"The Family Business"

Sorry for being so absent lately. It’s not that I have been too busy (although I have been going from 6am to 11pm), it’s not that I ran out of interesting things to say (that would be impossible in India), and it’s not that I am a slacker (ok sometimes I am). No, actually I’ve been a little overwhelmed with my new reality and I was struggling with finding how to put it into words. Although I haven’t felt inspired to write I realized I had to start getting down the events b/c if I wait any longer it will be so overwhelming that you won’t believe it.

Where to begin…. What do you want first; you want the light side or the heavy side of life here in the Kumar house?

Light, good, me too….

For those of you who know Suresh this may be difficult to do, but try to picture Suresh as an Italian Mafia Godfather (except Indian) and Harvest India as one big mafia family. Except of course, instead of corruption and cement shoes Harvest India’s goal is to share the love of Christ through caring for the needy.

As in every good mafia family you have your top dog, the Don (Suresh), the brothers and cousins that are “in the family business,” and five Capos (key guys) who aren’t related but have been around long enough to be considered family. Just as in the movies, they all hangout while they making the cafone juniors do all the really hard work. Then you got like 20 or so cugines (wiseguys) whos job you can’t quite figure out but all you know is that when the godfather calls they all jump up to meet the call like the seagulls in Finding Nemo, “Mine, Mine, Mine.”

The center of all this activity is the house. Family is always there and by family I mean cousins, aunts/uncles, neighbors, friends, friends of friends. There is not a quiet corner in the place; especially with how loud they talk. And no matter how crowded it gets there is plenty to eat and always room for one more.

Suresh runs the whole show from the house. He doesn’t have an office; his office is wherever he is-the kitchen table, a folding chair on the porch or the couch. His cell phone is constantly ringing; actually he has 3. And then there is the all the cash. In India nobody uses credit cards or checks just cash. So the first morning after Suresh arrived in walked one of his “guys” with a big bag filled with money. And Suresh emptied it on the table and started handing it out. A pack of 50s for the vegetable guy, 6 packs 100s for the guy that does the payroll, 3 packs of 100s for the guy that does the relief camps, on and on. He even threw me a pack until I got settled and could make it to the bank. At that moment especially I couldn’t help but laugh at the incredible similarities.

Then there are the visitors. You can always tell who is waiting to visit with the Godfather; they have this look like any second they could stop breathing. They come at all hours of the day starting at 7:30am until the lights are turned off in the evening. Women, men, children they all come. The people that come to the Kumar house to talk to Suresh don’t come to get loan extentions or to beg not to have their legs broken, as they maybe if they were visiting a true mafia godfather. Instead, they come to Suresh, my friend/ my Indian daddy because he is their last hope for survival.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. I witnessed these events first hand; and although I was there I still have a hard time believing that it is real but it is real and everyday something else happens and you start to wonder when is enough enough? I wonder how much more can I take.

After breakfast on Suresh’s second day back, he and I were having a meeting when a couple of his associates came in to tell us there was a huge fire breaking out in one of the villages. We stopped by and it was terrible. People who had practically nothing now had absolutely nothing. And when I mean nothing I mean nothing; many of the women had contracted HIV and so had been out-casted, lived in squaller, and barely survived. We (Harvest India) though the funds are small gave blankets along with rice & lentils. When Suresh and I returned there were several people waiting on the porch to talk with him. After talking with each one we ate lunch and then went out to the porch. By then there was about 8 more people waiting including this beautiful petite woman. She stood patiently waiting to talk to Suresh; finally she walks up to him and speaks quietly and begins to cry. He sent her inside to have a cup of tea and turns to me and says, “ Her husband just died of AIDS and she just found out she now has HIV and she needs a place to live.” Upon hearing this I went in to sit with her. I put my hand on her and said, “ I-yo (I’m sorry)” and she began to cry. Before the girl even finishes her tea Suresh and Christina are in the room talking with us when a woman comes in and breaks down crying. She tells us that her daughter just died of AIDS. I didn’t know what to do but pray. I have never been so close to the impact of AIDS before; it felt unreal. That was one example…

Want another one…how ‘bout a quick rundown of today…
-maybe 20-25 visitors
-a man begged Suresh to take another 25 orphans at the orphanage that is already extremely over-crowded.
-A dad brought his teenage daughter to ask Suresh if he would take her because he can’t provide for her anymore (He said yes, of course)
-A young girl is brought in by a HI pastor. She had been married-off at age 13 to a man who was HIV+ and didn’t tell her parents or her. Four months ago he died. She is now 18 and HIV+ She wept and begged for Suresh to help her. He offered her a cot at the Bible College where she could get food and shelter.
-Visited a church in the heart of a large red-light district. Most of the woman were old and of no “use” to the district anymore, if you know what I mean. But what joy!!! I had never seen so many smiling faces in a crowd of Indian people (they usually all have blank expressions). But these women have come from the darkness to the light and you could see it all over their faces. Death has lost its sting for these women (many of which have HIV and other life threatening STDs). Of course we didn’t leave empty-handed. A women gave us her 10 year-old daughter to get her out of the red-light district before she gets any older.
-At around 10pm we placed 10 year-old Jotti at the HI/RH Childrens’ Home when we learned that a band of gypsys (I am sure that is not PC) stopped by in the late afternoon and left 16 of their children. That makes 300+ children in a home built for 100. Suresh just reminds himself and us constantly that God is faithful. If we trust in him he will provide. He is our stronghold in times of trouble.

Please be praying as the needs are so great and at times overwhelming.