ok, extremely cheesey title, but also very true. Im not exactly sure what I brought to India, but i guess in a selfish way I took a lot from it....and im not just talking about the 10 pairs of shoes i carried home in my suitcase.since cominh home two weeks ago, ive had that knid of nervous sick feeling in my tummy (not because of the food) but because i feel that India really had an impact on me and i want to find what that impact is...and not simply leave it! Its affected me in two ways....
1, Ive got up everyday and thought about the three year old premature baby who lay on a hard floor and seemd to have received very little medical treatment. Unfortunately I can't say ive curtailed all my spending since I came back, but I have thought about how my money could help somewhere else.
2, Ive thought about the simple life, people who don't have lots of materialism, who don't have the pressures of making lots of money and working in a big city....but they have joy! it reminds me that 'joy is not in things, it is in us!'I have been more aware of how blessed I am- with friends, family and people who want to share their experiences with me and to hear about mine. .....that is what matters....that is community.One of the days that we were on site in India, a man told us to go round to another house and help his neighbour move bricks, because his neighbour needed the help more than he did at that particular time.....isn't that how we should be living; sacrificial lives.
There were 11 people in the team, and we travelled to Bangalore to see another country and to make a difference. We have really brilliant times together, brilliant banter, briliant chats, we sang just about every song we know on site and we even had a wee mud bath one day...girls only! It was good to be able to listen to one another and to learn from each other. Whilst we had different views on Religion, I think that we were all united in the Belief of one GOD. Surrounded by Hindu Temples and people sacrificing what they had to idol gods.....how could we not have come away with a stronger faith in the God of the Bible, God the amazing creator.
One of the team said during devotions that just as the sun rises over India and Ireland, so does the same God look down upon us. Its amazing that each person we met in the rural tribal village in Bangalore, are know by God. I can't remember their names, I can't tell poeple about every person I met in India but God knows each of them as much as he knows me.
when Bono was speaking about women in Africa, he said "when it comes to the time to write the history of this, it will be their names that will be important, not mine"I suppose thats what we gave to India, the same as what they gave back ...LOVE..Love that cares for others more than ones self. each person in our team had various views on various things, but i feel that we were united in the fact that we were in India to care more about others than we do about ourselves.
On the final day we had a service with the whole community. We had worked with 3 different families and each family took it in turn to thank us. One man, who we called George, got up in front of the crowd. He was so grateful but he didnt use big flowery words, he quietly said thankyou and his eyes said it all. George was the father of the premature baby, he was a hard worker, and whilst he hadnt worked on his new house in 5 months, habitat gave him the encouragement to get back into it. On the morning of the commissioning service George was working away at his house, he put a clean shirt over his dirty t-shirt to say his thanks to us, but it wasnt long before he was back to the dirty t-shirt and getting on with his house. On that final day we arrived on site in our good clothes, nice and clean for the farewell service, but i hope that my desire will always be to get my hands dirty, put on my old clothes and help others out.As part of that service a few of the girls danced for us, one of them had the word "Love" on her t-shirt...Jonny the team leader finished by reading from 1 Corinthians 13
Love is Patient, Love is Kind, It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes always perseveres.
Love never fails!
