The Most Prized Ones

Hello from India and Happy New Year! We have been covered in a special season these past several weeks as we have literally been living on the other side of the world. We haven’t had much internet connection and so there’s been a huge space made for things like grief, reflecting, living in community with the beautiful family here, and God’s presence. It’s been a really necessary time for our family, and we see God’s goodness in it for sure.

Our hosts here have been wonderful. We have been staying with a family comprised of an amazing woman named Guna, her adult son and daughter, Rushil and Rachel, and a dozen other girls coming from different backgrounds who are each considered daughters as well.

About ten years ago Guna felt inspired to open a home, basically like foster care, for girls whose parents were HIV positive. This was the heart of God responding to the societal’s total rejection of those with HIV/AIDS and the intense poverty and helplessness those families faced, especially in regards to caring for and providing for their children. Right before the home was scheduled to officially open, Guna’s husband, who traveled throughout India training pastors and preaching, was killed suddenly because of a construction explosion near the church where he was preaching. This sudden loss of her husband was devastating in all of the usual ways, but additional difficulty surrounded this tragedy because of the unique ramifications that come with being a widow and a Christian in India. A couple of months after their loss, there was a lot of pressure from everyone surrounding Guna to focus on her grief, on her children and to abandon any thoughts of the girls’ home. Arrangements were made to donate all of the beds, dishes and other home items that her husband had purchased for the home. But before anyone came to collect the items, an old woman and a tiny three year old showed up on Guna’s doorstep. They had heard about her home opening up and had traveled a long distance to find help. Guna didn’t think twice. She welcomed the sweet little girl into her home and treated her as her own. The whole family became alive again and even laughed as they played with their new little foster sister, fed her, bathed her and dressed her. And that’s how Grace Home started.

I had the privilege of coming and living here during the summer of 2009. At that time there were 13 girls in Guna’s care between the ages of 5 and 11. Now almost 8 years later, many of those girls are here today along with several faces that are new to me. It's been amazing to see how beautifully they’ve grown and blossomed. The last time I was here I was responsible for helping with homework and bathing and getting them all to eat their food; I was like a caretaker. But this time around, it is definitely my family who is the one being cared for by this group of teenagers who all act more like mothers and young women than children.

And so we thank God for our time here in India. Here where we haven’t been allowed to wash clothes or even a dish. Where our bodies, weary and lagging from so many months of travel in foreign places have been nourished with clean and whole meals, including River’s, thoughtfully made with us in mind. We are thankful for the rest and space we have known in the midst of terrible grief. Where there is freedom to make art in a magical sunroom so that all of these waves of feelings have a place to go, and a rooftop opened wide enough to host the God of the cosmos. India, where young girls who have lived lives far more complex and difficult than ours lift their voices in praise songs about light in the darkness and Jesus always being with them, and where the reading of Psalm 139 wrecks my spirit with grief and light because in the words are truth—for myself, for my unborn baby, for my husband and son, for each of those girls. Yes, we are thankful for this home in India, where laughter is plentiful, and television is a true pastime to enjoy together, and food is always cooking, and a whole group of the forgotten, the helpless, the forsaken and downtrodden are pieced together by the King to form one giant family that actually exists as one body constantly serving each other. Here we have seen a Christianity that humbles us. Where widows care for orphans and orphans care for missionaries. We came here to minister and we find ourselves the ministered ones. We have come face to face with the way God values people. We are living among his most prized ones, the least and most vulnerable of all, and through their lives he is literally shining.

In our final weeks here, we find our personal lives wrapped up in what God is revealing about himself in India. We have long abandoned the notion that we could have journeyed in these four countries as researchers and observers, purely collecting data. Weakness, vulnerability, total grief and communal living have stripped us of that false covering. As we experienced God’s love and character, God’s people from these four countries, we have done so in full awareness of our humanity. Our family is forever changed. Thank you for standing by us and for cheering us on. We ask for your prayers as we capture the final story for our film and guide the girls as they prepare to present a beautiful social justice piece to their community (excited about also sharing that with you through video). We look forward to returning to our home country, bringing gifts for you all in the form of film and storytelling and, hopefully, in who we are becoming. †

Here are some pictures from our time in India so far: