We are in Tamil Nadu - from Heather

Hello and greetings from Tamil Nadu!

The group took an overnight train from Kerala across southern India.  This was quite the adventure.  Because it is pilgrim season in Kerala and also harvest festival time in Tamil Nadu - there are LOTS of people on the train.  We did not get the air conditioned car like we expected, but instead got to ride with "the people" in the cheaper sections of the train.  We were able to experience a side of India that we didn't expect.  People in crowded, uncomfortable conditions.  We did this for one night.  People in India do it for their entire life.  We are unsure still which car we will be riding in for our return trip.

Last Sunday at the church service we attended (which was in English), we stood for the gospel, and it was the passage about the rich young man, who asks Jesus what he must do.  Sell everything, Jesus says, and give it to the poor.  The rich young man walks away sad - we dont' know what choice he made.  I stood there and listened and thought, "I am standing here in India hearing this Gospel passage - standing as a rich person among the poor."  I felt like this passage was directed straight towards me.  It is a passage that regularly haunts me, even when I am not in India.  But that morning it seemed more poignant.

Yesterday, when we arrived in Tamil Nadu at the Family Village Farms, we found a beautiful facility, run by loving, Christ-centered people, who care for some of the poorest people in the world - the orphans of India.  The orphans life have certainly been made better by love and financial interest.  They have a school, a bus that picks them up in the morning and takes them home, regular meals, people to care for them, people who will help them become productive, giving adults in the Indian society.  But still, the teenage girls sleep 9 in a small room, on the floor.  The nursery of young children is teeming with little ones with old clothes and short hair cuts (I am supposing to keep out the lice).  We, in contrast, were given comfortable living conditions during our short stay and are being treated like royalty.  As I walked around the orphanage and the school, the words of the gospel haunted me even more strongly.  Was there a reason we heard that passage on our stay in India?  Do these words of Jesus have special meaning for us living the affluent, western lifestyle?  I think the parts of the gospel that haunt us most are the parts that we feel deeply inside of us, but are most scared to put our faith in.

I suspect that I will come home from India a changed person in ways I did not expect.  Thank you again for supporting us in this mission.  We are truly having life-changing experiences and hope that we will be able to share some of this with you as well.

Peace,
Heather