Hope.: day 32 plus pictures

I cant believe Ive been here for over 4 weeks! This weekend the Lord gave me such a wonderful day of rest on Saturday- everyone went to go to panji for the day and I stayed back and had the room all to myself which was a welcome break. Its hard when you are constantly together and never have any time alone to breathe. I got to lay around and journal and take a shower and do laundry (which consists of a bucket full of water and some soap). I kinda laugh to myself when I think about getting off the plane in Atlanta and seeing my family while wearing clothes that I have hand washed for 6 weeks and worn for 36 hours straight. They might get a little taste of what India smells like when they hug me haha- but as much as I think about it, theres no other way to wash my clothes here, so its got to do.

On Sunday we went into the slums again to help with church for the children and then to have lunch in town. All the sweet kids were so precious singing the songs and listening to the bible story. Afterwards we hand out food to them which is always fun too because they get so excited. We stayed afterwards and talked to Judith for a long time, she works in the preschool and translates for us. She was telling us about the housing problems they are having in Baina since they tore down many houses and the government isn’t providing new housing for many of those people. It breaks my heart to think about people that have next to nothing getting everything that they do have taken away. There are some things that I just don’t understand.

After we left the slums we did some shopping for food, I found special K cereal which was such a treat. Its hard to find anything American here and its usually more expensive but anything that tastes like home is precious to me. Then we went to HQ, a new hotel in Vasco da Gama to have lunch- a little weekend treat. We were taken such good care of, the manager and the chef really found favor in us for some reason and we were given half of our meal free plus some icecream on top. The Lord blows me away with how much he loves and cares for me, his daughter. Its just cool to see how he provides these little treats to help get me through the week.

Yesterday (Monday) we had a great first sewing class and then stephanie and I cleaned up the flat because the roof has started leaking and as many women called it “a flood” came through under the door. It wasn’t that dramatic, but there was a lot of water. While we were in sewing class we heard people gathered outside so we all looked out the window and a baby goat had been killed in the road and everyone was gathered around trying to figure out who had killed it. Then out of nowhere this woman just walked up, grabbed the goat, put it in the trash and walked away. Everyone stood there stunned then eventually left once they saw the excitement was gone. Haha I just love how bold that woman was, not only to break through the crowd but mostly to pick up a dead goat. Some things you will truly only see in India. Including the picture above of the cows in the road, even in big cities the cows just roam and cars swerve around them as they sit there chewing on trash. Oh india.

On the bus on Sunday it started pouring (naturally, since its monsoon season here) and we watched as a woman got off the bus, standing in the rain she opened her husbands umbrella and let him take it while she then fished around for her own umbrella and of course got soaked. Everyday I watch as men take seats from women on the bus, or as women carry a baby on their hip and huge baskets on their heads walking down the road while their husbands walk empty handed next to them. It’s the complete opposite to the way women are treated in the US. I really struggle with the selfishness I see in men here, not to mention the violence they have towards their wives and women in general. Especially the fact that they think it is their right to treat women this way, because women are just property. A few weeks ago a boy, very intentionally, grabbed my butt while we were in the slums and out of instinct I turned around and slapped him while yelling at him never to touch me again (which is what they tell us to do) but what blows my mind is that God calls us to love that boy and all the men here and pray for them despite what we see them doing around us and despite how they treat us and the women we love. Even more so, the Lord watches us doing things he finds equally hateful and yet still blesses me in unbelievable ways. I don’t think I could ever wrap my mind around the love that God has for all of us.

So many people have blessed me this week and encouraged me by asking for and reading this blog... thank you all for your love and support- Im being 100% honest when I say that i could not make it through this trip without all the encouragement Im receiving from home! Ok done talking, here are some pictures!

Sweet sweet sununda from our first sewing class and her precious daughter: