Well guys. I have now lived in Southeast India for two months, and it has been nothing short of an incredible journey! I look back in awe at all the God has shown me thus far. He has taught so much it is nearly embarrassing to admit! I clearly think far too small of God!
I wanted to tell you guys about how amazing these past few weeks have been! I'm sorry I haven't been giving any updates of what I've been up to. To say that we've been busy around here would be an insult! It's been absolutely nuts, so obviously, I've loved it! haha
My story begins by telling about my first experience helping host some other missionaries. Merri and Kerri, two sisters from America, arrived the night of Nov 10 for a two week dental mission. I cannot even begin to say what a blessing these two awesome women were to me. First and foremost, it was just good to have people around. For those of you who don't know, I am alone here quite often. If I am not working with the guys in the office or out at a village with one of them, I am alone. I'm sure you can imagine how difficult a change this has been for me! Simply having other people around in and of itself was wonderful. But these two went so much further to bless me than simply be here. As I said, they came to do a dental mission, the second of its kind here; they came last year to do the same kinds of clinics. The first day they were here, they were up early, and already at work! They gained my respect right away, let me tell you! And I was even fortunate enough to help them out with their work! That was so much fun, and a little crazy! We got to brush the kids' teeth here at the orphanage, and teach them how to brush correctly and what they're missing. It was so much fun! I never thought I would ever be sticking my hands in little Indian kids' mouths at an orphanage that I called home! What an incredible God we serve, amen?! We then spent the next ten days going to villages and teaching them about the importance of dental health and healthy living in general. It was a really cool thing to see, because I am rarely a part of social ministry like this here. I am mostly here as an evangelist, which is great and where my heart is, but this was just so cool for me to see! So many people were blessed and saw firsthand the love of Christ because these two women from America cared about they're teeth! How sweet is that?!
The end of their trip, however, was nothing short of incredible. They were set to fly out of Bangalore, a huge city southwest of us, about 9 hours away. We left at the early hour of 4:30 (yeah, I got up that early! lol) and got to Bangalore just around lunch time. Entering Bangalore was like a movie. First of all, it was one of those ridiculously beautiful days, where everything just seems brighter and happier because of the sunshine! And we came in on this big bridge (overpass really) that showed us a great view of much of the city and just how huge it is! The next day we left for the historical city of Mysore, the home of a famous Indian palace. On the way, we stopped in a town called Srirangapatnam, where the summer palace of Tipu Sultan, and Indian freedom fighter and ruler in the late 1700s, is found. It was breathtakingly beautiful. A wonderful gate led to a huge courtyard outside of a small but no less impressive palace. Once entered, the walls were covered top to bottom with hand painted murals depicting Tipu's military victories. I'd also like to point out one funny fact about this place. To see it, you need to purchase a ticket. Now, this seems normal, right? Well, it would be, if it weren't for the inflation for foreigners! lol for Indians, it's Rs. 5 (5 Rupees), but it's Rs. 100 for foreigners! What's with that?! lol As we were leaving, we passed by an old English fellow who laughed at this fact. "Can you believe that? 100 Rupees for foreigners? Well I told them that's fine, but I'm not a foreigner! I'm British!" haha he was funny...Anywhos! We left there to the heart of the town, where Tipu's grave was. Now, it wasn't quite the Taj Mahal, but honestly, it was absolutely amazing. He built it originally for his father, whom he loved and revered greatly, and his father's wife (not to be confused with his mother lol). He was later buried there, along with his sister, his wife, and two daughters. Tipu was a Muslim, so right next to his tomb is a mosque. We weren't able to go inside, but the outside of it looked quite beautiful. We left there to finally finish our journey to Mysore. As we got into Mysore, we stopped at a catholic church called St. Philemona. It was breathtaking, a wonderful place of refuge for many local Christians. It was an honor to pray within its walls of comfort and solace. We left there for the palace that we had been waiting to see all day. And oh my goodness did they undersell this thing. First of all, I'm pretty sure this palace is the same size as Rhode Island, just saying. This thing was huge. And holy crap was it beautiful. I have had the wonderful blessing to see some of the most recognized and historical wonders of the world, and I have to say that this palace rivals most of them. I would try and describe it here, but it would be like describing the Grand Canyon. Well, it's uh...big...and uh...pretty...did I say it's big? lol It was perfectly symmetrical, though. That I can tell you. That was incredible to see. Part of the tour goes to the central room of the whole palace, where the King would look out over the crowds of his people and decide the fates of difference diplomatic needs. I cannot describe how beautiful it was! I wish I could, but there should be pictures of it soon! lol We then left there for a tasty lunch, and then went to the zoo! Yeah, that's right! The freakin zoo! It was so wicked cool! We rode this trolley-type bus through the whole thing and saw the whole zoo in an hour! It was freakin awesome! lol
The rest of the trip was spent seeing Bangalore, which was much different than Mysore, but still really cool to do! We saw a couple temples, went up to the Nandi hills, which overlooks the countryside near Bangalore, all the way to the city. It was crazy high, which was clearly my favorite (not) part but it was definitely beautiful! We then took Merri and Kerri to the airport, said our goodbyes, and we were off back to drive another 10 hours to get back home! All in all, it was wonderful to have joined them in their ministry here with us, and I hope to join them again sometime in the future!
Since their departure, it has been back to the same ol' routine, which is anything but boring! I have been to several villages, preaching and teaching a whole lot of wonderful and amazing people! I finally rode in a rickshaw for the first time, which was hilarious. We shared it with two other people who were getting dropped off between where we all started, and the church that we were going to. I rode a couple more on the way back, and then finished it with a bus ride. We have been working a ton on some very important applications for some funding that would greatly help the ministry here. Please keep these in your prayers! Also, we are soon looking forward to the court building team who join us in just three weeks! So very excited! We are about to begin the build here in the next couple of days, and appreciate any and all thoughts and prayers that you can spare for this process! Thank you!
I love and miss you all so very much, and look forward to seeing you all once again sooner than you realize! haha I've been here for a short two months, and have what I can only assume to be a shorter three months left! But, no matter how long they feel, I cannot begin to imagine how much God has in mind to teach me in them! And that fact excites me more than anything!
I wanted to tell you guys about how amazing these past few weeks have been! I'm sorry I haven't been giving any updates of what I've been up to. To say that we've been busy around here would be an insult! It's been absolutely nuts, so obviously, I've loved it! haha
My story begins by telling about my first experience helping host some other missionaries. Merri and Kerri, two sisters from America, arrived the night of Nov 10 for a two week dental mission. I cannot even begin to say what a blessing these two awesome women were to me. First and foremost, it was just good to have people around. For those of you who don't know, I am alone here quite often. If I am not working with the guys in the office or out at a village with one of them, I am alone. I'm sure you can imagine how difficult a change this has been for me! Simply having other people around in and of itself was wonderful. But these two went so much further to bless me than simply be here. As I said, they came to do a dental mission, the second of its kind here; they came last year to do the same kinds of clinics. The first day they were here, they were up early, and already at work! They gained my respect right away, let me tell you! And I was even fortunate enough to help them out with their work! That was so much fun, and a little crazy! We got to brush the kids' teeth here at the orphanage, and teach them how to brush correctly and what they're missing. It was so much fun! I never thought I would ever be sticking my hands in little Indian kids' mouths at an orphanage that I called home! What an incredible God we serve, amen?! We then spent the next ten days going to villages and teaching them about the importance of dental health and healthy living in general. It was a really cool thing to see, because I am rarely a part of social ministry like this here. I am mostly here as an evangelist, which is great and where my heart is, but this was just so cool for me to see! So many people were blessed and saw firsthand the love of Christ because these two women from America cared about they're teeth! How sweet is that?!
The end of their trip, however, was nothing short of incredible. They were set to fly out of Bangalore, a huge city southwest of us, about 9 hours away. We left at the early hour of 4:30 (yeah, I got up that early! lol) and got to Bangalore just around lunch time. Entering Bangalore was like a movie. First of all, it was one of those ridiculously beautiful days, where everything just seems brighter and happier because of the sunshine! And we came in on this big bridge (overpass really) that showed us a great view of much of the city and just how huge it is! The next day we left for the historical city of Mysore, the home of a famous Indian palace. On the way, we stopped in a town called Srirangapatnam, where the summer palace of Tipu Sultan, and Indian freedom fighter and ruler in the late 1700s, is found. It was breathtakingly beautiful. A wonderful gate led to a huge courtyard outside of a small but no less impressive palace. Once entered, the walls were covered top to bottom with hand painted murals depicting Tipu's military victories. I'd also like to point out one funny fact about this place. To see it, you need to purchase a ticket. Now, this seems normal, right? Well, it would be, if it weren't for the inflation for foreigners! lol for Indians, it's Rs. 5 (5 Rupees), but it's Rs. 100 for foreigners! What's with that?! lol As we were leaving, we passed by an old English fellow who laughed at this fact. "Can you believe that? 100 Rupees for foreigners? Well I told them that's fine, but I'm not a foreigner! I'm British!" haha he was funny...Anywhos! We left there to the heart of the town, where Tipu's grave was. Now, it wasn't quite the Taj Mahal, but honestly, it was absolutely amazing. He built it originally for his father, whom he loved and revered greatly, and his father's wife (not to be confused with his mother lol). He was later buried there, along with his sister, his wife, and two daughters. Tipu was a Muslim, so right next to his tomb is a mosque. We weren't able to go inside, but the outside of it looked quite beautiful. We left there to finally finish our journey to Mysore. As we got into Mysore, we stopped at a catholic church called St. Philemona. It was breathtaking, a wonderful place of refuge for many local Christians. It was an honor to pray within its walls of comfort and solace. We left there for the palace that we had been waiting to see all day. And oh my goodness did they undersell this thing. First of all, I'm pretty sure this palace is the same size as Rhode Island, just saying. This thing was huge. And holy crap was it beautiful. I have had the wonderful blessing to see some of the most recognized and historical wonders of the world, and I have to say that this palace rivals most of them. I would try and describe it here, but it would be like describing the Grand Canyon. Well, it's uh...big...and uh...pretty...did I say it's big? lol It was perfectly symmetrical, though. That I can tell you. That was incredible to see. Part of the tour goes to the central room of the whole palace, where the King would look out over the crowds of his people and decide the fates of difference diplomatic needs. I cannot describe how beautiful it was! I wish I could, but there should be pictures of it soon! lol We then left there for a tasty lunch, and then went to the zoo! Yeah, that's right! The freakin zoo! It was so wicked cool! We rode this trolley-type bus through the whole thing and saw the whole zoo in an hour! It was freakin awesome! lol
The rest of the trip was spent seeing Bangalore, which was much different than Mysore, but still really cool to do! We saw a couple temples, went up to the Nandi hills, which overlooks the countryside near Bangalore, all the way to the city. It was crazy high, which was clearly my favorite (not) part but it was definitely beautiful! We then took Merri and Kerri to the airport, said our goodbyes, and we were off back to drive another 10 hours to get back home! All in all, it was wonderful to have joined them in their ministry here with us, and I hope to join them again sometime in the future!
Since their departure, it has been back to the same ol' routine, which is anything but boring! I have been to several villages, preaching and teaching a whole lot of wonderful and amazing people! I finally rode in a rickshaw for the first time, which was hilarious. We shared it with two other people who were getting dropped off between where we all started, and the church that we were going to. I rode a couple more on the way back, and then finished it with a bus ride. We have been working a ton on some very important applications for some funding that would greatly help the ministry here. Please keep these in your prayers! Also, we are soon looking forward to the court building team who join us in just three weeks! So very excited! We are about to begin the build here in the next couple of days, and appreciate any and all thoughts and prayers that you can spare for this process! Thank you!
I love and miss you all so very much, and look forward to seeing you all once again sooner than you realize! haha I've been here for a short two months, and have what I can only assume to be a shorter three months left! But, no matter how long they feel, I cannot begin to imagine how much God has in mind to teach me in them! And that fact excites me more than anything!
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