An Indian Christian rock band at a Baptist church in Visakhapatnam brightened up my morning. My second Sunday in India, I decided to attend church with HOINA’s founder, Darlene Large. The service was in English so I could follow along.
A family of Christian missionaries represented the only other white faces in attendance. Following the service, they gravitated towards Mrs. Large and I. I was full of questions, because we have not seen many white Americans or Europeans in India. An eighteen-year-old girl accompanied the family that included two young girls. After a few questions, I found out she is from China and is living with the family for three months and teaching the young girls.
The whole situation felt odd to me. Why is an eighteen-year-old girl teaching two girls around the age of five in India? The culture of ex-pats, especially missionaries, felt stale as represented by this family. Here, at a church lead by an Indian man and a large congregation of Indian followers, why are more white Christians needed here?
I understand many people feel called to India due to the desperate poverty that comes along with the alarmingly large population, but can’t the Christian churches in India open their arms to the problems around them? This question underlies what our group is doing here, also. As a disclaimer, I don’t know the intricacies of that family’s mission and purpose but these thoughts were my immediate reaction. What I wonder is when other Indians see us, do they have these same thoughts? Does simply our presence remind them of the desperation around them?
Since, this Penn State program at HOINA is in its tenth year, I feel as though we are not hurting the way things work here. I know I am to act as a big sister and role model to the over 200 children who call this campus home. Will I personally save them? No, they’ve already been saved by being given the gift of a loving and beautiful home.
-- A few of the boys holding toddler, Povan. I'm still working on all 103 names!! Ha.
-- The front door to the HOINA girls' home in lush south eastern India.
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