Since I returned from India a little over a month ago, I have been trying to distill and capture my impressions, emotions and experiences into a meaningful written snapshot. This has been a more difficult task than I expected as there has been so much to sort out in my own processing before I could write about it. Clearly this description won’t do justice to our three week experience, but I’ll try in the limits of a few paragraphs.
I didn’t expect to be overwhelmed by so many contrasts. The contrasts within India itself are great – not simply the cultural, economic and religious differences between East and West.
· The sights of women wearing bright jewel toned sarees and salwars walking on dusty, garbage laden streets.
· The aromas of fresh papaya one minute and cow manure/sewage the next. (well, the cow manure part isn't that much different than home--if you want to know the truth about it. It's just that we find that particular aroma in the countryside, not the city.)
· The hundreds of bright yellow “auto” rickshaws competing side by side on the streets with motorcycles, busses, cars and trucks, pedestrians, and cows (Oh and while riding in our bus, we were almost T-boned by a wayward cow coming from a side street at a gallop! He swerved and barely missed us.)
The biggest contrast was perhaps the overwhelming number of people. It was staggering beyond description. Over 7 million people live in metropolitan Chennai with over 2,200 people per square mile. It is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Bangalore has over 5 million people and is the third most populous city in India.
I didn’t expect to see a slum with 20+ children next door to the training center compound where we stayed. While we did invite the children over to play games in an attempt to reach them (in spite of a language barrier) I realized how much of the need for a Savior is bound to a complex system of oppression far beyond human intervention. Clearly the young girls between the ages of 11-14 appeared to be the mothers of the babies they carried on their hips. How does one begin to even think about the tangled intersection of spiritual darkness, poverty and overpopulation? What remedy is there but Jesus Christ alone who gives value and worth to every person.
I didn’t expect the generosity and hospitality of people I didn’t know. (One example is the perfectly formed small shell given to me by a poor man on the Chennai beach.) We easily made friends with out hosts, our home-stay family and several of the teachers at the schools where we went. I didn’t expect to have my heart deeply touched by the smile and hug of a Hindu orphan girl, at one of the schools we visited. I didn’t expect to see radiant smiles of the boys at the Boys Home as I showed them how to take photos of each other with my camera. I didn't expect to be served Indian coffee at every turn--and least of all -- I didn't expect to like it! (It's 40% chicory, 60% coffee, made with scalded milk and lots of sugar.)
As a team of 18 (16 students and one other co-sponsor) we prayed that people would see Jesus Christ in our performances and our lives. I asked myself “how much could we realistically accomplish in three weeks?” I have to be content with the answer that we may not know where the seeds that were planted will take root. We did meet young people who are spiritually hungry and are seeking to fill the God-shaped vacuum in their lives. And we trust that our ministry has provided an entrée for our hosts, Youth for Christ India, to begin Bible studies in the schools where young people are seeking to fill that void. Our schedule was a busy one: we presented 24 programs to about 13,000 young people. We also scraped, primed and painted the chapel at the YFC Training Center where we stayed.
So the story of our trip is still being written. I can report that we did witness God working in India. I am thankful to have been entrusted to a small role of a much bigger picture and to have been able to serve under and support YFC India. I read somewhere that Christians represent about 5% of Bangalore’s population. (Hindus 79%, Muslims 13%.) So now that I’m back at home, I have unanswered questions about all that being a global Christian means. Yet I can know and be confident that God is drawing Indian people to Himself in a myriad of different ways.
Do people return from short term mission trips changed people? I think they can be when they intentionally look for God to change and challenge them. I went to India with openness for God’s leading, wanting to be obedient to God’s direction, hoping that He would make a difference in someone's life through me. I didn’t go with a long list of personal expectations, although one of my main goals was to enable the students to have a bigger vision of God, his Kingdom and help them discover the necessity of and how they might live as global followers of Jesus Christ and to live for others more than self. (Yes, I know these are big goals!)
If there was a theme of the past 6 months--the preparations, the trip itself, as well as the culmination of thoughts about India, the ministry, the people, and resulting personal application -- it is the working out of the meanings of the words “compassion” and “gratitude.” Both have taken on new importance in my life. These two words: “compassion” and “gratitude” have come to the forefront of my life since I’ve been back because of what I have experienced and seen.
I think about and pray daily that I will have a heart of “compassion” and “gratitude” that overflows as a result of this trip. This plus the fact that my heart has been humbled even more as I understand the sacrifice Jesus Christ extended to me. It's because of Him that I’ve found I want to express a joyful life of compassion and gratitude.
This hasn't always been easy, quite honestly. There are people in our lives who are difficult to relate to and to love. But I recognize how I need to offer compassion and gratitude regardless of their response. People don't always respond in kind. They even reject our attempts in caring for them and offering what we have to give. And this trip reminded me of how I need to have Jesus' heart of compassion and humility. When people reject our attempts, when they pull away from a sympathetic touch on the arm, when the draw back emotionally, we have to keep offering compassion and gratitude in the face of that rejection. Because that is what Jesus did, too. He faced rejection by his best friends and the whole world and He loved them anyway. So, our scale is pretty limited in comparison.
My convictions for living in gratitude and compassion as central to daily life have fueled a passion for serving God in a fresh and renewed way. I don’t know where or how that will lead. I've just been taking it one day at a time. I don't want the India experience to be the sort of momentary spiritual "feel good moment" that evaporates a few weeks out. I don't know if or how people will see changes my life, but I pray that this heart change will extend to actions that will spur others to compassion and gratitude.
In case you can't tell, I've grown to love India! I've grown to love the lessons that God has taught me because He has shared more of Himself with me over the past months.
So that's my story. To God be the Glory!
No comments:
Post a Comment