Sunday was the last time we took an auto home, past the cocnut grove the plastic tarplin tent shelters past famileies sat picking the kids hair clean, just before the yard of yaks and back to the house. Benny, the brazilian couple, victor and manjula had come for a final lunch, and veronica kept the coffee coming til late into the night. It wouldnt all be bad memories from that place.
We were in hgh spirits as we left for mumbai (bombay) reclaiming itspre-british identity. We flew kingfisher, and imressive new cheap airline, and as we were landing the beauty of mumbai could be seen, rivers, sea, the houses flowing over hills. But as we got a closer look the beauty faded as i saw asias biggest slum spread benieth. All you could see was corrigated iron roofs like a pack of playing cards little glimpses of allies between roofs. there was only one thought in my head 'why had we been evangelising and performing down south when this was an hour north, why werent we here?' 'next year' was my second.
The taxi ride from the airport was an hour squashed next to margarita and cotty in one of mumbai's rather cool old taxis. So many people sleeping rough on the street such poverty amoungst the ecclectic mix of fantastic art deco architecture next to tower blocks that looked like they were built from mould. As i smiled at goyo alba and rebeccas cab behind i noticed one of the skany buildings read HOSPTAL in big letters, my heart sank.
When we finally arrived at the hotel it was third floor, our room down a dingy flourescent lit corridor was a small room with twin beds pushed together, a little shelf with a small tv and a cage boxed window that looked out onto about 2m of concrete, however it was locked had a/c and was clean enough once we'd asked for clean sheets.
Outside the hotel was a sauna, the pavement a mni market of silks pashminas (r100) sandlas, leather purses, ankle chains and cussion covers. We headed down to mcdonalds, which normally goes against...well my choice (im not well enough informed to technically say my principles) but they took the order at the table brought the food over and it was actually pretty good, they had no meat on the menu though (remember cows are holy here) and so the big mac was a mac tajmahal a curry sauce chicken bigmac.
Elephant island, an island reached by ferry from the gateway, the gateway itself a rather impressive monument, as we waited for the others have been completely ripped off by the taxi driver who cooly replied "yes" as i exclaimed "you ripped us off!" there were venders with giant balloons, roasted spicy nut sellers and fishermen a dozen at a time pulling huge boats up the gangway.
When the others arrived we had missed the last ferry, it didnt matter to me i was hardly excited about speding my last rupies on an island full of idols when there were silk on the next street for a pound each. Walking round the gateway two little boys latched onto me, the older one called Raoul the younger i forget, they took my hands and were like little boys really happy, i knew they wanted money but it didnt matter, i gave them some change and my bottle of water and asked them about their families. Their mother had a bad leg (possibly amputated) and either thier mother or sister had a one month old baby, they were out to beg from the tourists. When i told them i wouldnt give them more money they still wanted to come with us, but i said if they needed to take money home they should get money as we couldnt help them more, reluctently they left, only to find us in the market outside the hotel later. If i could have taken them home i would they were beautiful and not a bit hardened by begging or being out so young, it was surprising, maybe i was nieve as to their circumstances, but it didnt change the fact that they were gorgeous.
Another boy came along he didnt speak english, Raoul said he was asking for me to take him back to my country, i wasnt sure if his parents were sick or dead but either way it killed me, then came along a guy in a cart his legs were limp and skinny, i wasnt sure what was wrong with him but he couldnt walk, He didnt start by asking for money though he started talking to us, he said his job was to clean the cobbles, i wasnt sure i believed him, his tools looked more like a matt, but between him and the kids it was starting to feel like a begging que. we gave some money and left.
Eating dinner that night the food was fantastic but my eyes were firmly fixed on life in the street, the street kids, the taxis, the vendors and gringos. It was so wierd to see gringos again and for the first time i looked at them like many people had looked at me, i sa them walking round without a clue about what was appropriate, walking round in their own world, wnad wondering why men looked at them in their near naked state of western dress. i was shocked at myself, i was no better, I had spent so much money shopping i was no better but yet my perspective had changed.
In the cab from the airport into mumbai I had looked at the homeless and asked myself alot of questions - if I retruned to work or first study architecture could i come out and do something useful? was it better to stay in england earn the pound and send it out? how did you know where your money was going with so many stories of corruption in charities and overheads in legit ones? was it better to be out here and be a pair of hands? If i was moved by compassion but did nothing was i better than someone who felt nothing? We were westerners who were using 4/5 of the worlds resources for our 1/5 of the worlds population, as humans (and especially christians) surely our mimimum basic obligation was to pray and give finacially. I was overwhelmed by the work to be done in this city. where did you start?
As we were leaving the dirt didnt stop this city being attractive maybe it was the faded colours of the arachitecture, I hoped I wasnt romancing the place as we then drove past the rubbish and waste piled higher than the taxi. I started to think of things to do here, I dont know what will happen or whether i will return here, maybe it will fade in other pplans for the future, but maybe i will see mumbai again.
Friday, 25 May 2007
Lepers II
It was a 5am start, and down to the local train station, I loved the fact that we were using local transport and though my tired eyes watched as the life of the city started, even if it was only the amount of people who went to the bathroom on the railwaylines. As the guys came round "coppee, coppee, coppee, tea-masala, tea-masala, chapati, chapati" the scenery of slums and shelters gave way to lanscape and random, palm leaf farm shacks, bolders, hills and skies, it was a welcome break after the stench and squaler of the city. The wind rushed through the carriage and the sun streemed in on the chileano girls as the laughed over coffee.
We arrived in Darimaeuri and crossed the wide track sets only to find a little white van driving at us wildly sounding the horn, as he spun round and pulled up it was the ywam van and out hopped a short and brilliantly crazy indian pastor called david. Ive never met anyone who exclaims praise the lord! or hallelluya! quite so much. Dressed in a stone green safari-like suit, short grey hair and neat mustache the guy exuded warmth and energy.
He was building a church, orphanage and place to recieve teams there were 4 floors, and he was building it all on faith, he had no money. He fed us french toast tea and coffee before wisking us off in his crazy carpeted praise the lord van.
we drove out to a village, single room houses brightly painted, each with a plaque reading from some church in australia lined a path. They were constructing a small church, it was the builder i first noticed had no fingers on either hand and slowly but surely i started to notice various missing fingers, toes or disfiguration.
Everyone smiled, one woman with her baby came everywhere with us, we finished up in a small hut - there current church room. built in breeze block and painted cold aqua green it had tinsel woven design that hung benieth the fan and an old clock, a step at the front represented a stage.
David began in english ut quickly switched to another local language and then started everyone singing and clapping. Worship in india ppeared to be rather a monotone affair with constant clapping. more often than not accompanied to a jimbay drum, infact they accompanied everything with a drum beat whether in time or not. We did some worship songs with the guitar which must have sounded just as mad to them, did some quick dramas, the office, the backpack and chris gave a small preach before we prayed for people. No-one cried or was miraculosly healed, but we were there laying hands on them and praying for them i hope they knew some of jesus love a little through this at least.
David and the children prayed a blessing over the rice supply for the village before dividing it. some of the team dressed and cleaned the wounds and other did paper crafts with the kids i sent most of the time stopping two little boys from punching each other in the head over who had the most crayons, but as we were sat there one of the girl who had been sat colouring in shuffled off in the same position using her arms to move herself, her little legs still tucked under her body it was then that it hit me everyone here had or would have leperacy. you had to be exposed to leperacy for a long time continuosly to catch it, but they were completly removed from society and no-one but david would come out here.
we returned to the house for lunch and a break I sat and played cards with some of the kids i had no idea what they were saying or how to play but that didnt matter to them as they sorted my cards and exclaimed "deus! aunty" everyone was refered to as aunty here. We sat in Davids new and still being constructed church with plastic seats, we were going to do a slot for the village, since we had been gone the appeared a throne-like chair and material backdrop, we looked at each other ratehr baffled as it was only us there. Then a girl of about 13 or 14 came in she was dressed in full traditional dress, complete with the jewels down the forhead that only a bride wears, david informed us that she had come of age and was a woman, there was a big celebration planned nad people werec oming from far away but would be late, so they started to beat a drum, the monotone singing and clapping began. Then someone joined in the the irregular beat of a yamaha keyboard, not in the slightest bit in time or fitting but everyone continued without raising an eyebrow.
We were asked to do something for them as the people started to arrive, we had 25 mins before our train was due so we got up did some worship and tried to be poilte as they started to put the yamaha keyboard beats to our worship. One of the girls gave her testimony and we said our goodbyes as we left for the station in the praise the lord van. back to the coppee, coppee tea-masala chapati train home.
We arrived in Darimaeuri and crossed the wide track sets only to find a little white van driving at us wildly sounding the horn, as he spun round and pulled up it was the ywam van and out hopped a short and brilliantly crazy indian pastor called david. Ive never met anyone who exclaims praise the lord! or hallelluya! quite so much. Dressed in a stone green safari-like suit, short grey hair and neat mustache the guy exuded warmth and energy.
He was building a church, orphanage and place to recieve teams there were 4 floors, and he was building it all on faith, he had no money. He fed us french toast tea and coffee before wisking us off in his crazy carpeted praise the lord van.
we drove out to a village, single room houses brightly painted, each with a plaque reading from some church in australia lined a path. They were constructing a small church, it was the builder i first noticed had no fingers on either hand and slowly but surely i started to notice various missing fingers, toes or disfiguration.
Everyone smiled, one woman with her baby came everywhere with us, we finished up in a small hut - there current church room. built in breeze block and painted cold aqua green it had tinsel woven design that hung benieth the fan and an old clock, a step at the front represented a stage.
David began in english ut quickly switched to another local language and then started everyone singing and clapping. Worship in india ppeared to be rather a monotone affair with constant clapping. more often than not accompanied to a jimbay drum, infact they accompanied everything with a drum beat whether in time or not. We did some worship songs with the guitar which must have sounded just as mad to them, did some quick dramas, the office, the backpack and chris gave a small preach before we prayed for people. No-one cried or was miraculosly healed, but we were there laying hands on them and praying for them i hope they knew some of jesus love a little through this at least.
David and the children prayed a blessing over the rice supply for the village before dividing it. some of the team dressed and cleaned the wounds and other did paper crafts with the kids i sent most of the time stopping two little boys from punching each other in the head over who had the most crayons, but as we were sat there one of the girl who had been sat colouring in shuffled off in the same position using her arms to move herself, her little legs still tucked under her body it was then that it hit me everyone here had or would have leperacy. you had to be exposed to leperacy for a long time continuosly to catch it, but they were completly removed from society and no-one but david would come out here.
we returned to the house for lunch and a break I sat and played cards with some of the kids i had no idea what they were saying or how to play but that didnt matter to them as they sorted my cards and exclaimed "deus! aunty" everyone was refered to as aunty here. We sat in Davids new and still being constructed church with plastic seats, we were going to do a slot for the village, since we had been gone the appeared a throne-like chair and material backdrop, we looked at each other ratehr baffled as it was only us there. Then a girl of about 13 or 14 came in she was dressed in full traditional dress, complete with the jewels down the forhead that only a bride wears, david informed us that she had come of age and was a woman, there was a big celebration planned nad people werec oming from far away but would be late, so they started to beat a drum, the monotone singing and clapping began. Then someone joined in the the irregular beat of a yamaha keyboard, not in the slightest bit in time or fitting but everyone continued without raising an eyebrow.
We were asked to do something for them as the people started to arrive, we had 25 mins before our train was due so we got up did some worship and tried to be poilte as they started to put the yamaha keyboard beats to our worship. One of the girls gave her testimony and we said our goodbyes as we left for the station in the praise the lord van. back to the coppee, coppee tea-masala chapati train home.
Orphans II : faces of campaign issues
We found out before returning for our second day that some of those beautiful well behaved gorgeous children had been sacrificed into child prostitution before being taken in by the orphanage, sacrificed to gods in prostitution!....the shock, the sickness, what kind of god did people have if thats what they believed pleased them? (Im not about to embark on our god is better than theres, for starters, i believe thre is only one god), but there are things in this country that I thought only existed in biblical times. Rural parts of this state still have temple prostitution and wife burning, dowry (the paying to marry off people) though now illegal is still practiced, and the hindu cast system still keeps people in poverty. There were many thing things I was discovering about this country that shocked me.
We went back with some stuff to educate the children on personal hygene with the alterior motive to include self worth and value in gods eyes to combat the past scars and mindsets without directly tackling things we did not have time to open. We taught on brushing teeth and washing hands, and taking care of you body parts. we washed the childrens hands to show them how (it sounds so simple in the west but here dont forget you eat with one hand and clean yourself with the other, this was simple but essencial teaching) and also as a form of loving (and appropriate) contact, praying and blessing them quietly as we did so. these kids were beautiful, it finally gave a face to things you simply know of or campaign against.
We went back with some stuff to educate the children on personal hygene with the alterior motive to include self worth and value in gods eyes to combat the past scars and mindsets without directly tackling things we did not have time to open. We taught on brushing teeth and washing hands, and taking care of you body parts. we washed the childrens hands to show them how (it sounds so simple in the west but here dont forget you eat with one hand and clean yourself with the other, this was simple but essencial teaching) and also as a form of loving (and appropriate) contact, praying and blessing them quietly as we did so. these kids were beautiful, it finally gave a face to things you simply know of or campaign against.
Benny Pradash
I had written him off as a skinny hippy, with exception to his talent on guitar, he had a high pitched voice and talked rather alot, but he was an intersting character and became rather a familiar face during our month in india. He soon changed my mind as he came round to the house and kept us entertained sparadically turning up on his scooter with his newly designed 20 string guitar, an indian with an open and westernised mind, he travelled the world playing for free and openly or more cryptically preaching the gospel at every opportunity even in china.
He talked about inidan customs the good the bad and the ugly and made us laugh with his directness his retort to tanias comment about everyone being skinny was " oh no, i can indroduce you to some fat blokes if you like." he cracked us up and would always stay telling stories till the early hours of the morning. He was a character, he went all over the owrld touring more places than a rockstar and all by gods provision, to preach and entertain. If he comes your way, put him up, take him in or simply go and listen to this crazy skinny hippy, hes rather good.
He talked about inidan customs the good the bad and the ugly and made us laugh with his directness his retort to tanias comment about everyone being skinny was " oh no, i can indroduce you to some fat blokes if you like." he cracked us up and would always stay telling stories till the early hours of the morning. He was a character, he went all over the owrld touring more places than a rockstar and all by gods provision, to preach and entertain. If he comes your way, put him up, take him in or simply go and listen to this crazy skinny hippy, hes rather good.
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
children
A month ago id never worked with kids, i held small children at a distance (slightly like some women hold a football) and when it came to creating a programme for 5 and a half hours of kids entertaiment teaching etc i was crying 'god what am i doing here!?' but today i was walking around with a small childs hand in each of mine, making sheep noises and getting them laughing like the best of them, dont ask me what happened i the last month, it was a tourchurous month of being well and truely out of my depth and comfort zone, but ive learn more about myself , my relationship with god, my relationship with others than in most years ive been alive.
We did a four day sumer school which at only 2 and a half hours each day, it was a dodle after the first tow days here, we had material for them, the experience and almost some enthusiasm as i took the mic. The area although a mix of houses, cramped apartments, breeze block rooms, was surprisingly cheerful the houses painted in bright colours like cuba made even the smell of waste fade into the bright seen, with autos parked up and cows wandering amoungst the rubbish and dirty but smiling children looking back at you.
We had seen some sights here but most were glad to be heading home next week, we had preached, prayed, performed and played and apart from the few who felt india was the place they would be in the future most of us were looking forward to the freedom and few degrees difference of madrid once again. only time would tell what we would miss, but i cant talk too soom, we still had the lepers and Bombay to go.
We did a four day sumer school which at only 2 and a half hours each day, it was a dodle after the first tow days here, we had material for them, the experience and almost some enthusiasm as i took the mic. The area although a mix of houses, cramped apartments, breeze block rooms, was surprisingly cheerful the houses painted in bright colours like cuba made even the smell of waste fade into the bright seen, with autos parked up and cows wandering amoungst the rubbish and dirty but smiling children looking back at you.
We had seen some sights here but most were glad to be heading home next week, we had preached, prayed, performed and played and apart from the few who felt india was the place they would be in the future most of us were looking forward to the freedom and few degrees difference of madrid once again. only time would tell what we would miss, but i cant talk too soom, we still had the lepers and Bombay to go.
Thursday, 10 May 2007
prayer walking
Wednesday and they were going to do campus ministry, same as last wednesday i felt sick, had pains tearing across my stomach, but i was going. The team had battled with stomach problems on and off the worst of which was cotty she had been weak and throwing up day and night for over 3 days, one time we had 5 of the team up all night thowing up and the rest. I was praying it wasnt my turn and this would turn out to be nothing.
we went to the city college/university where some of the ywam ministry had links to, we were going to prayer walk the campus and discreetly pray, it was 39 degrees was walked around this granite, glass and quartstone lush architecture, i had been expecting something hurrendous but this was like a hotel. They were planning to bulid a gym pool and and cinema for the media students too, it was almost enough to make you study in india til you thought of the traffic and burning burning waste you drove through.
Prayer walking or driving was still new in practice for me, i knew poeple did it had read books on prayer that inspired me to do it more, but this was the first time i was actively prayer walking. Saturday we had left at 6.30 in the AM to drive around the ringroad and pray at the gates around the city, to pray for india and in particular this state and city and wherever city each gate and junction lead to. It was a good chance to see the place, from the largest temples in asia the shrines and temples to gods which they visit only to appease and ask not to come to their house. The call-centres the west have built and make money from, the wages of which arent slave labour as thought but a decent wage, so decent they are causing a problem as the young people working night shifts in them dont know what to do with and so are spending drinking causing further problems for the culture.
The culture was wierd, or ratehr taking time to adapt to, walking into a coffee shop and seeing indians in western clothng and us in their traditional clothing you felt like a lemon, but at least people we were visiting seemed more comfortable to speak to us, i had herd accounts of past visits with more western dress rules and the difference in which people had spoken to the team. I was adapting slowly but surely, the roof was still a daily escape and i had my moments (or hours), but we were finding things to smile about, not least that my stomach was ok and i was not going to die. ;)
we went to the city college/university where some of the ywam ministry had links to, we were going to prayer walk the campus and discreetly pray, it was 39 degrees was walked around this granite, glass and quartstone lush architecture, i had been expecting something hurrendous but this was like a hotel. They were planning to bulid a gym pool and and cinema for the media students too, it was almost enough to make you study in india til you thought of the traffic and burning burning waste you drove through.
Prayer walking or driving was still new in practice for me, i knew poeple did it had read books on prayer that inspired me to do it more, but this was the first time i was actively prayer walking. Saturday we had left at 6.30 in the AM to drive around the ringroad and pray at the gates around the city, to pray for india and in particular this state and city and wherever city each gate and junction lead to. It was a good chance to see the place, from the largest temples in asia the shrines and temples to gods which they visit only to appease and ask not to come to their house. The call-centres the west have built and make money from, the wages of which arent slave labour as thought but a decent wage, so decent they are causing a problem as the young people working night shifts in them dont know what to do with and so are spending drinking causing further problems for the culture.
The culture was wierd, or ratehr taking time to adapt to, walking into a coffee shop and seeing indians in western clothng and us in their traditional clothing you felt like a lemon, but at least people we were visiting seemed more comfortable to speak to us, i had herd accounts of past visits with more western dress rules and the difference in which people had spoken to the team. I was adapting slowly but surely, the roof was still a daily escape and i had my moments (or hours), but we were finding things to smile about, not least that my stomach was ok and i was not going to die. ;)
testimony and ministry
Friday night we had done a slot at the YWAM service, i got up and told my testimony i figured i should do it sometime, i was still terrified as i stood there, of course you sit down after a think of a million things you should have said or included, but hey. we performed a dance which these days i can at elast grin through although im not sure i will ever stop cringing at. we sang a couple of worship songs and sods law says you get stuck at the front in the spot light when you dont know the words to half of it (cut me some slack its in spanish) as i ginned like an idiot and debaited making up the words or doing nothing they dimmed the spotlight on me, (much to my amusement) but i was on stage or up front of something nearly everyday now, and everyday it was something bigger and scarier than the day before.
Sunday dressed in best (and hottest) punjabies we went to the church of victor and manjula a couple whose kids we had entertained and taught for the first few days of my trip. we bumped down this mud road past the slumbs to a field with yaks, kids playing with tyres adn women in saris stood at a distance, everywhere looked like a national geographic cover shot.
Inside everyone sat on the floor, women to the right men to the left, the indians seemed to be big on learning by repeating whether prayers or songs they always seemed to repeat the leader.
We were doing the whole service so we played some worship songs, it has taken me the last 5 years to leearn how to worship god properly, to ignore a room ful of people andpraise god for being god, to focus on him properly and be unafraid to show emotion reaction or show nothing but pray silently or talk to god honestly about where your at, it was a challenging subject that god was always leading me on. But now i was at the front of a church and i had to worship with a load of people looking at me while i did it! i didnt want it to be a performance, we wanted to worship god!
My friends tanis and chris got up, one gave their testimony of how she became a christian the other preached, i was amazing by their courage. for me the test came at the end. Ministry still freiks me out, going out into a crowd of people to pray for them often without speaking the same language of having a translater, relying on god to guide you what to pray. I prayed for numerous women, terrified i walked between them trying not to step on someone foot, or sari or head, more terrified about praying for people. But half way through praying for this woman she was crying, the pastors wife came over and started to pray with me, all i know is that the holy spirit touched her, it was nothing to do with me.
Sunday dressed in best (and hottest) punjabies we went to the church of victor and manjula a couple whose kids we had entertained and taught for the first few days of my trip. we bumped down this mud road past the slumbs to a field with yaks, kids playing with tyres adn women in saris stood at a distance, everywhere looked like a national geographic cover shot.
Inside everyone sat on the floor, women to the right men to the left, the indians seemed to be big on learning by repeating whether prayers or songs they always seemed to repeat the leader.
We were doing the whole service so we played some worship songs, it has taken me the last 5 years to leearn how to worship god properly, to ignore a room ful of people andpraise god for being god, to focus on him properly and be unafraid to show emotion reaction or show nothing but pray silently or talk to god honestly about where your at, it was a challenging subject that god was always leading me on. But now i was at the front of a church and i had to worship with a load of people looking at me while i did it! i didnt want it to be a performance, we wanted to worship god!
My friends tanis and chris got up, one gave their testimony of how she became a christian the other preached, i was amazing by their courage. for me the test came at the end. Ministry still freiks me out, going out into a crowd of people to pray for them often without speaking the same language of having a translater, relying on god to guide you what to pray. I prayed for numerous women, terrified i walked between them trying not to step on someone foot, or sari or head, more terrified about praying for people. But half way through praying for this woman she was crying, the pastors wife came over and started to pray with me, all i know is that the holy spirit touched her, it was nothing to do with me.
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