My tears from India.

The light was off, my eyes were closed, but then I decided to get up and turn down the fan in my room. I turned on the light and a giant spider greeted me. After I screamed and freaked, I killed the spider only to notice the hundreds of other critters that had come out of hiding in the dark.

The light is now on tonight even though I never sleep with the light on and I had a bug killing festival.

Actually, now I am back in my bed and a little afraid to close my eyes and see the images of my day. The little boy suffering from malnutrition with his little tiny hiney in his dirty underwear just about killed me. It broke my heart.

We helped at a Health Fair in a remote village in the middle of this mining field where four Indian doctors came in to do the health checks for the community. At one point I had to go to the bathroom so I looked around and realized behind a tree in the tall grass would have to suffice, however, then I was told about the black cobras that hang out in the tall grass around the trees, so with God’s help, I held it. It was ok, but when I got back to the Compassion project, the hole in the ground for the bathroom looked pretty darn nice.

We saw people with skin disorders, scabies, foot disorders, and parasites, TB, heart conditions. A little girl had a heartbeat of 40 beats per minute and she wrestled with air.

We saw a man who lost his child this week to malaria. His sickness was a broken heart. We saw mothers and babies, children, and women. They liked it when I took their picture.

The problem people were suffering from was malnutrition, lack of clean water and lack of hygiene. It was crazy. All the adults work in the mines and suffer from lung disease while they make $1.20 a day. Many of the adults were the parents of Compassion children or the siblings. The children at the Compassion project get a meal everyday and they looked far healthier and happier then those children who weren’t in the program.

The people treated me as royalty and it was so humbling. Here I stood a foot above them, educated, clean, and well dressed while they stood barefoot, hungry and dirty. The doctor I was working with told me not to touch anyone…this was difficult for me.

The spiritual poverty of the lack of hope in the community is even more difficult than the physical poverty that I see. The idea that this is it and all they have, and all they feel like they deserve, is such a lie of the enemy. This place and culture teaches them to resolve their position of lowly stature, and their only hope is to die and be reincarnated as a cow or someone more esteemed after this life. I don’t understand it.

So tonight, as I try to sleep, a million images come to my mind as if I am witnessing a war. A spiritual war of the soul of humans who believe they should be invisible to those like me. When I look at them and smile, they light up. When I offer to take their picture, they are so excited. When I offer to be in a picture, they treat me as if I am queen. I just wish they knew that in the eyes of our God they are just as important as me. It makes me cry. I want to lay here and have a good cry but I am so tired tonight. I am

praying for those I saw.

The children at the Compassion project do hear the Good News. They hear about the God that loves them. They hear about achieving dreams, and living out their dreams to be a doctor, or a pilot. When I tell them they are beautiful, they believe me. The difference between the children in the project and those outside the project is staggering.

I weep for those who need Jesus.

I told a mother she was beautiful today. She had never heard those words before and she didn’t know how to respond.

I told a child how special she was. Her mother asked me to take her home.

I saw the parasites and horrible sores up the leg of a little girl who doesn’t have shoes. I wasn’t able to hand any out for I would have been mobbed, but I will leave some behind for Shoesforkids so that some of these children will have shoes. What can I say today? I do this job because I believe it is the right thing to do and God has called me to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.

My friends, I am so tired tonight….

Next morning…

Ok, I feel better this morning. It’s a new day and His mercies are new every morning. I slept well, but when I woke up, the light was off. Humm… Everything looked ok. I feel happy to have the chance to go back and serve, but please pray for those in this community that they would learn the love of God.

Blessings from India,

Patricia