This last month was surely an eventful one with all of the happenings of Christmas, a trip to Andre Pradesh to an orphanage, and the arrival of a 3-day-old baby for myself and two other girls to take care of! Life is always changing how you least expect it, isn't it? A lot has even happened this new year, but you don't get to hear about it until the Jan. newsletter, now do you? 
Please know that you are all in my heart, my thoughts and my prayers! Blessings and Peace. Namaste!
Rebecca Mehl
*Here's the newsletter, but don't forget to check out the pictures on my website, they might be even more interesting! lol
December! "Home"
It's a funny thing that I've planned to focus this entry around ideas and concepts of "home," and now I find myself sitting in front of my computer tonight treating myself to a pot of boxed turkey stuffing my family sent me for Thanksgiving, and Raspberry Crystal Lite... both things obviously from home. J Coincidence or proof of an active subconscious? Who knows?
This December was truly breaking the mold I have formed about what Christmas means. And I'm thankful. Christmas is always a time that our thoughts drift home – to Christmases past; memories of where we were, who we've shared it with, what we did or got, and of course how we felt. I found myself listening to Bing Crosby's rendition of "I'll be Home for Christmas" on my laptop long before I had expected myself to feel that it was absolutely necessary to do so. I counted them up, and it seems I attended, participated in, and gave speeches for 8 different Christmas programs this winter, and somehow it STILL didn't feel like Christmas! Maybe it was the small things that didn't line up with my mold, like the fact that Santa's face was red and he always had balloons on his head, or maybe that Christmas trees were often composed of a single branch broken off a large tree, stuck upright in the ground, and decorated with paper ribbons and stars, and of course balloons, making it more representative of the fourth of July in my mind, but it just didn't feel… well, holy.
I was beyond thrilled when I was recruited to sing Silent Night with a small group of wardens at the Mandiram Society's very own gathering. Carols are "a must" both here and in the US, but it had been difficult for me to get in the spirit without hearing any of the familiar tunes. We planned on singing it in Malayalam and English, but the minute Thomas Samuel Achen(The Pastor here who's helping me learn Malayalam) realized I knew it in Spanish, that was added to the program as well. Just in case you're curious, here's an attempt at what the "Ma-nglish" Malayalam verse sounds like(if you're not interested you're more than welcome to skip it and start with the next paragraph.):
Shahn-da-rawtree, Deevya rawtree.
Neeshchaloom, Jah jwalyoom.
Maryoom soo noowoom Moh da mohday.
Oh mahnuh Koonyee duh Shahnda nahyee.
Parlee-oorung-ee doonoo.
Swargee ah Shandee Ohday!
Singing this in Malayalam was the first time the season felt legitimate to me this year – the 85 degree weather could no longer mask the fact that it was almost Christmas! I finally felt like an active participant in a community proclaiming altogether, peace to the world and the great love of God now coming to us as something we could truly relate to; a human.
The next day I met up with the 5 other volunteers in India and headed off to another state to spend our actual Christmas. We arrived at the Parakal Missions in Warangal, the poorest district of Andhra Pradesh, joining an orphanage of 23 boys for the week of the occasion. What a blast! I was a bit in shock upon arrival about the living conditions in the area surrounding Home of Love, the orphanage, at least at first. Even in the slums of South America I had seen people living in scrap wood and sheet-metal houses, but never before in structures made of sticks and plastic bags, some of which I saw here. Anyway, it was phenomenal and humbling to be a part of this new and very different community for the holidays. I had a wonderful time playing with the boys, exchanging skits, songs and laughter, talking with the few staff that helped cook, clean, and such, and conversing with Sister Anna, the head of this orphanage. Sister Anna, a nun, is literally the sister of our India supervisor, Thomas John Achen, and we had plenty of time to get to talk with her about the institution, and the various other branches of the Parkal Missions there. For Christmas they were lucky this year and the orphanage was able to afford some small gifts for the boys; a new belt, some balloons to play with, and they were overjoyed J. The other volunteers and I decided to chip in and buy some sparklers to celebrate with at night, and we all had a fabulous time.
Christmas is not widely celebrated in Andrhe Pradesh as Christians are by far a minority, but my experience there was enormously powerful. While in Warangal we attended two church services, one across the street from the orphanage, and one about 45 minutes away in a small town. Both were wonderful and full of sincere singing and worship, but the latter completely blew me away. In this quite small, 4-walled, single roomed church, we crammed far more people than I believed possible. Save for one or two, all of the chairs were removed to maximize the seating on the floor, and the church still completely overflowed with people. Many of the people we encountered there were in tough straights for sure and probably had little or nothing materialistic to share this Christmas, including things like a nourishing meal. But they were happy and so was my heart.
Happy and broken. It REALLY hit home how materialistic we all are. Not to argue that there ever existed a perfect society at any time, but I feel that we have increasingly placed value on things and entertainment over dynamic relationships with people and God. More and more time, effort, money, and worry spent on things to impress amuse or temporarily comfort, but don't ultimately satisfy at all. We keep trying to buy and earn the fulfillment that is supposed to come free; we're just looking in the wrong places, or at least going about it the wrong way. We, myself included of course, need to step back and evaluate our motives for all of the things we do every day – what we spend our time, energy, and thoughts on and why. What does your day say about your priorities? Anyway, I'll get off my soap box now.
I did not open a single present on Christmas and to my surprise, I had absolutely no desire to do so. I just wished there was something, anything, I could do to bless these people the way they were blessing me. I was not at all without family this Christmas, as I had presumed I would be, rather I felt that the size of my family just exploded! What is "family" and what is "home" anyway? It goes a lot further than the obvious answer of the nuclear family unit and their residence, regardless of how meaningful that in itself may be(I know mine mean the world to me! ). God loves us unconditionally; ALL people, that is. Striving to love and care for each other as brothers and sisters is an act of gratitude to God and in our own best interest. There are countless verses about this in the Bible, for instance, "This is my commandment that you love one another, that your joy may be full." Did you get that? "that YOUR joy may be full"! To me family is those with whom you share love. I'd also like to take at look at 1 John 3:18, which tells us how to love: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth." Love is not idle, love can only show its true colors in practice among people, often meaning sacrifice, stepping out of your comfort zone, and effort. This new year, wherever you are, whoever you're with, make sure to show love to your "family," and may your joy be full! A VERY LATE Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! Peace and Blessings,
Rebecca Mehl
*If you would like to practice loving long-distance "family" through finances, the Home of Love orphanage can always us the help. If you would like to be a sponsor or just learn more about it, please contact me at mehlre01@luther.edu with "Home of Love" in the subject line. They could really use your gifts!
*And as always, check out the most recent pictures at my blog: Namaste_Becca at travelblog.org if you're not viewing this via travelblog already. J
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