India Part 1

6 months ago I was approached on a 12 day skate/surf trip to India. I was super interested. I spent a lot of time in prayer about it and God opened the doors.

There were 6 of us going on the trip in all. Justin, the director of the trip with the mission organization Youth Hope, Mark and Shannon, founders Ride Nature an organization dedicated in bring skateboards and surfboards to kids in poverty. Ramon a professional break dancer, Matt a Youth Pastor in Fort Myers and myself. And I must not forget the local missionaries that made it possible. David, Steven and Don.

Fast forward 6 months, September 16, Fort Myers, Fl boarding a plane with Matt and Justin to Chennai India, not knowing that my life would be changed forever.

 32 hours later we landed in Chennai and met the rest of the team there. I thought I’d seen everything but I was wrong. We drove down the streets, seeing temples for every possible god but no Churches. The main purpose for the trip was to do assemblies and city events and village work. The next day (Thursday 19th) We did 2 school assemblies in the morning, each school had over 500 kids. We did a little skit, Ramon would dance and I would skate. After that each of us spoke about Jesus.

Ramon showing the kids some dance moves.

The orphanage

That afternoon we headed to an orphanage on the outskirts of the city. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever seen before. The children slept on beds without mattress and blankets, they didn’t have clothes without holes and only got a little of food. We have so much here in the States and we always want more. But we must take the shackles off our eyes because life isn’t about comfort. The money we spend on coffee in the morning can feed a family for a day. We did the skit then showed the kids an action sports video that Ride Nature made, that had been translated into their own language. They loved it! After that, we hung out and showed them how to ride a skateboard and dance.

Worshiping with the kids.

The next day we did 4 school assemblies and Saturday the 20^th we headed out to a village. It was like stepping back 100 years minus the vehicles. Thatch huts, dirt roads, it was pretty gnarly. We went to a church and center David had planted. We did our show after we sat down on the floor for lunch. The ladies but a piece of paper on the floor in front of us and dumped a big scoop of rice on it with some meat. All the kids ate it with their hands, I got half way though then had to use a fork. But Ramon and Mark were the true troupers who did the whole meal. After lunch we went into a big field next to the building and played cricket with the kids. It was the first time we ever played but after awhile figured it out, well kinda.

We came back the next day and did the exact same thing. It was around 100 F out and I was looking for any excuse out of cricket. 10 minutes into the game a kid runs up to wanting me wanting to play with my ukulele, that was my ticket to freedom.