SMELL: Even before boarding the plane, the gate in which you wait has that… oh, so special India smell. Spices! Curry and a light undertone of body odor…a smorgasbord of scents wait for your arrival in India. During the week that which once burned your nostrils becomes a familiar and hardly noticeable scent until your trash is strewn about the door of the place you are staying or the sewage cleaner digs out the sewage at that early hour in the morning right under your window- and you don’t notice. Time passes, and that ripe smell becomes you with the heat and there is no getting rid of it no matter how many times you bucket bathe. You have become Indian. Yeah! You have accepted it and then you arrive home and unpack. Clothes go directly into the laundry…you had no idea! Or if you are like me…you stick your head in it and say “Ahhhh…smells like home, when can I return?
SOUNDS: People from India have a very special way of communicating. LOUDLY! People in India have a very special way of driving! (laugh and bobble your head if you know what I’m talking about). In, out, fast, bumper to bumper, cow or water buffalo to bumper, bumper to people, carts, bikes, piles of rubbish. Thus the need to use your horn…CONSTANTLY! I am not a morning person, but when traveling…to lay in bed and listen, imagine is one of my favorite down times. You hear the light steps of people walking under your window, an animal digging for food in the trash or sewer, the vendors getting a early start in the mornings, and the peacocks who outnumber the Americans. They sound like a child in pain. I learned this after bolting from my bed several early mornings. All is well…except my hearing. My favorite sound of all was the sound of the children from AH praying, laughing, and singing! Their faith and joy is contagious!
TASTE: You can’t go anywhere in India without being offered chai. It might be a hundred degrees outside, but you’ll be served a steaming cup of chai… and somehow, it refreshes you! As for the food…for someone who has so many food allergies…anywhere in Asia is a challenge. I accept the challenge and always have won. This most recent trip I got bolder. AH knows me well by now, remembering my list of things. So they are careful and not offended when asked. As long as there are no nuts, I go in…one spoonful at a time. (I’ve not mastered their art of eating with the fingers – it just got ugly). The food is spicy! Bless them! They make “American spicy” for us…while they eat the other. While cooking, I asked what the red was…if it was spice. They laughed and responded “It’s to scare all of you!”
TOUCH: I’m not a touchy person. I’m not. However, working at AIM has popped my bubble and it is the norm to give someone a hug or a pat on the back. I like it…but when not at AIM or with AIMers…it’s not the norm. So when in India…it surprises me that it comes easy to me while working with lepers and orphans. Walking into AH the first day after a year had past and have the children run up to me screaming “Giraffe Auntie! Giraffe Auntie!”. Them leaping on me, hugging whatever part they can reach…indescribable. Laying on the floor with a drooling child for an hour is no longer gross. Getting out of that vehicle and seeing familiar faces at the Leper colony and exchanging long hugs again…indescribable. When in another country where you can’t speak the language or words just aren’t enough…always… HUG IT OUT! (Remember the woman from below from last years pictures? Yup…still alive and smiling! Check out this awkward hug!
SIGHT: If pictures speak a thousand words… here’s a book!
SIXTH SENSE: I think we’d all agree that the spiritual realm is real. If this is true, you believe we have a battle that is not against flesh and blood. Eph 6:12.
Several years ago while laying in bed….I was in that strange place between awake and sleep. It was late or was it early? Don and our dog at the time, Bruno were sound asleep. I felt a dark presence enter our bedroom. It hovered at the end of the bed on my side. I had no fear…I knew that Jesus Christ resided in me. My body raised and began to turn…. “In the name of Jesus, you can not touch me, Don, or our dog. Go away, in the name if Jesus.” and it was gone. I’m grateful for that experience. Thru it I understood and experienced this power in which we are to speak and pray.
Moving forward to this past trip… there was and still is a battle against things seen and unseen. I believe in the authority of Jesus Christ in us and I’m asking that you each pray for AH (it’s temporary name). Below, is how you can help…told by Kristen.
Last Christmas, we shared a prayer request- the orphanage was being forced out of its home and needed to raise a significant amount of money in order to move and rent a new place. It seemed like a horrible situation, but God provided. AH moved into a new house that was SO BIG in comparison to their old home. The children’s rooms are literally 4x what they were in the old house; and the area where they could play was even more so. This house was such a blessing!
It didn’t take long for the leaders of AH to realize that if they’d still been in that small house, they could have been shut down. Even back in December, when things seemed so hard and even unfair… God was providing. He knew what was coming.
However… it is a rented home. And with the government breathing down their necks, they’ve found out new regulations that make the property still not ideal. And, on rented property, they need to put up a Hindu or Muslim shrine, which they refuse to do. They’ve been told that if they had their own land… a lot of the problems would go away.
But to do that… to get their own land to build an orphanage that fits this family of 30+ children (and growing- a new little one was born this weekend), they need financial help. There are a lot of steps, some bigger than others. But the first one… is $5500. With this amount, AH would be able to apply for FCRA status <http://fcra.co.in> , which would enable them to directly receive funds from anywhere in the world. Meaning that anyone could donate money for land (the second step), and instead of it needing to go through an organization with admin fees and even time delays with transferring funds internationally… it would go directly to them.
We, Connie and I, have a letter from Victor, the head of the orphanage, asking for help and will send it to anyone who emails/comments on this blog and asks for it.
Above all, they need prayer. And then they need financial help. Our team has committed to raising the first $5500. I wanted to post here what I could and then will send emails to those who want it with more information… for you to see what has been going on and how you can help.
Betty, a co-worker/friend of ours, also on the team, has committed to being the point person for raising the $5500, which means that any gifts can be sent, made out to Back to the Roots, to:
Betty Means
c/o Adventures in Missions
6000 Wellspring Trail
Gainesville, GA. 30506.
Once the full amount has come in, she’s will submit it in full.
Above: Just some of the many faces we have come to know and love from AH.
Below: Simini and Victor, parents to all these children.
Below: Sapna, Victors sister and Lincy, Simini’s sister and niece, Sondra.
All work, live, pray and worship at AH. My favorite place to spend my time.
Most recently, a new little one joined the family at the orphanage! He is a little boy whose name means “Sky”. However, just days after his birth, the Indian government said that all the little ones under the age of three will need to go to a state orphanage.
The heads of the orphanage have asked us all to pray. Since this latest news was released, they learned that now the government is only interested in the boys under the age of 3… since they hold the most value- $20,000 USD value in adoption. This is, essentially, child trafficking.
This is an urgent prayer need that is happening NOW. Please pray that the government will not take any of the children, whether boy or girl. Pray for their protection, as it was said that this would happen in 3 days’ time.
As I get updates from Victor, I’ll be posting updates on FB. To see 1,400 pictures from this trip…again, visit FB.
Actually, while you’re at it… Pray for India.
Chandler – Just saw this! Thank you for your kind words! I hope all is well with you! I hope you’ll join us again for another trip. Blessings to you and yours!
Brad and I are praying. We want to help. We will help. Thank you for sharing this.
I sure do love you Giraffe Auntie.
Can’t wait to give you a big moving-inspired sweat-stained hug…today…in the office…
could you please forward me the letter from victor so that i can post it at church. thank you!!!!
Connie and Kristen, thanks for the update on AH and their situation. God is at work and He provides. Can you give me a contact number for Betty? Blessings you two!!
Beautiful… and a perfect description! I LOVE that they call you Giraffe Auntie! YES!!!
So excited to hear you guys are going to raise that $5,500 – that will be such a blessing as we all hope to move forward in raising the money for land and a new home! But that is the first step – believing with you that God will bring the full amount needed and they will get their FCRA approval!
Connie! I remember sitting around the garage with the crew from Williamsburg Christian Academy and listening to your amazing stories. You have a gift with words. I’m in college now at James Madison University and reading your blog took me right back to the Dominican Republic; all the faces, smell of food, and wonderful people. God bless you! You’re in my prayers! Thanks for everything.
-Chandler Quick