so anand and i were walking down the street today, and we ran into one of his neighbors, a guy i met and connected with last time, and at the end of our conversation, he told us about his sister's wedding tonight and invited us. if we go, this will be our 5th indian wedding in about two weeks. be careful what you ask for, last time, i was really disappointed we didn't go to one, so i prayed next time i would. and i thought i would be going to less weddings by spending 7 weeks in india...
6/25-26 went to a Christian wedding today in the state of Karnataka (4 hr bus ride from here). it was in a church sponsored by a umc church from louisville kentucky. i was floored by umc churches everywhere, we were even in villages where the majority of people were christians. interesting that in the same area in just the past few years, churches have been burned under hindu extremist persecution. the wedding itself was a lot like american weddings in its structure, and it was so fun to add to the variety of indian weddings we've attended (hindu and tribal banjara weddings). we stayed the night there with this amazingly welcoming family, we were so blessed.
now we're back in hyderabad, met some people from y.w.a.m. today, sounds like they're doing awesome stuff with their dts school, we might even get to go encourage some students.
on the 1st we're heading back to the village for up to a week. pray for provision, protection, favor in our work (foundations for the home and school buildings are being built as we speak), God's timing - children set to move into their permanent home/school starting out of nowhere before the end of august, and of course the spreading of some great news to the people of the villages.
if that school thing caught you off guard, God gave anand vision to start a school (was already going to home school the home kids anyway) and he already has people in line to teach. there is no school in the village or any surrounding villages, so we talked to families when we were there 3 days ago and they're all interested. because the teachers are servants in minist., school will be affordable to the villagers, while still making a little money to sustain the orphanage. the school plan came together more or less in the past 2 weeks, so our heads are spinning too at the thought of it, but it looks to be an incredible blessing in all of these mostly unreached villages.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
10 things we love about hyderabad
1. everywhere we go, people want to hear the guitar and singing. the american style music is so different to them. its great, because i just use the opportunity to intercede and worship, and it changes the spiritual climate, usually unknowingly for our audiences.
2. 21 awesome kids with all the potential in the world, taken off the streets or given into care by parents with AIDS who can no longer take care of them. anand and others are doing an amazing thing through this children's home. J is moving and providing so incredibly. they were keeping the home in a rental house until the final location could be built, got kicked out a few weeks ago, are now being juggled around with different families, and tomorrow we go to the village where their permanent will be completed, hopefully within a month, to prepare its completiong and arrange their transportation there. anand and other teachers envision it being a home and a school, as the village is way out there and currently has no schooling for any of its people
3. 3 weddings in 4 days. lots of food, small talk, awkward moments, and going with the flow. we're building relationships, all while getting stared at like we're wedding crashers. they were all so different: one was a big nice expensive wedding with hundreds of people, the other a tribal wedding in a remote village. love it
4. Salman Khan, Indian film star. apparently I look like him, according to the kids on our street. look him up and you be the judge
5. pray for M (we'll call him this for now). before J sends out his 12 in Matthew, he tells them they'll be dragged before kings. while we have yet to be literally dragged, we have been blessed with the opportunity to be on a kings court in a sense. he is a local political party leader, real estate king, and generous friend who has taken us into his house. he's currently hindu, but God has been working in his life,. and i liken our situation to Daniel's (or Shad, Mesh, and Abed.'s). we have been blessed with amazing nutrition (not as much the case last time), and have met others "kings" of the area.
6. rest. or lack thereof. we're going to be exhausted wtih a bunch of traveling, and the village we're about to go to for almost a week has no clean water, so we'll be bringing it from a city 3 hrs down the road. interesting.
7. dirty. we're just used to it. we're going to be dirty, pollution, sweat, rain, walking through mud, going now to a village with not a single bathroom (we'll be using the fields). its kinda like soccer camp with no bathrooms.
8. perseverance. pray for it. we realized that we just now reached halfway point. the most difficult, but also the fruition of so much, has yet to come.
9. every day is such a different adventure. two weddings this day. going to visit a guys tae kwon do academy that day, working with the kids the next day, prayer in a prayer tower, going to a farm yesterday. we've been blessed with variety, but its easy to ask, "what's the point?". i'm glad we don't have to see what He's doing to know that its happening. we have become fools for C's sake. i'm okay with that. it makes no sense, but He is doing some awesome things.
10. More. we're going house to house in a place that's never heard for the next few days. probably never seen westerners actually. petition for us to be able to pour out
2. 21 awesome kids with all the potential in the world, taken off the streets or given into care by parents with AIDS who can no longer take care of them. anand and others are doing an amazing thing through this children's home. J is moving and providing so incredibly. they were keeping the home in a rental house until the final location could be built, got kicked out a few weeks ago, are now being juggled around with different families, and tomorrow we go to the village where their permanent will be completed, hopefully within a month, to prepare its completiong and arrange their transportation there. anand and other teachers envision it being a home and a school, as the village is way out there and currently has no schooling for any of its people
3. 3 weddings in 4 days. lots of food, small talk, awkward moments, and going with the flow. we're building relationships, all while getting stared at like we're wedding crashers. they were all so different: one was a big nice expensive wedding with hundreds of people, the other a tribal wedding in a remote village. love it
4. Salman Khan, Indian film star. apparently I look like him, according to the kids on our street. look him up and you be the judge
5. pray for M (we'll call him this for now). before J sends out his 12 in Matthew, he tells them they'll be dragged before kings. while we have yet to be literally dragged, we have been blessed with the opportunity to be on a kings court in a sense. he is a local political party leader, real estate king, and generous friend who has taken us into his house. he's currently hindu, but God has been working in his life,. and i liken our situation to Daniel's (or Shad, Mesh, and Abed.'s). we have been blessed with amazing nutrition (not as much the case last time), and have met others "kings" of the area.
6. rest. or lack thereof. we're going to be exhausted wtih a bunch of traveling, and the village we're about to go to for almost a week has no clean water, so we'll be bringing it from a city 3 hrs down the road. interesting.
7. dirty. we're just used to it. we're going to be dirty, pollution, sweat, rain, walking through mud, going now to a village with not a single bathroom (we'll be using the fields). its kinda like soccer camp with no bathrooms.
8. perseverance. pray for it. we realized that we just now reached halfway point. the most difficult, but also the fruition of so much, has yet to come.
9. every day is such a different adventure. two weddings this day. going to visit a guys tae kwon do academy that day, working with the kids the next day, prayer in a prayer tower, going to a farm yesterday. we've been blessed with variety, but its easy to ask, "what's the point?". i'm glad we don't have to see what He's doing to know that its happening. we have become fools for C's sake. i'm okay with that. it makes no sense, but He is doing some awesome things.
10. More. we're going house to house in a place that's never heard for the next few days. probably never seen westerners actually. petition for us to be able to pour out
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Hyderabad
Wow. Sorry I have failed to write anything thus far. We have been going going going. We are now finally in Hyderabad, where we will be until the 13th, before we go back to Beantown to head out on the 15th, one month from today.
So trip summary thus far. Amazing time teaching morning school and playing with the kids in our house in Bangalore. Feels like home every time I go there (we've been in and out).
We took a trip to Calcutta to volunteer in the Mother Theresa homes, made so famous by her lifetime there. We got to work all day in two different homes, though not Khalighat , the famous home of the dying. We did get to visit there and prayer walk that area of Calcutta. I had about 4 hrs total time of not sweating in our time there, either in AC restaurants or showering. One day it was 111 degrees F with a heat index of 140. We were smart about it and didn't try to do too much, making for an amazing trip in which my father taught me a lot about life and how to feel about poverty, wealth, and the world.
Kristen, Mallory, Tim and I went to Delhi for almost a week. It was amazing. We saw the Taj Mahal, so many other amazing sites, and had so many many instances where all we could do is say, "TII (This is India)" for those unique times where it is so obvious you are not in kansas anymore. I think my favorite was when the driver we hired bribed a cop to not give him a speeding ticket. Welcome to India.
Stayed in Chennai with R. We had an amazing welcome with the local Body and received such a warm welcome. We got to lead songs, Kristen got to preach, we all got to speak about a testimony (they even asked us questions, like we were on a panel). It was fun, we were very blessed and honored.
Now we're in hyderabad. Anand has opened a home and taken in 21 kids of the streets or from AIDS parents who can't take care of them. we'll be with them from here on out. its amazing. 2 years ago, this was his dream. Now we get to be a part of it 2 months into it, seeing God provide in amazing ways. please pray for this new adventure, these kids are amazing. I'll try to update every now and then, but I can't promise anything, this is india.
mike
So trip summary thus far. Amazing time teaching morning school and playing with the kids in our house in Bangalore. Feels like home every time I go there (we've been in and out).
We took a trip to Calcutta to volunteer in the Mother Theresa homes, made so famous by her lifetime there. We got to work all day in two different homes, though not Khalighat , the famous home of the dying. We did get to visit there and prayer walk that area of Calcutta. I had about 4 hrs total time of not sweating in our time there, either in AC restaurants or showering. One day it was 111 degrees F with a heat index of 140. We were smart about it and didn't try to do too much, making for an amazing trip in which my father taught me a lot about life and how to feel about poverty, wealth, and the world.
Kristen, Mallory, Tim and I went to Delhi for almost a week. It was amazing. We saw the Taj Mahal, so many other amazing sites, and had so many many instances where all we could do is say, "TII (This is India)" for those unique times where it is so obvious you are not in kansas anymore. I think my favorite was when the driver we hired bribed a cop to not give him a speeding ticket. Welcome to India.
Stayed in Chennai with R. We had an amazing welcome with the local Body and received such a warm welcome. We got to lead songs, Kristen got to preach, we all got to speak about a testimony (they even asked us questions, like we were on a panel). It was fun, we were very blessed and honored.
Now we're in hyderabad. Anand has opened a home and taken in 21 kids of the streets or from AIDS parents who can't take care of them. we'll be with them from here on out. its amazing. 2 years ago, this was his dream. Now we get to be a part of it 2 months into it, seeing God provide in amazing ways. please pray for this new adventure, these kids are amazing. I'll try to update every now and then, but I can't promise anything, this is india.
mike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)