Some Thoughts From Todd

“The horn is very important. More important than brake.” – this was some
driving advice for Kolkata given to me by our host Shaji as we
travelled to the slum through the crowded streets of the city. We were
chatting about some of the differences between our two countries as we
drove. I saw a sign that read “please obey the traffic laws” and I
thought to myself, the oly traffic laws are to honk as much as you can
and flash your high beams a lot and to get around any obstacle as fast
as possible. The bad driving is the first of many startling things you
notice here. Some of the other things are the smells, the poverty, and
the animals that roam about freely (cows, goats, pigs, dogs, chickens,
etc). The first night I was startled and haunted by the call to prayer
broadcasted by the many Muslim mosques nearby. I was kept awake by the
constant squaking of the hundreds of ravens outside the window
fighting over scraps of food. I was confused at how to turn on the
electric hot water heater to have a hot shower.
Apart from the sheer ‘foreign-ness’ of the place there have been
several people that we have met that are some of the most beautiful
souls one will ever meet. There’s Shaji, who has started up many pre-
school centers in a few of the slums (there are about 4000 of them in
Kolkata) for young children to stay during the day while their parents
are away where they begin their education and many begin a
relationship with Jesus Christ. There’s Doddy, who has organized this
great pastor’s conference where Kevin and Steve have tought that has
brought a much needed training to the pastors of western India (some
of whom travelled nine hours by train just to be here). There’s Suman,
who has a Children’s home for a few of the thousands of orphans in
Kolkata who have nowhere to live but the streets. It has been so
meaningful in my life to have gotten to meet these people here. It
reminds me to let the beauty of Christ flow through me to a hurting
world.
Todd