Hospitality and Mehndi

These last few days have been crazy, but great! On Monday, we joined with a team of volunteers here from East Cooper Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and we will be working with them all week. On Monday, we had a day of fun and exploring Delhi, while getting to share with the people we encountered. I was in a group all day with two girls from the ECBC team, Amanda and Paige, and we had a great day. We got to talk to a pilot from Miami, and she walked around with us for a bit, and then we got to share the Gospel with a shopkeeper, and give him a New Testament. After running around and completing various tasks and finding information, we met the other 4 teams at these beautiful gardens called the Loti Gardens. There are ancient ruins there of beautiful temples, and we had time to walk around and take pictures there.
Annemarie & I got to play frisbee with a girl & her brother & then talk to her aboutfamily, school and faith. She has been raised Catholic, which is uncommon for this area, and shared with us a bit about why she is, and how all of her family members are as well. After sharing, we walked about 2 minutes through the Gardens to a beatiful, upscale restaurant where we were having dinner. It was one of the most beatiful restaurants I have ever eaten at, complete with an outdoor patio with lanterns, lounging furniture, and flowers. We ate a delicious Italian meal (which was roughly $10 American dollards!)then headed home. It was a great day, and I really got to know the ECBC team members well.

Yesterday was another busy day. We had to be up and at the house where the team is staying by 8:30, and that meant we had to leave here to catch an auto rickshaw by 8:15. Once there, we had a Bible study together, and then two missionaries, Paul and Aaron came and taught us about Muslims, and strategies to use to evangelize to them. We had about 2 hours of instrution, along with practicing telling our testimonies. Then we were split up into teams, and given locations where we were going to go to try and speak and share with Muslim women. My team, which had Abby (who I live with), Chafin and Cami, was assigned to a mosque in Mohrauli. We decided the best time to go would be around 4, when the head had subsided some. We had the afternoon free, in which Annemarie and I watched Jaws (so good...) and then headed out. We had to wear the full Indian suits, as well as dupatas (scarfs that cover our heads) since we were going to the mosque. We took an auto there, and then got out and walked around. We had only been there about 15 minutes when we met and began talking to a young woman, Heena, who spoke English. She answered the questions we had about the mosque, and then invited us to her house. We accepted, since it is extremely common inIndian culture, particularly with foreigners, and followed her about 5 minutes to her house.
We were invited to a downstairs bedroom by her mother and aunt, who immediately began chatting with us and asking us questions about where we were from, what we were doing in Delhi, and if we were Muslim. Then other family members started to come rolling in, and kept on coming. We met about 20 other members of Heena's family, all who live in the same house, which is quite wide-spread. There were two adorable little babies that Chafin and I got to hold for a long time, which was so fun. Heena brought us cold soda first, and then after about a half an hour, they asked to take picutres with us, because we were so tall and blonde. We were then invited upstairs, where there was AC, and served cake and ice cream, which we nibbled on while about 15 of the relatives, mostly children just watched us. We did get to have an extensive talk with Heena's aunt about her faith, and ask her and her husband questions about what they believe about their own religion and about Jesus. Cami got to share her testimony, which was awesome. The family then gave us 2 bracelets each, and Heena asked if we wanted henna done on our hands. I was so excited, since I have always wanted it, and so we all got one hand done in beatiful henna. By that time, we had been there about 2 1/2 hours, and said we should be going. They invited us to stay for dinner (of course!) but we refused, and made our escape, after I got Heena's phone number. They invited us back anytime! (Oh yeah, another name for henna is Mehndi- hence the title of the blog :-)

Being here in India, especially yesterday with Heena's family, has shown me how friendly and hospitable the people are. They will invite anyone in, even if they just met you, and caiter to your every whim, and more! I have never experienced such a trust anywhere, and I love it. They are also very open to talk about their religion, since it is such a huge part of life here, although most are well-versed and strong in what they believe. They listen respectfully, but from what I have seen do not seem too willing to think in the way we suggest.

I am excited to be working with and talking to Muslims, which we did again today and wil do tomorrow. They are so convinced that there are rituals and methods that make you saved by allah, and I feel like we have a common ground to build on and talk about. Although my group did not have a very succesful time today talking to the very few women we could find on a Muslim university campus, I know tomorrow is a new day, and I will pray that God will send us more people to talk to and share with.