The family we are staying with is unbelievable. I can't share too much information about them but just know that they are a generous and loving group of people. A kind mother, lovely children, and a father who is an incredible visionary.
I mentioned before that Bangalore is great but it's not perfect. We are starting to see the filth. But we can't throw the baby out with the bath water. We must fight for those who are faithful to Jesus. Corruption is a disease that those in power carry here in India. Bribery is commonplace and money is stolen from residents in all sorts of underhanded ways and it goes completely unpunished. Husbands who don't want to be with their wives anymore do not divorce them. That is too shameful. They think it more sensible to poison her and pay off authorities to look the other way. We found out there is a brothel not far from where we live. Trafficking is a problem here. There are families who take infants they don't want and put them in a pot and cook them to death to feed them to the dogs. We live with a 3 year old who was saved from a home like that. Hardly paradise, right?
My teammate and I take two days out of the week to go to those lowly places and spread the love of Jesus. We take the first half of those days as a sabbath and rest in God. This is not what we would think of in the States. We remain in prayer, worship and the Word until it is time to go to the slums. Then we pour ourselves out for people that are unloved. There are 6,000 people in this slum. 300 of them are Christians.
We go to a fellowship for Christians there to teach English and stories about Jesus. On our left is a Hindu temple and on our right is a mosque. A stretch of pavement that is about the length of a football field holds these places of worship. This is spiritual warfare that is in our face. Pray that Jesus is praised in that place! These people need to understand that the love of God is for them too. Jesus changed my heart and life and it can happen to anyone. They are groping for God in the darkness and looking in all of the wrong places. By grace, we have seen the light and can't help but talk about it. Pray that they receive the Truth.
There is a name that the children both in our house and in the slums call me by that warms my heart every time. Everytime I walk into a room of children who don't know me I'm greeted with a unified hello and I'm asked to say my name. I've learned to just go by "Cam" here and the children all yell, "Hi, Cam uncle!". Most times the students will just run up beside me and tug on my pant leg saying, "Uncle! Uncle!" trying to get my attention. It is like this in the home too. The family has very playful and sweet kids who all call me and my teammate uncle. It's something that makes my heart leap. We really feel like we are apart of a great family here and that we are helping take care of dozens of fabulous children.
We are not trained teachers or trusted babysitters. We came here to preach Christ to college kids. God has managed to set aside a few hours every week to remind me of a passion and vision I've carried for a while now. This upcoming generation must know Jesus, both in the U.S. and abroad. Loving boys and girls who are "untouchable" is helping them know Jesus. Youth ministry is a joy of mine but here it's not that simple. There is no true youth program. It's as it is in Acts. They see a widowed mother who is poor and has kids she's unable to fend for. The Body must rise up and love them like Christ. They need Him more than they need my partner and I. I look forward to those days. I love my nieces and nephews.
R*ch
