SARAH
It has been a crazy whirlwind these last few days since arriving in
the wee hours of the morning saturday in Mumbai! God has been so
faithful in making it clear that He is working here in India! He
brought people across our path, even within the first few hours of
waking up in the country, who are fighting for justice and thinking
systemically about how to end human trafficking and slavery. We also
received an amazing blessing of prayer from an intercessor who stopped
by where we were staying that first morning.
We left Mumbai yesterday and arrived here in Pune - dropped our stuff
off, got changed and headed to a wedding (in three motor rickshaws)!
It was Ramesh's nephew's wedding and it was a fun time, although there
is some difficult family drama relating to religion, so it was sad
that many of Ramesh's relatives did not come. Our team was super tired
too...Michele had taken some drugs to combat motion sickness from our
4 hour drive through the mountains from Mumbai to Pune, so she was
knocked out and couldn't keep her eyes open. others were falling
asleep at various times as well. but we sat and watched and ate good
food. Nika, Consuela and I wore beautiful saris that Sheba helped to
wrap (thanks Judy for lending them to us) :) And Sheba's sari made
her look like a Queen (though she always is).
Im really enjoying the clothing here in India. Its so fun and colorful
and very comfortable. Thanks to everyone who lent us clothes - we have
worn traditional Indian clothing most of the time so far.
Nika and I have had some very interesting conversations with people
working locally against trafficking - and thinking systemically. Very
cool- and encouraging. I find myself watching and soaking things in -
and Nika has been so encouraging, and stimulating - as we grapple with
these huge issues, excited about what God will do, and is doing! On
the bus ride to Pune, as we passed monkeys and wove through mountains
we talked about the pyramid of the trafficking rings, and how often
ministries and NGOs can get distracted by the poverty - but where is
that coming from? Who is at the top of the pyramid actually running
these operations? how do they get brought down??
also during the ride, Ramesh pointed out the railroad he was the
overseer to build, and told us the story. Quite amazing. And here in
Pune we are staying in the dorms of the railroad engineering school,
since Ramesh was a professor here for some time.
Today was a beautiful day - with a late morning, and a restful quiet
day of rest, somewhat unplanned, but a blessing. The sun was shining
brightly and it was a lovely temp of low 80s with a gentle breeze
blowing through the hallways. breakfast was cornflakes with warm milk,
and toast with butter and jam, and these fried bready doughnuts with a
soup to dip them in and some green sauce :) it was all quite good...
but breakfasts here are definitely unique! And of course there is chai
- sweet spicy tea with lots of sugar! The quiet day was needed after
the crazy schedule of the last few days: up at 7:30 and out the door
into the never sleeping city of Mumbai to visit churches, tourist
sights, NGO's, resturants, and as i wrote in my blog and nika
describes more below, a few of us walked through one of the apartment
complexes where women who are in the "trade" live with their children,
and where some prostitution happens as well.
my blog is: abolitionistmusings.blogspot.
Today we had some time to pray and reflect, to play Uno and make up
crazy jokes, and to sleep. After a late lunch Nika and I talked and
prayed on the roof top, watching birds fly over head, as the moon rise
over the palm trees (and we got covered in 'Pune dust' and tried to
avoid mosquito bites). I am so blessed and thankful to be alongside
her in this journey!
Thank you all for your prayers! I would love continued prayers for
health (my stomach was off a bit last night - no worms please!! and my
feet have been a bit swollen since we landed- but getting better. also
other team members have been feeling a bit sick) and for wisdom in
processing all that i've been taking in the last few days. To hear
God's voice, and respond to his guiding. To see others as He sees them
- and to be a willing vessel for Him to use. Both willing to be
adjusted and worked on, and through that process, willing and able to
carry out His plans.
So far things have been awesome with the team getting along and loving
and serving eachother! everyone has a great sense of humor and so even
in some of the more stressful moments we can laugh at the adventure of
it all. No one has gotten seriously lost yet either which is a
blessing - sometimes a we have to split up into three rick-shaws and
not everyone
knows where we are going... but everyone ends up in the same place,
and in one piece despite insane drivers! :) Thank you for praying for
safety! Other prayer requests are covered near the bottom of this
email.
Blessings, in His peace and grace.
NIKA
Wow! The first few days were flawless and amazing (see below for my
earlier update to the community I live in and to share in the
honeymoon glow ;)). But then we went to work. Haha! Sarah and I met
for hours and hours in Mumbai with various folks and ministries. For
example, we walked with some women through a dilapidated apartment
building that sources brothels and street corners. Weaving through men
and women along damp, dark narrow halls with walls that were half
crumbled mud, we prayed for and with some women and their small
children. We witnessed as our guides wandered in and out of various
doorless apartments to speak with women they have relationships with
and invite them to the evening service. We smiled a lot and gave
greetings in broken Hindi. I tried hard, and succeeded, not to haul
off and punch a guy who appeared to be oogling a women's two or three
year old child who was wandering the halls wearing only jewelry,
smeared makeup and a tiny tank top. It was hard not to hate men and
India and rich people and everyone I could think to blame after that
and other experiences. I am ashamed to say that but submit it for your
prayers. It was even more diffiult not to shut down my emotions and
move seamlessly into "get to work" mode. I in fact did that for about
48 hours before God broke through the anger and fierce focus to show
me that he wanted me to keep my heart tender and allow it to be fueled
by and overflow with love. There is so much to say there. But I don't
think I could easily write it out in a way most of you would be able
to/interested in reading. But please do pray for Marcos, as he is on
the front lines of my transition away from being the somewhat cold,
analytical but dutiful crisis responder, to the emotionally tender and
passionate lover- of God, humanity and my loved ones.
Sarah and I made great connections in Mumbai. We decided to return and
stay for about a week in early March, when we drop off Marcos, C,
Michele and Alex at the airport to return to Boston. It will just be
the two of us. Please pray for safety and good connections and work
during that stay. Through Sthuthi's brother Abishek, we also made some
sweet connections with a ministry called Justice Ventures that is
helping another state do some legislative work against trafficking.
The group is interested in exploring a partnership. Please pray for
guidance and continued blessing on that relationship.
Consuela has been so fun to watch. She dives right into every
situation and manages to keep a tender heart whilst emitting an
incredible joy for life and for people. Please pray that God would
bring her meaningful relationships with people her age and others
while she is here. She is also working hard on her homework when she
has down time. Pray that she is able to maintain that balance somehow.
And that she deepens her intimacy with God and knowledge of who she is
and the work she is made for.
Please pray for Marcos that the technology would go smoothly for
getting his work done in Kolhapur. Things haven't been conducive of
him gettig much work done so far, but he was expecting that till now.
Please pray that he will be and feel as productive as he should and
desires to. Both in terms of his ministry here and his job work that
he has to get done while he is here.
We leave Pune tomorrow afternoon. Tonight we have dinner with Abishek.
We've been chillin all day, for the first time in five days of
non-stop visiting, learning and talking. Church on Sunday was
terrific. We visited several services. One of them was an outreach to
mostly Hindus. It was packed and the sermon was mostly delivered in
call and response song, with drums and most worshippers seated on
floor mats. Pretty cool! Our team lead turned 75 that day. We visited
a church his father planted nearly 80 years ago! The pastor their
prayed for Ramesh and little girls laughed at my awkward accent ;),
among other interesting and delightful encounters there. We also
attended a wedding yesterday.
Sarah continues to be a great partner and co warrior. Her joy and
tender heart are as inspiring as her wisdom and prayers. We enjoyed a
few hours praying and sharing on a Pune rooftop this afternoon till
sunset. So cool. :)
Well, there's too much to get it all down, but I hope that gives you
enough of a flavor to enable you to pray or think about us in
encoraging ways. Looking forward to hearing how things are going with
you stateside. We are on line now, via iPhones, but unable to send or
receive pictures or other huge files at the moment.
MISSION
- for open hearts full of love as we enter and experience Kolhapur
- for eyes to see in the little things, as well as the glaringly
obvious, the brilliance of God
- for hope beyond hope in the vision of God declaring Himself the God
of India and the Indian people as His people
- for God to continue to raise up and unite the intercessors of India
- for words to encourage those who feel alone in an uphill battle that
God's people are behind them and with them in spirit and in truth
- for strength and health for some team members who are exhausted and
feeling undress the weather
- for Santosh, the acclaimed NY Times photographer who has committed
the next phase of his life to a photodocumentary of Isaiah 58 as it
applies to India and who has experienced backlash from powerful
corrupt forces
- for Viju, our host in Mumbai, Vasu and others. That we would bless
and not be a burden to them. For safety as they travel around India on
various ministry matters
- for Bobby Bose, a member of our team who just arrived and will be
traveling all over India meeting with lots of ministries and people to
discuss urban ministry education for Indians and internationals in
India.
- for our team leaders as they balance the emotional and logistical
rigors of returning home (to Maharashtra) with their leadership
responsibilities.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
GREEN HOUSE UPDATE FROM LAST SATURDAY
Hey GH & the gang ;)
Here's a quick update from the heart of Mumbai.
Praises
Before I left I was able to sort out all the financial stuff I'd asked
for prayer about. Thank you for praying! I also got sworn into the MA
bar the day I left. :). So I can present myself here as a legit
lawyer. Haha. More or less.
We are thankful for a smooth ride over. We saw three sunsets on three
continents in one day! No material glitches in the logistics of moving
ourselves across the planet.
God has moved incredibly quickly and strategically in leading us to
the right people. We had an incredible prayer time with our "friendly
neighborhood intercessor," as she called herself. The Holy Spirit
commisioned us through her. Powerful! Her name is Vanita, and she is
quite lovely. And there is a local non-profit leader, Vasu, who is
totally down with the systemic approach to taking down organized
trafficking. He's got tons of ideas exploding into reality right now.
We are going to have a blast I think. He had lots of strategic
connections for us and was, I think, very encouraged by our meeting as
well. I can't really adequately describe how amazing our meeting was
for me in an email, so I won't attempt to here.
Viju Abraham, a leader in anti-trafficking non-profit organizing, is
incredible. He is our guide for the weekend and linked us with Vanita
and Vasu. I have so much to learn from him and those he is connecting
us to.
No jet lag for me! Or, at least, it feels the same as my standard
insomnia, haha!
There are tons of other praises, even already. Everything is perfect,
really. It's kind of dreamlike in that way. I guess if I tried to list
every good thing I'd never finish, and it's only been two days since
we left Boston.
Requests
Today, while Sarah, Marcos and I were in a meeting, Consuela went with
our team lead and a guide and other members of the team to see one of
Mother Theresa's homes for abandoned disabled children and other
impoverished people. They also saw a lot of quite young street
children leading obviously dangerous lives on a number of levels. Even
the team lead, an Indian, was overwhelmed at what she saw there. So
you can imagine that Consuela's grief was considerable. She was
beautiful, though, sharing in Christ's compassion and mourning. But do
pray for her. For God's comfort, insight and joy to accompany her
grief. That he would walk alongside her in her pain and shock. And
whatever else God brings to your heart or mind in this regard.
The dreamlike state is going to end for me in about an hour. That's
when I begin visiting some of the most trafficked red light districts
in the world. I guess I can't begin to ask you how to pray for me.
My emotional stuff has been a little bit better. Prayer fora continued
increasing of peace around all that.
Pray for Vasu. He needs partners and encouragement.
And for Vanita. Her sons are taking their high school board exams for
college entry.
Thanks for reading guys.
Love,
Nika
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