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Hi. My name is Kiara Yeatman and I am 15 years old. I was born in Milan, Italy and I have lived in Boston, Virginia, and currently New Delhi, India. I am the oldest of four daughters and my parents are Andrew and Staci Yeatman. Some of you may know my grandparents, Al and Gloria Baird.
I feel as if my life of only 15 years has already been more exciting and more of an adventure than the lives of many adults, let alone other teens. I have been blessed to have an amazing experience of living both in the States and a third world country.
On January 27, 2008, I was baptized into Christ. This blessing happened to me living here in Delhi, making me physically born in Italy and spiritually born in India.
When we first moved to India though, 3 years ago, it was not easy. I had never been to a church before where it reached 100 degrees in the building with no air conditioning, half of the worship songs I didn't understand (and the half I did understand were either in a different tune or rhythm), and where it was difficult to connect to really anyone in the church.
For a while, I felt as if the culture and language gap was too wide to make strong relationships with the teens and singles in the church.
At the end of our first year here, when we went back to America for summer vacation, I felt somewhat discouraged and almost felt like not trying to build strong friendships anymore. I expressed my feelings to my aunt and instead of receiving consolation -- which I had been expecting -- she challenged me to take advantage of our time in India and get to know the sisters and brothers in the church better.
Though I didn't expect that reply, I am thoroughly grateful for the answer I received. I took that challenge back with me to India at the end of the summer, and those next 10 months from August '07 to May '08 where testing, but inspiring and encouraging all the while. I made those friendships and relationships you need to have a strong foundation in the church, allowing me to then get baptized in January.
During that time, I was able to see what some of the disciples in the church lived like: a family of 7 or 8 in a 2 room house, hand-washing all their clothes, a hole in the ground for the toilet, and no AC or heating- just a plain and simple lifestyle. I've learned to eat with my hands, bunching up balls of rice with dal.
I've seen a totally different style of dating and marriages in the church, where most people don't date until they're in their mid-20s, and once they make it official, they're practically saying they're planning on getting married. I've seen and heard of disciples giving their special contribution by sewing on buttons for 1 rupee (about 3 cents).
But most importantly, I have experienced studying the Bible and getting baptized in a totally different church than that of what I ever imagined. Just the other night, I was talking to my discipler and she brought up the fact that I am an Indian spiritually. My birthplace as a disciple is New Delhi, India, not any city in America. And I am so thankful for that.
I have learned how to come out of myself and search for any and every connection that could possibly connect me with someone who has had a completely different life than I have. I've learned to look past a communication gap and speak through love and actions. I'm still working on it, but I've grown in not judging people on the outside by what they look like or wear, but looking at who they really are.
I've been able to evangelize in places where I might feel uncomfortable, being the only person with blonde hair and blue eyes, but I've learned to get out of my comfort zone for Christ. It's been amazing; I can't even express all that I've learned.
This month, my family and I will be moving back to Virginia, which will be a transition of mixed feelings for all of us. I don't know how it will be going back to my home country and being a part of an American Church of Christ again, but one thing I am sure of is that God has thoroughly prepared me to go back and do great things for him after living in India.
This story is from Disciples Today- www.disciplestoday.org
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