DAY ONE - THREE
The Last Day and Return Home
Heather:
We woke up bright an early on Sunday. Mac and I were both excited that there was plenty of bacon at breakfast. We are both bacon-lovers. The hotel's breakfast was consistently amazing. We were never disappointed. I am not a coffee drinker, but I was told even the coffee was good. I can say that in my opinion, the breakfast tea was outstanding!
First, we went to a local Church. The service was amazing. We stopped on the way to church to visit the site of a series of local self-immolations. It was so sad, but we learned that these acts of desperation on the part of college students had incited a major series of social changes. I pray still that their deaths were not in vain. We also had the opportunity to interact with some Indian women who sold nuts from baskets they carried on their heads. It was very impressive.
Mackenzie:
It had looked as though we would be early, but we still arrived at the church a little late. When we entered the service we were seated in chairs (of which there were a limited number). It was an honor. When we first arrived, there was a worship band playing. Despite the church being what Pastor Paul lovingly called a "Slum Church" they had a basic sound system, keyboard, guitar, drums, and a microphone. Interestingly, the bad play on the stage (all male) but the female vocalist sat amungst the congregation while she sang. Heather thought it was remarkable to hear Indian style singing raised in praise. Their vocal techniques, according to Heather, are very different. I thought it was cool.
Then the pastor gave a perhaps five minute message followed by another five minute introduction of angel house and our team. Many in the congregation turned to look at us, and I felt a little awkward.
Heather:
I was so glad it had occurred to me to wear a dress with a scarf as the women wore their heads covered in church. I was ale to give my scarf to Melissa, the one female member of the team who would be speaking in the service, which made me glad, because I think she felt far more comfortable matching their cultural norms. She was an incredible speaker with an incredible story. I found her story, both the part she shared there, and the rest which I had learned on my trip, more inspirational than she will ever know. Gabe was to introduce us, and Tommy and Melissa were to speak.
Mackenzie:
While there, our group gave a small presentation about ourselves and how excited we all were to be able to have an influence in India. Phil asked permission to speak as well. We were a bit nervous due to the break in the plan, but his story was amazing as well. I was glad I didn’t have to speak due to my inability to speak publicly, but those who did speak shared wonderful words of inspiration to the congregation. I learned things about the group that put the rest of the trip into perspective for me. Looking at the trip from their point of view, I can see how life changing it would be.
The team members shared their experiences of being called to help India, from the loss of a loved one moving them, to hearing the literal voice of God, to God re-arranging their priorities, all the stories were inspirational. Looking at it from my own point of view, I could see a need that needed to be filled and since I may not be the best at sharing love with complete strangers (the kids, and adults with them), maybe I could help get people there who could?
We left the church after the service had ended. Heather bought a Bible in the language of the particular area though I do not know which that was.
Heather:
The language was Telagu, I'm not sure I've spelled that correctly. The Bible was beautiful, and I was excited to have it. My family has a Korean, English side-by-side Bible given to us by my Korean exchange sister Hae-Lee. We treasure it, and I know we will treasure this gift the same way.
And then we went to eat at the pastor's house.
His home was lovely, although, can I just say, using the bathroom was a nightmare. For the ladies at least. His wife cooked for us, and the food was delicious. There wasn't much that was not spicy, but what I was able to eat was amazing. I thanked her profusely. And we got to have more soda. I don't even really drink soda in the US but I was so grateful for it. It was a little taste of home. Even at the hotel we drank almost exclusively bottled water!
We returned to the hotel for several hours to pack. I rushed through everything and got done exactly five minutes before we had to leave. I delivered the hats to Pastor Paul to give to the Angel House in the mountains, and I told him I had gifts for the angels in the house my parents had dedicated in May with my little sister.
We left the hotel mid-afternoon and headed to the official Angel House office in India. We got to see the tables with all the houses on them by date, as well as a map of where all the Angel Houses are. All the Angel Houses are in one Indian state, but Pastor Paul told us that they were working with the government to open up two more states to Angel House.
There were photos on the wall of all but about five of the Angel Houses opened ever. It was inspiring. My parents and little sister were in maybe six pictures, I was so touched!
And, in an awesome surprise, Pastor Paul had brought in the pastor of the house my parents had dedicated (Gallipolli) to meet me personally and accept the gifts. I gave him a letter I had written to the kids as well as the gifts my parents had sent. I knew he had driven a long way for it. I got a picture with him and thanked him profusely. I don't think he understood a word I said, but I was so grateful to him for taking so much time out of his busy schedule.
Mackenzie:
Then we made our way to the pastor’s house for dinner. It was quite an amazing experience. Traditional home-made Indian food. This was the dinner where cultural observances were to be upheld. That’s what they told us anyway. Once we arrived, I learned those cultural rules were not as much enforced. We talked with the pastor and his wife and children for quite a while. I learned more about India and what Angel House is doing there. I joked around with the new friends Heather and I had made. One of whom, that I had come to know rather well, Dan, our driver and friend, would have to stay in India.
Heather:
The food was amazing. It was way too spicy for my stomach (I have GERD) and I prayed the whole time I would be OK. I wanted to be polite, and it was really really good, despite being too spicy. I had already been sick from how spicy food was once on the trip. When I tell you it was a miracle, because I didn't get sick, you're gonna have to take my word on it. But suffice it to say I can't eat a bag of Doritos in the states without my stomach acting up.
I really felt I hit it off with Pastor Paul's wife. She was amazing and really inspirational. I resolved to keep in touch. We gave gifts my parents had sent out to her, Pastor Paul, our driver Dan, and their three daughters. Elayna, my little sister, who had gotten along famously with their daughters, had sent three necklaces. She had one just like it and told me to say that whenever she wore it she would be thinking of them, and praying for them!
Mackenzie:
We finished dinner, and made our way back out to the cars. The pastor would not be escorting us to the airport this time, so we bid him farewell and left. Heather cried, twice. Poor thing. It was a long trip back to the airport. City life in Hyderabad was lively at night. People crowded the streets as the lamp posts lit their way. We arrived at the airport and began unloading our things. Once everything was out, we began saying our goodbyes. Heather and I wished our temporary driver, who had recently proposed to his girlfriend and was planning a wedding, luck and I turned to find Dan, whom I now considered a true friend. He said good-bye to a few people and then walked up to me. We shook hands and wished each other well. The others finished their good-byes and soon enough we were back in the airport awaiting another flight.
We got caught up at one of the terminals (because signage was bad as well as the security guards, and both sent us back and forth for a good twenty minutes) but eventually we made it to Mumbai. Once we landed in Mumbai, it wasn’t long before we had to board our flight to Amsterdam.
Heather:
I had chosen to wear Indian clothes for the return trip. Namely because no one had told me we would have so many opportunities to wear American clothes, so I had not brought enough of them. I received many complements on them, however, and I think they even sped my way through security. One of the guards said I "looked lovely in my Indian dress."
In the airport I picked up an Aerobar. A type of candy they do not have in the United States. It is quite good.
Mackenzie:
As we went through security the guard put the metal detector on my stomach. It beeped. He went over my stomach again, it beeped again. He asked me to lift up my shirt. So I did, feeling rather humiliated. I chuckled as he put the detector on my bare stomach and watched it beep again. He looked at me confused. ”I don’t know man; it did this the first time we landed…” I replied laughing. He chuckled and let me through. I heard another soldier with an automatic rifle laugh, weird. We boarded our flight to Amsterdam. I was excited to be going back to familiar ground. Heather was sad to leave. I couldn’t help but feel bad for her, she has a huge heart and it’s amazing to watch her work with the kids, showing them love and telling them about Jesus. The flight was boring as usual. I did some homework, watched a few movies, and talked to Heather. Eventually we landed in Amsterdam where once again we had a short layover. The security was remarkably nice though.
Heather:
I agree, in fact, one of the officers remembered Mackenzie and I from our first trip over. Security in Amsterdam was great. One of the officers was even messing with a cranky guy, trying to get him to cheer up a little. We left one of our group members in Amsterdam, she was taking a direct flight to her state instead of transferring in Detroit. I was sad to see her go, she had been a great addition to the team.
Mackenzie:
I had been talking with one of the security guards as he checked my bag. When I got up to the lady who took my plane ticket, I realized I had shifted it in my pocket. I\ laughed, apologized and said, “Sorry I’m really tired,” she laughed as well and in an almost motherly way responded with, “Oh that’s ok! Get some good sleep on the flight ok?” It was the last flight of the trip. I was coming down with a cold, the air was dry and cold. We flew over Greenland and eventually over Quebec. I began to get restless as we flew closer to Detroit. With only a couple minutes left, I looked out the window and saw the Michigan morning horizon. Not that it’s that different from any other horizon, but it still made me feel back at home. We began descending, and as we got lower and lower, eventually I could see Detroit metro airport below us. We landed and exited the plane. We said good bye to the group leaders and made our way through to get our bags and use the restrooms. I walked in and for the first time in my life was excited to see an actual toilet. We are spoiled in our first world country. After that, we walked through a couple of doors to the arrivals waiting area, and there stood my parents waiting to pick us up.
Heather:
Mac and I were both excited to be able to use a drinking fountain. His family picked us up at the airport. I was pumped from the trip, but Mac seemed to need to decompress. I was exhausted but really happy. We went with his parents to Leo's. It was refreshing way of getting back into American culture. But when we left Michigan it had been about 50 degrees out. Now it was 15 and it was a rough transition. Especially since I only had the two sweatshirts I had brought on the trip and not a winter coat. Going home was troubling for me and cathartic for Mac. We are both very different, but we both had an amazing time. I am already looking into fundraising to return, being in India was one of the most amazing, defining experiences of my life.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Christmas in India: Days Six to Seven
DAYS SIX - SEVEN
The Last Home and Well
Heather:
Looking at my memory, I am not 100% certain I have the next two days in order. One of the days was a down day. I believe it was day seven. We spent it around the hotel, and also took another trip back to the mall. They had a store which was a lot like a Meijer or maybe a small Kohls in the US. The girls headed over there. I picked up some bangles I had wanted and a scarf to go with one of my outfits which had not come with a scarf.
I also spent time writing in my journal and in prayer, trying to keep my attitude right despite the chaos of the trip. Nauseatingly enough, I had been working on the hats I had promised the angels from the mountains during all of our long drives. Nauseatingly meant literally, staring at crocheting while driving on bumpy roads, bleck. So I also took the opportunity to finish some of the hats. By the end of the day I only had one left.
The next morning we got up. We had our last house that day, and a well. I brought a bunch of dumdum suckers I had brought with me. We had handed a lot out to local kids, but I wanted to bring as few home as possible.
Mackenzie:
After yet another long drive we arrived in what seemed even more like the middle of nowhere than anywhere else we had ever been. The house was a little on the small side, but there was a beautiful chalk painting in front of the house (we'll try to get a chance to put up a picture) that the boys of the house did to welcome us. This house had about twelve older boys. The donors for the house were not on the trip so Gabe dedicated the house, and afterward we all prayed, Jessica lead the prayer. Heather and I were both reminded again of Jessica's inspirational faith, despite her young age, it was great to be on the trip with her.
I was given the opportunity, along with Heather, to deliver blankets a donor had made to some of the angels. It was so much fun. Heather taught them to hide under the blankets and play "ghost" a game she had played with her dad as a kid. And then they used them like superhero capes, which I thought was even more fun. Later we saw them pretend "scaring" the other children out from order the blankets. It was, in Heather's words, "So cute!"
Heather:
Afterward some of the kids from the house (most of them, in fact) performed a dance for us. It was really impressive, carefully choreographed and planned, and everyone did an amazing job. It was to a Christian song (at least I thought I recognized a few of the words at this point). I have a video which I hope to post later. We handed out suckers to the kids, and played with the local dogs. We joked with the angels about the colors their tongues had turned because of the suckers, and then we played games with the blankets we had handed out. In summary we had a ball, all the kids were amazing.
Even more amazing was when we discovered that more than half of the boys at this particulars house had been rescued from India's equivalent of Juvie. While most of them were guilty of stealing to survive, a couple had committed breaking and enterings and such. To see kids who had come from such difficult and desperate circumstances as those literally dancing in praise of God, was profound for us all.
After that we went to a church to dedicate a well. The pastor of the church was one of the pastors affiliated with the boy's home. The people of the church were very kind, and brought us bottles of soda, sealed, so we could actually drink them. It was nice to have a real sprite. Especially out so far into the country. The well opening was beautiful, and the kids played in the water. Gabe made a video to send back to the donors who were kind enough to pay for the well.
Surprisingly, despite the fact that we had only dedicated one house and one well, we got to the hotel late in the afternoon.
The next day would be the last day. I did a good deal of pre-packing, throwing things out and getting ready for the last day. We would be attending church in the morning, so I pulled out an outfit with a scarf. I had a lot of packing to do as I had unpacked for the trip. I am a cluttered person by nature, so unpacking and putting things away was the best way for me to be respectful to those rooming with me. Despite unpacking I still had a great deal of detritus in the bottom of my big suitcase. I also had to repair by hand a long tear in Mac's carry on bag, and move things over as we had replaced my carry on bag. Both had been damaged badly in the crazy flurry of flights getting here in the first place.
Mackenzie:
I was very homesick, and was looking forward to going home. I had learned a lot while here, but I had also learned that I was not called so much to travel as to support missions from at home. I missed my family and everything that I found familiar. Heather, on the other hand, desperately wanted to stay. She seemed on the verge of tears constantly. She loved it there, she loved feeling the tangible chance to help, she loved being God's hands in a physical sense. Maybe we are two sides of the same coin. We spent some time commiserating before bed in the hotel lobby while she finished up the last hat for the mountain kids. She had by some miracle finished them all (all six) including two for the pastor of the house's children. I was really proud of her determination to help in every way she could imagine while she was there.
The Last Home and Well
Heather:
Looking at my memory, I am not 100% certain I have the next two days in order. One of the days was a down day. I believe it was day seven. We spent it around the hotel, and also took another trip back to the mall. They had a store which was a lot like a Meijer or maybe a small Kohls in the US. The girls headed over there. I picked up some bangles I had wanted and a scarf to go with one of my outfits which had not come with a scarf.
I also spent time writing in my journal and in prayer, trying to keep my attitude right despite the chaos of the trip. Nauseatingly enough, I had been working on the hats I had promised the angels from the mountains during all of our long drives. Nauseatingly meant literally, staring at crocheting while driving on bumpy roads, bleck. So I also took the opportunity to finish some of the hats. By the end of the day I only had one left.
The next morning we got up. We had our last house that day, and a well. I brought a bunch of dumdum suckers I had brought with me. We had handed a lot out to local kids, but I wanted to bring as few home as possible.
Mackenzie:
After yet another long drive we arrived in what seemed even more like the middle of nowhere than anywhere else we had ever been. The house was a little on the small side, but there was a beautiful chalk painting in front of the house (we'll try to get a chance to put up a picture) that the boys of the house did to welcome us. This house had about twelve older boys. The donors for the house were not on the trip so Gabe dedicated the house, and afterward we all prayed, Jessica lead the prayer. Heather and I were both reminded again of Jessica's inspirational faith, despite her young age, it was great to be on the trip with her.
I was given the opportunity, along with Heather, to deliver blankets a donor had made to some of the angels. It was so much fun. Heather taught them to hide under the blankets and play "ghost" a game she had played with her dad as a kid. And then they used them like superhero capes, which I thought was even more fun. Later we saw them pretend "scaring" the other children out from order the blankets. It was, in Heather's words, "So cute!"
Heather:
Afterward some of the kids from the house (most of them, in fact) performed a dance for us. It was really impressive, carefully choreographed and planned, and everyone did an amazing job. It was to a Christian song (at least I thought I recognized a few of the words at this point). I have a video which I hope to post later. We handed out suckers to the kids, and played with the local dogs. We joked with the angels about the colors their tongues had turned because of the suckers, and then we played games with the blankets we had handed out. In summary we had a ball, all the kids were amazing.
Even more amazing was when we discovered that more than half of the boys at this particulars house had been rescued from India's equivalent of Juvie. While most of them were guilty of stealing to survive, a couple had committed breaking and enterings and such. To see kids who had come from such difficult and desperate circumstances as those literally dancing in praise of God, was profound for us all.
After that we went to a church to dedicate a well. The pastor of the church was one of the pastors affiliated with the boy's home. The people of the church were very kind, and brought us bottles of soda, sealed, so we could actually drink them. It was nice to have a real sprite. Especially out so far into the country. The well opening was beautiful, and the kids played in the water. Gabe made a video to send back to the donors who were kind enough to pay for the well.
Surprisingly, despite the fact that we had only dedicated one house and one well, we got to the hotel late in the afternoon.
The next day would be the last day. I did a good deal of pre-packing, throwing things out and getting ready for the last day. We would be attending church in the morning, so I pulled out an outfit with a scarf. I had a lot of packing to do as I had unpacked for the trip. I am a cluttered person by nature, so unpacking and putting things away was the best way for me to be respectful to those rooming with me. Despite unpacking I still had a great deal of detritus in the bottom of my big suitcase. I also had to repair by hand a long tear in Mac's carry on bag, and move things over as we had replaced my carry on bag. Both had been damaged badly in the crazy flurry of flights getting here in the first place.
Mackenzie:
I was very homesick, and was looking forward to going home. I had learned a lot while here, but I had also learned that I was not called so much to travel as to support missions from at home. I missed my family and everything that I found familiar. Heather, on the other hand, desperately wanted to stay. She seemed on the verge of tears constantly. She loved it there, she loved feeling the tangible chance to help, she loved being God's hands in a physical sense. Maybe we are two sides of the same coin. We spent some time commiserating before bed in the hotel lobby while she finished up the last hat for the mountain kids. She had by some miracle finished them all (all six) including two for the pastor of the house's children. I was really proud of her determination to help in every way she could imagine while she was there.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Christmas in India: Days Four to Five
DAY FOUR - FIVE
Hyderabad and the Chandrajupalem House
Heather:
We had been running like mad the first few days of the trip. Often the Christmas In India trip opens a home and or we'll each day or so, but our homes were in clusters, several hours of driving away. It seemed silly to make that drive twice, so we crammed busy days in and then had rest days. The first day in Hyderabad was one such rest day. We went shopping because the women had to get Indian clothes. There is a dss code on the trip, for several reasons. One, to prevent an international incident (it may sound melodramatic, but for example, Indian culture finds exposing your ankles very inappropriate as a woman, something which wouldn't occur to us Americans). Two, to ensure modesty and to help us act as good representatives of Christianity. And three, to be soectful to the culture, to help make the people and children we were to be interacting with more comfortable. Like an ice breaker and a sign of our willingness to appreciate their culture at the same time. Anyway, so first stop: SHOPPING!
It was a fun and challenging experience, but the customer service was outstanding. They would jump through hoops to make sure you had everything you wanted, but they would also stop short of pressuring you to get something you didn't want, something that I find customer service people in America do sometimes. I had a bit of a hard time in one of the stores as the sizes were divided into sections, like in the US, but more, and of course I couldn't read the labels. It was organized into essentially Teens, Women, Petites, and Curvy (for lack of a better word) and I couldn't find my section. Thankfully one of the helpers saw my plight and was extremely helpful. At another store when I figur out my size by trying on a few things, the staff pulled one of each style they had in that size for me to choose from. I found my favorite design because of that! Despite the fact that I loved the bright colors and got garments in red, yellow, and cream edged with bright pink, my favorites were the two from that store, a white black and silver outfit with bold monochromatic patterns, and a pale yellow, mint, and cadet blue outfit. Though they were muted, they were gorgeous. The other girls picked out some amazing stuff. While I had picked out my clothes to blend in as much as possible in India they had chosen clothes they would still use at home, they had unique blends of western and Indian culture which I found wonderful. Simple colors on Indian designs and Indian colors and patterns on slightly more western designs. In short, we had a blast. I also had a chance to pick up a book I had been eyeing by an Indian author, the equivalent of a US medieval novel but about Indian medieval era culture translated into English. It was super fun.
Mackenzie:
The mall experience was far from relaxing for me. Despite Heather’s attempts at comfort, I still felt like it wasn’t safe. I don’t think this was an unreasonable feeling either. Upon entry, they have a similar security check to the one at the airport. The power kept going on and off too, which turns out is just because the power there is not reliable. There was also a guard standing at the entrance of every single store and restaurant, some with assault rifles, but most with handguns. You must also store your hand bag with the nearby bag check before entering every store. I was able to get past this long enough to purchase a pair of gym shorts and a sweatshirt, but I was glad when we left for the hotel. I was nervous and scared, to the point where I refused to try to enjoy the experience for a couple of days. Being in a foreign country was starting to hit me and with all the security measures, I didn’t feel like I could be sure just how safe we were.
But that’s why we were there. We were to provide a safe haven for children who need it. Still though, I was nervous and no amount of comfort was enough to keep me from reminding myself that I didn’t know where I was, that I didn’t understand India, and how far away from home I really was. Not yet anyway.
Heather:
I now had enough clothing to remain respectful to Indian culture throughout the trip. We even ate at Chili's that night, which was fun and interesting. I also had a massage that day. I felt somewhat guilty using the amenities of the hotel when I was supposed to be helping the impoverished, but I have severe fibromyalgia, and the pain of all the travel was beginning to interfere with my ability to function. Mac was in extreme neck pain from an injury sustained on the bumpy roads and he got a neck massage, so I didn't feel too guilty. I realized that being in good physical condition was required. This consoled me. I realized that if I was being honest with myself, I truly was doing it to help my pain and not for selfish reasons. At the same time it was an incredible reminder of how truly blessed we all are. I can't imagine being a chronic pain patient without access to the medical care I have been blessed with, and I took the opportunity to thank God for that with which he has blessed my family.
We went to bed shortly after arriving at the Hotel from dinner, as we had an early morning - a 5:00 A.M. departure (YIKES!) as we had a long day.
When we woke the morning of the next day, somewhat groggy but not too bad since we had gone to bed early, I found out that the house I was dedicating was today! (DOUBLE YIKES!). I had to run back up to the hotel room for the gifts my family had sent with me for the children, and my notes on what I was going to say, which I intended to polish on the drive. We would be opening two houses today, the house dedicated by one of the team members Melissa on behalf of her church, and Chandrajupalem house, a 30 girl house, which I would be dedicating on behalf of my family.
Chandrajupalem house was first, and I was to dedicate it to the memory of Pastor Patricia Skinner, my pastor from childhood, who was passionate about raising up children in the faith. I could think of no better way of honoring her memory than by raising up other children in the faith.
Mackenzie:
The Indian country side looks somewhat like the American country side in that there are crops everywhere and raggedy looking farm equipment along with it. The poverty in these areas, however, is noticeable, as there is much trash lining the roads and there are more primitive...simple....homes and many of them do not have doors or other things one would normally find on a house here in America, like window glass, or even permanent walls. Animals of all kinds roam freely. Apart from the dogs, the other animals that were roaming the streets seemed to have owners, but that didn’t keep them from roaming freely, or seemingly freely. A couple hours into the trip, I’m doing homework after having awakened from a nap. I stare at my Spanish homework shutting out everything around. I began to get a headache so I look up for a second. In the distance covered partly by a layer of clouds is gigantic mountain. Just one though. A random, single, gigantic mountain in the center of what seemed to be the middle of nowhere.
Heather:
When we arrived the girls were singing hymns and Christian songs, complete with hand motions, just like we do here in the US. I watched enough times that I could start doing the hand motions with them. They got really excited when I started doing the motions. It was beautiful. They seemed so joyful and excited!
I brought balloons and a pump, and started making balloon animals for the girls while the camera crew set up and the team put together the bags of school supplies for the kids. There was a camera crew traveling with us. Tommy, our videographer was an amazing traveling companion; really fun and strong in his faith. We (Mac and I, as well as it seemed, Jessica another Christ-filled young woman on the trip) were concerned early in the trip with the focus being placed on filming the events; that is, until I realized that this was they way more people from the US could get information on this, the videos were about spreading the news and helping the kids. without those photos and videos there would be no way to share the faith of these amazing children and the way people are able to change their lives, even from far away in the US.
I was starting to get really nervous, so I asked some of the team to come pray for me. Then I got up and began to speak. I don't have the text of what I said with me right now, but when I find it I'll post it for you guys. I spoke about how Christ had a plan for all of the children, and how He was't just going to do good things for them and to them, but with them and through them. That these kids were going to be a part of a groundswell in India, that the children were going to get a chance at a different kind of life, and that God would use them because of their faith.
Mackenzie:
I was asked to help fill backpacks but some of the supplies we needed were left in the car. I made my way to the car and when I came back, Heather had not only started her speech but was finished. To say that I was a little sad is a huge understatement as this was something that I had been looking forward to since before we left for India. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the dedication but hearing someone I admire as much as her deliver a message of hope to orphans in a country that had been through so much was important to me.
Heather:
I noticed that Mac was not with me (although I did not know until later that he was disappointed), and I called him over to help me with cutting the ribbon on the door. When we cut the ribbon, the children all ran helter-skelter into the room and plopped down onto their beds. We had put new pillows and brightly colored pillowcases on their bed, with their brightly colored blankets, and they began snuggling with their blankets. The female members of the team and I were all wearing brightly colored flower clips (which I had brought with me), and we began to pass out the gifts for the girls, which were headbands with the same kind of flower on them. Mac, Jessica, Melissa, and I each took a box of the headbands and began to hand them out.
Many of the girls put them on their head like those old doctor's headbands, with the flower in the center of the front of their heads. One of the girls just couldn't get hers on, so she asked me to help. When I put it on properly, every single girl in the house removed her headband and patiently waited for me to come around and help them put it on. I cried, it was the sweetest thing. They called me Auntie Heather and thanked me for the balloons and the headbands.
Then the little girls shared cake to celebrate the "birthday" of their new home and their new lives. Then I made as many ballon animals as I could before I had to leave. The kids loved them so much that I left the balloon inflater and balloons with the house mother and a little balloon animal book.
At the end, we prayed over the house, and had to leave. It was heartbreaking for me to leave the girls, I had fallen in love, even over so short a time.
We stopped again shortly and I saw a sign "Welcoming Heather LaPeer and Team". As this was the sign near the house I had been expected to dedicate, I had a sinking feeling I was about to get a stressful surprise.
Gabe, our team leader came up to me, "You're dedicating this too right?" he asked. Apparently I was also responsible for dedicating a well. I said "Give me three minutes," and closed my eyes to pray as they set everything up. I found a verse using the concordance on my borrowed Bible, and I knew what to say.
I spoke about how Jesus was a fount of living water, the kind of water that if we drank it we would never thirst again, and how we were called to be pure, like the pure water of Christ. I asked them to use this well as a reminder of the eternal water, that refreshed the soul, and to continue to seek the purity to which Christ calls us.
Then I was supposed to pump the well a few times to pour out the water, and fill their water canisters. I pumped the water, and when I was done, I turned to smile at the villagers. They started laughing. The silver paint on the well was not yet dry, and I had a silver paint smudge on my face, and my hands were covered in silver paint. A kind villager offered me their handkerchief, and we dampened it in the well so I could get the paint off, all the while all of us laughing.
As we had to leave, the villagers all lined up along the roadway, waving and calling out "Praise the Lord!"
We were on the way to visit Pastor Paul's grandmother, who had just had her 99th birthday. We had planned to stop in the village and meet his sister and her husband, and some of his family as well as his grandmother.
On the way to the house, the brakes on our car went out. We were going maybe 35 or 40 miles per hour, and our driver (who I am going to call Daniel, and his car the Danmobile) saved our lives, he threw the car into neutral, swerved around the car in front of us (which had stopped dead, which was why we needed the brakes) and then threw the car in park on the side of the road. It was incredibly impressive. We waited for Pastor Paul's car, and then limped our car to his family's village.
Mackenzie:
Luckily we were just around the corner from the village to which we were going. But we stopped in the village where we met up with the grandma of the leader of Angel House Ministries in India (Pastor Paul). She had just celebrated her 99th birthday.
It was quite the experience meeting with her and one of the group members took meeting her to an unnecessary extreme, which was kind of funny. Yet, since the woman couldn’t understand English, I wonder how confused she was at this particular member's affection. I also wonder how many times she said, “get off me you weirdo!”.in Hindi, as the member of our team was giving her an excessive number of hugs. Pastor Paul's grandmother complemented Heather, calling her beautiful, and asked Heather how her granddaughter was doing. Pastor Paul explained that his grandmother rarely left her village, and so saw the world as pretty small. Because of this she thought everyone in America knew each other, just like everyone in her village knew each other, and so she asked every American she met how her daughter was doing. Heather had Pastor Paul translate, and said that she was sure that God was looking out for her grandaughter.
Since our car was broken down, and the group was expected at the next dedication at a specific time, the rest of the group took their car and left us in this village to wait for the new vehicle to arrive. Melissa needed to be at the other house in time to set up and practice. So Heather, Phil, and I remained, while Daniel worked on fixing the car.
So we roamed a village about 5 hours outside Hyderabad. All of the children fought for our attention at once. It was flattering to be held in such high regard of these kids who have never seen someone who looked like me.
White skin, bright blue eyes, shiny blonde hair, humble personality. Right. Heather and I were celebrities among these kids. Each individual child introduced themselves to Heather and I, always extending their hands to shake mine and responding politely. These kids were better at social interaction than many adults here in the states.
While in the village, I kept noticing the various designs of homes, small enough to be called huts, and a few larger huts that more closely resembled mobile homes. The most interesting aspect of all the poverty was how the children responded to it. It hit me that kids did not know how hard they had it because that’s all they'd ever known.
Being born and raised in America is nothing of which to be ashamed. What is shameful is ignoring those who are dying due to poverty. Is that everyone in a third world country? Certainly not, but it is some(maybe even many), and it doesn't hurt to make their lives a little easier and maybe healthier.
Heather and I (actually mostly Heather) asked Pastor Paul's sister for a tour, and were led to the small church inside the village by Pastor Paul's sister and some of the children. In this church were huge banners with Bible verses. The children were quick to follow us into the church. They didn't exactly want anything from us, but rather it looked like they just wanted a closer look at us. I pulled out a coin and began teaching them “head or tails”. I told one kid to call it, and when the coin landed it showed that he made the right call. The look on his face would make someone think this kid just won the National Championship. It was heartwarming to see these kids get more than just excited at the simplest things.
Heather was playing with the little girls, and they helped her do her hair like theirs. The girls wore their hair in two long braids looped back up to where they started with hair clips. Heather used her flower hair clip to hold up the one side, and they found her a real flower to hold up the other side, so that it matched. It was adorable.
Then the girls asked Heather to pray for them. The way they asked was they took her hand, and placed it on their heads. Heather prayed for them as a group, tears in her eyes. Later she confided in me that she didn't really feel worthy of the honor, that being a prayer warrior was not her spiritual gift. But God hears all our prayers, gift or not, and that is amazing.
We stepped outside for a moment. We were met on the patio by a man of maybe forty-five, and his baby girl. The sight of this baby was heart-breaking. She had a skin disease over her entire body. Parts of her body were shriveled up like a dried orange. Her eyes weren't able to open all the way and her arms looked like they were covered in bark rather than skin. She looked like a burn victim. Some fingers were stuck together, and when this baby cried it was hard not to imagine her calling for help in the middle of a house fire. What’s even harder to imagine is that this was not caused by a fire. She was born with this, she will live her life with this, and she will die just like this. At the sight of Heather, the baby stopped crying. She stared at Heather, scanning her face trying to figure Heather out. Finally she realized that Heather was friendly and with what looked like little effort despite the shriveled up skin lining her mouth, the baby smiled. Heather, Phil, and I prayed over the little girland Heather and I were ultimately were asked to pray over several more people before we left,
Neither Heather, I nor Phil wanted to leave this village. It was perhaps the most fun I had on the entire trip. Ultimately, however, another car arrived ready to take us to the last house of the day. Dan, Heather, and I mourned the loss of the Danmobile.
Heather gave a few last hugs and I shook a few last hands, and then we were on our way out. As we drove away from the village, the children ran after us. Once we reached the main road though, they stopped and with every one of them beaming, they waved goodbye.
Heather:
We were on the road again. We made remarkable time to the house, but still arrived after the dedication was complete (albeit before all the photographs). We walked into a house, with all the kids already on their beds, grinning their faces off.
Understand, we were there to dedicate houses which had been opened within that year. Which means that some of the kids had been in their houses nearly 8 months, while others had just arrived. In this last house, children had just arrived. And it became clear to us all for the first time how much of a difference these homes could make for children.
The kids in this house were filching extras of all the things that we gave them, they hid their things under their bed, they were afraid all the good things they had been given would be taken away. That fear was simply not present in the older houses. I pray every day that those kids will come to know the peace the other kids had, the knowledge that good things are not automatically taken away.
But at the same time, I am so glad I had the chance to go to this house, the chance to see both ends of the spectrum, where the kids start and the hope we can help them reach through Christ. I take comfort in the near-certainty that the children at that house will have the same confidence and hope of the kids in the other homes we had dedicated by the same time next year.
Mackenzie:
While we were there, more of the local older kids came and introduced themselves to Heather and I. One of the older teen aged girls asked me for a picture with just me. I couldn’t help but go a little red and look at Heather with a “are you ok with this?” sort of look. She didn't seem to mind, she had gotten a picture with the girl as well, and a picture alone with one of the young men. The two young men seemed to be related to the house parents, and the young woman I believe was related to the local pastor somehow. Once again we were celebrities. We didn't mind tough, because it was a great ice breaker to talk to the older village kids about what their lives were like a little.
After a few pictures we began handing school supplies to the children. They were excited to receive their own school books and various clothing items as well as back packs and pencils. We handed out shoes as well. At this house, however, the kids begged for more stuff, wanted different shoes, wanted to trade, wanted more toys, more pencils. They were sweet, but I couldn't help but feel sad they had been so deprived. Thankfully that wouldn't be for much longer.
I was introduced to a few of the adults of the village who were all more than friendly. Though I couldn’t understand most of what they were saying, they were always smiling, which (unless you’re a monkey) is always a good thing. As an added bonus, many of the kids and a couple of the villages we went to learned one phrase in English, “praise the Lord.”
Hyderabad and the Chandrajupalem House
Heather:
We had been running like mad the first few days of the trip. Often the Christmas In India trip opens a home and or we'll each day or so, but our homes were in clusters, several hours of driving away. It seemed silly to make that drive twice, so we crammed busy days in and then had rest days. The first day in Hyderabad was one such rest day. We went shopping because the women had to get Indian clothes. There is a dss code on the trip, for several reasons. One, to prevent an international incident (it may sound melodramatic, but for example, Indian culture finds exposing your ankles very inappropriate as a woman, something which wouldn't occur to us Americans). Two, to ensure modesty and to help us act as good representatives of Christianity. And three, to be soectful to the culture, to help make the people and children we were to be interacting with more comfortable. Like an ice breaker and a sign of our willingness to appreciate their culture at the same time. Anyway, so first stop: SHOPPING!
It was a fun and challenging experience, but the customer service was outstanding. They would jump through hoops to make sure you had everything you wanted, but they would also stop short of pressuring you to get something you didn't want, something that I find customer service people in America do sometimes. I had a bit of a hard time in one of the stores as the sizes were divided into sections, like in the US, but more, and of course I couldn't read the labels. It was organized into essentially Teens, Women, Petites, and Curvy (for lack of a better word) and I couldn't find my section. Thankfully one of the helpers saw my plight and was extremely helpful. At another store when I figur out my size by trying on a few things, the staff pulled one of each style they had in that size for me to choose from. I found my favorite design because of that! Despite the fact that I loved the bright colors and got garments in red, yellow, and cream edged with bright pink, my favorites were the two from that store, a white black and silver outfit with bold monochromatic patterns, and a pale yellow, mint, and cadet blue outfit. Though they were muted, they were gorgeous. The other girls picked out some amazing stuff. While I had picked out my clothes to blend in as much as possible in India they had chosen clothes they would still use at home, they had unique blends of western and Indian culture which I found wonderful. Simple colors on Indian designs and Indian colors and patterns on slightly more western designs. In short, we had a blast. I also had a chance to pick up a book I had been eyeing by an Indian author, the equivalent of a US medieval novel but about Indian medieval era culture translated into English. It was super fun.
Mackenzie:
The mall experience was far from relaxing for me. Despite Heather’s attempts at comfort, I still felt like it wasn’t safe. I don’t think this was an unreasonable feeling either. Upon entry, they have a similar security check to the one at the airport. The power kept going on and off too, which turns out is just because the power there is not reliable. There was also a guard standing at the entrance of every single store and restaurant, some with assault rifles, but most with handguns. You must also store your hand bag with the nearby bag check before entering every store. I was able to get past this long enough to purchase a pair of gym shorts and a sweatshirt, but I was glad when we left for the hotel. I was nervous and scared, to the point where I refused to try to enjoy the experience for a couple of days. Being in a foreign country was starting to hit me and with all the security measures, I didn’t feel like I could be sure just how safe we were.
But that’s why we were there. We were to provide a safe haven for children who need it. Still though, I was nervous and no amount of comfort was enough to keep me from reminding myself that I didn’t know where I was, that I didn’t understand India, and how far away from home I really was. Not yet anyway.
Heather:
I now had enough clothing to remain respectful to Indian culture throughout the trip. We even ate at Chili's that night, which was fun and interesting. I also had a massage that day. I felt somewhat guilty using the amenities of the hotel when I was supposed to be helping the impoverished, but I have severe fibromyalgia, and the pain of all the travel was beginning to interfere with my ability to function. Mac was in extreme neck pain from an injury sustained on the bumpy roads and he got a neck massage, so I didn't feel too guilty. I realized that being in good physical condition was required. This consoled me. I realized that if I was being honest with myself, I truly was doing it to help my pain and not for selfish reasons. At the same time it was an incredible reminder of how truly blessed we all are. I can't imagine being a chronic pain patient without access to the medical care I have been blessed with, and I took the opportunity to thank God for that with which he has blessed my family.
We went to bed shortly after arriving at the Hotel from dinner, as we had an early morning - a 5:00 A.M. departure (YIKES!) as we had a long day.
When we woke the morning of the next day, somewhat groggy but not too bad since we had gone to bed early, I found out that the house I was dedicating was today! (DOUBLE YIKES!). I had to run back up to the hotel room for the gifts my family had sent with me for the children, and my notes on what I was going to say, which I intended to polish on the drive. We would be opening two houses today, the house dedicated by one of the team members Melissa on behalf of her church, and Chandrajupalem house, a 30 girl house, which I would be dedicating on behalf of my family.
Chandrajupalem house was first, and I was to dedicate it to the memory of Pastor Patricia Skinner, my pastor from childhood, who was passionate about raising up children in the faith. I could think of no better way of honoring her memory than by raising up other children in the faith.
Mackenzie:
The Indian country side looks somewhat like the American country side in that there are crops everywhere and raggedy looking farm equipment along with it. The poverty in these areas, however, is noticeable, as there is much trash lining the roads and there are more primitive...simple....homes and many of them do not have doors or other things one would normally find on a house here in America, like window glass, or even permanent walls. Animals of all kinds roam freely. Apart from the dogs, the other animals that were roaming the streets seemed to have owners, but that didn’t keep them from roaming freely, or seemingly freely. A couple hours into the trip, I’m doing homework after having awakened from a nap. I stare at my Spanish homework shutting out everything around. I began to get a headache so I look up for a second. In the distance covered partly by a layer of clouds is gigantic mountain. Just one though. A random, single, gigantic mountain in the center of what seemed to be the middle of nowhere.
Heather:
When we arrived the girls were singing hymns and Christian songs, complete with hand motions, just like we do here in the US. I watched enough times that I could start doing the hand motions with them. They got really excited when I started doing the motions. It was beautiful. They seemed so joyful and excited!
I brought balloons and a pump, and started making balloon animals for the girls while the camera crew set up and the team put together the bags of school supplies for the kids. There was a camera crew traveling with us. Tommy, our videographer was an amazing traveling companion; really fun and strong in his faith. We (Mac and I, as well as it seemed, Jessica another Christ-filled young woman on the trip) were concerned early in the trip with the focus being placed on filming the events; that is, until I realized that this was they way more people from the US could get information on this, the videos were about spreading the news and helping the kids. without those photos and videos there would be no way to share the faith of these amazing children and the way people are able to change their lives, even from far away in the US.
I was starting to get really nervous, so I asked some of the team to come pray for me. Then I got up and began to speak. I don't have the text of what I said with me right now, but when I find it I'll post it for you guys. I spoke about how Christ had a plan for all of the children, and how He was't just going to do good things for them and to them, but with them and through them. That these kids were going to be a part of a groundswell in India, that the children were going to get a chance at a different kind of life, and that God would use them because of their faith.
Mackenzie:
I was asked to help fill backpacks but some of the supplies we needed were left in the car. I made my way to the car and when I came back, Heather had not only started her speech but was finished. To say that I was a little sad is a huge understatement as this was something that I had been looking forward to since before we left for India. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the dedication but hearing someone I admire as much as her deliver a message of hope to orphans in a country that had been through so much was important to me.
Heather:
I noticed that Mac was not with me (although I did not know until later that he was disappointed), and I called him over to help me with cutting the ribbon on the door. When we cut the ribbon, the children all ran helter-skelter into the room and plopped down onto their beds. We had put new pillows and brightly colored pillowcases on their bed, with their brightly colored blankets, and they began snuggling with their blankets. The female members of the team and I were all wearing brightly colored flower clips (which I had brought with me), and we began to pass out the gifts for the girls, which were headbands with the same kind of flower on them. Mac, Jessica, Melissa, and I each took a box of the headbands and began to hand them out.
Many of the girls put them on their head like those old doctor's headbands, with the flower in the center of the front of their heads. One of the girls just couldn't get hers on, so she asked me to help. When I put it on properly, every single girl in the house removed her headband and patiently waited for me to come around and help them put it on. I cried, it was the sweetest thing. They called me Auntie Heather and thanked me for the balloons and the headbands.
Then the little girls shared cake to celebrate the "birthday" of their new home and their new lives. Then I made as many ballon animals as I could before I had to leave. The kids loved them so much that I left the balloon inflater and balloons with the house mother and a little balloon animal book.
At the end, we prayed over the house, and had to leave. It was heartbreaking for me to leave the girls, I had fallen in love, even over so short a time.
We stopped again shortly and I saw a sign "Welcoming Heather LaPeer and Team". As this was the sign near the house I had been expected to dedicate, I had a sinking feeling I was about to get a stressful surprise.
Gabe, our team leader came up to me, "You're dedicating this too right?" he asked. Apparently I was also responsible for dedicating a well. I said "Give me three minutes," and closed my eyes to pray as they set everything up. I found a verse using the concordance on my borrowed Bible, and I knew what to say.
I spoke about how Jesus was a fount of living water, the kind of water that if we drank it we would never thirst again, and how we were called to be pure, like the pure water of Christ. I asked them to use this well as a reminder of the eternal water, that refreshed the soul, and to continue to seek the purity to which Christ calls us.
Then I was supposed to pump the well a few times to pour out the water, and fill their water canisters. I pumped the water, and when I was done, I turned to smile at the villagers. They started laughing. The silver paint on the well was not yet dry, and I had a silver paint smudge on my face, and my hands were covered in silver paint. A kind villager offered me their handkerchief, and we dampened it in the well so I could get the paint off, all the while all of us laughing.
As we had to leave, the villagers all lined up along the roadway, waving and calling out "Praise the Lord!"
We were on the way to visit Pastor Paul's grandmother, who had just had her 99th birthday. We had planned to stop in the village and meet his sister and her husband, and some of his family as well as his grandmother.
On the way to the house, the brakes on our car went out. We were going maybe 35 or 40 miles per hour, and our driver (who I am going to call Daniel, and his car the Danmobile) saved our lives, he threw the car into neutral, swerved around the car in front of us (which had stopped dead, which was why we needed the brakes) and then threw the car in park on the side of the road. It was incredibly impressive. We waited for Pastor Paul's car, and then limped our car to his family's village.
Mackenzie:
Luckily we were just around the corner from the village to which we were going. But we stopped in the village where we met up with the grandma of the leader of Angel House Ministries in India (Pastor Paul). She had just celebrated her 99th birthday.
It was quite the experience meeting with her and one of the group members took meeting her to an unnecessary extreme, which was kind of funny. Yet, since the woman couldn’t understand English, I wonder how confused she was at this particular member's affection. I also wonder how many times she said, “get off me you weirdo!”.in Hindi, as the member of our team was giving her an excessive number of hugs. Pastor Paul's grandmother complemented Heather, calling her beautiful, and asked Heather how her granddaughter was doing. Pastor Paul explained that his grandmother rarely left her village, and so saw the world as pretty small. Because of this she thought everyone in America knew each other, just like everyone in her village knew each other, and so she asked every American she met how her daughter was doing. Heather had Pastor Paul translate, and said that she was sure that God was looking out for her grandaughter.
Since our car was broken down, and the group was expected at the next dedication at a specific time, the rest of the group took their car and left us in this village to wait for the new vehicle to arrive. Melissa needed to be at the other house in time to set up and practice. So Heather, Phil, and I remained, while Daniel worked on fixing the car.
So we roamed a village about 5 hours outside Hyderabad. All of the children fought for our attention at once. It was flattering to be held in such high regard of these kids who have never seen someone who looked like me.
White skin, bright blue eyes, shiny blonde hair, humble personality. Right. Heather and I were celebrities among these kids. Each individual child introduced themselves to Heather and I, always extending their hands to shake mine and responding politely. These kids were better at social interaction than many adults here in the states.
While in the village, I kept noticing the various designs of homes, small enough to be called huts, and a few larger huts that more closely resembled mobile homes. The most interesting aspect of all the poverty was how the children responded to it. It hit me that kids did not know how hard they had it because that’s all they'd ever known.
Being born and raised in America is nothing of which to be ashamed. What is shameful is ignoring those who are dying due to poverty. Is that everyone in a third world country? Certainly not, but it is some(maybe even many), and it doesn't hurt to make their lives a little easier and maybe healthier.
Heather and I (actually mostly Heather) asked Pastor Paul's sister for a tour, and were led to the small church inside the village by Pastor Paul's sister and some of the children. In this church were huge banners with Bible verses. The children were quick to follow us into the church. They didn't exactly want anything from us, but rather it looked like they just wanted a closer look at us. I pulled out a coin and began teaching them “head or tails”. I told one kid to call it, and when the coin landed it showed that he made the right call. The look on his face would make someone think this kid just won the National Championship. It was heartwarming to see these kids get more than just excited at the simplest things.
Heather was playing with the little girls, and they helped her do her hair like theirs. The girls wore their hair in two long braids looped back up to where they started with hair clips. Heather used her flower hair clip to hold up the one side, and they found her a real flower to hold up the other side, so that it matched. It was adorable.
Then the girls asked Heather to pray for them. The way they asked was they took her hand, and placed it on their heads. Heather prayed for them as a group, tears in her eyes. Later she confided in me that she didn't really feel worthy of the honor, that being a prayer warrior was not her spiritual gift. But God hears all our prayers, gift or not, and that is amazing.
We stepped outside for a moment. We were met on the patio by a man of maybe forty-five, and his baby girl. The sight of this baby was heart-breaking. She had a skin disease over her entire body. Parts of her body were shriveled up like a dried orange. Her eyes weren't able to open all the way and her arms looked like they were covered in bark rather than skin. She looked like a burn victim. Some fingers were stuck together, and when this baby cried it was hard not to imagine her calling for help in the middle of a house fire. What’s even harder to imagine is that this was not caused by a fire. She was born with this, she will live her life with this, and she will die just like this. At the sight of Heather, the baby stopped crying. She stared at Heather, scanning her face trying to figure Heather out. Finally she realized that Heather was friendly and with what looked like little effort despite the shriveled up skin lining her mouth, the baby smiled. Heather, Phil, and I prayed over the little girland Heather and I were ultimately were asked to pray over several more people before we left,
Neither Heather, I nor Phil wanted to leave this village. It was perhaps the most fun I had on the entire trip. Ultimately, however, another car arrived ready to take us to the last house of the day. Dan, Heather, and I mourned the loss of the Danmobile.
Heather gave a few last hugs and I shook a few last hands, and then we were on our way out. As we drove away from the village, the children ran after us. Once we reached the main road though, they stopped and with every one of them beaming, they waved goodbye.
Heather:
We were on the road again. We made remarkable time to the house, but still arrived after the dedication was complete (albeit before all the photographs). We walked into a house, with all the kids already on their beds, grinning their faces off.
Understand, we were there to dedicate houses which had been opened within that year. Which means that some of the kids had been in their houses nearly 8 months, while others had just arrived. In this last house, children had just arrived. And it became clear to us all for the first time how much of a difference these homes could make for children.
The kids in this house were filching extras of all the things that we gave them, they hid their things under their bed, they were afraid all the good things they had been given would be taken away. That fear was simply not present in the older houses. I pray every day that those kids will come to know the peace the other kids had, the knowledge that good things are not automatically taken away.
But at the same time, I am so glad I had the chance to go to this house, the chance to see both ends of the spectrum, where the kids start and the hope we can help them reach through Christ. I take comfort in the near-certainty that the children at that house will have the same confidence and hope of the kids in the other homes we had dedicated by the same time next year.
Mackenzie:
While we were there, more of the local older kids came and introduced themselves to Heather and I. One of the older teen aged girls asked me for a picture with just me. I couldn’t help but go a little red and look at Heather with a “are you ok with this?” sort of look. She didn't seem to mind, she had gotten a picture with the girl as well, and a picture alone with one of the young men. The two young men seemed to be related to the house parents, and the young woman I believe was related to the local pastor somehow. Once again we were celebrities. We didn't mind tough, because it was a great ice breaker to talk to the older village kids about what their lives were like a little.
After a few pictures we began handing school supplies to the children. They were excited to receive their own school books and various clothing items as well as back packs and pencils. We handed out shoes as well. At this house, however, the kids begged for more stuff, wanted different shoes, wanted to trade, wanted more toys, more pencils. They were sweet, but I couldn't help but feel sad they had been so deprived. Thankfully that wouldn't be for much longer.
I was introduced to a few of the adults of the village who were all more than friendly. Though I couldn’t understand most of what they were saying, they were always smiling, which (unless you’re a monkey) is always a good thing. As an added bonus, many of the kids and a couple of the villages we went to learned one phrase in English, “praise the Lord.”
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Christmas in India: Days One to Three
DAY ONE - THREE
Departure and travel
Heather:
The time leading up to our departure for the trip was very stressful for me. . I was so busy, I kept getting called into work, I was putting up Christmas decorations, I was packing, and picking up toiletries at the store, and getting leggings to go under the Indian clothes I would have to buy. I was running around like the proverbial Chicken with its head cut off.
It began to concern me that my focus was not in the right place for a trip to India. My focus was so deeply on the temporal when it should have been on the spiritual.
I bought a journal with my favorite Bible verse on the cover: Isaiah 40:31,"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not be faint." And I started to document the time leading up to the trip, I wrote down my prayers for God to open my heart and to help me focus on what was truly important here. I am referring to this journal as I write these posts, as I kept it for the entire trip.
The night before the plane's departure I had a severe infection in my finger under the nail bed. My lovely boyfriend and traveling companion for the trip Mac had to take me to urgent care. I was so stressed, and I really felt as though Satan was putting something in the way of us doing something great for God. I was up late at Urgent Care, and I had to have my finger lanced several times, so when it came time to pack I was moving so slowly, and with one hand, that it took me all night. I was barely finished when Mac's family came to pick me up. And I didn't have time to clean up the mess I had made organizing everything into the bags!
It's amazing how often the physical gets in the way of our focus being where it belongs.
We made it to the airport with just enough time, it was close and I was worried. My fears were instantly alleviated however, when our gate was the first one after security and the rendezvous with our team was almost ridiculously easy. I could tell I was going to like the people right off, they were kind and friendly. We boarded our first flight, to Amsterdam, scattered throughout the plane and settled in for a long ride. a 9 1/2 hour flight, the second equally long. Then, we thought, a short two-hour flight to Hyderabad and the super comfortable stay at the Hyderabad Westin.
Mackenzie:
I wasn’t sure what to expect from my travels to India. The only thing running through my mind while on board the eight hour flight to Amsterdam was, “Oh crap, my foot's asleep again….”
The fact that I was on my way to a foreign country, my first ever, hadn’t quite hit me yet. When we landed in Amsterdam it still didn’t hit me. We were welcomed warmly by security there and made our next flight without issue. On the next flight I didn’t think about much at all. I had been awake for 20 hours straight at this point so while Heather, my girlfriend and lovely traveling companion, watched movies, I watched the inside of my eyelids. Riveting.
We landed in Mumbai where the welcome was much different. As soon as we walked off the plane, two soldiers were there to greet us with AK-47’s. It was then that I began to understand just how bad things were over there. The security measures they took continued to shock me throughout the trip. We boarded another plane in Mumbai (Bombay) for northern India (we stopped in Bagdogra, then took another flight to Kolkata) where we drove five hours to stay in a Hotel on one of the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains.
I was getting tired of the long rides on the terrible roads and had already fallen asleep multiple times throughout the bumpy mountain rides.. Having a wonderful girlfriend like Heather who usually lets me fall asleep on her shoulder made me forget the cultural rules of India. In india, even married couples cannot show any public affection, even holding hands is frowned upon. Heather and I set out to be very well behaved. But in the case of a car ride, it did not occur to us that leaning on her shoulder would be a problem. So it was nice being in a car with the pastor (the leader of Angel house ministries in India, since we cannot post his name for security reasons we are going to call him Pastor Paul) because he was used to how Americans interact. Or so we thought.
That night we opened up our first home.
Heather:
Our first home was at the top of what was basically the equivalent of three or four flights of stairs, and we had to climb in semi-darkness. The home was built on a small plateau into the side of one of the Himalayas, and my goodness did it have an incredible view. They pointed out the border to Nepal and the border to China to us. The border to Nepal was discernible by a cluster of lights, and the border to China was discernible by the absence of light, as it is not settled in that area.
The house was two stories, made of what in the US we would call white stucco, with open windows, and a long porch across both floors, although only the upper floor had a banister. There were exterior stairs to the top floor.
One of the members of our team, Phil was a 70-something year old who had come the year before. He had had a home built in honor of the memory of his wife. This year he was with us to dedicate the second floor of that home in honor of his parents. It was so sweet. Angel House puts up a banner at each house opening with a picture of those to whom the home is dedicated as well as a Bible verse of your choice and their name. They not only had the banner for his parents out, but they had also brought out the banner with his wife's picture on it. It was so beautiful.
First Phil spoke, it was so sweet when he broke down in tears and just embraced the kids because he was beyond words.
Mackenzie:
Twelve little girls and boys cheered as the ribbon was cut and their first home was officially open. With this home came a set of parents, someone they could call mom and dad for the first time ever. They were also given beds, and backpacks filled with school supplies and clothes. These are also things they had never possessed before. The man dedicating their house, our team member Phil, had brought a stuffed animal for every single child. Heather talked, or rather gestured, the kids into giving her a high- five with the stuffed animal's hands, an idea which had clearly never occurred to them before. The joy in their eyes was inspiring.
The kids had been given the chance to choose their own stuffed animals, girls then boys, and it was nice to see no one bickered or griped, and even those who chose last seemed pleased with what they got. That kind of unselfishness is sometimes unseen in the US in children.
The night seemed to be going perfectly for the Angel House team and these kids but when we left that night, I couldn’t help but feel like my efforts to make those kids feel welcome was not enough. I dismissed the thought, as I assumed I was still recovering from the flight. We went back to the hotel where the Himalayan foothills were glowing with the lights from the streets and houses. We could see the border to Nepal on one side, and these lights stopped about three quarters up the hill to show the border of China, as they had no buildings in that area of their border.
I had fallen asleep on Heather’s shoulder on the way there, and back. Unfortunately, so did Heather. So when we returned to the hotel after dedicating that house, the Pastor was the one to wake us. Neither Heather nor I figured it was a big deal, but the next day Pastor Paul was talking to Heather. Just as I walked up to them I caught the pastor asking Heather where her husband was. Needless to say, I was flattered.
Heather:
But I was somewhere more in the school of concerned. We were loading up the car and he had been asking where my husband wanted the bag to go. I tried to clarify, and said that he wasn't my husband, but I think he thought my no meant that that was not where the bag should go, because he promptly moved the bag to the other car. I was a little worried that Mac falling asleep on my shoulder had been a serious cultural faux pas. But thankfully throughout the trip this proved to not be a serious problem. Pastor Paul was used to Americans interacting and as long as we didn't slip up in a way that would be seen by those for whom we were supposed to be setting an example, he didn't mind.
Understand this was just accidentally falling asleep on one another's shoulder. Had our slip up been something more inappropriate, like a hug, the result may have been different.
When we woke in the morning, we met with some other Angels from one of the local angel houses. Phil (one of the members of our group) knew the woman who had dedicated the house, and had a letter from her and some gifts for the little kids. I had also brought hats a friend of my mother made for the kids in the mountains (where it gets pretty cold) and we handed them out. Unfortunately, we were short. Again we saw the gratitude kids had there. Even though not everyone got one, no one complained or talked about how it was unfair. But I felt really upset by this. I didn't want to hand them out if we didn't have enough, but one of the local pastors insisted. It worked out anyway because we gave them to the littlest kids first and I promised the kids that I would make some hats for them, and deliver them to the local pastor to deliver to them before the end of the trip. Thankfully I had yarn intended to go to Christmas gifts for my mother and my brother. I was sure they wouldn't mind getting late gifts considering the cause.The kids seemed even more cheered at that news.
Mackenzie:
A day later we made it to Hyderabad, following another 6 hour drive through manic roads in the mountains, another delicious Indian meal, and a flight from Kolkata to Hyderabad. The streets were filled with litter. Bottles, cigarettes, and other trash, lined the roads. To get rid of this, they bulldoze it into large piles or set it on fire because there is so much of it. People would seemingly wander from one side of the street to the other and back. Others began setting up their huts or tents for the night. The entire time we were in Hyderabad, which would make up the remainder of the trip, I felt a sense of hopelessness. I couldn't help but feel that no matter how much work we put in here, it would never be enough to make a measurable difference.
Heather:
My impression of the area was not quite so bleak as Mac's, perhaps since I had been in areas which were recovering from weather tragedies before (once in Hispaniola and once in Jamaica) that I could see that many of the people still seemed to find joy or satisfaction in their lives. People didn't seem quite so listless to me. But the living conditions were often still deplorable, and the dichotomy between how some people lived and how others lived was almost astonishingly severe. Regardless, this discovery did not render me hopeless, instead it inspired me to work harder and to do more to help.
Departure and travel
Heather:
The time leading up to our departure for the trip was very stressful for me. . I was so busy, I kept getting called into work, I was putting up Christmas decorations, I was packing, and picking up toiletries at the store, and getting leggings to go under the Indian clothes I would have to buy. I was running around like the proverbial Chicken with its head cut off.
It began to concern me that my focus was not in the right place for a trip to India. My focus was so deeply on the temporal when it should have been on the spiritual.
I bought a journal with my favorite Bible verse on the cover: Isaiah 40:31,"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not be faint." And I started to document the time leading up to the trip, I wrote down my prayers for God to open my heart and to help me focus on what was truly important here. I am referring to this journal as I write these posts, as I kept it for the entire trip.
The night before the plane's departure I had a severe infection in my finger under the nail bed. My lovely boyfriend and traveling companion for the trip Mac had to take me to urgent care. I was so stressed, and I really felt as though Satan was putting something in the way of us doing something great for God. I was up late at Urgent Care, and I had to have my finger lanced several times, so when it came time to pack I was moving so slowly, and with one hand, that it took me all night. I was barely finished when Mac's family came to pick me up. And I didn't have time to clean up the mess I had made organizing everything into the bags!
It's amazing how often the physical gets in the way of our focus being where it belongs.
We made it to the airport with just enough time, it was close and I was worried. My fears were instantly alleviated however, when our gate was the first one after security and the rendezvous with our team was almost ridiculously easy. I could tell I was going to like the people right off, they were kind and friendly. We boarded our first flight, to Amsterdam, scattered throughout the plane and settled in for a long ride. a 9 1/2 hour flight, the second equally long. Then, we thought, a short two-hour flight to Hyderabad and the super comfortable stay at the Hyderabad Westin.
Mackenzie:
I wasn’t sure what to expect from my travels to India. The only thing running through my mind while on board the eight hour flight to Amsterdam was, “Oh crap, my foot's asleep again….”
The fact that I was on my way to a foreign country, my first ever, hadn’t quite hit me yet. When we landed in Amsterdam it still didn’t hit me. We were welcomed warmly by security there and made our next flight without issue. On the next flight I didn’t think about much at all. I had been awake for 20 hours straight at this point so while Heather, my girlfriend and lovely traveling companion, watched movies, I watched the inside of my eyelids. Riveting.
We landed in Mumbai where the welcome was much different. As soon as we walked off the plane, two soldiers were there to greet us with AK-47’s. It was then that I began to understand just how bad things were over there. The security measures they took continued to shock me throughout the trip. We boarded another plane in Mumbai (Bombay) for northern India (we stopped in Bagdogra, then took another flight to Kolkata) where we drove five hours to stay in a Hotel on one of the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains.
I was getting tired of the long rides on the terrible roads and had already fallen asleep multiple times throughout the bumpy mountain rides.. Having a wonderful girlfriend like Heather who usually lets me fall asleep on her shoulder made me forget the cultural rules of India. In india, even married couples cannot show any public affection, even holding hands is frowned upon. Heather and I set out to be very well behaved. But in the case of a car ride, it did not occur to us that leaning on her shoulder would be a problem. So it was nice being in a car with the pastor (the leader of Angel house ministries in India, since we cannot post his name for security reasons we are going to call him Pastor Paul) because he was used to how Americans interact. Or so we thought.
That night we opened up our first home.
Heather:
Our first home was at the top of what was basically the equivalent of three or four flights of stairs, and we had to climb in semi-darkness. The home was built on a small plateau into the side of one of the Himalayas, and my goodness did it have an incredible view. They pointed out the border to Nepal and the border to China to us. The border to Nepal was discernible by a cluster of lights, and the border to China was discernible by the absence of light, as it is not settled in that area.
The house was two stories, made of what in the US we would call white stucco, with open windows, and a long porch across both floors, although only the upper floor had a banister. There were exterior stairs to the top floor.
One of the members of our team, Phil was a 70-something year old who had come the year before. He had had a home built in honor of the memory of his wife. This year he was with us to dedicate the second floor of that home in honor of his parents. It was so sweet. Angel House puts up a banner at each house opening with a picture of those to whom the home is dedicated as well as a Bible verse of your choice and their name. They not only had the banner for his parents out, but they had also brought out the banner with his wife's picture on it. It was so beautiful.
First Phil spoke, it was so sweet when he broke down in tears and just embraced the kids because he was beyond words.
Mackenzie:
Twelve little girls and boys cheered as the ribbon was cut and their first home was officially open. With this home came a set of parents, someone they could call mom and dad for the first time ever. They were also given beds, and backpacks filled with school supplies and clothes. These are also things they had never possessed before. The man dedicating their house, our team member Phil, had brought a stuffed animal for every single child. Heather talked, or rather gestured, the kids into giving her a high- five with the stuffed animal's hands, an idea which had clearly never occurred to them before. The joy in their eyes was inspiring.
The kids had been given the chance to choose their own stuffed animals, girls then boys, and it was nice to see no one bickered or griped, and even those who chose last seemed pleased with what they got. That kind of unselfishness is sometimes unseen in the US in children.
The night seemed to be going perfectly for the Angel House team and these kids but when we left that night, I couldn’t help but feel like my efforts to make those kids feel welcome was not enough. I dismissed the thought, as I assumed I was still recovering from the flight. We went back to the hotel where the Himalayan foothills were glowing with the lights from the streets and houses. We could see the border to Nepal on one side, and these lights stopped about three quarters up the hill to show the border of China, as they had no buildings in that area of their border.
I had fallen asleep on Heather’s shoulder on the way there, and back. Unfortunately, so did Heather. So when we returned to the hotel after dedicating that house, the Pastor was the one to wake us. Neither Heather nor I figured it was a big deal, but the next day Pastor Paul was talking to Heather. Just as I walked up to them I caught the pastor asking Heather where her husband was. Needless to say, I was flattered.
Heather:
But I was somewhere more in the school of concerned. We were loading up the car and he had been asking where my husband wanted the bag to go. I tried to clarify, and said that he wasn't my husband, but I think he thought my no meant that that was not where the bag should go, because he promptly moved the bag to the other car. I was a little worried that Mac falling asleep on my shoulder had been a serious cultural faux pas. But thankfully throughout the trip this proved to not be a serious problem. Pastor Paul was used to Americans interacting and as long as we didn't slip up in a way that would be seen by those for whom we were supposed to be setting an example, he didn't mind.
Understand this was just accidentally falling asleep on one another's shoulder. Had our slip up been something more inappropriate, like a hug, the result may have been different.
When we woke in the morning, we met with some other Angels from one of the local angel houses. Phil (one of the members of our group) knew the woman who had dedicated the house, and had a letter from her and some gifts for the little kids. I had also brought hats a friend of my mother made for the kids in the mountains (where it gets pretty cold) and we handed them out. Unfortunately, we were short. Again we saw the gratitude kids had there. Even though not everyone got one, no one complained or talked about how it was unfair. But I felt really upset by this. I didn't want to hand them out if we didn't have enough, but one of the local pastors insisted. It worked out anyway because we gave them to the littlest kids first and I promised the kids that I would make some hats for them, and deliver them to the local pastor to deliver to them before the end of the trip. Thankfully I had yarn intended to go to Christmas gifts for my mother and my brother. I was sure they wouldn't mind getting late gifts considering the cause.The kids seemed even more cheered at that news.
Mackenzie:
A day later we made it to Hyderabad, following another 6 hour drive through manic roads in the mountains, another delicious Indian meal, and a flight from Kolkata to Hyderabad. The streets were filled with litter. Bottles, cigarettes, and other trash, lined the roads. To get rid of this, they bulldoze it into large piles or set it on fire because there is so much of it. People would seemingly wander from one side of the street to the other and back. Others began setting up their huts or tents for the night. The entire time we were in Hyderabad, which would make up the remainder of the trip, I felt a sense of hopelessness. I couldn't help but feel that no matter how much work we put in here, it would never be enough to make a measurable difference.
Heather:
My impression of the area was not quite so bleak as Mac's, perhaps since I had been in areas which were recovering from weather tragedies before (once in Hispaniola and once in Jamaica) that I could see that many of the people still seemed to find joy or satisfaction in their lives. People didn't seem quite so listless to me. But the living conditions were often still deplorable, and the dichotomy between how some people lived and how others lived was almost astonishingly severe. Regardless, this discovery did not render me hopeless, instead it inspired me to work harder and to do more to help.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Greetings
Hello my dear friends! Welcome to my new sub-page Missions Mania. While the launch of my other tributary pages has been delayed due to postponed responses from guest bloggers, this will be launched by the end of the week with some posts from myself and my traveling companion, Mac, about our mission trip to India. I will also hopefully be receiving guest-posts from other Missions Maniacs about trips to Nepal, Peru, and another trip to India.
I hope to see you all soon!
I hope to see you all soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)