Sometimes when you step in poop....the best thing to do is LAUGH.

Trying to blog about my experience is harder than you or I would think. To accurately describe the smells, the sights, the sounds, the heat....it just can't be done. Human and dog feces everywhere, not a rubbish bin in sight. Just drop it on the ground and let it pile up. And the roads.....dirt. No comforting yellow lines determining what side of the road you drive on...it's a game of bumper cars meets go cart racing. Yellow taxis, rickshaws, motorcycles, bikes, wagons, and cows fill the roads--trying to dodge them is the tricky part.

We have been working with Life Connection, a children's restoration home for the past week and next 3 weeks. There is where several of the children who live in the Howrah train station will come in the day time to get bathed, clothed, and fed food and the word/love of God. Howrah is the largest train station in India, over 10million people pass through it each day. Hundreds of homeless children live there. They are there because either their parents didn't want them, or they ran away from home. Nearly all of them use glue on a daily basis to get high. And when I say children--I mean I saw a 5yr old getting high sucking on glue the other day....it's heartbreaking. They sleep on the ground near the tracks and work for their so called "uncle" who uses the children to beg, collect empty soda bottles, or do a number of other things. He collects the money from them at the end of each day. Ever seen the movie slum dog millionaire?? This is it, it's all real and even worse than the movie portrays and I'm seeing it in front of my eyes. About 8-12 children actually come to Life Connection each day. The reason so little is because most of them aren't aloud to leave the station. There are both little girls and boys who work and live at Howrah, but we only see boys coming to Life Connection. The reason is because girls are in more demand from the "uncles", so they won't let them leave....it's awful. Everyday half of us work at Life Connection, and the other 3 will go to Howrah to talk to the children and also try to get them to come. We switch off every other day. When I look at the kids arms, they are covered in scars and cuts, most of them infected. I asked the translator what they're from, and he said they use a razor and cut themselves. They're so miserable and have lost their childishness. I would have NEVER thought to cut myself at age 6 and younger...I was climbing trees and being a KID. Just like these precious ones should be. My heart aches.

Comic relief: Tuesday when I was working at Life Connection, We had a movie in for the kids to watch. So we were all sprawled out on yoga mats watching Mr.Beans. I accidentally fell asleep. (bad idea in a room full of mischievous orphan boys!) I woke up to 1 little boy (the smallest of the bunch) tying my hands and feet together with a rope, and 2 others pouring cups of water on my face!!! Let's just say I'm use to living in a house of girls where I'd more likely wake up to them braiding my hair--NOT by any means this. But I loved it, so nice to see them being kids...even if it was at my expense;).

Yesterday at life connection I taught the Daniel in the den of lions story to the boys. It was so fun! I made my teammates act out the story for me improv style so it was quite hilarious. And I got the kids involved by having them act as the lions. Afterwards, we played an exciting game of duck duck goose that in a room full of boys only lead to a game of tackle! It was an exciting day that come night fall put each of us on our pillows in no time.

When I see these children eating the rice we feed them like it could be their last meal and hugging on my leg like they've never been noticed it breaks my heart. These are the moments that make walking in over 100degree humid weather worth it. These are the moments that make cold bucket showers and spicy food worth it. These are the moments that make sleeping on a mat on the floor in a hot musky room and over 144 mosquito bites all worth it!

The kids only come to Life Connection Monday-Thursday because Fridays we and the staff fast through breakfast to pray, intercede and worship till lunch. And after that we deep clean the building until the afternoon where we have a small nap time. Yes, nap time! I love it. And at 4:30pm we go to Howrah to visit the kids and do prayer walks around the building. Basically spiritual warfare praying over the place. So that's what we did today, it was good.

I'm learning so many lessons from my experience so far. The obvious are thankfulness and willingness. Being thankful for food, shoes, water, etc etc etc... Being willing to clean a toilet, bucket wash clothes, and mop floors that you know will be dirty again in no time.

To die to myself. This is my ultimate goal. To come to the end of me. I don't want to be so focused on me me me and what can "I get" from people and things. I want to become more selfless. I want to be giving. I want to be more like Jesus.

But it's not been easy. Somedays I just want to give up and go home to be transparently honest. Sometimes all I want is my family, home, and comforts of my Western first world country life. The scripture that has kept me going most, is James 1:2-4 which clearly states; "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything". You hear that?? Consider it PURE JOY. So this means when I'm hot tired and fatigued I should have JOY?? Yes. That's exactly what it means. And I'm finding day by day that when I find the positive and bring joy into these tough situations--the frustrations of my day actually dissipate. I encourage you to try it! Seriously-- how can you stay angry when telling a joke or finding something to smile or laugh at!? For example, the other day I was frustrated and tired and we'd been walking in the heat a good amount of time when I didn't notice the large patty of fresh poop a step in front of me. What happened next? SPLASH. My foot landed right in it!! Just when I thought things couldn't get worse. So all I could do is laugh. And the more I laughed, the more happy I got and suddenly the attitude left. :)

Fun testimony: last night Laura and I were in our room when lightning struck and the power went out in the whole city! And when the power goes out--our only source of air (the fan) goes off. So we immediately do a dramatic yell of agony falling to our knees already feeling the sweat dripping off our brows. Laura sighed and said a simple prayer like this: "Papa, please turn the electricity back on because it's so hot". The very second she finished it turned back on!!! We looked out the window and our room was the only place where it had turned back on. SO COOL. God cares about the little things and it doesn't matter how elaborate or spectacular our prayer. We literally had the faith smaller than a mustard seed and He took that and answered the prayer. Our chins dropped to our chest and eyes popped out of their sockets. I'm still amazed.

Anyways. I am definition exhaust. Can't wait for our free day tomorrow! I have so much laundry to catch up on. I write on this blog mostly for myself to get all the thoughts and feelings OUT from deep within me and also for others to be encouraged by what God is teaching me and doing! What He does is not for me to keep to myself.

Please continue to pray for us and the people of India we are reaching here! Now that you know some of the situations you can pray more specific. Also--today I found out that Kolkata (the city I'm living in for a month) is the most dangerous city in all of India. So comforting;). But I'm not worried one bit--God's Angels are watching over us and I can feel them with me. I can also feel the comfort of your prayers.

Many blessings from India!! -Maceface


The pictures:
Me and Laura in a taxi going to church last Sunday.

Our building security guard sleeping as always. He makes us feel super safe;).

Some of the kids on the floor watching Mr.Beans!

Some of my team hanging in our apartment last night. About to play some card games. :)

Me on the roof trying to get some sun during rest hour today! Ha

Enjoy! Xoxo

Outreach: the beginning

Here we are. 3 weeks in. Things are so different here in India. From culture and religion to food and daily life. Everything in the culture is of the religions. The way they dress, the food they eat, and the way they go about survival is to appease the "Gods" and that is the culture. I look out the window on the second floor of this ministry house and see a woman wrapped in a sari carrying a bucket of water on her head and a thousand clothes lines hooked from house to house working as dryers. Everywhere we go people look at us as if aliens just landed from another planet. The children and adults are so curious of our every move as if we are some kind of celebrity....the "pale faces".
Despite the spicy food that fails to settle in our fragile Western stomachs and the boiling heat with a lack of A/C...we are adapting quite well. It's now been 3 weeks, but I feel like I've been here much longer. This morning me and 3 others from my team walked several miles to a pre-school where we assumed we were just going to observe/help out, and it turned out they were waiting for US to teach and run the class! So we sheepishly step into this school made out of tin and logs, to find the most beautiful little Indian children sitting on benches in blue checkered uniforms. The teacher came up to us and said "you teachers!". So we all looked at each other to see who wanted to think of something on the spot. So as a team we decided to teach them 2 Christian songs with dance motions and do a prodigal son skit. After that they asked we teach them "more school". So I jumped up and pulled Renae up there with me and we taught them how to say body parts in English and other simple sciences. Then we taught them the "head shoulder knees and toes" song and added lots of improv to it. All Glory to God He spoke through the 2 of us and gave us lots of ideas and the children loved it! After playing some memory games, we prayed over the children and fed them a snack of dhal and what seemed to be grits. When school was over 2 of the children ran outside and brought us back freshly picked flowers to show their gratitude. I was so blessed. The children are so sweet and it was well worth the long hot journey by foot.
Tons has happened in the past few weeks it would be impossible to tell all the stories. But I can give a bit of an overview of some of the things we've been doing everyday...
When we were in Lonavala for 2 weeks we did mostly house ministry where we would go into stone hut villages and hold bible studies on the floors of their small crowded homes. We would do several a day and all take turns leading worship, sharing testimonies, and give a message. At the end we pray for them all and lay hands on them. We had a translator, praise the Lord.
Holding the hand of a hindu woman and having the privilege to pray for her in Jesus name was a huge blessing for me. I can feel something move inside of me every time we touch or hug. I can see the desire burning in their eyes to know more about our one God who loves them and can provide for and heal them.
There was one home we went to and the mother and her 2 children were sick in bed. They were running high fevers and looked how I'm sure they felt. We laid hands on them and prayed for healing in Jesus name. We then left and did some street ministry. Later that night Renae and I ran back to that woman's hut to see if they were feeling any better. When we walked in, the mother was on her feet walking around and bright eyed! Both children who had been sick in bed were running around playing and laughing as if they were never ill just a few hours previously. We didn't have a translator, and I don't speak but very basic Hindi, so we just played a game of charades to communicate. We stayed a while and fellowshipped with them. I couldn't believe my eyes and how well they looked!! God truly did a healing miracle that day. I am so thankful.
His handiwork is everywhere we go and I can feel His Angels protecting us as we roam the streets.
This is just the beginning! We have over 2 months left...I can't wait to see what's going to happen next! We are just taking it a day at a time and every morning the 7 of us on my team sing worship and pray together. It's the only way to start the day off right and adjust our hearts and attitudes in these stretching situations. I love every person on my team! We were definitely put together by God. Sarah, Jordan, Cristy, Renae, Joseph, Laura, and myself. Each of us bring something unique and all of our gifts are coming out and God is growing each of us in the areas need be. Everyday we wake up to the Muslim mosque down the street singing in a projector that echoes through the whole city throughout the day and late hours of the night. We are right smack in the middle of spiritual battle and that is why it is so important we as a team are prayed up before we leave the house everyday. We heard several stories from a local Christian pastor last night of the daily persecution him and his family go through on a daily basis for their beliefs. Even so extreme that if they pass certain buildings people will throw rocks and chase them down with sticks because of their conversion to Christianity.
My eyes are taking in more than my mind can process. Seeing people on the dirt roads with missing limbs such as no legs and crawling on their bare hands through the dirt and trash. There is so much corruption my heart almost can't bare the things we whiteness just walking to the market or simply watching out my 2nd floor window.
We will be here in a small village in Calcutta (unsure of exactly where we are) until the end of this week and then we will move to the House of Revival rescue unit about 2hrs away and help out there until mid-may. Then we plan on moving to Bihar by train for other ministry opportunities until we leave late June and begin our journey back to Hawaii. That is where all 6 different teams from our school that went to different countries will meet, share testimonies and spend our last week together in Kona.
Lots have happened and I can't express the gratitude I feel for each of your prayers! I can definitely feel them and Gods grace and comfort is easing me along the way. I miss home and family terribly and being able to talk on the phone or simply text them. But I'm here for this time right where God has me and I am having the time of my life serving the Lord in this part of the world. Love you all and pray God holds you in His right hand.
Blessings from India!
Xoxo

PS: below are some pics from traveling to India and long layovers in airports/some snapshots from ministry/train ride etc etc etc. Just a few from my phone. Can't upload my better camera pics till I get back and have my computer. Enjoy!