Nagarcoil and the Orphanage

Interesting Fact: Did you know rubber is made from trees? They use the sap inside to make the product.

Word Failure: In Nagarcoil I saw a big neon sign that said Lords Blood Bank. I have absolutely no idea if it meant the Lords Blood Bank or the Lords Blood Bank, but either way it was strange. I also saw a brand of little girls clothing called Touch Me. Now who thought that was a good idea?

Celebrity News: Yes, in fact the celebrity is me. We stopped at a gas station in this tiny van this week (I felt like a crab leaving my shell everytime I crawled out of the van!) and there were some girls working there pumping the gas. They saw me in the car and of course began asking my host questions. (The questions are always the same: 1. Is she a foreigner? No, I'm obviously from here, is what I want to say but I don't. 2. And then they ask where I am from. Happens at least four times a week.) After they had watched me and giggled for a while each girl then came to the open window and wanted to shake my hand. I gladly obliged and they all giggled some more. Its hard to be a celebrity sometimes. :)

Hi hi hi! I am sorry my dear blog readers that it has been so long since I posted! This past week I was in Nagarcoil, which is in the southern most part of India. (And I did not have internet access.) This was by far my most favorite trip I took while here in India. The southern tip of India is BEAUTIFUL. It is a place many of us only could dream of seeing. It looked like a picture out of the movies. There were these gorgeous palm trees that backed up to these amazing hills and mountains. Everything was a beautiful green color and there was a cool breeze flowing in from the sea. I got to do a lot of tourist things which was fun, and one thing we saw was a fort right on the seaside from when the British occupied India. It was so cool, and when we walked up to the top I looked right out onto the ocean! It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The ocean was backed by a beach, palm trees, wind mills (you know I am a sucker for utilizing alternate energy sources) and the mountains. Anyone who brought there ship in would have thought they landed in heaven. One amazing part about this city is that it is literally the tip of India. Here the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal all come together. Now, on my list of things to do before I die I have written "Stand in two oceans at once by going to where they meet and mix." EVERYONE told me I was crazy and that it was a silly thing to write down, let alone impossible. Well to all those nay-sayers I would like to tell you that I stood in THREE oceans at once! woohoo! One more thing off my list! At this beach you can watch both the sunset and the sunrise so we saw both. I woke up at 4:00 AM so that we could get to the beach on time. And man was it worth it! I have never seen such a gorgeous sunrise. Many people were there from all over India because it serves as a place for pilgramage. They were all worshipping the sun, but I worshipped the One who made the sun. I could not believe how blessed I was to be at the southern tip of India to see these beautiful sights. I wish all of you could have been there with me.

The trip was also where I gave my last womens seminar. Like I had expected, this was the best one yet. It was the smallest group of women, but I have learned so much about prayer myself over the past month that I was really able to convey with passion the importance and purpose of prayer in our lives. Afterwards, each woman came up to me and asked me to pray for a specific thing for them. This had not happened at the other seminars and it was really incredible to be given the chance to put what I had just spoken about into action. As I stood there and prayed for each woman they did not understand my words, but the power of God brought us together. It was really an incredible experience and opportunity. The power of prayer transcended the barrier of language.

The last thing to update you all on is my trip to the orphanage and old age home yesterday. This was something I had really been looking forward to. The home houses around 8 old ladies and about 10 girls aged from 5 to 10th grade. I got the chance to speak some words of encouragement to them and I really enjoyed the opportunity to speak of God's love for His precious lambs. I then got to see the facilities. The home where the old ladies are is falling apart. It is over 65 years old and the roof could cave in any day. The girls live down the road along a long dirt path by the river. It takes about five minutes to walk the path to their place. The goal is to tear down the current old age home and rebuild on big enough for the girls and the ladies. It is unsafe for the young girls to be so close to the river as they are exposed to bad social happenings. As soon as the money can be raised they would like to start the renovations, so this can be something you pray for. As we walked back from the girls orphanage it became dark and I required a guide to hold my hand so I would not trip or get lost. The girl was in the tenth grade and her name was Bonnu. She was so sweet, and though we only could communicate sparingly we laughed together as I made up a song spelling her name. I loved getting to hold her sweet hand and laugh and smile with her. After that all the girls came to me and we talked as best we could, relying on the love of God to again transcend our human language. When I left I waved and smiled, knowing that forever these girls will be in my thoughts and prayers. It was an experience I will never forget.

I know this was long but hopefully it satisfied your curiousity. Tomorrow I will post about my last two childrens programs. In less than a week I will be home. Hooray!