Apparently it's a thing in India to greet visitors with a garland. Could be a flower garland, or a garland made of beads, or maybe a little more fancy with pom-poms attached. You get the picture. But it's not just like you show up to India and, "Oh hey, here's a garland!".... No, everywhere you go there's someone waiting to ambush you with a garland. Within a week I had 18 garlands.
Walk into the church service: flowers.
Visit the MICM school and boom! Preschoolers are trying to get a garland over my head.
Then go to the Boy's Mercy Home a few days later and what do you know? More flowers.
I don't know what to do with all of them and they're honestly so heavy someone please help me.
So it's been a week, and a pretty cool one at that. I'm still in the process of trying to figure out how I can fit into a role here. I've generally determined that I would love to work with three specific areas here: the Boy's Mercy Home, Oasis of Love (the program for kids with with disabilities), and the recording studio. But each program is pretty well established and running smoothly, so at times I have the fear that I'm not able to properly invest into it. In Ecuador, there was a clear task at hand, I had one main project and then a few smaller ones scattered here and there. Here it's a little more ambiguous. And for someone who's always hated coming up with plans, here I am a little lost without one because this isn't my show. What's going on here?
Anyway let me give you a picture of everything I've been able to experience and know with each program. I'll give you a story and some thoughts on people finding Christ, and then some prayer requests. I'm playing around with the anchor feature on here, so you can jump ahead to whatever parts interest you.
First off let me tell you about the mercy home. MICM runs 4 mercy homes, 2 in this city and 2 more in a city a few hours away. These mercy homes are essentially establishments meant to take children out of villages, where they might have little prospect in life, and brings them to a place where they can live and grow from preschool age until they graduate grade 12. They receive an education at MICM's schools, a place to live with a staff that cares for them and helps them develop skills outside of school, and, when they graduate, different options for further training or education. Depending on their situation, the students spending varying amounts of time every year. If the students have a family, and a healthy relationship with that family, they'll spend the duration of the school year at the mercy home and return home for two months every year. However, there are some children who have been abandoned or orphaned who will spend the full year at the mercy home. During my visit to the girls mercy home here, I met a sweet girl, probably 8 years old. I was informed by the director that she had been orphaned when her parents were killed in an accident. She went to live with her uncle and auntie, but then her auntie tried to strangle her. When that failed, her uncle took her to the village elder to try to save her. The village elder then brought her to where she is. This kind of story isn't the story of all of the girls, but a majority of them have faced something similar.
The Boy's Mercy home is a little bit different in that it was a surprise startup. Here's a story that I posted recently that might *hopefully* give you a picture about that and the man who runs it...
"Meet 'Kibou', the man who runs the mercy home for boys in this city. He was once a prominent Hindu priest in this country being primed to become the head priest at a major temple. His world changed when he met a Christian pastor who apologized for not being able to meet with him immediately and instead asked him to wait 20 minutes. This was unexpected, to say the least. See, Kibou was someone who had often had to wait days for a meeting with other Hindu priests, if that meeting even happened at all. So that fact that this Christian pastor acted so different tipped him off that something was special. Those acts ultimately led him to leave Hinduism and become a Christian. His family wished him dead, but he was a changed man. As he was pulled further into serving God, he found himself working with mercy homes. All three of the mercy homes run by the organization had been focused on helping girls from surrounding villages, until one village dared to ask for their boys to enter a similar program. There was no building or staff ready to establish a home for boys. But the village was insistent, “The boys need very little. Here they use a blanket, a small space on the floor, and food.” They didn’t care at all if they had to continue living the same way; the boys would at least receive an education. Taking these pleas to heart, Kibou and his wife went to God, who led them to take all 10 boys into their own home. Not only did he take them in, but he built beds throughout the house for them all. And it didn’t stop there. The next year, more villages came to ask for their boys to join the program. So what did he do? He expanded his home so that he could house 28 boys alongside his family. Currently, more expansions are underway in the event that the proposed building isn’t completed at the next school year. 28 boys with their lives forever changed, and all it took was one."
So that's one aspect of this organization that I'm able to be a part of...
Secondly, there's Oasis of Love. I was finally able to spend a few hours with them and it was such a sweet time together. For the most part, the kids there are kids with autism. There are a few kids with physical disabilities who were unable to study at the same pace as kids in school, so they got their studying done there. They have time for music, crafts, studies, recreation, etc. and I was able to just be with them. To sit and help one build a little brick structure, or to give one a high five as he dragged me to see what he had been coloring. One little boy kept sneaking up behind me to play with my hair or tap my shoulder like we were in the middle of playing tag. I don't speak a lick of Hindi beyond the few phrases I'm learning, but it's okay because I haven't heard these kids actually say anything either. We just get to sit and enjoy each other's company and be encouraged by each other, pointing or indicating when we need something. On Saturday, I'll get the chance to go with them on their outing to a park. We're going to have a picnic by a lake, maybe play some cricket or badminton or futbol with them...
I'm very much looking forward to it!
Last, but not least, there's the recording studio. They are one of the few open studios that allow anybody to come and record. They are also one of the few studios that produces Christian media, film and music. On my second day with them, we went up to an ancient fortress to film a music video. So far, I've spent most of my time around there, meeting the people and getting to know them better, collaborating and making drum beats for them to sample in the future. I feel like that's all pretty straight forward.
I had a run-in with a Guru the other day. We're talking about full orange robes. Long hair and beard. Bare foot, and in the typical meditation pose. But there was a twist, this man wasn't a Hindu guru. Or at least, he isn't anymore. He grew up in a home that was deeply connected to that community, and by the age of 7 he knew that he needed to find a guru that he could study under. He knew the Hindu scriptures enough to know that there were criteria that needed to be met for a guru. But he never found anybody who could quite fit the role. In the meantime, his father tried to teach him whatever he could about yoga and other practices. Years later, while in college, he had gotten into a little bit of of the partying scene. While at a party, someone intentionally sought him out and invited him to a separate event later that night, an event that happened to be a bible study. He was given a bible, but was somehow physically incapable of reading it. Filled with curiosity, he decided to go back and ask for someone to tell him some of what was in the book. And he kept going back until he realized that the Guru he had been searching for as a boy, the High Teacher, could only be filled by the person of Jesus Christ. So he dedicated his life to Christ and began a life of ministering to the Hindu community. He was passing by this city on his way to a very dangerous area when we met, and he had a lot of wisdom and encouragement to give, as well as a prophecy of sorts.
You may have noticed, even though I pulled a sneaky one on you, but I wrote two stories about people in there. Common theme? Hindu holy men finding out about Jesus and having their lives radically changed. I've met many more men and women who, having come in contact with MICM, have found themselves face to face with Christianity and the decision of a lifetime. Men and women who have looked at the cost, looked at the potential losses, and decided that Jesus was worth it. In hearing their stories, I am often reminded of something that guru told me. "When you think of moments of love, moments of joy, one of the greatest is when a mother, a parent, sees their firstborn for the first time. There are very few things that can compare. But greater than any of those, much more, is the day that I dedicated to give my life to Christ. For a Christian, that is the greatest day. The day with most joy." Without fail, this is the testimony of the Christians I come in contact with.
Regardless of how small the percentage of Christians is, one thing is very clear. God is changing lives. Despite the persecution that some Christians still face here, they are still doing whatever they can to impact the communities around them. To show love and kindness and mercy to so many who don't know it. And that is pretty incredible to see.
Let me know if you want more thoughts, more musings, than what I've been putting out. In the meantime, can you be praying for a couple things? Like I said earlier, I'm sometimes faced with the fear that I'm not properly investing myself around here. Pray that the Lord would guide me in that. That if I'm not, that He would show me how I could, and if I am, that He would help me understand how I am. Pray that I would be able to pour out love in such steady and overwhelming amounts. Pray for the children that I'm working with, for all of their stories. Pray for the adults, for the choices they are making or will have to make. Pray for the government that holds so much power over everybody's lives. I mean, same as last time. Just be praying for India. Oh, and I got a throat infection so pray for that please.
And last but not least, if you're still interested in helping support my time here, the link has been changed to https://ucclosangeles.ccbchurch.com/goto/giving with a designation still available for "India Mission Trip".
Long post done. Thanks for taking the time to read through, if you have. I appreciate you and your prayers immensely.
In Christ,
Liam Thompson