Day 2- Market Morning and Worship Service. Two things stick out enormously in my mind. How much we take the love of Jesus for granted and what it means to have a servants heart. Compared to the Indian people (including children) we know nothing. Walking to the market this morning, I couldn't help but notice obviously the conditions in which people live (open sewer system along the roads) but also the Hindu temples that are everywhere. Although I don't know much about the Hindu religion, I know it is not a religion based on love. What you have done in your previous life determines your situation in this life. Therefore, if you live in poverty it is because of something you did in your past life. The idea of Jesus is radical. A loving God ? that created you ? that loves you unconditionally? There aren't words to describe how we Americans take that for granted and how grateful the India people are for this. In the Hindu religion, it would only make sense to ignore compassion, afterall people deserve what they get. In contrast, Jesus compels us to compassion and love because love overtakes your heart when He enters your soul.
That brings me to the servants heart. The people who work here right down to the orphans who live here, know the meaning of the servants heart more than I ever could. Sitting in worship this morning, surrounded by the orphan girls, they loved me as if I was a member of their family......holding my hands, rubbing my arms and fanning me with their notebooks to keep me cool. I watched one girl who had a 5 rupee coin give it away to the tithe.....she's probably around 9 years old and that was possibly (most likely probably) the only money she had. What I am feeling cannot be fully represented by language. ~ Liz