India: Scenes From a Rickshaw

These pictures all consist of extremely common sites seen here in India. 

These are just the ones I was able to capture from the inside of an auto rickshaw. 

"bike hauling"

"bike hauling"

7 deep in an auto

Common monsoon garb

India: The Daily

I leave India in 2 days, which is crazy. 

The truth is, there really is no way to blog about all I have seen and done. 

Words and pictures wouldn't do the experience justice. 

Every morning I wake up having no idea what the day will hold.

 As a type A personality who loves to plan, it has been by the grace of God and His grace alone that I have been totally ok with not knowing what's going on.  

There hasn't been much of a daily routine here. Each day is different, so I'm just going to highlight some of our activities and share pictures and thoughts about some special moments I've experienced and the sweet people that I've met. 

If there are absolutely no plans for the day, then we go out somewhere in the city - whether it be a mall or a park - meet people, and share with them. I've never experienced anything quite like it. It's exhausting and joy producing all at the same time. In doing this, we have been blessed in meeting some really awesome nationals. 

This is Shraddha and her family. 

We met her at the mall. She invited us into her home, and we ended up spending the whole afternoon there. She fed us a delicious, home-made lunch. Then we played with her super cute kids, got to talk some, and played games. 

This was our first time invited into a home here. It was incredible.

One day we went to a park and stumbled upon this group of women having a meeting. None of them spoke English, with the exception of a couple who barely spoke broken English. We played a game with them, ate some somosas (fried Indian street food) and drank some chai. 

Oh, and of course we took pictures with them, per their request. 

After we left the group of women, we found 2 college students that spoke great English. We got to have an awesome conversation with them. 

The girl on the far left in this next picture is a national believer and served as a translator for us. Her mom graciously had our whole team over for dinner. After dinner we did some dancing and then had a sweet time of worship together. 

It was unbelievably refreshing to spend time in the home of a family who follows and loves Jesus. 

The kids here in India are so so cute. 

Seriously, all of them. 

It's been good for my heart to get to love on some of them. 

This is a picture of the top of one of the malls. It's one of my favorite places to meet new people. It's a top hang out place for college students, most of whom speak English, which is a win for us.

Every Friday night is gender night. The girls typically have dinner together, share with each other where we're at spiritually, and discuss a topic from the Bible. 

I'm really thankful for these girls and the way the Lord has sanctified me on this trip through them. 

This restaurant that we ate at is on top of our hotel. 

It's awesome. I mean look at this sweet view of the city!

It's a team favorite for sure. 

Here are some pictures from another park. 

We only got to visit this park once, but it was one of my favorites. 

Especially because of the lesson that I learned there. 

Katie, Lani, and I were walking around the park trying to meet people. 

We were tired. We couldn't find anyone who spoke English. 

I honestly didn't want to talk to anyone about Jesus. 

To sum it all up, we were pathetic. 

We sat down and tried to preach to ourselves. I felt unsuccessful in my half-hearted attempt at doing so. Somehow, we picked ourselves up, and, dragging our feet, went to go try again. 

The rest of our time there can only be described as grace. 

I definitely deserved to be punished for my rotten attitude toward the work to which I've been called, but that is far from what happened. We met a girl our age who was very open to the gospel, then met a family of believers who we got to pray with, then got to share again with a group of three women. 

Amazing, amazing grace. 

God doesn't need us to accomplish His vision of bringing a people to Himself, of having people from every tribe, tongue, and nation gathered around His throne, proclaiming and worshipping His holy, holy name. But He chooses to use us, in spite of us. For the first time I'm recognizing what a gift it is that we get to be a part of something so glorious. 

Most days are fun, all days are tiring to some degree, but there was one day that will forever stick out in my mind as being especially painful and exhausting. 

The girls were invited over to the house of a girl that Olivia and Heather had met while out. 

Her mom is a beautician and wanted to give the white girls make-overs. 

The events leading up to going to her house were hard and frustrating, putting me in a sourish mood.

Then when we met up with her, it was all downhill. 

She was very pushy. 

The situation was uncomfortable on multiple levels. 

We were basically treated like toy dolls. 

They squeezed us into sarees and put more makeup on our faces than I knew was possible. 

I was given a dog collar of a necklace and earrings so heavy they had to be clipped to my head.

Then we took more pictures than ever before. 

But we tried to keep our spirits high. 

We laughed at ourselves.

We got some cute pictures, even though we look like clowns. 

We encouraged each other, spurred each other on. 

It made for an...interesting memory. 

We've since been able to hang out with this girl some more. Olivia and Heather have done a great job of loving her, and she's gotten to hear the gospel multiple times. 

Surrendering to this culture for the sake of the One who surrendered it all is far from easy, but may we count Jesus worth it. 

After about three weeks here, monsoon finally hit, and it hit full force. 

After 24 hours of rain, this was what the roads looked like.

The drainage system here isn't great, so all of the water pools at the lowest places in the city. 

I actually really like the rain. 

It cools everything down, gets rid of the dust in the air, and there isn't any thunder or lightning. 

It's like the perfect summer rain.

It also causes some pretty funny sites. 

There are so many other things that I've seen and done and learned. 

Most of them I haven't even begun to process. 

But this I know with all my heart: I would not make it through a day here without Jesus. 

I've seen and felt my need for Him like I never have before. 

He is the only remedy for my prideful heart and sin-tainted thinking.

The fact that He bled and died on a cross for me while I was His enemy amazes me. But what really blows my mind is that He also knew the many, many times I would turn from Him, wander back into sin, forgetting the cross. He knew that fully and yet He still died. He still opened up the eyes of my heart and saved me. Praise God that Jesus rose again, and that that same power gives me freedom and victory over my sinful flesh. Praise God that His grace and loving-kindness towards me is abundant. 

Hallelujah, all I have is Christ.

India: Heartbreak and Hope

I really can not believe that I have been in India for over a week!

When we arrived to our hotel, we had lunch there together.

The hotel staff is so sweet to us!

And the food is incredible! We all ate our fill and then some, with a lot still left over.

The next day we traveled to Ujjain. 

Here's some pictures from the ride there and walking to the main temple. 

This is outside of the temple. We weren't allowed to take our phones inside. 

Ujjain is one of the holiest Hindu cities in India. There are many temples here, and people travel from all over the country to come to Ujjain and worship. 

We went to one of the major temples there. First we went into a main room where we filed into a line. We were the only white people there, but here no one seemed to care about that. The people around us were pushing and shoving in order to get to the statues of their gods. Once there they poured flowers and milk onto the gods. We then walked in to an open courtyard. In the middle housed Hindu gods, and the entire perimeter of the area contained smaller versions of the same gods. Each housing had bells on the front that people were constantly ringing in order to wake up their gods. 

I had a couple of thoughts about the whole thing.  

1. Even though we were in a different country, and a very different culture, these people were people, with needs and desires just like me. They had traveled from all over to bless these gods in order to meet and fill their needs and desires. I, too, often seek out things to meet my needs and desires -- school, acceptance, praise from other people, you name it. But for them, for me, and for every human on this earth, Jesus Christ is the only thing that will truly meet every need and fill every desire of my heart.

2. Throughout the entire Old Testament the Bible talks about people worshipping false gods made from wood and stone. For the first time in my life, I really and truly saw that being done. 

Ujjain was definitely a lot to take in.

 It was like nothing I have ever seen before. 

Like many things here, I'm thankful for the experience.

After we left the temple we went to a river where people wash themselves in order to cleanse their sins.

As soon as we walked up, some little girls ran up to me, speaking rapidly with sweet voices in a language I only know a few phrases in. It killed me that I couldn't speak with them freely. My heart ached for these girls in a way I wasn't really expecting and can't describe with words.

I asked our translator to ask the one in the pink why she was here, hoping to be able to share with her the good news of Jesus. An older Indian man came up and told the translator that she was a poor girl from a poor family and had just come to the river to have fun. 

Something about that girl just broke me, and I lost it.

 I tried to control the tears, I really did, but they came in spite of my fight to choke them down.

 Maybe it was the buildup of all the things we had seen that day coming to a climax. 

Maybe it was solely the thought of that precious girl growing up in a terribly broken place. 

Maybe it was the realization that there are so many more like her who have never even heard the life-giving name of Jesus Christ.

Whatever it was, it tore me up. 

I gathered myself together and we headed back to where we're staying. 

On the way back we stopped by a road-side store, and I had my first cup of chai in India.

I assumed it wouldn't be my last. Thankfully my assumption was correct.

Scenes from a rickshaw

Monday we did a scavenger hunt to try and get to know the town that we're staying in. 

Here are some pictures from a couple of places we went. 

The sign about the elbow is oh so true

The chai here was really good, but the conversation was even better. By a series of events that could have only been ordained by the Lord, we ended up sitting with these two for about an hour and a half.

They are college students, and their English is great, which is pretty typical of most people here around the age of 20. We learned all about what they are studying and what they believe. We also got to share what we believe with them. 

While these conversations do and should happen in the States, it is a totally different experience here.  Most nationals are genuinely interested in what we have to say. When they hear truths that they have never heard before, like the fact that three days after Jesus died, He rose from the grave, their immediate expression of shock and wonder never gets old. 

I am hoping that Katie and I have found a friend in Monalisa, and that we can hang out with her more while we're here. Our conversation with them was rejuvenating. We all walked out of that chai bar feeling refreshed and full of hope. 

After the scavenger hunt, we came back and played some card games, which was super fun. 

I'm always down for a good card game with friends. 

Then our whole team had dinner together.

We ate on top of a roof. It was probably one of the coolest atmospheres I've ever eaten in. 

This team is a blessing beyond belief. 

Laughter and love are abundant in this group. 

Cheesy, but oh so true. 

Please continue to pray for us. 

Pray for health. Our poor American stomachs haven't quite adjusted. 

Pray for energy. The days are long and full here.

Pray for unity, that dissension wouldn't creep in. 

And pray that we could love this culture and these people with a deeper love, for the sake of our beautiful Savior, to the glory of our wonderful God.