Global Urban Trek 2008
Reaching the HemJuly 25, 2008
One more day till we leave Kolkata.
The question that keeps resounding in our house is whether or not we’re ready to leave. Physically, we are all tired and have been ready to go for a while now, but it’s the relationships we’ve made and the brokenness we’ve encountered that beckons us to stay. Questions concerning what our attitudes and long term choices will be when we return to the States have been floating in our minds as well.
For the past week, Rosa and I have been working with children in one of the slums in Bidhan Nagar near the train station. There are hundreds of slum homes in this area. Each home is roofed with two metal pieces, walled with dried and woven palm tree leaves and bamboo-like trees and ropes to hold the house together.
There is usually one space in the house that serves as the living, dining, sleeping room and kitchen. Houses are lined up side by side and everyone knows each other. Everyday, we teach little children basic English, math and songs with motions.
Two nights ago, we went for a prayer meeting in one of the homes in the slum. Every inch of the house was occupied – even past the door. They worshiped the Lord with passion, prayed with desperation and believed with simple faith. They shared testimonies of God’s wonders in their lives through healing and deliverance.
“God is God of all flesh and there is nothing too hard for him,” I boldly said. I then shared with them the passage of the woman with the bleeding disease. As I shared how the woman sought physicians and wasted all her money on things that did not help, I saw many glassy eyes. Many of them had similar situations and I encouraged them to touch the hem of Jesus through prayer. Many of them live with the constant fear that the government will demolish their homes one day as they stand and watch powerlessly.
The other day, one of the slum leaders invited the team to his slum and celebrated them with dance and food. The girls shared how they were in awe because we came to give unto them and here we are receiving from them who have nothing. Emily, who works with YWAM (Youth With A Mission), shared how the women from the red-light district she worked in wanted to celebrate them with sodas. Yet each soda cost the equivalent of a man the women had serviced. Whoa – talk about guilt in drinking soda!
God has set us as a light unto the Gentiles. Though during the hard times, our lights may have been dim, for the most part, we have been trying to be His ambassadors and shine His light faithfully. I praise God for using us both in small and big ways and for granting us the privilege of shining His light in the darkness of Kolkata.
- Rajee
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