Letters

Where to start, where to start?...The beginning....I....was....born....Hahaha! Fast forward 22 years, 1 month, and 3 days and I'm in India and today is my Dad's birthday, and tomorrow is Father's Day. It's the first time in my life that I will have not been with my Dad and family for these two occasions. So I can think of no better way to start this blog than to give a shout out to my Daddy! Dad, thank you so much for being a great father and leader in my life. Your faithfulness to Mom and our family, as well as your job and our church is a challenge and inspiration to live up to. Thank you so much for all of the love, energy, goofiness, and craziness that you have poured into our family. Love you!

Now...the moment you have all been waiting for...I bought a skirt. But it's not feminine. All of the India men where what are called  a "loongi" which is like their version of a bathrobe. Its actually very comfortable and quite breathable which is a bonus due to the intense heat. It has multiple uses: skirt, loin cloth, portable changing room, blanket, and it allows you to go to the bathroom in public in an emergency. Don't worry, I haven't done the last one...yet.

Tugs and I stay at a separate apartment from the rest of the team. When we are brought back and forth to the Asir's house we are, more often than not, brought one by one via motorcycle...with no helmets. At first Tugs and I had a very hard time remembering the route between the two locations.  This is largely because several different people would take us back and forth, and every person had a different way of getting there. Very, very confusing. But finally we figured out the quickest route. In the past several days, some Indian missionaries have been attending a training program and they have been taking us on the motorcycle. Twice the man taking us got lost and I had to give him the proper directions to get us to the correct location. Quite an experience.

At this training, Auntie (Mrs. Asir) was giving a lesson on devotions. She was giving the example of receiving a letter in the mail from a sweetheart. When you receive a letter from them, you read it, you keep it with you, you think about the words, you take it out several times and read it over and over again, you meditate on the words.  Even though you may have the letter memorized you keep re-reading it because of how precious it is to you to hear from your sweetheart. You do this until the next letter comes and then you repeat the process. Those letters are precious to you. Well I can't say I've ever received a letter from a sweetheart (I did receive a postcard from my Dad from the Great Smokey Mountains. A lush green forest and a cool bubbling, babbling brook. Made me miss home). I have had letters of encouragement from friends, family, and loved ones that I have read over and over again.

Auntie told us, this is how we must view God's Word. It's his love letter to us. Just as we cherish the letters we receive from loved ones we need to cherish His Word and get excited about being able to read it, have it, dwell on it, memorize it, and share it.  His love letter brings life! I have always known that the Bible is the Word of God and there is nothing more important than having His Words in our lives. I've probably even heard that The Bible is a love letter before, but for some reason this time it really sunk in. I would read my Bible everyday, but I can't say there was a time when I would ache for it as someone would ache to have a letter from their sweetheart.

That's just a little bit of what I've been learning. I won't be in contact for the next several weeks. Our team will be doing ministry in the slums until July 4th, and it is very doubtful we will have internet access there. Until then!

Hot, Hotter, Hottest

Time to update with another report on this wild adventure I'm having.  When our team was getting on our last connecting flight to Chennai we met a man that said he was from Chennai as well as a Catholic priest.  He was a very nice old man and he asked us, "Why in the world would you want to visit India now? It's the hottest time of the year. There are only 3 climates in India: hot, hotter, and hottest."

We found this very much to be true.  As soon as we left the airconditioned portion of the Chennai airport it was as if we all ran into a wall of heat. Man oh man was it hot. If you have been following my posts on facebook you will have seen that this past week the temperature has been that of 107, 109, and 108 degrees Farenheit. Some have told us that this isn't even the hottest it can get. We've been told by Sam Asir that it can get up to 120 degrees Farenheit. He said it is so hot then that the road begins to melt...wait...WHAT?? The road begins to MELT??  I pray and pray that it doesn't get that hot because I am struggling as it is right now to stay hydrated. 

Probably my spoiled American side coming out when I start complaining about not having any cold water to drink. Never know how much you appreciate something until you have to live a good bit of time without it.  Nothing I would enjoy more than to totally immerse myself in a pool, lake, or river filled with cold water.

In other news, I was able to make it almost 2 full weeks without getting stomach sick.  Turns out my time has come and I've been spending a great deal of my with stomach pains...and I'll spare you the rest.  Besides that, all is well and hopefully I will return to full strength soon.

My Name is Poui

We arrived in India roughly 9 days ago. When we got here, man oh man was it hot! Spent a day in Chennai then hopped on a train for a 9 hour ride south to Madurai. Spent the night on the train and it was a rough ride but definitely better than sitting in a cramped airplane seat.

After arriving in Madurai, we drove 2 hours up into the mountains for a youth camp. That night it actually got really cold. Cold?? In India?? All people could tell me before I left was how hot it was going to be. I haven't gotten any kind of sickness in my stomack which I am very thankful for. Howeve, instead of getting stomach sick I've had a runny nose and cold like symptoms since I landed.  Maybe I'm having allergies. Could I be allergic to India? Who knows?

Anyways getting back to the title. Working for the organization we are with is a man named Jesuraj. Even though he doesn't speak a whole lot of English we get along great and he has given me the name "Poui," which means lie.  This started when he said, "Look! Elephant!" I turned around and he said, "Aha! Poui!" And I've been Poui since then.

Another fun story is that one night I was laying in my bed in this hostel where we were having a conference. The lights are out in the room and I'm laying on my bed and all of the sudden there is a bright light shinning in my face.  It was Tugs with his flashlight. He said, "There is a rat in the bathroom." Getting up to investigate I could hear the rat in the bathroom that was right next to our room. Enlisting the help of Sam, a 13 year old Indian boy, and some teenage girls we went into the bathroom to search. I thought it would be funny to give everyone a scare so I yelled like I saw the rat and all of the girls screamed, found out I was kidding and immediately began to slap me. Hahaha! It was worth it!

After leaving the mountains we got back down to where it is hot. So hot that you sweat while sitting.  Still adjusting and there are plenty more fun stories to tell that I do not have time for right now. But hopefully I will soon.  Till you hear from me again!

Taking Inventory

Its the night before I leave on an adventure that will change my life.  I have no doubt about this mostly because of how many people have told me this over and over again.  I do not say this to make fun or criticize, but how much change are we talking about here?  What if I come back from my trip and people say, "Oh...well you didn't change as much as I thought you would have."  Today is also my birthday, so today has a little more meaning to the phrase, "the beginning of the rest of your life."

Seems like there is a lot of pressure and expectations for me on this trip and how things will be different when I come back.

Silly me, I haven't even told you where I am going.  Starting tomorrow, May 13th, I will begin my adventure set out for Chennai, India to spend 2 and a half months there, returning on August 1st.  My time there will be spent in an internship with 3 other team members from Bryan College, where I also attend.  The team members are Tugs (Tommy), Claire, and Jasmine.

When I tell people about my trip to India, the big kicker that always gets the big surprised face is when I tell them that I will only be taking one backpack with me.  In this backpack I will have: 3 pairs of pants, 6 shirts, 5 pairs of underwear, 1 rain jacket, toothbrush, toothpaste, 2 rolls of toilet paper, and several other miscellaneous items.  All of these things in 1 backpack for 2 and half months.

Its all really crazy and I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it.  I'm really nervous and I wish I could just already be there without having to wait and go through all the painful waiting and traveling.  But that is part of the journey I suppose.

To close I will quote my friend Tugs as he also wished me a happy birthday.  He simply said, "India beckons."  India is beckoning and when I come back I'll be changed one way or the other.  With all this being said: Lets get this adventure started!!