Study Abroad

by Kalie Hanson Vietnam is HOT!! I think out of everything the heat is the most overwhelming. I was expecting it to be hot and humid but this country exceeds my expectations. Along with the heat the language barrier is a struggle. It is harder than it looks trying to bargain with someone who doesn’t speak any English, but when it comes to water, at this point, I’ll pay anything. It amazes me on how many people ride motor bikes. I knew from the Top Gear episode that the main way of transportation was motor bikes but it still shocks me. It was super scary the first day learning how to cross the street without getting hit but now it’s not so bad. After riding the bikes today, I have a better perspective and I feel a little more comfortable dealing with people on bikes; just look at them in the eye and you will be ok. The only people you have to watch out for are the people in the cars because they don’t stop for anyone. I have tried some interesting food so far on this trip and after tonight I don’t think any food will surprise me. Tonight, Jim Bryan took us to a restaurant where we all tried snake, pigeon, dog, and frog. All the food was great but the snake was the best. The flavor was amazing. The dog and pigeon was a little tough but not bad. I am surprised that the menu actually advertised dog and pigeon; honestly I’m just glad Jim Bryan didn’t order the pig ovaries. That is one dish I will not eat. I am proud of myself for being adventurous in my eating but I don’t plan on eating that type of a meal anytime soon. The landscaping has been the best part of Vietnam; in my opinion. I have really enjoyed just driving around the cities and countryside. The cities are crazy busy with everyone on their motor bikes and venders trying to sell their goods. The people sell anything and everything here and they don’t like to back down when trying to convince you to buy. When we drive out if the city is when I got to see the rice fields. I have also seen many water buffalo, which was a first, and it almost seems like they are just roaming around with no boundaries. That is on think I have notices in Vietnam, there are not many fences. I also love the mountains here. They are so pretty with all the greenery. I really enjoyed the bike ride and looking at all the mountains and listening to all the cicada bugs that inhabited them; they were so loud. So far I have really enjoyed Vietnam, but it has only been two days. I’m sure the rest of the trip will be great but the overnight stay in the home will be interesting. I just hope I will not have to use a Vietnam “bathroom” on this trip. Fingers crossed.

On the 26th we spent a majority of the day exploring the city of Haridwar. Haridwar is a pilgrimage city off the Ganges River, a place where people from all over India go seeking spiritual fulfillment and healing, to make sacrifices, to worship and perform various rituals. It’s almost like the Mecca for Hindus but those who gather here are not solely Hindu. Our friend who lives and works here and who took us around the city that day told us that Haridwar is considered by some to be the true yoga capital of the world. As one who enjoys practicing yoga, my understanding and awareness of traditional yogic ideals and practices was enriched as I spent hours walking around the city, discovering the many ways that people practice yoga and live out their spiritual lives. The walk we took that day was a prayer walk, a time for us to observe as well as seek God’s heart for the people of the city and for the city itself. Though the amount of trash, intense odor and abundance of flies that festered in the city threatened to be a distraction, I found myself incredibly curious and very invested in what I was witnessing along the river and in the streets. I feel that of all the cities we visited in India, Haridwar was the most intensely spiritual and heavy with longing. One of the roots of the word yoga means “path.” In my opinion, Haridwar is replete with a multitude of paths that one can choose to follow in order to seek that spiritual fulfillment and wholeness we long for as humans. Everyone I’ve ever known who has turned to yoga in their lives has done so because they are in search of peace and this sense of wholeness. As I walked around Haridwar, I felt that everyone’s desire was for the same thing: peace and life. The group of men smoking marijuana on the streets as a means of release from their present circumstances, the men and women dunking themselves in the “holy” river to be cleansed, the men gathered around the fire, chanting and worshipping…all are after the same peace, the same healing, the same wholeness. While traveling around India we’ve had the privilege of meeting many men and women who have turned from their other religious traditions to follow Jesus and though they all had unique stories, one common thread in them all was the fact that they had been searching for peace and never found it until they met Jesus. It hit me as I walked around the city that day that these people who are giving their lives in devotion may never truly find what they’re after unless they find the One who is the ultimate source of the peace and abundance of life they crave, Jesus Christ. My prayer for them is that they will be unsatisfied until they meet with Jesus and finally discover the truth that true life, true healing, true peace is found only in Him. I will never take the peace I have known through Christ for granted again. He is our life source and nothing compares.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you…” John 14:27

-Alex Rios

One of my first impressions of India was feeling overwhelmed by the chaos that filled every inch of the city: vehicles honking horns, masses of people randomly crossing intersections, and beggars consistently placing their hands in front of you in hope for rupees. What began as chaos, turned into a soothing sense of belonging and comfort. By the end of my five week journey, I felt comforted by the non-stop activity that surrounded me; the city was so full of life! Now when I think about heading back to the USA, I become apprehensive. How will I respond to the quiet life of Visalia, CA? I will be returning to a place full of order: speed limits, suburban homes, and isolated “quiet time”. Before leaving the USA last month, I was worried I would not adapt to life in India. Now that I have tasted the thrill of India, I pray the Lord will give me grace to accept the stillness and independence of America. Spending part of my summer in India taught me the value of genuine community. During a normal summer in CA, I would have filled my agenda with earning money at a minimum wage job, reading books at local parks, and riding my bike throughout the town; my time would have been centered on my personal schedule. Yet in India, I learned that life is so much sweeter spent in community. I observed men sitting under a shade tree singing along to the beat of a single drum, a kitchen full of women cooking chipatti and dahl, and children gathered on a dirt field playing a game of cricket. People in India always worked together to achieve goals and carry out daily duties—they cooked together, laughed together, and depended on each other. Although many people I observed had a Hindu faith, they showed me how to practically live out one of our greatest commandments as Christians: to love our brothers and sisters. God taught me that love cannot be effective unless it is enacted through community. I could store up the love of Christ in my heart and focus on my own agenda, or I could pour out His love to my community by extending a hand to help cook for a family in need, or sit and laugh with people God places in front of me as I walk throughout town. The two most important things I learned about India can be summed up in the words beautiful and broken. God revealed to me that He views India as a beautiful nation, full of devotion and culture. He created every person in India; He beautifully crafted each pair of brown eyes and dark hair to add unique beauty to the master tapestry of His Kingdom. He acknowledges their devotion to pagan gods and He longs for the day India will offer devotion to His son, Jesus Christ. He also aches for the brokenness of India. His heart breaks for the lame men that walk with burnt bodies or amputations, for infants that walk the streets shirtless, exposing their rib cages and stick-sized legs, and the unheard cry of a baby-girl being murdered inside her mother’s womb. Not only does He hurt for these broken people, but also He calls me to carry their burdens and extend His love to the hopeless. As I head back to California, I leave a part of my heart in India. When I close my eyes, I see the beauty and brokenness inside the solemn eyes of a young boy walking the streets alone in a school uniform and in the eyes of a young mom begging for money to feed her child milk. My prayer is that these images forever be bound to my heart—so I may answer the call to love as He loved, with selfless abandon. -Chelsea Atkinson

On Friday we left Haridwar, one of the most important pilgrimage sites of Hinduism; we then rounded off our trip at a 5-star hotel in Delhi. We have seen many sides of India on this trip: we have been to villages and churches, stayed with middle class families and seen the affluence of the upper class beside us in Delhi. As dirty and heart-rending as Haridwar was, I was sad to leave it. It is a city of both ugliness and beauty, with dirt, grime and flies everywhere, and with religious devotion in its bones. Haridwar gave a face to Hinduism for me, and that face both saddened and touched me. A religion that we had hitherto seen manifest in little more than red bracelets, attitudes and roadside shrines took on new significance in a city where thousands of people come hundreds of miles, often by foot, just to touch the holy waters of the Ganga and bring a little home to their idols. The devotion was evident, yet it was sobering to see so many people placing their trust and hope in an insentient river. Thousands try to find spiritual cleansing in a body of water that rushes thoughtlessly down from the Himalayas, gathering dirt, pollution and the occasional dead body along the way. In a sense, this river that is so holy to Hindus took on some spiritual significance to me as well: few things that I have seen in India have made my heart cry more to God for the souls of India. We saw other aspects of Hinduism in the city too. We visited a huge, affluent ashram, a jocki (I am not sure how to spell this, but it is essentially a museum of religious-themed animatronics) and a shrine on top of a breath-takingly beautiful mountain only accessible by gondola. Overall, our experience in Haridwar was an interesting, thought-provoking, prayerful, emotional and exciting one. We have now finished the last leg of our trip; we snuggled up in a fancy hotel in Delhi and shopped excessively before getting on the plane for another 20-30 hour flight, this time leading us HOME. This trip has been an incredible experience. India is a country of beauty, dirt, vibrant colors, heartfelt hospitality, stark contrasts, varied religions and amazing faith, and I shall miss it immensely. Thank you for all of your prayers. -Michaelynne Whitsitt

While we were in Punjab, our group went to the Wagah Border between India and Pakistan. Every evening, there is a border closing ceremony there. During my past visits to India, I saw little evidence of any national pride. The closest I had come to seeing patriotism was when I asked my friend what colors were on the Indian flag, “The colors are green, white, and saffron!” I guess I just assumed that patriotism was non-existent here, but at the border, I finally saw an Indian display of national pride. Honestly, the border was a little overwhelming for me. The crowd was enormous, and the security made the TSA look like a bunch of mall cops. I think I had to show my passport three times before they decided that I wasn’t a threat to national security. Once we were seated, however, I began to appreciate the place. There I was, stuffed between two of my friends, sitting on the curb with an Indian police officer pacing, waving, and blowing his whistle right above me, and as I looked at the crowd, I saw the pride on their faces. Hundreds of people came that evening to see this, and I was right on the curb—I could see everything! There was music playing and the women were dancing. People were running the length of the road in pairs carrying large flags and beaming. It was sweltering and crowded, but the Indian people were glad to be there. Someone shouted “Hindustan!” and the whole crowd echoed it back. Again and again, “Hindustan! Hindustan! Hindustan!” They were shouting the name of their country in Hindi, not English. The ceremony itself is quite choreographed. In small groups, soldiers marched—stomped—to the gate and kicked their legs so high that their feet touched their hats. They would take off marching as fast as they could to the gate, then stand in formation. It was obvious that the soldiers of the two countries were competing the whole time. Although these men have been doing the same ceremony each night for years, some of the men looked tense and nervous. It was clear that they would rather spend a night in Pakistan than make a mistake. During the final moments of the closing ceremony, both gates were opened, and amid much marching and kicking, the soldiers of India and Pakistan got into formation to lower their flags. It was in this moment that I saw the pride of India. The man in front of me saluted; the crowd cheered; every eye was glued to that green, white, and saffron flag. I knew that I could only be an observer in this moment, for it belonged to the Indians. It belonged to the people of Hindustan. -Rachel York

Today is Wednesday July 25th, and our trip is almost over! By Monday we will be back in the US, but for now we’re still out there experiencing the culture of India. For example, this morning we started out our day with a little bit of yoga in the city of Ambala! The man who hosted us yesterday (Tuesday) thought it would be good for us to try something that has been used in other religions, but with a little Christian twist. He advocated having yoga as a form of maintaining ones health. In addition, he encouraged meditational prayer as a means to connect to the Lord. While this had been a different experience for many of us, our group enjoyed participating in the fusion of these two concepts. This practice of meditational prayer reminded me of the verse in Psalms 46:10 which states, “Be still, and know that I am God...” I won’t go too much into detail, but our experience of literally “being still” was a good change of pace. We had the chance to pray in a calm and relaxed atmosphere making it easier to connect with the Lord. By taking the time to push everything aside and simply focus on God, our day in Ambala was off to a great start. Have a blessed day! -Jorge

The last few days we have been in the beautiful city of Amritsar. Being walking distance from the Golden Temple, the Mecca for Sikhism, makes me feel like royalty. As we walked to the sacred place, shops lined the streets with knifes and shoe stores. The beauty was overwhelming.  The men bought handkerchiefs to cover their heads and we dropped our shoes off for respect. Our filthy feet were cleansed at the entrance. Walking around the Golden Temple, I saw countless people touching the structure, offering money, washing in the cleansing water, and bowing in respect and prayer to their dietys. I do not understand the majority of the religion, but my respect grows for them as I hear about their values of standing up for what is right and maintaining high respect for their gurus. I have always wondered at the men with turbans that I see at home, but now I have had the pleasure of understanding their religion more. Meeting some individuals that have chosen Jesus as their one and only god has helped build my faith and be confident in my journey with Christ. Theses charismatic individuals are overflowing with stories and questions about their faith. The journey has not been easy for them to reject their family values and religion. One friend of ours was told not to contact his family. I am so blessed to not have to reject my family for my faith. Knowing that many Indian immigrants of America are Sikhs encourages me to remember what I have seen and heard. These people do not know that Jesus is the only way, but they value morals and respect. I hope that in my future I can maintain a higher respect for Sikh individuals. Their giving spirit and devotion is a beautiful characteristic of their religion. - Gina Hilty 

We arrived at our first destination the Bible College. So far the weather feels good and I'm just enjoying all the nature and getting to know all the people here. I can't even describe how I feel right because everyone is so welcoming the hospitality is great and everyone treats us like family. The food has been great I think it will be easy for be to adapt to the food. In a sense I feel like I'm at FPU. Overall I'm very great full that we have arrived safe and that we have reunited with the rest of the group and got to hear from there experience in India so far.