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| The Hut Slum |
Today, we headed off to go to the Chennai Hut Slum preschool. It’s hard to believe that a slum could be in the middle of a major Indian city, but it is. You drive a short distance from the center of the city to an open-air parts market, and wind your way around the market to the entrance to the slum. Chennai is a huge city, with millions of people, and in the midst of it all, a large slum where thousands live in huts, without even the barest of essentials. We followed our guide past small grass huts and saw women cooking on open fires. It was shocking to realize that one spark could burn down the whole slum with thousands of people in it.
We made our way through the slum to the little kids preschool. Our Street Kids orphanage directors have started this school for the children living in the slum. The kids get a wonderful education, prayer and worship, and a snack and noonday meal. For many of the kids, it will be the only meal they have that day.
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| Lunch at the Hut Slum Preschool |
We arrived for the final portion of the day’s teaching, and then saw the delight of the kids as they washed up and prepared for lunch. The dedicated staff prepare lunch for these kids every day…it is a wonderful act of love.
Big Mike strikes again…
Big Mike was with us again in the hut slum. Again the kids began to yell “WWF”, because he looks so much like a WWF wrestler. It’s funny, because he is a gentle giant who loves kids with a passion. His favorite activity is to hand out lollypops, which have been a big hit in every location.
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| 85 Year Old Noah |
After being with the kids for lunch, people from the slum started coming up to us asking us to pray for them. One of the people who came was a man named Noah. Noah had white hair and was 85 years old. He’s in poor health and asked us to pray for the Lord to heal him. It was great to meet a precious man of faith in this desperate place. How impacting it is for Noah to be a testimony of a loving God there.
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| Sharing at the Hut Slum Church |
The final ministry time today was to head off to another slum area where a friend and I would speak to a slum church. About 50 people crammed into the small church, and worshipped the Lord in Tamil, the local language. I shared about Lazarus being set free after being raised from the dead. A dear friend on the trip shared as well.
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| The Parts Market – The Entrance to the Hut Slum |
Tomorrow we head off to a leper colony medical clinic. This will be a “first” for me. I can’t wait to share what it’s like… And I can’t wait to share it with you.
*written by Wick Nease
