Sunday, November 20, 2011

Day 3 - Part 1

Tuesday started with us going to the AG church. We took an amazing tour of the church, school, and hospital. We learned a lot about the church's history and the difference they have made and are continuing to make in Kolkata.

One of the things that we learned about on our tour was the feeding programs they have that take place in 8 different spots in Kolkata every day. We saw where the food is prepared and it was simply amazing to see how large the pots and burners were. One of the places that they serve food at is right across the street from the church. We were so blessed to be able to go and see how it worked. They have an amazing program where they give one member of a family a card with their name on it and how many people are in their family. Every day they come they get a day checked off. The same people work at the food stations so they develop relationships with these people, they get to know them by name. If they don't see someone for a day or two they start asking others about them to make sure everything is ok, they truly care about these people. It is also amazing to me that they give them the amount of food they need to feed their whole family. This is the only food these people will have all day. They receive rice as well as a cereal and curry so it is a well balanced and nutritional meal.

We went outside just as they were getting ready to serve lunch and they asked if we would like to help serve the food. NO words will ever be able to describe the experience I had there that afternoon. I can honestly say it was one of the most moving moments of my life. I will forever feel so honored that I was able to serve food to these beautiful people, I will forever remember their faces. I truly felt in that moment that God was using us to His literal hands, by feeding His beloved children. There were the 3 most beautiful older women who came through the line as I was serving and I laughed because they were yelling at all the young kids who were acting a little rambunctious. There was a young boy who was probably around 13 who had a huge scar from the corner of the left side of his mouth that reached all the way up to his left ear. There was also the prettiest little girl who was probably around 10, she had the biggest smile and told me "thank you" in English. She had on red earrings and I told her I liked her earring and her smile got even bigger. The thought of that day still stirs such strong emotions, I am crying as I write this. I am just so so thankful for such an amazing experience.

"Feed the hungry,and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon."
(Isaiah 58:10 NLT)

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