After two weeks of wrestling with the Indian embassy Corban and I finally have been reunited with our team! We have had the blessing of partnering with a well-known and well-established man of faith, who has taken us to many places of distinct culture and tradition.
First of all, our team had the opportunity to visit a seminary started by one of our host’s close friends. When we arrived, per usual, we were placed in front of a classroom, instructed to teach(though we have no theological training), and told that we are leading worship! We all practiced our well-verses skill of “winging it“, a skill we acquired very fast on this trip, and let the Spirit lead! We have also gotten the opportunity to visit a nearby men’s rehab center, drive into the mountains to a Christian school developed in an unreached village, and take a trip to a church formed naturally out of a community health initiative.
India has been encouraging, challenging, and very eye-opening in many different ways. I have seen some sites that have made my heart ache like never before…
One experience I will never forget is a man we met as we were on a walk in the mountain village we visited. As we were walking we came upon this very small cement shed where there was a man sitting over a fire. When he saw us he invited us in for tea, and of course we accepted. We sat there in silence as this man collected from the few items he had and treated his guests. As this happened I was touched by this man’s kindness to three random foreigners, and I was convicted of not showing the same kindness to others back home. We came back to his home the next day, gave him a Bible, and prayed over him. This is powerful because he is a Baba: a Hindu who leaves their family to seek oneness with the gods.
Another sight I will never be able to unsee is a man with a wound so deep that you could see the bones in his leg. Flies were swarming all over his infected wound. He was begging for money on the side of the road and no one seemed to give a second glance. The saddest part is that his family is choosing not to treat him to make more money, because there is actually free healthcare available.
It has been shocking to see how fatalistic India’s world view is. Those children who are kidnapped to beg for money on the streets, those women with a starving babies in her arms, they are all results of “bad karma”. The view is that they got what was coming to them, so it’s their fault they’re suffering.
I say all of this to you to stress the importance of the hope that we carry. God does not turn you over to a cycle of despair, He says that He will set the captives free. He does not walk past the downcast begger, He touches them and heals their innermost wounds. Those who accept the beautiful atonement of Jesus Christ are carriers of an everlasting promise. This is what we are called to proclaim to the world.
