My Indian Experience

Although we have officially been in India for a week and 3 days, it feels like we have been here for months. Some of the Indian experience is just as I expected, but so much of it is nothing like I ever imagined. None of the briefings or research could ever really prepare us for our India and all that would be before us everyday. I just about laugh every morning we hop on a bus to get to our ministry site, because I am always at disbelief at how crazy the experience is to get from one place to another, as we are herded in like sheep and crammed into our bus like sardines. A smile automatically comes across my face as we enter a slum and children stop whatever they are doing to run over towards us yelling, “Teacha!” because they are happy to see us and get joy from a simple “hi” or a handshake. A tug of pain comes within my heart when we enter the homes of women in the slums and we learn more of the idols they worship or the suffering they experience in their lives with serious matters like abortion or abuse from their husbands. 

Though I didn’t come to India with a lot of expectations, I did think I would be ministering more to women and working more directly against sex trafficking. Instead of working mostly with the women of Rahab’s Rope, the Lord has actually called me to focus on the preschool portion of the ministry, which was expected for us to do, but I had no idea it would be my main focus.

One avenue of trafficking prevention is providing education for children in the slums. Without education, none of these kids have hope of making a living and leaving the slums, putting them at high risk of being trafficked, especially the girls. As a result, Rahab’s Rope partners with existing preschools in the slums as a part of prevention at Rahab’s Rope, striving to have slum kids succeed so they can contribute to their communities in positive ways as the next generation and also provide ways to expose them and their families to the Gospel. Throughout all of the months preparing for this trip I never imagined the Lord would open up this door for me. The particular slum I will most likely focus on is nothing like the preschool I work in at home. Without going into much detail, there are just many struggles in the education system and so many things that can be improved at this particular preschool; with the huge list of things it almost seems impossible to make any positive change, but so glad to have God on our side! The Lord has revealed a lot to our team already and has given us so much grace to be patient with the children and to be an example to the preschool teachers at the preschool we work at. Though this is nothing like I expected, I am excited for this Indian experience. The Lord has really given us a chance to really positively influence a lot here in Goa through Rahab’s Rope, and He’s given me the chance to work with and love on children, which are my passion. So for the next three months, my focus will be teaching in one of the two slums we work in, where I will have the opportunity to teach preschool in the morning, tutor children in the afternoon, and still minister to the women that are trained at Rahab’s Rope and to women and families in the slums through nutrition classes and house visits. Though none of this is anything like I ever imagined, I am excited for all the Lord has laid out ahead of me for the next 3 months and also fearful of the task at hand, because I have already experienced many struggles in such a short time. I know I will grow weary and be weak and will want to shut down after all the bus rides and smells and uncontrollable moments with the children and the school system, but thankfully the Lord continually reminds me of this:

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is an everlasting God, and the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint”

(Isaiah 40:28-31)

The Lord will renew my strength when I feel weak. The Lord will make me free from my troubles. The Lord will give me the strength to endure. Through all of my Indian experience.

{Please be in prayer for us as we need much grace, patience, and wisdom in the slums we are working in. Also be in prayer for our team as the enemy has put our team under a lot of attack. We have gone through a lot emotionally this last week with many things pertaining to fear and many of our teammates are also getting sick, including our team leader who has been sick in bed for the last two days.}

Be sure to watch this video of a glimpse of our India experience!: