Day 14: Relaxing Sunday

Day 14 consisted of the following:

• Church
• Sunday afternoon
• Week ahead

Sunday 22 November 2015

Church:

We had the same two church meetings in the morning as per last Sunday.  The first one was at the orphanage in a small hall and the second one was at the school in the main hall.  It's difficult to understand what is being said in the meetings as it is all in the Kannada language but I enjoy the singing and focusing on reading my bible.  Still haven't got the hang of sitting crossed legged on the ground, my legs just go numb with pain, but hoping I'll get use to it soon enough.

I've noticed that all of the windows on houses and building in India have bars running across them and I remember Keith saying that it is for protection against riots, apparently people can get very get out of control and become very dangerous.

Talking with one of the older boys at the orphanage 

Sunday Afternoon:

Sunday afternoon was very relaxed and most of the children occupied themselves with different games, sleeping, or helping to prepare meals for the week.  The temperature during the day was a pleasant 24 degrees.  It was raining quite heavily at times during the afternoon and the older boys told me that the power in Hunsur goes out when it rains.  We played a few card games together but then it got dark very quickly.  I've noticed that sunset and sunrise happen very quickly in India, in around 20 minutes it can get dark in the late afternoon. The power came back on at about 7pm.

Me and the older boys at the orphanage playing cards 

The older boys were telling me about the history of the orphanage and how they build most of the buildings themselves.  They also said that Sunday afternoon is the only time that parents are allowed to come to the orphanage to visit their children.  Several of the children have parents but since they live in small villages in the forest there is no hope for a good future so they send them to this orphanage.  However the older boys were telling me that most of the children here either don't have any parents or they have been abandoned.  It's really sad to hear this as they are such lovely children and they deserve a better start to life.  However seeing the effects that this orphanage has on these children really brings joy in my heart, as they have a new found hope for living.

Picture of the children at the orphanage having dinner

Week Ahead:
Another week of school starts tomorrow which I'm looking forward to the challenge.  I'll also have to prepare a bible talk for each night of the week.  It's very difficult to present a message to this children as not only are there big age differences between them but every few words needs to be translated.  I also think that most of these children know a lot more about the bible than I ever will as most of them have memorized huge parts of it off by heart.