Goodbye India, Hello Nepal!

Well, I have been going nonstop it seems for the past month. As a group we have been getting involved in the various ministries here in Kolkata that we are working with. It has been grand. From working with kids that live on the street, to women who are mentally handicapped in the Mother Theresa home, to teaching English to children living in a village on the outskirts of Kolkata. It’s been a whirlwind. I will break it down for you.

King’s Kids:

This ministry is a branch of YWAM mercy ministries and is run by Loch in her home. She has six or so girls that live with her full time whose parents have asked Loch to take them in because they live on the street and cannot take care of them. Not only does she do this, she also has an open house during the day that any kids off of the street can come to. Typically a day goes as follows: the children arrive and give us their dirty clothes to clean and they then take showers. Next we sing songs with them, have a story time and play with the kids. We also had tea time and lunch with them. Fabulous.

Life Connections:

These are the daughters of the
woman I met at the train station. 

This ministry is also a branch of YWAM mercy ministries and works with children that live in the Howrah train station. Over eleven million people commute from this train station a day. The children there often don’t have parents or their parents send them there to collect bottles or beg for money from travellers. One day we were on a prayer walk in the station and met a young girl along with her sister and mother. The mother explained that she had an older daughter but hasn’t seen or heard from her in months. I asked the man that was showing us around whether that was common and he said yes, due to the amount of traffic and how many children there they are at a high risk of being taken. He said that she could very well have been taken to become a prostitute. I looked into that mother’s eyes and saw the void there, and at her family and saw the missing piece. At that moment I had a small glimpse of how much hurt there is in the world. I am not really sure how to describe how I felt in that moment, but I just had an overwhelming desire to do something about all of it, or some of it. All that I know is that I cannot, and will not do nothing.

Light of Hope:

This is Bibek.
 Just look at that smile!

This ministry is run by a husband and wife duo, Dora and Sonatan, in their own home teaching the children in the village. The village is Sway Park which is located on the outskirts of Kolkata. During the morning the children go to Light of Hope for English teaching and basic preparatory schooling so that they are able to go to government schooling later on. Most of the children’s mothers work during this time, and would likely be on the street alone if they did not have Light of Hope to go to. Dora and Sonatan are also looking into starting a church in the area, on top of all the other ministries they are doing already. There was one boy in particular there that had quite the story. Earlier this year his legs were not working and he also had a fairly severe kidney infection. Bibek’s family did little to help him because financially they couldn’t afford caring for him. When Dora and Sonatan heard about his situation they decided to go ahead and pay for the surgery that he needed for his legs. He is now under their care and is doing much better. He is still in need of a surgery to fix his kidneys, but you wouldn’t know it because of all the children there he was the one that was the most joyful. He currently has to use a catheter and if he does not have the surgery he will not be allowed into the government schools because of that. Dora and Sonatan are trying to gather funds for this. He has told them that once he finishes school he would like to do a DTS and start his own ministry in YWAM. Bibek is only twelve years old.

Mother Theresa home:

This is Mother Theresa's tomb. 

I remember thinking of Mother Theresa at different points in my life, but I never imagined that I would visit the place she called home and where she herself was actively serving people in need. I was able to serve at two different homes, one of which was Shanti Dan a home the cares for both woman and children with either mental or physical handicap. Before going to the home we were informed that the woman at this home had almost all been abused resulting in their current state of mental handicap. I could not even imagine what they must have gone through that made them mentally incapable of living on their own. While there I was communicating with one of the woman as she told me her whole story with hand motions. I noticed that she had two long scars on her arm and asked her what happened. She said that she was once married and had three children. Her husband beat her daily and one day beat her so much that he broke her arm. She then came to Shanti Dan and they tried to reset her arm but were unable to because of the time it had been broken. Now she can no longer use her right arm at all. I think that she was one of the fortunate ones, seeing as she was able to still relate with people. Others there were unable to communicate, many of which were just curled up on the floor.

Later that same day we visited Kalighat, Mother Theresa’s home for the dying and destitute. As soon as you walk into the room you see rows of women on their beds, some of which may not see tomorrow. I was put to work right away helping them get to the bathroom, moving women onto their beds, folding clothes and spending time with them. I felt completely useless, all I wanted to do was talk to them and show them that someone cared about them, but all I could do was hold their hand and smile. A life of hardship was etched on their faces behind the smiles they managed.

It wasn’t all difficult though there were some good times too. I went to my first ever circus in India of all places! We also went into a red light district and handed out flowers to the women and children there. The smiles on their faces were priceless.

Let’s just say that in these past three weeks I have experienced the polar ends of my emotional scale. I have seen happiness and despair, poverty and plenty, heartache and love. And on January 25^th, I hopped on a plane said goodbye to India and was on my way to Nepal. So far Nepal has been my home away from home. I have mountains all around, cold temperatures and lush scenery. I may not come home, sorry mom.

Happy day, I am in Nepal!