Just a quick update to say that the India team made it back. Those that are staying over night and flying out in the morning are at the hotel and the few that are flying home today should be on their way.
I just thought I'd update everyone on how our week of
ministry is coming along here in India! I miss you all incredibly and encourage
you to message and write me! I don't have an abundance of time on my hands to
read everything at the moment... But I most definitely will find priority to do
so soon!
Today was our free day and we took the Delhi metro to C.P.
and the vintage india market... It is always fun taking the metro... I sat in
between autumn and an Indian man.. As I read thru Psalms next to him, I noticed
how he glanced over my shoulder and gave off a curious composure as to what the
pages held... It was actually really thought provoking to think that this may
have had been the only bible he had ever seen... I was praying for him..
I just want these people to know what an incredible God is
out there who pieced them together beautifully..
So this is what our week looked like:
Monday: Ministry prep
Tuesday: We went to Pastor Lomony's house to have the most
incredible chai tea and pick up his family. J
Then we drove to the slums.. Our message was shaped around the passage in
matthew where Jesus washes His dicipals feet out of love and example..
So as each child came to our small buckets of water in the
crowded room, we asked their names and then prayed for them as we washed their
feet. It was honestly so beautiful...I felt so privileged to be able to serve
them like this. Most of the children are Hindu, so it's really cool to be able
to do this with them. We're only allowed to stay in the slum for about an hour
and a half for safety reasons, because what we're doing is illegal.
Then Kenny played some worship songs, and the boys were so
excited to see the guitar!
My favourite part of slum ministry is definitely giving hugs
and kisses to the kids as we part our ways. So precious!!! They love reaching
up to poke my ribstoo haha.
Wednesday: P.G. Leprosy colony- There are 5 of us in our
particular group and Abby and I have developed a close relationship with a 21
year old woman named shaunti and her family. She has two sweet, sweet children
and sometimes her husband is home....When we walked into her house her husband
was playing video games! Lol. It was definitely an older fashioned video game
system but so funny! It caught me off guard.
(Oh. The power just went out by the way. It's about 10/11 at
night on July 11th hahaha......The power goes out whenever it wants to,
it's fun.)
Anyhow then her husband invited me to play!!! It was funny...
It was a car racing game....and the really funny part is that I was actually
getting quite into it....eventually I gave up though.
Shautni is such a beautiful person...she has shown me more
about self sacrifice and compassion than I have ever seen... Though she and her
family have very little and close to nothing, she gives all of the food she has
to us...which consists of little vegetables, broth and rice. But I have to admit
I have a weakness for the coffee & chai that she gives us. J Sometimes she braides
jasmine into our hair and gives us small gifts even if we don't ask, or do
anything in return. It's just so sweet. So genuine. Please be praying for
Shaunti and her familyas well as
all of those in the Leprosy colony sites that we are ministering to!
Thursday: Kenny ended up staying home with one of our team
members who wasn't feeling well... Thus, much of our ministry ideas for this day
changed...But we prayed and worked through it...We did songs and colouring pages....
But the thing I love about Tuesdays and Thursdays is the drive to the slums. I
love driving in india! It's so....I don't know if you could place a word on
it....except that it's so spontaneous. All of the time. Our drive to the slums
starts out thru the city, then towards the end we get to drive thru the country
side a bit..In total it's probably about an hour and a half drive.
Friday: RAIN!!!
On the drive to P.G. there were these girls knocking on our
windows at the street stop, so we gave them our sandwiches..The hard thing
about wanting to give here in india, whether it be thru money, gifts, or food
is the fact that there's a specific time and place that is appropriate to do
so. And one really has to go about it with great care... Some of us have
definitely learned that the hard way. I'm definitely learning that it's what
the Lord places on your heart and it helps to surrender and give as He leads...
Oh yes..And ah..The bathrooms of the Leprosy Colony...Okay....So
shaunti gave us bottles of slice mango juice, water and coffee....and to say the
least my bladder was well occupied...is that the word?
...so the roads in India are not smooth at all...and I really really
didn't want to hold it..So I used the bathroom ( this was the second time
during our two months or so here) It' s quite an experience....There are
literally piles of really watery light coloured poop all over in the hall, with
rows of squatty potty stalls on each side.. and some people don't close the
door. In fact a little girl just squatted in the hall and went....Inside my stall
there were words written in poo on the wall... but you know what, I'm so humbled
because these people tough the bathroom every day of their lives..
I have surrendered my rights and expectations and am totally
humbled to simply be here, stinky bathrooms or no bathrooms at all...
Just thought it would poke some interest...
Anyhoo...
Actually I think I'm going to cut this short and hit the
sack.. J
The power is still out anyway...There's 87% battery life left on drew's
computer.....hehehe.
The last couple of weeks have been really awesome. We celebrated three birthdays, preached the gospel to a leper, fundraised a lot of money for the kids at Asha Mission and spent the fourth of July at the Taj Mahal!
Ministry at Laj Pat Negar Leper colony has been really interesting. The colony is really big, 205 people! So at first it was difficult to direct our energy. Now we have each started to build our own friendships! We spend the first part of our time at the colony with out friend Sharnaima, who has been at the colony for over 40 years. She is always sitting in the temple by the entrance waiting for us. Last week was really great when our conversation turned from tatoo's to Hunduism to Jesus! We asked her if she had any questions about Christ and then we were able to share the gospel with her. We prayed with her and her friend Ratnabhai at our next visit which was great, but the bonds of the Hindu tradition are holding strong. They have heard the truth of one true God but are having a hard time shedding their Hindu traditions of many gods. Please Pray for our last week at the colony that we will be able to help them find Christ.
Ministry at Asha Mission has been FABULOUS! We continue to praise the Lord that the kids are able to go to school, that we were able to raise enough money. Thankyou to all of you who financially supported the Kids here. Our days at the mission are filled with bible stories, songs, games and tutoring. A couple weeks ago we got to take the kids to the park for a picnic. Their home has no court yard or green space, just an open room with a floor of Marble, and the kids haven't been to the park since the fall! So it was a lot of fun to go with them. They took advantage of every minute and hardly stopped playing, even to eat Pb and J sandwiches. The kids also have a very strong faith which has been such a testament to how the Lord is changing lives here in India. Its a blessing to be a part of their walk with God. Let me tell you - watching a 7 year old lead worship and prayer for 20 other kids (all under the age of 12) everyday is AMAZING! The kids sing and pray so loud! (With all their Heart!) Wow! Thats all I can say! Next week 5 new kids will come to the orphanage and we are so excited to meet them. Please continue to pray that Asha mission would have the financial support needed and that Gracie and Saji (who run the orphanage) would be blessed - Its hard work taking care of 20 kids!
As this is our last week of Ministry, we are excited to pour all of ourselves into the people here.We are also getting sad about leaving and saying goodbye. Regardless, we praise the Lord for this time in India and the privilidge of serving the people here.
Thankyou for your support, love and prayers. We Love you all and Miss you!
So earlier I talked about my blog, but the website didn't appear on the blog post. My personal blog can be found at http://embracetheprocess.wordpress.com. Hopefully that clears up any confusion.
How many times a day do you search for the parts the world that you can't see? How many language barriers do you go through before you can talk to someone who lives in this world? How many times a year do you go somewhere, where they can see us but we can't see them? It's not very often that we notice this stuff, but when we do take notice of the invisible, what is your initial reaction? Initially how visible do you really want to be, and how invisible do you want to be to the visible?
Lately, I've come to see how visible we actually are to the invisible. I'm not sure what to think it's definitely going to take some time to process it all. The one thing I do know is how invisible we are to to the visible Either that or we do see we just choose to ignore it. I'm pretty sure we choose ignore it at first, on purpose;but after a while it just becomes routine. We see on the televisions how different organizations are helping, sending money, and more or less sending some type of relief to help out. We have all these resources at our disposal but none of them are really being used; Media, News, Government, and Religion. We have over a million different organizations, groups, and a million ways to make a difference.
It's been 24 days since I ventured from my home
5 of those days were spent in Georgia meeting my teammates and preparing for the next several weeks
1 day of just traveling from GA to Amsterdam to Delhi
1 day lost in the midst of time zone changes
17 days in country
At training camp they spoke about giving up our rights and expectations. For the most part I was fine giving up my rights, rights to comfort, to foods i like, to cleanliness, to communication, to personal attention. But one of things said about expectations was you don't know you had them until they weren't met.
I was never sure of what my expectations were. In fact I questioned my very presence here in the first place. Despite getting the funds to come and everything falling into place, to me my desire to be here was based off a whim.
Fueled by good food, documentaries, and rich culture, to me the country was the goal. It was India. So my expectations all revolved around just getting there not necessarily what I'd be doing. All I knew was everyone was telling me my time here in India would be life changing.
The ministry we are doing is very much relational and showing love to orphans and lepers, rather than preaching the gospel.
[James 1:27] Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
We do bible stories with the kids, sing songs that are somewhat related, and mainly just play with them. When school starts we'll help them more with homework and English. At the leper colonies sometimes we have a translator and sometimes not. We just split up into two groups and sit with the people. Sometimes we'll help them break up pea pods, other times we sit in silence. This past time we were blessed with a group of ladies where one of them spoke a bit English. Mainly there we are laying down the groundwork , [openness to foreigners] for future groups to be received and the word to be planted in tilled hearts. [I'll have more ministry stories later]
Now I definitely am loving on these kids, the lepers and their families and I know I'm doing God's will here. But I felt ...less than satisfied. What drew me to India was human trafficking and the sex trade, and I knew I wasn't doing anything here related to that, but I still didn't feel like I was fulfilling my purpose here. Problem was I didn't know exactly what that purpose was, just somehow that it was supposed to change me life.
So here I was in India, a week in, not experiencing culture shock, everything just fitting. Its just like any other country that has that third world atmosphere. It wasn't exotic to me [except for the peacocks but then their screeches all night long pretty much killed that for me], it wasn't exciting. My heart didn't break being with the kids or the at the colonies. I was simply living life. I was trying to be patient, but I was telling God, " I don't know how this is going to be life changing. What else ya got?"
A couple days went by, more ministry days, more hanging with the team, and I was hanging out on the roof. I finally had one of those surreal moments. I took in my surroundings, took in God's presence, and just started to write in my journal.
"The night is a dusty indigo
The lights of the city mix with the dirt of the earth and the smog in the air. It all fades into a muted indigo void of vibrancy, yet finally sinks into a a murky dark almost rich black. A smattering of pinpoints of dim light be-speckle the sky.
They still twinkle in spastic motions. The pathetic fallacy of my mind is complete. I long for clarity, yet I'm finding contentment. There's beauty in the night eclipsed by the sun. Somethings can only be exposed d by the darkness. Beauty unveiled.
I will wait."
I poured out my heart to God of all the things I wanted to know, all of the things I wanted revealed; himself, my future, my purpose in India, how to love like he loves.
I waited. He blessed me with contentment in reveling in the beauty of creation, and then reveling in the beauty of his command and view of pure religion as stated in James 1:27. Even if I wasn't sure of myself at the moment, I knew I was exactly where he wanted me to be and that was enough.
I hung out a bit longer, not wanting to leave the gift God had given me. In the midst of sitting and being he spoke. He told me my purpose, answered some of my questions and corrected some of my thinking in one swift deposit in my spirit.
He affirmed that my time here would be life changing, though not because I was India, but rather because of him. He would be the source of the changes, not what I experience, or see, or even do. He's placed me here, with my teammates, leaders, and just this community because of the questions it would cause me to ask him. I'll change because of the answers he'll give me.
Then linked with that was the question of purpose. He affirmed what I had heard at training camp, but of which I wasn't sure. My purpose was simply to seek him, delight in him, and in his word. It was because I sought him that I was here in the first place. Through seeking him, I'll be changed. Through seeking him, he'll pour out during ministry. Through seeking him, I'll delight in his commands. Through seeking him, he'll prepare me to be a witness here in India, back in the states, or anywhere else he leads me.
Given that deposit, I have a new found freedom and joy in what I do daily. Not only am I satisfied in obeying his commands, I rejoice.
I'm just dropping a quick line to let you know that all is well here in India. The team is almost through our second week of ministry and things are running smoothly. Everyone is healthy and dealing well with the heat. Actually, for the last few days the temperature has only been around 40 C... So at least it has cooled down a little bit.
The team has been split into three sub-teams for ministry and we each set off to our different ministry sites every ministry day. Among the ministry sites are children's homes, leper colonies and the slums. We've been praying a lot about how to most effectively communicate God's love and his good news to the people here. And God is not only working through us in ministry, but in our own hearts as well.
I am officially in India. I arrived at my destination 09/June/2009 10:30 P.M. The Flight was good, definitely tired from flying, but what do expect when a 6'5 guy sits in a seat designed for person the size of half that,LOL! Anyway I got to the house last night at 11:30 P.M. and pretty much crashed after after talking to a good bit of the team.
10/June/20092:45 P.M.
Today I am getting acclimated to my new environment and just chilling
at Travis's House in his room with his A/C baby its freaking awesome.
Earlier I got on the back of the bike with Travis and cruised around town
for a little while went and had this amazing Ice coffee, ate some pretty B.A.
food that Travis made for me and him. Drank some Ice cold coke and just
chilled.I will try to update every two weeks or more depending how much
Team India has safely arrived! The strategic activities, and cultural/spiritual sessions at training camp enabled us to bond and prepare for the mission field in every aspect. After spending a few days in the summer weather of Georgia we embarked on a long air conditioned journey to New Delhi, India.
The plane ride, although long lasting, served as an excellent opportunity for the team to relax and get ready for the whirl wind awaiting us in India. We watched movies, attempted to sleep, and invested in quality time/conversations with our fellow team members.
Our nightly arrival allowed for a graceful ease into our new home culture. The first night we explored our new house, and unpacked our luggage. The house is very spacious which gives plenty room for ministry development and team building. While we are having to get used to not flushing our toilet paper, we have well adjusted to the cool showers that temporarily alleviate the heat. Weather is very warm in India and we are still trying to get used to the high temperatures but we are all drinking plenty of water. We have well adapted to our new surroundings, and we are all healthy; praise God.
We were treated to dinner our first night; this was a nice break from our everyday meal of PB and J. The team enjoyed the Indian food, which was a first time experience for some members. We had to travel through the market place to get to our dinner destination and we were all in amazement as we viewed our first glimpse of Delhi. Our first few days have consisted of physically adapting to our new setting and growing more knowledgeable of the Indian culture; our host has greatly assisted in this endeavor.
The team will start ministry this Wednesday after we tour one ministry site on Tuesday. We are praying that the Lord continues to prepare us for His purpose for us in India. God has truly blessed this journey. Thank you friends, families, and supporters for your continual prayer and support.
More and more everyday we become visible to a world that that exists inside our world.The closer we get to knowing God the more visible we become to this world. Pretty soon you're able to see it not clearly but for sure clear enough. There's also a war going taking place in this world, a war that's been happen since the Garden of Eden. First it started with a "delicious fruit" then it grew into "shame", "blame", "lies", and so forth the list is endless. The crazy thing is we don't see it half the time.
Invisible or Visible what difference does it make were apart this world whether we like it or not it's just a matter of how we act upon it and what we deal with it. Four the past and a half weeks I have been through parts of hell that I in ways I may have chose to go through but in other ways I didn't choose. Originally I was supposed to go to Greece this summer and work at a watersports camp. I had all the paper work filled out and completely ready to go when the rug just got pulled from underneath me. At first I didn't even know if I was honestly going anywhere, this is where the invisble world meets the visible world. For what ever reason God has had bigger plans for what they are I'm still not sure but in time I'm sure they will be reaveled even if I don't realize what that is until I get back. We all have exspectations even if we say we don't we don't. We all have rights too right? wrong we don't God gave us life that doesn't mean we have the right to live, we all have cell phones does that give us the right to call friends and family? nope, God gave us ability to walk and speak does that give us the right to do those things? nope. You see we have in our mind that we have all these rights but we don't. God is sovereign and He is the only one that has rights and the rights to us. Exspectations can be good or bad the ones that are bad are the ones that turn into the notion of rights. Which in turn, turn into selfish notions of what we want/self desires. Thats all right are self motivated, selfish ambitions, and stuff that surrounds you and your perfect little world that you think you have in the midst of the broken one.
So of course I thought well I should be going to Greece, I want to do this, Why can't I have it this way? All these questions start to fester up soon doubt settles in, next thing you know you're battling axiety attacks questioning all the time, before you know it your in depression or as I would say it oppression. Sure enough guess who's got the door opened all the way? Satan. First it start off has a knock on the door, Secondly you opened that door but guess what no one was there, Thirdly you shut the door but when you went to shut Satan got a few of his fingers in before it shut all the way so you thought you shut all the but you didn't, Fourth you notice a slight draft but don't know where it's coming from because your mind is clouded by despair, Fifth the crack of the door becomes a little bit bigger and your mind becomes cloudier and more distraught, Sixth your mind is filled with all these different emotions of doubt and despair and the door opens to the point of all the way but not quite there yet, Seventh you sink into a state of depression/oppression the door is finally all the way open and Satans in the house of you mind. I went through all these and you know what it wasn't fun not one bit, but through by the grace of God it didn't last very long. A couple of weeks went by and still didn't hear anything about me going on a mission trip so my mind became restless I couldn't sleep I was going out wandering around like a mindless zombie completely in a state of oppression and disillusion. Finally the end of the second week and I got a call that I was now possibly going to peru, well to make long story short I didn't end up going to peru. So I went back into this state, so I get a call the end of the third week and and find out that I have three choices now one being the Phillipines, Kenya, and India, here's the kicker I had to tell them that day where I wanted to go. the crazy part was I already knew where I wanted to go and that was India. The other two would be great, but this one truly was a God sent. I mean Slumdog kind of influenced it but I felt a peace in my heart my mind became clear and I realized that God had something up His sleeve.
