Mission India

December 13, 2007

Part II:

Dear Family,

When I sent my ‘Part I’ update on our trip to India we had just finished a whirlwind trip to some remote villages in West Bengal where we dedicated a new wing at the orphanage (the 18 orphanages are all called Dream Centers) the Waterboyz for Jesus funded, celebrated the beginning of the construction at another Dream Center for the head-hunting Lodha tribe, visited two other existing Dream Centers for a ‘hug fest’, and brought blankets to about 100 lepers who materialized out of their various hiding places to minister to us in a profound way. We truly had seen that ‘the least of these’ is the place we could experience Jesus’ heart in a way we had never seen before. As the lepers walked away carrying their blankets and little bag of food to nowhere we all wept and prayed that God would take care of them somehow/someway…………..

After getting back to Good News India’s headquarters in Calcutta we spent the afternoon emailing family, getting some laundry done (it was the first time I’ve ever had my underwear ironed, but that’s another story……….), and getting ready for the next phase of our trip. We were off to visit the ‘at-risk’ girls’ Dream Center in the Himalayan Mountains. About 9pm we got into a couple of cars and headed to the downtown Calcutta train station. Although it was after rush hour the place was a mob scene. On any given day over 1 million people pass through this station in one continuous stream of humanity. Rajendra kept reminding us to watch our wallets as we made our way down the boarding platform and onto the train. We found our compartment and after getting a .13 cent (I paid him a handsome tip) shoe shine from a 9 year old boy (at around 10pm at night) the train got underway.  The ride was so smooth that it didn’t take long for all of us to find our sleeping places and quickly we all drifted off to sleep. (Except for Greg Lueck who had a big bump right in the middle of his bed.)  Early the next morning we woke up and, after enjoying a cup of tea, we had the first official Waterboyz 10MEN table in India. We read and SOAP’d 1 John 4 together. With the experiences of the past few days we felt the truth of God’s word when He tells us that as we experience His love we can’t help but love each other as well as those around us.

After a long bumpy ride up into the mountains we finally arrived at the Kalimpong Dream Center. The 30+ ‘at risk’ girls met us with beautiful smiles. Because of space and funding limitations the current facility can only handle a small fraction of the ‘at risk’ girls in this region. We ate a delicious meal with the girls and then headed to the top of the mountain to meet and play with the girls at a little park with a couple of swings. I’ll never forget seeing 25 or so little girls pile into a small SUV truck at the Dream Center (talk about a clown car!) for the 15-20 minute ride to the park. After spending a few hours with them we headed back down the mountain to the local church where their pastor/director was waiting for us. As the children practiced their program one more time, we headed to the construction site of the new facility being built to replace the existing Dream Center. The pastor/director, after reading a passage in Deuteronomy about using part of family property for the Lord’s work, and his family had taken out a personal loan, by faith, to build a building on their family property. This new facility cost about $40,000 and is the most beautiful building you could imagine. In typical God-fashion funds began to come in from here and there and by the time the building was built $38,000 had miraculously shown up. This is the middle of a God-story since they need another $12,000 to finish the building and another $15,000 to buy a bus to transport the girls to and from school and church. They explained that during the construction they had spent 30 days digging a big boulder out of the ground they had to excavate in a terrace fashion to create a flat building site. BY HAND! They somehow created a flat building site using sticks and shovels – I can’t even imagine the kind of dedication that would drive this pastor and his wife! Well I actually can! When you think that they will be able to immediately double the number of girls who won’t be tied to a bed and raped daily, day after day provides motivation enough. 1 John 4 – God is love – we will love in a God-like way since we were first loved. It inspires us to protect unprotected children so they can grow up emotionally healthy and impact the world around them.

We prayed over that site and asked God to continue the good work He had already started in Kalimpong. We drove to the church and were treated to another awesome program of smiles, songs, and dancing. We didn’t want it to end! It occurred to me that 30+ girls were in a church, praising God, dancing for His glory (and just for the fun of it), and what a different outcome their lives would have. Many of them are dreaming about becoming doctors, teachers, or nurses. Because God loved us so much He inconveniently gave of Himself.  So how could we being so thoroughly loved do anything else for these precious little girls?  I thought often of my daughters and how much I love them and want to protect them from harm. How I want them to have lives full of promise, dreams, and Kingdom stories. On our last day on earth each of us will have to answer THE question – Did you care enough to love the unlovable and forgotten?

We spent a night in a local hotel where the temperature hovered somewhere between 35-40 degrees. Since there is no heat in the rooms we all dove under the covers and curled up into fetal positions to conserve as much body heat as possible. It was a long night…………..   Since we arrived around mid-night and were exhausted, only Greg Lueck got up at 3am to drive to the vantage place to see Mt Everest at sunrise. When he returned we headed back down the mountain to catch our plane ride back to Calcutta. We stopped for breakfast at a roadside restaurant (no heat) and had just put in our orders when our driver came in and whispered something to Dr. Rahman.  Immediately, he said we needed to leave in 10 minutes!  It turned out that a local political group had declared a procession (political protest) that was starting in about a half hour. These sometimes shut down entire regions for hours, sometimes full days. We hurriedly ate and got on our way. We passed the preparations a few miles later and missed this potential delay by less than half-hour. God was looking out for us – Big Time! When we arrived at the airport we learned that Greg Lueck (there is a pattern developing here, do you see it?) didn’t have a ticket. God again provided and before long we were headed back to Calcutta.

Saturday morning we all got up and decided that before our day got started we were going to have one more 10MEN table together in India. We SOAP’d 1 John 3 and shared what God was doing in each of us through this trip. It was an anointed time together and we didn’t want it to end. We prayed that our last day in India would be fully used by God - a prayer that God answered in the way He always does – YES – YES – YES!  Before long, our ride arrived and we were off to visit with the 45 ladies who had been launched into micro-businesses by Damascus Road Community Church and the Waterboyz for Jesus. When we arrived we learned that this group had grown to 76 women (Praise God!) so the place was packed. When Rajendra arrived he reminded me I was giving the message. I had totally forgotten this assignment so I immediately began to pray that God would give me ‘a word’.  Immediately I thought of the Phoenician women whose daughter was dying with no hope and of the lady caught in adultery and judged worthy of death by stoning. I continued to pray and God gave me the theme these women needed to hear – God is a God of second chances. After explaining that even though there were 3 Paul’s in our group of 5 men not every man in America is named Paul, I began to preach about second chances. It felt like the women really connected with the message – Praise God – in our weakness He is strong!

After the service the 5 group leaders for the micro business we helped start, showed us the goods that the entire group had been making. We, of course, all bought many of the items and talked with the ladies about how they were developing new ideas for products and finding markets to sell their wares. When we were finished Rajendra asked us to meet with a young girl (maybe 18-19 or so). He told us that soon after an arranged marriage and getting pregnant her husband had abandoned her. This left her homeless which led to her getting TB in her spine. She lived in agony, with a little baby on the streets of Calcutta with no hope and no future. Pastor Raju somehow learned about her and got her medical attention (a REAL miracle). Rajendra explained that she was now a housekeeper and getting paid in meals. So even though she was getting something to eat she was forced to sleep on the sidewalk outside the gate of the home she was cleaning. He told us that she would learn if the treatment for her TB was helping in a few days. We asked how we could help – and he told us that for $100 she could rent a food booth and would be able to make enough income to get a place to stay. We prayed over her and I anointed her with oil. As we prayed she had the most beautiful smile on her face – it made no sense! As if we were one man, we all reached for our wallets. Four men dug into their souvenir money and before we left, Punjab had a future. One more for Jesus – just one more! Pray for her and all the other “Punjab’s” living on the mean streets around the world.

Pastor Raju (a local Calcutta pastor that DRCC fully sponsors) asked if we would pray over his home before we left. We were honored to be asked, so off we went; walking down alleys and through little open courtyards. We arrived at a room of about 10X10 mostly made up of a queen sized bed. I asked if this was where he, his wife, and daughter lived. “No” he said, this is where his family and 11 other people lived – he pointed up to a second floor he had built out of some scrap lumber. 14 people live in a 200 sq foot home (his mother and other family members). When I had asked him earlier in our trip what we could do to help him all he said was – “Brother pray that God will bless my work here. Just pray!” God had impressed a brother to give me $1000 Spirit money before I left on the trip so earlier in the week I had asked Rajendra – “what else can we do for this man of God?” He explained that if he had a motorcycle he would save hundreds of hours a year in getting around the city. I asked him how much it would cost to buy a motorbike - $1000 he said! So after praying a blessing over Pastor Raju’s home we went to the local Honda dealership (a small shop with two bikes in the display room) and handed this dear man the keys to a brand-new Honda. The smile on that man’s face lit up the room! Praise God.

God answered our prayers in real and tangible ways every day while we were in India – even that last day in India. Each of us has been changed forever. This Sunday our kids will be able to participate with us in changing 100 kids lives forever. Near the Children’s check-in tables, we will have a Christmas tree with 100 angels hanging as decoration – each with a child’s name and picture. Select an “angel” and make a donation.  For $25 you can provide a child with a new outfit of clothes for Christmas, a small metal box to keep his few belongings in, and a year’s worth of shots to prevent many of the common diseases that are prevalent in this area. I don’t know what He’ll ask of us next, but I do know ‘the best is yet to come!”  We are praying that God will show us what the next step is in MISSION: INDIA – pray with us won’t you?

In HIM
Paul Foss on behalf of the team

Back to Part 1
See Photos from the 2007 Trip