Our last day in India....for this trip!

Saturday morning started off great....in a cool, comfortable hotel room even though I had to wake up a little early to dress my wound and make sure that it was safe from the elements.  We made sure all of our things were packed before we went downstairs for breakfast.....and the reality hits!  We are headed home TODAY!!!  Like, a little after midnight we'll be boarding a plane to head back to the US.  It’s over!!  It’s so bittersweet because in one way, I do miss being able to talk with my family, small group and friends, and I’m excited to see them, but I know that there is so much work to do to share the true gospel with the people here that I don’t want to leave.  As I said in my last post, I know what awaits me at home and I know how easy it is to let this just be an experience and then to get sucked back into the materialism and the fleshly desires of this world and to not be intentional to pray for the people I’ve spent the past week living alongside.  And, it was just a week!!!  7 days we were in the country (3 full days of travel make the total trip 10 days, but we were only in the country 7 days)!!  I remember the first conversation I had with Spencer about the agenda as he reminded me how hot it was going to be (which he felt the need to do every time we talked about India).....all I could think was, “WOW....this is AMBITIOUS!!!”  And, when I say “ambitious,” what I really mean is “I don’t see any way possible that we will be able to do this in this kind of heat and still be effective witnesses of the gospel.”  WELL....little did I know (truly, I do know this, but I get reminders on a daily basis because I forget it often), God has this whole thing rigged!  In ways I can’t really describe, He sustained us, He energized us, He gave us the words to speak and allowed us more opportunities to share His love, grace and mercy than I could’ve imagined.

The BrookHills Young Single's well

Now, onto what we did Saturday....after breakfast, we loaded our luggage into the taxis and headed out to visit the Neverthirst office in Kolkata.  Andrew and Roshni taught us a little more in depth about the differences between the 2 programs that are in place at Neverthirst and how they operate differently.  They have a program called Water is Life and the other is the Adopt-a-Village program.  The one that was the focus of our visit was the Adopt-a-Village program, so we got to see first-hand what goes into the efforts associated with this program.....and it’s totally worth every cent donated to the organization.  I’m sure that any of us would be more than happy to share with you why when you have time.  After spending a little more fellowship time at the office, we then prayed over all of the prayer requests for the month of May together as a group and gave God praises for the things that He has already done and is continuing to do to bring His great name great glory amongst these people by meeting a physical need that leads to the ability to be able to meet their spiritual need, which only can happen through Christ.

After our visit at the Neverthirst office, we did a little sight-seeing in Kolkata before heading to the airport to fly to Delhi.  And, to be honest, I have mulled over what to say in this paragraph for about a month now, which is why this post is so late in getting finished.  I want my heart to be communicated clearly and I haven’t been sure how to do that, so I’m just going to try....and hopefully you will see a glimpse of what I saw.  Our first visit in Kolkata was to Mother Teresa’s house.  This was, well, interesting to say the least.  Honestly, it was quite creepy, to be completely blunt!!  They have literally memorialized EVERYTHING of hers!!  And, by everything, yes, I mean everything down to her toothbrush!  There were Saris that she wore, her china and silverware, quotes from her and many, many more things that they had displayed in display case after case.  Now, please don’t get me wrong, I completely understand that Mother Teresa was a very influential person and she did some amazing work, specifically amongst the “untouchables” in East India.  However, the thing that bothered me most was that her theology was “Jesus +.....” not “Jesus alone.”  Scripture knows nothing of “Jesus +....” and it broke my heart to see the wonderful works that this woman did and how she literally gave her life to this work, but when you measure her life against what scripture says, I am not certain that she lived by faith alone.  The reason that I say this is because of various quotes of hers posted throughout the display hall and on pamphlets that were handed to us where she clearly pointed to Jesus + a work (be it the rosary, ministry activities, or any other good work).  The point here is that, again, scripture knows only faith in Christ for salvation, not plus anything else...including the rosary or any ministry activity.  the other thing that struck me to the core was that so many people were there to come and see this place.  In a country that already worships more false gods than you or I can imagine, they are coming to visit a place where a woman did such great works, but all of these remnants of her mortal life are memorialized here.  Now, I do measure her life against the words of Paul written from prison found in Philippians 1:15-18, “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.  The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.  The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.  What then?  Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”  So, I have no doubt that God used her life to lead people to Himself, but I do believe that many are deceived still.

Not to be so hard on Mother Teresa because you may very well be asking, “well, you hypocrite, you travel to the other side of the planet to share the gospel, isn’t that a work?”  And, my answer is, definitely, that is a work!  I don’t deny that a bit, but I don’t do it to earn my salvation.  My salvation is secure in Christ (and was secure in Christ) alone before I ever realized that only 5% of the world’s population lives in the United States of America, which was the only place I ever felt the need to share His gospel for years!  God has used various events in the past 6 years to transform my heart to show me a love for a people on the other side of this world that I can’t explain in words.....it’s simply a matter of trusting Him and following Him where He leads....with no reservations!  It’s following the words of Christ as he explains the cost of following him in Luke 9:57-62, “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’  And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’  To another he said, ‘Follow me.’  But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’  And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead.  But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of god.’  Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my house.’  Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’”  Note the urgency here....and what’s so scare to me is that these men were with Christ, in the flesh!!!  And, they had doubts and they had earthly desires that they wanted to take care of first.  And, Jesus said, “no.”  The reason that’s so scary to me is that how much more do we want to take care of the worldly things first, then follow Him; when what He’s saying is to follow Him.....period!  No reservations, nothing held back.....follow Him!  So, the question, then, isn’t, “are you willing to work for your faith?”, but rather, “how is God going to work through you because of your faith?”  And, that’s what I hope you’ll see through the stories here and through my life as well because I hope that my faith is evident by everything that God calls me to do.  And, yes, I ask the Lord every day, “Is this still where you want me today?”  Today, I have confirmation that I’m EXACTLY where I’m supposed to be in the job that He’s given to me to hopefully be an influence to those He’s entrusted to me in that setting and to lead the amazing ladies in my small group that He’s entrusted to me.  Now, as for tomorrow, I’ll ask Him again, “is this where you want me to be today?” and I’ll wait for His answer.  Because I have found that life outside of His will is miserable, even though you can be surrounded by friends and a host of other “good” things of this world.  But, I’m convinced that to be in the middle of a hut on the other side of the world in heat over 110-degrees Fahrenheit with humidity like I’ve never experienced in the USA in my life with no power and a pretty large wound on my hand is far better than living a mediocre life with good things and selfish pleasures in the comforts of the USA.

I completely realize that I’m posting this on July 4....the day that we celebrate our independence as a nation and I know exactly what I just wrote in that last paragraph.  I get the inconsistencies, I promise I do.  Please know that I do love the freedoms that we celebrate here in the USA.  But, as I celebrate in this, my mind can’t help but drift to the only freedom that exists to man and that’s freedom in Christ and there are people who live on this planet in places where they will be born, live their whole life and die without having the opportunity to hear His gospel!!  These places exist, so in the celebration of our nation’s independence, my mind drifts to these people and my heart hurts because they don’t know the only giver of life and peace in Christ.

To be honest, I’m not really sure how to close this one out, other than to say that after our visit to Mother Teresa’s house, we headed to the airport to fly to Delhi, which began the journey back to where I am today.....completely certain that for today, I’m supposed to be here in Birmingham, AL.  And, as for tomorrow, I’ll see what God’s answer is to the question of, “where would you have me today?”

Friday was a bit different.....

The day started off well, at about 5:30-ish.....then it started going downhill from there.  I was moving a fan in our room when one of the wires on the back gave way and either it pulled my finger in it or it allowed my finger to be caught by the fan blade.  So, when Heather said, "something got caught in the fan," it took me a minute to reply and say, "yeah, it was my fingers."  Then, she graciously informed me that she saw blood, which made us grab up the bottled water and run for the shower to clean it out.  As Heather was so sweetly helping me to clean my wound, she informed me that she doesn't do blood.  So, while Megan was grabbing the first aid kit, I asked if Brooke or Mike were already up because I figured a mom or dad would be good at something like this....don’t ask, but this seemed like great logic at the time.  There were a few other moments thrown in there in the following 15 minutes, but I’m not sure that everyone involved wants them posted on a blog, so I’ll let those slide for now.  Brooke did come to help me finish cleaning out my wound and then came the conversation/debate of, “do I go to a doctor.....in a village in India......3 hours drive from any major city in the country?”  Well, I've never had stitches as a result of injury....only surgery, so this kind of freaked me out a little more.  Again, I thought, “we are about 3 hours away from any major city, in a village in India.....am I sure I want a MD to look at my finger and stitch it up?”  NOPE was the prompt and certain reply.  But, everyone didn’t jump on board as quickly as I did about this not going to the doctor thing.  So, we put some Neosporin (+ pain, by the way) on it and continued to apply pressure to stop the bleeding.  After a while, we bandaged it and wrapped the bandage very tightly to keep it nice and clean.  I even decided to make a $40 phone call back to the states just to get my brother’s opinion....or support, really, for not going to the doctor.  I really just wanted someone in my family to tell me that I wasn’t crazy for not going to the doctor and I knew that I couldn’t talk to my mom or dad.  My mom wouldn’t have been able to rest until she could see me and my finger had already been healed.  My dad, on the other hand, would’ve been a much more interesting conversation, most likely with him wanting to get on a plane to come and find me and make sure that I was OK.  So, I knew Danny was THE person to go to on this one.

I skipped out on the village visit today, thinking that the cleanliness of the multiple layers of exposed matter on my finger was quite important.  I joined the rest of the group at the school, though, to end our time here with a bang. It was a far more emotional time than I had thought it would be, too (the kids just as much as us were sad about our leaving).  The church presented us with shirts and spoke some very, very kind words to us.  We were able to sing a few motion songs with the children and take some pictures before we were allowed to serve them lunch and then head back to the compound where our cars were waiting for us to eat lunch and then begin our journey back to Kolkata.  Of course, we took advantage of a few photo ops during that time and got some great team pictures.

It only took us about 1.5 hrs to get back to Kolkata, which we were all surprised by (including Andrew) since it takes 3 hrs to get to the village??  We still aren't sure how this happened.  We were excited about it, but a little frightened that we were able to make it so far in such a short amount of time.

When we arrived in Kolkata, we had a few minutes to take a “rest” and I took full advantage of the air conditioning and light and sanitation and I re-dressed my wound.  Then, we went to the "new market," which is actually the oldest market in Kolkata, for some shopping.  While we were out, we went to a mall for dinner and we wanted something that was as close to American as we could find.....we settled on Chinese. We were able to meet a new Neverthirst employee, Dianne, who is now living in Kolkata and we were able to talk with her more about her work in India as well as her adjustment since arriving there.

Serving dinner to the kids at the school

What an event-filled, crazy, overwhelming, and emotional day!!!  It is so hard to believe that we’ve already been here for a week and that this is the last night in India, truly, since our flight leaves at 12:50 a.m. on Sunday morning.  It’s very bittersweet, to be honest....it’s HOT in Kakdwip/Kolkata, but I am going to miss those people; I haven’t gotten more than 2.5 hours of sleep at any one time on this trip, but I would be willing to stay for another month to see these kids get a grasp of the true gospel and then to start making disciples!  As hard as this past week has been, I’m almost not ready to board that plane to get back to the US.  I know what awaits me when I get back and I know how quickly I tend to forget these sights and sounds and faces and I don’t want to do that!  I want to pray intentionally for them and I want to be involved in helping them grasp and share the gospel with others.

Starting our day at the market....this should be interesting...

Thursday didn’t start out like the other days.  We woke up early, as we had every morning, but then we headed into town.  Our goal was to shop at the local market to buy the things that we needed so that we could cook an “American” dinner for everyone at the church compound.  We decided we would fry chicken, have some baked potatoes, another vegetable (we were undecided because there were a few things that we couldn’t describe very well with the language barrier) and a banana split type dessert.  Well, we had a few challenges with buying what we needed to make the above meal a reality.  We did find the ice cream pretty early in the trip, so we went ahead and got it.  We were able to find 1 package of “processed cheese,” which, in Brooke’s words, was “almost like Velveeta, but imagine a white cheddar cheese popcorn flavor.”  We couldn’t really find aluminum foil, but we still felt like we could improvise a little for the baked potatoes.  We found some okra and green beans and a few other vegetables that we could cook, but we felt like the green beans would be the safest option, so that’s what we picked.

While at the market, we also got a few items for the kids at the school to be given on behalf of St Mary’s Church.  We found some “good quality” pens for the older kids and some other appropriate pens for the younger children and we found some sporting equipment for them too.  The kids will now have good cricket bats, volleyball sets, badminton sets, and a few other things.  By this time (about an hour and a half), of course our ice cream has melted, but it’s ok, right?

Diving into Genesis....getting ready for our role-play for the evening.

After this adventure, we headed to the school to work with the children (much later than we had anticipated).  We had a great plan for them since our day was so scattered and we started it off by demonstrating what we were going to ask them to do.  We acted out the story of the “Rich Young Ruler” for them and asked them a few questions to make sure that they understood the story.  Then we gave them an assignment to complete during the day and to have ready by the evening when we came back.  We had come to realize that they have very little exposure to the Old Testament, so this sort of gave us the idea for our plan for the day.  Each team (6 teams in all) were to put together a roll play based on a part of Joseph’s life from Genesis.  Our teams were the exact same as the ones from Wednesday, which meant that I had a team of all boys.  What I didn’t know was that there was a little 13-year old who came out of his shell and finally let me know that he can actually speak English quite well!!  Like, almost as good as an interpreter.  He started asking me questions for everyone else in the group that they wanted to know and then told me that his hobby was learning about America!  HA!!  What an awesome thing to finally learn......I had been trying so hard to keep things simple and talk through another interpreter, but God had already provided a sweet little kid in the group with that knowledge!  HOW AWESOME!!  His name is Girish, by the way.  Our group was to act out the story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, so after they read through it a couple of times and came up with an idea, I felt like we were good to go.

After we left the school, we went back to the church property for a late lunch, a “brief rest,” and then we loaded up and headed to the village we were visiting for the day.  We only had 1 village visit for the day because of the changes in schedule.  Since we had to make a few changes, what we did at this village was simply engage them in conversation and discussions regarding their newly installed well.  Of course, on our arrival, we were greeted by the people in the village with coconut water.....again.  In this particular village, there are currently over 100 families using the water from this well.  They told us, too, that their pond where they washed clothes and bathed had now dried up, so they use the well water for everything (drinking, cooking, cleaning, bathing, etc....).  They allow everyone to use the water from the well....not just those that helped to raise the money for the repairs and maintenance.  This was a very productive visit with the people here and was a really good change of pace....especially because the ride to get to the village was a good bit longer than the others had been.

After the village visit, we went back to the school and hung out with our groups a little more to finalize our skits and then just spend some more time getting to know them.  It was a fabulous night and, I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with how well these kids acted out the stories from the life of Joseph.  Then, as with every other lesson, we quizzed the kids to see how well they understood the information.  We made this one a little interesting, though, and played a game of snakes and ladders just to add an extra element of excitement.  There was a little time left to still visit with the kids after we finished the game and Girish was there with more questions for me.  One of the questions that he had for me was, “when are you coming back?”  My reply was, “I don’t know.”  He immediately turned around and went to the pastor to ask clarification on how to ask the question.  He came back and asked me again, “when are you coming back?”  I replied, “I am not sure.”  Again, he turned around (a little frustration on his face at this point) and went to the pastor to ask clarification on how to say it in English.  When he came back and started the same question again, I said, “I don’t know.”  I saw a VERY frustrated look on his face as he started to turn again back to the pastor.  I said, “no, I understand what you’re saying, I just don’t really have an answer for you.  I don’t know my plans yet for when I’m going to be back here.”  It was absolutely precious!

After we finished at the school, the ladies headed back to the church compound while Mike stayed to teach his final lesson to the pastors.  We got back to the church around 8:30 and then immediately dived in to making the “American dinner” for the people at the compound.  Our cooking facilities were not at all like what we have in the US, but we were able to work through it.  First, we battered and fried the chicken and then covered that until the rest was ready.  We realized that none of our options to have a baked potato were actually going to work, so we decided we would peel the potatoes and mash them (mixing in a little “processed cheese” and butter) and that would suffice.  While this was cooking, some were also snapping the beans and getting them ready to go in the pot to be cooked.  Once all of our food was done, the cook for the church compound added a pot of rice, which was ready in a matter of minutes.  The food was brought upstairs to the dining area and everyone sat down as we served them dinner.  It was a pretty good end to a very long day.  I can’t believe we only have 1 more night left in this village.

A new day....another new start!!

So, we had decided on Tuesday night that we could get up early and take a river-boat ride on Wednesday to see a few of the other things around the Kakdwip area.  So, we got up a little earlier than the first couple of days and then headed down to the river.  We boarded the boat and spent about 15 minutes just waiting.....I have no idea on what.  Then, we headed down the river....toward the Bay of Bengal.  Along the way, we got to see a few ferries, some fishing boats and saw the Sunderbans from afar.  About 30 minutes or so into the ride, Andrew asked us if we have our passports with us.  We all reply, “no” and then he informed us that the place where we boarded was actually a customs office for folks who were leaving this area heading into Bangladesh.  OK....well, hopefully we won’t be asked for them when we get back.  About 45 minutes into the ride, we turned around and Andrew showed us where the border of Bangladesh is.

After our refreshing river-boat ride (which, by the way, was the first time all week that I felt a little cool), we headed to the school for a late breakfast and then our time with the kids.  When we were eating breakfast, Brooke said that they had seen the interpreter that we had yesterday heading in the opposite direction when we were on our way to the school.  She wanted to make sure that it was, in fact, the interpreter and it was confirmed.  As the conversation about this went on, we found out that the interpreter said that he wasn’t going to come back because there was too much gospel presented during on Tuesday and since he’s Hindu, he wasn’t going to come back.  So, this is the setting that God provided today.....all of the children with 1 person to interpret!  OK.....well, we'll start off with teaching them a motion song in English and a game that Megan taught us, Streets and Alleys.  So, we split all of the kids into 6 groups (3 girls groups and 3 guys groups) and taught a lesson from Mark 9 on who is the greatest.  One of the other things that we did in our groups was that the kids taught all of us Americans a "motion song" in Bengali.  We had NO idea what they were singing, but we were supposed to add a little "extra" something to the motions.....it was interesting, to say the least!

After this, we went back to the church compound for a delicious lunch and a “quick rest.”  I have to admit, I was finally able to take advantage of the “quick rest” today and actually got a little nap in.  Then, in the afternoon, we were off to visit 2 more villages.

Our time in the villages was pretty much the same as Monday and Tuesday with the structure.  One the second village visit, the people of the village started asking us questions!!!  They were asking Mike and Brooke about their little girl and asking us different questions to find out a little more about who we are.  It was so refreshing because we had been asking questions to others all week long, so it was absolutely wonderful to have them asking us questions.  Then, Mike went back to the school to teach the pastors a little more while we went back to the church compound.

First village of Wednesday

2nd Village visit of Wednesday

Today, we had A LOT of various conversation about the gospel - just amongst our team.  We talked a lot about future opportunities in this particular area of the state and how these people are hungry for truth and they need more resources that are here.  We also talked with our partners a lot about how people in the US, at times, call themselves pastors, but have no true gospel.  OR, they have elements of the true gospel mixed with works or “feel-goodisms” or “name it and claim it” type thoughts/beliefs and how because they have something in addition to Christ, it’s still a false gospel.  One of the main things that were trying to illustrate is that there aren’t nearly as many true Christ-followers in the US as most of the world thinks.  There are a lot who give intellectual assent, but do not worship Christ above all else, which is something that I think that most people really don’t understand.

Later in the evening, at dinner, we got into a fun conversation about singleness.  YAY!!!  My favorite topic!  Mainly, we talked about how a lot of men in the US don’t know what it means to pursue a lady.  Along with that, comes the fact that most single men actually expect the ladies to make the moves....I’m just not OK with that.  So, as we were talking about all of these issues, Mike chimed in (and I’m he probably had now idea how great a compliment it felt) to say that I am using my singleness exactly the way that I’m supposed to use it......to make disciples in all nations.  At the end of this conversation, Andrew told us that he is certified to find me a husband and that he could actually arrange me a marriage!!  Definitely something to think about, huh?  HAHA!!!

All in all, it was a great day!  Can’t wait to do it again tomorrow!

Today is a new day....let’s see what we can do differently today in order to be effective....

So, last night we had to have a little discussion about the benefits/drawbacks of leaving the windows open so that we could have some air-flow in our room through the night.  The benefit - air flow.  The drawback - bugs bigger than you’ve ever seen in your life flying in the room and landing/crawling on you in your sleep.  We went for the unknown of leaving the windows open and risking the creatures invading our room.....which they did.  BUT, I was able to sleep about 2.5-3 hours at a time during the night, which was a welcome blessing and something that hadn’t happened since about a few days before leaving Birmingham.  Tuesday started a lot like Monday with devotion around 7:30 with chai and then breakfast immediately following.  Our breakfast this morning was different and consisted of bananas and eggs with a jelly sandwich.....Megan was pretty excited about this particular breakfast!

After the events of yesterday and our discussions, we realized that 4 hours is a LONG time to spend at the school each morning...especially with translation difficulties.  What we learned from Monday, though, was that we needed to hire an interpreter at this point.  So, what we had discussed was that Michael would take all of the boys with the hired interpreter and the 4 ladies would take all of the girls with Andrew as the interpreter.  We now had a plan and we headed out to the school around 10:15.  Once we got there, they all came into the worship room and we started off by singing a song or 2...one of which we taught them.  They LOVE songs with motion, so we taught them “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” with motions and all.  After this, we split into our groups and Michael took the guys outside while the girls stayed inside.  Yesterday, the boys stayed inside while the teachers we were with worked feverishly to keep us white-skinned people out of the sun to protect us and to help keep us a little cooler.

The groups are receiving their instructions

Once everyone had split up, we divided the girls into 4 groups - 1 for each lady leading the group and we discussed the story of the Prodigal Son.  Since we realized yesterday that they love competition so much, we gave them about 10-15 minutes to discuss the story in each group and then we asked them questions to test their knowledge.  For each question they answered correctly, they were able to roll the large die and then accumulate points.  They understood the story quite well - without the help of any adult....I think that they’ve heard this one before.  After we questioned them, we tested their ability to memorize the scripture (we had told them while they were in their groups to choose 1 girl from each group to represent the group in memorizing as many scriptures as they can).  Most recited 4-8 verses from the story, but what really floored us was that 1 girl recited 14 verses from the story!!!!!  14 VERSES......after only 10 minutes!!!!  Luke 15:11-24....again, 14 verses in only 10 minutes.  And, she didn’t simply tell the story from scripture, she recited the reference with each verse!!!  What a humbling experience to witness.....I doubt seriously that I would be able to memorize 5 verses with reference in an hour and this child was able to memorize 14 verses in 10 minutes WITH scripture references!!

Each group worked diligently to get the understanding of the story and to learn the scriptures

After this, we felt like it was time to add something of a lighter note, so we continued our competition in a pretty creative way.  I had brought some balloons to make some balloon animals, so Andrew thought it would be fun to teach the girls how to make balloon animals.  It was pretty fun, actually!  Each girl made a dog out of her balloon, then the competition was introduced.  All of the balloons were strategically placed around the room while each of us (leaders of the 4 teams) discussed with our teams instructions....left, right, down, forward, etc....  Then, each team leader was blind-folded and turned around a time or 3 and followed the instructions of the girls on the team to pick up as many balloon animal dogs as she could within a few minutes.  My group came in 2nd, but I was pretty impressed with the directions that they gave me.....part of me wants to argue the final results, but I will accept 2nd at this point.  Unfortunately, I can’t find any photos of this particular game.....I so wish that I could, though!

After we finished at the school, we headed back to the church compound, had lunch and were finally able to take a little advantage of the afternoon “rest” by catching a short nap during the heat of the day.

Playing the game of Snakes and Ladders

The telling of the story of the Prodigal Son to those
who stayed to visit more with us

After our rest, we went to visit 2 more hand-pump sites.  When we arrived at the first one, they were very welcoming to our information and our games that we played (same as the previous day with the river-crossing skit, then the lesson on microbes and the Snakes and Ladders game).  They got involved in the roll play and asked us to visit some of their houses.  Mike was asked to share a parable, but was told that he couldn't mention Jesus as there were about 30+ people present and we were in the open.  He told the story of the Prodigal Son and then followed up with questions which were very interesting.  We asked (well, Mike, on our behalf asked) if they had seen people like us before.  They said, "no".  Then, he asked, what makes us so different and they responded that they had not seen people with that "skin color and hair color” - I’m pretty sure that the hair color one was a reference to me as I was the only non-brunette in the group.  This is something that I’ve sort of gotten accustomed to since this was my 3rd visit to the country.....and, I’m a bit taller than most of them too.  We visited a few other houses in this village and then headed out to the second hand-pump site of the day.

One of the houses we were privileged to visit in the first village

Sunset view at the first village we went to on Tuesday

Praying with the ladies with whom we were able to share

When we arrived, it was already dark, so there were very few people present.  We saw the hand-pump site, which was right in front of a Hindu temple structure - I can’t explain the emotions that this brings up in a land where so many gods are worshipped, the One, True and living God is providing clean water to the people and they don’t even recognize it.  It takes me back to the Old Testament so often of how God’s glory gets misplaced and the worship that He alone deserves is given to earthly idols and man-made creations.  It’s Romans 1 lived out on a daily basis!  At this site, there were a couple of ladies present and they invited us in to their home.  Since we were in a home and the men of the home weren’t present, we had an open door to share the gospel with these ladies.  Heather shared the story of the Prodigal Son story with them. She followed the story by asking these ladies if they had ever heard of Jesus.  They responded that, yes, they had heard of him, from the Catholic Church.  They also added that he was one of the idols.  While we know that this was not the message of the Catholic church, this was the message that these ladies received.  So, we were able to follow this statement with explaining how Jesus is not simply another idol, but He alone has sacrificed so that we can have life and He demands all worship from us and He alone is to be praised and worshipped.....there is no other.  I was able to pray with these ladies in their home and the reality that they now have heard the truth of the gospel that God created the world; every human is corrupted by sin; God’s Son, Jesus Christ, was sent to bear the wrath of sin and to prove His power over death by His resurrection; all who believe on Him ALONE will be reconciled to God forever.  These ladies and those in their household have now heard the basic, simple truth that is the gospel and didn’t choose to follow Christ that night.  We will continue to pray for these ladies that God will open their eyes and draw them to Himself to give them forgiveness and restoration that can be found in no other idol on this planet.....not even in one of the multiple millions that are worshipped in India.

After this visit, we went back to the school property for a snack and then time with the evangelists.  Our plans shifted a little and Megan, Heather and I headed back to the church property while Brooke and Roshni visited to try and reduce some of the effects of the motion sickness induced by the heat and rather bumpy, swervy ride to the villages.  Megan, Heather and I decided to use our time as wisely as we could by washing a few clothes and taking care of a few other things before dinner.  When Brooke, Michael, Andrew and Roshni returned, we had dinner and then got ready for bed.

Things of the day that I found very hard to reconcile include:

• The image of Jesus as just one of many idols.  Since this is my 3rd trip to India, this is something that I’ve been introduced to each time, but I’ve never really had the experience of being in someone else’s home who views my Savior as simply 1 idol among many that can be worshipped.  It breaks my heart for them as it’s a clear picture that the god of this world is blinding the hearts of men to keep them from learning about the truth of the One, True God.
• There are hindu temples set up on the sides of the road by each house that we pass....some built of more sturdy foundations than the houses that they are in front of.  It is clear that more value is placed on worshipping a dead god/idol than building the structure that protects them from the rain, heat and scorching sun of each day.  Not only that, but they are completely devoted to the worship of these idols that have no value.  I don’t think that I can explain well the emotions that this brings out in me.

Today was another LONG, HOT DAY!!!!  But, after the day that God has ordained as today, I’m eagerly awaiting what He has in store for us tomorrow!!

Monday....we have A LOT to learn.....

So, Monday was a very event-filled day!!!  And, by very event-filled, I am not sure I’m describing that well enough.  First, this American is not accustomed to the level of heat that we had during the night, so I slept very little.....in no more than 2-hour increments at this point.  After an encounter with a few Indian bugs early in the night, we thought we had a great idea to keep our windows closed through the night in order to keep out the bugs.  I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried to sleep in an oven, though, but let me sum it up to say that it can’t be done!  Well, it can’t be done by anyone except Heather who has a gift that I can’t describe to sleep through ANYTHING for hours on end!  I must admit, I am so jealous of her at this point!  And, after waking up in the oven that we had created in our room, it never cooled down during the day.....it only got hotter.

Our morning started off as planned with devotion at 7:30, led by Mike and then breakfast around 8:30.  We talked about the plan for the day again and felt good heading into it.

We arrived at the school around 9:00 this morning and we introduced ourselves to the children and the teachers and then the teachers were introduced to us in the large group.  We handed out a few globes that we had purchased (basically a beach ball with the whole world on it) to show them where we were from and the route that we had traveled to be able to spend the week with them.  We were, after all, supposed to be "teaching" them English, so we incorporated this into our “lesson” (the funny thing to still think about is the fact that we were supposed to teaching someone English).

Then, we split into 3 groups led by Brooke and Heather, Michael (with the assistance of Andrew) and Megan and Louanne.  English teachers served as the interpreters for the groups led by Brooke/Heather and Megan/Louanne and Andrew served as the interpreter with Michael.  We taught the Bible stories that we had previously agreed to teach and had very interesting interaction with the kids......or, should I say, lack of interaction with the kids.  It was probably one of the most challenging experiences I’ve ever had with talking through an interpreter.  We would ask a question and the teacher would turn around and say something to the kids and come back with, “yes.”  I would respond with, “can they tell me why this happened?”  Then, he would say something to the children in Bengali and turn to me and say, “yes.”  Needless to say, a bit frustrating.  Then, we asked the children if they had a favorite story in the Bible to share with us and one child read the parable of the sower.....GREAT STORY!!!  So, that propelled Megan and me to go 1 chapter later in Scripture and read the parable of the sower explained and we expounded with questions to try and make sure that the kids understood and were met with the same challenges in the translation. Then, we decided to teach each other songs in our native language and play a few games.  We also had a snack time and simply tried to continue to build relationship with these amazing kids through the challenges we were experiencing.  We ended our time with the kids around 1:15 with a competition of various relay races and random running in the school yard (by the way, 4 hours is a LONG time when you’re having challenges with language).

The group that Megan and I were privileged to spend time with.

When we left the school, we took a little detour on the way back to the church compound and visited the river where Andrew pointed out the border of Bangladesh and we were also able to see some folks fishing and others simply going about their daily life of traveling by ferry and having lunch or rest.

Our team......taking full advantage of the photo-op!

After we took full advantage of a photo-op at the river, we returned to the church compound for lunch and a “short rest” in the middle of the day.  See the beginning of this post for a reference to the heat and then decide whether or not you think we were actually able to rest.  By this time, it was over 100-degrees Fahrenheit with a level of humidity I’ve never in my life experienced in the US!  So, that “short rest” was definitely short and not very restful.

Then, around 4:00, we received our 2nd coconut of the week (when we arrived on Sunday, we were greeted with coconuts to drink for their nutritious value....the people of this church took VERY good care of us making sure that we didn’t get dehydrated) and piled on 2 “village harley davidson’s” (in the daylight, I now have a much better picture of what this mode of transportation is.....envision a motorized tricycle with a large wooden pallet on the back) and headed to the hand pump sites.  The first one had been there only 1 month.  We introduced ourselves to the people there and then did a role-play of a river-crossing.  The whole purpose for this skit was to show the people that the inforamtion we were about to teach to them was not meant for them alone, but now that they know, they are responsible for teaching the others within the village.  We used pictures to help teach them about protecting their water from microbes and how to increase the sanitation at the hand pump site.  Then, we tested their knowledge by playing a game of “Snakes and Ladders,” which, by the way, they LOVED!!!  

The incredibly sketchy bamboo bridge that we had to cross 1 at a time in order to get to the first village.....Sunderban is to our right at this point.

The group from the first village that came out to be part of our visit and the teaching we were bringing.

The group that gathered from the 2nd village to meet with us

After this, we visited a home or 2 and then loaded up to visit village #2.  At village #2, we participated only in home visits to learn how they are using their newly installed well, which was 3 months old.  We asked questions like how many people lived in the homes that we visited, how much water they use per day and what they were doing with the water they pumped from the well (cooking and drinking are all that’s recommended for these wells).

Then, we packed back up and went back to the school building for training with the evangelists.  What we came to learn was that most of these evangelists are actually pastors and some had traveled from up to 1.5 hours away to take part in this training.  All of these men are being discipled by the pastor of the church that we are serving alongside this week.  Mike led this training with these men and began teaching them about the steps of salvation.  After this training was completed, we loaded back up on the village harleys and went back to the church compound for dinner and then bed time.  We were able to add a little debriefing time in there too.

This was an absolutely exhausting day!!  It was fantastic and I feel like we learned a lot - both about how weak we are and how much we can learn from the faith of the people we are going to spend time with this week!!  But, we are tired and sort of at a loss for what to do with these kids tomorrow.  We were able to talk with Andrew about the challenges with the interpreters and he said that the teachers actually felt the same way.  We also felt that maybe the children would be more open without the teachers present.....we shall see how the Lord works tomorrow!!

Kakdwip.....WE MADE IT!!!

"What good is it my brothers if someone says he has faith but does not have words? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and of you of you says to him, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."  -James 2:14-17

WOW......what a journey this has been just to get to this village.  We have been on 4 different airplanes (for a total of 20-ish hours actually in the air), flown through a few time changes (India is 10.5 hours ahead of Central time zone) and had a 3-hour car ride/race down the streets of Eastern India.  When we arrived for worship tonight, we were greeted by some of the children that are cared for by the ministry we will be working with and they gave each of us some precious flowers and a big hug when we arrived.....what a wonderful welcome!!

We were able to worship tonight with the children that we'll be spending the rest of the week ministering to and trying to build relationships with.  Michael delivered a great message to them about the conversion of Saul to becoming a Christ-follower, so this is a great place to set the stage for the rest of the week.

The plaque on the wall as you enter the worship room....I have no idea what it actually says, though.

When leaving tonight, we were told that we were going to ride the "village Harley Davidson" back to the place where we are staying.  Well.....um......I thought to myself, "I don't so much do motorcycles, can't we just walk?"  But, what I didn't know (because it was already dark) that by "village Harley Davidson," what he really meant was motorcycle propelled truck bed that we were all going to sit on.  Only after 1 person fell off of it (he wasn't hurt, though) and we had to stop about 3-4 times because something had to be adjusted underneath it, did everyone else realize that walking sounded like a great idea.  I sure am glad I brought that head lamp I had bought when I went to South Sudan last year.

We did finally get back to the place where we are staying and were able to discuss the day tomorrow and what our plan was.  In the morning, we'll spend time with the school children (grades 7, 8, and 9), then we'll have lunch, and in the afternoon, we'll visit a hand-pump site and them have some more time to spend with some of the children from the schools or other young evangelists in this village.

The building where the church worships, the kids have school and the boys' hostel (the place where we stayed was actually the girls' hostel).

It's going to be an event-filled day and let me just go ahead and tell you all that IT IS HOT!!!!  And, by hot, I mean HOT!!!!  We were blessed with a little surprise when we arrived, though.....we have power in the place where we are staying, so there are fans!!  I didn't know that they would be available, so this was definitely a welcomed pleasure.

Hoping to spread His Name and Renown this week while in India!