This is going to be a condensed version of my past two months. I understand that it's still pretty long, but hey, you learn a lot going across the world trying to love people. :)
Week 1: February 14-20
Simply getting to Darjeeling was an adventure in itself. We flew with Thai Airways from Brisbane to Bangkok (8hrs) and then Bangkok to Kolkata (3hrs). We arrived in Kolkata around one in the morning. The first hurdle we had to jump was finding a hotel, in the middle of the night. We ended up finally settled down at 4:30. The next day was spent in the train station waiting for our train. It was astounding how many people shamelessly stopped and stared for ten or fifteen minutes, but I guess that's what happens when you're the only white people around. An overnight train took us from Kolkata to the NJP station.
On arriving, we discovered that strikes in Darj had closed all of the roads and shops. The next five days were spent in Siliguri, a city near the train station. We worked along side two women, Tarana and Rachel, doing ministry. They also very generously threw us into a variety of traditional Indian dishes. It was quite the experience. My team did three village ministries where we sang songs and shared a message. We put on three church services and were quickly exposed to the craziness and dirtiness of Indian cities.
Week 2: February 21-27
Luckily, the strike in Darj came to a hault. A week after leaving Brisbane, the thirteen of us were finally able to get to our original destination. The next two days were full of prayer, becoming accustomed to Darjeeling and resting after our crazy traveling. Thursday, we left once again, this time heading even farther north to the state of Sikkim (Darjeeling is in West Bengal). For ten days we stayed in this tiny village called Dong.
You have to know that India works on a very different schedule than the western world. Things aren't really planned outside of the general idea. You never know exactly when it will start or how long it will go on. A general rule of thumb is to be ready an hour early and be prepared for them to be two hours late. haha Our team got pretty good at doing nothing and being ready for everything.
The ministry in Dong consisted of a lot of walking door-to-door praying and evangelizing during the day. When I say door-to-door I really mean every door was half a mile from the next and straight up the side of the mountain. The nights always consisted of some type of church meeting that we usually preached, sang and/or shared testimonies at. It was fun creating relationships with the different church member, even if we couldn't communicate with them, due to their speaking Nepali.
Week 3: February 28-March 6
We stayed in Dong until Saturday of our third week continuing to build relationships with the locals. All the girls stayed in a one room concrete church building. We had people showing up randomly throughout the day. It became pretty humorous that people would be coming in and out of the church, sometime simply to look at us for a while, when all of us when in our sleeping bags getting ready for bed.
One day, we got to hike down to the river to relax and get a bath. It seemed pretty pointless that we bathed when we sweat buckets trying to climb back up to Dong. haha but I enjoyed it. Being away from my Colorado mountains has been hard so I LOVED getting to drive through the Himalayans. We drove part of the way back Saturday and stopped in a town near the border of Sikkim called Jorethang. We split our team up and helped run two different churches that Sunday.
Week 4: March 7-13
My fourth week of outreach started off by arriving back in Darj for second time. After our required day off, we found out our team would be splitting up. Half of the team stayed in Darj working with a Compassion school and painting a mural. Six of us, Katherin, Sara, Kody, Kezi, Jaewoo and I all packed up and headed to a small village called Seeyok. It saw in a valley of the Himalayans surrounded by tea gardens. Almost everyone in the village was employed by the tea company.
This part of outreach was very different because even though we were informed differently, we didn't have a translator. Therefore, it was very difficult to communicate anything. We stayed with the missionary who lived in the village. It was nice to stay in a family setting. We taught two days worth of school at a local English school. WE also spent a lot of time walking to houses to visit and pray with them. I have NEVER ate so much food in my life. They simply won't take no for an answer. The kids of the village became very attached to us and were constantly begging us to play ninja with them.
The missionary, Baldiv, who spoke just enough English to get by, took us to see a tea factory. So cool! I loved getting to see how it's all made. The week in Seeyok was really an awesome week. I laughed so much and was continually inspired by the way the people interacted. Every morning all the girls were woken up around six by a man bringing us tea. :) The whole place was remarkable. Baldiv and his family constantly had people coming in and out of their house. The Hindus, Buddhists and Christians all lived together in such peace and with so much respect for one another. A lot of our ministry in Seeyok was simply encouraging Baldiv and trying to serve and bless every opportunity we found.
Week 5: March 14-20
The team was reunited for a fifth week of India. This was the longest time I spent in Darj. All the way from Monday evening to Sunday morning. The group from Seeyok was given Tuesday off, in which I was able to gather up a few gifts for the family and post them home. The packaging included sewing and wax seals. :)
The YWAM base in Darj had their first ever DTS finish during this week. We had the pleasure of organizing and decorating for their graduation. A lot of our mornings were devoted to this. Graduation was Friday night and a huge hit!
Even though I got pretty sick during this week, I had one of my favorite experience of outreach. We went to a Deaf and Dumb school, where I was able to put my signing skills to use. I loved being able to interact with all the deaf kids and explain the games, skits, etc. My heart was full to the brim in an inexpressible way by those beautiful students.
Saturday, half of our team headed to Nepal, while the rest of us participated in a worship and intercession time with a local Christian band. The rest of us followed suit Sunday morning saying "Goodbye India and hello Nepal!"
Week 6: March 21-27
Nepal was quite the experience! We traveled on "Holi Day", a Hindu holiday. Everyone was COVERED in this powder paint stuff in shades of bright pink, white, yellow and red. Our main ministry in Nepal was this four hour conference that we put on for four days at a church in Damak, Nepal. These consisted of us singing, dancing, doing art and skits, preaching, giving testimonies and worshipping. It was cool to see how God worked through those four days. We all enjoyed Damak, despite it's flatness and mass number of mosquitos. I was able to create awesome relationships with the people who owned the restaurant we went to for most meals and with these three Hindu girls who talked to me every morning as I walked back from breakfast.
For two days, we went to a little village half an hour away from Damak to help with a program. Almost everyone on m team would describe this as some of the hardest days of outreach. Something about this was extremely uncomfortable both culturally and spiritually. God definitely did a lot of challenging growth in our team during this time.
Although Nepal is technically poorer than India, they knew how to spend their money wisely and present their country beautifully! We traveled bak to Darj for the last time on Saturday.
Week 7: March 28-April 3
Time in India seemed to fly by. Our last week, I was blessed with going back to the deaf school. They were able to teach me their fingerspelling, which made communicating much easier. I loved getting to know the kids more and play games again. I left rather heartbroken, knowing I wasn't going to see them again.
During the rest of the week, we went and made hospital visits, spent time in prayer over the base and packed and cleaned. The trip back was anything but short. After a four hour drive down the mountain, a night in Siliguri, a thirteen hour train to Kolkata, a three hour flight to Bangkok, an eighteen hour layover, and an eight hour flight I found myself back at the base I have come to know as home for the past six months.
Namaste, India. You have taught me much. :)
