Since coming to Delhi, I have been informed, for the first time, about the classification of people throughout the world into different people groups. These groups are then broken down further into unreached people groups and unengaged, unreached people groups. As I have been learning and researching more about this topic, I have been amazed to see that I am in the country that has the highest amount of unengaged, unreached people groups in the entire world! This classification means that the people here have less than 2% Christianity, and many haven ever even heard the Gospel before. Unengaged means that there is no active church planting occuring. I was blown away by the fact that out of roughly 16,000 people groups, around 6,600 are unreached and unengaged! And of that number, 2,500 people groups are in India, 2,200 of which are considered unreached!
Being here has invoked a passion for the spreading the Gospel in me that has been subdued for too long. Being around people who are primarily Hindu has shown me how lost the world truly is, and how their daily rituals and offerings are symbolic of the works their faith requires. As I see people praying to their man-made idols, I wish I could share with them the love and grace of Jesus, and that they would accept it. Sadly, so many of them have been born into a specific caste, and therefore a specific religion. The other day, we had a cab driver who said he was a Christian, but when we asked him more questions, he said that was because his family is Christian, and he was born into it. Although the people here are extremely spiritual, it is hard to change their minds about what they have been raised to believe. God has definitely been showing me how important and needed the Gospel is, and people to share it. Now all I need Him to show me is where He wants me to serve! India is looking like a pretty vital part of the world.
If you want more info on people groups, here's a great map and website:
http://www.joshuaproject.net/assets/JPProgressScaleMap.pdf
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Heat Wave
People warned us about the relenting heat of India, but I don't think anything could have prepared us for the heat we have experienced in the last few days! I think I have sweat more in the past 48 hours than in my entire life combined. Annemarie and I toured the city of Delhi both yesterday and the day before. On Wednesday, we traveled by auto, which is a cab with 3 wheels that has a cover, but no closed in sides. Then yesterday we traveled in the Murrays air-conditioned car for part of the day, but then by rickshaw, or a bicycle that a man rides, for about 2 hours. It was definitely a great experience, but a hot one! I would guess it was about 110 degrees both days, with an insane amount of humidity. But, we had a great time!
On Wednesday, I traveled around Delhi with Abby and two girls from South Carolina who are going to Nepal for 5 weeks to teach English. Abby wanted tp expose themt to a bit of the Nepali culture in Delhi, and I was simply along for the ride. Abby and I left our house around 9 in the morning, caught an auto, and traveled the hour up to Karol Baugh, where many of the team members from South Carolina Baptist Church are staying. We picked up a Nepali woman, Gita, who works with one of the company families, and she was to serve as our guide for the day. We picked up Meredith and Heather, the girls traveling to Nepal, and headed out to see the city. We had to catch 2 autos for the rest of the day, since they can only hold 3 maximum, and headed to see a Buddhist and Hindu temple. We had to wander around a bit to try and find the ones Abby knew of, but we eventually found them. It was very interesting to get to go inside each one, and see how they are similar and different. The Buddhist temple was much smaller, and less showy than the Hindu ones. They have much less idols that they worship, and we got to talk with the man who runs the temple for a bit. The Hindu temple, although one of the smaller ones for Delhi, was filled with idols, colorfully painted and embellished with jewels and fancy clothing. The man inside explained to us what each idol symbolized, and then tried to paint the Hindu symbol on our foreheads, which we kindly refused. It was interesting to see the Indian people who were coming into each temple to worship and pray, and the rituals they performed.
After seeing the temples, we got back in the autos and headed down to a Nepali area where furniture is sold. We ate lunch at a delicious little Nepali restaurant that is owned by people from Gita's church. We got to try momo's, which are like dumplings, and also a variety of other dishes. After lunch, we walked around the area and prayed for the people living there and their salvation. Then we went to a smaller village with a high Nepali population and met with Gita's pastor. He was friendly, and spoke broken English, so the girls were able to ask him questions about Nepal and how to affectively minister and share the Gospel with people there. It was humbling and inspiring to see the small room where his church meets, and to hear about the persecution he experiences daily from the Indian people, as well as from his own family, for being a Christian. He showed us around the village, and we got to sit down and talk to a Nepali woman who is Hindu. She was very friendly, and had a lot of things to say about Nepal, but not really about her religion. As I walked around, I prayed fervently for the salvation of the people I was seeing. So many of them turn to their pagan idols for peace and prosperity, but are so lost without Jesus. I prayed that they would have people come into their lives that would be able to reach out to them, and share the Gospel with them.
After walking around in the village for about 45 minutes, we were sweating so much that we could barely keep moving. I was amazed that despite the high amounts of water I was drinking, my body was using all of it to produce enough sweat to keep my body cool, and I have not yet had to use an Indian restroom! We headed back into the rickshaws and came back home, while Meredith and Heather went back to Karol Baugh. About 45 minutes after we got home and showered, Abby said she was going to teach English to a small group of children, like she does every Wednesday night. I decided to go with her, since Annemarie and Allison were still out on their adventure. We took an auto about 15 minutes, picked up a pastor of a local Christian church, and headed out to a woman's house. We met in a bedroom of her house, with about 8 children, both from Christian and Hindu homes. The moment I walked in, they were immediately curious, and kept sneaking glances at me, smiling, and giggling. Abby taught them the days of the week, colors, and months in English, and then taught them how to play i Spy. I Loved watching them interact with Abby and each other, and also play a new game. They were so excited, and started guessing everything imaginable, especially on me. At one point a little boy said "green", and it ended up being the tattoo on my foot! After the lesson, I got to talk a bit with the children, and they asked me questions about where I was from and what I do. They were adorable, and I can't wait to go back next week!
The pastor led a home fellowship group right after the lesson, and he spontaneously asked me to share my testimony with the few people who were gathered. I was a bit nervous and thrown off by his request, but decided to say a prayer and go for it. I only shared about 5 minutes, and one passage from Romans, but it was a great experience. He translated for me, and then gave his own talk going off of what I said. I was excited to be a part of their worship service, and see their passion. Afterwards, the owner of the house made chai tea for us, which was amazing, and then we headed back home. It was definitely a stretching experience for me, and Abby shared with me on the way back that I will probably get asked to share a lot while I am here. Now I need to pray that God will provide me with the words to say!
Yesterday was another great and busy day of travelling around. The whole Murray family, Randy Debbie, Corbin and Hannah, picked us up around 11:00. We drove to this place called the Red Fort, which is a huge fort build by the Indian army in the 1700's. Although it was already sweltering out, we braved the heat and walked from the parking lot to the fort, and then all around inside for about an hour. We hired an Indian tour guide who told us the history of the fort. It was great. Then we took rickshaws around to Chandi Chowk. which is a market filled with wedding attire, spices, and everything else imaginable. It was a fun experience to be able to sit back in the rickshaws and watch everything and everyone while we were being towed around. We ate at a famous non-veg Indian restaurant inside the market, which was excellent. The restaurants here always indicate whether they are vegetarian or non-veg, due to the high amount of Hindus. We had a variety of dishes, my favorite being chicken tikka, paneer (like tofu), and rita (a type of bread). Then we headed deeper into the market, where the spices were so overwhelming that they filled my nose and made me sneeze! We bought some nuts and tea to make chai, and then headed back to the Murrays car.
They then drove us to Kahn Market, which is a more westernized area, and we had Costa Coffee, which reminded us a lot of an American coffee shop. We went to KFC next to meet with another company member to swap cars, and ran into a couple who works with the Murrays, and who Annemarie and I will be working with in a few weeks for vacation Bible school. We ended up talking to them for about an hour about what we will be doing, who we will be working with, and all the details. It was exciting to hear, and we found out we will be planning the lessons for the VBS! The Murrays took us home after that, and we crashed after a full two days.
It has been great to hear the stories of the people who work with Randy and Debbie, along with their own, about how God led them here, and what He has been doing with their lives. It makes me more passionate and excited to hear how God used them, and I have been praying about how He wants to use me, both now and after this trip. He is teaching me so much already, and I am stoked to see what the rest of the trip holds! I am now going to try and go back to sleep, since I have been up for about an hour and it is still 6 in the morning! Thanks for reading, if you still are :-)
On Wednesday, I traveled around Delhi with Abby and two girls from South Carolina who are going to Nepal for 5 weeks to teach English. Abby wanted tp expose themt to a bit of the Nepali culture in Delhi, and I was simply along for the ride. Abby and I left our house around 9 in the morning, caught an auto, and traveled the hour up to Karol Baugh, where many of the team members from South Carolina Baptist Church are staying. We picked up a Nepali woman, Gita, who works with one of the company families, and she was to serve as our guide for the day. We picked up Meredith and Heather, the girls traveling to Nepal, and headed out to see the city. We had to catch 2 autos for the rest of the day, since they can only hold 3 maximum, and headed to see a Buddhist and Hindu temple. We had to wander around a bit to try and find the ones Abby knew of, but we eventually found them. It was very interesting to get to go inside each one, and see how they are similar and different. The Buddhist temple was much smaller, and less showy than the Hindu ones. They have much less idols that they worship, and we got to talk with the man who runs the temple for a bit. The Hindu temple, although one of the smaller ones for Delhi, was filled with idols, colorfully painted and embellished with jewels and fancy clothing. The man inside explained to us what each idol symbolized, and then tried to paint the Hindu symbol on our foreheads, which we kindly refused. It was interesting to see the Indian people who were coming into each temple to worship and pray, and the rituals they performed.
After seeing the temples, we got back in the autos and headed down to a Nepali area where furniture is sold. We ate lunch at a delicious little Nepali restaurant that is owned by people from Gita's church. We got to try momo's, which are like dumplings, and also a variety of other dishes. After lunch, we walked around the area and prayed for the people living there and their salvation. Then we went to a smaller village with a high Nepali population and met with Gita's pastor. He was friendly, and spoke broken English, so the girls were able to ask him questions about Nepal and how to affectively minister and share the Gospel with people there. It was humbling and inspiring to see the small room where his church meets, and to hear about the persecution he experiences daily from the Indian people, as well as from his own family, for being a Christian. He showed us around the village, and we got to sit down and talk to a Nepali woman who is Hindu. She was very friendly, and had a lot of things to say about Nepal, but not really about her religion. As I walked around, I prayed fervently for the salvation of the people I was seeing. So many of them turn to their pagan idols for peace and prosperity, but are so lost without Jesus. I prayed that they would have people come into their lives that would be able to reach out to them, and share the Gospel with them.
After walking around in the village for about 45 minutes, we were sweating so much that we could barely keep moving. I was amazed that despite the high amounts of water I was drinking, my body was using all of it to produce enough sweat to keep my body cool, and I have not yet had to use an Indian restroom! We headed back into the rickshaws and came back home, while Meredith and Heather went back to Karol Baugh. About 45 minutes after we got home and showered, Abby said she was going to teach English to a small group of children, like she does every Wednesday night. I decided to go with her, since Annemarie and Allison were still out on their adventure. We took an auto about 15 minutes, picked up a pastor of a local Christian church, and headed out to a woman's house. We met in a bedroom of her house, with about 8 children, both from Christian and Hindu homes. The moment I walked in, they were immediately curious, and kept sneaking glances at me, smiling, and giggling. Abby taught them the days of the week, colors, and months in English, and then taught them how to play i Spy. I Loved watching them interact with Abby and each other, and also play a new game. They were so excited, and started guessing everything imaginable, especially on me. At one point a little boy said "green", and it ended up being the tattoo on my foot! After the lesson, I got to talk a bit with the children, and they asked me questions about where I was from and what I do. They were adorable, and I can't wait to go back next week!
The pastor led a home fellowship group right after the lesson, and he spontaneously asked me to share my testimony with the few people who were gathered. I was a bit nervous and thrown off by his request, but decided to say a prayer and go for it. I only shared about 5 minutes, and one passage from Romans, but it was a great experience. He translated for me, and then gave his own talk going off of what I said. I was excited to be a part of their worship service, and see their passion. Afterwards, the owner of the house made chai tea for us, which was amazing, and then we headed back home. It was definitely a stretching experience for me, and Abby shared with me on the way back that I will probably get asked to share a lot while I am here. Now I need to pray that God will provide me with the words to say!
Yesterday was another great and busy day of travelling around. The whole Murray family, Randy Debbie, Corbin and Hannah, picked us up around 11:00. We drove to this place called the Red Fort, which is a huge fort build by the Indian army in the 1700's. Although it was already sweltering out, we braved the heat and walked from the parking lot to the fort, and then all around inside for about an hour. We hired an Indian tour guide who told us the history of the fort. It was great. Then we took rickshaws around to Chandi Chowk. which is a market filled with wedding attire, spices, and everything else imaginable. It was a fun experience to be able to sit back in the rickshaws and watch everything and everyone while we were being towed around. We ate at a famous non-veg Indian restaurant inside the market, which was excellent. The restaurants here always indicate whether they are vegetarian or non-veg, due to the high amount of Hindus. We had a variety of dishes, my favorite being chicken tikka, paneer (like tofu), and rita (a type of bread). Then we headed deeper into the market, where the spices were so overwhelming that they filled my nose and made me sneeze! We bought some nuts and tea to make chai, and then headed back to the Murrays car.
They then drove us to Kahn Market, which is a more westernized area, and we had Costa Coffee, which reminded us a lot of an American coffee shop. We went to KFC next to meet with another company member to swap cars, and ran into a couple who works with the Murrays, and who Annemarie and I will be working with in a few weeks for vacation Bible school. We ended up talking to them for about an hour about what we will be doing, who we will be working with, and all the details. It was exciting to hear, and we found out we will be planning the lessons for the VBS! The Murrays took us home after that, and we crashed after a full two days.
It has been great to hear the stories of the people who work with Randy and Debbie, along with their own, about how God led them here, and what He has been doing with their lives. It makes me more passionate and excited to hear how God used them, and I have been praying about how He wants to use me, both now and after this trip. He is teaching me so much already, and I am stoked to see what the rest of the trip holds! I am now going to try and go back to sleep, since I have been up for about an hour and it is still 6 in the morning! Thanks for reading, if you still are :-)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Culture Shock-Delhi!
I have decided to keep a blog of my trip here in India to keep you updated! Annemarie and I arrived yesterday in New Delhi, India at 6:20 AM after a 23 hour venture of flights/ layovers. We flew from San Francisco to London, where we had a 4 hour layover. That flight was around 10 hours, and neither Annemarie or I slept at all unfortunately. Then we flew from London to Delhi, which was about 7 hours. When we arrived in Delhi, we were greeted by the humidity. We went through customs, and got our passports stamped, exchanged our U.S dollars for rupees ($100= $4,450 rupees!)and entered India. Then we ventured out of the doors of the airport to the street, hoping to find the Murrays, who are the missionary family that was picking us up. As we walked out, we both immediately began to panick a little bit. Here we are in a foreign country, by ourselves, surrounded by Indian people trying to get us to ride in their taxis. Thankfully, not one minute later, Debbie Murray and her daughter Hannah rounded the corner, follwed by Randy and their son Corbin. We exchanged hellos and were off in their Jeep-like car to the house where we will be staying for the month. We were both so tired that it was hard to make decent conversation with them, but they were so welcoming and friendly that they made it easy. The streets of Delhi, even at that early morning hour, were packed with people, and I thought we were going to get into a crash at least 10 times. People don't drive in their designated lanes, and cars, bicycles, rickshaws and autos are everywhere! We made it safely to our house, however, and were greeted by Allison, one of the interning girls we are living with. She gave us a quick tour of the house, and then we crashed to get a few hours of sleep.
When we woke up, we were greeted with the Delhi heat, which was about 104 degrees and humid. The girls said that that was about 10 degrees cooler than it has been, and that we were lucky! Allison and Abby, the other intern, were up and about in our place, and we decided to go with them on a few errands around the city. We traveled by taxi, which is unusual due to the higher price, and went to the Bible Society, where we saw a Hindu Bible, and then went to a hotel where a group from South Carolina that we will be working with all of next week is staying. We had a quick meeting with them, grabbed some lunch at McDonalds (which was a completely different menu. I got a McVeggie sandwich), and then headed off to the Murrays. Once there, Debbie and Hannah took us to a few local shops to find a kurta, which is an Indian tunic-type top that we will be required to wear during our time here. I had thought that they would be strange and unattractive, but the fabrics that they use are amazingly beautiful! We had trouble deciding which ones to buy. Since the stores were a bit higher end, we ended up buying one each and decided to look more the next day. Then the Murrays and Allison took us to an authentic Indian restaurant, which was delicious! We had naan bread, daal, chicken, and potatoes in a spicy sauce. It was amazing, and so fun to eat with them and get to know them, even though both of us were extremely jet-lagged! After dinner, we drove home and crashed once again.
This morning, I woke up around 6:30, fully rested and excited to be waking up in India! We had some down time in the morning until 1:00, so Allison took us to a local grocery store, along with veggie and fruit stands. There is such a wide variety of fresh fruits and veggies, and I was in heaven deciding what to buy! The grocery store was also a fun experience, and we bought 3 bags full of groceries for the equivalent of around $12.00! Then Debbie and Hannah picked us up and we went shopping once again for kurtas, and full outfits to wear. We went to a flea market, and there were about a 100 different stores that sold different fabrics and styles. Debbie directed us to the best buys, and we picked out 4 kurtas and 2 pairs of pants, which are soooo beautiful! Then we stopped at Cafe Coffee Day, which is a cute little coffee chain that they have througout Delhi. It felt so refreshing after being out in the heat. The strangest thing about the market were the abundance of children beggars flooding the streets. They would come right up to you and put their hand to their mouth, asking for money or food. It was hard to ignore them, but Debbie said that you just have to learn to. The poverty here is overwhelming in places, and it is difficult to pass by and not even acknowledge the children so obviously suffering. But all you can really do is say a prayer for them.
After our market venture, we went back to the Murrays for a few minutes, and then went to a fellowship dinner with about 15 people from their company. It was a great time of worship, good food, and Biblical discussion. It was encouraging to see people who live here and get to talk to them and find out where they are from and what they do. They all seem to have such a passion for their purposes here, and are so on fire for God. It was really encouraging to see! Now we are back in for the night, and the AC is on and our house is refreshingly cool. We can only run the AC at night, due to the high cost, so we should enjoy it while we can. I'm about to call it a night soon. More later!
When we woke up, we were greeted with the Delhi heat, which was about 104 degrees and humid. The girls said that that was about 10 degrees cooler than it has been, and that we were lucky! Allison and Abby, the other intern, were up and about in our place, and we decided to go with them on a few errands around the city. We traveled by taxi, which is unusual due to the higher price, and went to the Bible Society, where we saw a Hindu Bible, and then went to a hotel where a group from South Carolina that we will be working with all of next week is staying. We had a quick meeting with them, grabbed some lunch at McDonalds (which was a completely different menu. I got a McVeggie sandwich), and then headed off to the Murrays. Once there, Debbie and Hannah took us to a few local shops to find a kurta, which is an Indian tunic-type top that we will be required to wear during our time here. I had thought that they would be strange and unattractive, but the fabrics that they use are amazingly beautiful! We had trouble deciding which ones to buy. Since the stores were a bit higher end, we ended up buying one each and decided to look more the next day. Then the Murrays and Allison took us to an authentic Indian restaurant, which was delicious! We had naan bread, daal, chicken, and potatoes in a spicy sauce. It was amazing, and so fun to eat with them and get to know them, even though both of us were extremely jet-lagged! After dinner, we drove home and crashed once again.
This morning, I woke up around 6:30, fully rested and excited to be waking up in India! We had some down time in the morning until 1:00, so Allison took us to a local grocery store, along with veggie and fruit stands. There is such a wide variety of fresh fruits and veggies, and I was in heaven deciding what to buy! The grocery store was also a fun experience, and we bought 3 bags full of groceries for the equivalent of around $12.00! Then Debbie and Hannah picked us up and we went shopping once again for kurtas, and full outfits to wear. We went to a flea market, and there were about a 100 different stores that sold different fabrics and styles. Debbie directed us to the best buys, and we picked out 4 kurtas and 2 pairs of pants, which are soooo beautiful! Then we stopped at Cafe Coffee Day, which is a cute little coffee chain that they have througout Delhi. It felt so refreshing after being out in the heat. The strangest thing about the market were the abundance of children beggars flooding the streets. They would come right up to you and put their hand to their mouth, asking for money or food. It was hard to ignore them, but Debbie said that you just have to learn to. The poverty here is overwhelming in places, and it is difficult to pass by and not even acknowledge the children so obviously suffering. But all you can really do is say a prayer for them.
After our market venture, we went back to the Murrays for a few minutes, and then went to a fellowship dinner with about 15 people from their company. It was a great time of worship, good food, and Biblical discussion. It was encouraging to see people who live here and get to talk to them and find out where they are from and what they do. They all seem to have such a passion for their purposes here, and are so on fire for God. It was really encouraging to see! Now we are back in for the night, and the AC is on and our house is refreshingly cool. We can only run the AC at night, due to the high cost, so we should enjoy it while we can. I'm about to call it a night soon. More later!
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