The greatest among you must become a servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
-Matthew 23: 11- 12
God calls us to be humble and serve others. One thing is for sure, Indians know how to serve.
Every day I am in awe of the kindness, respect and hospitality shown by the people here in Coimbatore. Their kindness is not dependent on race or religion. Their kindness is genuine and pure. It is something we can all learn from.
There are so many stories I could share about professors, students and everyone else going out of their way to make our groups feel welcome and comfortable.
I am doing an internship at a local school. I had two student guides who came with me, named Christy and Jennifer. They are both Masters' students at BACAS and missed a whole day of classes to help me on my first day of my internship. They were the best guides ever, and I loved spending the day with them. At the end of the day, I thanked them for coming with me. I could not have done it without them. Seriously, they held my hand as we crossed the busiest highway I have ever seen, they answered all of my questions and they even taught me some Tamil (the local language.) Then, they got mad at me for thanking them. I wish I could remember word for word what they said, because it gave me the chills. They basically told me that there was no other way for guests in their country to be treated, and that they would do everything possible to make sure I was comfortable and safe. The most beautiful part was that they truly meant it. They do not just ask questions and help to be polite. They truly care.
A few days after my first internship day, I ran into Christy and Jennifer in the mess. As we were talking one of them asked, "How are Sam and Taylor?" At first, I was caught off guard. But then I remembered her asking about my family the day they helped me nagivate my internship. We didn't spend a lot of time talking about my siblings that day. In fact, the one asking spent more time telling me about her family and showing me pictures. I even met her brother as we were walking back to college that day. Do I remember any of her family members' names? Nope. These two girls are a small example of the unselfish love and giving hearts of the Indian people.
Christianity may be a minority here, but Christ is clearly visible in all of the people.
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