Heartache and Laughter

Disclaimer: This could be lengthy.

I do not even know where to begin this blog. I have been trying to write it for a few weeks now, but there is so much to say and so much that I am processing that it is quite difficult to write a blog. The past few weeks have been full of wild situations, times of heartache for our messed up world, and circumstances that display God’s faithfulness in a way that I can’t praise him enough.

Let me start with a weird story. Many weird things happen to me in South India, enough so that I will probably have enough material to write a book at the end of my time here…so if you are ever feeling down in the dumps and need a story to make you smile, please e-mail me, Skype me, etc. The second most recent weird thing to happen occurred last night (I say second, because a giant bird pooped on me on my way to this coffee shop. I won’t tell you why it was weird, because I will start gagging again). We had a few people over for a Spaghetti dinner last night and then we taught our friend, Ravi, how to make no bake cookies. Since it's Monsoon season, it rains A LOT, which is good and bad. Good, because it cools off outside. Bad, because it makes it difficult to go places due to flooding and getting really wet. Last night it was raining and felt very nice outside, so we thought it was a good idea to open our balcony door. This is rare for us, because it’s usually really hot, so we didn’t know that we actually have a bat problem at our apartment complex. As Kyleigh and I are cooking in the kitchen, we hear our friend Stephen say, “uh oh, a bird just flew in.” Little did he know, THIS WAS A BAT READY TO SUCK OUR BLOOD. My fellow roommates and I immediately start screaming (I have a cold, so the sound coming out of my mouth was quite humorous) and we immediately hit the floor. The bat was darting around ready for an attack. This went on for about 10-15 minutes. Here is a 30 second clip, so you can better understand what we went through last night.

Enough with the weird, I have some good stuff to tell you about. This past week was my first Freedom Training with our Bonded Laborers. Freedom Training consisted of 37 of our clients whom have been rescued over the past few months. Throughout Freedom Training our adult clients are taught many valuable life lessons. For example, they are taught how to save money, the importance of stopping domestic violence within their relationships, how to avoid being enslaved again, and countless other life skills.

The job of all the Aftercare Fellows during Freedom Training was to assist with the children’s program. This was emotionally and physically exhausting, but so rewarding. My heart overflowed with love for these kids. God was very gracious to me. He filled my heart with so much love for these kids that I couldn’t help but hug them and constantly pray over their futures. I couldn’t look at the precious faces of these beautiful children without being reminded of Isaiah 61 and how faithful our God is.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

This scripture became so real to me this past week. I kept looking at these villagers, fresh out of slavery, thinking “You were held in slavery just a month ago, and now you are free! You are rescued children of God with a future that you can choose!” I can’t even begin to grasp this concept. I can’t imagine the feelings and fears of these unforgettable laborers, as they are free for the first time in, for some, years. My heart physically ached for them as I heard countless stories of abuse and what life was like for these children that I was growing so fond of. They didn’t even have shoes. Many don’t have houses. Some don’t even have parents. BUT they now have their freedom. They can dream of a future, knowing that it won’t consist of being stuck in a rice mill working 14 hour days. This was such a moving week for me and I wish I could put into words exactly what God was doing on my heart, but I experienced too many emotions to begin to explain them. What I find peace in is that God is good and He desires the hearts of those children and their parents. I couldn’t ask for more then that.

If I told you all that went on during Freedom Training (which I truly desire), I would be writing a novel. No one really wants that. I would be telling you details that range from visiting pigs with the kids to my roommate getting peed on 3 different times by the same baby to attempting to entertain the restless children with my “Tamil” dancing skills. I’ll spare you the details.

The biggest revelation that I have had over the past few weeks is my desperate need for Jesus. When everything in my life seems unstable and crazy, Jesus is my constant stability. Even when things are really good, He is still my constant! As I become more and more aware of the darkness that can surround me in South Asia, I am so thankful to know a God that is so much bigger and brighter than the darkness.

Look at the cute little monkey.

As I said before, there have been many reasons to celebrate this past week. The first reason being that our office had 4 convictions this week! This is huge. These were the first convictions of the year as they are very difficult to get. This has been so encouraging for our office, and could potentially affect how judges judge perpetrators of bonded labor. This was such a beautiful announcement to witness. I had coworkers who were dancing throughout the office in celebration, people singing, “You are the God of this city, you are the King of these people,” and many tears. Here is the article if you would like to hear more about what went down. The second reason to celebrate is that one of our former clients won the election in his village! This is another enormous accomplishment that has been in the newspapers throughout our state. Former slave turned leader of village. Seriously, isn’t God good?

I will end with a list of things I have learned while being in South Asia.

1.)   Pepsi CAN mold…even after just a few days without refrigeration. In case you were wondering, so can beef jerky. So much for rationing.

2.)   Cows and goats both love eating out of the dumpster. They also can cause major traffic jams.

3.)   Just because it looks exactly like a donut does not make it a donut.

4.)   Grown men DO regularly pee on the side of the road and it IS acceptable, although not appreciated.

5.)   Cars are unnecessary when whole families can ride on a moped together and it be considered safe.