thought she was incapable of, and seeing her so joyful showing it off.
Today is only our third day in Goa, so I know many more stories are to come! I'll keep you posted :)

From Training Camp

I wrote this from training camp and thought I would paste it here...
Preparation and Anticipation
I am so excited to be in India. I feel like I've been waiting so long already, so at first, training camp seemed like it would be a drag. To be honest, it would be really easy to allow myself to be anxious to just get this ovetrwith and get out of here. But already being exposed to what it might be like on the field, I have felt a little overwhelmed. I fell like I'm tumbling down a hill and can't stop myself. God is using this time to prepare me in ways I didn't even know I needed to be preapared.
Getting to know the girls on my team has been pretty fun. It usually isn't easy for me to find how I fit within a group. It just takes time and mutual experiences shared in order for me to feel like I can be myself and be known as who I am. Already within our team, walls have been coming down. We have been able to be honest with each-other and I would say we are off to a great start :)
I still have a few worries about details of travel, luggage, health, safety, and some stuff that still needs to be taken care of, but the attitudes of staff here are reassuring and comforting. All is well, and we set off tomorrow!
June 6th, 2011