The faces of India

Some of my favorite photos from the trip:
A precious man from the leper colony eating a pastry:

Seeing them through His eyes

So I have been home for almost 3 weeks and I am still processing through my trip in India. I am in this really strange and great place of cherishing stillness before God. One of my journal entries says, "I will look deeply, love sincerely, give freely and be lower."

Loving people through the mess, the brokenness and the pain didn't stop when I got on that plane. God just renewed my heart and reminded me that my purpose on this Earth is to love others. I am here to know Him and make Him known.

One of my friends made this incredible video which shows some of the highlights from the trip and is a challenge to all who believe that they are called to love others.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150985795566254&set=t.546511253&type=3

A lot of people have asked, "did you have fun in India?" I have no idea where to begin. Yes... and no.

There were great moments of joy, huge amounts of laughter, funny skits, exhausted hallucinations, and many wonderful memories. Some of the most hilarious moments stemmed from Global Expedition traditions... like Christmas in July and the "no talent talent show". I will always remember Pastor Bala and his goofy smile; this man and his wife have a love story that has left me forever changed.

But to be honest, my mind first goes to the faces of children that will never leave me, stories of violence and hate, poverty and need. My time in India was not fun, it was hard, smelly, heartbreaking and so, so good. I am changed and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am full of hope and have a new urgency to simply love.

Forever Changed... Bonner Blog #8…. Just a summary

I learned a lot about myself on this trip and grew in my faith. My heart broke and re-broke for these people. There was so much that happened and the list of incredible stories is endless.

One day we went to a government school and the kids did a drama for us where four little girls held Styrofoam signs that said “terrorism”, “child labor”, “poverty” and “illiteracy.” They handed thses sing s to us and asked if America would help India break these things. There is still so much to do, but I am so grateful for this experience. I loved encouraging the pastors and helping them serve some of the most out casted people of Chennai. I also gained a greater awareness of the intensity of these issues. I didn’t realize things were this bad. Overall, the thing I will most take away from this crazy month is that in the midst of this great darkness there is always hope. People with nothing have shown me more about true love then people with “everything” by the world’s standards. I have also been so encouraged by the people who are literally giving their lives to bring hope to the nation of India. I would really love to spend a full year serving in India at some point, in fact I promised one of the pastors that I would eventually come back and visit his city.

One of the hardest things for me physically was not what I would have expected. I expected the bugs, the heat, the lack of real showers, the odd food and the strange clothing. I did not expect to not eat a single vegetable the entire month. I was already missing running and feeling very anxious, but it was hard to also surrender my diet. It was totally worth it though. In the future, I will take way more vitamin supplements and WAY more toilet paper. I know I am leaving out so much, so if you’d like to hear more specific stories, I would love to share. Also a lot of amazing spiritual things happened on the trip and in my heart and if you’d like to hear about it let me know. Thanks for reading friends and I can’t wait to be reunited with you all soon and welcome our new Bonners! J

Only in India... Bonner Blog #7… The Week of July 30

Ok in this entry I want to tell about all of the fun cultural things I learned.

First, one question we kept asking each other on the way to the “resort” was if you could choose between no strange bugs, American toilets, air conditioning or working showers, which would you choose? How blessed we are to live in a country where this is not even a thought we must debate.

Weather: HOT, so, so hot! But thankfully it was monsoon season so it was overcast most mornings and even rained a little. We were told it was never below 100 and we were always wearing lots of clothing.

Electricity: Limited, we had ceiling fans in our bedrooms but the power often went out and it could be very hard to sleep.

Bathroom: Thankfully we had running water and could take a bucket shower every morning. Also we had a REAL toilet!! Every other toilet, in the airports and in the villages was either a “squatty potty” or a bush.

The picture is of a very nice squatty potty in the Dubai airport.

Clothing: India men wore anything from long pants to a towel wrapped like a short skirt. Women covered every inch of skin from their collar bones to their ankles.  We wore Punjabis- long, baggy pants over huge, loose shirts that went to our knees. We also always had to wear scarves.

Food: Spicy! Even American chips or fast food was spicy. We ate so much rice, yummy bread called babad or something like that and nam. Sometimes we got a special treat- boiled eggs. We ate lots of noodles and some unknown meat (NEVER beef though because that is very culturally inappropriate). And Oh My Goodness, so much tea! Everyone was so sweet and was always making us boiling hot milk tea and even though a burning hot drink was the last thing we wanted in the scorching heat, we accepted it graciously because their kindness was so incredible. Towards the end we got ice cream twice, which was so nice! Who knew ice would be such a delicacy?

Fun Facts: Indians love to say “super” and the way they nod their head ‘yes’ almost looks like the way we shake our head ‘no’. Also you should never show the bottom of your shoe, it is incredibly insulting (like flipping someone off).  People eat with their fingers and the left hand is considered very dirty. Cows own the place. In fact, traffic will stop and wait for a sleeping cow in the road because they are treated with the utmost respect.

Things I wish I packed more of: hand sanitizer, toilet paper!, bug spray, vitamin supplements and plain t shirts. Also, I brought this really cool little clothes line which ended up being extremely helpful. 

You are loved... Bonner Blog #6… The Week of July 23

Religious Persecution. Ok there are a couple of things you reallyneed to understand about India before I continue. 1) Religion, culture, tradition, politics and family are all interdependent and blurred into one solid mass of India culture. There is no separation. Hinduism and rural witch craft are very prominent and work simultaneously with the social caste system- they cannot exist alone. 2) Inequality and persecution are normal and expected.

                Caste discrimination is a big problem in the area we served in. To grossly summarize the idea of caste (as we witnessed it in the villages we were in): one’s past life and actions determine your quality of life and amount of respect owed by others. To be born a Brahman means you are simply higher than others. In India, Christians are put into the lowest caste system and are persecuted. Almost every single one of the 40 pastors we served have been physically beaten for sharing their faith or simply for converting to Christianity. The wife of one of these men was running from her Brahman family who had sent an assassin to murder her because they were so ashamed of her conversion. This is 100% real. This is not to say that it is only Christians who are being persecuted or only Hindus that persecute others, that would be a horrible over generalization. But it is to say that we witnessed firsthand some of the persecution and heard many stories from reliable sources that announce the real danger of religious persecution.  The threat is so great that we are not allowed to disclose any of the names of the Christians we worked with because their lives could be in great danger.

                This persecution is not only on a social level, but on a national level. Christians are not given any government aid or scholarships. Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam are all welcomed because they have a strong history in the nation.

Discrimination is very obvious and determines the way people interact on a daily basis. We went to a couple higher caste villages and at one many people would not listen to us because we were telling their lower caste neighbors that they were just as precious and significant as those from higher castes. We showed love to all people regardless of their caste and this was not appreciated by some in the Brahman villages. However, everyone was still extremely kind and we were not in any danger. They just refused our aid because we were showing Christ’s love to those they believed unworthy. I believe that Jesus is the Comforter of the fatherless and the Defender of the oppressed. His love is unconditional and all deserve equality, opportunity and a life full of love. This idea is very unwelcomed and it was so wonderful getting to love people who have been oppressed their whole lives because of the caste they were born into.

You are Significant...Bonner Blog #5… The Week of July 16

Education. We were told that half of India’s population is under 18 years old. This is because the average life span is much shorter due to disease, standard of living and a polluted environment. With so many young people, education should be a huge concern; however, we encountered many children who had very little schooling. Most kids need to stay and help their families bring in more income.

We visited a lot of schools in the Chennai area during the month. Part of our purpose was to share our testimonies and encourage these kids to continue pursuing knowledge. We taught them some English and study tips. At the school pictured below we explained the importance of going to college to a room of hundreds of kids. Our leader spoke to their hearts with one of the most inspiring lectures. “You are the hope for your families. You are the hope for your generation. You are the hope for India.” This school was one of the best in the state, it had 1300 students studying math, science and language, but there were only 35 teachers total.

Another part of our purpose for visiting the schools was to simply love these kids who had endured so much. They walk to school barefoot and often do not eat during the day. We played with them, taught them silly songs, handed out toys and danced together. I kept telling them how beautiful, how precious, how valuable they are. Some of the little girls love to pick us beautiful flowers to decorate our hair. I already miss these kids so much! I made a group of them write down their names for me so I could remember and pray for them: V. Deepika, AbiShek, B. Shalom Princy, S. Janani and K. Harini.

I loved teaching the kids but I quickly learned that education was not only an issue among youth, but among adults. We spent one day at a brick layers village and it was probably the most eye- opening day of the whole trip. To me, it looked the same as all the other villages except that there were piles of brown and red bricks everywhere. The women piled them on their heads in tall stacks and the men all worked near a huge furnace. The pastors explained that these people are considered to be slaves. They have inherited the debts of the their fathers and they are not educated enough to know that their earnings will never be enough to pay off their debts. We got to love on these people and the pastors are providing a free program to educate the kids and install in them an idea of self worth.

As we drove through the streets of Chennai we saw many “teachers wanted” signs. Although the living conditions are horrible, if anyone wants to serve India, teaching would be a great help!  I wish I had more pictures from the trip, but we were not allowed to bring our cameras to the service sites except on the last day because this sends a message that we are tourists and are making spectacles of the people. Our mission was to blend in (as much as a bunch of white teenagers can) and tear down as many cultural barriers as possible. Also, the kids already have enough trouble paying attention to us without shiny cameras being another distraction.

You are precious... Bonner Blog #4… The Week of July 9

The theme of this entry: Women’s Rights. Last semester I took Religions of India wit Dr. Taneja (wonderful class- you should take it!) I learned a lot about the caste system and culture of India. We watched Water by Deepa Mentha, which I also highly recommend. It absolutely broke my heart. For the most part, women are not valued and I got to see this first hand.

                In a snake colony (their ancestors caught and worshipped snakes), we met a Hindu family in their roofless home to see how we could help them. While we spoke with the husband and the son, the wife stood silently in the corner.  She only spoke when we specifically and persistently addressed her and then she shared her story. She was once a Christian, but was given in an arranged marriage by her father. Her husband did not respect her religion and did not allow her to go to church or be part of her old community. Every aspect of her life was controlled by the men in her life.

                On another day we crowded into a very hot van and traveled to a gypsy village. Now this is nothing like what I imagined a gypsy village to be. It looked just as run down and filthy as all the other villages- imagine a pathway of human waste between two huge piles of reeking trash. No one wears shoes and this was the first village that we saw a dog roasting over a fire. Along the path were huts and shacks topped with leafy roofs. In one corner of the street we saw two men gambling- which struck me as odd because this village was so devastated. Why weren’t they working? I asked one of the pastors who said, “They sold their daughters into prostitution and now they don’t have to work.” I was angry, heartbroken and very overwhelmed. Can this be real?

                Now amongst all this junk, there is still so much good and it is crucial to remember that ever little bit of good helps. I saw some husbands (especially the pastors) truly honor their wives and cherish their daughters. I also know God is working in mighty ways in India. If you’d like to hear more about this, please ask me. J

                These people literally live in trash. There was always this terrible stench that I can’t even describe.  But there is so also so much love! I definitely did not fall in love with India, or the tiny bit that I saw, but I did fall in love with the Indian people and their incredible faith. It seemed hopeless at times, but there are people who are sacrificing their lives to serve the oppressed.

                Seeing women so mistreated was painful, but I also saw freedom as people began to tell them their worth. The pastors, their wives and families are rescuing women and giving them a new identity and are clothing them in dignity. Seeing this injustice in real life made a huge impact on me and I now feel much more pressed to help end sex trafficking and inequality.

I can’t remember this woman’s name and there was a huge language barrier, but I remember a little of our conversation. The main thing I wanted to tell her is “You are so beautiful, you are so precious.”