Kolkata
Again, from my journal...I don't think I've ever been to a place like this before. It's not like Bangkok or even Delhi are beautiful, clean cities devoid of slums or poor neighborhoods, but they don't even compare to what I've seen tonight.
Our plane arrived at 11:15 p.m. and we easily found a taxi to take us to our guesthouse about 20 minutes or so from the airport. The first thing I noticed were all of the apartment buildings, completely run-down, shabby on the outside with rags hanging in the windows. "Must be one of the poorer parts of town," I thought. Then it was the rows and rows of shacks lining the sidewalks- little makeshift "homes" that hardly seemed large enough for someone to lay down in. Hundreds in every direction. True slums. But the further we went into the city, the more people I saw - actually homeless - sprawled everywhere on the sidewalks. I've never seen so many people on the streets. Laying on mats and covered in rags, they looked comparable to the filthy, detestable soi (street) dogs I've grown to disdain in Bangkok. And yet, these are ones made in the image of God. I'm not sure I've ever seen a place or situation so sad.
Our guesthouse is quite a sight. It has bars on the entrance and windows, fortunately, but the whole interior looks about as run-down as the exterior of the buildings we passed. As we walked to our room, we walked by two men stretched out on the floor of the upstairs hallway. In our room they had 3 very hard beds without blankets (but with tiny bugs crawling on them, as we discovered later), 2 loud fans and a bathroom that looked almost like the public bathrooms I've used all week (ok, as shabby but maybe a little cleaner). Oh, and they left us an already opened bottle of water with maybe an inch of water left in it. With no clean water, I'm choosing to not brush my teeth tonight. : ) Yet it all seems several steps up from the sights on the streets, so I feel strangely grateful. And not just for the richness of life I normally walk in but for the opportunity to partake tonight, in a small way, of the poverty that so many across the world live in.
posted by Catherine Rogers @ 3:16 AM
2 Comments:
It's so awesome to see you become even more humbled with each new experience God brings you. Your partaking in the greatfulness of that place you were in reminds me of how Jesus was humbled when He washed His disciple's feet.
I'm so glad God is answering your prayers in regards to ministering!
Tara
I just came back from my Jewish Passover experience and am so excited about it! People think that Christians shouldn't celebrate the passover, but a lot of the things I learn really did resemble Christ! It was an awesome experience. I'll have to write you an e-mail about it. =)
God is so good! I'm so glad you made it "home" safely! I hope you will get to post pictures if you have any. =)
Miss you!
oops, I meant to put my name at the end of the letter! Hugs!
Tara
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