The 10 days I spent in India were probably the 10 most humbling days of my entire life. I've never felt more unworthy (or more eternally grateful) of the love and service of others as I did over there. I have about 1200 reasons as to why, but I'll start with this one. Then maybe the later editions of India blog post can include the others.
My trip started out kind of rough, as most of you know British Airways lost my luggage on my flight over and it was incredibly difficult to get back. They kept saying it was in cities it wasn't in, they told me it was being delivered and then later say I'd have to pick it up in person, they told me they had it when they didn't have it. It was a mess.
While I've never been overly attached to any of my stuff (excluding a few deer heads and lawn gnomes, that is) I discovered I am extremely attached to clean underwear and my hair dryer. India, as it turns out, is an extremely hot and humid place. I also learned that India is one of the worst places to not have any clean clothes because you sweat through like, 3 shirts a day (unless you only have 2 shirts for 5 days in which case you sweat through the same 2 shirts every day). Being gross and feeling insanely unattractive is really humbling in and of itself. It's an odd feeling not even having the comforts of clean clothes to make you feel secure as a person. But it was really awesome to see how God used this situation to teach me about the love and sacrifice of other people.
The people in India are incredibly and amazingly kind. I've never been treated better in my entire life. People were constantly opening doors, carrying our bags, helping us in and out of cars; it was kind of bizarre, to be honest. I'm used to people being kind and friendly, but not like this. For the first 3 days I wondered if they had mistaken me for someone who was much more wealthy or much more famous because there's no way they treat regular people like that. Turns out they do, in fact, treat regular people like that.
The staff of the hotel we stayed at in Bilaspur (our first city on the trip) was insanely amazing. It's the Courtyard Marriott in Bilaspur, by the way, in case you wanted to know. From the moment I got there they did everything they could to get my luggage back to me. They called British Airways all night trying to get someone on the phone. They offered to send someone to Raipur to pick it up (it ended up not being in Raipur so that didn't work out). They worked on it constantly for days. They even got me and 2 others in our group a cake because they noticed on our passports that our birthdays were that week! I realize this is part of their job and it's a newer hotel so they want to provide good service, but what they did was certainly more than I ever expected.
 |
| Us with the amazing staff of the Bilaspur Marriott |
Not only did the hotel work on getting my baggage back, our hosts did as well. There were 2 different guys that were our hosts/guides during our trip that did everything they could to get my bags back. They made phone calls, called in favors, made complicated travel plans, all so I could get my luggage. When it still wasn't back after 4 days, without me ever asking or mentioning it, our host's wife and daughter went out and bought me new underwear and gave me a whole bag of clothes to borrow until I got my bag. They even washed the clothes I'd been wearing. It was incredibly sweet and thoughtful and meant to so much to me that they would go out of their way to do all that just for me.
This one's the kicker. There's an evangelist named O that works with our host's ministry. He's a young guy, probably in his late 20s/early 30s, with a wife and a little boy. O works in a village near Bilaspur telling others about Christ. The last pastor who worked in this village was murdered by extremists who didn't want Christians there. O knows this (and even has to live in a different village for the safety of his family) but willingly chooses to go back to this same village, day after day, knowing his life is in danger, knowing he'll be persecuted, to spread the love of Christ.
On Sunday morning, when my luggage had already been missing for 4 days, we had to leave Bilaspur and head 14 hours north to a new city, Damoh. We had been hoping they'd send my luggage up to Damoh but that morning we found out the luggage had already been sent to Raipur (2 hours south of where we already were). I had no idea what to do or how I would get it back. I told our host and he started making phone calls. They ended up having a guy they knew who worked for another airline claim the bag and then said they'd send someone to get it. In comes O. This guy drove 2 hours to pick up my bag, 2 hours back, then took the overnight train up to Damoh so I could have my luggage the next morning. Bags are sometimes stolen on trains, so he stayed awake with my luggage all night to be sure nothing happened to it.
Who does that!?
Seriously. Who does that? Who spends 24 sleepless hours traveling so a stranger they don't know can get their luggage back? Would you do that? I probably wouldn't, to be honest. Not without complaining and resenting them the entire time. But O didn't even make a big deal out of it. I thanked him as much as I possibly could considering I don't speak Hindi and he didn't speak English, but he waved it off like it was no big deal. He only said "It's my privilege to do this, I'm happy to be able to serve you." He actually said that. That it was his privilege to travel for 24 hours and not sleep all night to bring my bag back to me.
I've never been so blown away by someone else's desire and ability to serve so wholeheartedly. And I felt so incredibly unworthy. This guy is a hero. He faces persecution and danger daily in the name of the Lord. He works in a village that is known for killing Christians. He has brought dozens of unreached people to Christ. He has dedicated his life to serving God no matter what happens to him and his family. And this guy, this amazing guy who does more for the cause of Christ in a week than I've done in 27 years, this guy spent 24 hours awake, in cars, airports, and trains, just so I could have my luggage back.
 |
| This one needs no caption. |
O showed me the love of Christ in such a real, incredible way. He showed me true humility, what it means to love others more than yourself, to put others above yourself, and to serve the way that Christ did. I felt so humble, so unworthy of everyone's attention and efforts. Who am I that all these people would be so kind to me? That all these people would go so far out of their way for me? Don't they know that I'm absolutely no one of any importance? I'm not even one of the ministry's financial supporters! I have nothing to give back. I can't even thank them in their own language. I realized this is what it's like to have Christ's love. To know that you've never done anything to deserve it, that you never will earn it, you'll never be able to thank Him enough. You just have to accept it, be ok with how unjust it is, and learn to live in humility and in awe of Jesus.
I can never thank everyone for how wonderful they were to me during my time in India, and there is absolutely no way I can even begin to thank O for all that he did, for how far out of his way he went to serve me. But there is one thing I can do; I can pray for him. This is how I've decided to attempt to repay O for all he did for me, for his beautiful servant's heart, and for his dedication to the Lord. I'm going to pray for safety and protection for him and his family, I'm going to pray for fruitful and productive ministries, and I'm going to pray for blessings beyond belief for him. Will you pray with me? I'm not asking you to pray for him every day or for the next 3 years, but just right now, while you're reading this, ask God to bless him, to protect his family, and to do incredible things in his life and through it.
If 5,000 people pray for him I think I'll be about half way to being even with him.
