Lutheran Center in Mumbai, India.Hey friends,
Finally we are in India. What an adventure this trip has been. From Buenos Aires to Russia, from Russia to Ankara, from Ankara to Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Then from the Holy Land to Kenya, and from Kenya to the the SPICY India.
Since we arrived in Mumbai, as soon as we all walked out the airport, everyone started sweating. The humidity and temperature of the city was unbelievable. We all squeezed in some little vans that took us to the Lutheran Center where we were going to stay for the next two weeks. The ride that was about 20 minutes, took our senses into a journey of different smells(about 15 to be more specific). The smells were not precisely incense. As soon as the van started moving, all the cliches, believes, and my expectations for India felt on the ground. The poverty of the region was palpable, and violent. The trash was impregnated into the walls, the buildings, and the streets. I closed my eyes for a while when all of the sudden a kid yelled, "Namaste..."
Depack was one of the kids in the Lutheran Center that was supported for the Church. He is a happy and pretty joyful kid. He had a rough childhood and for that reason he moved away and finally was rescued for our brothers in India. Depack was our friend our language partner. He knew nothing about English, but had the most wonderful gift of communicating whatever he wanted to say through motions, sounds, or even just a look.
Today a month ago since our tip ended, India is the country a talk about the most. Why? Well because people ask, "Which was the hardest country to stay? Where did you feel more challenge? and off course the answer is India.
Four weeks ago I was on my way back to Costa Rica when I met this 46 years old lady. She was a traveler, and we shared a few stories. She asked me about India and what was my feeling towards Mumbai. I hold up my words for a few seconds. I didn't want to talk all the bad things about India. Yes it was a difficult country, but I have never been so humbled in my life by looking at people serving others. All our friends from India pour out themselves for us. Anyway, I explained this to the lady, and she was blowing away. She said that there was something in me that she have never seeing before. I agreed. In the last four months I have never seen myself as I do now. As nothing. As someone unable to change others. I can not be the same anymore. After traveling around eleven countries, I can not be the same. I have seen God's love in every single part of the places I visited. I could not change anyone, but God did. When I explained all this to the lady, she went on in a psychological analysis of the trip (off course, because she was a psychology major). "Definitely," she said, "Only God can change the world"
There are many stories about India: the food, the rickshaws, the smells, the bathrooms, the people, the cows, the streets, the religion, the animals, the ministry, the slums, the poverty, and on and on and on. But this is what India taught me, and is that, "God is the only one that can change the world."
Finally we are in India. What an adventure this trip has been. From Buenos Aires to Russia, from Russia to Ankara, from Ankara to Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Then from the Holy Land to Kenya, and from Kenya to the the SPICY India.
Since we arrived in Mumbai, as soon as we all walked out the airport, everyone started sweating. The humidity and temperature of the city was unbelievable. We all squeezed in some little vans that took us to the Lutheran Center where we were going to stay for the next two weeks. The ride that was about 20 minutes, took our senses into a journey of different smells(about 15 to be more specific). The smells were not precisely incense. As soon as the van started moving, all the cliches, believes, and my expectations for India felt on the ground. The poverty of the region was palpable, and violent. The trash was impregnated into the walls, the buildings, and the streets. I closed my eyes for a while when all of the sudden a kid yelled, "Namaste..."
Depack was one of the kids in the Lutheran Center that was supported for the Church. He is a happy and pretty joyful kid. He had a rough childhood and for that reason he moved away and finally was rescued for our brothers in India. Depack was our friend our language partner. He knew nothing about English, but had the most wonderful gift of communicating whatever he wanted to say through motions, sounds, or even just a look.
Today a month ago since our tip ended, India is the country a talk about the most. Why? Well because people ask, "Which was the hardest country to stay? Where did you feel more challenge? and off course the answer is India.
Four weeks ago I was on my way back to Costa Rica when I met this 46 years old lady. She was a traveler, and we shared a few stories. She asked me about India and what was my feeling towards Mumbai. I hold up my words for a few seconds. I didn't want to talk all the bad things about India. Yes it was a difficult country, but I have never been so humbled in my life by looking at people serving others. All our friends from India pour out themselves for us. Anyway, I explained this to the lady, and she was blowing away. She said that there was something in me that she have never seeing before. I agreed. In the last four months I have never seen myself as I do now. As nothing. As someone unable to change others. I can not be the same anymore. After traveling around eleven countries, I can not be the same. I have seen God's love in every single part of the places I visited. I could not change anyone, but God did. When I explained all this to the lady, she went on in a psychological analysis of the trip (off course, because she was a psychology major). "Definitely," she said, "Only God can change the world"
There are many stories about India: the food, the rickshaws, the smells, the bathrooms, the people, the cows, the streets, the religion, the animals, the ministry, the slums, the poverty, and on and on and on. But this is what India taught me, and is that, "God is the only one that can change the world."
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