Sunday night we ordered Indian food. All the meat in our house was frozen, and I was tired and uninspired to cook. As we ate, Matthieu put on a CD with music from the Indian movie, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which he got on his business trip to India, when he begged his colleagues to take him to an Indian movie. It was at least 3 hours and in Hindi, but he loved every minute of it.
Our children reminisced about our Indian friends who lived in France for three years, and who went to church with us. When they came to our house for Bible discussions, all the kids ate with their hands – theirs, ours, and the two children from our Indonesian friend. It was great.
That’s one of the things our kids are looking forward to for our upcoming trip to India. I haven’t told you about it yet – at least I don’t think I did – but we decided to spend two weeks in India over Christmas and stay with them.
If you’ve read my memoir, you might remember that I mentioned this couple in the last chapter. Jobby and Hisill. Their three kids are the same age as ours, and there was some speculation on the possibility of an arranged marriage.
Just kidding.
When they left, we promised them we’d come and visit them one day. Then, one day this past spring, we decided to make that happen and bought the tickets. They live in Chennai, and we also asked to visit the orphanage linked to our church, plus the house for abandoned or orphaned children who have AIDS. We told our kids we wouldn’t be buying material gifts for them this Christmas, but we’d be bringing gifts to a whole bunch of kids who have nothing at all. That was met with enthusiasm by all but one of our kids, and I suspect that one had to do with his young age and the fact that Santa would not be making an appearance.
To tell you the truth, as I learn about the vaccines and antibiotic precautions we need to take, I’m a little nervous. It’s one thing to go traipsing around the world on one’s own. It’s quite another thing to take three treasures with you.
As the Indian music played, and the flavours of garam masala washed over our palate, Matthieu told the story of his trip in 1998, and how he wanted to stay with brothers from the church and not in the luxury hotel his company provided. He talked about how he arrived and was shown to a bedroom in a tiny 2-bedroom apartment, with the words, “This is where you’ll sleep.” When he saw there were 6 other people staying there, he asked where they were going to sleep. And the answer was, “oh, don’t worry about us.”
In the end, 2 of them stayed in the other small bedroom, four of them slept in the tiny living room, and my husband had a room all to himself. There was a curtain for the door to the apartment, and the bathroom was a sink with running water, a hole to crouch and do your business, and space to use a bucket full of water, heated in the kitchen, that you could pour over yourself and let run down the hole. In the morning, a brother brought him something to eat that he had cooked for breakfast. And only after the week was up did Matthieu learn that, when they found out he was coming, they searched high and low to be able to provide him with a bed to sleep on.
One of the brothers was the evangelist in the church, and he spoke about Matthieu in his message on Sunday, saying how encouraged he was that this brother could have stayed in the nicest hotel in Bangalore, but he chose to stay with them. And Matthieu was thinking that the evangelist was not the only one who was encouraged. Truly, his one-week introduction to real life in India left him nearly speechless with things to ponder.
William listened to my husband’s matter-of-fact recital of everything they had given up for him, and he couldn’t contain himself as he burst out, “That’s so generous!”
And I just wanted to weep. Yes, my son, it is generous, and so much better than Santa making an appearance. Out of nothing, they gave all they had. So we’re going there for Christmas, and perhaps we’ll learn something.
India!
I’ve always wanted to go.
The colours! People! Curry!
Your children are abundantly “Rich” because of your
great adventures & sacrifices!
WOW.
xx from MN.
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