Wow, I have been taking tons of pictures recently. That gets represented here, so yay!
In a recent post I talked about going to Burari, one of the PMI expansions. Well, on Friday, I got to go to the other expansion. While the Burari class is held in a rented building, the Civil Lines production is a hop, a skip, and a metro ride away, down a short road and around the bend. I wasn't quick enough with my camera to catch the first reaction of the 30-40 younger children as we rounded that bend, but here's the tail end of it:
Talk about heartwarming. They were so excited to see me, Praise and Siddharth coming to teach them. Even though I've been in many situations that made my heart reach out to Indian children, I've never seen a reception like this in any of the other PMI locations. The kids in this clean, green slum are so eager, fresh, and attentive. They are responsive and sweet and obedient, and their eyes and their smiles are bright. I left Civil Lines wondering what was different about this area, and that group of people. I think it will be a really special and important outworking of PMI's original efforts.
This is the kids learning a new song. Kindergarten through second grade are on one tarp, and third to fifth grade are on another tarp.
This is the 6th - 12th grade English class that Praise and I got to lead. In this picture, the students are practicing introducing themselves in English. The two boys in the foreground are enthusiastically saying, "WHAT'S UP?!" "HOW'S IT GOING?!"
The girls in the back offered us food before we left, and also walked Praise and I back to the metro - such sweet demeanors and giving hearts. I really enjoyed my time there.
Check it! Praise got me in focus!
i am so pale!
Praise and I had had a long day of walking and errand running, and both of us were totally beat. Our bodies were hurting, we were mentally exhausted. I came into Joy and Prakash's room and plopped down next to Praise on the ground, and Campy (Praise's cousin) and her mom (Praise's aunt) were both in there. "You are tired?" Auntie asked me. "Yes, so tired," I answered her with a sigh and a slump. "Ok, lay down, I massage you." Of course i couldn't say no! This sweet lady who has been a nurse all her life but who knows nothing about me gave my sweaty, dusty, exhausted self an amazing massage right then and there. Her concern for me was touching, and more than a little inspiring. What am I doing to go out of my way to make people feel cared for?
While Heather and I were in the kitchen finishing dinner, naturally the whole family all began to sing. Peter's brother, Phillip, has a really beautiful voice, and he whipped out his accordion to complement Peter/Prakash's guitar playing and Joy's joyful bongo banging. I'll tell you, there's no better backdrop to cooking dinner than spontaneous Bengali song. And he played that accordion so beautifully.
Just a short blurb - shout out to Pinterest for this great idea... tea lights surrounded by coffee beans! My whole room smelled faintly of lattes the whole evening, instead of the many other things it often smells like (garbage, fish, curry, and a host of other very Indian odors.) And they're pretty!
I got to be with the kids in Sunday school after singing together with the Family. They were fun and sweet, some of them are just too great :) I loved hanging out with them. They colored a coloring page about Jesus rising from the dead, and Prakash brought his over to me. Jesus was surrounded by happy friends, and I asked if Prakash knew who they were. He said no, and asked me to tell him, so (faking it) I said, "This is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is Peter. And this is Mary, Jesus' mother, and Joseph, Jesus' father. And this is Jesus' little brother!" He asked some more questions about them and named them back to me. He especially liked Peter, as that's his Baba's name, and the little brother. After a minute he looked up at me and said, "Wow, Auntie Julie! It's like a book!" It is a Book, Prakash. It is a Book.
We came back with the kids in time to see the dedication of Kham and Kagui's sweet baby, Athalia. They asked me to take some pictures, so i snapped a few. This sweet sweet baby and this sweet sweet couple make me so happy. I loved everything about this handing of our children to our Father. We commit them to Him. We trust in His love for them as we trust in His love for us.
Also today: this, again is Peter and Praise's aunt and uncle. Uncle gave the message this morning, and at the end of the service, he sang a duet with his wife. You are looking at two loving and cheerful people between sixty and seventy singing an a cappella rendition of "The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows". It's one of the better things I've ever experienced in my life. It was truly moving.
We have a team from America coming on Wednesday, and they are hosting a retreat from Thursday to Saturday. I'm keyboarding on the music team during that time, and we had practice tonight. I walked out towards PMI under a clear and (almost) crisp night sky, complete with a huge tilted crescent moon. That Middle Eastern moon got me thinking about walking on the streets of Delhi, and how fulfilling just BEING here is, let alone DOING what I love. I decided that I value the quality of experience above safety, and purpose above comfort. I must. Otherwise I wouldn't love tripping on the broken cobblestones and sidestepping mangy dogs and searching so hard to find something I need to purchase for my kitchen ['MUFFIN TIN. no, like six pie pans in one. no, all connected in the same pan. no, not for eggs. no, i am not hallucinating']. But I do. I do love it.
Anyway, after we were done working on the music, some spontaneous jamming broke out. I was doing my most soulful "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone", and Kagui the worship leader was like, 'hey, I haven't heard you sing like that before. You should sing at this open-air concert we're having to raise money for charity.' So there you have it. Just like that, December first (my sister's birthday!) we're opening! More details to come on that later - but, how fun, right?
Tomorrow we are going to buy my scooty. If all goes well, I'm coming home with a red and white girly getaround machine! Also i feel kind of hardcore. We'll see if that feeling continues after the first time i get a little lost... ;)
I'm going to leave you with this... delicious!
Love from Delhi,
Julie: the lemony veggie remix.
No comments:
Post a Comment