B for Bat

It’s so hard to summarize all that’s been happening here because each day is such an adventure unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.  However, I had a day a couple of days ago that pretty much encapsulates my life so here we go.

 

So a bit of a back story: I think it was the first night we were in Goa and my roommates (Lindsey and Kari) and I were settling into our new home for the next few weeks.  We felt incredibly blessed as we turned on the fan and opened all the windows/doors and began to cool down a bit (Goa is wayyyy hotter and more humid than bangalore).  Each room has a little balcony and we were loving having the balcony doors opened as the breeze came in. Kari had a mosquito net that she had yet to use so we decided to put it over one of the windows so that it would protect us from bugs.  Anyways, it’s about bedtime so Kari and I are talking on the bed while Lindsey showers.  Then, all of a sudden through the balcony doors flies a BAT!!!!! Kari and I scream, I cover my head because I do not want it to make a nest in my hair.  We then work up a bit of courage and go to look for it only to discover that it has flown into a hole in our ceiling.  We didn’t want to shut our doors/windows because well, it was hot, but also because we didn’t want it to be trapped in our room so we left the doors opened and in the course of the night, two more bats came in!!!! We were too freaked out to sleep, so we took down the mosquito net and put it over us to protect us from the bats.  So Kari’s mom, thank you for packing that mosquito net that doubled as our bat net 🙂  We were all fine by the morning, and while we usually keep our doors/windows closed at night, the bats don’t freak us out anymore.  That’s kind of the general theme for india though- things that used to terrify me really don’t anymore.  Yesterday, a huge bug flew in my dinner and I just flicked it out and kept on eating like nothing had happened. Anyways, I digress.

 

So, a couple of days ago I woke up and reached for my b.ible to read but had to move something off of it which i thought was strange.  I grabbed my headlamp to see what it was and it was a DEAD BAT!!!!!!!!! Yes, a bat died on my b.ible in the middle of the night and it was looking at me!!! All of the courage I thought i had vanished as i yelled for lindsey to confirm that it was what I thought it was.  She trapped it under a box just to be safe and then went and got someone to get rid of it.  Ew.

 

We had breakfast and then half of our team headed to the bus stop to go to the slum where we teach preschool.  We have to take 2 buses to get to the slum and the first one is usually not too crowded but the second one we almost always have to wait for the 3rd or 4th bus just so we can squish on.  We’re pretty used to squishing so there’s not much that surprises us anymore, but this day it was so crowded that the only spot for the 10 of us to go was in the front with the bus driver.  There’s like a gate separating the bus driver from the rest of the bus so here we are, 10 white people basically locked in the front with the bus driver.  I’m so cramped but I finally get a chance to look around and i see a picture of Ganesh right next to a picture of J.esus and I notice that the smoke surrounding us is not the engine surrendering but is incense.  All i could do was laugh, but then my heart got really heavy as I felt the weight of these people who don’t know the Truth.

 

Anyways, we walk through the slum to get to the preschool. Once we get there we’re all holding hands singing a song, and one of my favorite little boys takes my hand and kisses it.  My heaviness melted as His hope returned.  It’s frustrating not being able to communicate with the kids as well as I would like to, but I’m learning the hard but necessary lesson that it’s not about me.  They are so eager to learn- all day they’re like “teacha teacha! a for apple b for bat!”   They want your approval so badly and after each letter they look to you to see if they’re doing it right. 

 

After the preschool we had lunch and then were given the afternoon to either go out into the community or do what we needed to do.  I had gotten in sort of a funk and needed to spend some time alone journaling so I went home and just wrote and read for a while.  G.od basically showed me that I was still trying to operate out of my own strength and not His, and gently reminded me that apart from Him I can do nothing.  It took a while for me to figure out what He was trying to tell me, and when I finally did it was nearly dark but I wanted to go to the beach so Lindsey went with me.  I didn’t know what we were doing, but just that we should go.  We were walking along the beach and it wasn’t long before one of our friends who owns a shop came up to us saying “I’m so glad you’re here, I need you to pray for me.”  We went back to her shop and she told us that her throat had been bothering her so Lindsey and I prayed healing over her.  Then we started talking and she started sharing more about her life.  She told us about how her husband beats her, but that it was ok because “women and men just think differently.”  That broke my heart.  This woman is not a believer, but so badly needs something- needs Him.  Be pr.aying for her; lindsey and I both feel strongly that she’s close to understanding.  His timing is so perfect.

 

After the beach we went home and had dinner.  Two indian men came (one works with the organization we work with and the other is a pastor) and they were cracking us up the entire night. 

 

So yes.  Throughout the course of a day i feel terrified, frustrated, hopeful, grieved, joyful, and so many more. I love india,bats and all, and wish you all could be here to experience it with me.  Keep pr.aying!