Stranger in a Foreign Land

Psalm 146 speaks of a God who cares for the hungry, the oppressed, the fatherless, the widow, and the alien.  For some reason, the widows and orphans have always gotten more attention in my mind, but over the past week I have come to understand all too well why the foreigner belongs in this group of people to be pitied.  When you move to a place with a different culture than your own, where people do things differently than you do and speak a language you don’t understand, just about everything is harder.  It seems like any task takes five times as long to complete as it would at home.   But it’s great what a sense of accomplishment I feel when I finally figure something out.  Small victories this week include learning how to unlock my door (actually an outer and inner door, three different keys, special jiggle;) learning how to direct a rickshaw from my apartment to the office and back; learning how to turn on hot water (NOT as easy as it sounds) and washing a full load of very sweaty clothes by hand.  By next week I hope to learn how to find someone who I can pay to do this for me.  Sometimes learning these things is exciting and sometimes it’s incredibly draining, but I can sense God’s hand taking care of me all the time.  My landlord and people from work have been very helpful, and I can see already how God is using these experiences to shape my character.   All the waiting and depending on others forces you to have patience and humility.  And learning about God’s concern for the alien not only makes me understand his heart more, but gives me a much greater compassion for the immigrants in my own country. 

The pictures below are just to give you a glimpse of what life looks like here.  (1) my apartment building (2) apartment inside (& roomate!) (3) a rickshaw (4) the coastline (5) some kids hanging around the beach.  (Later we gave them Silly Bandz, which they loved – thanks Donna!)

Starting Off With A Bang

I arrived safely Tuesday night!  This first week has been a crash course in food, culture, language, and geography. 

I came at an exciting time, as my first day on the job also happened to be the last day of a festival known as Ganpati, a holiday celebrating the elephant-headed Hindu god, Ganesha.  The culmination of the festival involves entire communities parading huge statues of Ganesha through the streets and all the way to the sea, where the idols are immersed.  The processions take hours since they stop every hundred yards or so for dancing, fireworks, drumming, and throwing pink dye powder on everyone.  Our office let out early because so many streets would be closed down for the processions.  I came home to take a nap, but the festival music being pumped through loudspeakers for the enjoyment of the neighborhood made that impossible.  My friends and I finally decided to give in and walk just outside of our apartment to watch.  We were quickly swept up in the parade and colored Barbie doll pink by the curious kids who reached out to touch our faces. 

It was stimulation overload.  Our relatively small neighborhood street was suddenly every bit as crowded and colorful as Times Square or the Las Vegas strip, and just as overwhelming.  The religious aspect of it all was disconcerting as well.  The shiny, smiling Ganeshas looked more like the cars from the Dumbo ride at Disney world than Old Testament Baals, but I still felt sad watching all the children singing and dancing to Lord Ganesh.  The words of the Psalms I had read that morning came back to me, and seemed particularly fitting:

“I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. . . May all the kings of the earth praise you, O Lord, when they hear the words of your mouth.  May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.” – Psalm 138

Thank you, again, to everyone who is supporting me and praying for me here.  Please continue to pray for God’s kingdom in South Asia and for the work we are doing with IJM.