Tuesday In Delhi

Tuesday, our second day in the slum. After another thrilling ride to the area amid choking fumes and smog, we begin by sharing with a beautiful group of women waiting for us at the center. It's a joy to share not only blankets but also prayer with them. We split up into two teams so that we could cover two areas of the slum, and off we went with the blankets piled high on a make-shift bicycle cart. In the slum, there are clusters of papers/stick huts, units of sorts, of 5 or 6 families. As we stop in these communities, we tell them that it is because of the love of Jesus that we are there, and because He cares, we want to care for them by sharing blankets, and we pray that when they are warmed by them, that they will be reminded that Jesus loves them and is caring for them. At each stop, we are warmly greeted, surrounded by gleaming smiles, and always, dark, penetrating eyes. How we wish we could know the stories behind those eyes! At one stop, the children from the Bible class gathered first, and as we waited for the parents to arrive, they sang the songs they have learned about Jesus, and we taught them “Jesus Loves Me” with the hand motions, at the same time, sharing the Good News. They picked it up quickly, and it is always such joy to hear children sing, in whatever language, particularly this song which expresses such basic truth, the key truth. He loves us!

We did have one encounter with an older man, who apparently gives Vanitha a lot of opposition every time she comes. As we were handing out the blankets, he began to rant and rave, in Hindi of course, obviously not happy that we were there. As he continued, we prayed and did not let it deter us. As he hurled some of his rantings toward Jane, she calmly said “God bless you.” And we continued on our journey. Satan is never happy when we bring light into His darkness!

We ended our time in the slum with the children who come daily for tutoring. What an amazing group of children! We watched a five year old working on multiplication tables, others learning English, another tiny girl working on her twelve tables.....bright indeed! We praise God that the children in this outreach are having these sorts of opportunities to learn how to read, write, learn life skills, and most importantly, are introduced to Jesus.

After a late lunch at the local Pizza Hut, we returned to our hotel. Jet lag had set in for most of us, and we were fading fast. Two of our group from Singapore could only be with us for a few days and had to fly back tonight. Though our time with them was brief, we are so thankful they were able to join us in Delhi. We used the evening to regroup, refresh, and have some time to process the deluge of assaults to our minds, hearts, and senses. What a diverse place this is, such contrasts of ancient verses modern, Hindu verses Muslim, western verses eastern. Pray with us that we will be light bearers wherever we go and that the power of the Holy Spirit Who dwells in each of us will be released as we go.