Hello all!!
I have not written in two weeks because we either didnt have Internet or it was extremely busy.
We have flown from Delhi to Bombay where we will be working at the Bombay Teen Challenge Campus and Project Rescue Homes. Bombay Teen Challenge has a VERY VERY VERY large campus that has dorms for boys and the Project Rescue Dorms called Asha Gram. Asha Gram is where the ladies or children from the red light district are brought to not only get out of that lifestyle, but to enter into a meaningful relationship with God. About 20 minutes away is the Jubilee Homes of Project Rescue. Jubilee Home 1&2 are for the children of the women from the red light district, they are brought here so that their children would not be surrounded by that lifestyle or even sold into it as well. Jubilee 4 is the Home for children who have HIV/AIDS. Jubilee 3 is the home for the children brought from Jubilee 4 who are extremely sick and about to die.
The Bombay Teen Challenge Campus has a very large chapel that is also used as their dining hall. The Campus is beautiful, they have trees everywhere, fields to play all sorts of games, and also the buildings for Vocational Studies are beautiful. The vocational schools are for Jewelry, Leathering, and Tailoring.
When we flew into Bombay we met up with a Missionary who has been living in Delhi for the last 8 years. His name is Steve and he is doing skateboard ministry this week. He brought a whole bunch of skateboards and is going to teach the boys skateboarding and lead devotionals while our team works with the women and children all week.
The main missionaries that work on the Bombay Teen Challenge Campus (BTC) are Micheal and Jyoti. Micheal is from the states and just recently married Jyoti last year =) Micheal teaches the youth how to play different instruments and he leads a worship band- the members are from Asha Gram, Jubilee Homes, and the Boys home on BTC. They travel all over India leading worship at different functions all year round. Jyoti works with the Jubilee Homes and Asha Gram.
When we got to Bombay, we got food from Pizza Hut and met the funniest people ever! We were laughing so hard with the workers, they were trying to tell us jokes and ... well, it was just a great time. Bombay was INSANELY hotttttttt!!!! It was unbearable. Right away Ascari and I got dehydrated and were about to pass out. They made us chug 2 liters of water... and gave us all these electrolytes. The traffic was worse than Delhi and it took us forever to get to Asha Gram. Bombay is also extremely dirty and the poverty here is the worse I have ever seen anywhere.
For Lunch we went to the mall and ate at a restaurant called Nando's. It was really cute.. and the food was SOOO good! I had Paneer- my favorite!
There were children everywhere, and young kids on their own just walking around covered in dirt, trying to get money or food from anywhere or anyone. There were kids who were sent to work real late at night- like 11:30pm still trying to sell things, it was the saddest thing to see. You would just look at the children and you could see the tears start to form in their eyes and they were just so tired and all they wanted was love, shelter, and hope- all of those were stripped from them. After a while, you just couldn't look around because your heart would shatter into pieces.
The missionaries here just give the children food and not money because you never know who they are working with and you do not want to supply to their owners, etc.
In the evening we went to the Church that is run by BTC and they have Saturday evening services. It is in the red Light District. There was men, women and children from all different backgrounds and situations- married, abused, slaves, etc.
The sermon was about how we all go through trials and tribulations but it is to Glorify to God and we just need to be still and He will show His Power.
The night was spent with God praying and asking that He would just be glorified through everything that we would do. That he would take away any hesitations or fear that we had so that we would be ready for whatever He wanted us to do, just asking so that the Lord would speak to each of us and Lead us with the women and children and through our sessions.
