In my mind, India has always been one of those legendary places that I have read about in books. As a child, I remember learning about Amy Carmichael who went to India and took in temple girls under her wing and taught them the Truth of the scriptures. Of course, I had read and heard countless stories about Mother Teresa and the work that she was selflessly doing in this land as well. India is all that I had read and heard about and more.
Walking down the streets, my mind was flooded with new sights: Water buffalo milk being boiled by the roadside, old men labored by huge bundles of barley on their backs, children roaming the train tracks collecting metal and then hopping on any train to take them where ever it went, a young boy ordering old men around simply because he is of “higher class,” beggars, children, filth, poverty. When I saw all this, I think I got a little glimpse of what Amy Carmichael and Mother Teresa felt for India…they saw it, I saw it; India needs Jesus.
While in this incredible country, we worked in an orphanage. The orphanage itself was quite the incredible place, filled with extraordinary people who were sold out for God. Everyday these people woke up to disciple the children that they had taken in and take care that these young ones got a proper education, food, and love. Among these amazing people was the man over the whole organization. Throughout our stay, he told us bits and pieces of the persecution that the orphanage had gone under over the years. He shared with us about a time he had been imprisoned and had been told it was for one allegation, but in reality is was because of the work he was doing with the orphans. When he asked why they had such a big problem with the work he was doing with the orphans, they responded, “ because you are changing the caste system of India by empowering the orphans.”
In the walls of that orphanage, there are no orphans, only family. The kids eat together, play together, study together, worship together, and pray together. Every day is even started off by a 5:30 morning prayer and then the Truth injections just keep coming all throughout the day. There is no caste there, only children of the most High King and the kids are receiving that truth and are not letting society tell them otherwise when they leave the walls of that place.
While there, we were able to hold a medical clinic and give all of the kids a long awaited check up and get them the medical attention that they needed. We also helped plan activities for the children to do after school. Every night we held a program where we would gather all the children together sing songs, play games, and present the scripture to them through dramas, dances, and speaking.
One of my highlights was getting to teach in the theological school that the children have the opportunity to go to after high school. For four weeks, I was part of the staff teaching communication skills to the students. My main objective was to help them with their writing and speaking skills, but since these were the church planters and pastors of tomorrow, we also discussed how to use those mediums of speaking and writing to testify who God is really. It was a great privilege to be able to be a part of that and to see how this organization is really trying to equip these young people as well as they can before they send them out into the nation.
India is one of those nations that changed me. It changed me not because of what I saw necessarily, but because of the questions I was forced to ask myself after I saw. What is the value that I put on life? Who do I look down on? How often do I underestimate children? How do I empower the people around me? What does it really mean to be the body of Christ?
What am I going to do about it?