lessons

First things first, I was vague in some of my blogs about places and names of people. This is because India's government is one that offers "freedom of religion" but not freedom of conversion. Names and places were withheld to keep people safe.

Things I learned while in India:

1. Prayer is powerful. So often I forget that.

2. God is mighty. I have seen him heal his people.

3. There is a difference in being a nice person and being a Christian. A friend once said "if we aren't bringing people life, we may as well be bringing them death." Think about that. Let it marinade a little.

4. Don't put yourself in a box because you are indirectly putting God in a box. He wants to use you, so you must believe and not question that.

5. God's plans might be different than my plans. I went over to India to work with former prostitutes but ended up working with preschoolers and young women . It's not what I expected, but I loved every minute of it.

6. Leave nothing behind. I learned more about urgency and how important it is to "give it all you got."

7. I am not bound by my insecurities. This summer I realized how much my insecurities affect me and how often I buy into different lies I have believed before. God loves me and created me in His image. I am defined by that and not by how I have been hurt in the past or anything else.

8. I have known true love

9. Don't prostitute your heart out to other people or things. God wants all of your heart, and He wants you to turn to him for love.

10. If you want to love God more, you must seek to know Him more.

oh, india

The things I love, hate, or have observed about India:

(in no particular order)

1. Bus rides to Birla--super packed. I especially enjoyed when people would make comments about how much room the foreigners were taking up, or when the "bus boys" (men in charge of getting everyone on and off the bus) would yell "get outside" or "most welcome next time" as we got off.

2. Bus names-- Madonna and Infant Jesus, to name a few

3. The bus boys yelling the destination of the bus-- they yelled it super fast and a lot. An example would be yelling "Bogmallo, Bogmallo, Bogmallo, Dabolim, Airport, Bogmallo" in under 5 seconds.

4. The cows, pigs, goats, dogs and other animals that were everywhere.

5. People peeing or squatting on the side of the road

6. squatty potties-- best position for bowel movements

7. The head bobble-- a slight bobble of the head back and forth several times. It's meaning is, well, whatever you want it to mean. Yes, no, maybe, I don't know, I don't care, it doesn't matter...

8. Driving-- honking to tell people to move, to tell people you are approaching, or to tell people not to come into your lane (though lanes don't really matter)

9. Indian hospitality-- it's not uncommon to be invited into an Indian home, served chai or coffee, and given special treatment.

10. Eating with your hands-- yes, they have utensils, but eating with your hands is a rather fun task.

11. Temptation milkshakes. Enough said.

12. Indian TV/music/music videos/dances/Bollywood movies

13. Chai and coffee every morning

14. The smell-- a mixture of several different smells. It is not uncommon to get a "whiff of India" at a moment's notice.

15. No toilet paper-- yes, they have some for sale, but more bathrooms are equipped with a spigot and a bucket so you can use water to wipe (with your left hand, of course).

16. Having to get 2nd and 3rd opinions on directions. If a person head bobbles when you ask if they know where such-and-such a place is, you should ask someone else.

17. Men showing affection with each other-- men often hold hands with each other or put their arms around each other while walking down the street. Bromance is everywhere.

18. The humidity in Goa that causes everything to mold and smell of mildew. Washing clothes actually made them smell worse. True story.

19. The mosquitoes.

20. Cars play songs when they are reversing.

21. Auto rickshaw rides through the city.

22. Mixed fruit jam, blueberries, antioxidants, and the man that talked about it on the bus.

23. The Messi Pepsi ads that were everywhere.

24. The sign language the preschoolers used to tell us they had to go to the bathroom: one finger means number one, and the upside down claw means number 2...

25. Calendar time at the Birla preschool-- "Today is Wednesday, 18th of August 2010."

"Brush your teeth after eating" is my favorite tidbit of info the preschoolers were taught.

26. Listening to the preschoolers respond with "I'm fine, thank you" after you ask how they are. On the occasion, this was also the response to "I love you." They were a little confused sometimes.

27. Sometimes people on the bus would play American music out loud on their phones just to hear us foreigners sing along.

28. Listening to Hindi music on the buses, while lights in the front of the bus flashed.

India is great. What I love most about it is the people.

overdue

I wrote this post after returning from India on August 1. However, I forgot to post it. So here is is, along with 2 other posts I wrote around the same time.

I was unable to access internet during our last two weeks in India. I did, however, want to update about them.

Our last week of ministry (July 19-23) was great. I was able to see and say goodbye to the preschool kids, Peace and Kitty, and the women.

Sunday was the best day ever. Three other teammates and I went to teach Sunday school for the last time. It was so sad. I see so much hope in those kids and have been so blessed by them. One of the Sunday school girls invited me to her house the previous Wednesday, and I learned that while she believes in Jesus, her mother believes in the Hindu gods. It blows my mind how dedicated some of these kids are, without support from their families. Anyway, Sunday school was great. It was hard to say goodbye to those kids, though.

After Sunday school, the four of us had lunch with an Indian woman. She invited us to her shop because she wanted to prepare lunch for us. It was such an honor that she wanted to do that for us. She is someone I grew very close to over our time there, and I was blessed by the love she showed us that day.

All right, so there is a game in India called Classic Carroms. It's great. Jess and I had been talking the cook at the guest house we stayed at, we'll call him Trey, and a worker at the guest house we stayed in, we'll call him Ray, about playing Carroms together. Ray and I were on a team, and Jess and Trey were on a team. With both claiming "I am the best," Jess and I thought the teams were evenly matched. However, Jess and Trey blew Ray and me out of the water. But we all had a blast. Cameron, another teammate, joined in on the second game.

Shortly after, Jess, Cameron, and I went to Hindi church. I love going to Hindi church. God is great and it's awesome to see him be worshiped by brothers and sisters around the world.

Too many other things happened that last week, but all in all, I had an awesome time.

India is amazing. It's people are my favorite, and I will never forget them.