Hello all!
I thought that since I had received so many emails wondering about my safety (thanks so much for them, by the way!) now would be a good time to update! For starters, I am perfectly safe and well. For those who haven't heard: there were seven bomb blasts that went off in various train stations and trains around the city of Bombay yesterday. It was all within and hour and very well planned. We've been praising God for our group's safety and protection! I was actually in one of our slums when it happened and had no idea anything was going on until we were on the way back to our apartment and hit horrible traffic with police everywhere. Please pray for the city as this is the second bombing in the past year and there are over 200 dead and hundreds more injured. Our team here is looking into ways to help out so please pray for wisdom with that as well.
As for normal life here in Mumbai, I've settled in and am thoroughly enjoying this city of juxtapositions. As I walk to the bus everyday I am met with so many contrasts of this wonderful city. There's the smell of rotting food mixed with the ever present scent of incence, the large mansions along side of the tin huts, the cool monsoon rains along with the hot Indian sun and so much more. I have the joy of living with two wonderful Indian women who are part of the team here (the team is made of of two Indian women and two Indian men who lead the ministries here). They have been an incredible blessing and have taught me so much about the culture and life here!
The ministry here has several different aspects. There are the schools (one in each of the 3 slums), a church, job training (i.e. sewing classes), medical care on Mondays, Bible studies, kids programs, youth meetings, and house visits. While the things we do are interesting enough, it's undoubtedly the people that we work with that make me love this place. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to know, to laugh with, and to worship with people with such faith, such joy, and such trust in the Lord. They have been encouraging me and challenging me in many different areas. There's something about praying with a mother of seven that they would have enough food when the rains were so bad that her husband couldn't work brings new depth to the prayer "give us this day our daily bread", and there's something moving about listening to a woman who you know has so little in the eyes of the world (and in my own eyes) to be thankful for shouting out "thank you Lord, thank you Lord!" at the top of her lungs.
[Karisa's Apartment Building]
As for what I'm doing here- I've been substituting until now. :) For two weeks I taught a class of 9 year olds until they could hire a teacher. Along with that, everyone takes turns teaching at our 4 Bible studies, 3 kids programs, youth program, and preaching on Sundays. Now that we've hired a teacher, however, I'll be focusing more on visiting the homes of the people in the slums and praying and talking with them as well as developing an English class. In order to go anywhere in India- to go onto a good school, to get a good job, one needs to know English. Unfortunately, the kids in the slums aren't taught English in schools, so I'm going to be teaching them in the evenings in hopes that they'll have more opportunities.
Please pray for me as I, who has no background in teaching English, attempt to build this from scratch. :) Also, please pray that God would guide me as I preach during the week and that I would continually learn to strengthen myself in Him. Finally, please pray that God would bless the relationships I build and that I would continue to learn and grow.
Thanks so much for your prayers and I love you all!
Peace,
Karisa
PS. I'm using this email address now because I had to get a secure one which couldn't be scanned by the government.
Also, my super long address here is
Karisa Johns
C/O Bama KR
Flat No B-20
Plot No 17 B/C
Sector 4
Vashi, New Mumbai
India
PS: Her email address is Karisa.Johns@Swissmail.org
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