SMELL: Even before boarding the plane, the gate in which you wait has that… oh, so special India smell. Spices! Curry and a light undertone of body odor…a smorgasbord of scents wait for your arrival in India. During the week that which once burned your nostrils becomes a familiar and hardly noticeable scent until your trash is strewn about the door of the place you are staying or the sewage cleaner digs out the sewage at that early hour in the morning right under your window- and you don't notice. Time passes, and that ripe smell becomes you with the heat and there is no getting rid of it no matter how many times you bucket bathe. You have become Indian. Yeah! You have accepted it and then you arrive home and unpack. Clothes go directly into the laundry…you had no idea! Or if you are like me…you stick your head in it and say "Ahhhh…smells like home, when can I return?
SOUNDS: People from India have a very special way of communicating. LOUDLY! People in India have a very special way of driving! (laugh and bobble your head if you know what I'm talking about). In, out, fast, bumper to bumper, cow or water buffalo to bumper, bumper to people, carts, bikes, piles of rubbish. Thus the need to use your horn…CONSTANTLY! I am not a morning person, but when traveling…to lay in bed and listen, imagine is one of my favorite down times. You hear the light steps of people walking under your window, an animal digging for food in the trash or sewer, the vendors getting a early start in the mornings, and the peacocks who outnumber the Americans. They sound like a child in pain. I learned this after bolting from my bed several early mornings. All is well…except my hearing. My favorite sound of all was the sound of the children from AH praying, laughing, and singing! Their faith and joy is contagious!
TASTE: You can't go anywhere in India without being offered chai. It might be a hundred degrees outside, but you'll be served a steaming cup of chai… and somehow, it refreshes you! As for the food…for someone who has so many food allergies…anywhere in Asia is a challenge. I accept the challenge and always have won. This most recent trip I got bolder. AH knows me well by now, remembering my list of things. So they are careful and not offended when asked. As long as there are no nuts, I go in…one spoonful at a time. (I've not mastered their art of eating with the fingers – it just got ugly). The food is spicy! Bless them! They make "American spicy" for us…while they eat the other. While cooking, I asked what the red was…if it was spice. They laughed and responded "It's to scare all of you!"
TOUCH: I'm not a touchy person. I'm not. However, working at AIM has popped my bubble and it is the norm to give someone a hug or a pat on the back. I like it…but when not at AIM or with AIMers…it's not the norm. So when in India…it surprises me that it comes easy to me while working with lepers and orphans. Walking into AH the first day after a year had past and have the children run up to me screaming "Giraffe Auntie! Giraffe Auntie!". Them leaping on me, hugging whatever part they can reach…indescribable. Laying on the floor with a drooling child for an hour is no longer gross. Getting out of that vehicle and seeing familiar faces at the Leper colony and exchanging long hugs again…indescribable. When in another country where you can't speak the language or words just aren't enough…always… HUG IT OUT! Yup…still alive and smiling! Check out this awkward hug!
SIGHT: If pictures speak a thousand words… here's a book!
SIXTH SENSE: I think we'd all agree that the spiritual realm is real. If this is true, you believe we have a battle that is not against flesh and blood. (Eph 6:12).
Moving forward to this past trip… there was and still is a battle against things seen and unseen. I believe in the authority of Jesus Christ in us and I'm asking that you each pray for AH (it's temporary name). Below, is how you can help…told by Kristen.
Last Christmas, we shared a prayer request- the orphanage was being forced out of its home and needed to raise a significant amount of money in order to move and rent a new place. It seemed like a horrible situation, but God provided. AH moved into a new house that was SO BIG in comparison to their old home. The children's rooms are literally 4x what they were in the old house; and the area where they could play was even more so. This house was such a blessing!
It didn't take long for the leaders of AH to realize that if they'd still been in that small house, they could have been shut down. Even back in December, when things seemed so hard and even unfair… God was providing. He knew what was coming.
However… it is a rented home. And with the government breathing down their necks, they've found out new regulations that make the property still not ideal. And, on rented property, they need to put up a Hindu or Muslim shrine, which they refuse to do. They've been told that if they had their own land… a lot of the problems would go away.
But to do that… to get their own land to build an orphanage that fits this family of 30+ children (and growing- a new little one was born this weekend), they need financial help. There are a lot of steps, some bigger than others. But the first one… is $5500. With this amount, AH would be able to apply for FCRA status <http://fcra.co.in> , which would enable them to directly receive funds from anywhere in the world. Meaning that anyone could donate money for land (the second step), and instead of it needing to go through an organization with admin fees and even time delays with transferring funds internationally… it would go directly to them.
Above all, they need prayer. And then they need financial help. Our team has committed to raising the first $5500. If you'd like more information, please email Betty at [email protected].
Above: Just some of the many faces we have come to know and love from AH.
Below: Simini and Victor, parents to all these children.
Below: Sapna, Victors sister and Lincy, Simini's sister and niece, Sondra.
All work, live, pray and worship at AH. My favorite place to spend my time.
Most recently, a new little one joined the family at the orphanage! He is a little boy whose name means "Sky". However, just days after his birth, the Indian government said that all the little ones under the age of three will need to go to a state orphanage.
The heads of the orphanage have asked us all to pray. Since this latest news was released, they learned that now the government is only interested in the boys under the age of 3… since they hold the most value- $20,000 USD value in adoption. This is, essentially, child trafficking.
This is an urgent prayer need that is happening NOW. Please pray that the government will not take any of the children, whether boy or girl. Pray for their protection, as it was said that this would happen in 3 days' time.
Actually, while you're at it… Pray for India.
