Kate and I in fron of India Gate a memorial for fallen world war 2 soldiers
Our room decorations
Some of the boys in our school (From left to right - Sankar, Shiva, Prince, and Vishal)
In front of the Parliment houses
Kate and I inside a hole in the wall of a tomb of a King of India
This is the grave built for the King (the outside)
The outside of the mosque we went to
One of the kids in one of our schools
Inside another hole in the grave
Kate and Babu, Pastor Daniel's brother
Hi KYLE MARTIN RIGGOTT i added your name!!!!!!!!!!! because your special!!!
The thing about India that really amazes me is the lack of public physical touch between married couples, there is more contact between men with men, and women with women. As we walk down the streets men are always holding hands with other men, or something like that. To us it is so strange to see because of our culture back home. Someone even said that a husband would be much more ok with going to the bathroom on the side of the road rather than kiss his wife in public. You rarely see affection between man and woman. We are starting to really differentiate between our culture and the Indian culture. Tomorrow i think we are visiting our first temple after church, so that should be interesting. We were talking about how much devotion they have to their gods, if only we as Christians had that much devotion to our one amazing Father!!! They pray for hours on their hands and knees. I am sure i will be able to talk more about after tomorrow. Alright well now it is tomorrow night, i stopped writing yesterday and now i am writing again. Well we did go to a mosque today, two actually but only one that was still an active prayer site. It was a muslim mosque about 45 minutes in auto rickshaw from our church. Yes we rode an auto rickshaw those awesome green looking three wheeled golf carts that go insanely fast, and it was CRAZY!!!! The place were we went was supposably the most crowded place ever, and it was, i don't think i have ever seen so many people in my life. We also drove by the red fort which was so beautiful, but we didn't have time to go into it today, but i am sure we will soon..So at the mosque we had to walk up one billion stairs to get to this amazing building, it was breath taking. When we got up to the top we had to take off our shoes, and Kate and I had to put on this things i dont even know what to call them, pretty much like an old lady night gown with crazy patterns on it, and it covered our whole bodies except our heads. and we stuck out INSANELY alot, i am pretty sure everyone in there was laughing at us because we were the only ones in there wearing the crazy outfit. And then once we were inside, we tried to walk around but it didnt work out to well for us... we were like the center of attention..but we got to walk up and see the men praying, they were on their hands and knees bowing down to a wall and some were planting their faces on the ground. It was very interesting to see how they worship. After getting kicked out of that area by a very mean looking indian man, we tried to walk somewhere else and that did not go over very well either. So we basically got escorted out because it was prayer time and women are not allowed in there while prayers are going on. But we definitely were not ready for what was awaiting us as we walked outside. It was like we were celebrities, people had out their cameras, video cameras, screaming at us, grabbing us, trying to get out attention, it was OUT OF CONTROL.. i have no idea why they were doing it, but it was something else. While we were driving we saw some pretty heart wrenching scenes, i can't really even write about them it is much too graphic.
Well Kate and I now have our own classrooms at the Kirby place school (the one deep in the slums) so we are getting used to have to entertain and teach the kids on our own, it is working out pretty well. I love teaching, it really is a rewarding job, and these kids want to learn and learn. We have been teaching them John 14:6 and in my class which is the 4th and 5th grade pretty much have it memorized. I try to do math and english games with the kids to encourage them to be excited about learning, and each day they are!!! In the other school that we are in we are pretty much BFF'S with all the kids, i am pretty sure they only come to school when they know we are coming. And some of the kids are so insanely smart it blows you away, while others struggle with just writing ABC. The state that some of the kids come to school in is insane, they are so dirty, and i am sure they havent bathed in weeks. Most days the teachers clean them up a little before letting them start learning, just because it is hard for them to concentrate in that state. We are really feeling like we are making a difference in these kids lives, so we know God has such an amazing plan for this time while we are over, and we are so excited to see how it unfolds!!
And mom, i ate tomatoes the other day, a bunch of them. Still don't like them though. But i am still trying :)
"Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few, for a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words." Ecclesiastes 5:2-3
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn." Psalm 18:32
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