Calcutta!

I love Calcutta! First- oh my goodness it is very very hot! and it is very humid! But at night it cools off and there is a nice brezze so that is nice. Calcutta has been my favorite part of outreach because there is so much need here. There are slums and begger everywhere in India but in Calcutta it 100 times greater than in the other place we have been. I have seen alot of things i thought i would never see.

Right outside our hostel is about 10 familes living in slums. Cammy one of my team mates and myself have been going and visiting with them everyday! I love hanging out with the poor :) It is crazy because they speak no english and we speak none of their language but we can spend hours sitting with them! They really enjoy our company and we love hanging out with them. There is a leaper, and a lot of children, some mothers and then very young soon to be mothers. (In India they get married and have babies very young) The other day they gave us Hena! it is like and India type of tatto that last a couple weeks they put it all over our hands and feet and they loved see our reactions to it! We just sit with them and share cookies and whatever we have with them. This has been one of my highlights in calcutta is hanging out with this family everyday. :)

Mother Theresa's home! Oh my goodness... I'm in love. If anyone didn't know this is what i have been looking forward to on outreach... this is where my heart is, for the poor and for the dying, for the people who normal people don't want to spend time with. I have seen some crazy things here that again i never thought i would see. Some of these people have very intense deformities and some you question how they are still alive. But at the same time it is so easy to love these people! God has really shown me things within myself that i didn't know i had.. like i knew i had a heart for these people but i thought i would be kind of scared to sit with them or even touch them or hold their hand.. but without even thinking twice about it i sit with them and hold their hand and the joy on their face is indescribale! So our job at Mother T's house is to do some laundry, make beds, and then just love on the patients, i also help feed the ones that can't feed themselves.

Calcutta has been amazing so far. For some people when they see poverty and suffering like this they question why doesn't God help these people or why doesn't he care, or does he even exist. For me God has never been so alive!! Being here i don't question where God is but where are the Christians? Because i know God has made so many people with a heart to help people, those peolpe just have to make the choice to get up and start helping!

To sum it up outreach is going great, oh and i haven't been sick for awhile! Calcutta has for sure been the highlight, i love the people in calcutta and i love the God i see here, the God who wants to help these people, he doesn't want to see them suffering but he has sent people like me and my team to help these people and if he can send 7 people and we are making a difference image all the other missionaries that he is sending! So for me there is much hope and joy here. Yes the things that i do see are very disturbing and devistating but I see hope here.

I leave calcutta on Friday for Darjeeling and then we have 3 weeks there and then it is back to switzerland.. crazy! Time is going by so fast!

Thank you all for you prayers and your encouargment!