www.jillm.com/india/

life in india? it’s unlike anything i’ve ever known. it’s dead and alive, disgusting and beautiful, disheartening and inspiring all at the same time. whether colors or flavors, worship or landscape, the intensity of this country overwhelms my senses. i love it in a way i never thought possible. i feel as if i am waking up and seeing the world through new eyes. i’m becoming ruined for the ordinary.
i have this crazy desire to have purpose in what a do and how i live. it creates a burning within me which will not let me rest and i’m only beginning to learn to satisfy. i also made a decision long ago to give that which i cannot keep for that which i cannot lose. these two things put together have been the culprit for this transplant to india. i’m trained as an architect and a part of a profession that enables me to make possible clean water, provide effective sanitation, design adequate housing, efficiently organize hospitals and so many other pieces of the most basic infrastructure for a world in desperate need. in august, i left the states to spend a season with eMi [engineering ministries international], a non-profit organization. since 1982, eMi has designed over 500 projects in 75 developing countries. their headquarters is located in colorado springs, with four international offices in canada, uganda, guatemala, and india. providing a bridge with third world ministries, eMi exists to help children and families step out of poverty and into a world of hope. working with these existing ministries, we partner with them to offer our skills through the built environment and enabling them to be more effective wherever and however they serve.

some call this missions, others call it service. perhaps you term it purpose or maybe even calling. whatever you name it, it’s not a location, it’s a lifestyle. i call it love. the Father’s love is why i’m here. it is a love found in beauty and brokenness. this love knows no end, no boundaries, no limits. His love is for all people in all ways of life. it celebrates diversity and uniqueness of cultures. this love doesn’t wait until eternity, or until one is good enough, but is offered today, regardless of response and without conditions. accepting His love, not only brings eternal blessings after death, but life to the full in this moment. his love reaches beyond the walls of this world and that love is why i’m here.

my ‘everyday’ will look different from most of the other one billion indians who live here. mine has a breakfast of toast with peanut butter, theirs paranthas and chai. i have a toilet that flushes, they don’t like toilets. i walk the mountains for fun, not of obligation, and find the monkeys entertaining, not annoying. they serve 300 million gods, and me, just one. but i will try to see things through their eyes, to understand as they do. when everything seems to be in disarray, i will search to find the system behind the chaos. for somehow, someway, there is always a system. i understand our views of the same place are different and i won’t try to pretend to live behind their dark eyes. but my blue ones will attempt to tell you the stories of these precious people and of this beautiful land.