More From One Year Ago...

Today is Wednesday. A year ago today I was in West Bengal, India.

After our stop in Delhi and tour of a few things there, we headed to West Bengal. We arrived at the Delhi airport very early in the morning on Tuesday and then had to wait for about 8 hours until heavy fog lifted and we were in line for a flight.

By the time we arrived in West Bengal, it was already well into the evening. We were greeted by Bible college students. It was incredibly humbling.

We sang a few songs, watched them perform some special dances, and then ate a delicious meal. Then, we were whisked away to the train station. By far, the train station was the most startling site I had yet seen in this country of so many people.
We rode in sleeper cars on the train overnight to Purulia. We had a chance to freshen up and grab some breakfast before we headed to the leper colony outreach ministry.Wow.
I had no idea.
A team from our ministry had taken a trip in October to the same colony. When they returned they shared their pictures. It was the pictures from this leper colony that made me come home and beg God with tears in my eyes to please allow me to go at some point.
These people are precious.
We took part in handing out some food, sang and danced for them, and enjoyed hearing them sing praise songs.
We stopped by a tiny house to see where shoes are made for the lepers. Two brothers work long hours making special shoes for the almost two dozen colonies in which we serve. You'll notice the shoes in a pair aren't the same size.
Before heading back to the train, we took part in a ceremony at a local Bridge of Hope center. We met many children and took lots of pictures. They danced for us and sang special songs. We danced for them, as well.They let us hand out some packets of hygiene products that all kids receive as a part of their enrollment in BOH. They were so incredibly sweet when they took the items from us.

We took a train back to Kolkata that afternoon. We were pretty tired by the end of the day, but our incredible hosts brought us Pizza Hut and Pepsi for dinner!
If I ever thought I had experienced hospitality, I was wrong. Our brothers and sisters on the field went out of their way constantly to show us love and bless us. It was amazing and we were so unworthy of it all!