Dawid was so right in the beginning of training when he said, “I hate India. I love India. I will never go back there. If someone gives me a ticket today, I’ll be on that flight tomorrow.” India is a country of contrasts and because you never know which slice of the pie you might get, a place where Global Challengers meet God and meet themselves.
As I travelled to India with the team, I had this sinking feeling. That feeling of, you know what’s coming, you do not want it, but you can’t avoid it. Probably what Jesus felt when he was praying before being betrayed… just a million times worse though. I didn’t let the team know this as I didn’t want to take away from their expectations, but in my heart, I would rather have eaten eat dirt.
Now some of you might think that I am spoiled and it’s a privilege to go
to a place like India. I know this. It’s just that out of all the countries we visited last year, India was the one that I least enjoyed, so I wasn’t overjoyed to go back.
In the time before we went there I really prayed for God to give me a heart for India. Now that I’ve been there before and have seen all the sights, I could concentrate on the children at the orphanage and my team. So, by the time we left, I was slightly more optimistic about India.
Fierce little warriors of God.
Kashish, Isa's Indian daughter!
Sony met us at the airport along with Vipin and they drove us to the Emmanuel Orphanage in Dwarka. Home to about 76 children and 76 000 000 mosquitoes. It was about midnight and the team realized very quickly that you do not leave doors,
windows or tents open. The heat is always better than the mozzies. We had been traveling for 6 days, so we all slept until the next afternoon. After waking, we met the kids, played a bit, pitched our tents, ate and were all in bed again by 21h00. We were all awake by 02h00!
A typical day in India started at 5h00 with worship with the kids, quiet time, corporate prayer and breakfast. 8h00 was working time and we had to dig a 3mx3mx2,5m hole for a water cistern. Hard work in the blazing sun was tough to say the least. 13h00 was lunchtime and straight after that afternoon prayer with the children. Then it was play time where you were torn into 7 pieces by little hands that want your attention to be fully focused on them, and them alone. You quickly learn to involve all the kiddies in your play activities of cricket, volleyball, soccer, jungle gym, see-saw and swinging them by their arms and turning. After about 3 children you are pretty
drunk, but you started something and you had to finish it.
THE HOLE!!
It was during these play times that God revealed himself to me. One of my favourite children from last year was little, 6-year old, Nandanee. She immediately took a liking in me and in the beginning I liked the attention. She was always the first to run up to me, grab my hand and drag me in the direction of the playgrounds. I don’t think she had any preference as to what we were going to play, as long as I spent time with her and paid attention. What was also kind of cute was that she couldn’t pronounce a “k” or a “r”, so she replaced in with a “t” and a “l”. I thus became “De Nettel Untle”. I still get it from the team.
After a while though,
she became more of a hassle than anything else. I know this sounds very heartless. Every day when she arrived from school, all the kids would go undress into civvies, but not Nandanee, she would get out the bus and search for me until she found me just to say, “De Nettel Untle, hallo” accompanied by a toothless smile and a wave. Then she would go to the dorm to change. During play time she would nag at me to play. Sometimes I was busy organizing something so I couldn’t, but other times I just didn’t want to play, then I would make up a story and find something else to do.
With about a week of India left, I thought to myself, what spiritual message is hidden in this relationship between this little girl and me? God was really convicting me about the way I was behaving. Then God spoke. He told me that this is a representation of our relationship.
God runs to me every morning waiting for me to wake up. Then He very
excitedly says “come, come, I want to show you something.” During the day He says to me “did you see that pretty bird I sent across the sapphire blue sky just now?” He wants to talk with me, play with me, reason with me and teach me. He wants my full attention... all the time.
I respond by sometimes sleeping late, not noticing God’s creation, minding my own business, choosing TV or friends or sleep over God. I always have an excuse ready for when He knocks to spend time with me.
This revelation had a profound effect on my life and I’m sure will have on many of you who read this blog. How many times do we not shut the door in God’s face, push Him out of our daily lives and limit Him to an hour each morning… if we feel like it. What would we do when we want God’s attention and He does the same to us. We would perish. Life would be unbearable.
The last week of my time in
India, I tried to notice the small wonders of God, and to spend time with the children, especially Nandanee. This gave me a heart for the children and their situations. My heart broke the day that we had to greet them. I waved to Nandanee, but instead of the usual smile and wave, she turned her back and I could see she was crying by the way her shoulders bounced up and down. I wanted to cry myself.
That is why I would always go back to India, not because I love it, but because God loves it and He uses India, and 6-year old girls, to teach me about Himself and about myself.
My little princess. Nandanee - front and centre