india post ten.

POST TEN

i consistently find myself wanting to start all of my posts with, "my heart is full." i think that's been my personal theme of the trip. i am CRAZY blessed to be here, now, experiencing this.

so something really sweet happened today. we've been scrounging for phrases to teach the older kids in their english classes. today we had benny, kiran's son, to help us teach the children. we took advantage of the opportunity to have him translate the phrases so the children could write the telugu meaning next to the english phrases in their notebooks...because up until this point, we've been relying on a translator with minimal english speaking skills (but we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her, make no mistake) or no translator at all.

so one of the things we decided to teach the kids today were phrases they can ask the LBC (laurelglen bible church) team when they come on saturday. things like, "which school do you attend?" and "what do you do for a living?" and one of the first things we taught them was "can i have a hug?"

i go into the boys dormitory every night to say goodnight to the boys. it ends up being mostly the fourth, fifth and sixth class guys...because those are MY guys. those are MY little guys. and they're the ones who, as a whole, seem to be the most receptive to me...even though i have close ties with children in both genders and every age group.

and tonight, guess which question i got before bed? :)

"sister, can i have a hug?"

melt my heart. they have NEVER asked me that. not verbally, at least. not until today. not until we taught them.

on another note. i have to tell you about my friend vijay. vijay is the boy's caretaker here at berachah. he is twenty-six years old. he didn't grow up at berachah, but he is an orphan too. so he understands these kids, and he deals with them with a tenderness i rarely see here. i KNOW that all the adults here love these kids. i know they are taking care of them. but i seldom see such a tender heart as vijay's. and i think it has to do with the fact that he understands the pain some of these children face...as it is in his own life. he is stern, make no mistake. these kids listen to him and they respect him. but he is also kindhearted and it isn't difficult to see.

yesterday i had the chance to talk with him a little bit about his story. he was abandoned at six or seven months old in the train station. a family adopted him, and his adoptive father died when he was nineteen or twenty.

he told me he remembered questioning The Lord when he was younger, asking "why don't i have my father? why don't i have my mother?" he told me that The Lord spoke to him from deuteronomy 32:18, with the message, "i AM your father." i like that. i like seeing people made strong in The Lord like that. and what an inspiration vijay is, that he is so willing to devote his life to kids that were just like him.

so the team comes tomorrow. i am soooo stoked. i am so happy to be on the other side of this, to be one of the one's welcoming them...as opposed to being welcomed.

thank you again, everyone who sent me here. i am having the time of my life.