This blog is finally true to its name. I write to you from Bangalore. We survived training week and hopelessly fell victim to the infamous "Delhi Belly". We did all that was asked of us and learned a tremendous amount. It was a fantastic week and we grew close to loving, passionate people. But now it's over. Training week felt like a summer camp in a metropolitan playground. Now it's time to work.
We had a saying in Delhi whenever a shortcoming or inconvenience came our way, "It'll be better in Bangalore." Little did we know how true that would be. Bangalore is in a state called Karnataka. This is the California of India and Bangalore is the state's largest city. It is much different from Delhi which I now understand to be a blue collar city. Bangalore is an educational hub. Residents up north claim that when they visit Bangalore they miss India. It is cleaner, warmer, and more westernized. To the Indian eye, it would be too American. Let me tell you (having lived in both places) that it is still very much Indian and has a lot of needs. Wild animals roam the streets. Slums can be found in every district. It still smells like dirt, fire and curry. It's still India.
Bangalore is predominantly Hindu as expected. Muslim comes in at second place and there is surprisingly large demographic of Roman Catholics. This is no doubt the work of the British influence throughout the years but it is not Catholicism as we know it. This Catholicism is more similar to Hinduism than it is Christianity in that it is idol-focused. It has muddled and confusing practices and views. There are also some Baptist and Christian ministries making it a large melting pot of beliefs. Jesus is as misunderstood here as he was up in Delhi.
Dozens of colleges are here in Bangalore and make the youth easy to find and spend time with. We have just swung by most of these places familiarizing ourselves with the layout of the city. There are several districts and they each have their own cultures on display. We are looking for young adults.
We arrived around noon and were picked up by one of our supervisors. Palm trees were everywhere and it felt like paradise compared to Delhi. My partner and I had been fighting off all kinds of attacks from Satan just before and right after our flight here. Sickness and finances are good distractions that the enemy can put in our way to stop us from being effective. My teammate has been battling a fever, back injury, and acid reflux. I am allergy prone enough as it is back home and the potency of the allergens here are giving me more than I can handle. Luckily for us, God has seen our needs and come through swiftly. All sorts of lies from the enemy creep in on a daily basis. We have to fight with truth.
We decided to christen our stay here with a prayer walk through the streets. It was night and we did not know anything about the area we were in. We made a couple of turns and started down a main road. We both were praying to ourselves and asking God to come fill this place. I asked him where He wanted to send us. I felt Him say, "the fields are white for the harvest". This made sense because Jesus said it in John 4 but I wanted to know specifically where these white fields are. I asked Him to show me. I then looked up and saw a traffic sign that said, "White Field" that was pointing at two young men. I can't make this stuff up. We went and shared with them and they wanted to know more about Jesus and meet us again. We exchanged contact information and hope to see them again. The fields are white indeed. God set the tone on night one.
R*ch
