The Monsoon is rearing its ugly head. The rains have started and the entryway of my house will now be permanently muddy until September. Thankfully we have tile floors throughout our entire house which is easy to clean, but almost not worth cleaning because they get dirty so easily in such a dusty or muddy country.
Thanks to my new Fiancée I got a brand new, super awesome, strong and mighty umbrella! I had been using one that was missing pieces and I always had to fix it correctly, re-attaching wires and things before walking out into the rain. This new one I just push a button and it opens automatically and is huge and even has a curved handle so also doubles as a walking cane. Score!
The dog that my house-owners have is either the laziest dog ever in the world, is incredibly depressed, or is dying. I cannot decide which one. She's usually walking around exploring things and is always eager to greet you at the gate when you come home, but for the past 2 weeks she has been laying on the same step outside my door just sleeping. I have not seen her move from that spot really for two weeks! I don't know if some traumatic thing happened to her and now she's super depressed, that's what I like to do when I get emotional and depressed, but I can't. I heard once that when Lady GaGa gets depressed and doesn't feel like doing anything she gets up, looks at herself in the mirror and says, "You're Lady GaGa! You have to get up and moving!" I wish I had some cool nickname that I could call myself without seeming like a narcissist or crazy mo-fo.
If you did not know, the house I rent is somewhat of a duplex. I live on the ground floor, and my landlord lives above me on the 2nd level. It's quite a wonderful little house, I wish you all could come over and see it. I should really post pictures of it at least one of these days, now that it has almost been one year since I moved in.
This week I am teaching Daniel, and though it's full of difficult passages to interpret, the main message is God's kingdom is coming and will last forever and no other king or kingdom can compete. Reading and studying all these wonderful stories of God giving meaningful, creative dreams to kings and prophets, God causing flesh not to burn in the fire, God closing the mouths of lions, God humbling kings, and God showing Daniel exactly what will happen for the 400 years until Jesus comes, reading all these things just reminds me how truly awesome He is. I go about my days knowing He is awesome, knowing he's powerful, knowing he knows all things, but I don't truly grasp how awesome he really is. I think if I really understood how powerful, awesome, and loving he is I would explode. My mind couldn't handle it and my body wouldn't know how to react. Maybe I'd be like Ezekiel who was silent for 7 days after a vision of the glory of God, or Moses whose face would shine so brightly they'd have to cover it. It's so easy to contain and conceal God just for my personal life, but I think if I had a real interaction with him I wouldn't be able to contain my joy, ecstasy, and awe. I get so concerned with offending people, I don't want to be seen as the girl, sister, aunt, who always puts up those "Jesus" Facebook statuses, gross. But in all actuality, I should be completely unconcerned of people and feelings and reputations surrounding me, and be completely concerned with who God is.
For some reason this week (and it's only Tuesday, mind you) everyone is talking about goals, visions, 2-year or 5-year plans. What's your mission statement? What's your vision? Where do you see yourself in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years? Personally, I can barely see where I am going to be tomorrow, let alone 2 years from now. Is it so wrong to not have a plan or even an idea what I'll be doing then? I mean, I know vague things like I'll be married then and most likely be living in India. As for my future and vision and calling, I have no idea still what those are in my life and quite frankly am getting sick of those words, but this is YWAM, that's all you ever talk about. This time last year I was so proud of myself because I had the next two years all figured out for once in my life, but now just one year later I'm back in that confused, what should I do next?, sort of phase. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I always seem to be in this phase. I don't think I will ever have my life figured out. Do you ever feel that way? All I know is I must stay true to my identity, do what I love, and be with the people I love. Wherever that leads me I will be happy. I won't be living an easy life I know, but I know I will be happy.
Romel, the Fiancée, and I are attempting to figure out how he can get a visa to the US to come in August. Please, please, please keep this situation in your prayers and thoughts. If you get any words, a vision, a picture, a verse, anything at all as you pray please let me know. Any encouragement or confirmation is welcomed. I'm worried, being a worrier that would naturally occur, but this time it's a bigger thing. I have faith that whatever God wants is going to happen, and I feel like he will get a visa, but I also know from friends and stories that what we are trying to do is virtually impossible seen through earthly eyes, but after studying Daniel it's safe to say that God is fully capable of doing this, it's easy for him, the real question is does he want Romel to go to the US in August?
I will leave you with this quote from C.S. Lewis, after studying Daniel and also reading a book full of stories of martyrs, I am left thinking what I would do in a life or death situation if I am forced to deny my faith. I think, "I'd definitely be shot, beheaded, burned at the stake for God, but I don't know if I would want to be slowly tortured and killed in a long-lasting painful way." People have been steam-rolled because of their faith! I don't know if I could do that, but why wouldn't I? I won't actually know until and unless I am in that situation I suppose. C.S. Lewis said it best, "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood become a matter of life and death to you."
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
What it's like to be sick in India
They say the ultimate test to whether your throat truly is healing from strep is if you can eat cold pizza without chopping it into teeny-tiny pieces and heating it up before you chew it a billion times so that you don't even need to regurgitate it in order for it to be classified as "regurgitated." Actually, who says that? I say that. Guess what? I just passed the test! Though my tonsils are still quite swollen, they are no longer sore and even though my left tonsil still has a giant white spot the size of Mars covering the side of it, it doesn't seem to be doing anything but being lazy.
For the past 9 days I have basically been bed-ridden because of strep, or tonsillitis. Perhaps I will never even know because the doctors in India don't do strep tests. You tell them your symptoms and they give you medicine based on your symptoms. I had 1. Fever 2. stuffy nose 3. sore/swollen throat 4. upset stomach. So what did I get? 1. pill to reduce my fever 2. pill to get rid of my stuffy nose 3. antibiotics to kill my throat infection 4. mouthwash to further kill my throat bacteria and make it safer I guess for things to pass into my stomach.
I'll never forget my first time to the Indian doctor. I had been throwing up from both ends (sorry, but so true) for like 3 days, so I went and told the doctor what was going on. He made me lie down, pressed on my upper abdomen, "does this hurt?" my answer, "no." then he pressed on my lower abdomen, "does this hurt?" my answer, "a little, I guess." Then he said, "Okay, lets get some medicine for you." What? What is that? He just scribbled some form of writing on a piece of paper, made me pay 100 rupees, and sent me to the pharmacist across the street. I did not even know what I was taking, but I took it and lo and behold I got better. In fact, even though I have no idea what these guys are prescribing me until after I pay for it and read the labels, it works, and they know what they're doing though my American mind tells me with everything inside of it that they have no idea what they're doing.
In fact, I'm sure I'm getting all the illnesses that babies in India get since the adults are most likely immune to the strep bacteria and TB. Who knows? So the doctors are very familiar and probably think, "poor porcelain baby, she's getting so sick in our country."
I'll have you all know that the first 9 months I was in India I got sick once. ONCE. Then I went home for 11 months and did not get sick at all. Then, I came back to India and BAM as soon as I started TITUS Project, the optional SBS outreach where I learn how to teach and preach and then go out and teach and preach for 8 weeks. Now all I ever do is get sick. Seriously. I don't understand what's going on. I'm that girl that you regret accepting into your school because she has a "history of health problems." Which all seem tiny and insignificant, but 3-4 of them always happen at the same time so it's actually quite a huge deal. Sore throat? Whatevs, I can still go to class and stuff. Stuffy nose? That's nothin'. Fever? I got a fever, give me 24 hours and I'll break it and be fever free. But combine all those and you have a lethal weapon of mass body weakening. Thank you, Satan.
I've decided, and it's been confirmed recently in one dream (I'm waiting for more confirmation) that it's all spiritual attack. I mean, like Satan really wants another person out there telling people who Jesus really was and that he does not want you to live in shame, guilt, disappointment, or condemnation! I'm not just sharing the gospel with those who haven't heard, but I'm actually equipping people who already know and believe in Jesus with the truth! I'm helping them know who their Creator is better and pointing them in the right direction (not that I have it right at all, but we're all learning together). I'm teaching others to pass on this Truth. It's easy to ignore someone out there on their own preaching the gospel, but it's the ones who are equipping the believers Satan needs to watch out for, and so I've come to the conclusion that the reason I'm getting so sick is because I'm stepping up my game. I am not just a "comfortable" Christian living the American Dream influencing a few lives here and there which is totally awesome if that's what God wants you to do!! But God wanted something different for me, and so I am still obedient even though it might be more difficult than one of my good friends who's got a great job and spouse and lots of money. When we obey God we get attacked. That's almost how I know I really am where I'm supposed to be is when I face great opposition and despite that opposition amazing things still happen! Then who gets all the glory? Not this weak, little girl who has only lived on a diet of mangos and yogurt for the past 9 days. I couldn't blow out a candle right now if I tried. God gets all the glory, which is how it was always supposed to be.
For the past 9 days I have basically been bed-ridden because of strep, or tonsillitis. Perhaps I will never even know because the doctors in India don't do strep tests. You tell them your symptoms and they give you medicine based on your symptoms. I had 1. Fever 2. stuffy nose 3. sore/swollen throat 4. upset stomach. So what did I get? 1. pill to reduce my fever 2. pill to get rid of my stuffy nose 3. antibiotics to kill my throat infection 4. mouthwash to further kill my throat bacteria and make it safer I guess for things to pass into my stomach.
I'll never forget my first time to the Indian doctor. I had been throwing up from both ends (sorry, but so true) for like 3 days, so I went and told the doctor what was going on. He made me lie down, pressed on my upper abdomen, "does this hurt?" my answer, "no." then he pressed on my lower abdomen, "does this hurt?" my answer, "a little, I guess." Then he said, "Okay, lets get some medicine for you." What? What is that? He just scribbled some form of writing on a piece of paper, made me pay 100 rupees, and sent me to the pharmacist across the street. I did not even know what I was taking, but I took it and lo and behold I got better. In fact, even though I have no idea what these guys are prescribing me until after I pay for it and read the labels, it works, and they know what they're doing though my American mind tells me with everything inside of it that they have no idea what they're doing.
In fact, I'm sure I'm getting all the illnesses that babies in India get since the adults are most likely immune to the strep bacteria and TB. Who knows? So the doctors are very familiar and probably think, "poor porcelain baby, she's getting so sick in our country."
I'll have you all know that the first 9 months I was in India I got sick once. ONCE. Then I went home for 11 months and did not get sick at all. Then, I came back to India and BAM as soon as I started TITUS Project, the optional SBS outreach where I learn how to teach and preach and then go out and teach and preach for 8 weeks. Now all I ever do is get sick. Seriously. I don't understand what's going on. I'm that girl that you regret accepting into your school because she has a "history of health problems." Which all seem tiny and insignificant, but 3-4 of them always happen at the same time so it's actually quite a huge deal. Sore throat? Whatevs, I can still go to class and stuff. Stuffy nose? That's nothin'. Fever? I got a fever, give me 24 hours and I'll break it and be fever free. But combine all those and you have a lethal weapon of mass body weakening. Thank you, Satan.
I've decided, and it's been confirmed recently in one dream (I'm waiting for more confirmation) that it's all spiritual attack. I mean, like Satan really wants another person out there telling people who Jesus really was and that he does not want you to live in shame, guilt, disappointment, or condemnation! I'm not just sharing the gospel with those who haven't heard, but I'm actually equipping people who already know and believe in Jesus with the truth! I'm helping them know who their Creator is better and pointing them in the right direction (not that I have it right at all, but we're all learning together). I'm teaching others to pass on this Truth. It's easy to ignore someone out there on their own preaching the gospel, but it's the ones who are equipping the believers Satan needs to watch out for, and so I've come to the conclusion that the reason I'm getting so sick is because I'm stepping up my game. I am not just a "comfortable" Christian living the American Dream influencing a few lives here and there which is totally awesome if that's what God wants you to do!! But God wanted something different for me, and so I am still obedient even though it might be more difficult than one of my good friends who's got a great job and spouse and lots of money. When we obey God we get attacked. That's almost how I know I really am where I'm supposed to be is when I face great opposition and despite that opposition amazing things still happen! Then who gets all the glory? Not this weak, little girl who has only lived on a diet of mangos and yogurt for the past 9 days. I couldn't blow out a candle right now if I tried. God gets all the glory, which is how it was always supposed to be.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Weddings are annoying around here.
Last night until almost midnight there was super loud, bass thumping, Bollywood dance music blasting through my windows into my house and into my very soul. There's a wedding going on about a block away from my house and the music was still that loud in my home. Try to fall asleep with that going on, not to mention it is fighting for loudest annoyance with barking/howling street dogs, the neighbor children playing and laughing in Marathi, honking horns, rickshaw motors, and a passing train about every hour. This is how I fall asleep most nights. It is far too hot to close my windows to shut out the noise, so I turn the fan up to "2" sometimes "3" if I'm really annoyed and then, if it's even louder than the fan (which last night it was) I put in the ear plugs. This wedding music does not happen every night, but it is wedding season right now and I think yesterday was a particularly auspicious day for weddings. In India they set their weddings for auspicious dates, typically consulting a guru or some holy man to choose a date with good luck or favor. They are very superstitious. People get married on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Sundays, any day that is auspicious.
I take approximately three showers per day. I get sweaty just sitting still. When there's no power everyone just about dies because then the fans cannot spin and we sit in hot, thick air. There is no such thing as central air in India and if you actually own AC in your home anywhere you are incredibly wealthy. So, I am delighted to take cold showers at least thrice a day. Once when I wake up, once after lunch, once more before dinner if guests are coming over, and sometimes I even take one before bed if I'm particularly sweaty. I look for excuses to run home and hop in the shower. It's amazing how quickly your sticky gross feeling goes away after a little soap and water. I just love taking showers here and look for any reason to squeeze one in!
When I was home for Christmas for 2 months however, I looked for any excuse to avoid a shower! I never felt dirty, sweaty, or hot so why take a shower, right? I had to join a gym so that I would sweat for a long time each day so that my brain would think it necessary to take a shower. Don't judge me for this. I just thought showering in Minnesota during the frigid winter was unnecessary. Your skin is barely exposed to outside air to get dirty, everything is so dry, and showering wastes time.
This Saturday I am going to Mumbai as a tourist for sight-seeing and shopping! You might think, "big deal, this girl lives 2.5 hours from Mumbai, she goes there all the time." But you would be wrong in thinking that. I have NEVER been to Mumbai. I repeat, I have never set foot in Mumbai aside from the International airport, the parking lot of the International airport, and a taxi that drives through the streets of Mumbai only to leave it far behind and bring me to my home 2.5 hours away. I have never walked around Mumbai or explored Mumbai. I have never had the energy or desire to go because quite honestly: Mumbai scares the crap out of me. It's HUGE, it's LOUD, it's full of incredibly poor people who only break my heart, it's SCARY, and it is the home of....Bollywood.
Don't get me wrong. I love me some Bollywood films! They're hilarious, funny, humorous, cheesy, cliché, corny, and some are just downright stupid. Mostly the types of movies I enjoy! They are so ridiculous they're awesome. BUT they are so influenced by the "West" and the people of Mumbai/bollywood culture who I have experienced are arrogant, too-cool-for-school, narcissists. Just being honest about the way they portray themselves. The funny thing is that the "West" they are influenced by fashion-wise and attitude-wise is the West of the 1990s. At least your average person's fashion, not the real, high fashion of India that's where it gets awesome.
All in all, I am filled with nervous excitement as I anticipate my upcoming day-trip to Mumbai. At least we have confirmed seats on the trains, and really, it's the travelling there that stresses me out more than actually being there.
I often forget that I get so offended and frustrated when people here assume things of me because I am from "America" and am white, yet I so often do the exact same thing to them. I think I justify myself by thinking that I am actually in their culture, in their country, so I know how it really is and therefore it's okay to stereotype because I actually know them. They've never been to the United States and have only seen Hollywood movies to show them what America is like which is not at all what America is like. What sort of Christian am I when I do this? I get so upset with their assumptions yet I think I judge them even more. I am trying to figure out how this can change, but ultimately I need a change of heart and attitude which is something I cannot do on my own. Don't you just love that we are incapable of doing anything on our own and must continuously rely on God to do all in us we wish to accomplish? It is quite a humbling life that we live, and if I am not humbled by it, something is wrong.
I take approximately three showers per day. I get sweaty just sitting still. When there's no power everyone just about dies because then the fans cannot spin and we sit in hot, thick air. There is no such thing as central air in India and if you actually own AC in your home anywhere you are incredibly wealthy. So, I am delighted to take cold showers at least thrice a day. Once when I wake up, once after lunch, once more before dinner if guests are coming over, and sometimes I even take one before bed if I'm particularly sweaty. I look for excuses to run home and hop in the shower. It's amazing how quickly your sticky gross feeling goes away after a little soap and water. I just love taking showers here and look for any reason to squeeze one in!
When I was home for Christmas for 2 months however, I looked for any excuse to avoid a shower! I never felt dirty, sweaty, or hot so why take a shower, right? I had to join a gym so that I would sweat for a long time each day so that my brain would think it necessary to take a shower. Don't judge me for this. I just thought showering in Minnesota during the frigid winter was unnecessary. Your skin is barely exposed to outside air to get dirty, everything is so dry, and showering wastes time.
This Saturday I am going to Mumbai as a tourist for sight-seeing and shopping! You might think, "big deal, this girl lives 2.5 hours from Mumbai, she goes there all the time." But you would be wrong in thinking that. I have NEVER been to Mumbai. I repeat, I have never set foot in Mumbai aside from the International airport, the parking lot of the International airport, and a taxi that drives through the streets of Mumbai only to leave it far behind and bring me to my home 2.5 hours away. I have never walked around Mumbai or explored Mumbai. I have never had the energy or desire to go because quite honestly: Mumbai scares the crap out of me. It's HUGE, it's LOUD, it's full of incredibly poor people who only break my heart, it's SCARY, and it is the home of....Bollywood.
Don't get me wrong. I love me some Bollywood films! They're hilarious, funny, humorous, cheesy, cliché, corny, and some are just downright stupid. Mostly the types of movies I enjoy! They are so ridiculous they're awesome. BUT they are so influenced by the "West" and the people of Mumbai/bollywood culture who I have experienced are arrogant, too-cool-for-school, narcissists. Just being honest about the way they portray themselves. The funny thing is that the "West" they are influenced by fashion-wise and attitude-wise is the West of the 1990s. At least your average person's fashion, not the real, high fashion of India that's where it gets awesome.
All in all, I am filled with nervous excitement as I anticipate my upcoming day-trip to Mumbai. At least we have confirmed seats on the trains, and really, it's the travelling there that stresses me out more than actually being there.
I often forget that I get so offended and frustrated when people here assume things of me because I am from "America" and am white, yet I so often do the exact same thing to them. I think I justify myself by thinking that I am actually in their culture, in their country, so I know how it really is and therefore it's okay to stereotype because I actually know them. They've never been to the United States and have only seen Hollywood movies to show them what America is like which is not at all what America is like. What sort of Christian am I when I do this? I get so upset with their assumptions yet I think I judge them even more. I am trying to figure out how this can change, but ultimately I need a change of heart and attitude which is something I cannot do on my own. Don't you just love that we are incapable of doing anything on our own and must continuously rely on God to do all in us we wish to accomplish? It is quite a humbling life that we live, and if I am not humbled by it, something is wrong.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Mango Season and Holy Underwear.
Well it is beginning to be a wonderful mango season here in India. I almost got mugged by a falling mango the other day. I was on the phone, minding my own business when all of a sudden something fell to the ground next to me. I looked down and there was a green mango. It nearly missed me. At least a person is 99% likely to survive a mango falling on you. If it was a coconut or jack fruit I could be dead.
In India they cook with something called a "pressure cooker" and I personally am terrified of them. It is like a normal pot you cook in, except it has a cover that is fastened down with a "whistle" on the top which lets the steam/pressure out when it gets too much. I wish I was not afraid of them because it cooks things super fast! You can boil potatoes in no time with these pressure cookers!! It's quite amazing. However, there are so many horror stories of them exploding and people getting scalded and killed even. So, that is why I'm terrified of them. Anyway, the real point to this is my life feels like a pressure cooker right now. There is something building, and building, and I keep getting closer and closer to this wonderful thing about to happen, but it continues to be just farther than a hand reach in front of me. Just out of my grasp and so I move closer, and then it is still just out of my reach. My excitement is building up and my emotions are building up and very soon I will finally be able to grasp this thing and it most likely will be one of the best moments of my life! But living with the building pressure is the hardest thing. I just want to explode now and get rid of all this steam and excitement inside of me, but it is not time yet.
We have begun the prophets today. For the next three days we have class morning with a lunch and work duty break, then class in the evening also. It is sort of like the first three weeks of the school where we did that every day for three weeks. Yikes.
The students need to learn all the new ways to study the prophets. The foundation is still the same, observation of the text, interpretation of what it means to the original reader, and application of how to apply it to our lives today. But now they have new things to look for. Predictions, Oracles, Prophecies, and the constant cycle of sin, judgment, and restoration. They also need to know about the different types of literature throughout the prophets: poetry, narrative, apocalyptic writing. Also a review of the figures of speech.
Now we're getting serious. The Prophets are difficult, long, and basically all about the same two things. Going into exile and then the return from exile. It's quite easy to interpret if you know the history. Not very much is about Jesus and not very much is about the 2nd coming. Here are some statistics of the prophecies in The Prophets of the Old Testament:
1. Less than 2% of prophecies are messianic, or about Jesus Christ coming as Savior.
2. Less than 5% of prophecies describe the church age, or basically the time from when Jesus first came until his 2nd coming.
3. Less than 1% of prophecies have yet to be fulfilled. Basically, 99% of all the things in the prophetic books has already happened.
Hows that for interesting? Everything in the book of Daniel has already happened and is history. Same with most everything in these books.
Something rather peculiar happened the other day. It was one of those, "you never know what will happen in India!" moments that frequent my days, weeks, and months here... I really lucked out in the apartment I am renting. My land-lady and her two sons are catholic. They have no problem with what we are doing here and I am able to be completely honest with them about what I do and when I teach and what I teach. Now, the first time the oldest brother knocked on our door around 8:00 at night he started yelling at us because a friend of ours came over and did not close the gate and so the dog got out of the yard and was "thrashed" by a street dog. This was not okay with our landlord, and the dog's owner, because his dog is a pedigree labrador and he wants to breed her with another pedigree labrador! Heaven forbid she should get pregnant by some rufian, mutt street dog. Yikes. I had never seen him so angry. And after that happened they brought poor little Debbie (that's the dog's name) to the vet and got a doggie abortion. Yikes. But, this is not the story I wanted to tell you...Anyway, that's what happened the last time he knocked on our door. On Monday night around the same time we heard a knock at our door and were not expecting anyone so of course we are afraid that he is upset again for something we did horribly wrong!! So, I opened the door and there he was standing right there! He explained that every year on the day after Easter they have a priest come and bless the house and suddenly out of nowhere this Indian Catholic priest jumps out with this long white kurta-robe. He asked if it was okay for him to come in and bless our apartment also. I said, "sure! That's cool!" so the priest walks right into our house and begins sprinkling this holy water all over everything! He walks into all the rooms sprinkling holy water from this eye drop bottle (that's what it looked like, I can sprinkle visine over things too and say the name of Jesus). As he enters each room he sprinkles water, says something like "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." you know, the usual Catholic blessing I suppose. In our bathrooms, kitchen, our bedrooms!! Good thing I didn't leave out my dirty underwear or anything, but I definitely had my clean underwear hanging on our clothes hanger inside the doorway to dry. At least now I know for the next week my underwear has been blessed and sprinkled with holy water. Thank you, Jesus.
In India they cook with something called a "pressure cooker" and I personally am terrified of them. It is like a normal pot you cook in, except it has a cover that is fastened down with a "whistle" on the top which lets the steam/pressure out when it gets too much. I wish I was not afraid of them because it cooks things super fast! You can boil potatoes in no time with these pressure cookers!! It's quite amazing. However, there are so many horror stories of them exploding and people getting scalded and killed even. So, that is why I'm terrified of them. Anyway, the real point to this is my life feels like a pressure cooker right now. There is something building, and building, and I keep getting closer and closer to this wonderful thing about to happen, but it continues to be just farther than a hand reach in front of me. Just out of my grasp and so I move closer, and then it is still just out of my reach. My excitement is building up and my emotions are building up and very soon I will finally be able to grasp this thing and it most likely will be one of the best moments of my life! But living with the building pressure is the hardest thing. I just want to explode now and get rid of all this steam and excitement inside of me, but it is not time yet.
We have begun the prophets today. For the next three days we have class morning with a lunch and work duty break, then class in the evening also. It is sort of like the first three weeks of the school where we did that every day for three weeks. Yikes.
The students need to learn all the new ways to study the prophets. The foundation is still the same, observation of the text, interpretation of what it means to the original reader, and application of how to apply it to our lives today. But now they have new things to look for. Predictions, Oracles, Prophecies, and the constant cycle of sin, judgment, and restoration. They also need to know about the different types of literature throughout the prophets: poetry, narrative, apocalyptic writing. Also a review of the figures of speech.
Now we're getting serious. The Prophets are difficult, long, and basically all about the same two things. Going into exile and then the return from exile. It's quite easy to interpret if you know the history. Not very much is about Jesus and not very much is about the 2nd coming. Here are some statistics of the prophecies in The Prophets of the Old Testament:
1. Less than 2% of prophecies are messianic, or about Jesus Christ coming as Savior.
2. Less than 5% of prophecies describe the church age, or basically the time from when Jesus first came until his 2nd coming.
3. Less than 1% of prophecies have yet to be fulfilled. Basically, 99% of all the things in the prophetic books has already happened.
Hows that for interesting? Everything in the book of Daniel has already happened and is history. Same with most everything in these books.
Something rather peculiar happened the other day. It was one of those, "you never know what will happen in India!" moments that frequent my days, weeks, and months here... I really lucked out in the apartment I am renting. My land-lady and her two sons are catholic. They have no problem with what we are doing here and I am able to be completely honest with them about what I do and when I teach and what I teach. Now, the first time the oldest brother knocked on our door around 8:00 at night he started yelling at us because a friend of ours came over and did not close the gate and so the dog got out of the yard and was "thrashed" by a street dog. This was not okay with our landlord, and the dog's owner, because his dog is a pedigree labrador and he wants to breed her with another pedigree labrador! Heaven forbid she should get pregnant by some rufian, mutt street dog. Yikes. I had never seen him so angry. And after that happened they brought poor little Debbie (that's the dog's name) to the vet and got a doggie abortion. Yikes. But, this is not the story I wanted to tell you...Anyway, that's what happened the last time he knocked on our door. On Monday night around the same time we heard a knock at our door and were not expecting anyone so of course we are afraid that he is upset again for something we did horribly wrong!! So, I opened the door and there he was standing right there! He explained that every year on the day after Easter they have a priest come and bless the house and suddenly out of nowhere this Indian Catholic priest jumps out with this long white kurta-robe. He asked if it was okay for him to come in and bless our apartment also. I said, "sure! That's cool!" so the priest walks right into our house and begins sprinkling this holy water all over everything! He walks into all the rooms sprinkling holy water from this eye drop bottle (that's what it looked like, I can sprinkle visine over things too and say the name of Jesus). As he enters each room he sprinkles water, says something like "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." you know, the usual Catholic blessing I suppose. In our bathrooms, kitchen, our bedrooms!! Good thing I didn't leave out my dirty underwear or anything, but I definitely had my clean underwear hanging on our clothes hanger inside the doorway to dry. At least now I know for the next week my underwear has been blessed and sprinkled with holy water. Thank you, Jesus.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Cultural Differences.
It is 100 degrees every day. Not a cloud in the sky. I will melt like butter one of these days and no one will find me and I will become like an unsolved mystery.
Yesterday I was walking home from the coffee shop I frequent, and the leader of my base was driving by...with seven children in his car plus one other adult. It reminded me how different everything is here (as if I could ever forget). But seriously, entire families drive down the road on one motorcycle. 3 year old child in front, followed by Dad driving, then infant, and finally Mama. AND if Mama is wearing a Sari, then she's riding the cycle side-saddle with the infant in her lap.
There's also this great "normal" thing to do for men who have been driving for so long and have to go to the bathroom. Pull the car over and pee anywhere you want in public against a wall! Totally acceptable. If I had a dollar for every accidental glimpse of an Indian man's private part I'd have at least 14 dollars right now. It's gross and disturbing.
The other most shocking and sad thing is the way people litter. They don't even think about it. They eat a candy bar and simply drop the wrapper to the ground. On trains they throw their garbage out the window, in cars, same thing. Walking down the street they just throw any garbage they might have on the ground. Even the "Christians" do it. It's so heavily engrained in their minds from when they're kids and in the culture as a whole, that even Christian people here throw their trash on the ground.
Sometimes it is hard not to let these cultural differences frustrate me. I could get so angry and upset that I never want to come back! Instead I am constantly confessing my bitterness and challenges with the culture. I am constantly trying my hardest not to flip the bird to passers-by who feel the need to honk and stare and shout at me simply because I'm white. It can be hard to look for the good things this country has in its culture, but when you find something which is inevitable, it makes you fall in love with the people and place even more.
I love how anyone will invite you to their home and insist you stay the night. Most people are more than willing to help you get where you need to go or pay the right price for something so you don't get ripped off (which tends to happen as a foreigner a lot). When traveling on trains people love to share their food with you and children want to know your name and why you are here. They love stories, so this country is the perfect place to share stories of Jesus or even in the Old Testament, Moses, Abraham, Ruth, Esther, all these are just exciting stories everyone loves to hear! I love their curiosity. I love that everyone stares at my lip ring like I'm crazy and asks what it is because they've never seen one before. I love that one aunty thought I was hiding a bag of Lay's chips up my sleeve because of my color tattoo. They have never seen color tattoos before either. I love that every woman in this country is beautiful. Literally, every woman. This place is so colorful. The houses, the clothes, the big goods carrier trucks, even the cows sometimes have colored horns! I love that there is a mango tree in my yard and it is almost mango season!
Sure there are so many things I could complain about and grow frustrated with, but if I just learn to focus on the good...if I just stop seeing myself as "superior" which most Westerners tend to do when they come here...then I only fall more in love with this place. I know this is my home. Now I just have to figure out what my purpose is in India.
Yesterday I was walking home from the coffee shop I frequent, and the leader of my base was driving by...with seven children in his car plus one other adult. It reminded me how different everything is here (as if I could ever forget). But seriously, entire families drive down the road on one motorcycle. 3 year old child in front, followed by Dad driving, then infant, and finally Mama. AND if Mama is wearing a Sari, then she's riding the cycle side-saddle with the infant in her lap.
There's also this great "normal" thing to do for men who have been driving for so long and have to go to the bathroom. Pull the car over and pee anywhere you want in public against a wall! Totally acceptable. If I had a dollar for every accidental glimpse of an Indian man's private part I'd have at least 14 dollars right now. It's gross and disturbing.
The other most shocking and sad thing is the way people litter. They don't even think about it. They eat a candy bar and simply drop the wrapper to the ground. On trains they throw their garbage out the window, in cars, same thing. Walking down the street they just throw any garbage they might have on the ground. Even the "Christians" do it. It's so heavily engrained in their minds from when they're kids and in the culture as a whole, that even Christian people here throw their trash on the ground.
Sometimes it is hard not to let these cultural differences frustrate me. I could get so angry and upset that I never want to come back! Instead I am constantly confessing my bitterness and challenges with the culture. I am constantly trying my hardest not to flip the bird to passers-by who feel the need to honk and stare and shout at me simply because I'm white. It can be hard to look for the good things this country has in its culture, but when you find something which is inevitable, it makes you fall in love with the people and place even more.
I love how anyone will invite you to their home and insist you stay the night. Most people are more than willing to help you get where you need to go or pay the right price for something so you don't get ripped off (which tends to happen as a foreigner a lot). When traveling on trains people love to share their food with you and children want to know your name and why you are here. They love stories, so this country is the perfect place to share stories of Jesus or even in the Old Testament, Moses, Abraham, Ruth, Esther, all these are just exciting stories everyone loves to hear! I love their curiosity. I love that everyone stares at my lip ring like I'm crazy and asks what it is because they've never seen one before. I love that one aunty thought I was hiding a bag of Lay's chips up my sleeve because of my color tattoo. They have never seen color tattoos before either. I love that every woman in this country is beautiful. Literally, every woman. This place is so colorful. The houses, the clothes, the big goods carrier trucks, even the cows sometimes have colored horns! I love that there is a mango tree in my yard and it is almost mango season!
Sure there are so many things I could complain about and grow frustrated with, but if I just learn to focus on the good...if I just stop seeing myself as "superior" which most Westerners tend to do when they come here...then I only fall more in love with this place. I know this is my home. Now I just have to figure out what my purpose is in India.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Two down, One to go!
I had a lovely week vacation. Our Spring break is over and today marks the beginning of the third quarter of this SBS. Things are getting exciting. I teach the book of Esther in 2 weeks! I love that book because it is just like a real book, a story, it could be a movie, well, I think it is a movie. I like that it's full of irony. That wretched Haman who had it in for Mordecai so badly, but in the end all that he hoped to do to Mordecai was done to him and all that he wanted done for him was done for Mordecai. Isn't it ironic? Don't ya think?
For my Spring break I did what every American likes to do, went south. Only this is South India which is super hot and super conservative. I attended the SBS graduation ceremony of a really good friend of mine. I had a lot of fun and it was really nice to see another SBS house and how they run things and how committed these staff and students were. They all got along really well and were like a family eager to welcome myself and my friend as guest members of the family for a few days. I learned a lot and saw a few familiar old faces from my SBS a few years ago!
Also, it seems as though my immune system also tends to go on vacation when I have a holiday. Every time I have a break from school ever since I can remember, I always seem to get sick! The day after I came back from Mysore I was in bed all day trying my best not to vomit or poop my pants. Honestly, that's the way it is in India sometimes. You will get diarrhea, it is inevitable. Fortunately it was only a 24 hour "bug" but then on Saturday I started getting all these hives all over my body! At first I thought there was some phantom mosquito that wouldn't leave me alone, until I realized it's the middle of the day and that cannot be possible for a mosquito to bite me hundreds of times on both my arms. You see, I've never had hives before, and living in malaria infested mosquito Las Vegas I immediately assumed I was getting bitten at first. It came and went and came and went, and finally, after almost ripping my skin off to just get rid of the itching feeling, I got some anti-histamines, took one and then it was all better. Ahhh. It just sucks to know I have to go to the pharmacy to get something because I have to walk in that super hot sun, sweating, and I'm already going crazy with hives covering my body and so tired. Fortunately, I have a wonderful and very good looking friend who went and got them for me while I sat comfortably in Coffee Day studying Esther.
So this week it begins again. I hope and pray that this final quarter we all give our all and our best to this school and to this campus. That we wouldn't "check-out" which I am so good at doing when I know the end is near, but in knowing the end is near we would work all the more and get the most out of every situation, every chapter, every book, every minute. I cannot wait to see how I experience God this quarter and also to hear how my students and fellow staff members are experiencing Him. All I know is that I am done with stress and I am done with anxiety. I am ready to see the glory of God and to stop putting Sarah first.
Along with the hot weather comes sleepy heads. I could just curl up and fall asleep at any time these days. Getting back into the schedule of the week is going to be a lot harder than I thought. I better get to bed early tonight. Tomorrow is not so busy of a day, but still always have to wake up early for something. Always. It will be nice once i'm not in SBS any longer. Speaking of which, I am praying about my future here, about what to do after this SBS. I know I committed for two SBSes, however I am beginning to think that perhaps God is once again changing directions here with my life. I have decided (in short term vision) to staff the next Titus Project, at least the training phase, or first three weeks. Titus Project is the outreach portion of SBS that I did as soon as I came here last June. It is three weeks of training where you are taught how to teach and prepare lectures and sermons, then after three weeks of that you go out somewhere for 2 months and teach and preach! I will not be able to lead an outreach because I have to come home by that time again for another visa run. But this time I will not be coming alone!
Please pray for my dear friend who will be applying for a visa to the states. We are not sure which one yet, tourist or for an internship. Pray that one of them works out and that this person is able to get their visa on the first try so that they can come and experience our culture and another way of life and meet all my friends and family!
I hope this entry finds you well and in good health, unlike me. Enjoy your spring because I am so jealous of the nice weather and thunderstorms! There won't be a cloud in the sky until July most likely and it's only going to get hotter. It's already up to around 100 degrees every day by lunchtime. Yikes.
For my Spring break I did what every American likes to do, went south. Only this is South India which is super hot and super conservative. I attended the SBS graduation ceremony of a really good friend of mine. I had a lot of fun and it was really nice to see another SBS house and how they run things and how committed these staff and students were. They all got along really well and were like a family eager to welcome myself and my friend as guest members of the family for a few days. I learned a lot and saw a few familiar old faces from my SBS a few years ago!
Also, it seems as though my immune system also tends to go on vacation when I have a holiday. Every time I have a break from school ever since I can remember, I always seem to get sick! The day after I came back from Mysore I was in bed all day trying my best not to vomit or poop my pants. Honestly, that's the way it is in India sometimes. You will get diarrhea, it is inevitable. Fortunately it was only a 24 hour "bug" but then on Saturday I started getting all these hives all over my body! At first I thought there was some phantom mosquito that wouldn't leave me alone, until I realized it's the middle of the day and that cannot be possible for a mosquito to bite me hundreds of times on both my arms. You see, I've never had hives before, and living in malaria infested mosquito Las Vegas I immediately assumed I was getting bitten at first. It came and went and came and went, and finally, after almost ripping my skin off to just get rid of the itching feeling, I got some anti-histamines, took one and then it was all better. Ahhh. It just sucks to know I have to go to the pharmacy to get something because I have to walk in that super hot sun, sweating, and I'm already going crazy with hives covering my body and so tired. Fortunately, I have a wonderful and very good looking friend who went and got them for me while I sat comfortably in Coffee Day studying Esther.
So this week it begins again. I hope and pray that this final quarter we all give our all and our best to this school and to this campus. That we wouldn't "check-out" which I am so good at doing when I know the end is near, but in knowing the end is near we would work all the more and get the most out of every situation, every chapter, every book, every minute. I cannot wait to see how I experience God this quarter and also to hear how my students and fellow staff members are experiencing Him. All I know is that I am done with stress and I am done with anxiety. I am ready to see the glory of God and to stop putting Sarah first.
Along with the hot weather comes sleepy heads. I could just curl up and fall asleep at any time these days. Getting back into the schedule of the week is going to be a lot harder than I thought. I better get to bed early tonight. Tomorrow is not so busy of a day, but still always have to wake up early for something. Always. It will be nice once i'm not in SBS any longer. Speaking of which, I am praying about my future here, about what to do after this SBS. I know I committed for two SBSes, however I am beginning to think that perhaps God is once again changing directions here with my life. I have decided (in short term vision) to staff the next Titus Project, at least the training phase, or first three weeks. Titus Project is the outreach portion of SBS that I did as soon as I came here last June. It is three weeks of training where you are taught how to teach and prepare lectures and sermons, then after three weeks of that you go out somewhere for 2 months and teach and preach! I will not be able to lead an outreach because I have to come home by that time again for another visa run. But this time I will not be coming alone!
Please pray for my dear friend who will be applying for a visa to the states. We are not sure which one yet, tourist or for an internship. Pray that one of them works out and that this person is able to get their visa on the first try so that they can come and experience our culture and another way of life and meet all my friends and family!
I hope this entry finds you well and in good health, unlike me. Enjoy your spring because I am so jealous of the nice weather and thunderstorms! There won't be a cloud in the sky until July most likely and it's only going to get hotter. It's already up to around 100 degrees every day by lunchtime. Yikes.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Cooking and Murder Plots. Yes, Murder Plots.
I have become a cooking machine since moving back to India. My previous six months here ended up in many cooking disasters and a loss of hope that I will one day be the perfect house-wife. I don't want to be a house-wife anyway, so that's probably a good thing. However, since arriving back to Mother India, I have been cooking and baking quite often, and you know what? The food I make is actually tasting good! I mean, it is quite excellent if I must say. I'm not normally one to toot my own horn, especially when it comes to cooking, but I think this calls for some sort of recognition. I roasted four chickens on Friday night for our school's Love Feast. Now, it's quite nerve-wracking knowing that you are in charge of making the chicken for everyone to eat. What if it turns out wrong? Some people don't eat Pork, so there is no other option, they have to eat your chicken no matter what it tastes like. Fortunately, they turned out wonderfully with matching mashed potatoes to boot!
Perhaps God really is preparing me for married life.
On another, more terrible note, I keep getting boils. I mean, the first one was a surprise, and when it finally started going away I was so relieved. Then, another one sprouted up right next to where the first one was, just days after the first one healed. At least with the second one I was more prepared as to how to deal with it. Then, just a few days ago I thought another one was coming in, but nothing even came of it, so I thought I had mastered boil combat. I hit that one fast and hard with cleanliness and topical ointment. But, I wonder if that one was even a boil because it did not hurt at all. Now, there is another one on the same leg. Not right next to the first two, but about four inches below them. I'm doing all I can think to do to thwart its efforts of growing and becoming terribly painful, but my scare tactics are not working this time. I really wonder what is causing this to happen.
Street dogs are so incredibly annoying. When I left there were these three puppies that were about three months old a few houses down from me. They were so cute and I played with them many times. They never wandered far from their home. In the two months I have been gone they have grown a lot, and they actually spend most of their time laying and playing outside my gate. The thing is, they are barking like crazy now...all night long. Then, they cause the other dogs around here to bark and it's like any hope you had in falling asleep soon just flew out the window. You have no idea how many murder plots I have come up with to dispose of these street dogs. No street dogs means sound sleeping all night long without having to wear ear plugs! I hate wearing ear plugs. I feel like it cannot be good for my ears to be blocked for 7 hours at a time, but these stupid dogs give me no choice! It is not fair! I know if they were dead it would not last forever. More dogs would come and take up residence, marking their territory, but maybe they won't bark as much as these dogs. Perhaps once these puppies get older they will bark less. They need an older, wiser street dog to guide them. The street dog guru. Or maybe I can just kill one of them as a warning to the others to shut the hell up. They are even barking right now and it is 11:57 PM.
Perhaps God really is preparing me for married life.
On another, more terrible note, I keep getting boils. I mean, the first one was a surprise, and when it finally started going away I was so relieved. Then, another one sprouted up right next to where the first one was, just days after the first one healed. At least with the second one I was more prepared as to how to deal with it. Then, just a few days ago I thought another one was coming in, but nothing even came of it, so I thought I had mastered boil combat. I hit that one fast and hard with cleanliness and topical ointment. But, I wonder if that one was even a boil because it did not hurt at all. Now, there is another one on the same leg. Not right next to the first two, but about four inches below them. I'm doing all I can think to do to thwart its efforts of growing and becoming terribly painful, but my scare tactics are not working this time. I really wonder what is causing this to happen.
Street dogs are so incredibly annoying. When I left there were these three puppies that were about three months old a few houses down from me. They were so cute and I played with them many times. They never wandered far from their home. In the two months I have been gone they have grown a lot, and they actually spend most of their time laying and playing outside my gate. The thing is, they are barking like crazy now...all night long. Then, they cause the other dogs around here to bark and it's like any hope you had in falling asleep soon just flew out the window. You have no idea how many murder plots I have come up with to dispose of these street dogs. No street dogs means sound sleeping all night long without having to wear ear plugs! I hate wearing ear plugs. I feel like it cannot be good for my ears to be blocked for 7 hours at a time, but these stupid dogs give me no choice! It is not fair! I know if they were dead it would not last forever. More dogs would come and take up residence, marking their territory, but maybe they won't bark as much as these dogs. Perhaps once these puppies get older they will bark less. They need an older, wiser street dog to guide them. The street dog guru. Or maybe I can just kill one of them as a warning to the others to shut the hell up. They are even barking right now and it is 11:57 PM.
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