Revealing Grace

What a great trip this has been. Yesterday was my last day of adventures here in Kerala so we went up to the mountains of Vagamon. These mountains are the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The luscious green color of the trees and grass engulfs all of your senses. It is like you can taste and feel the beautiful shades. As we were driving up the winding mountain the scene was beautiful, but a different sight awaited us nearer the top. As we climbed higher and higher the fog got thicker and thicker. By the time we reached the Kerala Christian Mission Retreat Center you could see nothing but thick white sky. It was like a huge cloud had come down to greet us. We walked up to a top porch of the retreat center and as I looked down all I could see was a portion of the tea plantation directly below us. The fog was walking along it, as if taking a stroll through the short bushes. There was a chilly breeze in the air and as we stood there it felt like we had reached the end of the earth. ...

Hellooooooo out there! Shout out to my Christ's Church family: Today I went to a Christ's Church here in India! It reminded me of how thankful I am for all of you and how grateful I am for your continued prayers. Yesterday and today were my last programs here in India (woohoo!). They were both for kids and yesterday's went really well and today's was just fine. I love that in all of the programs the group of kids have been different. The first group was really into the lesson and very responsive, the second was a very young crowd, the third was very quiet but really good at games, and the fourth group were totally not into it. Each session I had between 30-50 kids. I taught on Creation and how God made each child special. I had a couple funny moments throughout these sessions. I did an activity where the kids trace their hand and in each finger write a different thing to show how they are all similiar but not exactly the same. It was a lesson in being thankful for how...

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 wi...

I conducted a childrens program in the awesome town of Aleppy yesterday. Aleppy is a fishing village on the backwaters. It was a beautiful drive and I got to see a lot of house boats, fishing boats, and rice fields. The road there was covered on both sides by water, then there was this other tiny strip of land with houses on it and each side of that was water. It was very interesting countryside and I loved getting to see how different people live. I made many friends along the way, simply by smiling from my car window! It was a joyful trip, right from the beginning. The church at Aleppy was wonderful. I got to sit and talk with their pastor, Prince John, for a while about his vision for their community. (Yes, he has the coolest name ever.) He lives in a community that is majority Hindu, and his vision spreads outside his church to how he can impact and change those people who don't know of Jesus Christ. His church only has eight kids in it, but for their childrens programs they wi...

Last night I went to Cindy and Martin's house for dinner. The run down of my family here is Reni and Rajan are my mom and dad, Cindy is their daughter and Martin is her husband. Cindy does all of my translating and general running around. Needless to say, I could not do anything around here without Cindy! The neighbors picked me up and we rode to their house with the windows down. It was night and the air was cool and we passed little roadside towns, coconut trees, people walking, and it was a great trip. I breathed in the air, watched my surroundings and thought, wow. I am really in India! Then we almost got hit by a bus and ran into by a car so my moment was interrupted! haha, but that is the Indian experience for you! Everyone in the car had a great laugh becuase when the bus came by so close and blared its horn so loud my automatic reaction was to flinch and squeeze my eyes shut. Sadly shutting my eyes did not keep the others in the car from seeing me when I reacted! haha, It f...

I just ate pizza. mmmm, pizza. Surprisingly my pizza had mussels, squid, and prawns on it and I still ate it! I am really branching out. I am not sure that I ever told the story of my first pizza experience here in India. The day after I arrived we took the train to Kannur (the train with the icky bathroom). Kannur is gorgeous and right on the coast so I got to see the ocean which was very cool. While there I was still recovering from the trip over. I still had no luggage and sadly I forgot my shampoo so I did not wash my hair for four days..I'm sure they were all wondering if I ever showered at all..it was pretty gross.. but at any rate my family and the family we stayed with were kind enough to take me out for pizza as a reprive from Indian food. Kannur is a bigger city than where I am staying with a lot of huge coconut trees and beautiful green colors (not to mention a TON of mosquitos!). While there we visited a Hindu temple which was interesting, but also very sad...

Hello my dear friends! This morning I went to the fish market! I saw the biggest fish I have ever seen. They all stared at me before they got their head chopped off! Rajan made me promise that if he let me go I would still eat fish at the house. Haha, he knows me too well. I will post the pictures when I get home! An answered prayer: The other day I was complaining to the Lord (yes, complaining and not praying) about my trip here. I wrote the words that I simply wanted companionship and responsibility and I left it at that. Later that day Rajan asked me if I could sing, and having this inablilty to ever say no I responded that I could and he decided I would sing in worship the next day. I was not exactly elated but I went to practice anyways. There I met two great guys about my age who both spoke English (it was for an English service) and we really hit it off. I had so much fun singing with them and they lead guy asked me to also invite the congregation to worship and pray after t...

The other night I got a chance to finally skype with my parents. I had not actually spoken to them with our voices since I left the States so it was a joyous occasion. Dad and I were even genius enough that we called Mom at work and put her on speaker phone so she could join the conversation too! Needless to say, we were pretty proud of ourselves. By the time I finished talking with them it was about 8pm and I knew it would be about time for dinner. (At this point let me set the stage of where I am. To get to the computer I leave the house, walk across the drive, in a door on the side of the church, up some steps and down a short hallway to the office.) I look into the hall and notice there are no lights on and it has gotten dark. So being a genius I find a light switch, turn on the light, and head downstairs. Now here it gets tricky. The bottom of the stairwell is dark, but I know where the open doorway is supposed to be. As I head to leave though, instead of air I hit solid wood. I r...

Good things to report my friends! On Tuesday I gave my second seminar (for a different group of women than the first seminar) on prayer, here in Kottayam. I was a lot more relaxed this time and I had added some more substance to my talk so I was feeling confidant (thanks to the Lord). And I am happy to report that it went splendidly! Although at 10am there were just two women, we ended with about 35, and I really feel that the Lord spoke through me. Near the end I had to fill more time so my translator Cindy whispered to me to add more as I went along, which was a daunting task, but the Lord filled me with things to say. The women were so responsive and four came forward to share afterwards. One even came forward to say that she had been encouraged by the Lord to get a group of women together to go around and pray for those who are hurting. The Lord spoke to her when I told them that as women they can make a difference through prayer. The funny thing is, is that I am the one teaching t...

Disclaimer: If you are hoping to read this post in the native language of Malayalam (spelled the same backwards and forwards) I am sorry to disappoint you. After a week I know 0 words of the language. I will try to add some new vocab into my next post! Wow! What a week it has been! It has been full of ups and downs, highs and lows, but the Lord has been faithful through it all. He is my sustainer and provider when I do not think I can go on. So now I will list for you the top 10 things you should know about my trip so far! (In no particular order) 1. Jet lag+Culture shock=Not fun. The first four days were really hard because I was battling against a lot. I had a really stressful 24 hour journey through unknown cities and airports and things were moving along as soon as I got here. Since the time is opposite here I really struggled in the middle of the day to stay awake. This led me to be dizzy, sick feeling, and narcaleptic. But I am proud to announce that I am now on my third day of...

I am here! And it is rough so far. It is really hard to be in an unknown place and to travel really far...and to lose your luggage! Please pray for me as tonight I travel by train to another city. Pray for my health and that the Lord would sustain me. I miss home a lot right now but I know it will get easier as the weeks move by. I will say India is an interesting place and I have a whole new wardrobe of Indian clothes! Which is cool. The traffic is crazy and the food is REALLY flavorful, but it is all part of the experience. Keep praying for me and pray my bag will show up. Until next time- love to you all!