The InterVarsity students involved in this summer’s Global Urban Trek have a vision to change the world. But first they are looking for God to change them. They are going to cities like Cairo, Manila, Bangkok, and Kolkata, to listen and learn, and to hear what God is saying in those environments.
Joel Kimsey is leading his fourth Global Urban Trek to Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta. As he has begun to understand the tremendous needs in the city, he finds it hard to stay away from Kolkata,
He took part of his team to Kalighat, the Sisters of Charity Home for the Dying. The first day he was asked to carry away the body of a recently deceased patient. Another team member was asked to help with emergency foot surgery. She held down a woman’s leg while the Sister operated with a pair of scissors. Other work included feeding or carrying patients and helping with the laundry and dishes.
Other members of the Kolkata team are working with a group called Emmanuel Ministries. Four members of the team spent a day at the Sealdah Train Station, talking with teen-age drug addicts and learning about their lives. The teen-agers were charming but it was frustrating knowing that their drug dealers were probably their own mothers.
InterVarsity students involved in this summer’s Global Urban Treks are scattered across the world, living outside of their comfort zone. They are learning about themselves and about how God can use them in places where there are no easy answers to the suffering of the poor. Read more about InterVarsity’s Global Urban Treks in Kolkata, Manila, Bangkok, Dhaka, Cairo, Lima, Phnom Penh, and Mexico City at urbana.org as team members post their diary reports through the summer.
