Hello!! This is Ashley writing, and I would love to share with everyone what we did on our second day at Udamarry! The main part that stood out is...line dancing! Yes, we taught the Indian children and some teachers amazing Nebraska country dancing. I couldn't believe how quickly the students learned the dance! We never heard the rhythm stop throughout the day because the girls were constantly repeating the dance, and they kept asking us, "Dance, Mam" or "Dance, Sir". All I could hear the rest of the day was students saying: step behind, step together, step behind, step together, back, back, forward, back. Oh, and I must add that the song we chose to use was "Boot Scootin' Boogie". Hilarious since the girls made me sing the song for them when the music wasn't playing so that they could continue to dance!
Another part of the day that I will always remember was our stop at a slum village. I was struck hard emotionally when we first arrived because of the living conditions, but the children I saw immediately brought a smile to my face. I can't even explain how happy their smiles can make you feel! The children we saw were at school, but this school was definitely not a typical school. These students were meeting on a tarp under a roof made of bamboo. We gave each student a piece of candy for other kids in the village to see. The reason for this is because the parents in this village don't know much about school. In fact, all they probably know is "School is for the rich, not the poor like us". About 40 kindergarten age students attend this school in the middle of the village on a tarp now, and hopefully more parents will begin to send their students after they see that the school children are getting gifts like candy. On Friday, we are going to build a bamboo wall around the school so they actually have a building! We are very excited to be a part of the building of this school that has sprung off of Udamarry.
The children that I've seen here have really opened up my eyes to how far loving and caring for someone can go. A man from Washington who was staying at our base told us that 95% of sharing Christ with people here is to stand in front of them and be in their presence. Wow, how much do we take for granted the love others show us? I love others because of the love Christ has given to me. This is the only way I have been able to realize what it means to truly love someone. His example is the strongest example of love, and I want to show the Dalit here that this love does not come from myself, it comes from Christ. Christ's love for every person no matter what caste or rationality has been shown so tremendously to me here, and I can't wait for what else He is going to show me! Well, that's all for now, but another update should be coming soon once we get some freetime again during our busy days!
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Prayer
Here is how you can be praying for us.
- Pray for the continued support of the school. It is growing rapidly and despite all the expansion they've seen in facilities they're quickly outgrowing their facilities. They have big dreams to expand, pray for the support and funding to make it happen. It won't be on their own, they'll need a lot of help, but God has been faithful to provide thus far.
- Pray for the Freedom of those oppressed by the Hindu caste in India.
- Pray for the continued support of the school. It is growing rapidly and despite all the expansion they've seen in facilities they're quickly outgrowing their facilities. They have big dreams to expand, pray for the support and funding to make it happen. It won't be on their own, they'll need a lot of help, but God has been faithful to provide thus far.
- Pray for the continued advance of the Gospel in an ever increasingly oppressed land.
Praise
Here is what we are praising God for
- We came together as a team. Held together by our Creator, we became a close-knit bunch.
- The school continues to grow! And there is no student in India who is getting a better education. (We may be a little biased but after seeing it first hand, I wouldn't doubt if it were true.) They continue to add students and teachers and have been able to expand the opportunities to teach and educate. And their dreams for the future are big!
- The school continues to grow! And there is no student in India who is getting a better education. (We may be a little biased but after seeing it first hand, I wouldn't doubt if it were true.) They continue to add students and teachers and have been able to expand the opportunities to teach and educate. And their dreams for the future are big!
- The Gospel is advancing!
much more to come...
Who we are
We are a group of adults and students from Nebraska who have been introduced to the idea that we are involved in an invisible world called the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ invited us to join Him on this narrow road that leads to a greater joy and fruit. Consequently being ruined for 'normal' living!
In 2003 we learned that there were millions of Indian Dalit who were cutting social and religious ties with Hinduism. The Christian Church offered what help they could. 'Educate our children' was the request. 'Even if our world-view is Biblical?' was asked. 'Yes!' was the response. So a group of Christian organizations committed themselves to operating schools for Dalit children. Our group knows a good challenge when we hear one. And this was big. More than 200 high school and college kids raised the money to build a school in 4 months!
The following summer it was decided we should go see where the school would be built and become acquainted with the teachers and students who were studying in a rented cattle barn. Hearing the teachers and leaders tell us that we were the first Americans they had met who 'followed' their money made us see this relationship differently. God had prompted us to send some money, but He was also very interested in us having our own lives change.
Each year we have taken a team of 10 or so to be in the school for a week. We plant ourselves in the classrooms to watch the teachers creatively educate these swarms of beautiful and unruly children with very few props. To watch the children grow and become brilliant and bilingual!
We return from our time there with our value system tweaked. We are more grateful for what we have, less consumer-oriented. We find that we are really impatient with ourselves for being petty or self-absorbed. India haunts us because we find that the same Spirit that is growing us up in Him here is at work there wrestling people away from death and slavery.
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1 comment:
VERY exciting, and SOOOO good to hear, Ashley! Thanks for sharing. It's sounds like the teams reason for being lead there this year is becoming aboundantly clear... to be there with them! :)
ben k.
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