Monday 10 December 2012

He Answers Prayers

Today was tough. Last we had heard, Ravi was unconscious and partially paralyzed in a hospital bed, and awaiting brain surgery. After praying as a team along with Suresh, Danny, and Ramaraj, we decided to drive to Guntur to see him. I don't think any of us had a plan or knew what to expect. The car ride for me was filled with tears in the midst of singing along with worship songs. Another lesson of praising him through the sorrow (I had my first taste of that this past June when my friend's dad passed away... We miss you Jun).

I had never been to a hospital in India. This particular hospital seemed to blend in with the rest of the town. Even the paramedic van was parked in front of a random store. The front of the hospital reminded me somewhat of the USC ER facility (on a much smaller scale, of course, and minus the metal detectors). We walked up the ramp above the ER and were immediately greeted by some Harvest India staff and a few of Ravi's relatives. Ravi did not have surgery yet, but had recently woken up and was now talking. Praise God!!!

They asked if we would like to go in and see him. Of course!

Just then a woman in a pink and brown sari came out wearing a paper mask over her mouth. It was Ravi's wife. I had been wanting to meet her, though not under these conditions. I knew that she was a staff nurse and that she had prayed for me, but that was about it. My heart sank when I saw her. She didn't say anything, but lead us into the building and down a hallway to the left. When we got to the door of what I assume was the critical care room we stopped and learned we could only go in two at a time. Angela looked at me and asked if I wanted to go in first with her. I would love to say that I immediately jumped at the opportunity, but I definitely hesitated. "Yes, yes. I want to go in."

Ravi's wife led Angela and I into the room. There were patients separated by single curtains to the left and right of us, but it was all a blur. I had no idea what to expect. I knew that Ravi was in a motorcycle accident and was not wearing a helmet (which is the norm in India). I tried to prepare myself for the worst even though I didn't want to see it. We approached his bed and aside from the breathing mask, he simply looked like he was sleeping. He had a couple of bruises on his left temple, but even those were barely visible. His wife gently shook his arm, quietly spoke a few words in Telugu, and Ravi slowly opened his eyes. It was beautiful!

Small talk was hard. I instinctively shut down when I can't find the words to say. "It's so good to see you." I meant it. In the midst of simple words of conversation, Ravi said "Praise the Lord." That's so Ravi. Yes Ravi, praise the Lord that He's brought you this far. That He heard the prayers and cries of all of us who love you and all of those who love us. Praise God that you are safer now than you were even 2 hours ago. Praise the Lord for being the ultimate healer and comforter. Yes Ravi, Praise the Lord!

We prayed over Ravi and his wife, and just as we were turning to walk to give the rest of the team some time with this amazing man of God, the they walked up. It was amazing to pray over them as a team. We learned that it was his left side that had been paralyzed but he was now able to move his limbs with only some numbness. Praise God Ravi, yes, Praise the Lord.

Ravi will stay in the hospital for the next week or so. His brain is still hemorrhaging, though is getting better. As of this afternoon, Ravi is not going to go into surgery, but it is still an option. Please continue to pray for him. He's come a long way in the past 24 hours but is still not in the clear. He'll be under close watch for the next week. God did so much today in just a couple hours, I pray expectantly for more of the same in the days to come. Please keep his wife and 2 boys (I think they're 2 and 5 years old) in your prayers as well.

Thank you for your prayers. He hears them!!!
Matthew 8:14-17

Sunday 9 December 2012

Please Pray!!!

One of my dear friends here in India was in an accident last night. This past weekend, we had a crusade  in a near by village. Ravi was there Friday and Saturday, but when I looked for him last night, I did not see him. In the moment, I just assumed he was somewhere on the grounds and that I just could not find him. We just got the phone call from Suresh. I'm heartbroken. You may recognize the name "Ravi" from one of my previous posts. He and his family have a picture of me from two years ago on his fridge and not knowing that I would return to India, they've prayed for me. At this point, all that we know is that he is in critical condition with a head injury in a hospital in Guntur and that he is scheduled to go into surgery soon. Please, please, please pray that he would be healed.  Pray for his wife and two sons. "We love you Ravi and our hearts and prayers go out to you!"

Thursday 6 December 2012

When God Reads Your Heart

After writing the previous post, I closed my laptop and walked to my room thinking "I would really, really love to take a dance class right now."

Well... Let me tell you about Sherkar (my Indian spelling is terrible, I'm sure of it). I absolutely adore this man. He is a sanskrit teacher at KSK Jr. College as well as discipline extraordinaire!


He is amazing in my dance classes. The girls love yet completely cower at him when he lifts up his stick! Kacie and Angela go to class with Daniel and Danny as their translators, and I get Sherkar to keep the girls in line.  I love Daniel and Danny, but I wouldn't have it any other way!!! Sherkar got me space on the rooftop for class, unscrews the cap to give me water while I'm teaching and makes the girls perform Indian dances for me while he plays music out of his phone! He's as absolute joy!!!!

So today, upon arriving at KSK, we sat down in Paul's office for a few minutes to relax before splitting up to teach. This time, Sherkar calls to me and asks me to come with him for one second... "Of course!" Instead of leading me out the front entrance of the college (which we use to go up to the rooftop), he leads me further into the college, through the courtyard, has me wave "hi" to a few classes and then stops me at the last class to the right. Quick backstory... From the moment I found out I was teaching dance here, I have been wanting to sit through one of Vijay's classes (he is Harvest India's dance instructor)... And now back to the REAL story... Sherkar led me to the room where Vijay was teaching some familiar faces; yyep, some of my dancers! It was amazing! Danny followed and began translating the song the girls were dancing to. "Welcome to the temple of Jesus." In the midst of this, a chair was brought over for me, along with my backpack and some chai, and Sumani stood beside me and fanned me with a clipboard! Whoah, talk about star treatment :0) I felt like a princess. Sumani was insistent about fanning me... It was completely adorable!!!

My dance class was cancelled for the day, which was completely fine. I could not have been happier to be watching an Indian dance class! But then I was invited to take his next class!!! Oh yeah, God gave me the dance class which only 4 hours ago literally seemed years away. AMAZING! And we danced to "Pray for India!" So fun! I was sweating like crazy, but it was such a blessing to take a class and do someone else's choreography. I cannot put into words how ecstatic I was to be dancing in that room, with those girls and Vijay at that very moment. It was incredible! Literally a gift from heaven :)

Thank you Lord!

Thank you Sherkar and Vijay for an amazing time at KSK today! I don't know how this day could have been better :)

Umm, oh yeah... well just one more quick story... While having dinner with Kacie, Angela, Danny, Vijay and Paul, a squirrel jumped, from I don't know where, onto my shoulder and across the table onto Danny's shoulder. Yyyepp. It definitely scared me and I ended up with my feet on the bench and practically in Angela's lap. Histerical! All I wanted to do was shake it off, oh-oh-oh, but unfortunately I didn't have the space or the company for that. I literally felt fur brush across my ear. MY EAR!!! Ahhhh! Just the replay in my mind gives me the heebie jeebies! So funny!

Praying that your day is filled with incredible joy as well.  Let's close this post by sticking with the theme:   Pray for India!!!

Wednesday 5 December 2012

How to Make an Indian Quesadilla

1. Move to Tenali, Andhra Pradesh (or come visit me)
2. Purchase Chicken 65 and Naan (butter or garlic, I personally love garlic on just about anything) from Vijay's restaurant in Tenali (Suresh Kumar , Revi or Danny can help you with this) and refrigerate over night
3. Purchase butter and american cheese (you will probably need to go to Best Price in Vijayawada)
4. Crisp up one side of the naan using a frying pan and the butter
5. Flip the naan, fold it in half and stuff with as much chopped chicken 65 and american cheese as desired
6. Flip your quesadilla at least one more time and enjoy!

I hardly ever eat american cheese back in the states, but it is an absolute blessing to have here--- two words "grilled cheese!!!" Totally worth the gluten baby I get post-consumption! 100% :)  Like most Americans, my Christmas season is generally filled with tons of food-- cookies and candy from friends at Chili's, snacks while endlessly rehearsing for RH services (I especially miss this), Christmas parties with friends and families-- so it only feels natural to discuss food.... If I were back in the states right now, I would start off with a Pumpkin latte (usually I would go to Starbucks for this, but now I'm kind of partial to Gypsy Den), eventually progress my day into either a steak or sushi, and finish it off with a decaf mocha or hot chocolate at the beach or a park (basically anywhere outside where there are no mosquitoes). Yyyyyep.

Christmas is popping up all over Tenali and it is so beautiful. The Christians out here hang stars in celebration of our dear Lords birth. I saw the first star a week ago or so on our way to teach at KSK college. Our 45 minute drive to KSK which once felt daunting is now filled with lights and sporadic reminders that God is on the move in India. Literally every star brings a smile to my face. I love Christmas. Kind of funny that even though we may have been the only ones in Andhra Pradesh to celebrate Thanksgiving, the Christmas lights still went up the following week! Just a sweet little taste of home. Our star of lights just went up yesterday :)  Thank you Ramaraj and Suresh! It means more to me than you know.

While skyping with my mentor Tracey and my bell Michelle, I was surprised by tears of longing for my family and friends back home. I miss you! Christmas is going to be different this year. While at times this "different" is going to be hard, God opened up my heart and mind to remember that different doesn't always come with a negative connotation. Yes I have friends and family back in the states that I would love to hug and say "Merry Christmas" to, but I also have a new family and new friends to create new memories with here. My heart isn't limited to a SoCal Christmas. Christ still broke into world as an infant, and that is worth celebrating regardless of where life is or takes us! The meaning behind Christmas stands the same, the celebrations will just look a little different. I'm excited to celebrate the birth of Christ here in India surrounded by new friends and family. I expect that it will be more of this dichotomy that I live in, well I guess that we all sort of live in in one form or another. Looking back and missing pieces of the past, yet excitingly and expectantly awaiting what is to come. For me, the "past" is friends, family, traditions, independence, etc., and naturally, the future is taking the beauty in India and watching and experiencing God in the midst of it.

I know I said this back at home as well, but I keep having moments where God so sweetly reminds me how much he cares with just a few simple words. I'm not going to go into a giant description of my junk, so I will bring you into my story mid-chapter. India has ignited some pressures that life tends to fan into exhaustion here. The worst part is that this pressure comes from within me. It's not any other person here is speaking into it; yet, all the same, it's exacerbated. Anyways, I came to place where I literally said, whether out loud or just to myself, "It's not worth it." Immediately, God responded with "But I'm worth it."---- Aaarrrgh! He won again :)  Of course He is. Immediately following, Ephesians 5 came to mind. Once again, God is good and I am in awe of just how BIG He is. I fail to understand how He can be so intimately concerned with my thoughts and still have time for the rest of the world. I'm just going to have to settle into knowing that I will never be able to fathom it, nor do I need to :)

May God bless all of you in the States! Please continue to pray for India!