Bite Sized Thoughts

Some quick thoughts:

Man, the food is good here.

If you smile at an orphan, they smile back.

Orphans have huge smiles.

The food is SOOO good here.

Our stomachs are hurting less from traveler's sickness.

The longer we're here, the more our stomachs hurt from laughing so hard.

Mango chutney is potentially my most favorite food ever.

If I moved to India and kept working half-time at my job, I could support 4 people with a "Luxurious" lifestyle.

When you give medicine to the sick, food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, homes to the homeless, jobs to the unemployed, and safety to children, lot of people start to think pretty highly of you. They'll even help you spread a religion they don't believe in if you ask politely.

We're experimenting with the possibility of creating a curry-filled naan-wrapped burrito-amalgam.

Only 1% of all people stay involved.

A $1000 deep-bore well makes a simple but noticable difference in dozens to hundreds of people's lives.



Fruit Jelly is an unexpectedly pleasant addition to spicy curry.

White Americans are giants.

I enjoy being a giant.

The food that makes our noses run is apparently designed for babies. Suresh says he'll allow us to eat from his table the day we leave, that way he doesn't have to deal with the spicy reprocussions.

The world is thriving with life. It crawls, swims, flies, drops out of, nests in, burrows, wallows, flurishes, fills, scurries and climbs on every inch of this beautiful garden we call Earth. Thank God that we have more things to play with than just rocks and water.

Ants and pigs are very determined and adaptable. Both will eat anything. Ants will even eat Primrose Crayola markers.

Isaiah tells me that the one thing which is common to all cultures is soda pop.

Everywhere we go, someone hands us a botle of sprite.

It's really not that different here. We're all under one heaven.

How much is it worth to you?

The Ambulance showed up in the afternoon. We oogled and aaawed it for a few minutes and then Suresh took it to the Harvest India campus to scare all the children with the sirens. On the way he had a little fun with the traffic too (he admitted later that he felt a little guilty for using the sirens when it wasn't an emergency ;) ). We parked it next door until the dedication ceremony.

Later that night we were driving through the thickest rainstorm ever and Surresh told us that he had recieved a message. Someone had called Harvest India and said that someone they knew was very sick and that he needed to be taken to the hospital immediately. Suresh's wife Cristine rushed out to pray for the ambulance, annointed it, and then sent it out on it's first mission.

Since it arrived, it's already taken 3 trips to the hospital, and we haven't even had the dedication ceremony yet! I think we're going to have to wash it for the ceremony, cause it's already covered in dust.

So I got to thinking, how much are you willing to pay to save someone's life? $15,000 divided by 3? And that's just this week! It hasn't even started it's job as a mobile clinic!

So good job everybody who helped fund the ambulance. It's already making a difference. You've done a good thing.

Listening to the East

I'm posting this entry for Vanessa:


Listening to Suresh and seeing India...has led me to thinking about a few things:
1) Building the Kingdom, not churches.
Suresh is all about building the kingdom of God. In Luke, Jesus starts his work by saying that the kingdom of God is at hand...meaning that it is here. Here on earth, the poor are to be cared for, the orphans to be parented, the hungry to be fed, injustice to be ended, and God to be glorified. The kingdom, although perfect in heavan, is to be built here on earth, as well.
I listen to Suresh talking about kindgom building. And I have seen how Harvest India is building the kindgom. Where there is need, they go. And always in the name of God.
They will help any denomination. Pentecostal, apostolic, assemblies of God, you name it. Today we got to see a water well given to a Muslim community, in Jesus Christ's name, with no strings attached.
Which brings me to the second thing I wanted to mention...
2) The Western/Eastern church
The Western church appears a little stuck, to me. Our efforts at community transformation seem hamstringed- or at least slowed-down. Demoninations fight instead of partnering to build the kingdom. And all the permits to open social services slows-down quick response (see "The Wire"- Season 3).
On the other hand, we have lotsa state social services. There is somewhere for an unemployed, hungry person to go. That is not the case here in India. BUT...our services are...partial. Constrained by budgets. Whereas here, the service is based in love, not government regulations. So a person in need is cared for in a more complete, helpful manner.
I think government/institutionalized social services might also result in American Christians turning to fighting systemic injustices (read, me). While dealing with the system is necessary (as Amos points out). Kingdom is necessarily relational, not policy -based. So we need to find a balance. I see the Indian kingdom so strong in social service, and the American chruch strong in systemic issues. We need each other.
Another matter of needing each other: money. The Western church is stock-piling resources! The kingdom of God is international. Even more accurately, without borders. So much money goes so far here! 400 people were fed this morning for $100. For real. I think our consumerism is weakening the church, worldwide.
The Western and Eastern churches need each other. Desperately.



And now for some pictures:

The cat says "This is relevant to my interests"

(The title is mildly relevant, don't worry.)

We're having a wonderful time here, and the only thing that makes us unhappy is what's going on in our lower intestines. The team has been getting along well, and everyone is in high spirits. Today we went to a free medical clinic that Harvest India set up in the middle of the street in a village. It blocked off the entire road and there were several hundred people there for vitamins, antibiotics and a doctor's checkup. It's a little bit of a preview of when we get to ride in the ambulance/mobile clinic off into the boonies and help treat people. I'm really excited to finnally see the gift that we raised. Thank you to everyone who helped fund the amubulance. We're excited to see it. We'll have video and pictures when we get back.

Two days ago they took us to an orphanage. The orphans sang for us and we passed out candy, and afterwards we goofed around with them. The girls played patty cake type games, and the men challenged the boys to tests of strength and physical prowess (thumb wars and arm wrestling). My favorite game was the one where the entire orphange grabbed my wrist and we played tug of war with my arm, 30 vs. 1. I was winning until a smart kid came behind me and start pushing my back and threw me off balance. The kids were chanting "Champion! Champion!" whenever they won.

Yesterday they took us to a home for the elderly. They were amazingly welcoming and kind. The home welcomes eldery people from all castes and religions. There are many dalits (the lowest class, often refered to as "untouchables"), but we also met some brahmins (the highest cast) and other rich people. They were so happy to see us and wanted us to pray and bless them. I couldn't find enough to say, so I ended up blessing them with "Live Long And Prosper" (and yes, I held my fingers the right way when I touched their heads).



So many of them had injuries or sickesses, and they asked us to pray for their medical bills because they have so many. The doctor was there when we were. He was looking at a man who had slipped and busted up his knee earlier that morning. I feel like I touched and prayed for every single person there. Suresh tells us that someone dies about once a month, and they are lucky when no one dies for 3 months in a row. They bury everyone with dignity behind the home (Suresh pointed to a lush banana orchard that looked like a peaceful place to be buried).

Afterwards we went into the elderly home's dinning hall and across from where we were sitting a passage from the book of James was painted on the wall. "Pure and undefiled religion in the eyes of God the father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress and remain unstained from the world." I thought it was particularly relevant to our trip.

Arrival

Good news: We're here safe, everyone is wonderful.

Bad news: We brought the wrong firewire cable, so there probably won't be any video updates until we get back. We should have brought the mini-firewire to mini-firewire and instead we brought the mini-firewire to firewire cable.

Other bad news: The internet is really slow. So even if we find a firewire cable, we probably still won't be able to upload video.

More news to come when we have time

It's begun

We're through security now, waiting in the terminal. I'm using my free year subscription to T-mobile hotspots that I got from my donation to the One Laptop Per Child Program to post this. (OLPC is a IT infrastructure designed to integrate low cost laptops (somewhere around $190 per laptop, formerly referred to as the Hundred Dollar Laptop) into third world schools.

I feel like I'm in a bit of a liminal state right now-- a world between. It helps that LA is foggy and has a bit of a mysterious look to the sky right now. It reminds me of that episode of Star Trek:TNG where Dr. Crusher gets stuck in some kind of subspace bubble that makes it seems like the universe is shrinking around the Enterprise. Outside the bubble is just void.

I realized that I haven't slept through the night all week. I keep waking up thinking about the team, thinking about the trip, a bit of worrying, a bit of wondering, a lot of desperate prayer. My stomach was upset too for a while, I'm thinking that might be related as well.

Yesterday the pre-trip last minute fires started cropping up, and all that nervousness was blasted away by adrenaline. But we're all here, and things are going well, everyone has their passports (and I really don't care if they forgot anything else-- I know how to travel light, we'll work it out).

It's pretty amazing how long it's taken to get here, and how short it seems that we'll be there. The last three weeks have flown by. I hope things slow way down and the trip drags on forever when we land. It's taken a ton of work to get here, but if the trip ended right now, I'd be content with my experience.

I am a little pissed about having to take off my shoes for security. I dunno who's more paranoid: the security guards of me, or me of the "man gettin' into my privacy".

They're calling our flight now, so I'll stop ranting about my constitutional rights.
Peace out.

check this out

I just realized we never posted a picture of our team. Here we are. :)

It's officially Wednesday now, which means we're leaving in TWO DAYS. aaaahhh! i've started packing and i'm getting (even more) excited. we start taking our malaria pills today. haha.. i think that makes it more real.

i just checked the weather in Chennai (the city we're flying into) and take a look-see.
woohooooo! this should be interesting...

On a personal note, I think my focus for this trip is going to be Ephesians 4:1-3
"I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

I love that we are going to serve the poor, the orphans, the widows. I love that Harvest India is working in the areas Jesus did, and calls us to do. To me, that is "living a life worthy of the calling."

But I realized that I could go through the motions, but without love it means nothing, right? I want to be able to serve humbly, with genuine love - for both the people in India and my teammates. I am not the easiest person to get along with, and many of our friends have already told me they think I'm going to be the first to "freak out." haha.. hopefully i will prove them wrong. Pray for me, cause I can't do it on my own!

peace outttt,
Tracy

8 Days til India

There are only 8 more days until we leave for India! A couple days ago Dr. Suresh e-mailed Vanessa our itinerary, so now we know what we'll actually be doing. If you'd like to know what to pray for for each day, keep reading...

• July 18-20 Fly fly fly
  
• July 21 Visit Harvest India Orphanage and School, HIV/AIDS Awareness camp, Bible College, and Former Prostitutes Project. That evening, there will be an outreach meeting. I have yet to know what that is.
  
• July 22 Visit construction site for a new school, and the prospective sites of future HIV/AIDS Hospices, then we're going to see some water wells get dedicated
• July 23 More well dedications, then a visit to another HI orphanage
• July 24 Visit one of HI's homes for the elderly. Then, another outreach meeting.
• July 25 Visit a medical camp in the morning, and the nurse training center in the evening
• July 26 Visit to Mercy Camp and Free Medical Center, and more wells dedicated
• July 27 Sunday Church Service, and an outreach meeting in the evening.
• July 28 Visit to another HI orphanage
• July 29 Visit the Railway Children Home. 
• July 30 Visit to Red-light Area ministry
• July 31 Visit to Mercy Camp
• August 1-3 Return to Chennai, see the city, fly back home

Please keep praying for the work being done by Harvest India, the people it is reaching, and those who it cannot. Pray for our team in our final week before our departure, and that we be prepared to build others up as our hearts break for them. Pray that we go with humility, compassion, and love.

We're selling two tickets to Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles on eBay to generate funds for our trip. If you guys know any golfer friends who might be interested, send them this link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140247609357

Curry is HOT.

OMG, July has arrived. 2 weeks. WHOA.

I want to start by throwin' some props out there....First. Thank you God for everything!!! Last night we found out from a friend that she's donating $10,000 towards the ambulance. We didn't even specifically ask her! Praise the LORD. All him. And thank you to all of our other supporters. Your prayers are powerful and we long for them! It's so cool getting to be the hands of so many of our friends and family in India. Thank you teammates for all your hard work! Making videos, planning fundraisers, buying travel insurance, getting us vaccinations, buying supplies, having genuine conversations, etc. etc. y'all are amazing.

Sometimes I think we're just kids, not able to do something like going to India to learn and serve and help fundraise an entire ambulance. I have felt that lie take an uncomfortable seat in my soul. But it is a lie. God is using us. We are able. And we have so many friends who are invested in this, as well. Anyway, I hear that God likes using the least, and most unlikely.

So here are some prayer requests, if you're of the praying sort:
1) Continually deeper Unity and Reconciliation amongst our team
2) Safe Travel on July 18th, 3rd, and 7th
3) The Holy Spirit's power amongst and through us
4) Complete fundraising (we've still got a ways to go)
5) Blessings for India, Harvest India and Dr. Suresh Kumar (the director)

With gratitude,
Vanessa on behalf of The India Team

Getting the Word Out

Raising money to buy an ambulance is not easy. But it is pretty awesome to see our friends give generously to make it happen. Make sure you check out our videos, join our group on facebook and just spread the word.

We are doing everything we can to prepare ourselves for the journey. Last weekend we attended a conference. The speaker really challenged us to be people who care about and care for those living in poverty, whether in the US or overseas. It's pretty exciting that the ministry we partner with specifically targets the rural poor in India.

In other news we are leaving for India in two weeks!! It's getting closer every day...