Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen
Ephesians 3:20-21
I started mentally writing this blog on Sunday, June 24, in the midst of all of our return travels. As I begin to type this, it is Wednesday, June 27. I have no idea when I will be able to post this, as I have spent the last several days processing my week in India.
People keep saying to me, "Tell me about India!"or asking "So...how was it??" and I have been unsure how to answer.
- "Life-changing" seems like the socially acceptable answer
- "Amazing!" seems like the obvious answer
- "Can't wait to go back!" is the answer my kids do not want to hear
Yes...India was, and is, all of those things. But that tells you so little of what actually occurred with the Angels and within the 27 of us that travelled there. So, while there is no way for me to put into words what we encountered over there, I will do my best!
The Lord will give strength to His people;
The Lord will bless His people with peace.
Psalm 29:11
India was my first mission trip. What a way to start with a bang huh?
After 32 hours of flying (including a "9 hour" whirlwind tour of London), this verse was ringing true in my mind. Even with the physical exhaustion, it was hard to peel my eyes from the streets of Patna.
Patna is one of the poorest, most populated cities in the country of India. As we drove the 45 minutes from the airport to the hotel, there was no shortage of sensory overload.
In the streets, even though there were technically two lanes, there would be a bus, two taxis and 6 motorcycles, going one direction. Dallas drivers have nothing on these guys!
It was not uncommon to see entire families crammed onto a motorcycle, veering in and out of traffic. No fear in their eyes (but definitely in mine...and I was on a bus!). The sound of horns honking is the only way to signify where an individual is on the road.
Surprisingly enough, we only saw one accident.
It's easy to forget about the little things over here. Like trash cans, stoplights, a solid roof over your head. All things I have definitely taken for granted...until one of them breaks. A full trash can makes your house smell...a broken stoplight can put you in stand still traffic for hours...a hole in your roof is an insurance nightmare.
How silly we are for being so ungrateful.
The first full day in India, we had a 2 hour drive to our orphanage. We drove through some of the poorest areas in Patna on our way to Paliganj. As we pulled to a stop, and the doors opened, I think that all of us could feel the weight of what was about to happen. A year in the making...from a vision God had placed on PT's heart, to the fundraising for the orphanages, God doing abundantly more than WE had envisioned, to this moment. We were about to put names and faces with the tiny orphans we had been praying for for months. And the thought was overwhelming.
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
John 14:18
This first orphanage was the hardest of the three to walk into. You could see the skepticism on the faces of the children as we entered their home. You could sense the hesitation, the hurt, the heavy hearts these children carried with them. It would have been easy to let my flesh take over...to run, to stand idly by and watch the others, to be selfish.
But I didn't leave my babies and fly halfway around the world to do and be those things. After all, this trip wasn't about me. This trip was about these Angels and what God was doing in our hearts.
Over the next day and a half, the stories came flooding over us on how these sweet babies came to live at this home:
- One little boy was found at 7 months old, in a trash bag, on the side of the road.
- Two little girls, sisters, were abandoned by their father. When they were young, their mother died, and when the father got remarried, he chose his new wife over his children.
- One little girl was found on the side of the road and was brought to the orphanage. The entire time we were there, her younger brother never left her side. When we asked about the brother (pictured below), we discovered that he was not staying there. All of our hearts were heavy for this little boy. After much prayer, and questioning, we found out on the second day that the pastor had opened up the home to this boy as well!
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The little boy in the purplish/grayish shirt is the one I spoke about.
Many of our group tried to get a smile on his face...with no success.
But by the time we left, he was smiling and fist-bumping like a pro! |
By the time we left, I think all of us left a little piece of our hearts with these Angels. While they did not understand English, they did understand that we loved them. They understood that we were praying for them. They understood that we have hope for their futures, for their lives to marked with greatness, for them to grow up and be world changers!
"The LORD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation;
This is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will extol Him."
Exodus 15:2
At the end of our second day at the orphanage, we drove straight from there to the airport to fly from Patna to New Delhi, and then immediately from New Delhi to Hyderabad. No one said this trip was going to be a cake walk!
Hyderabad was going to be different. You could tell immediately from the second we stepped off the plane. The airport was fancy...like what you would see in the states fancy. There was definitely still poverty in Hyderabad, but not quite to the extent that we saw in Patna.
We arrived at night in Hyderabad, and the city had almost a club like feel to it. Lots of lights surrounding their banquet halls, and people milling about the streets. One thing that definitely did not change, was the traffic. We had one of the locals inform us that if they were to follow the rules of the road, there would be many more accidents...so they chose to ignore the rules! So glad that doesn't happen here!
Idols were everywhere we looked. Statues and shrines built to one of the many gods that the Indian culture worships. There was also a larger Muslim population in Hyderabad then we saw in Patna.
The day after we arrived, we were off to tour the Galconda Fort. Typically, teams do not get any down time, but the orphanage we were visiting that day wasn't quite ready for us.
Such wonderful history throughout the fort, and after 360 steps to the stop, we were able to see breathtaking views of Hyderabad.
While Galconda Fort was beautiful, I know we were all anxious to get back on the road to see the orphanage!
This second orphanage was not one that our church built. It was built by Harvest Time Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas. They were unable to be at the dedication, so we stepped in for them.
What an honor to do it!
I have already mentioned that Hyderabad had a completely different feel than Patna. The orphanages did as well. The Harvest Time orphanage had 25 angels, a BEAUTIFUL church built across from the orphanage, and a pastor who absolutely loved his calling, and his city.
We were greeted with a huge banner at the base of the orphanage, that listed all of us by name. We were surprised that they knew who we all were! But as you can tell from the first picture, they weren't finished. Each child had been assigned an adult, and had a sign and a flower for each of us. My little girl was named Ruth. She was absolutely precious. Through speaking to her, I found out that she loved math and science (a girl after my heart!) and wants to grow up to be a doctor.
What struck me the most here, was the fire and passion behind what these children aspired to do with their lives. They recognized that they had been given an opportunity by being placed here. They didn't want to settle. They weren't willing to accept the sins that had been passed on from previous generations. This was a generation in India that wanted change...that wanted better...and they weren't afraid to tell you.
The angels here definitely drew their passion from their pastor. Pastor told us that if a church is built in a city, no one will come. What draws the people, is the orphanage. And he has big dreams for what is come. The second story of the orphanage is currently under construction, and his vision is to finish that floor and DOUBLE the capacity of the orphanage! That is huge!!
This orphanage fueled us to keep going through our exhaustion, on to our final location.
And this final orphanage is the one that stole my heart.
We visited Thumkunta, the home of Milestone's second orphanage, on Saturday...the day we were to leave India. Stephen, our liaison, told us that this orphanage was only about 60% complete, due to a shortage of sand. In my mind, I was disappointed. How were we to see the home, and the bond, between these boys if there was no home?
God has a funny way of setting us straight doesn't He?
I couldn't fathom how a "family" could form if there was no central location for all of them to come together. I was having a hard time comprehending how 50 boys could live together anyway! Wouldn't there be fighting, jealousy, competition, etc? God had a lot of work on His hands ;)
We pulled up to the orphanage, and were greeted by 50 young men, ages 9-17. They had a worship band performing, comprised of members of the pastor's church and his children. That would have been impressive in itself, but, they were singing songs that we knew! As I walked up, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of joy...the boys didn't need a completed house to express their gratitude.
You can see the progress of the home and the church in the above pictures. The church (the bottom two pictures) is the first church in the area in 400 years! That is crazy to think about when in Keller, there are literally 25 churches in a 2 mile radius from Milestone!
It was incredible to see the difference between all three orphanages. This orphanage was where we dream our first orphans will be in 5-10 years! The second orphanage, you could tell had passion, but were still in the beginning stages of coming together. This orphanage...this was family.
Speaking with the pastor's wife, she informed us that many of these boys have been living together for the last 5 years. When the boys first came to them, they couldn't speak English, nor could they even write their own names. Now, they are fluent in English, and they are at the top of each of their classes. She radiated pride for these boys and what they have accomplished...and her happiness overflowed into all of us!
These two boys stole my heart in India! On the left, is Akiel, and on the right is Bruce Lee (yes...that's right). Akiel grabbed my attention first, with his huge smile and chivalry. During worship, everyone climbed into chairs and our team dispersed through the crowd. I was on the end, where there wasn't a chair. Akiel looked at me, looked at his friend next to him, and told his friend to move so I could sit. I smiled and said it was okay, but he was insistant. He climbed into the chair (with his friend!) so that I could have a seat. When I had to get up a few moments later to help pass out bags, I asked him to save my spot...he eagerly agreed!
**** This is a side note, but one worth mentioning. I mentioned the pastor and his wife briefly at this location, but they were phenomenal! They had so much love and hope for these boys...and you could tell in how the boys responded to them. At one point, I was helping to blow up soccer balls, and the pastor's son came over (he couldn't have been older than 12) and asked if these were for the orphans. I said yes, and his face broke out into a huge smile. He thanked me and said that these would make the orphans so happy. I almost cried. ****
Akiel and I started playing soccer during free time. He didn't quite understand the sport, so we took turns kicking the ball and then racing after it to see who would win. Bruce Lee came over during this, and decided he wanted to play. Competition heated up a bit, and Bruce Lee would kick the ball away so that we could play...then Akiel would run back and kick Bruce Lee's ball away. After a quick talk about sharing (always a mom!), we agreed on Monkey in the Middle....which we proceeded to play for 20 minutes.
When it was time to leave, you could tell that all of us were having a hard time pulling away. This was the last time we may see some of these boys, and we were about to get on a plane and leave India completely.
I helped make sure that everyone got on the bus, and then climbed into a van with the Caswell's and the Wilson's. The boys immediately surrounded our vehicles to say goodbye. I opened the window to see Akiel and Bruce Lee frantically searching the bus to find me. I stuck my arm out the window right as they turned to the van, and their faces lit up and they reached their arms out to me as well. We yelled our goodbyes and we pulled away.
For the next 5 minutes, our van was completely silent...occasionally interrupted by a sniffle or a deep sigh. Our hearts were full and empty all at once.
"Life-changing" is one of the answers that we (students and leaders alike) have been saying. When one of my friends challenged myself and PT with what that meant, he explained it like this:
"Here, in America, we are so privileged by what we have. We have a lot of 'stuff.' Definitely not hurting for physical things. In India, these orphans have been living on the streets, begging for food, for a place to sleep, for clean water. But what they have that we don't have, is a fullness spiritually."
This trip took us to an entirely different level of what it means to be spiritually full...to lay hands on others and pray, to hear the Holy Spirit speak of what is to come for these angels, to see hope for the future, to put your faith into the unknown. To understand, by seeing first hand, Matthew 6:
31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.
That's the best way I can explain how this trip changed us all. I know for some of you, that was overkill, for others of you, you still can't grasp what I wrote. I completely understand...two weeks in, and I am still processing! But one last thing I do want to say, is thank you to everyone who prayed for us while on the trip, and for those who provided financially for my trip. You were a huge catalyst in the success of our India trip...so thank you.
