Little Voices

My job on this trip is videography. When Russ and Alice extended the invitation for me to return with AIM, it was specifically to be a documenter of events. I love doing this. My passion is to see video and media used in a way that glorifies God and furthers His kingdom, but sometimes it can be difficult to know when to turn the camera off. 

The videographer in me says, "Don't put it down for one second, you might miss the perfect shot." But the editor in me says, "You're going to have to go through all of this footage two or three times, only shoot what you know you can use." I usually can find a happy balance in between.

For instance, last night (Monday night) we were able to visit the homes of some of Babu's church members. It was remarkable. One room homes, most about 8 foot wide by 12 foot long. But as small as these little homes were the owners were very proud of what God had provided for them. 

So I kept my camera on. 

Mostly I took still shots. At first in the people's homes and then of the crowd of kids that we drew walking through the little "streets." (The "streets" were only about 3 or 4 foot wide brick or cinder block paths between the buildings on either side.) "Auntie, one photo?" Auntie, one photo?" came from the little voices following me around. (Auntie, is what most of the children call me, it is a sign of respect.) And so I took their photos:

I'm actually standing about 2 feet outside the door of the home to take this photo.

Even the adults liked to have their picture taken.

Then we got to Bible School this morning (Tuesday) and although I did shoot some, I mostly turned the camera off. I wanted to interact with the kiddos more today.

So I turned my camera off.

I found a little boy about 4 or 5 who was ticklish and had the cutest smile. I put him up on my shoulders and we roamed around showing off that little smile to everyone we could find.

I sat with a group of girls who were about 11-13 years old. They spoke english very well and wanted to ask me all kinds of things. They inspected my rings; a Mickey Mouse ring and my OSU class ring. They asked me what our money looked like and passed around the dollar bill I got out of my bag. They looked at pictures of my dogs, family and friends on my phone and soaked up any attention I could give them.

Then near the end of the day I found a little girl in a beautiful little blue dress. She was probably around 7 years old and was pretty shy. I coaxed her into sitting in my lap while other bigger kiddos crowded around asking me questions and showing me their crafts. When it was time to wrap up the day and serve the meal the little girl and I slid into her group's row and sat listening to the India leader's instructions with her still in my lap.

It was time to pray and thank God for all he had done today. As a way to teach the children how to pray they end the day by having them repeat a prayer. The leader prays a short sentence and then the children repeat it. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't understand the language they were speaking, or if it was because of being on the floor in the midst of all the kids, but I could clearly hear all their little voices around me. 

It didn't seem like one sound as a crowd response often does, but it was like I could identify each voice as belonging to one specific child. I sat there listening and was amazed by the thought that God hears each and every one of those little voices individually. And just like I had made extra time to play and sit with individual children today... God was also there, giving each and everyone of them His undivided attention as they repeated those prayers.

I was moved by the knowledge that God is so big and so compassionate that He listens, really listens to each person in the world. Even those little voices all around me. He knows us intimately. One of my favorite passages from the Bible is from Zephaniah where it talks about God singing with unbridle passion and joy over His children. I am so very thankful for that reminder today.

 Vacation Bible School:

Things we've seen around India:

This dog found a shady spot in an off-duty Tuk-Tuk.

Babu took us to a nice restaurant and we ate dinner in true India Fashion: With our fingers from a banana leaf! :-)

You cannot park your giraffe in front of this fence.

After VBS the guys (Moses and Aaron and the other's their age) took us to see the 2nd largest Mall in Asia! It was a really really neat experience!!:

A Hindu Temple that can be seen from the 5th floor of the Mall.

There is a really nice "glow-bowl" alley in the top of the mall. They took us up there just to show us, but when we found out that they had NEVER been bowling before we insisted on playing a game. It was very fun and they had an absolute blast. It was the nicest bowling alley I've ever been in, and so much fun to experience it with them!

Dad giving a bowling lesson.

They were VERY GOOD. This kid (Sashi sp?) actually bowled a turkey! Three Xs in a row!!

All the guys after the game. Two of them even beat dad, and they had never bowled before in their lives! It was so much fun! (Notice that Moses, to the right of dad, is smiling. Still working on getting Aaron, far left, to smile for me.)