India

Travel books are always funny, they have within them a whole stash of information almost akin to a teleportation device that instantly transports us to a country which we happen to be reading about, an instant tour of the Taj Mahal all in the comforts of your own bedroom.

Such was the beginning of my idea of India, the romantic views of the palaces with snow capped mountains in the background, the many wondrous festivities which involves a psychedelic array of colours and of course, the mouth watering Indian cuisines.

With that in mind, off I went on the second day of 2010 jetting towards India with a team of 8 other God fearing, Jesus loving men and women. Upon taking the first step into Dehli International Airport, I found myself viewing at an all Indian tussle involving who to be the first in queue, I was glad to be holding on to a foreign passport. After an exciting, heart pulsating, lane cutting taxi ride (did I mention horn blaring, it is a culture to honk your car in India) we arrived at the train station and after 12 hours, in which we attracted several Indian “fans” during out worship session in the train, we arrived at Udaipur to the smell of the crisp morning air.

Our time in Udaipur revolved mostly with the bible college students. However, the biggest highlight is when we took a trip up the hills to an orphanage where we spent an entire afternoon with the children, the smile on their faces were more than we could ask for, it was that sheer and unpretentious joy on their faces which made me realize on the importance of a child-like faith, unpretentious and joyful simply because of the love of God.

3 days in Udaipur was just the beginning as the next 6 days left us with awe at the grace of God, a skit, which required almost a month's practice, was done up with just a 2 hour practice, guitar players whom have only picked up a guitar 1 week before the trip being able to strum up a storm during services. At Navapur, many burdens were laid within our hearts for the children we were privileged to be able to teach and share our lives with, everything moment we had were like nuggets of gold.

Perhaps the romantic idea I had of India wasn't fulfilled but the experiences and the number of lives I knew I could change and impact was more than enough to cover all the 137 pages of the travel book with each page a story of its own.

The harvest in India is ready for the taking. Are you prepared?

Written by Andre for 'Harvest Herald'