India

After returning from a short term mission trip to India in August 2012, my mind was full of all kinds of thoughts – about India, about orphans, about lepers.  About brothers and sisters in Christ coming together and transforming from individuals into a team.  About short term missions in general.  About spiritual confusion and spiritual warfare.  About humility.  Too much for one post …

So here are some highlights, with more thoughts perhaps coming later.

Some of the things I’d heard about India proved to be true.  To say there is an abundance of sights, sounds and smells would be an understatement.   It’s true that there is an almost constant stench of human and animal waste – but then you’ll catch a whiff of richly spiced food or chai tea and it’s wonderful.  It’s true that there is trash everywhere you look, and dust, and dirt – but in the midst of that are exquisitely colored saris and punjabis.  Car rides are punctuated by “I love those colors together” or “look at that one”.  Horns honk constantly and peacocks squawk.  Cows do wander the streets, often deciding to lie down and rest in the middle of the road – and traffic detours around them.  Driving is an adventure – and not something I could ever imagine mastering.  Lanes are mere suggestions, two lanes are wide enough for three or more cars, the oncoming lane is up for grabs if it’s empty.  We referred to it as video game driving or “Tetris” driving.  But after the initial shock, you realize there’s a certain efficiency to it.

So India engages the senses.

It’s also a place of spiritual confusion, where inanimate gods are given honor and children are dedicated to them.  And although it is not illegal to be a Christian in India, believers are often persecuted.  The first few nights seemed to bring an unusual number of fear-based dreams and experiences to the team – reminding us of the fact that the enemy notices when light invades darkness and causing us to step up in the authority we have in Christ to overcome the enemy, to dismantle his ability to invade our space.  Team members took steps of courage and faith, they shared vulnerably, they loved well – and heaven invaded earth.

And in this setting, we met amazing people.  Victor and Simini, a married couple who run the orphanage and whose generosity of spirit make it a family.   There’s Sapna and Lincy, Victor and Simini’s sisters, who are also giving their lives to this call.  The 29 children they treat as their own captured our hearts, probably forever.  To worship with them on a Sunday morning is to be blessed beyond measure.  My children’s ministry heart soared as the children shared testimony and praise and prayer right alongside the adults.  And when the children prayed over us on the last day … there are not words to describe what that was like.

Then there are the women at the leper colony, catching us off-guard by how funny they are and how much they laugh.  Wonderfully feisty older women who loved having their nails painted, making thread bracelets and playing hand clapping games.  Where a lack of common language did not seem to matter. 

And the pastor who has spent his life ministering in the slums, enduring the persecution of his family as he leads a small congregation in the midst of Hindu territory.  His humility and steadfast obedience to a hard call make me so aware of the places in my life where a sense of entitlement or a desire for personal glory have not been completely rooted out.

One of the concerns about short term missions is that teams come in and then they leave.  But on this trip I was invited into existing friendships, especially with the orphanage.  The children remembered the team leaders from last year.  The adults at the orphanage have been Facebook friends with the team leaders, and now with me.  Throughout the week, the team women would sit with Simini and Sapna and realize we were talking about and joking about the things that we talk and joke about with our girl friends back home.   The tears shed as we said good-byes were the tears shed as friends say good-bye for a period of time.

What does it mean that my heart is now linked to India?  To these children?  To these brothers and sisters in Christ?  I don’t know yet.  But I’ll be asking the Lord to speak into that in the days and weeks and months ahead.

Note: In the years since this trip, I’ve taken groups of World Race parents to India twice. While I have never felt a long term call there, I do feel heart tugs at time and nudges to pray.