Construction Accident: I've Been Hit by a Ton of Bricks...

One would think that having taken this journey three times before that not much could be surprising. I often find our trips to India to "smack me in the face," each in a different way. This trip has given me some realizations that none of the previous trips have... How? In many ways, in fact probably too many to even try to convey.

The Thursday we left GCC for O'Hare, my nerves were non-existent. You would think that travelling 9,000 miles to the opposite side of the earth would get at least a little nerves excited! Truth of the matter is I felt like I was taking a journey with new friends and old to my second home. Previous trips have allowed Jessica and I to solidify relationships (which I never thought could happen) where cultural, spiritual, and lingual barriers all exist. I was excited to see people from the village from old, Life Mission Staff (Raj, Prema, Annand, & Thiyaghu), as well as interpreters that we have had with us in past trips.

Life in India is quite refreshing. To say that when literally almost all of our conveniences and comforts are stripped from us is pretty much an oxymoron. Much of my point has to do with how much it is apparent that most of our conveniences actually distract us from our ultimate goal; To serve the Lord, and at the end of our lives to hear Him speak the words "well done." Money, cars, technology, the latest style of clothes... All of these things aren't bad and in fact we are very fortunate to have them. The question I find that I ask myself is, "are these things causing us to enjoy this world more, or to help prepare us for eternity?" Money and things aren't bad in themselves, however they definitely give us a higher probability to allow them to become who and what we are. Experiencing a place that has none of the afformentioned items humbles me to how much devotion they have to worshiping and praising God for all of his blessings.

Below is a picture of my wife, Jessica, with a little boy Chandru. He reminds us of our little nephew Mason. Like a firecracker he'll run over to you, make a funny face and noise and runaway with the biggest grin on his face. I think of the life he will have and for a moment am saddened. After pondering for a moment, that sadness gets challenged when I realize, though very very hard, how much his life will lack distractions.

Chandru and his family have very little materially, however they do have community like you wouldn't believe. No cell phones to text with at the dinner table, in fact sometimes no dinner to even eat. No disappointment when the car he receives when he turns 16 isn't good enough, because he will probably never have a car. He'll never have to worry about how hard it is to choose the cabinet knobs on his kitchen cabinets for his new house he is building or how hard the builder is to work with, because he may only ever live in a cement house that is no larger than 10x15. Could Chandru break this cycle of generational poverty? Sure he can. In fact, that's part of the reason we are here this week. To help allow he, his family, and others to be self sufficient and escape bonded slave labor. To allow him to learn English and be able to not only attend school, but also have the ability to go to college and have many opportunities fin his life.

Though Chandru's family and many others in the village may never escape generational poverty, which we would never choose to live, they can have the FAITH and HOPE found in Jesus Christ giving them eternal life! This possession is one that trumps any and all "things" we all covet on sometimes a daily basis, and one that needs to be a constant reminder for me as to the why I was put on this earth in the first place.

Needing to take the above advice,

Nate