favorite moments: part 1

While I was abroad this year interning with Ashraya Mission I recorded some of my favorite moments. I spent 3 months in India (6 weeks in Karnataka state, 6 weeks in Delhi), but I also visited Laos, Thailand, France, Portugal, Ireland, Denmark, and Sweden. Here are some of my favorite moments that I luckily captured on camera. Enjoy.

This was my favorite photo while working on a fundraising campaign for Ashraya Mission. This energetic 12-year-old girl that now calls Ashraya her home has so much room to grow and sew seeds of hope for her future. She completely captured my heart after only a few days. Her awkward mannerisms and bashful smile were completely captivating. If I ever have a daughter one day I want her to be just like this girl. One day during art therapy KB and I noticed she kept getting paint on her fingers. She would casually turn around and wipe her paint covered hands on the corner of the wall behind her. KB and I nearly  collapsed with laughter. It was ok because the paint on her hands was white and the walls were white, but the fact that she was so nonchalantly wiping paint on the fresh clean walls was too funny. There are dozens of stories I could tell you about this little duck, but for now we'll leave it to just this one.

These two little youngsters would come by the house a few times a week. They are from the nearby slums and collect people's old food that they have thrown out.  We assume that they use this food to feed their own families. These little girls seemed to take no notice that we didn't understand their native language. They jabbered at us, we sang Backstreet Boys to them. We shared laughs and dances. We loved seeing their bright eyes peeking over our front wall.

Here Drew and I are attempting to pose for a photo with our friend Sanju. Sanju's English is great, but even better, his sense of humor is great. He would say things that would cause us to double over in laughter. His jokes weren't always "PC", but then again.. we're not so "PC" either. haha One day Sanju told me to "get in a fridge". Of course I was confused. He then explained that "get in a fridge" basically translates to "you're not cool, you're lame, to become cool you need to get in a fridge". We really miss Sanju and his jokes.

One afternoon Katie Beth and I decided to climb the mountain that is Ashraya's backyard. This isn't like any hike in a park you'll find in the states. There is no trail that follows a gentle slope to the top of the mountain. You basically have to forge your own path. We got lost, but luckily we ran into some kids that we knew from the nearby school. Let me add that going anywhere out in public as a white female in India is a task in itself. People stare incessantly and approach us by the dozens. Sometimes it can be a bit intimidating, but I guess I can't blame them since white women roaming this part of the world are about as rare as Bengal tigers roaming the streets in Nashville, TN. When we finally made it to the top we had to endure mild harassment from some local guys who would not stop snapping pictures of us with their cell phones. It was windy up at the top and two small children had curiously followed us from the base, so I felt responsible for them. But with all the chaos going on around me, I couldn't help but be in awe of the site that lie below. We could see all of the town we had just hiked up from. All the homes, shops, and the market. We could even see the little rickshaws scuttling through the narrow streets like Bowzer from Mariocart. It was quite a sight, being so high, so far away. It gave me a new perspective on the city below. As big as it was, the rural farm land stretched out for miles beyond where the people were dwelling. We are such small people in this big world, but if we give a world of care for a great cause, we can make a big difference while we're here.

One day Tom and I took the girls of Ashraya Mission to a famous waterfall that is in town. It was fairly early in the afternoon on a Saturday. We all walked down to the rickshaw stand to find that no one was working that day. So, we decided to ride the bus instead. We waited around for about 20 minutes at the public bus stop and one finally showed up. The perilous and winding ride up to the falls always makes me nervous, and this time the boys and I were chaperoning six teenage girls. We finally made it to the falls and guess what, there was hardly any water. This famous waterfallshad been reduced- by the lack of rain- into a small stream gently tumbling over the rocks. The girls didn't care, they hardly noticed. They were just so excited to have a day out, as a normal person. We all posed for photos together, goofed off, and had a great time. We ate a lunch of soft drinks and buggi (a southern Indian street food). It was a wonderful afternoon. While we were out it started sprinkling a bit. A rainbow formed and reminded us of His promise. He is coming back one day, He is going to renew us, He is going to renew these girls' lives and redeem them from the horrors of their past. He is faithful.

This is one of my favorite memories from the entire trip. One evening our friend Yallowah invited us to her house to have evening chai and snacks. Tom, Drew and I hiked up the mountain to her family's home. It had already began to get dark. By the time we made it to her home the sun had set and all the electricity in the town went out (it goes off every day from 7pm-9pm). We all sat together on her front porch, sipping chai, and watching an electrical sky storm. It was so surreal. Looking back on this just makes me wish I was there, living this moment again, but for the first time. Yallowah's daughter speaks English so we were all able to talk, with pauses for translation. It was such a sweet evening. I remember being so thrilled to see that these Indian people were just like us. They sometimes just sit on their front porch and watch the autumn storms roll by, too.

We spent sometime in Laos. We referred to our time in SE Asia as "fall break". We went tubing and kayaking, we ate BEEF which we hadn't had for the past 6 weeks in Karnataka. We had the luxury of relaxing and taking hot showers. It was wonderful. What was really great was seeing how the children in this country behaved. They were acting like.... kids.  These boys rowing up and down the river in this narrow boat just for FUN. They weren't sitting in front of a tv watching reruns of old cartoons, they weren't playing video games,  they were outside pretending to be pirates. Well, maybe not pirates.... But it was so cool to see children who just wanted to run around in their skivvies and jump off stuff. KIDS being KIDS. Who woulda thought?

Let me introduce you to our friend Blake, high school friend of KB's. We met up with him in SE Asia while we were on fall break. One day we went to a tiger temple in Thailand and played with the cutest (but surprisingly biggish) tiger cubs. We played with them for a  while then we got to feed them  milk from a bottle. Most of the cubs passed out on the cool concrete floor. Blake casually snuggled up to this meat-eating feline, asked me to snap a photo then said, "I just want to be the little spoon". One of the funniest moments of the trip.

lessons

As I write this (11:09pm, Friday November 9th) I have 7 days exactly left in Delhi. I've been in India since August 18th (the first 6 weeks were spent in southern India at Ashraya Mission, and the second half was spent in Delhi at Asha Mission). There is only 1 week left of playing card games, singing, running on the roof, and dancing with the nearly 40 children at Asha. I am so not looking forward to saying goodbye to these little ones again. I have to keep reminding myself that I need them more than they need me, they will just continue on with their lives once I have departed. Sometimes it is difficult to look back on an experience and ask yourself, "Now, what did I learn from that?"  This time, though, these 3 months spent in India have RE-taught me a very important lesson. To never stop trusting in Him.

It might sound cliché, but it is essential.

Never lose faith.

As Tom, KB, Drew and I stepped out of the taxicab, stretched our legs, unloaded our bags, and walked onto the porch of Ashraya Mission on August 20th we had no idea what was in store. The home still had no girls living in it. Ashraya Mission had been open, staff hired, and anxiously awaiting rescued girls to move in for nearly a year. Complications with the Indian government were severely handicapping all efforts in getting these girls into the home.

but we prayed earnestly. We knew that our God was bigger and stronger than any crooked or greedy government employee(s). We knew that God would send the girls, some day.

Days passed. Weeks passed. We became impatient. We became  frustrated.  Although we were trusting in Him, we wanted girls in the home NOW. We wanted everything to happen NOW. We were angry that nothing was happening, that nothing was happening on our time.

but we are not on our time. We are on His time.

God's timing is perfect.

We finally got word that girls were going to move into the home! Finally, our prayers were being answered! but we still had to be patient. These girls had to come from a rural village that was a few hours drive. and they had to leave everything that was familiar to them, their communities and friends, behind.

On September 7th six young ladies walked into Ashraya Mission. God had been working in their hearts before they came that day. He was already trying to convince them to make this monumental change in their lives, to leave everything behind for a new but scary beginning.

KB and I lived with these girls for about 2 weeks before we had to head up to Delhi. This was an interesting time. The girls woke up before the sun on some days. They would bustle about the house, sweeping and doing laundry. They loved having a home to call their own to take care of. They would proudly cook meals and brew chai or coffee for everyone.

They spend their days in class. They take lessons in tailoring, Hindi, English, their native language- Kannada, Mathematics, Science, and a bit of History/Geography. They also get counseling and Art Therapy lessons every week. These girls (and their awesome teachers and counselor) are rock stars. They all work so hard.

After lessons were over their teachers would leave and KB and I would be in this house with these six girls for the rest of the night. We often filled our evenings dancing to both Bollywood and American music, exchanging silly dances and teaching songs. We had so much fun with them.

But there were good days and bad days. We found Supari (an Indian type of chewing tobacco) in the girls' possession on more than one occasion. We had to remember that these girls left behind very difficult pasts and were using substances to cope with their withdrawals.

We again became frustrated. but He is sovereign. He has a plan. It had to get worse before it could get better.

By the time we left Ashraya Mission the girls were doing great. Their weekly tests seemed to be improving. They were learning English very quickly. Have I mentioned that it's nearly impossible for us Americans to learn Kannada? Well, it is.

Anyways, God is taking care of these girls. He knows what's best for them Three of our girls want to get up to speed on their high school education and get their diplomas and go on to college and become nurses! It makes me so happy that these girls are realizing that they have dreams for their own lives. God gave them these passions for a reason. The other girls will one day realize what they want to strive for in life, God will instill a passion in their hearts as well.

RE-learning to trust in God's faithfulness was definitely a theme during my time spent in India this year. Whether we were getting knocked down by  the Indian government refusing to let girls live in the home, or just going through a daily frustration of living in India, God never left our side. He sent girls. He sent funds for these girls (over $5,000 within just a couple weeks of their moving in!).

He is actively moving people's hearts to give toward the mission of this home. He is actively working in the lives of these girls.

I can't wait to see what he does with them in the months and years to come.

Never losing faith and trusting in God isn't always easy, but when we do it, amazing things happen.

Well, KB and I are will be off to spend 2 weeks in Europe then we head back to the states. Who knows what is in store for us once our feet hit the soil in America, but whatever it is it will be perfect. Because God's plan is perfect, we just have to trust in Him.

story time

Story time with the children at Asha Mission transforms the streets of Delhi into far away lands, changes the shadows on the walls into scary monsters, and imaginations run wild at the creepy sounds heard through the walls. Tonight I told the girls a love story. More like a romantic saga between a nurse and a doctor both working in northern Africa, KB had started this story a few nights ago and the girls begged me to add on. It was a bit of a fail, my imagination needed a good workout before this one.

Afterwards, as I was about to walk out the door the boys all but drug me into their room to tell them a scary story. I told them an old Halloween tale. It did not impress them, it's difficult to scare these boys. They rebuttaled with a tale that was graphic and suspenseful, knocking my story out of the park. As they each took turns telling parts of the story, they hung off of their bunk beds and peeked out from under their blankets with eager eyes.

I only have one more week here with these kiddos and am not looking forward to saying goodbye again. The sound of their laughter makes my heart so happy. Playing cards with them, sitting with them during evening prayer time, and just walking them to school in the mornings all bless me so much. It's the little things in life.