bangalore! and a crazy auto ride

Ok, so I thought I would go ahead and write about my odd auto rickshaw ride that I had home the other day. I get into an auto and I am jamming out to some Robbie Seay (sp) Band and the ride takes about 30-45 minutes. About half way through the ride, the driver turns around and says, "Hey where are you from?" So I say, America, Mississippi. And then he says, "why are you here in calcutta?" I said I was here to serve at Mother theresa's. He replied by saying, Oh so your a missionary? And I said, well uh yea. And he said, I don't understand why Christians have to keep coming here and giving good things to poor people and then forcing the gospel on them (this is obviously a paraphrase). I was like, uh, I don't think it is right to shove the gospel down someones throat, but I do think you should believe in Jesus because there are 2 possible places to go when you die, heaven and hell. He immediatly was like, "NO there is no afterlife!" lol. I am sorry but this was quite comical to me. Really it isn't funny at all, but it was funny at the time, you just had to be there. So yea, the conversation kept going but it never got past that point. He would continually return to the point that he wanted to make of "you can give good things to the poor, just don't give them the gospel." and I would say, well, I want to give them the gospel because that gives them much more than just good gifts. He really didn't want to hear what I had to say so I kindly responded with "ok" and left. But hey, he gave me the rickshaw ride free, I think to prove that Hindu's can be generous too. Lol, I tried really hard to pay but it was no use. Btw we were talking after everyone got out and another rickshaw driver asked to listen to my music and he did and was like, "oh its very good"...sooo, the best thing you can learn from this is, Indian people like robbie seay...not really. This was a kinda cool and funny experience for me for sure.

Anyways, bangalore. I saw the blue sky there and was about to cry because it was so blue and not smoggy like calcutta. I don't think I could live in England or Seattle after having this experience of joy in a blue sky. It was an incredible trip though. We went to Kirubai Children's Home which is run by a lady named Tammy. There are 45 kids there and they are all either going to go to school or are in school. Their ages range to an infant girl with HIV to an 18 year old who is attending college and wants to be a pastor one day. I also talked to a guy named Kiren who is in 12th grade and wants to be a missionary in India wherever God calls him to. These kids were all brought off of the streets or by a social worker. They have terrible pasts and this home is bursting with life. These kids are nothing short of amazing and they offer hope to India. In short, I feel like that place is ridiculous...in a good way. I'm really glad I got to see it and experience it. Tammy said that they pray as a staff, both the Indian host parents and the American staff, before accepting any children. If they don't feel like God is in it, then they will say no. She says they have turned down probably 100 kids and they are currently full at 45. In a nutshell, the place is amazing. We had fasting and prayer on sunday night, which is where the kids don't eat dinner and we spend about an hour praising God to some worship music and praying for different things. We prayed for the 10/40 window and shouted out the names of countries in that window asking God to bring life there. I'm telling you, this place shocked me. The kids in that home are so flipping talented too. We played "Indian Idol" where the kids got up and sang and were "judged" but just seeing them sing was so cool. Some of their voices were so good. And I continually kept thinking, these kids would be on the streets begging me for a few rupees if this place didn't exist. Naturally, my mind then progresses to, "more of these places need to pop up!!!" Tammy never has "raised support" or done fund raising for this children's home. She never asked people for money, she just asks God for money, and he brings it in amazing ways. They needed $75,000 to build the new home that they are currently in, and God brought it. They never told anyone in a mass email about needing this money, it just came, in one big chunk someone gave it. There are a lot more stories that I heard that are similar to this one if not more amazing of where God provided in Tammy's life. She really seemed to me to have a ton of wisdom to offer. She talked about how our first priority in life needs to be to love Jesus and wherever we go its just context. So in India, my first priority is to love Jesus. She was just talking about how so many ministers and people in general get their identity wrapped up in their job or ministry. God looks at you and sees your heart, not your job. I feel like she had a lot of wisdom to offer, and I feel privileged to be able to just see this children's home. The kids were amazing. They had great attitudes and they minded better than most American children that I have seen. I got to play some soccer with the teenage guys on Saturday and they were really good. It has been a while since I've played a good soccer game...so much fun.
So, Bangalore rocked. I am refueled for sure. Btw my birthday was good. Just missed girlfriend and family more than usual. But yea, they got me a cake, which was very kind. Yea though, God is pretty amazing. I think my next blog entry will be on the 40 hour train ride home. I could talk forever about that.