Music + monkeys

What is God?

God is good.

When is He good?

All the time.

The last couple of days have been a little varied from what has become our usual schedule, bringing even more joy to our trip.

Jenna, my team member, at the site of the future Blue Haven school.

After working the past week on the Blue Haven Children’s Home and School design, we presented our initial site planning to the local ministry director for his input yesterday.  Following this we had the pleasure of visiting the children at the current home; some kids left for a summer break, but there are now 13 girls and 20 boys at the home.  It was beneficial to see the current spatial conditions and future needs, but even better was spending time with the kids.  I learned some hand clap games from the girls and we enjoyed singing worship songs to an accompanying guitar.  Some of the songs were in Hindi so I became just the observer, and it was at this point that I looked around and, in a room filled with music and children praising the Lord, I realized the abundant joy available here in this way that I do not experience back in the U.S.  I had spoken with several of the girls earlier in the evening and asked them what they want to do when they grow up, one said be a lawyer, another a doctor, one undecided, and the last said she wants to worship the Lord.  Today, even though it was Sunday and we all had a church service in the morning, when we arrived to the home for dinner, the children were having a devotional time and singing and singing even more.  It is beautiful, and a reminder of how distracted we/I can be of not even finding time to read my Bible with full attention everyday, let alone sing and praise.

The future Blue Haven Children's home site; both are just outside Lucknow.

Our team member, Tony, gave the sermon at church today.  He spoke about the importance of discipleship and having a close group with whom to be intentional, using an illustration of choosing three of us, then we chose three from the congregation, etc. to show how one’s devotion can grow.  This was exciting to hear in the context of where India and specifically Uttar Pradesh are spiritually in terms of hearing the gospel.  Uttar Pradesh is a state of India with about 200 million people; if it were its own nation it would still be in the 10 ten most populated countries.  Approximately 2% of the state is Christian, leaving much room for growth.  Indeed, the organization’s director we’re working with told some of my team members that a movement and goal that has been set in India has established 5,000 churches in the state (or country, I forget) in the last six years.  He is part of this large vision, and yet has visions for individuals, such as the project site’s village leader, and his understanding and accepting the gospel message.  It’s very encouraging to see both sides of this, that so many people are wanting to follow Christ, and that so many Christian Indians are leading the effort instead of expatriates.

I made the mistake the other day of looking at the temperature, which was currently at 111°F.  This has been one of the biggest challenges, dealing with the intense heat, as there is little escape.  We’re blessed with air conditioning in our hotel rooms and in the office, when the power does not go out.  Yet when it does, the solution is to wade it out or open windows to let in a warm breeze.

Oh, and the monkeys.  The wild monkeys; they’re huge.  That can be saved for a later time.

The director's family and workers have been feeding us almost all of our meals, which has been delicious, authentic India food.  I just learned toady how to eat rice with my hands, it requires certain skill.  I also have learned a new method of eating a mango, by rolling it so it's mushy then squeezing it out one end, as though it were a smoothie.  Today we had the challenge of traversing traffic in a circular intersection, as pedestrians.  I'm not sure how a local would describe any kind of order to driving here, and their responsibility to pedestrians, but I'm told we just need to be confident.

It’s quite something to think how radically my environment and experiences have changed since graduating merely nine days ago, but I love it.  More adventures to come!

“Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds— his name is the LORD— and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” 

Psalm 68:4-5

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:::I still need funding for my trip, so if you’re interested, please view my YouTube video explaining the trip, which has links how to help in the description, or click here to donate to my accounton EMI’s website directly.:::

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Sasquatch on the way to Lucknow debating whether to eat one of these tablets.  It's pretty much ground fennel and supposed to be good for digestion.

Sasquatch & Bryan working on engineering things.

Sasquatch taking a break in the heat of the afternoon in the office.

Tony & the ministry's director at church.

Our EMI project team with some of our favorite children.

A classroom for younger students at the Catholic school we visited.

My hotel room in the morning.

A little baby lizard or shrunken adult lizard.  On my bed!  I tried to scare him with my headlamp light, but instead he ran towards it.