Officially Adjusted...I think.

Warning: My thoughts are all over the place. Please do not judge my lack of fluidity throughout this post.

The past few weeks have been quite eventful/busy, but they have proven to me that I’m no longer affected by the strangeness of this country. Life is no longer eventful because of the random things I encounter each day like seeing cows scratching the insides of their noses with someone’s bike handlebar (that totally happened), but because like is genuinely busy. All the strange/random things have become normal. Now that’s strange. Multiple things have happened in the past few weeks that have led me to believe that I am adjusted to South Asia.

1.)   A big group of us went to a wedding last weekend way down south and we were taking a sleeper bus to get there. A week before the wedding I realized that my bus tickets still hadn’t been delivered to me. Naturally, I called the bus company and asked what was up. This is how the conversation went:

Rachel: “Hello sir, I ordered bus tickets about 3 weeks ago and they still haven’t been delivered.” I give him my name, ticket number, blah, blah blah.

Bus man: “Oh, I’m sorry madam, we cancelled those tickets.”

Rachel: “Oh, you did? That’s interesting. Well, do you think you could rebook those tickets?”

Bus man: “That’s not possible madam, that bus is sold out.”

Rachel: “Oh ok. Well is there another bus that we could take?”

Bus man: “Yes, madam, we have a non A/C bus (not sleeper).”

Rachel: “Oh, that’s great! We will take those”

     I’m sorry if this was a bore to you, but this says a lot about how my mindset had changed. If this had happened in the states, I would’ve been like “excuse me? I’m suing or why the beepity beep did you cancel them?” Not really, but I would not have been pleased. In this situation I was like “well of course they are cancelled”, because that’s how things tend to go. It’s truly hilarious. We ended up getting on the sleeper bus WITH A/C WITH our friends and we got to visit this beautiful town! It was heavenly.

Sleeper bus! Loved it.

A beautiful town in the clouds.

I was very happy.

We had a picnic in the forest...those sticks were used for protection against the monkeys. I kid you not. You would've been proud of me mom.

2.)   The second way I knew I had adjusted to South Asia was because of a trip we took down to Pondicherry two weeks ago. Our bus ticket CLEARLY stated that we were to arrive at Central Station at 4:30 pm to depart from the station. Therefore, we arrived at 4:15 ready to go. We walk up to the counter and say “we are on the 4:30 bus to Pondicherry.” The response we received was “Sorry madam, this bus doesn’t stop at Central station today.” Our response to that was “well our bus ticket states that it does stop here at 4:30.” The man then responds “well it doesn’t, it leaves from Koyambedu at 5:30.” Koyambedu is an hour away. We just LAUGHED and got in an auto to Koyambedu. Thankfully, we somehow made it on time and enjoyed the rest of our trip. In America this would have been stressful and stupid. I would’ve been like “well, why the beep did you put Central Station on the ticket if the bus doesn’t even come here?” I wouldn’t have said beep, it just makes it more dramatic. Seriously though, in South Asia, I just expect things to not be the way they seem. Of course the bus doesn’t come to Central Station even though that’s what the tickets says. Ok, ok, I’m rambling. 

      The moral of these stories is that I’m no longer affected by the unexpected. I’m sure something could surprise me, but I’ll wait to blog about that when it happens. Oh wait, I didn’t expect this.

As you can tell by the look on my face, this was a surprise.

     I have had the opportunity to do many cool things with work over the past few weeks. I got to visit a few clients in the village a few weeks ago and it was a blast! The villages are just fun places to go, because they are like nowhere else I have ever been. You drive down the road and every 5 minutes you are dodging some kind of peculiar animal. That day we dodged cows, water buffalo, more cows, dogs, more cows, snakes (really big ones that give me nightmares), goats, and sheep. The Tulsa Zoo will not bring me as much joy as it used to…. because right now I live in a zoo.

 This day was wonderful, because I got to just love on the kids in the village. These were the kids from the rescue we had on Thanksgiving, so I knew most of them already. They took me on a walk around the village, then they took me to their school. Bad mistake. One of the kids ran ahead and told all the hundred kids at the school that white girl was headed there. When I arrived at the school, the entire student body was waiting for me at the gate. I could not stop blushing. I was receiving way more attention than I needed and did not know how to properly respond. Some people would say that’s not so bad. Let me tell you why it IS bad. The village doesn’t have bathrooms….or outhouses. I was watched the whole day we were in the village and the only option to go to the bathroom was in a field. I kid you not. My aftercare manager was like “Rachel, I can just ask one of the labourers to take you to the field.” I laughed…then waited for 5 hours. I refuse to be watched by a crowd in the field.

This was a rewarding and challenging day. So many of our clients are in an unbelievable amount of pain and have no hope to cope with that pain. Jesus is the only one who can heal the type of pain that they are in. The Lord has really been showing me the jealousy he has for the hearts of the Hindu people. He wants them so bad! He wants to be their Counselor and Comforter, yet they are not ready to accept him. I have regularly been praying for their healing and for their hearts. 

This past week was exciting for two reasons:

1.)           Our aftercare department held a Special Grievance Day for a few hundred of our clients. Most of our clients are illiterate so they are unable to fill out any applications for government benefits. This was a day where they could come and apply for 6 different government benefits and we had volunteers from a local church/our aftercare department fill out the forms for them. Our clients were so happy! It was such a joy to see them excited to have an opportunity to apply for ration card s and land to build houses on. This day could potentially change their lives. It was huge!

2.)           On Friday, we rescued 42 people from a rock quarry and 30 release certificates were issued. God is so good!

The next month is full of exciting events! Next week I’m headed to Thailand to meet Mallory Dalton for my Visa Run!!!!! I could not be more excited. Then my parents come in less than a month! Ahhh! Also, VERY EXCITED. Then in the middle of these activities we will be having a Freedom Training for these newly released people. You all are now officially updated on my life J.

I hope each of you are doing incredibly well. Thank you for following me on this life adventure!

Times of Refreshment

Let me begin by telling you that I have not been sick in almost two weeks! How much higher is my quality of life you ask? MUCH higher. I also just came back from a pretty great holiday season that was both restoring and rejuvenating.

Last month was downright exhausting. We had two trainings, one Freedom Training with the 50 we rescued on Thanksgiving and one Leadership Training with a group of 30 that have just finished our two year Aftercare Program. These trainings are so encouraging to see, because I get to see how IJM's work is truly changing lives. I am constantly thanking God for allowing me to do this work that has been a dream for so long...I can't believe HE is allowing me to do it! Leadership Training was awesome because I got to see all the differences between people just entering the program (Freedom Training) and people who are just coming out of the program. The people at Leadership Training were a blast. They are the clients who have been elected within their villages to be the "leaders" and the points of contact for IJM within their villages. It was such a blessing to see the confidence, independence, and better physical health that these clients had after at least two years of freedom. Our Aftercare program is working! The week after Leadership Training, we had Freedom Training, which I have written about before. Freedom Training is the program we put on for our clients within 30 days of their rescue. They learn about their rights as a human being, how to not get rebonded, and many other important skills. This Freedom Training was a blast. We were all still exhausted from the previous week of training, but this group was energized and excited about their 3 week old freedom. This is a group that had been in bonded labour their whole lives, as their parents had and as their grandparents had. This was generational bonded labour. I also liked this group because they found me very entertaining. I've been learning some Tamil, which they loved. I can't imagine why. Apparently I have an accent when I speak or something like that....All this goes to say that I love my job. I love seeing the results of my co-workers hard work and I love seeing people come to freedom and start dreaming of a future. It. Is. Beautiful.
This past month was emotionally exhausting as well. Missing Christmas and Thanksgiving was just rough. I tried to invent some Christmas cheer, but it was a difficult task. It got to the point where I would search for places that I had heard had Christmas decorations. Thankfully, a week before Christmas, the mall met my needs.

Pretty incredible, right? I was very pleased.

Yes, we did ride the train.

A few days after the hunt for Christmas Spirit, I set off to Sri Lanka. I have nothing, but positive feelings for this little country. Sri Lanka offered me endless Christmas cheer (decorations everywhere and they are even a Buddhsit country!!!!), hours on beach, elephants, some of the kindest people around and a time of restoration...not to mention I was surrounded by some pretty stellar people. It was an awesome Christmas vacation. If I couldn't be at home, I might as well be in Sri Lanka.

After Sri Lanka I went back to the office for a few days, then headed off to Goa. Another very fun trip where I had my first opportunity to stay in slum-like conditions. Yes, in Goa, India. We made reservations for this little beach hut, but they happened to give that beach hut away before we got there. Therefore, we stayed in the ghetto. The beach hut we had the opportunity to sleep in was actually tilted. If you have ever been to Grandfathers house at Silver Dollar City, you know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a place where you almost fall off the toilet because the tilt is so severe. The walls didn't completely meet in the corners, there were cockroaches, and you could always see the great outdoors through the cracks in the wall, roof, and floor. We were quite upset by this in the beginning, but waking up in this place the following morning, we could only laugh at our misfortune. 

This picture doesn't really do it justice. It's all I have though.

I can't complain too much, because our little hut the rest of the week was perfect. Also, when you have a view like this, you just aren't allowed to complain. AND I got to kayak on that beautiful water. Yes, I'm bragging. When you are surrounded by trash and dead creatures everyday, you appreciate God's creation a bit more.

These trips were so good for my soul. It was great to just be in fellowship and community with so many wonderful people. I think community is my love language. :-)

I would like to close this blog with the Top 10 things you would not see in Oklahoma, but that have become a regular sight for me to see here in South Asia.



1.) Not only is liquor looked down upon, but it is said to "ruin country, family and life."

2.) Emu happens to be the heart healthy meat. I never knew! I wonder where I could find some emu meat in Tulsa?



3.) I may or may not have been in the entertainment section of the Newspaper. That would definitely not happen in Oklahoma.



4.) This is a man on a bicycle carrying a very large load of popcorn



5.) A family ride on the motorcycle. You can see this sight everyday during rush hour.



6.) Oxen with blue painted horns. Why not?  



7.) I got to pet elephants...and feed them bottles!

8.) Cows roam freely around the city...and spoon on the sidewalks.



9.) It is not strange to see people biking carts of chickens around.



10.) This is an elephant riding in the back of a truck down a main road.

I hope this top 10 list gives you better insight into my life in South Asia...peculiar and entertaining.



The Holidays

Hello everybody! I'm really sorry I have been better about my blog recently, but I finally have some free time to write one! I'm currently listening to Amy Grant Christmas Hits to inspire this blog. If things get weird, now you know why.

The past few weeks have been very busy and very strange. Strange in the sense that I am missing all the Christmas cheer back in the states and that I spent my first Thanksgiving away from my family. I hadn't really been too homesick until the week of Thanksgiving, but my fellow interns at IJM and I tried to make the best of it and celebrated two nights in a row. It is nearly impossible to find a turkey here...believe me we searched, so we had to settle with chicken, which was excellent.

My Thanksgiving Eve plate consisting of chicken, fried okra, mac'n'cheese, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. I have to thank multiple mothers for sending interns Thanksgiving food in the mail.

The special things about cooking here is that most kitchens only have two burners....and NO ovens. This makes for an entertaining experience. For Thanksgiving dinner we went over to another interns house who happens to have a toaster oven (this is a big deal). Her toaster oven gets so hot that you can cook things on top of it. Allow me to show you.

                                                 

I know you are probably thinking that this had have been impossible. I'm here to tell you that you are wrong. Cooking things on top of a toaster oven does take a bit longer, but it works! 

The Thanksgiving Eve Crew

The most memorable experience of Thanksgiving this year was that our office was able to rescue 47 individuals from bonded labour! The neat thing about this rescue was that we were only expecting to rescue about 20 people, but people from the neighboring rice mill started jumping the fence to be rescued. God is so good! I don't know if I have ever been so thankful for his faithfulness as I was this Thanksgiving. If you would like to read more...here is the short article. We spent the evening of Thanksgiving at Sparky's (the American Diner) for a Thanksgiving buffet. They somehow managed to find turkey...I was shocked. I have to admit, I was ready for Thanksgiving to end, because A.) I found a Christmas store that had some fun decorations B.) My Aunt Kelly added to my collection by sending me a box of Christmas decorations and I was VERY ready to decorate. Therefore, Thanksgiving night, I coerced my roommates into turning up the Amy Grant Christmas hits and decorating our cute little apartment. Here is the finished product. 

Our cute little tree.

I have some talented roommates.

THe flash washes out the best decoration of all....look below.

Why yes, that is a light up santa with his reindeers.

That is all for now. I will try to update again next week with the deeper things happening in life. Please continue to pray for my health. It seems as though I have bronchitis. My immune system is just not fighting the way it does in the states. I hope each of you are enjoying the Christmas cheer for me!

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.

Where to begin...

Hello everyone-


I'm sorry that is has been so long since I have posted. I was sick for a good 3-4 days and I had a really bad attitude, so I thought that probably wasn't the best time to write a blog post. I was blaming South Asia for a lot of things that probably weren't South Asia's fault...it may have been though.


These past two weeks have FLOWN. I'll try to catch you up to speed, then tell you some thoughts that I have been challenged with. 


Last week was my first cricket match! Oh. My Gosh. It was incredible. It took me at least two hours to even begin to understand what was happening before my very eyes, but once the guys from the office were kind enough to walk me through the game, I fell in love with the sport. As most of you all know, this isn't a difficult task to fulfill. If it's competitive, I'm probably going to enjoy it. The cricket stadium was the most at home I have felt outside of my apartment...kind of. Let me explain. South Asia is in no way organized and there is usually mass chaos. In the Cricket stadium everyone was sitting down and had one common purpose....to cheer the Super Kings on to victory. It was just comforting to be with thousands of people that were all focused on one thing AND there were no horns honking in the stadium. If I haven't said this already, there are ALWAYS horns. Always. Don't worry, I'm not hating on the chaos, I'm usually amused by it, but it was very enjoyable to get a break in the Cricket stadium.

The cricket stadium

My new friends in our Super Kings Jerseys :-)

As I am approaching my 3 week mark tomorrow, it is awesome to see how far I have come in 3 weeks. I can now ride autos alone...this is a huge feat. Last weekend I had to go to the gym alone in an auto and I had to say a long prayer before I got in. I was being a bit of a wimp, but I was scared that I would get a mean auto driver that would just drive me out into the middle of nowhere and drop me off (that doesn't really happen here). Thankfully, that didn't happen and I made it to the gym with ease. GO RACHEL! Aside from riding in the auto by myself and proving some independence, I'm looking back at these 3 weeks thankful for the sweet friendships that are forming. I have been blessed way more than I could have imagined by the people at my work. I know I have said this, but I am so challenged by their ability to encourage and love others. Each day I thank God for putting me in such a positive work environment where people are 1.) Passionate for the Lord 2.) Passionate about caring for people and 3.) Passionate about their work. It is infectious. 

This is an auto...and some stinkin cute kids.

The past few weeks have been really challenging for me in the sense that I am having a difficult time processing the poverty here. I see need everywhere. I am in contact with beggars every single day singling me out to say they have a need. I have people sleeping on my sidewalk outside my apartment. While I have been exposed to poverty throughout my life, this is closer to home...literally. I am broken more each day and am challenged by the response Jesus calls me to have. I have been reading through different passages in the Bible about poverty and this is what I've found:


Luke 6:27-31


"but to you who are listening I say: Love you enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you."


I read this passage in Estonia this summer, but have been reminded of it during the past few weeks. It would probably be more comfortable to ignore this command, but I can't. GIVE TO EVERYONE WHO ASKS YOU. Jesus knew how big of a challenge this would be for believers, but he still commanded this of us. I did some research and this verse is in reference to poverty. What challenges me about this verse is that when someone asks for money my thoughts are "well, what if they use it to buy drugs" or "what if they aren't really in need?" I have all these excuses in my head. Unfortunately, Jesus doesn't say "Give to everyone who asks you...unless they look like a drug addict." 


Matthew 5:42 is the same story..."give to the one who asks you." 


All this goes to say that I have been praying through how to wisely respond to the need around me. If they ask...I will give. The question is what do I give? How much do I give? Food or 5 rupees?  If any of you have any advice or wisdom on this subject...or really any subjects, I would love to hear it. This is just something that has consistently been on my heart.

I will finish with something that I really like about South Asia. That something is that not only are there many stray dogs here, but there are also many stray cows and goats. There is something really amusing about turning a street corner and just seeing a cow roaming around. No owner. No rope collar. Nothing. It's a STRAY cow. Imagine seeing stray cows walking around South Tulsa. Yeah right...well I guess that's kind of possible. Picture it in NYC instead, that's definitely more fun.


One more random thought. Yesterday my roommate saw two men on a motorcycle and one had a washing machine over his head. Yep, just let that one sink in. It happened.


Here are some random pictures of the city and of the market we went to a few weeks ago.

A sad bull.

The market we went to a few weeks ago...it was awesome and crazy at the same time.

I went to the beach today...it was beautiful.

My first week...

Hello everybody! I have now been in South Asia for over week, which is crazy! It has been a good week, but quite the adjustment. Life here is just much different than anything I have encountered before...in a good way. For instance the decorations. Let me give you a taste of some pretty awesome decorations. 

I'm kidding... while the decorations are special, there are many differences that are much more obvious. For example: the horns never stop honking, my room usually smells like curry, and there are people that sleep on the street that I live on. This new culture is a constant adventure and I never know what I may encounter when I leave my apartment. Speaking of my apartment let me show you around.

My cute little room! Be sure to notice the frog hamper in the corner (it's a proud purchase I made at the bazaar).

My lovely bathroom...I just figured you were a little curious. Am I right?

Living room. If you are wondering the fabric on the couches/chairs is indeed velvet.  We will be hanging things on our wall very soon. We just have to find those things.

Our stove :-)

The kitchen.

Laundry room! Whoop whoop. See my editing?

And the dining room.

 My apartment is pretty wonderful. My roommates are awesome and have made the transition so much easier than it could have been without them. I will post pictures of them as soon as I have them in 
possession. The icing on top of the cake is that we are a 5 minute walk from the office. It is so convenient!

Before I ramble for much longer than needed, let me tell you one of the weirdest sights I have seen thus far. I was on the way to the dentist with my roommate, Kyleigh, the other day (she had to get her wisdom teeth out two weeks ago) and we saw a man riding his bicycle. The weird part about this is that he had child sleeping on the wheel well of his back tire and he had another child who he had connected to a leash running behind the bike. I hope you truly try to imagine this image in your head, because it was WEIRD. I was thinking "well that's one way of keeping track of your children...or setting them up for some road rash." Random story, I know.

Just in case you were curious, I AM going to a cricket match tomorrow. I can't even imagine what this experience will look like, but I know it will be an adventure. Leaving the apartment always is.

I hope all is well for those of you back in the homeland! I think and pray for many of you often. I also hope my blog wasn't too much of a bore for you...