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India was quite the experience.

It was not as tough as one might think (maybe it’s just me) but nevertheless, there’s always work to be done. If there’s one statement I’d make about the trip, it’ll be this:

It’s humbling to know how little they have, and how much they do with it, compared to how much we have, and how little we do with it.

We got home at about 6-ish, Monday morning and we were pooped. Aunty Karen made us noodle soup with vegetables and prawns, and it’s never tasted sooooooooooooooooo goooooooooooood before.

10 days of curry, curry, puri, puri, dosai, dosai, putu mayam, potato curry, sambar, and briyani (towards the end of the trip when we were in the city) .. does take a toll on your stomach. It’s almost sitting there, wondering if anything soupy and bland is coming its way. We were very blessed with good food in the first part of the trip where were at Tindivanam, Villupuram, and up in the hills, but when we went back into the city, it wasn’t as clean and well prepared. Guess they were mostly store bought and not hot off the pan or hot plate like they were in the small towns.

Puri. Puri from heaven.

Ps. Antony Rajan and his wife Linda were very accommodating. The Indian culture is as such that they serve food for their guests, wait till they finish BEFORE they actually eat. While you’re eating, they continuously top up your plate with food! Ps. Dikson was also very accommodating at his church in Villupuram. We travelled mostly to the villages nearby (relative to the size of India .. which is .. quite large), we’d sometimes be on the road for 2 hours to get to the place, and then 2 hours back after that.

Ps. Antony Rajan of New Grace Assembly of God

It was tiring, especially with the heat and humidity. It’s sometimes uncomfortable, but once you get used to it and find ways to cool yourself down .. you get used to it and don’t feel it as much. While we were up in the hills, Liz and I really felt the heat and she came down with fever and headaches, while I too .. overheated. Hehe. So we rested the afternoon we were supposed to go tracting in the villages under the hot sun .. yikes. I suspected that both of us didn’t drink enough water the day before while we were in the sun tracting and talking to the villagers.

One of the night rallies

Village rallies had a certain format to it. After the first few, we kinda knew what was expected of us, and what we were required to do. First is the arrival, where we are ushered to the stage where we are seated while worship is going on. Indians are big on loud thumping music, so Indian Christian worship is also of the same carnatic form, only EXTRA LOUD to attract the whole village.

The louder the better, the more the merrier.

Which really works, I tell you. They crank up the music even louder as curious onlookers and passersby go about their daily routine.

Liz, sharing the Word

Then there’s the sharing of the Word. We usually share from the Gospels, either about Jesus or something that He did. Then we do the bridge method, where we speak about creation, and sin, and God’s plan for redemption and finally, how to receive Jesus.

Michael-ayah sharing the Word

Prayer then follows, where everyone usually comes up for it. They see it as blessings, and some children get prayed for multiple times as they circulate among us the team members to receive prayers. We just lay hands and pray as much as we can. After prayer, we’ll usually return to the bus and then go home for a good, hot, home-cooked meal!

Home cooked chicken curry .. yummy.

Some seafood goodness

We wake up every morning, wash up, have devotion and pray together, and it really does prepare you for what’s coming and keep you in the proper frame of mind to serve and minister for the day. We brought the missions guitar, and guess who’s scheduled for morning prayers? Hehe. It’s fun, just digging through my database of old songs to sing. I didn’t know I still had those songs in my head. Some were so old that even the senior members can’t remember the words. Hehehe.

India is booming. Spiritually and economically (don’t know if it’s still the rich people getting richer and the poor becoming poorer) growing. I tell you, we Malaysians are so blessed. Even with our current political situation, fuel price hike, and working conditions. Yeah, India has its own issues, so does Malaysia .. but the fact that we have consistent salaries, have enough to eat whatever we choose to eat, buy what our hearts desire to buy makes us so much more blessed!

Some of the more well-behaved children

It’s not till you begin to see what people of other races, countries, and nationalities go through a day in their lives that you start to appreciate the air conditioning you currently have blowing at you in the office, in your car, in the restaurant, in the car on your way back home, and while you sleep (even though you don’t feel it while you sleep ..).

A woman and her child. Her husband does hard labor, while she works the land for produce.

Like I said in the beginning of the entry, it’s so humbling to know how little they have, and how much they do with it and how much we have, and how little we use with it. We’re all guilty for complaining about how we don’t have enough. About how we need (actually .. want) more.

Luke 12:48 : Much has been given, much will be required of us.

If only we realize how much we already have.

Here’s the album.