Day 15: School Cricket

Day 15 consisted of the following:

• School day
• Afternoon cricket
• Evening bible study

Monday 23 November 2015

School Day:

For school today I wore my new formal clothes and the older boys were telling me I now look like an official Indian.  When we finally made it to school in one piece from the bus ride the day went quite quickly.  Whenever it is a student's birthday they get to dress up in their most formal or special clothes for the day, the girls wear very brightly coloured dresses while the boys wear smart dress shirts.  It is a good way for people to recognise who is having a birthday that day and congratulate them.

Picture of one of the boys from the orphanage who turned 13 years old - Special birthday clothes

Afternoon Cricket:

In the afternoon I joined in with John Mark in one of his physical education classes for the students.  They are very casually done and I think John Mark has more fun than the kids at times.  One of the classes had a practical lesson on playing cricket, and they insisted I play.  It very quickly turned into a big match with half the school watching and all the male teachers were batting and bowling while all the kids were fielding, even the school bus driver got involved.  It was great fun and everyone enjoyed it.

In the late afternoon I was talking with the older boys at the orphanage about cell phone calling charges.  I couldn’t believe how cheap calling and data rates are in India.  You never see anyone in India texting as it is cheaper to call.

Evening Bible Study:

For dinner I had rice and sumba, which is different types of vegetables, it tasted great although the green chili's were really hot and made me sweat.  They offered me a glass of milk afterwards which helped with the pain.  I've noticed that for almost every meal they put some type of chili in them, even breakfast, and they call western food too plain tasting.

In the evening everyone gathered together in a small room, sat on the ground and sang hymns.  I gave a bible talk on baptism and everyone seemed to be very encouraged by it.  I think although they have great bible knowledge they seem to lack some basic fundamentals of Christian living.  In the coming weeks and months I really hope to be able to show them more of who Christ is and how we are called to live. 

It's amazing to see the Lord work in another part of the world as it really puts the almighty power of God into perspective.  To know that He has a plan and cares for each of these children and to think that He would use me to bring about His work is incredible.