Thankfulness: Thanksgiving & Dalit Exposure Retreat

"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and songs...Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord God our Maker; for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of His hand." Psalm 95:1-2,6-7

Dear friends and family,

Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving! As I reflect on all that I have to be thankful for, I realize that there is just sooo much...

Last week at Baker Vidyapith I taught a lesson on Thanksgiving. What a joy it was to watch the kids' faces light up as I showed them pictures of Thanksgiving food and families gathering around the table to eat! I even included images of Thanksgiving Day football as part of our traditions (listening to myself trying to explain football was pretty funny.) In describing the origins of the holiday, it was so hard not to say, "the Pilgrims and the Indians!" This led to some pretty interesting discussions as to the origin of the misnomer "Indians," especially when I asked the kids if they knew how it had happened and they gave me answers I had never heard before.

At the end of every class, I asked the students to write down and share the things for which they are thankful. I had such joy listening to them share their blessings as they stood up and gave thanks for God, country, family, freedom, for technology... and for badminton and for their pet chickens, among other things.

This past weekend was our third YAV retreat, held at the Marthoma Retreat Centre in Maramon, Kerala. I'm not sure how far away it was because it took over two hours to get there and less than 45 minutes to get back to Kottayam. On Thanksgiving, we looked at the traditional feasts of the Israelites and how they always gave the firstfruits of their harvest to the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners in their land. How would our lives be different if we gave the best of what we had, and not the leftovers, to others? I felt the implications of these passages deeply because of how I am a foreigner in this land and I have been treated with such Biblical hospitality, for which I am truly grateful. Though in some small ways I give back to this community, I am still very much on the receiving end; I arrived as a total stranger and had to be taught everything and given everything I have in this land by other people. As for all that I have back home, I appreciate it all a thousand times more than I ever did when I was at home. 

Chicken, vegetable curry, chapatti, and potato salad

Achen & Kochamma

Pumpkin pie!

For our Thankgiving meal together we had chicken, vegetable curry, chapatti, and potato salad, and then a delicious homemade PUMPKIN PIE from Kochamma! We spent time sharing about our Thanksgiving traditions and memories.

Thanksgiving with Kochamma, Ian, Rachel, and Binu

The rest of the weekend was spent learning about the history and current situation of the Dalit people. On Friday, we learned about the Dalit situation from Dr. Jesudas, a retired CMS lecturer and the first Dalit lecturer at the college in its almost 200-year history. The Dalits, or "untouchables," are "out-castes" in the sense that they are actually outside the caste system: traditionally they were considered to be lower than the lowest caste. Before the caste system was outlawed, Dalits were literally untouchable-they were not permitted to be within certain distances of members of a higher caste, nor to cook their food, or even let their shadow pass over them. They had to warn others when they were approaching by a bell hung around their neck and the women were not allowed to cover themselves. Dalits did not have any rights-even the right to their own body, and had to fight for the right to clothe themselves. They were not allowed to receive education of any kind. There are so many extreme examples of the oppression the Dalit people faced for centuries, yet they still experience segregation and oppression since the caste system was outlawed. The Dalit people still struggle to make their voices heard and to receive lack of restrictions in education, jobs, and all areas of life. (For example, even today, in the neighboring state, Tamil Nadu, there are separate chairs or cups for Dalits in restaurants.) All areas of their life are still affected by the oppression of the caste system. Although caste is not openly talked about, it is still very much a part of daily life in India. I found it interesting that although no one explicitly mentions their caste, one's caste is always apparent through one's name, occupation, address, or church. So even though no one actually says their caste, all others know it.

In the 1800s, British Abolitionist missionaries arrived in Kerala and tried to abolish the caste system. They began to educate the Dalit people, built schools for them, and introduced them to the Gospel. Since then, Christianity has spread like wildfire among the Dalit people and continues to flourish. It was powerful to learn about the history of this oppressed people and to discuss their current situation and the politics surrounding it. Furthermore  we looked at the similarities between the struggles of the Dalit people and our own civil rights struggle in the U.S. 

On Saturday, we visited a Dalit congregation at Pulard Church, which also happens to be Thomas John Achen's home church. There was a convention going on which we attended, comparable to a revival prayer meeting in the U.S. At this meeting we sang, "Nanniode njan studipaddidum," a Malayalam song of thanks to God for His blessings. That evening we also had the privilege of visiting homes of the Dalit people that Achen knew. This was a truly humbling experience. I will never forget walking through the pouring rain to visit these very poor, all-cement homes. We were surrounded by much darkness with all the rain and no power, but the warm, smiling faces of these people beaming at us in the candlelight are faces that will not quickly fade from my memory.

Church choir at Pulard, a Dalit congregation

The next morning we attended service at Pulard, where we had the opportunity to sing another song for the congregation. After the service, Rachel & I taught some songs to the Sunday school. 

Now having returned from this retreat, I am feeling overwhelmed by all that I have. Learning about the Dalits' history and struggle and then visiting their homes impressed upon me just how ridiculously fortunate I am. I have never dealt with segregation. I have not been treated differently because of the color of my skin. I took for granted a life of education and rich opportunities growing up, thinking everyone had the same opportunities as I did. I grew up in a warm and loving home and attended terrific schools. I went off to an excellent college where I continued to receive an abundance of knowledge, love, and opportunities. My family travels a lot and I have been blessed to see many amazing places in the world. Finding myself in the homes of those struggling for a voice, struggling for the right to education, I am struck by what all I have taken for granted.

And so I will give thanks. I am thankful for the opportunity to be exposed to poverty, and thankful that my concepts of "wealth" and "poverty" are being challenged. I am thankful to be exposed to the poverty within my own life and my own heart. I am thankful to have the opportunity to literally volunteer for a whole year, "to be rich enough to be poor for a year," and to find myself not in any way, poor. I am thankful for the privilege to struggle in a new land and to come to terms with the grace and power of the risen Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the challenges I have encountered in this land and how my faith is being refined. I am thankful for a terrific site, CMS College, where I feel loved, accepted, and purposeful. I am thankful to have the honor to teach so many students each week and to be welcomed into their homes and lives. I am thankful for vulnerability. I am thankful for having an abundance of choirs and classes in which I can use my musical training, having never really known what exactly I would be doing here and discovering that I wouldn't be rather be doing anything else. I am extremely thankful for how directly I'm getting to use my skills. I am thankful for a wonderful place to stay where I am surrounded by inspiring young women. 

I am thankful for frequent power outages, lest I forget the source of the one true Light. Thankful for having dyed my clothes purple, lest I get too attached to my "stuff." I am thankful for discomfort lest I forget the one true source of all Comfort. I am thankful for all that is happening to me and within me this year. I am thankful to have some of the scales fall from my eyes. I am thankful that I am here. May I never forget how incredibly blessed I am; may we each never forget.

Random tidbits:

1) Every night at evening prayer, I read one Psalm, the Psalm of the number of the days I've been in India. I so look forward to reading my Psalm each night, and try to color my thoughts of each day by its corresponding Psalm. I've started to remember things on certain days by what Psalm I read the night before.

2) Related to this, I recently was excited for it to be Psalm 91 night! Before I left for India, my wonderful mother hid little encouraging notes inside my things, and the other night, right after I'd read Psalm 91, I decided to reach into my bag of notes from her. The note I pulled out was a note my mom had written about the same psalm! What an awesome God we serve!

3) I have three geckos in my room. I like them because they're pretty cute and they help eat the bugs! I've grown fond of them over time and have named them according to location. Ward lives behind my wardrobe. Looey is in my bathroom. The kitchen gecko is still nameless. I'm open to suggestions.

4) There are things about living here that make a lot of sense to me. For example, using the same plate and glass for every meal. It makes so much sense to just have everyone wash their own plate and glass after each meal and put it right back on the table for the next meal. Why do we have use so many plates back home? They always stack up and then we have to wash them. 

5) My father mailed me a package of books for the Choir Directors' Program about a month ago and I just received them because apparently "Kerala" was mistaken for "Canada" and the box went to Canada. haha

6) It is now DECEMBER!!! That means that I am entering an explosion of Christmas choir rehearsals! Wahoo!!! And that I have successfully completed a third of my year! Aaaaand....my mother and sister will be here at the end of this month!!!!!!

6) I would be remiss if I forgot to mention how grateful I am for all of you-my loyal friends, family, and supporters. Where would I be without your constant outpouring of love and encouragement? 

The view from Marthoma Retreat Center

Rainbow plants!

Rooster power

Rachel, Binu, and Ian go for a walk.

hanging Tarzan vines...