Banjarra basti...

small brick and mud houses squeezed into a tiny bit of space, flies everywhere, cows, goats and chickens sharing the same living space as the humans, smoke filling the air from the many fires lit around the place, some for cooking, others to keep the people warm. this is banjarra basti, which means community of gypsies. they live on the side of a busy road with nothing more than a few possessions. the kids had eye infections, scabies and a whole range of other stuff. the adults seemed to care more about their children being able to make a living rather than going to school. some of the kids were encouraged to beg. one of the little girls was copying something in a book. when we looked closer it was something in english. however she had no idea of what she was writing, how to pronounce it, or even what it meant. it was so heartbreaking. but i looked into her eyes and i must say they were the most beautiful little pair of eyes i have since after having set foot on this land. despite the hopelessness surrounding her, there was a spark, a hope, a tiny flame in her eyes that could someday become the fire of Jesus. her smile so precious. i found a reason to rejoice in that moment, as I realised that the love of Christ can be birthed even in the midst of nothingness. right there, in the middle of their tough circumstances, these children sang us about 4 songs about Jesus and the depth of His love. none of them know Him personally yet, not the kids, not the adults. but they knew the song, they knew the lyrics and they remembered the actions. the greatest lesson that Jesus has taught me this week is that even in a wilderness, springs of water and fruits can germinate. that the hope and love of Jesus is so great, that barrenness is not a barrier. as we were leaving, an elder was ringing a bell in front of an idol shrine. i remembered something i read once. love is the greatest weapon for overcoming the works of the enemy. and today love had been preached. sometimes you cant see how God can or when God will but you just have to trust that He knows these people and He cares for them. and because of that He will make a way for them to know Him in His time. all you can do is plant seeds and pray hard. all you can do is avail yourself to His purposes. the rest of the work is the Holy Spirit's. this has been such a hard lesson for me to learn, to be able to be still and know that He is God in their lives, as much as in my life. as we drove back to the base, i suddenly realised the magnitude of India's population. there are people everywhere. so many. the guy that sits in his shop watching traffic pass, the lady at the side of the road selling vegetables to make a living, the children walking/cycling back from school. such a great magnitude of people. just living. just living without knowing the love of Christ. how do we reach them and the countless others was my question. and the Lord's answer was simple. one by one. step by step. i've always been someone that wants to reach the many without having to reach the one. God is going to teach me to be available for just one in this season. precious lessons.

will be going back to this community every tuesday as of next week. have also been quite busy helping out at the clinic that the church runs. it provides free services, except for some medicines, which are mostly subsidized. the walk there is short but quite dusty. nevertheless very beautiful with the mountains as a backdrop. being a translator is quite interesting. you always have to phrase your sentences before you can speak em. but i am learning the art :) many precious people have come in for treatment. most expect to be instantly cured. but i constantly have to explain to them that peter is just a bone and muscles person hehe. there have been many opportunities to listen, and share the gospel, especially with those that have little or no hope from being cured of stuff they have had all their lives. a particularly sad story was that of an old man who came in totally limping, with really bad posture. he said not a single word as we tried to speak to him. we figured his diet wasnt adequate and his joint pains could be because of his old age. It is only later that we found out he was from a village, where his daughter in law regularly beat him and hardly fed him. she beat him until the point where he had to have an operation to stop him from going blind. this is just one story. there are so many unheard stories. so many untold stories. everyday someone, a child, a mum or a father dies in these little communities and villages. sigh. but there have been rays of hope too. one old man we saw on the second day came in to see us again today to do a follow up on his exercises. it means so much to know that we really are making a difference in someone's life just by doing some simple exercises with them. it makes me think again, there is so much in the west we take for granted. please pray for us as we minister to people that come to the clinic. there are some we have seen that are heavily oppressed. please pray that we'd be able to bring the presence of Jesus into this clinic and into such lives. that we'd find favour in the eyes of the community surrounding the base, so that they can open up and trust us with their lives. pray that we'd have open doors to share the Gospel with each one who comes, how the Spirit leads. an encouraging testimony is that a lot of the muslim folk come to the clinic. this really could be a way of reaching out to them. in fact i'm sure it is. this clinic is in a neighbourhood full of muslims and God has such a great heart for these people. pray that we'd be able to build some solid and strong relationships with the muslim men and women and especially the children, so that Christ can draw them to Him through us. a young muslim man who was bound to many addictions decided that enough is enough and wants to live a new life. he's been coming to the church. oh the joy of victories :)

over and out from Udaipur! :D

ps: life here really is incomplete without a hot cup of chai! :)