India, more pictures and words than you probably want to see

Today was VBS day! While we were setting up several of these little guys scurried out from where they were hiding and soaking up the less-hot air. 

We had around 50 kids and few adults from a couple of other churches in Tenali. The kids we fair good at listening and paying attention to what was happening.

This is Amand and Samson from the orphanage listening intently. We love these little guys!

We're doing a color based system to help share the gospel with these kiddos. Today was Gold day. We made gold crowns let them decorate with jewels. The kids dressed up to come so the crowns looked very SOPAR!! ("Beautiful" in Telegu)

Some views from the roof. After VBS, I went up onto the top of the orphanage to see what I could see around the area. These men are tearing the top off of a building across the street. I couldn't believe it! This is during the hottest part of the day. The shops below him are closed-up for the mid-day rest from the heat.

This woman is sewing just inside her front porch. 

It doesn't take long for us to get noticed. I was on the roof for 5 mins before these kiddos spotted me and came running yelling, "Welcome to India!"

This is India. Beautiful people! 

A woman leads her family's water buffalo to a small pond so they can cool off.

This window belongs to a family that is a neighbor of the orphanage property. We've seen each other the past two mornings while brushing our teeth and the mother always smiles and waves to me. 

This morning their daughter spoke to me. In very clear english she asked, "Are you from America?" She was very sweet and easy to understand. Then while I was on the roof she spoke to me again. Eventually she said, "You will come into my house? Yes?" Just this afternoon John Paul told us it would be safe for us to go out on the few streets we can see from the orphanage compound, so I thanked her and said I was on my way.

These people are so hospitable! They brought me into their home and immediately brought me some mango and this fruit. I have no idea what it is but it was VERY delicious!

They also opened a new bottle of pop and offered me a glass of soda while we talked. The daughter is studying to be an engineer at a university in Tenali, and her older brother has just finished his engineering studies and is going to America to get a master of science. I believe it is at Mizzou. (The translation was difficult, but I think that is where he is going.) This is the same family that has the two pictures of Hindu gods in their window. Inside their house is a cabinet devoted to what I recognized as many more Hindu gods. This family was so loving and so open, yet they do not know the God that I do. I did not have a chance to share with them about my God, (the children from the orphanage came to bring me home, more on that later) but a small bit of a relationship has been started.

Amond (there is another picture of him at VBS up above) has a couple of sores on his feet. I'm really not sure what it is and if you can identify it please share with me if there is anything specific we can do for it. The kids don't hardly wear shoes here at all so I knew that if nothing else, cleaning it up will be good for it.

So we washed it.

And I gave him some Angry Birds Band-Aids. (Classy, I know.)

Here are a few photos of the orphanage workers.

The younger woman from above and her husband's (photo in the door) little girl.

Yes these birds are pink and green! We're not sure what kind they are. They keep telling us that they are chickens, but a really? A lime green chicken? They also swear up and down that they did not color them. "From hatch!" "From Hatch!"

The girl here is named Glory. She is beautiful and very lovey-touchy-feely. She was very quick to take me by the hand yesterday and is always by my side. Yesterday I did not eat any dinner because I was not feeling very well. When I resurfaced just before bedtime she came to me, gave me a tight, squeezing hug, and said, "I love you." It touched my heart for sure. I had only known her a day and she already wanted to tell me she loved me. 

When I went to visit the neighboring house she was the first to come and get me. She kept whispering in my ear while I was at their house, "Go, come, with me." I just kept telling her. "Soon" or "Later." At one point I thought that she looked like she was about to cry, but I wasn't sure why. When I finally left the house she held my hand tightly and pulled at my arm on the way back to the orphanage. 

Once back on the grounds she I saw her running towards the water pumps with giant tears streaming down her face. "Glory, what's wrong?" I asked as if she could understand me. She ran by saying, "no, no." I follower her to the water pumps where she began washing her face. Some of the older boys came over to help translate. (They don't know full sentences, but surprisingly we can communicate a lot with the few words they do know.) They told me she was crying because, "No mama."

Are you serious? Did they just want me to break down and cry right there? So I went to hug her, and pull her close, but she backed away. "No, no!" and she waved her hand in front of me. I then realized that when I went over to the other house she was afraid they were going to steal me away. After I realized that, I gently insisted that she give me a hug. Once I finally talked her into hugging me again it was very stiff at first, but when I didn't let go she kinda melted into me. 

All of this happened during the cleaning of Amond's feet sores so I took her by the hand and made her my "nurse." I thought it'd be a good way to give her some extra attention without having to divert from Amond. She walked up with me to get the band-aids and ointment. Once we got back down to the yard she was willing to skip with me a few feet and she smiled a little bit. 

I just can't wrap my head around what these kiddos have experienced… and trying to breaks my heart! School is not in session right now and many of the orphans have gone to spend the summer with family. I know what you're thinking, "If they have family why are they at the orphanage?" Many of them have extended family, and while they can't take care of them year round, they don't mind them visiting in the two months they have off of school. This means that the kids that are still here most likely have no family.

It is difficult to get their stories from them because of the language, but most likely Glory does not know any biological family except for Samson (her brother who is also here.) She was so worried that her new friend was going to leave her that it brought her to tears. Somehow, I'm going to have to figure out how to love on her while we are here, but also prepare her that I am going to be leaving at the end of the trip. God, help me to know the best way for me to be used here.

Once again, I know this update is horribly long. I hope that if you've read this far you have at least enjoyed the photos and stories. I've always loved getting to experience new cultures and this experience is no different. I'm so thankful that Christ calls us to Himself and wants to include us in His work. A friend of mine sent me a text with this yesterday and it was so encouraging. "You were called to freedom, but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Gal. 5:13 God, thank you for my freedom, teach me how to use it to serve more and with more love.

India "We're Here!"

The air is thick. Not smoggy, nasty thick, but humid, hot thick. Stepping out of the baggage claim and sucking in my first breath of the open Indian Air was something like breathing in steam from a tea kettle. I was surprised to find the airport was actually very calm and orderly. I had in my mind that it would be crazy, like trying to get through an angry mob with each person trying to carry my luggage so I would pay them. This didn't happen. We were offered help and we accepted it, but everything was calm, orderly and pleasant.

We got all our luggage (10 suitcases and 10 carry-ons of various sizes) out to the parking lot where the men who had come to pick us up began loading luggage on top of the car. I assumed some would go in the white one and some in the red one next to it as it appeared that the driver of the red van was talking with Pastor JohnPaul. This was not so. The red van was not with us. All our luggage was piled on top of the little white 4x4 and we all (7 adults and one 5 year old) loaded up inside. To say it was a tight squeeze is an understatement. 

 

Over the next 24 hours we would continue our journey to Tenali from Hyderabad where we had landed. A 6 hour drive. (If you believe that raise your hand. If you raised your hand you are very wrong.) The trip had some trouble. We got pulled over by police multiple times. JohnPaul said that all our luggage was very suspicious. I found this humorous because we passed many auto-rickshaws, cars and even trucks that were weighed down with many more people-per-square-inch than we were, but it was the luggage that made us suspicious.

We stopped for a much needed rest and leg stretch a little less than halfway through our trip. It was there that dad found this sign about sugarcane  (It's elephant's favorite!) and we also saw a tarot card reader and his bird. The bird was a very cute little guy and mom asked if she could take his picture.

 The next stop we made was a few more hours down the road at the shrine of a Hindu monkey God. It's kind of surreal to see things like this, but it is a huge reminder that's I'm not in Oklahoma anymore. This is by far the most elaborate shrine we've saw during our journey to Tenali, but shrines are everywhere. Ganesh (and elephant god) is one we see on almost every corner.

Finally after an eleven hour drive we made it to the orphanage. As the gates were opened up for us we saw the children who are still here for the summer standing out front waiting for us with beautiful garlands! As we got out of the vehicle they adorned us each with a garland that smelled even more beautiful than it looked and they shook our hands and welcomed us. We had been "traveling" for 53 hours straight. We did rest in a hotel in Hyderabad, but only for the night then we were back up and at 'em.

After the welcome we headed up to the "guest rooms" in the orphanage/church building. Have I mentioned that it is hot here? We are extremely fortunate that they have an air conditioner in these guest rooms so there is at least a little relief from the humidity and heat. Exhausted from the trip we got our beds settled and slept as best we could for the night.

This morning I woke up in India. It was the second time to wake up in India, but this time it was different. The "beeps" of local traffic floated into the room as did voices of the neighbors. I got up put on some clothes and walked out on the balcony by our room. Jealous?

Most of these next pics I snapped while walking around the second story of the orphanage this morning.

Some children playing by the train tracks behind the orphanage. I'm not sure why exactly but I love this photo!

JohnPaul's neighbor's animals.

Some neighboring girls on their roof. I think they may have been hanging up laundry.

One of the men who work here at the orphanage pumping water out of their well and one of the little boys doing chores. He was getting morning water to the animals. I know the green dish is Trixie's. Trixie is a little puppy.

Some more neighbors.

 This is one of the women who live and work here and two of the children.

After awhile they brought us breakfast and then we went down to meet and play with the children. They are so cute, kind and lovable! They always brought chairs out for us and even would take scraps of cardboard and fan us because it's obvious we are not used to the heat. (Later this afternoon I finally got them to stop fanning me. It is so nice of them and they do it to honor and comfort us as their guests, but I also do not want them to feel like they have to serve me. However they still threw a fit when I tried to sit on the ground. Haha! I'll work on that one later.)

Some of the local pastors didn't get the message that VBS will not start until tomorrow so some of these children are not from the orphanage, but the surrounding areas. We had fun and played with them anyway. The suckers were a big hit. :-)

I'm very thankful that today was a day of resting and relationships. We've gotten to spend some extra time with the kids from the orphanage today and have had some extra time to acclimate to the heat and our new schedule. When the electricity has been on (probably about 5 hours out of the daytime) we've run the air conditioner to get a little bit of a break from the humidity. Most of my time has been spent sitting or playing with kids. They tried to teach me a game, a variation on tag. I think I started to understand the rules, but by that time I had run around in the direct sunlight and was getting a little lightheaded and needed to take a break. When we weren't playing games or throwing frisbees they've been bring to teach me Telegu. I'm afraid I am very bad at it. Ha! But, they are patient teachers and always shout and clap excitedly when I finally pronounce something correctly. It's the little things right?

Pray that many kids will come the the VBS and that they will understand what we are getting to teach them. My biggest prayer concern right now is that our culture doesn't get in the way of our message. Because of the caste system here we are automatically revered as a higher "class" because of our skin. I'm praying that what we won't be seen as a novelty for "upper class people" but as a reality for everyone through what Christ did for us. 

Also please pray for the effect the heat is having on all of us and especially the effect it is having on the medical conditions that are traveling with us. We are all trying to drink extra water, but we can only drink bottled water because our system can't handle water from India wells.

I'll post more when/as I have time. Today was a day to rest so I'm not sure how much time I'll have in the next few days. I may just post some pictures here and there. We'll have to see. Thank you for reading all the way to the bottom! I know this will have many many typing errors, (Please forgive me Stacey Winters) but I'm hoping you can forgive them. You never know when the electricity will be shutting off so I'm going to go ahead and post this ASAP.