30,240 Minutes: Road Crazy

There it sat. A big, green toaster of a van. I thought to myself, "There is no way I'm riding in that thing. I'll probs die..."

I've ridden through the streets of Chennai several times now and it has stressed me out every time. The closeness of the other traffic, the random animals walking here and there, and the speed makes it hard for a foreigner, like me, to enjoy.

The other times I have traveled these roads, I rode with a teacher who I trusted. Additionally we drove a SUV that glided like a dove across the pavement (at least compared to the toaster van pictured above).

I had no choice. After weekend ministry, I had to ride in the toaster van with twelve other students. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy jumping into the back of that oversized toaster. Nevertheless, God chose to show up despite my anxiety. 

I remember a motorcyclist darting by our van as we bumped along a road full of massive pot holes (I'll never complain about Omaha roads again). The smell of sewage and occasional random Indian food swam into our van through the open windows. My nerves itched for me to freak out. But then Freddy, my new Northeastern Indian friend started to sing and I joined in.

We didn't sing well, but we  had a ton of fun, laughing and singing notes that Justin Bieber wouldn't attempt. Soon the whole van joined us in our songs. Even my friend Kevin, who doesn't like to sing, began to sing along.

We sang for an hour as we passed cows, thousands of people, terrible roads, agonizing smells, a few amusement parks, and tons of other cars. The trip could have been terrible, but we chose to sing instead of thinking about the scary noises the van made.

What did we sing? Worship songs to our God. Some in English, some in Tamil, some in Hindi, but all worships songs.

Maybe I'll learn to love those terrible vans. I don't think I'll learn to love the noises they make or the loud drone of their diesel engines or the way they look like they might fall apart. But I might learn to love what happens inside of them, when a bunch of students from different cultures all trust God and worship His name together.

And, Mom.... They're not that dangerous. No need to worry! ;)