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 :-)