I find I’m getting used to India… the crowds, crazy driving, unique customs, and inquisitive culture. (Check
Hope's blog for more details.) This country is growing on me. I say ‘country’ but it seems like many countries. Each state has a unique culture, a different language, many specific customs, and special foods. Someone told us that there are 1026 languages/dialects in India. We’re saturated with so many cultures, and we still haven’t even been to the North yet -- a whole different subculture of India.
We spent 6 days in the state of Kerala on the SW coast of India, thanks to an old family friend, Rev. Julie Walkup Bird. She served as an associate pastor at the CSI (Church of South India) Immanuel Church in Kochi a few years ago… quite a feat to lead a church as a woman in this culture. Immanuel Church embraced us during our short stay by inviting us to join their weekly feeding of the poor and their Saturday night prayer fellowship, and by inviting me to speak at their women’s fellowship, Sunday school, a youth gathering, and the Sunday evening worship.
Several members of the congregation opened their homes to us including the Mathews, Dr. & Mrs. Jacob, Molly & her daughter Karin, and the families of Rev. Jacob & Rev. James. Another highlight was our visit to Karunalayam, a CSI boarding school for the mentally handicapped where Julie & Adriane volunteered regularly. The youth performed several songs for us and even roped us into singing for them (quite entertaining).
We actually had a chance to see some sights thanks to Thomas Mathew and Mary Mohan James… the Dutch Palace, the Chinese fishing nets, St. Francis Church (Vasco de Gama's original resting place), and even a peaceful boat trip into the Backwaters, Kerala’s most well-known sight-seeing attraction.
We took an adventure into rural Kerala to visit Pastor Jose’s (from Mumbai) brother -- Francis & his family. They live in the "pineapple capital" of India, Vazhakulum. Our adventure involved taking a wild, packed bus ride 50 km (1 ½ hours) out of the city where God provided a friendly, Catholic, guardian angel, Rose, to show us the way. The next day, Francis’ son (Joseph), daughter (Krupa), & niece (Rani) led us on a hike up to Chakki Para. We were so thankful to get out of the city to see such a magnificent view, especially in such good company.
This rural visit also included a meeting of pastors (Pentecostal, Assembly of God, & Baptist Brethren) on Friday night. I learned so much about the Catholic Church in India as well as the division between Protestant Churches. These pastors are seeking unity, but it seems like coming together as the Body of Christ can be quite a challenge here in India. I know the Church all over the world has this challenge but the judgments seem pretty extreme in India. These pastors weren’t even sure how to begin to facilitate fellowship (time to just be together), let alone a dialogue between church leaders. They pointed out that this issue is one of the biggest challenges to spreading the Gospel in India. I would love to go into more detail about this meeting because it gave me so much perspective on Christianity in India, but I could probably write a whole paper on it.
We just left Chennai where we were visiting with Paul & Grace Moses. It was such a blessing to reconnect with these friends, and we are grateful for all the provisions they have made to facilitate a ‘program’ for us... they kept us very busy.
As the Director of the International Sports Coalition for India, Paul is invited to speak all over the place -- nationally and internationally. In fact, we joined Paul soon after our arrival for one of his leadership classes at Maranatha Bible College where I facilitated a short introduction to recreation ministry to 1st year students.
They took us out to their newly-gifted, 11-acre property outside of Chennai where they plan to build an unique campus to facilitate sports ministry & to relocate their orphanage (from another village nearby). They have already built a pavilion on the land where they minister to widows once a month. Widows have a great plight in India as they are seen as a burden to families, so Paul & Grace’s organization (the
Sangita Charitable Trust) provides food bags for the widows to give to their families. They had 185 widows attend the program on Wednesday where they shared the Gospel, and we helped to hand out food bags.
Afterwards, they took us to the Sangita Home in the village of Padapai where they house 65 orphans ages 2-5. I’m amazed by the servant hearts of the staff there whom live & work with these children… 24/7. (These women’s dedication put a shame to the 40-hour-a-week work ethic of Americans!)
We stayed the night at Sangita home, played with the kids, taught the children a couple songs, led a fellowship time with the staff, and helped prepare the 5-year-olds for their first day of preschool, which was especially unique because it marked the opening of the Krupa Preshchool. We participated in a opening ceremony and met some incredible people.
Some other highlights of our time in Chennai include: leading talks at a soccer outreach as well as a prayer fellowship group for sports minitry, visiting the India Fellowship for the Visually Handicapped, learning what the International Justice Mission is doing in Chennai, worshipping with the Sports Ministry Fellowship,
riding around the city on motorcycles with Reejan, Thomas, Sennai, & David, sharing dinner & hearing the testimony of our new sister Hepzibah, and fellowshipping & being encouraged by Anand & John. We met so many amazing people who are a part Paul Moses' community of sports ministry. Chennai was a full week, and now we're in Bangalore visiting with Manoj "Strong Man" Chopra & his family... That will be in the next post.
In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers as we work through the "storming period" of our mission year abroad -- the constant traveling, adjusting & adapting; the profound patience & gratitude we must
always maintain; and the need for physical healing & strength. (I am still fighting some stomach pain and now a bit of a sinus cold.)
We spent 6 days in the state of Kerala on the SW coast of India, thanks to an old family friend, Rev. Julie Walkup Bird. She served as an associate pastor at the CSI (Church of South India) Immanuel Church in Kochi a few years ago… quite a feat to lead a church as a woman in this culture. Immanuel Church embraced us during our short stay by inviting us to join their weekly feeding of the poor and their Saturday night prayer fellowship, and by inviting me to speak at their women’s fellowship, Sunday school, a youth gathering, and the Sunday evening worship. 
Several members of the congregation opened their homes to us including the Mathews, Dr. & Mrs. Jacob, Molly & her daughter Karin, and the families of Rev. Jacob & Rev. James. Another highlight was our visit to Karunalayam, a CSI boarding school for the mentally handicapped where Julie & Adriane volunteered regularly. The youth performed several songs for us and even roped us into singing for them (quite entertaining).
We actually had a chance to see some sights thanks to Thomas Mathew and Mary Mohan James… the Dutch Palace, the Chinese fishing nets, St. Francis Church (Vasco de Gama's original resting place), and even a peaceful boat trip into the Backwaters, Kerala’s most well-known sight-seeing attraction.
We took an adventure into rural Kerala to visit Pastor Jose’s (from Mumbai) brother -- Francis & his family. They live in the "pineapple capital" of India, Vazhakulum. Our adventure involved taking a wild, packed bus ride 50 km (1 ½ hours) out of the city where God provided a friendly, Catholic, guardian angel, Rose, to show us the way. The next day, Francis’ son (Joseph), daughter (Krupa), & niece (Rani) led us on a hike up to Chakki Para. We were so thankful to get out of the city to see such a magnificent view, especially in such good company.
This rural visit also included a meeting of pastors (Pentecostal, Assembly of God, & Baptist Brethren) on Friday night. I learned so much about the Catholic Church in India as well as the division between Protestant Churches. These pastors are seeking unity, but it seems like coming together as the Body of Christ can be quite a challenge here in India. I know the Church all over the world has this challenge but the judgments seem pretty extreme in India. These pastors weren’t even sure how to begin to facilitate fellowship (time to just be together), let alone a dialogue between church leaders. They pointed out that this issue is one of the biggest challenges to spreading the Gospel in India. I would love to go into more detail about this meeting because it gave me so much perspective on Christianity in India, but I could probably write a whole paper on it.
We just left Chennai where we were visiting with Paul & Grace Moses. It was such a blessing to reconnect with these friends, and we are grateful for all the provisions they have made to facilitate a ‘program’ for us... they kept us very busy. 
As the Director of the International Sports Coalition for India, Paul is invited to speak all over the place -- nationally and internationally. In fact, we joined Paul soon after our arrival for one of his leadership classes at Maranatha Bible College where I facilitated a short introduction to recreation ministry to 1st year students.
They took us out to their newly-gifted, 11-acre property outside of Chennai where they plan to build an unique campus to facilitate sports ministry & to relocate their orphanage (from another village nearby). They have already built a pavilion on the land where they minister to widows once a month. Widows have a great plight in India as they are seen as a burden to families, so Paul & Grace’s organization (the Sangita Charitable Trust) provides food bags for the widows to give to their families. They had 185 widows attend the program on Wednesday where they shared the Gospel, and we helped to hand out food bags.
Afterwards, they took us to the Sangita Home in the village of Padapai where they house 65 orphans ages 2-5. I’m amazed by the servant hearts of the staff there whom live & work with these children… 24/7. (These women’s dedication put a shame to the 40-hour-a-week work ethic of Americans!) 
We stayed the night at Sangita home, played with the kids, taught the children a couple songs, led a fellowship time with the staff, and helped prepare the 5-year-olds for their first day of preschool, which was especially unique because it marked the opening of the Krupa Preshchool. We participated in a opening ceremony and met some incredible people.
Some other highlights of our time in Chennai include: leading talks at a soccer outreach as well as a prayer fellowship group for sports minitry, visiting the India Fellowship for the Visually Handicapped, learning what the International Justice Mission is doing in Chennai, worshipping with the Sports Ministry Fellowship, 
riding around the city on motorcycles with Reejan, Thomas, Sennai, & David, sharing dinner & hearing the testimony of our new sister Hepzibah, and fellowshipping & being encouraged by Anand & John. We met so many amazing people who are a part Paul Moses' community of sports ministry. Chennai was a full week, and now we're in Bangalore visiting with Manoj "Strong Man" Chopra & his family... That will be in the next post.
In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers as we work through the "storming period" of our mission year abroad -- the constant traveling, adjusting & adapting; the profound patience & gratitude we must always maintain; and the need for physical healing & strength. (I am still fighting some stomach pain and now a bit of a sinus cold.)
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