Hope

It was dirty, hot, crowded, stinky. Poor. Sad. Little children with tummys swollen from hunger running around partially naked. Walking barefoot over trash piles that seemed to be everywhere you step, trying to find something to eat. Momma's outside working hard. Washing clothes. Trying to get clean what will never come clean. Trying to clean up and make tidy what will never look clean or seem tidy. Grandmas sitting outside in lawn chairs that look a decade old, sitting there staring at what seems like nothing for what seems like forever. They look as though they are just skin and bones. Look as though they wouldn't have the strength to move even if they wanted to. So they just sit there. Sit there and stare at nothing. Babies cry and cry. Little kids sit and whimper. There are dirty, mangy dogs and pigs sniffing through the same piles of trash the kids are picking through. Trash everywhere. Mud everywhere. Flies everywhere. You look around, and look into these sweet people's eyes and you see hopelessness. You see sadness. You see emptiness. Everywhere you look your heart just keeps breaking. Over and over again. You're filled with sadness for these people and you're filled with questions. Your heart hurts.
But then you walk across the complex and you walk into a tiny little building. You see, hear, and feel hope. The hope of Jesus and the hope of education. The hope that for these 32 kids, life doesn't have to look this way someday. It can look completely different.

Last week I visited a little school with a friend named Nuby. She is from Brazil, but married an Indian man and moved here 6 months ago. She is so sweet! She has an amazing heart for Jesus. We have gotten to know her and her husband, Dezang, pretty well since we've been here. They are a really neat couple. Nuby goes out to this village school every Friday, and I asked her if I could go with her to check it out sometime. I'm not exactly sure where we were, but drove about 25-30 minutes outside of Dehradun, to a small village.
We spent the morning at this little school. This tiny school sits right in the middle of an extremely poverty stricken area. The school is so small, but it's impact is huge. They are bringing hope in the name of Jesus and the form of education to this little community. If these kids are educated, they actually have a chance at life.

We helped with the youngest class for the morning. Their ages ranged from about 3 to 6 years old. Talk about some cute kids! They were so sweet. We worked on the English alphabet, painted rainbows, learned some new songs, and had story time. It was great.

This school has 32 students at the moment, and prays for more everyday. They have a tiny facility. Two of the classes were being held in the kitchen-if you can even call it that. They don't have much, but they are very resourceful with what they do have, and trust God for the rest. They have school from 8-2 every day and feed the kids lunch after that. More cases then not, the only hot meal they will get all day.

It broke my heart to see the poverty that these people live in. I've seen it before, but it doesn't matter. It still hurts. At the same time though, it was so good to see how God is working in that community. That school is His light in the darkness around it. His hope. It was encouraging.