Hey everyone,
I hope you are all doing very well. Just wanted to give you a quick update on how everything is going. Kyle and I are both doing very well and enjoying our time here in the city. We spent all of Friday traveling around the inner city of Kolkata and visiting some of the boys I built relationships with during my last visit. It was great to see them, as the Lord has been doing so much through the ministry they are a part of over the last few years. A couple of house fellowships have even sprung up! We also visited Kalighat, the biggest temple to Kali--the oppressive and evil goddess of death and destruction that the city worships--and returned to the place in the middle of the city that I lived in 2008.
The trip was good for both Kyle and I to get reacclamated with Kolkata, and to engage with some of the deep brokenness and death that is present in the city. Unfortunately, I ended up with a horrible heat stroke from the stiffling heat and spent the entire night with a fever and a lot of nausea, until I got rehydrated. Praise God that he has brought be back to full health!
We will visit a village outside of Kolkata tomorrow, where a sister organization is doing work, and will return to Kolkata on Monday, when we will visit the last of the slums KCM is working in. From here on out, we are trying to get a lot of planning and prepping work done for the long terms commitments we are making with KCM. More on that to come. Please pray that the remainder of our visits would go smoothly and that we would integrating the experiences and knowledge we are gaining into a framework that helps us to do good advocacy once we return.
Overall, I am seeing some amazing things that KCM is doing and it is bringing a lot of hope to my heart. This trip has been significantly different from my last, in the sense that I can see Jesus clearly moving and calling me on mission with Him in areas that I can clearly see His Kingdom expanding into. PRay that I would listen to His voice well and know what He is calling Kyle and I to do! Towards the end of the trip, I will try to update you more comprehensively on all the specifics of what KCM is doing!
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and please continue to remember us before God. We've still got a long way to go!
God Bless,
Jacob
Saturday, July 30, 2011
"My Name is Juwa"
We started off for our second visit into the slums late in the Thursday afternoon. For Kyle, it was his first chance to see Kolkata in the daylight. For twenty minutes or so, we rode with Shaji as we twisted and weaved through the streets toward the Pramodnager slum. We are going to see Rana, who works in the slum primarily with children, but also with their families. The streets are packed with people going here and there, carrying bags of fruit, toting sacks of recycled plastics, and doing any number of other things. The roads into the slums were especially bumpy and in need of repairs. The car often sways and jolts as we drive through the various potholes and crevices, all the while Shaji honks people, bicycles, and cars out of the way as we motor past them. The sun is beginning to set and it blazes into our eyes a very brilliant orange as we drive mostly west.
Thr car comes around one of the last corners as a large pond and a huge pile of trash behind it comes into view. “That is the dumping site for the northern district,” Shaji tells us. The garbage is many feet high and overshadows the back side of the small lake. “This lake is called ‘Gil’. It is known for people dumping dead bodies in it. People don’t like to go around this lake alone at night.” Shaji continues. “What?” I reply. “This lake is known for where they rape and kill the young girls. They throw their bodies into the lake after they are done. Later at night and early in the morning, drunkards gather around here. Then they bring the girls. That’s why people don’t like to come here alone…” says Shaji. He goes on to tell us that the Pramodnager slum land has been given to the slum residents to build on, now 20 years after its initial establishment. Accordingly, the families living in the slum have begun to build small houses made of hollow concrete, standing one or two stories high. This slum is known for housing criminals. Whenever there is crime locally, police will come to this slum and round up the “suspects”. Though the slum consists mostly of Bangladeshi migrants who moved into Kolkata for a better life, outsides look upon it with disdain, thinking it to be merely a group of thieves and murderers.
A couple of minutes later Shaji pulls into the slum and we park the car at the corner of a soccer and cricket field. Kids are running all around, yelling and enjoying the last few minutes of daylight they have to play in. As we get out of the car, a man tells Shaji that he cannot park there. Shaji responds in Bengali and the man nods his head slightly to the left, acknowledging that “it’s ok”, and we continue on. People are on the street everywhere: women coming out of their homes for various chores, children staring curiously at us as they talk to one another, men with mobile kitchens cook food on the side of the dusty road, and others are simply lounging around, apparently relaxing as the sun sets.
We walk down the narrow road past a few buildings and turn into the second or third door. Inside we see Rana, teaching and playing with about twenty or so children. Most are very young, with the oldest being about 13 years old. Rana motions for us to take a seat at the front of the class, and Kyle & I sit down on two, old, plastic chairs. Then Rana has the children sing for us. It is beautiful to see so many small children singing—some with their eyes closed, other with their hands clasped together as if in prayer—and it is a joyful, hope filled experience. After the song, I ask Rana what they are singing. He tells me that it is a song about Jesus being our eternal friend and companion. We take pictures of the children after the song as they are all very eager to be part of the picture, shouting and laughing as they all try to get a head into the frame. Rana calms them down and then has them do introductions. They are so excited and happy to practice their English, and even happier when we reply with a “Very good!” or “My name is Jacob”.
Afterward, we take more pictures and the kids are dismissed. Once this happens, chaos breaks loose and they begin running around the room while having fun and playing. Little kids begin shaking my hand and saying “Thank you”, even though we didn’t do anything. A little girl—maybe 10 or 11 years old--eventually walks up and says, excitedly, “My name is Juwa”. “My name is Jacob,” I reply. “Thank you,” she exclaims, and then runs away laughing and smiling.
All of these children are reaping the benefits of the hard work Rana and KCM are doing in the slums. In otherwise dark and dismal circumstances, Jesus is showing up through this work…and in the smiles and songs of these young children, singing about their eternal friend Jesus. I feel as if these early days spent in Kolkata are full of these experiences. There is the city and communities that are beaten down by the spiritual and physical realities of sin, but there is also those children, bringing a tangible hope in the dark.
Thr car comes around one of the last corners as a large pond and a huge pile of trash behind it comes into view. “That is the dumping site for the northern district,” Shaji tells us. The garbage is many feet high and overshadows the back side of the small lake. “This lake is called ‘Gil’. It is known for people dumping dead bodies in it. People don’t like to go around this lake alone at night.” Shaji continues. “What?” I reply. “This lake is known for where they rape and kill the young girls. They throw their bodies into the lake after they are done. Later at night and early in the morning, drunkards gather around here. Then they bring the girls. That’s why people don’t like to come here alone…” says Shaji. He goes on to tell us that the Pramodnager slum land has been given to the slum residents to build on, now 20 years after its initial establishment. Accordingly, the families living in the slum have begun to build small houses made of hollow concrete, standing one or two stories high. This slum is known for housing criminals. Whenever there is crime locally, police will come to this slum and round up the “suspects”. Though the slum consists mostly of Bangladeshi migrants who moved into Kolkata for a better life, outsides look upon it with disdain, thinking it to be merely a group of thieves and murderers.
A couple of minutes later Shaji pulls into the slum and we park the car at the corner of a soccer and cricket field. Kids are running all around, yelling and enjoying the last few minutes of daylight they have to play in. As we get out of the car, a man tells Shaji that he cannot park there. Shaji responds in Bengali and the man nods his head slightly to the left, acknowledging that “it’s ok”, and we continue on. People are on the street everywhere: women coming out of their homes for various chores, children staring curiously at us as they talk to one another, men with mobile kitchens cook food on the side of the dusty road, and others are simply lounging around, apparently relaxing as the sun sets.
We walk down the narrow road past a few buildings and turn into the second or third door. Inside we see Rana, teaching and playing with about twenty or so children. Most are very young, with the oldest being about 13 years old. Rana motions for us to take a seat at the front of the class, and Kyle & I sit down on two, old, plastic chairs. Then Rana has the children sing for us. It is beautiful to see so many small children singing—some with their eyes closed, other with their hands clasped together as if in prayer—and it is a joyful, hope filled experience. After the song, I ask Rana what they are singing. He tells me that it is a song about Jesus being our eternal friend and companion. We take pictures of the children after the song as they are all very eager to be part of the picture, shouting and laughing as they all try to get a head into the frame. Rana calms them down and then has them do introductions. They are so excited and happy to practice their English, and even happier when we reply with a “Very good!” or “My name is Jacob”.
Afterward, we take more pictures and the kids are dismissed. Once this happens, chaos breaks loose and they begin running around the room while having fun and playing. Little kids begin shaking my hand and saying “Thank you”, even though we didn’t do anything. A little girl—maybe 10 or 11 years old--eventually walks up and says, excitedly, “My name is Juwa”. “My name is Jacob,” I reply. “Thank you,” she exclaims, and then runs away laughing and smiling.
All of these children are reaping the benefits of the hard work Rana and KCM are doing in the slums. In otherwise dark and dismal circumstances, Jesus is showing up through this work…and in the smiles and songs of these young children, singing about their eternal friend Jesus. I feel as if these early days spent in Kolkata are full of these experiences. There is the city and communities that are beaten down by the spiritual and physical realities of sin, but there is also those children, bringing a tangible hope in the dark.
Story of Praia
Praia herself has a long history in Kolkata. Raised in a Christian family, Praia grew up with a middle class background and spent her early years navigating her school classes and living with her family. In her twenties, Praia's parents arranged for her to get married to a man from the city. The marriage proved to be disastrous. The man she married regularly abused and beat her severely, taking out his anger and frustrations physically on his wife. Praia considered leaving, and after the beatings continued, she finally did—returning to her family after a year. Her husband subsequently remarried, without consulting Praia, and the couple eventually divorced. His second wife met an end that Praia likely avoided by leaving, as her former husband, in a moment of rage, took his second wife and doused her with gasoline, setting her on fire. The wife died and the husband was arrested and sent to prison.
Now alone, Praia began her initial volunteering with work in the city. Shaji was the first to train and work with her, and a relationship of trust eventually developed. Shaji went on leave from Kolkata as his work with OM led him to new ministry in Gudjerat. After a few years, Shaji returned and founded KCM, which Praia eagerly agreed to work for. She volunteered her services for free, as there was no means of paying her in the early years of the organization.
This began in 2007, and Praia tirelessly works to care for and reflect Jesus to the women and children of the Bagmari slum today. Day by day, Praia meets with children in the community to lead schooling and tutoring sessions for children from age 3 to age 18. In the morning, Pria holds schooling for the youngest of the children. In the afternoon, old teenagers filter in and she begins tutoring for each of their respective classes. Education Is one of the primary hopes for building a better community and life in Kolkata, and children & families tirelessly seek to excel in a system where the odds are often stacked against them due to overcrowding and a lack of basic necessities. Accordingly, schooling is a crucial season for most people’s long term futures and is a strategic place to minister to children in need.
After these tutoring sessions, Pria proceeds to host meetings with various women in the slum. During these meetings, the women explore the Word, discuss the issues their families are going through, and take time to pray. It is a time of sincere spiritual openness, a great place for the Good News to be proclaimed and investigated.
Praise God for the faithfulness the Lord has shown Praia in walking with her through trials and tribulations that have bred perseverance and strength. Please pray that the Lord would continue to work in mighty ways through Praia as she seeks to advance His work in the slums of the poorest of the poor. Pray that KCM would be a beacon of hope in the Bagmari slum where she works, and that the Good News would be made known in the women and children she works with!
Now alone, Praia began her initial volunteering with work in the city. Shaji was the first to train and work with her, and a relationship of trust eventually developed. Shaji went on leave from Kolkata as his work with OM led him to new ministry in Gudjerat. After a few years, Shaji returned and founded KCM, which Praia eagerly agreed to work for. She volunteered her services for free, as there was no means of paying her in the early years of the organization.
This began in 2007, and Praia tirelessly works to care for and reflect Jesus to the women and children of the Bagmari slum today. Day by day, Praia meets with children in the community to lead schooling and tutoring sessions for children from age 3 to age 18. In the morning, Pria holds schooling for the youngest of the children. In the afternoon, old teenagers filter in and she begins tutoring for each of their respective classes. Education Is one of the primary hopes for building a better community and life in Kolkata, and children & families tirelessly seek to excel in a system where the odds are often stacked against them due to overcrowding and a lack of basic necessities. Accordingly, schooling is a crucial season for most people’s long term futures and is a strategic place to minister to children in need.
After these tutoring sessions, Pria proceeds to host meetings with various women in the slum. During these meetings, the women explore the Word, discuss the issues their families are going through, and take time to pray. It is a time of sincere spiritual openness, a great place for the Good News to be proclaimed and investigated.
Praise God for the faithfulness the Lord has shown Praia in walking with her through trials and tribulations that have bred perseverance and strength. Please pray that the Lord would continue to work in mighty ways through Praia as she seeks to advance His work in the slums of the poorest of the poor. Pray that KCM would be a beacon of hope in the Bagmari slum where she works, and that the Good News would be made known in the women and children she works with!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Mittu's Story
Here is my first story...several KCM ministers told me the story and I have paraphrased below:
Mittu is a young girl living in one of the slums KCM ministers in. She is very bright and, as she got involved with KCM programs, became increasingly interested in learning more about Jesus and accepting Him as Lord and savior. She desired to go to Sunday school KCM hosts every week, but her father prohibited it because accepting Christ would reflect poorly on the family and change traditional values.
One day, the father came down with a terrible headache that neither rest nor medicine would get rid of. As he tried to sleep the pain and aches away, his daughter approached him and told him that "her" Jesus would heal him of his migraine. She asked if she could pray for him. Begrudgingly, he agreed, because he had tried everything else. After the little girl prayed for him, he was immediately healed. He let the girl go to Sunday school.
After a short time period, the father’s friends began pressuring him about his daughter, saying that KCM was trying to manipulate her and convert her to Christianity. Their appeals won him over. One night, Mittu returned from Sunday school only to find her father, belt in hand, ready to punish her for indulging in foreign religions. He beat her badly and forbade her from going back to Sunday school.
A couple of weeks later, her father once again came down with sickness. This time, it was fever, chills, and a cold. Again, despite everything he tried, he could not shake the illness that had overcome him. Mittu approached her father once more and asked if she could pray for him, telling him that Jesus would heal him again. And Jesus did. Since then, her father has allowed Mittu to continue to attend Sunday school, as he has encountered a God that he may not understand yet, but whose love has touched his life through his own daughter. It is a beautiful picture of the Gospel at work.
Please pray for Mittu and that her whole family would come to know Jesus. Pray that they would be transformed by a love that has physically healed Mittu’s father (twice) and, just as importantly, healed a daughter’s heart toward an abusive and hateful parent—so much so that God could use her to love her Father as Jesus loved her.
Mittu is a young girl living in one of the slums KCM ministers in. She is very bright and, as she got involved with KCM programs, became increasingly interested in learning more about Jesus and accepting Him as Lord and savior. She desired to go to Sunday school KCM hosts every week, but her father prohibited it because accepting Christ would reflect poorly on the family and change traditional values.
One day, the father came down with a terrible headache that neither rest nor medicine would get rid of. As he tried to sleep the pain and aches away, his daughter approached him and told him that "her" Jesus would heal him of his migraine. She asked if she could pray for him. Begrudgingly, he agreed, because he had tried everything else. After the little girl prayed for him, he was immediately healed. He let the girl go to Sunday school.
After a short time period, the father’s friends began pressuring him about his daughter, saying that KCM was trying to manipulate her and convert her to Christianity. Their appeals won him over. One night, Mittu returned from Sunday school only to find her father, belt in hand, ready to punish her for indulging in foreign religions. He beat her badly and forbade her from going back to Sunday school.
A couple of weeks later, her father once again came down with sickness. This time, it was fever, chills, and a cold. Again, despite everything he tried, he could not shake the illness that had overcome him. Mittu approached her father once more and asked if she could pray for him, telling him that Jesus would heal him again. And Jesus did. Since then, her father has allowed Mittu to continue to attend Sunday school, as he has encountered a God that he may not understand yet, but whose love has touched his life through his own daughter. It is a beautiful picture of the Gospel at work.
Please pray for Mittu and that her whole family would come to know Jesus. Pray that they would be transformed by a love that has physically healed Mittu’s father (twice) and, just as importantly, healed a daughter’s heart toward an abusive and hateful parent—so much so that God could use her to love her Father as Jesus loved her.
Off and running...
Hello everyone! I have safely arrived in Kolkata and have been in the city for two days now.I am being hosted by a wonderful missionary family, Shaji and Beena (and their two sons Martin and Adarsh). They have been taking good care of me since the first moment of my arrival and I feel extremely blessed to be welcomed into their home and to share in life togethr for the next several days.
My first two days have been spent mostly with the family, as I have been recuperating from the trip and getting my feet on the ground ministry-wise. I've learned a great deal about KCM and their ministry thus far, and suffice it to say that they are doing amazing work in three slums of Kolkata, amongst approximately 1500 adults and children living in these communities. They work to provide a holistic healing experience for thousands of families living on app. $0.85 a day in the midst of deep socio-economic and spiritual poverty. When they began ministering three years ago, not one family in the slums was Christian. In these communities, they orchestrate child sponsorship programs for children's education, spiritual formation and training for new Christians, Bible studies for seekers,healthcare assistance, physical necessities assistance, and Sunday spirtiual fellowshop services in the slums. The ministry literally began three years ago when one man (Shaji) moved in Kolkata with his wife and two young boys and tirelessly worked at building the kingdom among the poorest of the poor. Now KCM contains several ministers and their work is extensive (with even bigger plans to come!). There vision is from the words of Jesus in Luke 4:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Please continue to pray for us I visit sites and sort out planning with Shaji and the other ministers. Their two biggest needs are funding and workers. It is literally a miracle that they sustain themselves every month, but the Lord always provides.
Today, my second day, I spent most of my time touring around the city to many places I have never been before. Kolkata has changed, even in three years. To gather a visual, picture a street lined with dilapidated buildings with black smudge all over them; thousands of people crowd the sidewalk (some of them traveling and many of them living there); they are talking, yelling, shopping, carrying various things, bathing, (you name it and they are doing it); hundreds of cars, buses, autorickshaws, bicycle rickshas, hand pulled rickshaws, motorcycles, and large dumping trucks constantly honk at one another and clog the lanes...there are few traffic laws and the biggest car is the king of the road; sewage and refuse are all over the sidewalks and streets, mostly coming from the thousands of tiny shops, restaurants and markets that are everywhere; and the temperature is about 110 degrees. It is an intense experience. However, there is a great deal of beauty in the activity, and the city has a life to it that grows on you and is quite befuddling. The obvious poverty is heartbreaking, but there is still a great deal of life in the people of the city and it feels like a place ripe for the gospel so many ways. Slums, high rises, broken down shops, hills of garbage,loud noises, fruit markets and wandering cows are all parts of the city God desparately loves and I feel blessed to be in.
Though I have already begun, the next several days will include a lot of travel throughout the city and to the three slums KCM ministers in, along with extensive planning concerning where God might be leading the ministry and how we can support it. I will kepp you updated on all of these things!
Praise God that He has been doing an amazing work already and has more than provided for me. The more I hear about the work He is doing here, the more hope I have for the city, and I am so thankful that His love and gospel are advancing in dark places. Also, praise the Lord that Kyle has received his visa! He will be joining me tomorrow evening when he arrives. I am very excited to minister alongside him.
Please continue to pray that Jesus guides our next steps as we move into some of the more intensive planning and traveling over the next few days. I fully expect to be challenged and overwhelmed, but I know the Lord is capable of all things. Please pray for KCM as they do Kingdom work in the slums with the hopes of inviting Bengalis to come to the Lord.Please pray that the Lord would distribute the provision both KCM and the families in the slums desperately need for survival.
I will be updating you with stories I hear as the trip continues, along with various journal entries. I hope you are all doing well and I thank you for praying for us fervently!
Jacob
My first two days have been spent mostly with the family, as I have been recuperating from the trip and getting my feet on the ground ministry-wise. I've learned a great deal about KCM and their ministry thus far, and suffice it to say that they are doing amazing work in three slums of Kolkata, amongst approximately 1500 adults and children living in these communities. They work to provide a holistic healing experience for thousands of families living on app. $0.85 a day in the midst of deep socio-economic and spiritual poverty. When they began ministering three years ago, not one family in the slums was Christian. In these communities, they orchestrate child sponsorship programs for children's education, spiritual formation and training for new Christians, Bible studies for seekers,healthcare assistance, physical necessities assistance, and Sunday spirtiual fellowshop services in the slums. The ministry literally began three years ago when one man (Shaji) moved in Kolkata with his wife and two young boys and tirelessly worked at building the kingdom among the poorest of the poor. Now KCM contains several ministers and their work is extensive (with even bigger plans to come!). There vision is from the words of Jesus in Luke 4:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Please continue to pray for us I visit sites and sort out planning with Shaji and the other ministers. Their two biggest needs are funding and workers. It is literally a miracle that they sustain themselves every month, but the Lord always provides.
Today, my second day, I spent most of my time touring around the city to many places I have never been before. Kolkata has changed, even in three years. To gather a visual, picture a street lined with dilapidated buildings with black smudge all over them; thousands of people crowd the sidewalk (some of them traveling and many of them living there); they are talking, yelling, shopping, carrying various things, bathing, (you name it and they are doing it); hundreds of cars, buses, autorickshaws, bicycle rickshas, hand pulled rickshaws, motorcycles, and large dumping trucks constantly honk at one another and clog the lanes...there are few traffic laws and the biggest car is the king of the road; sewage and refuse are all over the sidewalks and streets, mostly coming from the thousands of tiny shops, restaurants and markets that are everywhere; and the temperature is about 110 degrees. It is an intense experience. However, there is a great deal of beauty in the activity, and the city has a life to it that grows on you and is quite befuddling. The obvious poverty is heartbreaking, but there is still a great deal of life in the people of the city and it feels like a place ripe for the gospel so many ways. Slums, high rises, broken down shops, hills of garbage,loud noises, fruit markets and wandering cows are all parts of the city God desparately loves and I feel blessed to be in.
Though I have already begun, the next several days will include a lot of travel throughout the city and to the three slums KCM ministers in, along with extensive planning concerning where God might be leading the ministry and how we can support it. I will kepp you updated on all of these things!
Praise God that He has been doing an amazing work already and has more than provided for me. The more I hear about the work He is doing here, the more hope I have for the city, and I am so thankful that His love and gospel are advancing in dark places. Also, praise the Lord that Kyle has received his visa! He will be joining me tomorrow evening when he arrives. I am very excited to minister alongside him.
Please continue to pray that Jesus guides our next steps as we move into some of the more intensive planning and traveling over the next few days. I fully expect to be challenged and overwhelmed, but I know the Lord is capable of all things. Please pray for KCM as they do Kingdom work in the slums with the hopes of inviting Bengalis to come to the Lord.Please pray that the Lord would distribute the provision both KCM and the families in the slums desperately need for survival.
I will be updating you with stories I hear as the trip continues, along with various journal entries. I hope you are all doing well and I thank you for praying for us fervently!
Jacob
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Here we go!
At long last, the beginning of my journey has finally begun. As I sit here in the San Antonio airport, waiting for the first leg of my 35 hour flight, I can't help but feel a sense of excitement and relief that the Lord has faithfully brought me this far...it's hard to believe it.
As I stayed up all night (to adjust for Kolkata's app. 12 hour time difference) with my fiance and a couple of close friends, the tension of the moment slowly crept up on me. Fortunately, by God's grace and through my friends prayers, that tension has just as quickly passed and I feel a deep sense of God's presence and the lightheartedness of feeling at peace in His will. It is wonderful to know that Jesus is with us and, indeed, goes before us. Who else can we say that of?
I do not know what to expect once I reach the city, but that is ok. I have known for a long time that Jesus did not call me here to "have everything under control", and it is nice to feel at peace with that which is now reality. Aside from the occasional anxiety, there is great freedom in it.
I was encouraged yesterday when I felt the lord leading me to Luke 10:38-42. In it, we find Jesus at the home of two women; one, frantically preparing and agonizing over the demands of the moment; the other, sitting (unforgiveably unaware of the other's strivings) at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words. My mind and natural tendencies are currently racing to "prepare" for the perceived demands at hand, while I feel Jesus nudging me toward peace and listening. Thank goodness. Would you pray that I be a listener, rather than a "preparer", for this trip? If I manage to be still, I know Jesus will fill in the details of the the Father's will and His voice will be food for my soul, regardless of what challenges I encounter in the city.
I can't wait to see the people I will come to know and love over these next several days. I can't wait to see my soccer boys from three years ago. I can't wait to see Jesus in all the ways I know he will manifest Himself in the lives of the poor of the city. Praise God that He is up to something big, and pray that He does a mighty work through me that reflects His hope for the people He so dearly loves in Kolkata.
I will be in touch soon! Please continue to praying for big things, and that the trip continues to go on without any glitches! Please offer up praise to the Lord that He has taken care of everything thus far, and will continue to do so.
Jacob
As I stayed up all night (to adjust for Kolkata's app. 12 hour time difference) with my fiance and a couple of close friends, the tension of the moment slowly crept up on me. Fortunately, by God's grace and through my friends prayers, that tension has just as quickly passed and I feel a deep sense of God's presence and the lightheartedness of feeling at peace in His will. It is wonderful to know that Jesus is with us and, indeed, goes before us. Who else can we say that of?
I do not know what to expect once I reach the city, but that is ok. I have known for a long time that Jesus did not call me here to "have everything under control", and it is nice to feel at peace with that which is now reality. Aside from the occasional anxiety, there is great freedom in it.
I was encouraged yesterday when I felt the lord leading me to Luke 10:38-42. In it, we find Jesus at the home of two women; one, frantically preparing and agonizing over the demands of the moment; the other, sitting (unforgiveably unaware of the other's strivings) at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words. My mind and natural tendencies are currently racing to "prepare" for the perceived demands at hand, while I feel Jesus nudging me toward peace and listening. Thank goodness. Would you pray that I be a listener, rather than a "preparer", for this trip? If I manage to be still, I know Jesus will fill in the details of the the Father's will and His voice will be food for my soul, regardless of what challenges I encounter in the city.
I can't wait to see the people I will come to know and love over these next several days. I can't wait to see my soccer boys from three years ago. I can't wait to see Jesus in all the ways I know he will manifest Himself in the lives of the poor of the city. Praise God that He is up to something big, and pray that He does a mighty work through me that reflects His hope for the people He so dearly loves in Kolkata.
I will be in touch soon! Please continue to praying for big things, and that the trip continues to go on without any glitches! Please offer up praise to the Lord that He has taken care of everything thus far, and will continue to do so.
Jacob
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Kolkata 2008 Update III
Hey Everyone,
Well it is finally here...my last update. I have been home for a few days now, getting back after a two or so days trip from Thailand to Seoul to San Francisco to here. I actually started writing an update a day or so after I got back. By the time I got to 4,000 words (about 15 double-spaced pages) and still wasn't finished, I decided not to send it out in order to spare you some time. There is simply no way to concisely, yet specifically, tell you about how I am feeling or how the trip went. I tried. If you want me to send you the long e-mail, please let me know. I would me more than happy to and would be overjoyed that you care to hear more (a lot more), but I won't subject you to it unwillingly.
Anywho though, in a nutshell, it feels like I am in a very good and bad place simultaneously after being back a few days. I can't convey how much loss I feel, how much I miss my community, the churches, the people, the ministries, the ways God spoke, and the joy he gave. I've simply never heard God speak so clearly and so consistently as He did in Kolkata, and I've never seen so many Biblical truths become actual realities. His Gospel has been made real to me in ways that I cannot explain, unfortunately, in an "update" e-mail. He's shown me that Life is found repeatedly in sacrifice and the giving up of oneself while depending on and seeking to glorify Him. He's shown me the fruits of complete dependence in Him, finally having trapped myself in a situation where I couldn't afford to do otherwise. He's given me a faith derived from experience after experience in which he came through for me in every situation of personal weakness, and shined through shortcoming and faults and personal failure. He conquered darkness (in its variety of senses) and redeemed it for good so many times that I can't even keep count. He's made me trust and believe in Him by showing Himself in so many people, so many ministries, churches, acts of loving kindness, through words, and even through suffering. The obviousness of His light in the midst of darkness is indescribable, and the joy and completion it brings is the same. I saw his love and transformation in everyone I met: from missionaries who had been working alone with people in sexual slavery for years to Indians who found satisfaction and Life in his presence despite horrible physical circumstances to the boys I worked with who lived in the slums to teammates to countless other Christians I met almost by chance. How can I thank God enough for that? How can I thank Him for giving me more than I could ever ask for every day for six weeks? How can I convey what that feels like? I don't know, but I desire now to follow him as faithfully and ernestly as I can for the rest of my life--knowing full well that I will not do so at many points--and I wish that I could somehow share a fraction of the blessings He's given me with you.
On the flip side, however, is the hurt and pain and darkness that I left behind, which is the reality for millions living without Christ and without much of any kind of spiritual, emotional, or (most of all) physical sustenance in Kolkata. The horribleness of man is in full display in Kolkata and I urge you to pray with all your heart for that to change. I urge you even more to let a part of that aspect of Kolkata into yourselves, whether you find it in your neighborhood, town, country, or in some far away place like Kolkata itself. Having been unable to avoid the terribleness of what humanity is like without Christ, I now see the inescapable need for him all the more, and it is much more difficult to remain apathetic and cold (as I was) about injustice that is easy to not see and hurt that is easy to never feel. Yet it is what most people in the world see and feel everyday and, having taken care of and loved some of those people trying to live life in the most abysmal of slums, or those who die in a Sister's of Charity home after being beaten down their whole lives (and feeling loved for one of the first times), apathy and the general trivialness of American concerns is no longer acceptable or an option--and that makes me very happy. It is a blessing of Christ to truly love and give yourself to those who need it. I pray that you will seek to explore and find that truth wholeheartedly and with joy, for it is where God is. I know that most of you and my other friends reflect Christ far more than I do in my life, so I am not trying to be patronizing but merely encouraging. Kolkata, as well as (I'm sure) countless places in America, need people who follow Christ and God. They need money and prayers, yes, but they also need so much more, especially people who are willing to follow Christ to them...and we need that too. God has designed our faith to be integrated with it and dead without it. I don't know what that looks for for everyone specifically, but I know it involves complete submission to God that Kolkata has only allowed me to taste, yet that is enough to want much much more. So I pray for that for Kolkata's sake, for America's sake, for mine and for yours.
I wish I could have shared more stories, because the stories of my experience are what lie behind everything I wrote above. They have really been amazing and, clearly, change my life. I'm excited to see where they lead next, and I ask that you pray that God will lead me in the right direction. Thank you again for everything you have given me in terms of encouragement, prayers, and general updates. I'm sure I will never know how much I owe you. Every e-mail you sent brought me happiness and made things a little less hard. So thank you! Thanks, also, for being willing to listen to and put up with these long and ranty e-mails. That means a lot too and I hope God has given you something through them, as he has for me. Hopefully I will get to share much more with many of you in person and hear what God has been doing for you as well!
In Him,
Jacob
P.S.--My other e-mail wasn't working for a little bit, that's why I used this address. Still send e-mail to my other one though. Thanks!
Well it is finally here...my last update. I have been home for a few days now, getting back after a two or so days trip from Thailand to Seoul to San Francisco to here. I actually started writing an update a day or so after I got back. By the time I got to 4,000 words (about 15 double-spaced pages) and still wasn't finished, I decided not to send it out in order to spare you some time. There is simply no way to concisely, yet specifically, tell you about how I am feeling or how the trip went. I tried. If you want me to send you the long e-mail, please let me know. I would me more than happy to and would be overjoyed that you care to hear more (a lot more), but I won't subject you to it unwillingly.
Anywho though, in a nutshell, it feels like I am in a very good and bad place simultaneously after being back a few days. I can't convey how much loss I feel, how much I miss my community, the churches, the people, the ministries, the ways God spoke, and the joy he gave. I've simply never heard God speak so clearly and so consistently as He did in Kolkata, and I've never seen so many Biblical truths become actual realities. His Gospel has been made real to me in ways that I cannot explain, unfortunately, in an "update" e-mail. He's shown me that Life is found repeatedly in sacrifice and the giving up of oneself while depending on and seeking to glorify Him. He's shown me the fruits of complete dependence in Him, finally having trapped myself in a situation where I couldn't afford to do otherwise. He's given me a faith derived from experience after experience in which he came through for me in every situation of personal weakness, and shined through shortcoming and faults and personal failure. He conquered darkness (in its variety of senses) and redeemed it for good so many times that I can't even keep count. He's made me trust and believe in Him by showing Himself in so many people, so many ministries, churches, acts of loving kindness, through words, and even through suffering. The obviousness of His light in the midst of darkness is indescribable, and the joy and completion it brings is the same. I saw his love and transformation in everyone I met: from missionaries who had been working alone with people in sexual slavery for years to Indians who found satisfaction and Life in his presence despite horrible physical circumstances to the boys I worked with who lived in the slums to teammates to countless other Christians I met almost by chance. How can I thank God enough for that? How can I thank Him for giving me more than I could ever ask for every day for six weeks? How can I convey what that feels like? I don't know, but I desire now to follow him as faithfully and ernestly as I can for the rest of my life--knowing full well that I will not do so at many points--and I wish that I could somehow share a fraction of the blessings He's given me with you.
On the flip side, however, is the hurt and pain and darkness that I left behind, which is the reality for millions living without Christ and without much of any kind of spiritual, emotional, or (most of all) physical sustenance in Kolkata. The horribleness of man is in full display in Kolkata and I urge you to pray with all your heart for that to change. I urge you even more to let a part of that aspect of Kolkata into yourselves, whether you find it in your neighborhood, town, country, or in some far away place like Kolkata itself. Having been unable to avoid the terribleness of what humanity is like without Christ, I now see the inescapable need for him all the more, and it is much more difficult to remain apathetic and cold (as I was) about injustice that is easy to not see and hurt that is easy to never feel. Yet it is what most people in the world see and feel everyday and, having taken care of and loved some of those people trying to live life in the most abysmal of slums, or those who die in a Sister's of Charity home after being beaten down their whole lives (and feeling loved for one of the first times), apathy and the general trivialness of American concerns is no longer acceptable or an option--and that makes me very happy. It is a blessing of Christ to truly love and give yourself to those who need it. I pray that you will seek to explore and find that truth wholeheartedly and with joy, for it is where God is. I know that most of you and my other friends reflect Christ far more than I do in my life, so I am not trying to be patronizing but merely encouraging. Kolkata, as well as (I'm sure) countless places in America, need people who follow Christ and God. They need money and prayers, yes, but they also need so much more, especially people who are willing to follow Christ to them...and we need that too. God has designed our faith to be integrated with it and dead without it. I don't know what that looks for for everyone specifically, but I know it involves complete submission to God that Kolkata has only allowed me to taste, yet that is enough to want much much more. So I pray for that for Kolkata's sake, for America's sake, for mine and for yours.
I wish I could have shared more stories, because the stories of my experience are what lie behind everything I wrote above. They have really been amazing and, clearly, change my life. I'm excited to see where they lead next, and I ask that you pray that God will lead me in the right direction. Thank you again for everything you have given me in terms of encouragement, prayers, and general updates. I'm sure I will never know how much I owe you. Every e-mail you sent brought me happiness and made things a little less hard. So thank you! Thanks, also, for being willing to listen to and put up with these long and ranty e-mails. That means a lot too and I hope God has given you something through them, as he has for me. Hopefully I will get to share much more with many of you in person and hear what God has been doing for you as well!
In Him,
Jacob
P.S.--My other e-mail wasn't working for a little bit, that's why I used this address. Still send e-mail to my other one though. Thanks!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Kolkata 2008 Update II
Hey everyone!
Sorry for the longer than expected absence, things have been very busy around here. I have gotten a chance to read most of your e-mails and they have all been a real encouragement. Thank you. I am sorry I have been unable to respond to them!
So, we have only a little less than a week left…it is hard to believe that the time has passed by so quickly. Much has happened since my last e-mail but, once again, it's hard to know where to begin. I have been doing more or less very well over the last couple of weeks, though that is a confusing way of putting it. Every day is a roller coaster, split into a dozen different instances of extreme happiness and joy one second, followed by sorrow and compassion (and usually crying) for this or that thing the next. I've been doing a lot of reflecting about my now almost completed trip lately, I can't thank God enough for all of things I've been discovering about his blessings. For one, t seems like I see God everywhere here…in the ministries I work with or hear about, in the churches I go to, the boys in my program, my house and my friends, and a multitude of other usually unexpected places. It's not that this is necessarily untrue in the United States, but it is much more tangible and obvious in my life here for some reason. I've never been in a situation before where you see the most dire, nearly hopeless and depressing need everywhere everyday all the time, yet also the most loving, sacrificial, and committed people living in the midst of it. So many have given up their families, friends, comfort, and previous life style to serve others with absolute neglect for themselves. There are so many people who work alone with prostitutes--who continue to be forced into sex dozens of times a day at no pay--trying to show them through the only way they know how (loving relationships and Christ—who is the strength behind them) that the world is not only hatred and exploitation and death, and one day hoping to pull them out of sex rings by creating microenterprises for them to work in. There are so many people taking care of child after child who has been abandoned due to an AIDS infection, or left for dead because they were female or the family could not afford to care for them or they have some sort of deformity or mental disability. There are so many people working hours and hours a day to help people addicted to heroine or cocaine or any other variety of drugs when nobody else will even look at them, let alone help them, because they are of a lower caste or are "dirty" or because apathy is a general rule for the city as a whole. Just as I can't describe what it's like to experience suffocating poverty in nearly every sense every day, I can't describe the love and dedication that emanates from people who have given everything up because of Christ to take care of others. I also can't describe the joy and the hope that you can see in those they given everything up for. There so much joy—as well as confusion and sadness and compassion and on and on—that you can't even contain it within your heart, but have to just simply let it exist. That being said, the sum of all those experiences and feelings, fully comprehended at the time or not, have left me and immeasurably more blessed person. Every hardship I have been through (sickness, constant heat exhaustion, depression, constant displacement, confusion, poor living conditions, and a thousand other things) I treasure and am glad for, and so many others I know think the same. The amazingness of this reality is that God has given me equal blessings to match the hardships, but the joy he offers is so much than that, because He has transformed any and all hardships into wisdom, compassion, perservance, patience, joy, world understanding, various forms of personal growth, personal recognition of faults, and many others things. For one of the first times in my life, and definitely for the longest time and in the most intense way, I realize that true joy is found in following Christ and the displacement that path brings, in all the many contexts and ways that might manifest itself. More happiness and joy has been found in serving the most seemingly hopeless and depressing places on earth, and giving oneself up in many more ways than I expected to, than I ever could have hoped for. It's the command and path I've been reading about for so long in Christ teachings and it, along with all of his other promises of peace, strength, wisdom, guidance, and the rest have all become a constant reality. I am tempted to believe that there is nothing more I could ever ask for, but God has already over exceeded so many lofty expectations. Everything is gain in Christ, no matter the sacrifice, and I finally have the experience to bolster my previous more weak and blind faith.
My placements have been going amazingly. All of the guys are wonderful and we have been getting so close. I have been doing another ministry opportunity with THE spiritual leader of Kolkata, which is astounding. I can't say what it is over the internet but I look forward to saying more later. My experience at the Sister's of Charity death and dying house has been very hard but very good as well. The city's needs have been increasingly closing in on me, but that has only generated more compassion and love for people, even if the reality of my helplessness hurts. I can't emphasize enough the need for your prayers for those who are in desperate need here, which is some five San Antonios worth of people. Continue to pray that they would find Christ and vice versa. As much and as real as the physical need is, there is a spiritual and emotional deadness that immobilize and destroys people, and you can see it. There are many many evils brought about by the Hindu caste system, and millions of people are restricted or openly oppressed by that teaching and its associations with karma. Outside of the outright oppression it generates, Hinduism here just produces an apathy and even a hostility to the helping of others. So pray against that. Women are even worse off than men, Muslim and Hindu alike, as the large majority are segregated and restricted from nearly every service , opportunity, or privilege and placed behind men. When added to caste barriers (and class ones), the hardships can be devastating. Some of the women on the trip have been consistently harassed physically, verbally, and non-verbally by Indian men. So pray both for them (physically, emotionally and spiritually) and for the men, that they may find Christ and that we may love them.
My house has continued to be wonderful, I care so much for everyone. God speaks through them everyday and give me joy. I hope that I have been a part of that for them as well. Church has been amazing too, God is so present in every service. The people who attend are truly "alive", if that makes sense. You can feel a vibrancy and thankfulness and dedication to God that is awesome. My trip to the beach was good, though I actually missed my time in Kokata itself. There were many great things I experienced and God showed me there as well though. It was good to see the whole team for an extended period of time. I'm sorry for the lack of concrete stories to give you. There are soooo many. It would take me pages and pages to list and describe even a few of them and I can't possibly decide which. Every day just seems filled with a thousand crazy, exciting, hard, and interesting things that happen and it has almost become normal to me. I'll have to share when I get home. The food is still great here. I have not gotten tired of it and we have found so many hole in the wall places to eat at that I've been pretty excited. I'm pretty sure I find a hair in my meal and who knows what else every other meal, but that kind of bespeaks of the absolute filthiness of the city in general, and I hardly even notice anymore. The food is too good to care anyway. My teammates have been doing very well too, though many of them are still trying to figure out exactly what the trip for them is about and what it means. So pray for their discernment of God's purpose in that area for them. I have had an amazing call to a particular line of work in the United States when I get back, but I could never even come close to doing it justice in an e-mail, so I won't try. I'm very excited though. So pray that my excitement will be sustained and that God will give strength to carry out what has been given to me, because I will personally be devoid of any skill or knowledge or many other things to fulfill it.
Alright, I must go, I've already exceeded my time limit. I know the e-mail was very schizophrenic and all over the place but it was the best I could muster. I am still praying for all of you and it has been great to here of your news. I look forward to seeing/talking to you in a little over a week or so! Take care.
In Him,
Jacob
Sorry for the longer than expected absence, things have been very busy around here. I have gotten a chance to read most of your e-mails and they have all been a real encouragement. Thank you. I am sorry I have been unable to respond to them!
So, we have only a little less than a week left…it is hard to believe that the time has passed by so quickly. Much has happened since my last e-mail but, once again, it's hard to know where to begin. I have been doing more or less very well over the last couple of weeks, though that is a confusing way of putting it. Every day is a roller coaster, split into a dozen different instances of extreme happiness and joy one second, followed by sorrow and compassion (and usually crying) for this or that thing the next. I've been doing a lot of reflecting about my now almost completed trip lately, I can't thank God enough for all of things I've been discovering about his blessings. For one, t seems like I see God everywhere here…in the ministries I work with or hear about, in the churches I go to, the boys in my program, my house and my friends, and a multitude of other usually unexpected places. It's not that this is necessarily untrue in the United States, but it is much more tangible and obvious in my life here for some reason. I've never been in a situation before where you see the most dire, nearly hopeless and depressing need everywhere everyday all the time, yet also the most loving, sacrificial, and committed people living in the midst of it. So many have given up their families, friends, comfort, and previous life style to serve others with absolute neglect for themselves. There are so many people who work alone with prostitutes--who continue to be forced into sex dozens of times a day at no pay--trying to show them through the only way they know how (loving relationships and Christ—who is the strength behind them) that the world is not only hatred and exploitation and death, and one day hoping to pull them out of sex rings by creating microenterprises for them to work in. There are so many people taking care of child after child who has been abandoned due to an AIDS infection, or left for dead because they were female or the family could not afford to care for them or they have some sort of deformity or mental disability. There are so many people working hours and hours a day to help people addicted to heroine or cocaine or any other variety of drugs when nobody else will even look at them, let alone help them, because they are of a lower caste or are "dirty" or because apathy is a general rule for the city as a whole. Just as I can't describe what it's like to experience suffocating poverty in nearly every sense every day, I can't describe the love and dedication that emanates from people who have given everything up because of Christ to take care of others. I also can't describe the joy and the hope that you can see in those they given everything up for. There so much joy—as well as confusion and sadness and compassion and on and on—that you can't even contain it within your heart, but have to just simply let it exist. That being said, the sum of all those experiences and feelings, fully comprehended at the time or not, have left me and immeasurably more blessed person. Every hardship I have been through (sickness, constant heat exhaustion, depression, constant displacement, confusion, poor living conditions, and a thousand other things) I treasure and am glad for, and so many others I know think the same. The amazingness of this reality is that God has given me equal blessings to match the hardships, but the joy he offers is so much than that, because He has transformed any and all hardships into wisdom, compassion, perservance, patience, joy, world understanding, various forms of personal growth, personal recognition of faults, and many others things. For one of the first times in my life, and definitely for the longest time and in the most intense way, I realize that true joy is found in following Christ and the displacement that path brings, in all the many contexts and ways that might manifest itself. More happiness and joy has been found in serving the most seemingly hopeless and depressing places on earth, and giving oneself up in many more ways than I expected to, than I ever could have hoped for. It's the command and path I've been reading about for so long in Christ teachings and it, along with all of his other promises of peace, strength, wisdom, guidance, and the rest have all become a constant reality. I am tempted to believe that there is nothing more I could ever ask for, but God has already over exceeded so many lofty expectations. Everything is gain in Christ, no matter the sacrifice, and I finally have the experience to bolster my previous more weak and blind faith.
My placements have been going amazingly. All of the guys are wonderful and we have been getting so close. I have been doing another ministry opportunity with THE spiritual leader of Kolkata, which is astounding. I can't say what it is over the internet but I look forward to saying more later. My experience at the Sister's of Charity death and dying house has been very hard but very good as well. The city's needs have been increasingly closing in on me, but that has only generated more compassion and love for people, even if the reality of my helplessness hurts. I can't emphasize enough the need for your prayers for those who are in desperate need here, which is some five San Antonios worth of people. Continue to pray that they would find Christ and vice versa. As much and as real as the physical need is, there is a spiritual and emotional deadness that immobilize and destroys people, and you can see it. There are many many evils brought about by the Hindu caste system, and millions of people are restricted or openly oppressed by that teaching and its associations with karma. Outside of the outright oppression it generates, Hinduism here just produces an apathy and even a hostility to the helping of others. So pray against that. Women are even worse off than men, Muslim and Hindu alike, as the large majority are segregated and restricted from nearly every service , opportunity, or privilege and placed behind men. When added to caste barriers (and class ones), the hardships can be devastating. Some of the women on the trip have been consistently harassed physically, verbally, and non-verbally by Indian men. So pray both for them (physically, emotionally and spiritually) and for the men, that they may find Christ and that we may love them.
My house has continued to be wonderful, I care so much for everyone. God speaks through them everyday and give me joy. I hope that I have been a part of that for them as well. Church has been amazing too, God is so present in every service. The people who attend are truly "alive", if that makes sense. You can feel a vibrancy and thankfulness and dedication to God that is awesome. My trip to the beach was good, though I actually missed my time in Kokata itself. There were many great things I experienced and God showed me there as well though. It was good to see the whole team for an extended period of time. I'm sorry for the lack of concrete stories to give you. There are soooo many. It would take me pages and pages to list and describe even a few of them and I can't possibly decide which. Every day just seems filled with a thousand crazy, exciting, hard, and interesting things that happen and it has almost become normal to me. I'll have to share when I get home. The food is still great here. I have not gotten tired of it and we have found so many hole in the wall places to eat at that I've been pretty excited. I'm pretty sure I find a hair in my meal and who knows what else every other meal, but that kind of bespeaks of the absolute filthiness of the city in general, and I hardly even notice anymore. The food is too good to care anyway. My teammates have been doing very well too, though many of them are still trying to figure out exactly what the trip for them is about and what it means. So pray for their discernment of God's purpose in that area for them. I have had an amazing call to a particular line of work in the United States when I get back, but I could never even come close to doing it justice in an e-mail, so I won't try. I'm very excited though. So pray that my excitement will be sustained and that God will give strength to carry out what has been given to me, because I will personally be devoid of any skill or knowledge or many other things to fulfill it.
Alright, I must go, I've already exceeded my time limit. I know the e-mail was very schizophrenic and all over the place but it was the best I could muster. I am still praying for all of you and it has been great to here of your news. I look forward to seeing/talking to you in a little over a week or so! Take care.
In Him,
Jacob
Friday, July 8, 2011
First Kolkata E-mail...summer 2008
(I'll try to post one of these for the next few days. There's definitely plenty to read! Afterward, I'll try to post as regularly as discipline or time allows)
Hey Everyone!!!
Where to begin...
I am kind of in a hurry so I assure you that this e-mail will be jumbled and slightly incoherent (most likely). The good news, however, is that I will get 2 e-mails to send to you!!! So you can look forward to another one in a couple of weeks. Anywho though...
So, I am doing very well! I can't begin to explain all of the many experiences and wonderful and diffcult things that have happened to me thus far. Orientation at Bangkok went very well and I got to really get to know all of the people on my team as well as many of those going on other treks to thailand, cambodia, and the phillipines. The orientation was a bit of an overload of info but overall it did me a lot of good as far as spiritual preparation goes and I gfelt as prepared as possible to go on the trip. We stayed in a fairly western hotel and spent most of our time in a missionary complex learning and praying and praising and getting to know each other. We spend evening and a two or three hours span during the middle of the day getting food at various street vendors in the city. The food was sooooooooo good. Very spicy, but not as much as you would expect. The streets were exceptionally loud and crazy, but the city itself was fairly modern, with nice cars and buildings and street vendors everywhere saling this and that. I left Bangkok on a spiritual high, feeling very confident in the coming weeks and the provision of God.
My first experience of Kolkata was overwhelming. I can't even begin to accurately describe it to you. As we came in from the air you could see a thick brown layer of smog engulfing it, thicker than any kind of pollution I have seen by far. We took a taxi cab for about an hour to a Baptist mission house that we stayed at for Kolkata orientation (which lasted for a few days). I wish I could describe the level of poverty appropriately and descriptively, but I can't. Nearly every building looks like it might crumble in the next few years with smudge and posters plastered all over them. The pollution is so thick that you can hardly breath and heat is feels like it's in the hundreds. The streets are excessively crowded and the poor are stewn out along the pavements in large numbers. The traffic is hopeless...there are no lanes and it seems like you are going to get in a wreck every five seconds, with cars hinking nonstop, auto rickshaws swerving in and out of cars, bicycle rickshaws swerving in and out, and pulled rickshaws with people who look like they're on their last legs pulling them are pulled on the side of streets, buses swerving and moving at will through traffic, and all other sorts of chaos. The law is literally "bigger always has the right away", which means pedestrians must beware. We stayed in the Baptist mission house for a few days and I immediately became sick with fever, aches, and diarhea (I can't spell that). This continued off and on for about a week. It was hard in the sense that I thought I was going to die, but wonderful in the sense that I have never felt closer to God. It ended up being a huge blessing in retrospect, teaching my dependency on Him and weakness in the face of things out of my control.
The poverty here is astronomical. Many people look like they are literally starving to death on the side of the pavement, though they are generally getting by (in the worst possible ways). Women with children, the crippled, and the otherwise destitute were begging all of us for money from the first second we got there, which was horrible. Some work for orgranzied begging rings run through a mafia like structure that teaches even the youngest of children (2 or 3) phrases to beg westeners. The rest are simply in complete need, even though they are finding ways to make it. We can't help them. Mafia run or in actual need (though the former are in need too), there is simply nothing we can do...there's too much. I can't stress enough how much economic support is needed here, but even more so, how much Christ is needed. The people are wonderful people and they work so heard to survive, yet there is an aura real and imagined hopelessness to the city that is crushing, and nothing but love, sacrifice for others, and a dependence on Christ can even begin to make a difference here. With that being said, I have great hope in the ministries I have seen and in the wonderful people that are trying to make a difference here. At most, all I can offer is love, care, compassion, and prayer for people, but those who have committed their lives to serving here have done so much, even if there is so much more to do.
One example is the soccer ministry I am a part of. We basically play soccer for two and half hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7:30 in the morning until 10:00. It is exhausting and hot but so much fun. The boys range in age but most are between 10 and 18. On Monday and Wednesday we teach English to them on their varying levels of understanding. I treasure these times as they are opportunities to provide a service in a loving way and get to know the better. On Tuesday and Thursday we do "coffee time" (chat time) and discipleship time respectively. They are very rrewarding times as well. Edmar, the Brazillian who has run it for 4 years now, is wonderful. He provides so much hope and joy and guidance for children who have a lot of other opportunities to do less fruitful and harmful things. He genuinely loves them and they are drawn to them, and the hope that he offers them through teaching them about Christ's love and promise of life (both presently and eternally) gives them a hope that their economic situation and/or the terrible structuring of Hinduism cannot.
My secondary placement, which I usually go to on Saturday and other time I get time, is the Sisters of Charity house that it dedicated to serving the sick and the dying. The house is situated directly next to Kolkata's most famous temple, dedicated to Kali--the god of death and destruction. I went in it yesterday. As much as you might suspect that it would be glorious and beautiful, it's not. It was one of the most dirty and disgusting places I have been to here, with icons of the black goddess with red eyes and places for the sluaughtering of animals in order to appease the goddess here and there. So, with that said, the Sisters' house is a beautiful juxtapostion of love and kindess for those who have been generally been left for dead on the streets, right next to a shrine set up to a goddess who recquires appeasement for her wrath. The Sisters' building is wonderful. There are many who are close to death, and many who are not, but the care and love that is given to them, and the way it enable so many volunteers such as myself to give it as well is beautiful thing. I generally give them medicine, feed them, massage them, talk to them, do laundr and dishes and whatever else might be needed.
As destitute and impoverished as I made the city sound earlier (which it is), it is also a place where God has so much work and service to offer those who are will to take it, and so much hope and provision to offer for those who are in need. It is an amazing testimony to the power of Christ whenever one meets the Christians here, though there are few. Side note: the rural areas of India are thriving with Christianity but the cities are very resistant. They are people who are very dedicated to Christ and to seeing his work carried our for those who need it most, which means millions of people. They are an ecnouragement to me in every way.
My house is amazing as well. We cook all of our food, take bucket showers, live with a TON of conckroaches (I picked one off my head the other day), get to eat together as a community every night, and much more. Five guys are in my room and there is literally no room to walk after we lay our mats on the ground to sleep, so it's pretty cramped. There is no ar conditioning in most of the city and it is always hot, but you get used to living in your own sweat so it's not so bad. I have to drink about five liters of water a day just to keep up! Every hardship, discomfort, and challenge has been a blessing however. And all has made myself and others more dependent on God and more thankful for what we get. We are all in good spirits and our community is strong and encouraging. Though we are very different individuals, we care for each other a lot and there is a strong bond developing. I thank God for the comforts he has withheld from me and the lessons he has taught we through it. I doubt will get many such opportunities for growth in the future. I thank Him also for my friends, both in the house and outside of it, they are ways God supports me. I am truly blessed to be here, though I feel challenged and sometimes pulled down at times too. Pray fervently for this to continue in the future, for others and myself. And thank God for what he has done.
There is so much else to share but, alas, I cannot share much more. I thank you al so much for you support spiritually. It means so much to me. I thank you for your prayers and pray for you often as well. Please continue to pray for the list I already gave you and for anything else you picked up in the e=mail. I will provide more in my next one. Oh, and by the way, I got to give a sermon to a few dozen Indians today and it was great, but that is a tale for another time. I mention it only because I want to remind you, as God has reminded me constantly through such opportunities, that He gives us so many opportunities to serve Him and their so much fruit, joy, and completion in the process. It is easy for me to find that here, because opportunities and need appear everywhere. However, I want to encourage you to seek back home as well, as there is a different kind of need there as well and an equal amount of service and opportunities that God offers. I miss you all of you and I look forward to my return, but am thankful for the remaining time I have here and can't wait to share more with you.
There is so much need but so much of Christ as well, and that makes all the difference, literally. Pray for that to manifest itself powerfully in the future as it already has now, and thank God for being the only thing that truly redeems and makes a difference in the hearts of people, and that the difference and life he offers is eternal and full of hope, rather than the fleeting pleasure that so many other things are. That is so apparent here and I thank God every day for it. Anyway though, I am rambling haha. But I once again hope that you are all doing well and hope to respond to your e-mails, which I have tried to skim. SO keep sending them!
Until next time.
God bless,
Jacob
Hey Everyone!!!
Where to begin...
I am kind of in a hurry so I assure you that this e-mail will be jumbled and slightly incoherent (most likely). The good news, however, is that I will get 2 e-mails to send to you!!! So you can look forward to another one in a couple of weeks. Anywho though...
So, I am doing very well! I can't begin to explain all of the many experiences and wonderful and diffcult things that have happened to me thus far. Orientation at Bangkok went very well and I got to really get to know all of the people on my team as well as many of those going on other treks to thailand, cambodia, and the phillipines. The orientation was a bit of an overload of info but overall it did me a lot of good as far as spiritual preparation goes and I gfelt as prepared as possible to go on the trip. We stayed in a fairly western hotel and spent most of our time in a missionary complex learning and praying and praising and getting to know each other. We spend evening and a two or three hours span during the middle of the day getting food at various street vendors in the city. The food was sooooooooo good. Very spicy, but not as much as you would expect. The streets were exceptionally loud and crazy, but the city itself was fairly modern, with nice cars and buildings and street vendors everywhere saling this and that. I left Bangkok on a spiritual high, feeling very confident in the coming weeks and the provision of God.
My first experience of Kolkata was overwhelming. I can't even begin to accurately describe it to you. As we came in from the air you could see a thick brown layer of smog engulfing it, thicker than any kind of pollution I have seen by far. We took a taxi cab for about an hour to a Baptist mission house that we stayed at for Kolkata orientation (which lasted for a few days). I wish I could describe the level of poverty appropriately and descriptively, but I can't. Nearly every building looks like it might crumble in the next few years with smudge and posters plastered all over them. The pollution is so thick that you can hardly breath and heat is feels like it's in the hundreds. The streets are excessively crowded and the poor are stewn out along the pavements in large numbers. The traffic is hopeless...there are no lanes and it seems like you are going to get in a wreck every five seconds, with cars hinking nonstop, auto rickshaws swerving in and out of cars, bicycle rickshaws swerving in and out, and pulled rickshaws with people who look like they're on their last legs pulling them are pulled on the side of streets, buses swerving and moving at will through traffic, and all other sorts of chaos. The law is literally "bigger always has the right away", which means pedestrians must beware. We stayed in the Baptist mission house for a few days and I immediately became sick with fever, aches, and diarhea (I can't spell that). This continued off and on for about a week. It was hard in the sense that I thought I was going to die, but wonderful in the sense that I have never felt closer to God. It ended up being a huge blessing in retrospect, teaching my dependency on Him and weakness in the face of things out of my control.
The poverty here is astronomical. Many people look like they are literally starving to death on the side of the pavement, though they are generally getting by (in the worst possible ways). Women with children, the crippled, and the otherwise destitute were begging all of us for money from the first second we got there, which was horrible. Some work for orgranzied begging rings run through a mafia like structure that teaches even the youngest of children (2 or 3) phrases to beg westeners. The rest are simply in complete need, even though they are finding ways to make it. We can't help them. Mafia run or in actual need (though the former are in need too), there is simply nothing we can do...there's too much. I can't stress enough how much economic support is needed here, but even more so, how much Christ is needed. The people are wonderful people and they work so heard to survive, yet there is an aura real and imagined hopelessness to the city that is crushing, and nothing but love, sacrifice for others, and a dependence on Christ can even begin to make a difference here. With that being said, I have great hope in the ministries I have seen and in the wonderful people that are trying to make a difference here. At most, all I can offer is love, care, compassion, and prayer for people, but those who have committed their lives to serving here have done so much, even if there is so much more to do.
One example is the soccer ministry I am a part of. We basically play soccer for two and half hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7:30 in the morning until 10:00. It is exhausting and hot but so much fun. The boys range in age but most are between 10 and 18. On Monday and Wednesday we teach English to them on their varying levels of understanding. I treasure these times as they are opportunities to provide a service in a loving way and get to know the better. On Tuesday and Thursday we do "coffee time" (chat time) and discipleship time respectively. They are very rrewarding times as well. Edmar, the Brazillian who has run it for 4 years now, is wonderful. He provides so much hope and joy and guidance for children who have a lot of other opportunities to do less fruitful and harmful things. He genuinely loves them and they are drawn to them, and the hope that he offers them through teaching them about Christ's love and promise of life (both presently and eternally) gives them a hope that their economic situation and/or the terrible structuring of Hinduism cannot.
My secondary placement, which I usually go to on Saturday and other time I get time, is the Sisters of Charity house that it dedicated to serving the sick and the dying. The house is situated directly next to Kolkata's most famous temple, dedicated to Kali--the god of death and destruction. I went in it yesterday. As much as you might suspect that it would be glorious and beautiful, it's not. It was one of the most dirty and disgusting places I have been to here, with icons of the black goddess with red eyes and places for the sluaughtering of animals in order to appease the goddess here and there. So, with that said, the Sisters' house is a beautiful juxtapostion of love and kindess for those who have been generally been left for dead on the streets, right next to a shrine set up to a goddess who recquires appeasement for her wrath. The Sisters' building is wonderful. There are many who are close to death, and many who are not, but the care and love that is given to them, and the way it enable so many volunteers such as myself to give it as well is beautiful thing. I generally give them medicine, feed them, massage them, talk to them, do laundr and dishes and whatever else might be needed.
As destitute and impoverished as I made the city sound earlier (which it is), it is also a place where God has so much work and service to offer those who are will to take it, and so much hope and provision to offer for those who are in need. It is an amazing testimony to the power of Christ whenever one meets the Christians here, though there are few. Side note: the rural areas of India are thriving with Christianity but the cities are very resistant. They are people who are very dedicated to Christ and to seeing his work carried our for those who need it most, which means millions of people. They are an ecnouragement to me in every way.
My house is amazing as well. We cook all of our food, take bucket showers, live with a TON of conckroaches (I picked one off my head the other day), get to eat together as a community every night, and much more. Five guys are in my room and there is literally no room to walk after we lay our mats on the ground to sleep, so it's pretty cramped. There is no ar conditioning in most of the city and it is always hot, but you get used to living in your own sweat so it's not so bad. I have to drink about five liters of water a day just to keep up! Every hardship, discomfort, and challenge has been a blessing however. And all has made myself and others more dependent on God and more thankful for what we get. We are all in good spirits and our community is strong and encouraging. Though we are very different individuals, we care for each other a lot and there is a strong bond developing. I thank God for the comforts he has withheld from me and the lessons he has taught we through it. I doubt will get many such opportunities for growth in the future. I thank Him also for my friends, both in the house and outside of it, they are ways God supports me. I am truly blessed to be here, though I feel challenged and sometimes pulled down at times too. Pray fervently for this to continue in the future, for others and myself. And thank God for what he has done.
There is so much else to share but, alas, I cannot share much more. I thank you al so much for you support spiritually. It means so much to me. I thank you for your prayers and pray for you often as well. Please continue to pray for the list I already gave you and for anything else you picked up in the e=mail. I will provide more in my next one. Oh, and by the way, I got to give a sermon to a few dozen Indians today and it was great, but that is a tale for another time. I mention it only because I want to remind you, as God has reminded me constantly through such opportunities, that He gives us so many opportunities to serve Him and their so much fruit, joy, and completion in the process. It is easy for me to find that here, because opportunities and need appear everywhere. However, I want to encourage you to seek back home as well, as there is a different kind of need there as well and an equal amount of service and opportunities that God offers. I miss you all of you and I look forward to my return, but am thankful for the remaining time I have here and can't wait to share more with you.
There is so much need but so much of Christ as well, and that makes all the difference, literally. Pray for that to manifest itself powerfully in the future as it already has now, and thank God for being the only thing that truly redeems and makes a difference in the hearts of people, and that the difference and life he offers is eternal and full of hope, rather than the fleeting pleasure that so many other things are. That is so apparent here and I thank God every day for it. Anyway though, I am rambling haha. But I once again hope that you are all doing well and hope to respond to your e-mails, which I have tried to skim. SO keep sending them!
Until next time.
God bless,
Jacob
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