It's fun to serve at the...

Except for the Arab World, the "Y" has opened across most of the world like this one in Visak, which offers a special ministry for street children. While planning this event, myself and five others were told that each of the 20+ children (6-14yrs) we were going to meet are picked up from the railroad area, sent to school and live at the YMCA. Our goal was to present an exciting program they would enjoy while showing them love and teaching the importance of respecting others.
To get there, all six of us had to squeeze into a cramped tuk-tuk (which is no easy task for more than three people) and remain alive on the Indian roads till we arrived. Fortunately, it was only a ten minute trip. The event started with the usual introduction of ourselves holding a large map for the kids to see the countries represented. Besides two from the U.S., there were England, Brazil, Australia and South Korea represented. Each turn, a boy was picked to point out where the country was, and every one was spot-on. Then I brought out two life jackets and explained their use and how to tie it properly. As boring as that sounds, their adrenaline was soon amplified with an invitation to race each other with stopwatch in hand. This game definitely loosened any tension between local kids and visitors from a Western culture. We then performed a drama that focused on respecting others, and ended our evening by splitting up into stations around the room doing something different. I was teaching juggling, but another taught origami, one painted faces and one told stories using the Mr. Coconut character prop (aimed toward the younger crowd).
Before heading back to the ship, we had a quick tour through the shelter where each one lived. It sure made us thankful to live on such a roomy ship...especially after being shoe-horned into another tuk-tuk for the ride home.

Bridge of Hope, India

For my last church visit in Visak, I had the opportunity to not only spend time at a church, but also see the large building project on the same property, which included a hospital, orphanage and vocational school. A friend of mine on board from the Netherlands told me that her local church just began a partnership with this organization called Bridge of Hope. Upon arrival, you really only notice the church at first. But after walking around the back, you start to see how big the property really is. We were welcomed by a very kind older gentleman (one who has a supporter from Phoenix ironically), and enjoyed some tea while getting to know more about what B.O.H. was all about before going to the church service. Afterwards, they gave us an official tour to show the school and hospital, which is still under construction. There are many branches around Southeast India that are performing free eye surgeries and giving medical help to many people in need as well as offering scholarships to young adults who otherwise couldn't afford a college education.

Free Medical and Eyeglass Camp in Sabbavaram, India

The Logos Hope paired with a non-profit Indian mission called Operation Blessing for five days to provide free general health and eye care for the people who live around the Visakapatnam area of Eastern India. I had the privilege to serve on the 4th in a very poor market area with a lot of people in desperate need of medical attention. Two doctors from the ship and many local doctors and medical students met at a community center to set up for the day with myself and nine others who were dressed in look-at-me bright blue Logos Hope shirts to help wherever needed.
After riding for almost an hour in a school bus that was only slowing down to avoid hitting stray cows on the road (stopping at a red light seems optional in this part of India), we finally made it to our destination to meet the people from "OB". The friendly Indian doctors had plenty of experience doing this sort of thing, so they made every step really easy and stress-free. They brought their own medical-mobile that is sort of like a book-mobile except filled with x-ray machines and pills that make you happy in lieu of Nancy Drew. My job was crowd control and escorting the elderly to each station who had trouble walking or standing. The visitors first had to sign in before waiting for blood pressure, weight and other vitals. Then they waited for either an eye examination or general health if they had any sort of pain. People from all ages came to experience God's love from volunteers who had an immense heart and desire to help any way possible. At one point, my job was handing out comic book-style illustrated versions of the New Testament in the local language of Telugu, and I encouraged those with new spectacles to try them out on the books, albeit most were Hindu. Of course, I can't speak much more than a few phrases, which made it even better having the local helpers nearby to translate. Other ship people assisted the doctors and handed out clean drinking water among other things.
Overall, the response was fantastic and the people were so grateful to have this type of free service available in their area. Just watching the genuine care, medicine and glasses being handed out again and again really warmed my heart. Oh, and in case you were wondering about the last picture, allow me to explain: I took a snap shot of some people waiting for their prescribed pills while I was sharing with them a bit about myself. So, even if it seems like a scene from a scary movie, they weren't trying to break down the gate to attack me, in reality they were so much fun to talk to and surprisingly patient...patients.