Aap kaise hain?  Mai achcha hoon.  Mai admi hoon.
(How are you?  I am good.  I am a man)

That's the extent of my Hindi, so far.

Sometimes, when I don't understand the Indian's English, and they don't understand my Hindi, I just speak Spanish.  

And that actually usually solves everything.

Just kidding.

So I have had a bit of homesickness this week, being that i was, well, sick.  The crazy pollution + too much sugar one night = a mild cold that turned into a hacking cough.  But i'm alive, and all better!  And overall, i'm really loving it here.  What we're doing with the curriculum and the slum school really excites me.  The people i'm working with, too, are all really great people.  I'm learning so much about life from conversations i've had with them.  The kids, too, are nothing short of precious.  All of them.  The local pastors here too have showed me nothing but kindness, and delicious Indian home cooking!  It'll be nice, though, to have some of mom's spaghetti when I return.  

And see blue skies again. 

As far as what is upcoming, i'm hoping to finish the curriculum by early December, so we can actually use the curriculum to preach at the churches here in Delhi.  Like some Christians in America, a portion of the more wealthy Christians here tend to overlook the plight of the oppressed.  In addition to that, the general culture here, fueled by Hindu religion's belief in reincarnation, sees status as something you've earned from another life.  The malnourished child, the street beggar, or the child forced into prostitution deserves to be where they're at because they were bad in their previous life.  Christianity here doesn't preach that, and the majority of Christians here are more aware of the plight of the poor,  but sometimes the worldview of the general culture leaks into the church. 

Like in Germany during the Nazi regime, when all but Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a small band of Christian separatists, pledged their loyalty to the Nazi party and the eradication of the Jewish race.

Or in America, in the 1800's when Southern preachers would distort the Bible to say that slavery is Biblical and should not be abolished.

Or in America today....you can fill in the blank.

I'll start with two, though...

"Some of us reduce love to tolerance"

"Some of us think that the only successful way of Christianity is one that depends on how big your church is, or how well your "worship band" performs. "  

I just wen't on a tangent.

Basically, me and another intern want to preach to the rich here who i'm told are are unaware or unconcerned with God's idea of justice, then challenge them to go and help bring God's justice to those very people in their backyard who are in poverty and vulnerable to exploitation.  

And i'll probably use the book of Amos in at least one of the sermons!

If you haven't read that book lately, I encourage you to do so now.  It will challenge you.

Goodnight everyone, or should I say, good morning?  (It's a 13 hour time difference)

Sleep awaits 

Delhi Update!

Namaste!

It's already been over a month since i've been gone!  Woweee!

It seems like nothing has happened and a lot at the same time.

1.) Nothing has happened in the sense that it is holiday season in India, and when it's holiday no one goes to school, and when no one goes to school we can't see the kids.  There have been a few times that i've been able to help out at the school, and even teach, but not enough to where I feel like i'm able to make relationships yet.  It's a little frustrating, but the major holidays are coming to an end.  And it really feels like the ball is starting to roll, then once it does, it will only accelerate from there.
2.) A lot has happened, in that my Christian worldview has been completely rocked.  In America we often times we go to church, have our daily devotionals to spend time with God, develop friendships, mostly with other Christians, but sometimes with those who don't know Christ.  When it comes to helping those in poverty, we may volunteer at a soup kitchen, or on holidays give them a turkey and a care package.  A lot of these so far are good, and things that Christians must do.

But Christians here in Delhi are the only hope that so many of these people have,  not just for eternal life, but to be able to eat, have an education, and be rescued from oppressors waiting for the prime opportunity to exploit them.

When it comes to taking care of the practical needs of people, the American church tends to get lazy and leave things to the state.  The welfare system will take care of the poor, the foster care system will take care of the orphan, and social security will take care of the widow.  These systems in put in place can be very good, and this is in no way a call to revoke them, but I believe the church has used these systems as an excuse to not get down in the trenches.  Christ took us out of our broken relationship with the Father and made us a new creation, restoring our brokenness.  Similarly, we are called to go down to the fringes of society; the lowest end of the totem pole, and lead them away from the broken relationships that have only lead to their abuse and exploitation, and replace them with a reflection of how Christ relates to us.

The state can give people money, but it can't rescue us from our true poverty, our relationships that were broken with each other and with God when we made that infamous decision at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Remember what happened when Adam and Eve first sinned?  We hid from each other, then hid from God himself.  But in the New Testament, God gives us His Church, the Body of Christ, the ministry of reconciliation.  Reconciliation is more than forgiveness.  It's restoring those relationships with our fellow man and with God we lost in the fall.  So let's do more than evangelize the world, let us, as the church, be a vehicle for transformation!