If We Are the Body...

We were up by 4:30 on Thursday morning and made one last trip to the slums before heading out to the village. By the time we got back, everyone’s bags were downstairs and ready to go. We loaded the luggage on 4 different vehicles and assigned people to a car. Overall, we had about 24 people heading out to the village. Suresh uncle prayed over the vehicles for a safejourney and we were off. I spent a good part of my journey reading The Alchemist (a great short read if you ever get the chance) and sleeping. About half way along our trip, I started looking outside and noticing the drastic change in the scenery. We had gone from a huge urban area to vast rocky hills. Huge boulders populated the land as far as we could see. Also, we got a great viewof wildlife on the way. Several monkeys played along the road and cows roamed the streets. My driver, and now close friend, Kumar pointed out that, at night, elephants liked to come out to this area. Amazing! Kumar expertly navigated his way through the village streets and then pulled into a small dirt road after about 3 hours of driving. I looked out of my window and saw a church up on a hill with a bright red cross. As we drove down the dirt road, I got my first real look at the school. It was a lot bigger than I expected. We arrived at the guesthouse last and unloaded our stuff. As soon as we got the opportunity, we went exploring. We climbed some rocks and saw some astounding views. When we got back we helped prepare dinner for the entire group and met some of the pastors. The next day, the alarm went off at 7 for breakfast and then it was off to work. Daniel and I went to the school to paint the classrooms while Alex went with some of the people from the group to purchase materials to build some desks. By lunchtime, we had one room completely painted and another almost done.

Our schedule seemed to fluctuate between food and work for the next day or two. In the evening, we always tried to leave some room for exploring new places to climb. We ventured up to the church one evening and witnessed our Father’s presence in a land that seemed so distant from what we were used to. Later, we learned that Suresh uncle’s father had actually built this church. I spent the next few days working on building desks, which was a long and tedious process at first. Once we had learned of the most efficient method, we created an assembly line and managed to build 15 working desks for the students. The village children assembled in the area that night for the children’s conference, which lasted about 3 hours. During this time, part of the mission team from North Carolina told the children the story of Joseph, did some arts and crafts, and put on a puppet show. We were then given the opportunity to serve the children food and, for many, this was their only meal of the day. The meal was simple, rice and sambar, yet it fed so many children. “More uncle, more” they called out. By our Father’s grace, we had more to give. Every child that was present was fed. Like JC did with the fish and bread, our Father enabled us to do with rice and sambar. Praise be to Him! Not one of the 200-300 children left hungry, not one. As I witnessed this miracle take place, I envisioned us being the body of JC. His arms reached out to those in need and served them. They have called and He has answered. This happened again the next night except now there were about 500-600 children! The plan was the same as the day before; however there was one complication: during the arts and crafts time, it started pouring. Discouraged at the missed opportunity to share the Gospel with the children, we headed into the house. But then, our Father reminded us why we were there. We grabbed our rain jackets and walked down to the unfinished school. The children piled into a tractor and were transported to the school where they filled the empty halls on the first floor. Famished, they sat in the hallways, backs against the wall, waiting for food. Another truck came with rice and sambar. Even in the rain, every child was fed. That is the power of our Father’s love. We returned to Bangalore the next day and had an “eventful” ride back. Some stories; however, are better left for later.

Thank you for your support and prayers over the past week. We have witnessed powerful moments and events that would not be possible without all of you. Praise be to our Father and to His son who died for us! Your continual support and prayers are needed for these children as they still are not aware of the power of our savior JC. After getting the opportunity to talk to many of them, we learned of their love for a different JC by the name of John Cena. For some reason, every boy here has an obsession with wrestling and a wrestler named John Cena. While we found this slightly amusing at first, our amusement quickly transgressed to dismay. How can this man be more widely proclaimed than our savior? Please, keep these children in your prayers. More specifically, pray that they learn of the true JC, the one who gave his life so that we may spend eternity with our Father.

Grace and Peace.