The 1st church was a large Methodist church that I attended with the Partners International Area Director. The service was very traditional, and reminded me of the church I grew up attending back in St. Louis. The church I had attended last week felt more like my current church in Dallas (young, contemporary and casual). I decided to wear jeans this week since many people had them on last week, but I soon found out that just like there are different dress codes for Dallas churches, there are different dress codes here as well. So I ended up as the only white person among about 500 Indians and the only female wearing jeans – and of course they had me get up and introduce myself… so I’m certain that didn’t go unnoticed.
Much of the service felt the same – with 2 interesting differences. First, when you go up to take Communion, you remove your shoes and walk up barefoot. Second, there are ads IN THE CHURCH BULLETIN for people who are seeking brides and grooms. Some of the descriptions listed for what people wanted included “simple-minded bride” or “broad-minded homely bride”. Fascinating… The preacher gave a nice talk on creating a Christian home for your children. He also told a horribly sad story about some Indians who lost their lives for being Christians in Northern India (some tribal leaders shot the family), with the message being “don’t deny your faith”. It’s amazing how easy we have it in the U.S. – isn’t it?
In the evening I attended a small church with my host family. They also asked me to introduce myself there, but there were only 15 people (instead of 500) so it wasn’t as intimidating. One of their daughters sang a beautiful solo… it was incredibly touching and truly the highlight of my day. The preacher here talked about how when trouble comes in our life, we have a choice to make. We can either let the bad things tear us away from God, or we can ask God to use these things in some way to further his kingdom. He also talked about how “doubt” is not the opposite of faith, it’s sometimes the beginning – and it can ultimately cause our faith to grow deeper. Finally he reminded us that Faith comes through reading and hearing the word of God. Faith and the word of God go together – so it’s hard to have one without the other.
On a totally different note, one thing I’ve really struggled with here is learning not to smile at people and look them in the eye. It’s very bad for women (especially Westerners) to smile at Indian men (because apparently they already think we’re easy and that looks like a “come on”). But I always smile at everyone! I’m trying so hard to break the habit but it is not coming easily...
Finally, there are A LOT of wild street dogs here. I am not struggling with not petting them, because although I love dogs I find these a bit scary. They bark and howl like crazy at night and keep me up! Last night I dreamed of sedating them all at bedtime : ) That would be nice…
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