Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Dinner

One of the adorable hand turkeys last week. By Richel, she means Rachel

After the church service at Pulard Church

TTC students and me in my Sari!

      Yesterday evening I returned to the hostel from YAV Retreat #3. We stayed at a beautiful place called Maramon retreat center. The central river running through the area was right outside our window! It was a great place to spend my first big holiday, Thanksgiving, away from home. When we arrived on Thursday evening we were greeted by a meal of baked chicken, potato and egg salad (American style) and chopati with vegetable curry. For dessert Betty Kochamma made us an AMAZING pumpkin pie. I think half of the amazing-ness of it was its familiarity. We all told stories of our previous holidays and did a Bible study centered around the importance of “sharing the feast.” We referenced the importance the Israelites gave to sharing their feast with the needy first, then with each other. Our work during this retreat involved a lot of outreach in the local community. On Friday we were educated by a retired Dalit professor, Professor Jesudas, on the caste system in India. He had great insight into the visibility and invisibility of the caste system’s manifestations in Kerala and in India as a whole.  We learned about people living with an ancient system that restricts every aspect of their lives. It is also extremely rare for any members of the society to escape any of the treatment that comes along with being Dalit. On Saturday we talked more about the Dalit (otherwise known as “untouchable”) situation, then visited a Dalit congregation, which also happens to be Thomas John Achen’s home church, called Pulard. The homes we visited and the people we visited with were vibrant, funny, resourceful during many power outages and overall a joy to be around. They were having a convention that would best be compared to a revival in the states. The prayers were very vocal. Over the choruses of amens and halleluiahs there was a palpable energy. The next day we returned for their church service and performed a Malayalam song we learned as a group “Naniode njan studipaddidum” which can be roughly translated to “I praise you with thanks”. It was an extremely appropriate song for the holiday. We also taught them songs, and I led people of all ages in “What Does the Lord Require of You?” and “Jesus Loves Me” with actions.

            We parted ways and my return to the hostel was celebrated by attempting to view a movie on my computer with the second year students. We kept quiet and huddled around a Tamil CD that they thought included 3 films, but my since my DVD player had no idea what a VCD file was, we could only view one. I was thankful that it would at least play something and after some consideration, the girls were too. We watched a Tamil Horror film, and given my exhaustion from the journey I fell asleep within the first few minutes.  Today I am wearing a sari for the first time in honor of the second Youth Festival being hosted at Buchanan. I am told this is a kind of regional competition for winners from around Kottayam, so it’s a pretty big deal. On Wednesday I will also wear my Kerala Sari to be festive for the final day.

            I feel silly talking about movies and outfits after my weekend in Maramon. There is so much more to life than what we own, watch, or wear. So many people on this earth exist without these things and many of them may be better for it. The lives of the people in the Dalit community are rich, deep and meaningful. Their struggles unite them and give them a safe place called church to truly be themselves. I intend to visit the local Dalit chapel in Pallom soon to get further involved in the lives of the people around me. During Thanksgiving we of course gave thanks for what we have, but I think the more important lesson we learned was awareness. We must become aware of even the things that seem invisible. We must be aware of our own compliance with the system at hand. Furthermore, we must be aware that each decision we make effects those around us. We must decide to move from understanding, to acceptance, to a love that breaks down barriers. 

“I leave you with the image of the leader with the outstretched hands, who choses a life of downward mobility. It is the image of the praying leader, the vulnerable leader and the trusting leader.”- Henri Nowen