Sunday worship at Rajah Boys Home

Sunday we were able to participate in the worship service of Pastor's Isaiah's church at the Rajah Boys home. This church is made up of the 20 boys who live in the home along with several of the boys' mothers and/or fathers who make the long journey (some over 1 hour). It is a very simple service and it is held in the upper room of the boys home. This is a concrete structure, probably around 700 sq. ft., with no walls on the perimeter. When you are in this room you get a sense of what the apostles would have been in during the upper room discourse.
The service began with several songs sung in Telagud (the language spoken here) by the boys. One of the boys plays the congo during all the songs while several others use tambourines...all of their songs are very upbeat, quite different than many of our hymns. Pastor Isaiah then asked each of us to say a few words and then Niall, one of the guys who recently joined us on the trip, gave a sermon. All of us have been very humbled when asked to teach because we feel as though these people have so much to teach us. Their faith here is so evident and so strident; it has to be in a place like this.
After the worship service, all of the adults in the congregation (about 20) asked for us to pray over them. Many of the adults came with their boys and other children. This was very overwhelming as these people approached us with such humility, the women draped their sari scarves over their heads and the men, who are generally very hardened here, approached with such timidity. It is a huge responsibility knowing that the boys at the Rajah boys home could very well be the future leaders in this area and in India. So when praying over them, with their little heads bowed, was almost surreal. What an incredibley worthy investment that Pastor Isaiah, his family, his brother Anunth, and all the donors who support this ministry are making. I consider myself extremely blessed to get to see the faces of such an investment and hope to see more fruit come of it.
After church we had lunch at Pastor Isaiah's home...more spicy food. One of the team members hasn't been feeling well the past couple of days and did not have much of an appetite. One of the ways they show hospitality here is to serve you your food while you sit at the table. So when they came around to serve him food he said he only wanted a little but they continued to offer him more. When he told Isaiah's wife his stomach didn't feel well she said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like some curry?" It was pretty funny.
The afternoon ended with me and a couple of the other guys going out to a field with all the boys to play a game of cricket. Cricket is huge here. It is kinda like baseball only there is only one base and the score gets really high. This was a lot of fun as we got to see the boys interact on a different level. They are very independent and diplomatic for their age.
Today we will be leaving for Hyderabad, a very modern city compared to Rajahmundry, where we will be spending the night before heading to Calcutta.