Varanasi

We found Varanasi a little unlike the United States. Here are a few things we found different: on the road cows always have the right of way, if given a time estimate at least double what you are told, you can find a McDonalds but they don’t serve hamburgers, you can wash in some of the most polluted water in the world and consider yourself clean, and who needs a bathroom when you can relieve yourself or bathe on the street.

Varanasi is a holy city for Hindus much like Mecca is to Muslims. For a few Americans a short, simple everyday rickshaw ride through the city was enough to exhaust the senses. The sights, sounds and smells were pretty shocking at first. Going from our hotel to get a quick meal not more than a half mile away we would see countless beggars (many of whom didn’t have all four limbs), some just a few years old pleading for anything, or a family “bathing” in the gutter. The smell of trash that lines the streets and human and animal waste causes one to savor a breath of relatively fresh air. The rickshaw driver must constantly weave around people, some passed out and hopefully still alive, and some of the thousands of cows in the city that sit in the middle of the road as they seem to understand they are considered holy and would not move for a bus.

It seems that life in Varanasi revolves around the Ganges River. Although the Ganges is considered holy and can cleanse the soul, it is filled with industrial waste and raw sewage making it one of the most polluted rivers in the world. On a morning boat ride we watched people lining the banks of the Ganges washing their bodies, clothes, or soul and cremating their dead. The fire that you see in the second picture is actually a cremation fire.

This is Philip and Gabriela Gibson and Ravinder. The Gibsons and Ravinder have started programs for kids living at the train station and other underprivileged children from the community. These programs include after school tutoring, Bible teaching, food, games and sports, and simply giving the kids a safe environment to escape life on the street and be a kid.

A visit to the train station with Ravinder was quite an eye opener to how harsh life can be – especially for young kids. Many orphans and runaways end up living at train stations selling pencils or newspapers, sweeping the train cars, and collecting bottles and cans from the trains or on the tracks. With the few pennies they earn, many kids buy glue to dull the hopelessness of their young lives. When the kids get high on glue they pass out, sometimes on the train tracks. As it is not worth stopping the train for a street kid, many children have lost limbs or lives. The trains are not equipped with tanks for human waste so the tracks at the stations are literally covered in feces and trash. It made my stomach turn watching children walk along the feces covered tracks to collect bottles and cans.

We were able to spend a couple days with Ravinder and the train station boys. It’s heartbreaking to see these kids robbed of their childhood as they try to live by begging from train passengers. But it is inspiring to see how the Gibsons and Ravinder are giving these boys hope and a chance for a healthy future. With help from the Gibsons and Ravinder, some of the older train station boys have found jobs and a room to rent giving hope to and showing the younger boys that there is a way out.

We also had the chance to spend a day at Mother Teresa’s Varanasi orphanage. It was an honor to be able to meet and spend time with the nuns who have dedicated their lives to God through serving the poor, sick, and orphaned.

Here’s what Jeffrey has to say about his experience in Varanasi:

The poorest children in America would be considered rich in Varanasi, India. Having clean clothes, food served at mealtimes, and parents who care for them are foreign to the kids who live at the train stations and on the streets. Things that are considered necessities in the United States are things that the street kids have only dreamt of having. We went to visit the train station, where some of the street kids live, running from cops, sniffing White-Out and chewing glue. I felt strange when one of the kids started staring at my shoes, his bare feet had scabs, cuts, and were very dirty, and it made me feel very sorry for him, that he, only my age or younger was by luck left on the street. It makes me feel grateful in a way that makes me not want to have pride, but to try and help, because it could have been me who was born there and not him. I have always been told that I am very blessed to have parents who love me and take care of me. I also have seen pictures and heard stories of starving kids in poverty in other countries, but I felt like they were not any part of my life, and I somehow never really cared. Now, coming and seeing it firsthand has changed me, seeing both sides of the world, the mansions in America and the cardboard shacks in India.

-David and Jeff

Calcutta and Taj Mahal, India

From Cairo, Egypt, we flew to Delhi, India to rendezvous with our first visitor! Jeffrey Conway, David's 12 year-old brother, flew by himself from San Francisco to India to join us for about 3 weeks (I guess we should let his parents know).

A day later, we flew to Calcutta to meet two of Steve's good friends, Charley Scandlyn and his 15 year-old son Jordan, who would be joining us for 8 days. We were excited to see friends and family and looked forward to sharing our Calcutta experience together.


Calcutta, with 20 million people, immediately assaults you with sights, sounds, and smells. Impossibly crowded streets careen with cars, rickshaws, carts, people, and animals (cattle, oxen, goats, dogs, you name it). Lanes and normal traffic rules are meaningless, but the chaotic traffic moves with its own rules and somehow works (with an apparent requirement that drivers honk at least every 10 seconds). As you walk the streets, you might catch the sweet smell of fresh chapatti (fried dough like a sweet tortilla), or the pungent aroma of bright red, yellow, and orange curry powder piled high at a spice stand, or the stench that catches you by surprise as it rises from filth in the gutters.


The sidewalks are crowded with merchants, street-vendors, and a constant stream of beggars. The most heartbreaking are child beggars dressed in rags who tug at your shirt and then bring their fingers to their mouth in an unmistakable request for money or food. Most people told us not to give them money because it would probably go to some "handler" who has kids on the street as part of a ring. But it felt inhuman to ignore them and to act as if they didn’t exist, so we decided to buy some food to give away.


It was never easy deciding who to give food to. If you gave to one, several others would immediately surround you. I'm still trying to work out what it means to follow Jesus' teaching to "give to everyone who asks of you" (Luke 6:30). Figuring out what to “give” is the hard part. Jesus had a way of giving what was truly needed, not always what was asked for. Mother Teresa often gave a smile, a caring touch, a listening ear, words of encouragement, or a prayer. But when someone truly needed food, clothes, or medical care, she gave that. I think you must live among the poor, as she did, to know what someone truly needs.

In 1946 as a nun in Calcutta, Mother Teresa felt a call to "serve God in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor". For over 50 years, she lived a life of poverty while serving the poor through her Missionaries of Charity order that she founded. Today, her order has thousands of sisters continuing her work around the world. She often said, "I cannot do great things, only small things with great love."

We were able to visit "Mother's Home", where she lived for over 40 years with other sisters, and where you can visit her tomb (pictured here). Her spartan room was about 8x10 feet with a bed, a small wooden desk, a small dresser, a lamp, and a few items on the wall. Most prominent is a crown of thorns that Mother Teresa made that surrounds a picture of Jesus. She didn't even allow herself a fan for the sweltering India summers.

We were also able to visit one of Mother Teresa's hospices and one of her orphanages in Calcutta. It's hard to convey what it feels like to walk through Mother Teresa’s “Home for the Destitute and Dying". I felt a wave of different emotions... sadness at seeing emaciated people, many with blank eyes, lying on rows of cots, one next to another... a guilty feeling of thankfulness that I was not among them... awe and profound respect for the selfless sisters who serve there... and recognition that this place was a holy sanctuary for those who would otherwise die unknown and unloved in the filth of the streets. In an ironic contrast, Mother Teresa's hospice is next to a famous Hindu temple to Khali, the goddess of destruction. So while the sisters are serving the dying with dignity, next door are Hindu worshippers making animal sacrifices and asking Khali to bring down curses on their enemies.

This is Ivan and Sheila Satyavrata and their two sons Rahul and Rohan. They were our hosts in Calcutta and we are extremely grateful for all the ways they helped us. A few years ago, Ivan took over as head pastor of the largest Assembly of God Church in Calcutta. India's majority religion is Hindu, but this Christian church has been in Calcutta for over 50 years and has a huge ministry: over 3000 church members with services in 8 languages, youth and singles groups, a modern hospital, a high school, a new primary school for children who live at the dump, a daily feeding program for the poor, a boys' home for orphans, and many more. In total, Ivan oversees a staff of 800+ people who are serving the people of Calcutta. What an amazing church! And we would have been lost without Sheila. She arranged our lodging, transportation, and schedule for our week in Calcutta… and cooked us the most delicious meal we had in India. Thanks, Sheila!

With Ivan’s and Sheila’s help, were able to spend several days at the boys’ home where Steven (pictured here with his son Ezekiel) and his wife Ruth act as parents to 33 orphan boys. We hoped to support the Steven and Ruth, love the kids, and encourage them to pursue their dreams. We spent most of our time organizing after-school games and activities. The boys were very sweet and welcomed us with big smiles and lots of energy. We were dominated in soccer but able hold our own in Frisbee and board games. The Indian boys especially enjoyed spending time with Jordan and Jeffrey, who always had smiles on their faces and endless enthusiasm. It was quite a novelty for them to spend time with the two American teenagers.

In the words of Jeffrey:
“I will always remember going to visit the boys’ home. When we were spending time with them playing soccer, board games, and eating meals, it was amazing to know that they were from the streets of Calcutta, abandoned and unloved, but are now getting educated, cared for, and loved because of one man’s calling from God. The boys were all very nice, helpful, and fun to be around. It is amazing that one man’s decision to serve the world can save so many children’s lives. It was surprising to see how touched the children were to receive a board game, something I would be as excited about as getting an apple on Halloween. I will never forget their passion for God, the fun times we had together, and eating with my hands and it being considered proper table manners.”

On the last night, several boys told us how much our visit meant to them. They said that they often get visitors who check out the orphanage, but that we were the first visitors to come back. When we returned for three days just to spend time with them they felt valued. What a great reminder that you can sometimes make a big difference just by coming back.


Pastor Ivan took great advantage of Charley's preaching and teaching skills. In just five days, Charley preached or taught seminars seven times! As usual, he did a great job and many people thanked him for his teaching, especially his seminar on "leadership in a post-modern world". Charley especially enjoyed talking at an assembly of 900 students at the high school run by Ivan’s church. At one point, Charley explained that when girls look in a mirror, all they see are perceived flaws, but when boys look in a mirror, they flex and think they look tough, convinced that they can take any guy and get any girl. The students burst into laughter and applause, proving that Charley can still wow any crowd.

For our last two days with Charley and Jordan, we went to Agra, home of India’s crown jewel, the Taj Mahal. In 1631, Shah Jahan was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th child. In her dying breath, Mumtaz urged Jahan to build a mausoleum for her like nothing the world had ever seen. Built between 1632 and 1653 by about 20,000 artisans and craftsmen, it is made of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones and is perfectly symmetrical. It is truly awe-inspiring, even more impressive than in pictures.

Stories circulate that Shah Jahan intended to build his own mausoleum as an identical version in black marble across the river, joined by a silver bridge. Unfortunately, his son thought such plans too extravagant, overthrew his father and put him in jail where he could only see the Taj Mahal from the window of the cell where he died.

With the Taj Mahal, our whirlwind week with Charley and Jordan was over and we were sad to see them head back to the U.S. But we know they left with lifelong memories that will probably draw them back to this amazing, thought-provoking, heartbreaking, and intriguing country. Jordan is already wondering if he can come back as an intern at the boys’ school.

We have to give Charley, Jordan, and Jeffrey kudos for being great travel partners. They always had smiles on their faces, always had great attitudes, were always ready for the next adventure, and never complained. Even more important, they have huge hearts and gave their time to serve others with compassion. You’re awesome!

- Steve