Monday, June 25, 2012

Things I Have and Haven't Learned


This past week I have been doing a lot of learning.
           
            -I learned how to do laundry by hand, bargain for good prices at the fruit market, and hold my ground on crowded buses.


            -I have learned my way to and from the slum I work in and how to keep my eyes down when walking through the crowds of men at the bus stop.

            -I learned how beautiful the women are and how strong and courageous they are as they go home and get beat for listening to stories about Jesus.
           
            -I am learning to trust God in ways that I have never done before.

            -I am learning about God's grace and how completely it covers my wrongs and how to have grace with myself and the people I work with.

            -I am learning about how girls are not valued in this country at all. Girls are aborted all the time and if they are allowed to live they are used in every way possible. My heart hurts as I sit and tell women they are truly beautiful and they cannot fathom that being true.


            -I am learning to not see the dirt and disease and to love the kids and let them love me and cover me in hugs and dirt. I have learned to kiss the heads that haven't been washed in a long time and hold hands that are used to wipe. We pray for protection of our bodies and know that we are right where God wants us to be. The safest place to be is right in the middle of God's will.
           
            -I still haven't learned how to tell a dear women who hands me her 14 day old baby girl that I can't take the baby home with me without it breaking my heart.

            -I still haven't learned how to look at the dogs that are beaten and have broken legs without getting mad.

            -I still haven't learned how to keep a room of 60 excited kids quiet for bible story time but it is a joy to be around them!
           
God has been so faithful to us and has been teaching, stretching, and molding me. Every morning I get up at 6 and we have breakfast and devotionals as a team. My team of four girls gets on a bus and we go to the slum we work in. We take two buses to get there. In the morning we work at a preschool and support the young teachers. I am working with a teacher who has the 6 year old class. Then we have lunch and help with school preparation or rest.


In the afternoon the four of us walk through the slum to a house where we do tuition. Tuition is the program that the kids come to everyday for snack, bible stories, memory verses, and laughter. We help them with homework. We have to be really careful about how much we talk about God. Some of the men in the slum dislike us. We never carry bibles on us as a safety precaution but they know what we are doing and are mad because they see that our God actually answers prayers.



Some days after tuition we go on house visits and meet parents and fellowship with the few other believers in the slum. We have to bring a translator and the language barrier is quite difficult. We are trying to learn as much Hindi as we can; it’s hard! The evenings that we don't do home visits in the slum, we come back to our neighborhood and visit with the shop owners on the beach. Coni (one of my team members) and I are praying about reading a book of the bible to the woman we are discipling.

There is a awesome group of guys from the church that we go to that lead worship for us on Friday nights and hang out with us in the evenings sometimes. They give me hope that the men of this country will know God!

One of our team members is really sick right now and might have worms. Please keep her in your prayers and the rest of us as we are worn down and very susceptible to similar things.
           
           
            XOXO
            Madisyn 
         

Friday, June 8, 2012

The Experience of a Lifetime


These past few weeks have been the experience of a lifetime. This being my first trip overseas, I’ve learned, seen ,heard ,and  smelt many new things.  While we have been in India, we have helped foster new relationships that Rahab’s Rope has made. In the villages we traveled and carried the good news and encouragement to many unique and in-need people. In the city, we met women and children that we were able to create relationships with and pour our hearts into.



 One day during the first week, we drove to a tent where a group of prostitutes were waiting. When we pulled up to the tent we noticed that there was a group of eunuchs that were there, as well. We had been told earlier that week that eunuchs here were men who, as young boys, had been stripped of everything that gave them the identity of being a man and forced to do sex work the way that women do. The first thought that went through my head was “ Father, I don’t want to go do this.” He answered back, “ They are mine too and I love them. Go and do the same.”  Right then and there I closed my eyes and prayed that God would change my attitude and view of these men. When I opened my eyes, I saw a group of women and men who all needed to hear the same thing, that Jesus can set them free.  We all gathered underneath the tent and sat down. One of the pastors that was there introduced us and the people gave us a warm welcome. Some of the eunuchs danced for us and it was fun to see them smile and laugh. Something I’ve noticed in India is that smiles aren’t given out like they would be in America. It was a joy to see them having fun and not worrying about life.



After they danced, we taught them the song “My God is So Big” and showed them the motions, as well. We shared with them the story of the prodigal son and told them about how God is waiting with open arms to take them into His family, if only they would ask. We also performed a skit to the song “Flags” by Brook Frasier. The skit depicts a girl talking and walking with Jesus. As she is walking with him, she becomes distracted by different things. Alcohol, drugs, money, and finally suicide weigh her down, then surround her as she tries to escape them. The girl can’t be let free of these struggles by herself. After they have beaten her down, Jesus comes and stops them from destroying her, picks the girl up, and dusts her off. He then takes the struggles that she is still holding onto and, one by one, throws them to the ground. The girl thanks Jesus and then they continue on through life together.

We were told later on that day that the people who were there understood completely what was happening in the skit, that the understanding showed in their faces. One of our team members then stood up and shared her testimony. She told the people about how she was distracted from Jesus by similar things. She told them that when she went to God that He took away her shame and she was able to have a perfect relationship with Him because of his grace. When we finished sharing, we broke out a bag of nail polish and painted their nails and ate with them. Later on, we realized how big of a deal this was. They took a day off of working to have people speak to them, be given a free meal, and have their nails done. When we sat down with them, they were so eager to have us near them. They were very hesitant to touch their hands to us while we were painting. Each hand that was extended to me I held onto and hoped that even if they couldn’t understand what I was saying that they saw God in me. I wanted to let them know that they were loved. Our team had been reading through Philippians that week and verses that I came across that stuck out were these: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest, but also to the interest of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” I’m so thankful to be taught this in such a real way. I’m praying that whatever seeds we panted that day and also these past few weeks will grow.


Hannah
Bangalore Volunteer '12