So much has happened over the past couple of weeks that it is hard to know where to begin to write this update...
I am loving eating in India...everything is made from scratch and sometimes it is a huge family process. Last week our hosts had their extended family staying with them for a wedding and so the two bedroom apartment was very full. A moment that stands out in my memory is sitting on the floor with aunties, nephews, mummies, daddies and our team and peeling garlic. Family time doesn't have to be anything fancy they just live their work together. Life in India is all about relationships and I love how our team has become a part of this family unit...whether it's cutting onions, having a sleepy child fall asleep in your lap on the auto rickshaw on the way home, or laughing together over dinner.
I feel like this focus on relationships is something I would like to take home with me and apply not only to my relationships with friends and family, but also with God. Life gets so busy and feels like it should be so scheduled and filled with special events that I don't often focus on the opportunity to just share life. I absolutely love it and I hope that I will be able to maintain this focus.
Another thing that I have been blown away by here is the presence of spirtuality and religion. Everywhere we turn there are fingerprints of our desire to connect with something bigger than ourselves. I have been soaking up moments when I sit still enough to hear God's voice and feel his presence...to remember how much I love to read his word and how much more there is to learn about him.
There are so many more moments than this, but my update time is short. We leave this afternoon for Kolachel on the southern tip of India to spend a week doing ministry there. Our hosts had been working in this area for 8 years following the tsunami doing relief work and also church planting. They began a ministry in a slum area which gave people skills in tailoring and many have jobs now. They are hoping to begin a similar ministry in the area where we have been staying for the past couple of weeks. Our ministry has mainly been focussed on networking our hosts with local pastors and churches so that they will have support to build this ministry (as well as build into many of their other dreams) in this area.
We continue to be so blessed by all of your prayers. Please continue to pray for clear communication, team unity, health, safety. Nandri! (thanks!)
I am loving eating in India...everything is made from scratch and sometimes it is a huge family process. Last week our hosts had their extended family staying with them for a wedding and so the two bedroom apartment was very full. A moment that stands out in my memory is sitting on the floor with aunties, nephews, mummies, daddies and our team and peeling garlic. Family time doesn't have to be anything fancy they just live their work together. Life in India is all about relationships and I love how our team has become a part of this family unit...whether it's cutting onions, having a sleepy child fall asleep in your lap on the auto rickshaw on the way home, or laughing together over dinner.
I feel like this focus on relationships is something I would like to take home with me and apply not only to my relationships with friends and family, but also with God. Life gets so busy and feels like it should be so scheduled and filled with special events that I don't often focus on the opportunity to just share life. I absolutely love it and I hope that I will be able to maintain this focus.
Another thing that I have been blown away by here is the presence of spirtuality and religion. Everywhere we turn there are fingerprints of our desire to connect with something bigger than ourselves. I have been soaking up moments when I sit still enough to hear God's voice and feel his presence...to remember how much I love to read his word and how much more there is to learn about him.
There are so many more moments than this, but my update time is short. We leave this afternoon for Kolachel on the southern tip of India to spend a week doing ministry there. Our hosts had been working in this area for 8 years following the tsunami doing relief work and also church planting. They began a ministry in a slum area which gave people skills in tailoring and many have jobs now. They are hoping to begin a similar ministry in the area where we have been staying for the past couple of weeks. Our ministry has mainly been focussed on networking our hosts with local pastors and churches so that they will have support to build this ministry (as well as build into many of their other dreams) in this area.
We continue to be so blessed by all of your prayers. Please continue to pray for clear communication, team unity, health, safety. Nandri! (thanks!)
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