Church this morning. Complete blessing. We showed up to that room full of kids to once again be greeted with beautiful smiles. They are adorable. Today, the pastor actually had us help him out in Sunday school with the older kids. He passed out coloring sheets to all the younger kids, and divided the older kids into two groups. He put me with one group and Erin with another...then he said "tell the kids something." Haha. Well, I had a shower of panic rush over my body, because I had no idea this would be happening. I asked if there was a topic and the pastor just said "no, you have free reign." All of a sudden I was sitting in a circle with about thirteen kids around the ages of 8-13 staring at me. Yikes! I have a thousand things to tell these children, but somehow I couldn't think of anything. I started by telling them one of the billion things that I've learned here in India. I spoke to them how beautiful it is to see them sharing with one another, for that is what we are called to do as brothers and sisters in Christ. I said that I have seen more love for one another in their actions than I have seen almost ever witnessed in my country. Somehow that transitioned into me reading Isaiah 42:16, which says:
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
And then I told them how precious that verse is to me. I told them that during a time of my life when things were very difficult, I held to this verse as God's promise to me. A promise that when I don't know what the future looks like, He will guide me. A promise that when life is dark, He lights up the way. A promise that when I think I'm alone, I'm really not, because He will not forsake me. I tried to encourage them that no matter what they encounter in this city or what they go home to, to hold tight to this promise. It was sweet to share with them. Then they asked if they could read out of my Bible. They only have the New Testament and were all starving to read a Psalm. It was amazing to see these kids pass the Bible around in a circle each reading a verse out of a chapter in Psalm. Thirteen voices piecing together to tell one story. That's what it's all about anyways. As a body we are many voices, but we are called to tell one story. The story of Christ. I just thought I was the Sunday school teacher today. Ha. I was actually the student.
Also, I just really need to give a follow up to a blog that I posted early in my journey here. When I first arrived I really battled how to handle all of the people begging on the street. I went back and forth between making eye contact or not...I tried to hard to dig into what doing so or not would communicate. What I have learned is that I am not called to pass by these people as if they are not there. Pretending as though they aren't there instead of giving a "false hope" in a glance (when I say this I mean in the context that, here, because I have white skin, it is believed that I'm incredibly rich...comparatively, I am...but it was hard to be perceived as such and actually not be able to be the person that is able to cure their poverty), isn't actually the best way to handle that. By doing so I'm declaring with my actions that they are not important, that they don't matter. And that's the biggest load of crap that could ever be stated...in words or actions. I was guilty of doing so in the beginning. I was so confused, but the Lord has been faithful to shed light on that. He was faithful in opening my eyes to what he wanted to teach me. Our God has a great love for those in poverty. Jesus didn't pass by them as if they didn't exist. In fact, he was one of them. The God of the universe who manifested himself on earth through the life of Jesus, the God who controls all, willingly chose to be born into an incredibly impoverished situation. Right there he made claim to what is important. And it's obviously a presence with those in poverty. The beggars, the tax-collectors, the prostitutes...all in a poverty of their own. Walking past them as though they don't exist is a sin. Outright sin. And failing to see that showed the blindness of my own heart. He is good to change us, to mold us, and to open our blind hearts to his all-seeing, all-knowing heart.
Another cool thing that I've learned from the people of India. Force-feeding is definitely the love language of these people. We have had the very fortunate experience of living with an Indian family, but with that has come the pressure to eat more at every meal than we would really chose to do. It's great, though. It's taught me a beautiful lesson. We are always taught that by giving we receive. That's something that is said all times of the year in America (and especially at Christmas, but primarily because everyone just wants to sell their product and make more money...and that's a different topic...and one the Lord is still unpacking for me). Anyways, what I've really learned here is what opportunity that we have to give when we are receiving. When I take a plate of food that is offered to me, one with amounts of food that I didn't get to dictate, I have been blessed. I have received. But it's a two-way street. The only way that they are in return blessed, in their giving, is by me thankfully receiving that. In India that means consuming all of the food and taking more every time it is offered. So, by receiving something, it is my duty/responsibility/opportunity to give to them. That meal, as I previously thought is all about me receiving, is really not about me at all. It's about loving them in their giving...and giving back, by thankfully and bountifully receiving it. It's such a neat thing. Neat little process, but also so neat to learn that things I previously saw were about me...really isn't about me. I'm not the focus. Which is so beautiful.
I will use this topic to share a few precious stories of moments that I have been blessed with when I have given chocolate to kids or older people. I mentioned the little girl named Minu. She sits outside the Tollygunge metro with her mom. They weren't there last week and I was sad to see that, but hoping it is because they are in a better situation. Anyways, that little girl dances when I open a chocolate bar and give it to her. She is so excited in that moment, and I am always the happiest girl walking away from that. And then on two other occasions I have had some really cool things happen. One is the other day I walked by this older lady holding this baby, and then realized even though her hand was out, I could totally give her a chocolate bar. I've yet to find an Indian that dislikes anything sweet. So I turned around and gave her the chocolate bar. As I was getting up, she reached up her hand and gently squeezed mine; she stared right into my eyes and smiled so big. It was a b-e-a-utiful moment. Indians have this thing where they can have a conversation without words...we had one...she said it all with her eyes. And then this past Saturday, I bent down and unwrapped this chocolate bar for a man that was begging, but he said no and pointed to his teeth. I told him it was soft (in Bangla of course, which was awesome to be able to do), but he still declined. But not without giving me some sort of blessing. It was so cute. He kept kissing his hand and then resting it on my head. He had so much love to give back, and he didn't even take anything. Sweet little old man. Gotta love it.
In other news, today we saw a funeral procession. It struck me in the strangest way. I had so much compassion for these people. This group of people was just pushing their way through the streets. Some carrying the body, others doing their best to get cars to move out of the way, and others just trailing behind. I hurt for them. Not only because they lost someone, whoever they are and whoever that person was...I don't know. But I was sad that they had to fight so hard to respectfully take this person, who was undoubtedly loved by someone, to, what I'm assuming was, their cremation ceremony...but not really succeeding. These people can never catch a break it seems. Always a fight. Always on the defense. Sad that this has been cultivated in their lives...because it doesn't leave. And life shouldn't have to be lived out like that.
Lastly, I'm going to fill the end of this blog with quotes from "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" by Ronald J. Sider. This book and the "Poverty" book I mentioned in an earlier blog have had more impact on my life and the way I want to live it than any other books than I have ever read. I will say that context is everything, so the fact that I've read them while submersed in this poverty-stricken nation could have quite a bit to do with it, but that doesn't give any excuses...for me not reading these books earlier and changing my life, or for the fact that it took these books to finally hold up a mirror to my life that showed me how wrong I've lived it...instead of the actual word of God. I will challenge anyone reading my blog to read these two books. Back-to-back. It's the combination that has opened my eyes, made me question life as it is lived, and give me ground to change it. I don't want to be the same person I was. I've seen, heard, and experienced things that have stripped me of any excuses for not understanding what the world outside of the affluent lives like. It's an incredible thing. A freeing thing. But will be a life-long battle. I'm not going to just easily deny what I've always seen as necessities or enjoyed, but it's going to be worth it. Because the one who believes all of it follows them after this life is over, is sadly mistaken. Again, I will state that I do not wish to condemn anyone in the way they are living it, merely question it. There's something better. And that something will be my life pursuit...I pray. I pray I never fall back into believing what I did for so long. But I will be the first to admit I will not, again I repeat, will not live it perfectly. I will fail...because I'm still stuck in this flesh. But it's all about seeking the Kingdom. Consumerism does something to one's soul. And I don't like what it's done to mine. Our team leader told us the other day: "You're ruined...just in case you don't know it yet. The American dream just won't cut it anymore."...such a great way of putting it to words. And here's just a few things, presented in the book, that have really struck me or I find to be incredibly interesting/ironic:
- In 1996, the World Health Organization reported that an annual increase in preventive care of 75 cents per person in the Third World could save 5 million lives every year. That would take less than $3 billion. Surely the people of the wealthier nations can find $3 billion to save 5 million people. The Nation Center for Health Statistics reported that people in the U.S. spend between $30 and $50 billion each year on diets and related expenditures to reduce their calorie intake.
- The dollar value of the food that North Americans throw in the garbage each year equals about 1/5 of the total annual income of all the Christians in Africa. It is a sinful abomination for one part of the world's Christians to grow richer year by year while our brother and sister ache and suffer for lack of minimal health care, minimal education, and even - in some cases - enough food to escape starvation.
- Dom Helder Camara said "I know how very hard it is to be rich and still keep the milk of human kindness. Money has a dangerous way of putting scales on one's eyes, a dangerous way of freezing people's hands, eyes, lips, and hearts."
- "That happiness is to be attained through limitless material acquisition is denied by every religion and philosophy known to man, but is preached incessantly by every American television set." - We don't even have to speak that we believe happiness is attained by limitless material acquisition, but we can be living as though we believe it.
- "The life of even the most degraded person is worth more than the most valuable possession." So the fact that every moment people all around the world are dying from preventable causes that would be prevented if you and I lived a little bit less luxuriously and counted their lives to be worth that "sacrifice" (which really isn't a sacrifice, it's a responsibility), and stepped in to prevent those deaths. But we don't see them suffering, we don't see the lives lost, so it never really hits us...stop living in blindness...start living as if they are all on your doorstep.
- This is "not a heavy burden. It is an invitation to joy and meaning in life, an occasion for blessing our neighbors, and a wondrous opportunity to be a coworker with the Lord of history."
I could go on, but I'll stop there. I'll probably be blogging about all of this later, because the Lord has greatly changed my heartbeat concerning all of this.
I'll leave you with a story, and a quote...
"John Newton was a captain of a slave ship in the 18th century. A brutal, callous man, he played a central role in a system that fed thousands to the sharks and delivered millions to a living death. But eventually, after he gave up his career as a captain, he saw his sin and repented. His familiar hymn overflows with joy and gratitude for God's acceptance and forgiveness:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me;
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.
We are participants in structures that also contribute to the suffer and deaths of millions of people. If we have eyes to see, God's grace will also teach our hearts to fear and tremble, and then also to rest and trust. But only if we repent...there are no substitutes for the kind of deep, inner anguish that leads to a new way of living."
Beautiful isn't it? I never knew the life behind 'Amazing Grace', but there was one. Redemptive grace is an incredible thing.
"We could refuse to let our affluent world squeeze us into its consumeristic mold. Instead, we could become generous nonconformists who love Jesus more than wealth." You have that option. Just in case that hasn't ever been spoken to you.
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