India Pt. 1

        Today, my heart is very heavy for India. I miss it but I don't necessarily want to go back right this moment. I am reminded of all the pain that I saw people going through and all the filth that people constantly live in. Sometimes I just wake up and feel the need to pray for India right then and there, as if Chai Country is dependent on my one prayer. Although India is dependent on all out prayers, really.

        Last summer I had the opportunity to move with an American family overseas, who wanted to do missions in India. The mom of the family had epilepsy and it was unsafe for her to be home alone with her kids every day in a foreign world while her husband was at work, if she were to have a seizure. So I became the nanny of little Eden(who was 22 months) and little Judah(10 months). Before leaving I had read books about all the things I should expect. I watched documentaries on India, and talked to lots of people who had been there just so that when I got there I wouldn't experience any shock. I was born overseas in Europe during the Bosnian War so I thought that the trip would be relatively easy for me. But being in a world so immensely populated was beyond my imagination. I remember taking a rickshaw to a shop, and seeing the hundreds and thousands of scootys and motorcycles parked on the streets. I mean that seems like a "duhh" moment but I mean it felt like a Harley Davidson shop everywhere you went. In case you didn't know, there aren't minivans in India, just motorcycles. These Indians will put a family of five (once I counted six people on one motorcycle!!!) on a motorcycle and go just about anywhere. That's the norm. I was in a town called Varanasi which is an older, very traditional town. It is right on the Ganga (the Ganges River) and we would see people offering sacrifices to the river often. If you have never seen pictures of the Ganga, then you need to google image it because the places it ran through in Varanasi were extremely dirty. I mean, dead animals and humans would be thrown into it all the time as well as heaps and heaps of garbage. Think of it this way, most Indians don't own a single garbage can anywhere in their home. Everyday we would drive past tons and tons (literally) of garbage everywhere. I mean it. Every single road had garbage all along the sides. Once, we were on a picnic right by the Ganga and I saw some men in a boat hauling buckets of the dirty water back to the shore. The Indian I was with said that they were gathering it for their homes to drink as holy water to purify their bodies. But what they don't know is that the water they are drinking is going to eventually kill them. The Ganga River translates to The Great River and it is the most sacred river of all in Hinduism. The place it flows through in Varanasi is the most sacred part, and many Hindus pilgrimage there.

        Going to India was one of the biggest blessings I have ever received and I couldn't think of a better family to with than with the family I went with. I have talked a lot about the physical conditions of India. I will share more about my time in India, focusing on the hearts of India tomorrow. I need to take a break for now. God bless. Here are a couple photos...