Finding Hope in India

Every fiber of my being wishes it were in India right now.  The snow and bitter cold outside makes my skin ache for warm sunshine, the empty apartment awaiting me makes my heart long for more conversation, more people, more time there to process, and the long list of books to read and papers to write makes my mind long for rest under a cotton-silk tree in Lal Bagh Da.

Sometime, I'll post a play-by-play of what we did, where we went, and how it all shattered my brain into tiny little pieces. 

But before I do that, I'm going to say this:

I didn't use my time in India as wisely as I should have.  I was distracted and anxious and couldn't really think straight much of the time. I hadn't slept properly in days. I tried to absorb as much as I could, take lots of photos when possible, write down what we did and a few of my thoughts, but I wasn't able to enjoy India as fully as I wish I would have. 

It's not a fault in the design of the trip. or its leaders, or my companions--it's just a result of too much going on in my own head. So, as I try to process this, forgive some missing chunks and some bad cultural exegesis.

That said, my experience in India was still mind-blowing, heart-shaping, and above all, full. 

It was full in the sense that we crammed about a month's worth of activity into 10 days, but the India that I saw, particularly in relationship to the Church there, is full of so much good stuff that it's difficult to articulate what exactly I mean.  I'll try, but I make no guarantees.

The India that I saw is, first and foremost, a gorgeous country full of wonderful people doing amazing things in the name of one god--the God who became incarnate in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  (How's that for trinitarian thinking, Dr. Stubbs?)

India is full of great coffee (ohsomuch coffee) and delicious food.  I would walk across town in the snow if it meant a south Indian breakfast awaited me somewhere.

The Church in India, in particular, is full of hospitality and love for strangers. So much so, that we actually had to turn down food once or twice because we honestly couldn't eat any more.

Finally, (for today at least) the Church in India is also full of hope in the power of the gospel.

Christians in India, though a very small minority, often know exactly what their faith will cost them. Conversion may irreparably sever relationships with family members, it may get you in trouble with friends or authorities, and may make you into the cultural "other," the outcast.  And yet, people still do it.  They walk away from the life they've known and into a new life with Christ at the center.

Knowing that Christians are considered outcasts in some communities, particularly small ones, may sound rather depressing and sad.  And to be honest, it is sad to know that those relationships are broken.  But knowing that these people were willing to make that choice gives me immeasurable hope that the power of the gospel is not lost in the contemporary world--that the story of Jesus can still turn someone's world upside down like it did mine.

And sometimes, all it takes is a Bible.  I heard story after story of how reading or hearing Scripture changed lives forever--no sermons, no liturgy, no altar call required.  If that's not God at work, then I really don't know what is.



This poster was pasted on the wall outside of our guest
house in Bangalore. It fits just too well.

All this to say that the Church in India is alive and well, friends, and it's doing amazing things. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.