What an amazing day! We got to finally meet with the children at a Compassion project. It's so humbling that we came to serve these people but it's these that have so little who have strived so hard to serve us.
When we arrived at the project we were immediately surrounded by children. As we walked into the church, we were showered with flower petals as a sign of welcome.
The children were as excited to see us as we were them. They entertained us with Indian dancing and a child and a mother shared with us how Compassion had helped to change their lives. It was very, very touching.
After that, we got to just spend time with the children. They were so talkative and loved taking pictures of us and having their pictures taken. They even ATTEMPTED to teach us how to Indian dance. They had a good laugh watching us swing our hips around like a crazy Americans. It was a blast!
After that we got to go and visit a home of a Compassion sponsored child and her family. Although they are in poverty, they welcomed us with cookies and coffee and were so gracious. The house consisted of 2 rooms for 5 people. They slept on mats on the floor; there was no shower or bathroom. The home had a thatched roof and each room measured about 7x7. I hope I could be that gracious under those circumstances. They had been recipients of one of the water purifiers that Compassion has been handing out to it's program family. This purified water helps cut down on about 90% of the water born diseases these people used to get...what a blessing and how proud I was to be a part of this program.
As we were leaving the neighbors were gathering around trying to get a look at us. They had their hands out trying to shake our hands. I reached out and shook a woman's hand and her eyes began to well up with tears. Our translator said she was shocked that I would be willing to touch her or shake her hand. I went over to her and gave her a big hug and said that is how we greet in America. She was so overcome and couldn't get over it.
In the bus, our translator told us that because of the caste system, these people feel unworthy of love and kindness from those they feel are "above" them. They don't believe that westerners would ever want anything to do with them. I found that so sad and was so happy that I was able to step out of my comfort zone to share love with this woman. It made my day.
Well. tomorrow is the big day!!! I get to meet Sanjay face to face!!!! I have waited for this day for about 13 years and cannot wait to see him. We will be meeting on the bus about 8:45 in the morning and riding to spend the day at a theme park about an hour away along with the other sponsors and their children. Please pray that we have an amazing day. He is such a part of my heart although we've never met. This boy writes letters that would melt the hardest heart. Pray that my expectations (and his especially) are not too high and we would just enjoy each other's company.
Time to try to sleep now...AS IF!
bye now!
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment