India there and back | Part 1

Much has
happened since I’ve written. This is going to be long so I’ll break it up over a few days.

I’ve been to
India and back. My role has changed at AIM (again)… and I’m preparing for my
next trip – to Thailand! I’ll try to give a summary of what happened while in
India, but it’s impossible. It requires a book.

First, do
you recall how we got to India? 
Kristen and I had begun making plans and dreaming about the day we would
go. I had forgotten to mention this to Don, but the next morning he shared with
us that he had dreamt about India… working with orphans and lepers.
Coincidence? Nope.

What we did
not know until we arrived was that…Victor, Simini, Linci, the staff, and all of
the children have been praying for a year for a team to come. The night we
arrived, the told us, “You are an answer to our prayers.” Thanks to
YOU, our friends and family…these little children have seen God answer their
prayers! Isn’t it nice being an answer to someone’s prayers!

We left on
August 21 and arrived in New Delhi the next night, the 22nd. Our host, Victor,
picked us up and drove us to the team house. Victor’s wife, Simini, was there
waiting for us when we arrived, and the four of us sat down to plan the trip’s
schedule.

Tuesday
morning we went to Asha House. The day was filled with the children and arranging
some last minute details before the team arrived. We did the same the next day,
Wednesday, then headed to the airport to pick up the team. One participant
missed a flight due to previous delays and didn’t end up getting in until 4am
on Thursday morning.  That made 3 airport runs for us!

The team’s
first day in India, we went on a tour of Delhi. This was a way for them to
acclimate to being in India, learn a little about the culture/history of the
country, and observe this new land they were in. We went to the Lotus Temple,
the Indira Ghandi Museum, the India Gate, Parliament/the President’s House and
the Red Fort. It’s really hot and by the end of the day we were all really
tired. Below is a blurb from Kristen…explaining how she felt.

“It’s probably one of the things I struggle
with the most in India, how people just push and push and in order to move at
all, you have to push back. I found myself getting really frustrated, until
this one moment in the Indira Ghandi Museum, where I was claustrophobically
gasping for breath in the crowd of people and fighting aggravation… when I
realized that if for some reason something happened to everyone in the building
at the moment we were in it, it was likely only the people on our team would
spend eternity with Christ. Statistically, India is 3% Christian. Suddenly the
crowd didn’t make me so angry.”

The next
day, the team spent the day at Asha House. We walked in the gate and were
greeted by this:

 

While the
older children were at school, the team met with Victor and Simini in the all-purpose room, where they shared their testimonies with us and the vision of Asha
House. They thanked us over and over to coming, “we love teams,” they
said, “And we’ve been praying for two years for another team to
come.”

Kristen turned to me and asked, “How does it feel for God to use you to answer
the prayers of 27 precious Indian children?”

When the
kids came, they welcomed us with songs and orange flower necklaces. Then we
went outside for games, helped them with their chores, and study time. Soon it
was time to leave. 

More tomorrow.