At a birthday party at one of the
orphanages.
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The adventure of India
began before I left. The weeks coming up to the trip were, with a lack of a
better word; stressful. With many areas of my life causing emotional stress,
plus the feeling of being overwhelmed, caused me to long to be in a place where
I could spend alone time with my Savior. I wanted to be away from the noise. I
wanted to find a quiet place and spend hours with God alone. This trip to India
was more than a blessing that completely fulfilled my hearts desire.
I feel rested and at peace. But that was after the adventure of coming to
India.
The day that I was to
travel to India happened to be the same day I had planned an event for my
students and the children from the orphanage. I had awoken up at 5:30 am
and had been busy preparing for the day/ my travels. In the morning, the
children from the orphanage came and played soccer with my students.
The children had a blast and it was a great connection/ meeting for all the
children; however, I was already feeling exhausted as I quickly changed
my clothes and headed to the airport.
Understanding the state of my exhaustion will explain some of the decisions I made later that were not thought through. On my plane to Dheli, India, I sat next to an Indian man who was very kind. He bought me a lunch and it was clear he had no hidden intentions for being so nice to me. (blessed!!) We discussed my plans in India and I told him that I would be taking the over night train to Dhera Dun on the Sleepers Class (lowest class possible). He told me it would be life threatening to take that train. (Later I learned that he may have been a bit dramatic; however, at the time while traveling alone in India, those two words were enough for me to start praying). He decided he would try to help me buy a plane ticket instead. We tried to upgrade my train ticket, but that was impossible. Thus, we found a plane that would leave at 6:30 pm (INDIAN TIME-a concept that basically means, it will happen when it happens…) At 7:45pm, an announcement came that our flight will be delayed. (Hmm.. I figured!) Needless to say, I arrived in Dhera Dun very late in the night. While on the plane, it finally dawned on me that the people that would meet me at the train station won't know that I have arrived early and I had no way to get a hold of them. I began to feel afraid. I got off the plane and was heading towards a taxi when two men overheard me talking to the taxi driver, they were gladly trying to escort me to their car. Of course, I am no fool and would have NEVER jumped into a car with two men, but the taxi driver was not giving me a straight answer and so I began to feel uneasy and uncomfortable. Then, a man from London appeared and told them I was his daughter, then he asked me where I needed to go and I explained the situation. He gave me a ride.
The 1.5 hours (I didnt realize that the airport was THAT far from the train station) in the car consisted of him and I talking about God and Christianity, as he was a self-proclaimed Atheist. Nonetheless, I was immensely grateful for the lift. He found me a nice hotel and even paid for my stay there! I thought all my problems were gone! Until… around midnight, as I was tossing and turning on the hard bed, there was a loud knock on the door. I ignored it. But it was followed by a "ma'am, open the door please. This is room service. I need you to open the door so I can give you what you need…" This went on for 20 or so minutes. I kept sticking to my guns, "NO, I WILL NOT OPEN THIS DOOR. I DO NOT NEED ANYTHING. PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE." Finally, they left. But I could not sleep. I was so afraid! I prayed hard!
The next morning the hotel
called me, "Just wondering if you need room-service?" They
asked. I said, "no… but… did you send someone here last night?"
They responded with, "Oh no, I am sorry ma'am but we do not come during
the night." Ok. Glad I didn't open that door!
After this crazy beginning,
I realized how much I can trust God. SO MANY bad things -could- have happened
to me, but HE took care of me. Sounds nuts, but I feel it was a great start to
my trip in India. In India, I was serving under the care of some Russian
foreigners. I heard so much Russian, that sometimes I wondered "Did I come
to India or Russia?!" They were so kind and wonderful hosts though and I
felt more than blessed to meet dedicated missionaries.
Some of the amazing people I served
with while in India.
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They asked me to teach the
Indian staff from the 5 orphanages English, as they do not
have opportunities to learn English like the children do. I
happily served and cannot express in words how much fun it was to teach
English to such low beginners! I hope God opens a door for me to do this
again in the future in Nepal.
Of course, I also spent
time with the children for birthday's, crafts, and sharing my testimony.
During one of my classes with the
Indian staff at the orphanages,
they were very grateful to be learning English. |
The children and Indian
staff blessed me more than I could have ever blessed them and I left loved and
accepted by all the wonderful people I served with/ for.
I would like to take a
moment to thank God for this time of rest. Dhera Dun is not polluted, and I
really needed a break from the smoggy Kathmandu valley.
Sharing my testing with some of the
girls at one of the orphanages.
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Now, I am back in Kathmandu
and I feel rested and ready to serve as I continue to wait for God to open
the door for the next season of my life in Nepal, I am still teaching at the
international school, going on prayer walks, teaching/ serving
at an orphanage here, occasionally serving at the slums, and of
course LEARNING NEPALI. (Please continue to pray for all the children that I
teach/ care for and for my Nepali learning, it is not as easy as it looks to
become fluent in a second language- one day I remember all the words
the next day, it feels like my brain has been wiped of every Nepali word!)
Please, please, please pray!
This is Deepak, I met him at one of
the orphanages in India; however,
he is Nepali so I was able to practice speaking in Nepali with him. :) |
Also, I have an additional
prayer request- I feel like God is calling me to do something (which I
will disclose later) which would bring some big changes in my life, please pray
for clear discernment.
Thank you so much for all of your support and encouragement! God is a great God and I am grateful to be here, as well as being grateful for all the people around the world who support me- with prayers, finances and words of encouragement.
