Missions Adventures: INDIA!!=)

Wow, where do I start?? This is the blog that I've been waiting for. The one I've been praying for. The one I've been dreaming of. And, have even cried over. Whenever I think about India I smile, tear up, and fall apart all at once. India. The word alone brings butterflies to my stomach. Ask my friends - I can turn any conversation into one about India. Ask my family - my room is filled of pictures and memories from my two weeks in India. I don't love India because it was "fun." I don't love India because it was a great vacation filled with "good times." And, trust me, I don't love India because it was easy. In fact, India was hard. I sweated a lot. I worked really hard every day, every minute I was there. I didn't get a lot of sleep. I saw horrific living conditions. I encountered a lot of broken people. I ate weird foods. I played sports in 100+ weather every day. But none of that was the hardest part. The hardest part about India wasn't showering out of a bucket, sleeping with lizards, or even spraining my ankle. The hardest part about India was leaving.

As you can tell, I'm pretty crazy about India. I never would have expected to be so passionate about a place SO far away from everyone that I love. But, thankfully, God doesn't work within my human comprehension. I'll never forget the day my dad first brought up the idea of me going to India with him. After not going on a missions trip in the summer of 2010, I was ready to go anywhere really. However, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. What God was getting me into, really.

I wish that I could recount every detail of India. But that would take up a whole blog series in and of itself. So, I'll touch the highlights and hope that it will give you just a taste of what I was able to experience.

In the couple weeks that I spent in India I would learn a lot of things. I learned that God has a plan in everything. I learned that most of the time, that plan isn't what I had in mind. I learned that the only way to bridge the gap between two completely different cultures is love. I learned more everyday about the love of Jesus. I learned how to look through the eyes of Jesus, love with His heart, and reach out with His hands and feet.

One day, about the middle of our trip, we visited the slums. I wasn't very prepared for what I was about to see. I pictured the slums as this place where poorer people could go to live. What I saw, though, wasn't "poorer people." I saw and met and interacted with the poorest people. I prayed with people who have never had a place to call "home." I gave medicine to children who will never see a real doctor.

As soon as I stepped out of the van, a horrific stench filled my nose. I gagged at the amount of garbage that surrounded me. I was in utter and complete shock at what I saw. I couldn't shake the dizzy, sick feeling that overwhelmed me. We were immediately ushered into a church (that was about the size of my family room at home) where we would pray over people after they saw the doctor that we brought with us. They would then be given a baggie that contained things like Advil, vitamins, and band aids. These are "essentials" to us Americans. To these people living in the slums, though, these are privileges. I was able to pray for a woman that day who had been married for less than a year and was expecting a child any day. She had been having intense pains throughout her whole pregnancy. Her husband was gone everyday looking for work. They had to move to the slums because they simply did not have any money.

This woman's story broke my heart. If I get married one day, I'll go to several stores and pick out dishes, paint colors, and bed spreads. I'll make pretty invitations lined with lace and flowers. I'll move into an apartment or house somewhere that has four walls, a stove, and a bathroom. Before I have children I'll go to the doctor and see my baby growing inside of me. I'll take vitamins to ensure the healthiest pregnancy possible. This young girl didn't have any of that. She didn't have a bed. She didn't have a family. She didn't have a doctor. For all I knew, she didn't even have food to eat.

After we were finished with the clinic, we took a walk through the slum. I'm not sure I can even write about this without falling apart, but to put it simply, injustice filled every single one of my senses. The words poverty, neediness, and depravity don't even begin to cover what I saw that day. There were stray goats, cats, and chickens roaming through the garbage everywhere. There were women cooking the stray animals so that their families could eat. Children walked around literally naked.

Recovering from the slums was the hardest part of India. I don't know that I ever will recover after what I saw that day. I will never be the same.

In addition to the slums, I was involved in sports ministry and helping with a discipleship class for girls everyday. After spraining my ankle playing soccer with some kids, I was told I couldn't put any pressure on my foot for the rest of my visit. My parents offered to let me go home early. I cried at the thought. So, instead, I sat with the "home girls" for hours everyday. The home girls are girls who live at what we would call an orphanage. There are about 25 of them ranging in ages from 5-16. They are what are known as "social orphans." This means that most of their parents are still living, but could not or refused to care for them. These beautiful girls have the opportunity to grow up in a really big family with a lot of love. They have every right to be angry, hurt, and bitter. But instead they are the most joy-filled people I have ever met. These girls, who own only 3 outfits, are more content than me. When I sprained my ankle, I had the opportunity to simply sit and talk with these girls. They braided my hair, I taught them games, and they sang for me. At the end of our trip, they were waiting for us on their lunch break from school. We were all trying to stay positive, not wanting to make a big scene. But, when there are 25 crying girls waiting to say goodbye to you, it's impossible to hold it together.

There's one more part of my India trip that I want to share with you. After being back home for about a week, I was walking with the help of only one crutch. One morning I suddenly had really intense back and stomach pain. I laid on my bed, not knowing what else to do. My brother, who was visiting us, was in the shower. My dad wasn't home and my mom was downstairs. After laying down for a few minutes the pain was only worse. I was trying to call for my mom, but I could barely speak. I knew my phone was across the room. I attempted to stand up to get it, but only fell back on my bed from dizziness. I don't know how, but my mom finally heard me. Sometimes moms just have an instinct about these things. After going to two different hospitals and going through just about every type of test possible, they decided to remove my appendix. They could tell that it was a little swollen, but weren't sure why it was causing me so much pain. Well, like I said before, God always knows what He's doing. While they were in surgery removing my appendix, they also found a 4 cm. ovarian cyst that had ruptured. If they had found it any later, it would have caused me much more pain and done much more harm to my body.

Why do I tell you this? I tell you this because every single time I've come back from a missions trips, I've gone through a hard time. This being the hardest time I had. I want you to understand that missions is not what most people would consider fun. Missions is not just an opportunity to fly half-way across the world. Doing the work and will of God is going to be hard. It's going to be filled with difficult circumstances. Why is it like this? Because when you're doing the will of the creator of the universe, the great I AM, and the king of kings, the Devil will do anything possible to stop you. Just as much as God has a plan for your life, the Devil does too. I don't say this to get all supernatural or weird on you. I say it because it's true. But here's the good news - God always wins. Good will always overcome evil. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate you from the overwhelming love of the Father.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my trip to India. I am thrilled to to tell you that I am returning to India this summer. Please be praying for my church and me as we take this exciting journey. I can't wait to write about my second trip to India!!