Dear friends,

It has been a glorious beautiful week, and I really thank God for blessing me.

Yesterday I brought my hammock to the home for the first time and put it up for the girls to play in. I hadn’t brought it before because there are usually so many girls, and I knew it would just create problems. Currently there are only 11 girls here so I figured it was the opportune moment, and they loved it! At first they were a little scared and didn’t trust it, but after I sat in it and swung for a few minutes Sarah akka got the guts up to try it out, and she couldn’t stop laughing, it was hilarious! One by one they started to try it out, and then they didn’t want to get out of it, and were fighting over whose turn it was. I kept the hammock up all evening and they took turns swinging, sitting, lying down and reading and rocking the whole evening. It was a really fun, relaxing, community oriented time, and I could really see God, it was glorious! Today when I went for breakfast all the girls asked if I would bring it back again this evening and I assured them that I would, they all got super excited. I’m very happy that my hammock that I love so much could be such a joy to my sisters as well.

My alarm went off at 5:15 this morning so that I could go walking with some of the older girls and Mary (one of the workers at the Home) to get some good excercise. We walked a mile or so to a hill (the same one I mentioned a few updates ago that we walked to in the evening) and caught the end of a beautiful sunrise. All over the hill people were doing yoga and meditating, it was very interesting to see, and I felt like I was in some crazy foreign land… then I realized that I am. We walked back, I took a “bath,” got ready for the day, had my morning devotions, and was drinking coffee by 7:30 am, which is about when I get up on most mornings. Getting up early and getting so much accomplished made me feel so productive, it was wonderful! I hope to do the same every morning until I leave for Kenya, because it’s really nice to start the morning off right, and I’ve finally figured out how!

I was journaling this afternoon and listening to some music on shuffle when a song came on that I had forgotten about, and my heart immediately leapt with joy! The song is “Hands Open” by Snow Patrol and it’s one of my favorites because whenever I go on drives (which is quite often when I’m in the U.S.) I always end up listening to Snow Patrol or Coldplay, so whenever I hear any of those songs my mind is flooded with great memories and with snapshots of God in my life. Hearing that song today was a little reminder from God that He is here with me and watching over me, and it made me very happy. It didn’t help that the next song that came on was “Hero” by Enrique Inglesias, either, cause that just made me laugh out loud, perfect timing God!

I was sitting eating breakfast with the staff from the villages that are currently here for a 20 day training the other day, talking to Rajurao ( a village pastor). He was asking if I had been busy lately cause he hadn’t seen me very often, I told him I wad doing work for Arun and had been very busy typing out documents and scanning and endless pile of photos. He said “Oh, you work hard! Do you ever work in your America?” When I told him that I had worked in a coffee shop and bookstore for almost four years, he was very surprised and asked why. So I explained that I have to save money for college and just living, but this confused him and he asked, “Why you have to work to get money for these thing, if you have so much money already?” When I informed him that I did not, in fact, have “so much money” and due to my upcoming college loans I will actually have virtually zero money, the look that I saw on his face was priceless! So I continued, “You think that everyone in America is rich right?” of course he said, “Yes.” So I explained that everyone in America is not rich, and in fact many people are struggling right now because of the economy. The amount of money we have may see like a lot to him, but the cost of living is so much more where we live, and so really we are not all that rich (I do of course realize that the things that we have and what we consider struggling is still very rich to them, but you get my point). He thought for a little bit and then said, “Lisby sister, why are you so much different than all the other people from your country?” I didn’t really know what to say so I asked him to explain. “Most people from your America come, but stand far away and watch us from a distance. They don’t like to eat our food or sit on the ground with us, but usually need chairs. They don’t really want to talk to us, and I have never see anyone try to learn our language. You sit on the floor with us, give us hugs, hold the girls hands, eat just like an India, talk like us, learn our songs, and you serve the food we eat. Why do you do these things? You don’t think that we are unclean and you don’t care that we are poor?” I of course let him know that I did not think they are unclean, do not care that they are poor, and see myself as completely equal to them, no questions asked. I want to learn how to do things their way and I want to learn who they are as people, just like I would want to in “my America.” I said that in the Bible it says that no matter what, everyone is equal (Galations 3:28) and your skin color or nationality has nothing to do with that. He agreed and said “Yes, yes, it is the heart that matters, we should look at heart, not color of skin.”

I do not tell you this story to try to convince you of the “good” that I am doing (because whatever I do or say I do not take credit for because it is God’s, not mine), but to give you hope. I have believed for some time now that relationships can break down cultural barriers and create peace between nations, now I believe that with no doubt. Rajarao had a steriotype of Americans before he met me, but now his opinion has been changed because of the friendship that has been created between us and the other people here. Knowing this gives me hope to not give into to what I hear all over the place that people’s opinions will never change and that there’s nothing I can do to change that. “All things are possible with God (Mark 10:27).” Amen?

Tomorrow my sister and brother in law’s case for the adoption goes to court in Ethiopia! Please be praying for the case to go through smoothly, and for my them to be prepared for whatever news comes their way (a pass, or not). If they don’t pass this time their case will be reevaluated and then go to court again, but that means that I wont be able to see them in Ethiopia and I wont be able to meet Zinabu (my nephew) in his orphanage and in his country. It’s okay if this happens and I’m trying not to look forward to the possibility of going to Ethiopia to see them, but if by some miracle it all worked out, I would be the happiest person on the planet! Whatever happens is in God’s hands and I have no doubt that it’s all part of the plan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t pray that His plan and my hopes are the same, right? : D. Please also be praying for my upcoming trip to Kenya on the 5th of May, and that my travels are safe and my time is refreshing and full of learning and immersing into yet another beautiful culture. I’m very excited for the opportunity God has given me.

Thank you for your prayers and love that is shown to me daily.

If you know me very well you understand (or at least are aware) that I love to hammock! Now when I say i love to hammock that doesn’t mean that I love to sit in hammocks (althought I do love that), what I mean is that I love to hang my hammock in random new places and take any chance I can get to hang it up (we’re talking buildings, trees, posts, mountains, boulders, ANYTHING)! It is actually a sport that Kyle Fish and I have made up (as far as we know), called “hammocking.” One of my goals in life is to take my hammock to as many countries in the world/cool places, hang it up and take pictures of it. Soon I will have a whole wall devoted to my picture of me in my hammock all over the world! 

Yesterday I finally got the guts to put my hammock up (it’s taken “guts” cause the monkeys come often and I’m scared they will want to join me), and I had a blast doing it! The fear of the monkey’s made it all that more exciting, and the bible college students loved it! My camera died before I could get pictures of them, but they got a few of me to go on my wall. It’s not in a very dangerous and exciting place, but it is in a beautiful area and it was very nice to sit and read and look at the palm trees above. I find it so easy to connect with God while hammocking cause I”m always surrounded by nature, and relaxed and happy. I often see a picture of Jesus walking up to me and haning His hammock next to mine and use jut “hanging out” and that brings me peace and happiness. I think tomorrow I’m going to try and climb the large tree outside the compound and hang it up there, a little more of a challenge, and a sweet picture! If i succeed I will post picture of that, no worries : D.

It’s pretty hard to catch me in my hammock without a smile on my face, it really is one of my favorite things!

In other news, I got attacked by a massive ant yesterday! I was sitting at the table writing an email when I felt a very painful pinching on my foot, when I looked down I saw a large (carpenter sized ) ant trying to eat my foot! I really do think it was trying to eat me cause it was bitting me so much that my foot was bleeding and I now have two very large wounds on my big toe. These ants have also murdered my gecko friend David and I’m starting to think I should be careful since they might try to kill me too! From now on will be referred to as carnivorous ants! Check out the wounds I have:

Friends, it has been an exciting and eventful week; let me tell you! I currently have a couple from Ohio staying here until the ninth, and we are holding a four day VBS starting tomorrow.  Their names are Rick and Karen, they are in their mid 50’s, they are very nice and full of energy, quite quirky and fun to be around. It’s been fun getting to know them and leading worship with them. I thank God that they are not as exhausting to be around and “take care of” as some of my former guests, and that they have heart for God and for India.

I’ve had two very traumatizing incidents involving animals and the cruelty done to them this week. The first was with frogs: now I normally am not all that excited about frogs, I have no problems with them but I don’t exactly love them. On Tuesday the girls caught some frogs and were playing with them; no big deal. They then tied a rope to the leg of the frogs and started swinging the frog this way and that! I was very disturbed and tried to explain that they were going to kill the frog if they weren’t careful, but they just smiled at me and nodded. They then started to hit the frog against a wall… over and over and over again! When the frog was barely alive (and in a lot of pain I’m sure) they swung it around their head multiple times and then let go! It flew over the wall and hit the road very hard; if that didn’t kill it, it at least injured it severely! I screamed and just stood there with my mouth wide open, so sad at what I just witnessed and all the girls just laughed at me! That just made me mad! I didn’t think I was all that into animals but this was just cruel, I don’t understand how they can sleep at night!

Incident number two had to do with a snake… John Uncle called Arun at about 10 am on Saturday saying that there was a large snake outside their house that needed to be taken care of. Arun and the male bible college students hopped on their motorcycles and went over to have a look. Turns out the snake was a cobra… and it was a BIG one (about a yard long). They broke its spine and then put it in a bag and brought it back to the Home to show everyone. They took it out of the bag and messed around for a little bit, using sticks, the cobra was still alive but couldn’t move (but it could still bite if you got some body part near it’s mouth). Arun then smashed it’s head a few times, and then decided it would be fun to pull its fangs out… yes it is still alive (again the snake must have been in so much pain, how cruel)! Then they played some more, hit it a few more times, placed it in another plastic bag and burned it alive, plastic bag and all! I really wish they would’ve just killed it outright and made it a little less painful, but whatever! What I’m really bummed about is that they wouldn’t let me skin it and eat it! I’ve always wanted to try snake, and Bear Grylls tells me it’s good, but Shobba didn’t think it was a good idea… maybe next time?

On Saturday afternoon Shobba insisted on dragging me along to the salon with her to get a facial and have my eyebrows done. I really didn’t want to go cause I’m in India and don’t care how I look (plus I don’t like spending money on luxuries I don’t need), but she really wanted to take me to go, so I went. I was expecting to get my eyebrows waxed and tweezed like we do in America, but I was wrong, I got them threaded! Yep that’s right they used thread to shape my eyebrows! I don’t really know how still but it was crazy cool, I really don’t know how it works so I can’t explain it, but you can find it on Google  and Youtube ( I would highly suggest looking it up, it’s crazy). I then got a facial, which included a back, neck, and chest massage, which I wasn’t expecting… little bit awkward, that’s all I have to say! The facial was nice and relaxing but I’m sure they put many creams and chemicals on my skin that aren’t natural and will not be good for it, but it’s over now. All in all my massage, facial, and eyebrows cost me $4, that’s pretty awesome!

Laxmi and Arpita, two of the older girls from the home, came back from their “mission” at another hostle (helping out and learning to be good workers) and are now working at the Home, instead of being children at the home. I met them for the first time on Saturday (right after the snake incident but before the salon) and it’s been fun connecting with them. They are both very funny, and they love the Lord a lot, I’m excited to continue to get to know them.

The Bible College had it’s last exams on Saturday and the students went back to their villages today, it was really hard to say goodbye. They all say they are coming back for the wedding on the 15^th, but once someone goes back to their village you never know if they are coming back (sometimes parents or other family members will force them to stay and work). I pray that I see them all again, and would love your prayers in this as well! I really love all the students and getting to know them has been fun. There are many great memories I have with them, and I want to create more!

Everyone is finished with their exams except for the 10^th grade girls, and they have their final exam tomorrow and then they are free! They have been studying hard for months, and I pray that their hard work pays off and they pass all their exams with good marks! They wont find out for another month or so, and I pray that they can relax and enjoy the break and not be too worried about their marks. Because summer has officially started almost all the girls are going home to their villages on the 10^th, and I’m very sad for this day! I wont see them again until I return from Kenya on the 5^th of June (that’s almost two whole months) and I don’t know how I’m going to live without them for that long! I think that it will be good to have a break, but I’ll miss them so much, and the home will be very quite and boaring without all the smiling faces, laughing children, and kids running this way and that, I’m sure it will feel very strange.

The next big thing on the agenda is the wedding on the 15^th, TEN DAYS!!!! Munjula and Balesh are getting married ( I think I’ve mentioned it before) and everyone is very excited! This will be my first Indian wedding, and I bought a sari and shoes special (I’ll be sure to post pictures soon, no worries). I’m very excited for the wedding, and think it’ll be very fun. Please pray that everything comes together, and that there aren’t any big problems (often times the bride and groom will be four or five hours late and everyone just waits for them to show up).

In other news, my nephew Aidan just lost his first tooth yesterday, YAY AIDAN! And plans are looking really good for Kenya, please continue to pray for my travels, and all the details to fall into place.

Thank you for your support and prayers, God is good! It’s a good week to be remembering what He did for us, and how amazing He is!  Happy Palm Sunday!

So there was a cobra found at uncle John’s house about a block from where I live… the men went to go get it and luckily brought it back for all of us to see. Here are some pictures of the girls freaking out! The cobra was probably about a yard long and not too comforting to know that there are tons of them around… pray for me : D

Before showing everyone they broke it’s spine so it’s couldn’t “run,” so it’ was slowly dieing while Arun was playing with it… he then tore out it’s fangs (while it was still alive) and smashed it’s head real good.. still alive… then he put it in a few plastic bags and burned it.. still alive! I was more traumatized by the horror of the cruelty to the snake then the actual fact that the snake was massive and roaming around near where i live… plus they burned the plastic bags, terrible really!

Many people have asked me to start posting my weekly email updates on the blog. I will post the last four or five emails and then continue to post them from now on. If you’d like to be added to my email list, give me a comment and I’d be happy to add you! Peace friends- Lisby

MARCH 19th

As many of you know before I decided to come to India for six months I was wrestling between going to Kenya (and possibly working with Jeff and Christine Stanfield) or India (working with Caring Hands) for the time I had set aside from school. I knew that God wanted me to take a year off and go out into the world, but I didn’t know exactly what that looked like, so I spent many months praying over the situation, asking for discernment. In the end I felt that God was calling me to India for this time, but that Kenya was in my future, I just needed to wait for the Lord to open up that door when the time was right.

About a month ago I found out that Arun and Shobba and their daughter Melissa are going to be in Australia for the month of May and don’t have a whole lot planned for me in that time. May is a full month off for all the staff in the office and all the girls from school. No one will be in the office during this time (meaning there will be no work for me) and most of the girls will go home for this month (meaning there will only be 15 or so girls at the home). Arun and Shobba were very concerned at what I was going to do with my time every day in the month of May, because there will be very little for me to do, and I will feel very useless and bored. So I started praying about what I should do, and waited to see what God opened up for me.

Before I left for India my sister Meghan and I were dreaming about the possibility of me hopping over to Ethiopia to see them when they go to pick up their new son sometime in (hopefully) April or May. But I left this idea behind because I didn’t want to stuff too much into my time away from home; I just wanted to let God work it all out.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to Meghan online and she was joking around and said “So, you coming to Ethiopia in May to see us?” I wanted more than anything to write, “Yes! I’ll see you in May!” but instead I wrote, “Ha ha I wish!” So then Meghan and I talked about it for a while and then we looked up tickets and started looking at my timeline. The major problem we had with this plan was that we didn’t know exactly when they would be traveling (because they have to wait to pass their court date), so I wouldn’t be able to book my tickets until right before they left and that could get very spendy. Meghan suggested I talk to the Stanfield’s about staying with them in Kenya (which is right below Ethiopia) and then hopping up to Ethiopia IF they end up traveling in May. So I started talking to the Stanfield’s and it turns out that May is a great month for them to have visitors and they really want me to come and see their work (for possibly joining them in the future and to visit with them). It turns out that tickets from India to Kenya are only about $500 and tickets from India to Ethiopia are about $800 at the cheapest (God?)! I also realized that May would be the perfect month to travel because there would be no work for me to do and it would be at my 2/3^rds mark so this would be a good break for me and give me room to process what I am going through. Plus I’m half way around the world already, why not hop over to the continent that I really feel called to and have wanted to go to for most of my life? I’ve asked a lot of people to be praying for me and help me discern this decision and have been doing a lot of discerning myself and really feel like this is what I need to do. Everything is falling right into place, and God is opening up so many doors. This trip that I’ve been dreaming of taking ever since I heard the Stanfield’s (crazy enough) speak in my 3^rd grade Sunday school class about Kenya and Africa is actually going to happen, but in the most unexpected, unplanned way ever! I’ve worked it out so that it’ll cost me less than $1000 for the whole trip, when it would cost me about $3000 just for the plane tickets if I was coming from the U.S.A.

Fly to Kenya on May 5^th and stay with the Stanfield’s until June 6^th. If Meghan and Stefan end up traveling at any time in May I will fly up to Ethiopia and spend a week or so with them and then fly back to Kenya for the remainder of my time (unless they travel at the end of May).  I will return on the 5^th of June and have a few days before the girls go back to school to be with them, have a few days before the Bible College starts up again, and have a few days before my Daddy and the rest of the team from NFC comes for the closing of my time here in India.

MARCH 14th

This week started out very very tough! I felt very much alone and depressed and I had no motivation. I felt like my work was meaningless and pointless. I felt unimportant and insignificant, I felt useless and I felt like I was a burden to everyone. I felt unloved, and uncared for. And then I forgot how to feel and was numb to everything. I just wanted to sit on my bed all day and stare at the blank wall… this depression was TERRIBLE and definitely an attack from the devil. 

I love you very much, thank you for your prayers!

MARCH 10th

Most of you know that I am a very social person; I always surround myself by lots of people and I am always involved in many activities to occupy my time and keep me busy. I do this because it seems that the more I do and the more I am with people, the more energy I have and the more fun memories I get to share. This is the way I work, and this is the way I’ve done it for years. This last year, however, has been all about God teaching me to slow down, enjoy the moment, take rest, rejuvenate, and take time for myself, and for just “me and God time.” I LOVE community and love spending time with God in community, but God has taught me that I’m a pro at doing that and now need to work on ourtime together, alone, intimately, personally, heart to heart.

My time in India so far has made this even more clear to me, and God is teaching me everyday to stop and listen to Him, to talk to Him, and to just be with Him. At first I sensed that I needed to do this but I didn’t know how to. I sensed that I needed to read the word more, but I didn’t know where to start. It was suggested to me by a good friend to start in Acts, cause this had been a very powerful and meaningful book for him and seemed no matter how often he had read it, it still held truth to that moment in his life and still surprised him. I decided to take his advice and read Acts, and LOVED it! I was hesitant at first, because I’ve read Acts probably twenty times before, but for some reason this time the book came alive, and I got really excited about reading it. I found I couldn’t put it down, and I wanted to study every word…. Yes I am talking about the Bible, who knew it was so cool? After I finished Acts I went on to Romans (which I’m not half way through) and started Genesis as well, I want to read the Bible over and over and over again and I want to know it and understand it and study it and never stop finding truth in it! I’m excited about what I’ll find in every passage and feel that I come to understand God more and more the more I read. At the same time questions come up that I never thought twice about before and I struggle with them, but if I keep reading and keep struggling it seems that the questions unfold and turn into truth and make sense to me, I love this! Because the reading is usually very powerful and deep it stirs something up inside of me and I can’t help but spend time processing it with God and going through what I’ve studied and what I’m finding within that study. So this is one way that God has forced me (in a good way) to spend more time with Him and to spend time away from people, and I couldn’t be more excited about this.

Vicky and I traveled up to Mumbai Saturday night, stayed at the airport for about ten hours while processing her time in India and kinda creating closure to our time together. I then caught a bus back home to Dharwad (don’t worry Momma I was safe and didn’t talk to strangers and made smart choices and always surrounded myself with lots of people), and she waited another four hours to board a plane to the U.S. I got home this morning around 8 am, took a LONG “shower (almost 10 whole minutes!),” made some breakfast, and spent some time alone with God, reflecting and asking questions. I have to be honest; I’ve been very nervous about Vicky leaving and really have no clue how I’m going to get through it. For the first time in my life I’m going to be really alone, and that is SCARY! I will come home alone, sleep in a three room apartment alone, make meals alone, clean house alone, be scared of the monkey’s alone, and all my free time I will be alone. I wonder sometimes if God remembered that I’m Lisby Rogers and I am not an alone type of person… But God is showing me that this is all part of the plan (like He always seems to reveal AFTER I worry and worry and worry) and that it’s going to be okay and I’m going to learn a lot! You see now that I am alone who am I going to talk to except God? Really there isn’t anyone to distract me (not that Vicky did), or take up my free time with discussion, so I have to spend even more time with God… isn’t that beautiful? God took one of the most social people alive and knew that she needed to take time to herself, so He forced her to be alone and learn to take time for Him and spend every moment with Him, how cool! Although I am still a little scared of being alone for so long, I KNOW that it is going to be amazing! I know it’s going to be challenging, and I know I will learn a whole lot, so I am also very excited.

I must say that I am sad that Vicky isn’t able to stay for as long as I am because our friendship has grown so much in this time we shared together and God has really changed the both of us for good. Vicky was great with the girls and able to connect with many of them in ways that I will never be able to. She loved them with all her heart and just as they touched her, she touched them. Vicky was challenged by God and she hurtled over the obstacles that were placed in front of her, she trusted Him, and loved Him with all her heart. I have seen Vicky change so much, and I have seen her follow God’s leading in this time, I am proud to know her, and to call her one of my best friend. Our friendship means the world to me, and some of the memories we share will never stop making me laugh when I think of them (head bobble, Betty, market). If any of you get a chance you should talk to Vicky about India and help her to transition back into the U.S. way of living. I pray that she will not forget what she has learned here and that she will teach all who come in contact with her. I pray that God continues to transform her and work in her and I know that He will. Please join me in praying for her, because even if her time in India is over, her heart will not leave for a long time, and her journey is not over.

I ask for prayer for me as well. I pray that I will be able to connect with some of the girls that really connected with Vicky and show them that I love them too. I pray that I can manage my time wisely with each girl and show them all that I love them the same and they are equal to each other and to me (this is one of my biggest struggles). I pray that I can have energy to do this, and to get through everyday with a smile (not just on my face but in my heart and soul as well). I pray that I can complete the tasks that are given to me with all my ability (no matter how small or large), and that I can have a positive attitude always. I pray that I can continue to learn and grow from God and really use this time of solitude to the best of my ability. I pray that I can listen to what God has to tell me and be quick to act on that. I pray that my health continue to keep up with my activity, and that I can be smart in every decision that I make. And, finally, I pray for all of you back home, that you would be challenged daily, and be growing and learning from these challenges. I pray that you are very much on fire for Christ, and alive and present in everything that you do.

Thank you for blessing me friends, I will never stop praising God for your support!

MARCH 1st

FEBRUARY 19th

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

As I sit on my bed drinking Sleepy Time tea out of my favorite mug from Saturday Market with my favorite blanky draped over my lap, I can’t help but think about home. I think about dinner time with my beautiful family, early morning coffee dates at chapters, walking through the town with good friends, going hiking on a rainy day, driving to the beach on a sunny day, sitting on the couch playing with my niece and nephew, Sundays at Newberg Friends Church, etc. All these memories float back to me, and my heart aches for home. My heart aches for something familiar and comforting…

This week has been very difficult and I have struggled with staying focused on the things here and not what I’m missing back home, please pray for me. Although I consider this place my second home, right now I’m missing my first home. There is no doubt in my mind that I am supposed to be here and there is no temptation to go home early, but there is a longing to be home or for everyone to be here with me. I have made great friends here in India and I enjoy talking to them everyday, but I miss the friends that know everything about me, that speak English as their first language, that understand my humor, and that I share many memories with. Right now I would LOVE for everyone to come to India and experience all of this with me, apart from that just being a lot of fun, it would make things a whole lot easier! So if you could just get your tickets and fly on over that’d be great, thanks!

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” –James 1:2

Being away from home for six months is very very hard for me, and is one of the many things that God is challenging me with while I’m here. I am growing in my faith everyday, and constantly learning from God, I praise Him for this! I know that because things are difficult I am relying on Him fully and understanding the relationship that we have to a different degree. I know that I will not be the same person when I get home (I’ve already changed so much) and I’m excited for this. Although this is not easy, and not always fun, I praise the Lord because it is right!

I’m currently studying the Psalms and the book of Acts and getting so much out of it! I’ve discovered that I have apassion for reading God’s word, and it is amazing! When I read the Bible I get excited and don’t want to stop; I want to do research and understand the reading, the background, the situation, where the writer is coming from, I want to study so I know more about God. There’s a quote in the office here that says: “We must know His word so that we may better know His way.” I’m not sure who said this but I like it and agree. The word of God always holds truth and always surprises me, and I’m thankful for that!

Things at the Home are going great! We are finding that going to the Home for breakfast, instead of eating it alone in our apartment, is a great way to start the day! We get to see the girls off to school, we are forced to be up by 8am, we eat a good breakfast, and we get some exercise, what more could you ask for? I’m now teaching the student at the Bible College English as well as how to use a computer on top of guitar classes. I’ve officially decided that teaching is not my strong point, but one on one lessons are where I thrive. So I’ve set up all my classes where everyone works on one thing and I go around and help each person with what they are struggling with individually. This way everyone stays at the same level and no one is left behind. Teaching wears me out, and I pray for energy and enthusiasm everyday, please join me in this prayer, I need it! I’ve definitely learned to be thankful for the little things that I am blessed with, like how to type on a computer, how to drive a car or ride a bike, how to use the internet, etc. These are things I never thought twice about until I was asked to teach full-grown men and women how to do some of these things.

God is good, and I am learning SO much! Thank you for your support and prayers, I hope that you are being challenged by God as well, and growing closer to Him by the second. You are His precious child and there’s nothing you can do to make Him love you less… nothing!

The summer before my 8th grade year I attended OASC’s Leadership Camp. I don’t remember much from that week, but I do remember playing the “game” High Card Low Card. Each student was given one card from a deck and was told to hold on to it. I got a 3. 

Then they split us into two groups. Kings, Queens, Jacks, Aces, and Tens formed one group. 2’s-9’s formed the other. As the groups got situated I watched the other group lounge around, soak up the sun, the staff members talked to them, they ate candy and popsicles, and were basically just hanging out. 

My group however was in a straight line, demanded to look only at the back of the person’s head in front of us, we weren’t aloud to talk, laugh, smile, or even breathe too loud. We went on a hike, getting yelled at by staff members for ridiculous things. We had consequences should we break any of these rules.

I remember thinking “What is going on? Why on earth are we having to do this? Why don’t they have to do this? What are they thinking? Are we in trouble for something?” 

The game concluded when we entered the dining hall, thirty minutes after the other group did. We were told to take their plates and clear them. We did. But as I looked at my friends who were in the “high group” as I took their plates there was this look and motion of, I want to help but there is nothing I can do.

Some friends from the other group said things like “Well I am glad I got a high card.” “I wish I could’ve traded you.” “I am sorry that you got a low card.” 

The game was meant to create awareness of how people are treated in other places in the world AND locally. 

I am constantly reminded of that game while in India. 

No matter how much I want to be on the same level as these girls,
no matter how much I want them to know that I love them for who they are not where they are, 
no matter how much I want them to know that I don’t think I am better than them, no matter how much I want them to let me serve them, 
no matter how much I want to express to them that we are equal.

They will NOT understand it. 

I am white and I am from the United States. I hold the high card.
They are in India. They live in a hostel. They hold the low card.

I want to eat the same food as them. But: “I am the guest.” 
I want to eat on the metal plates they do. But: “I am the guest.” 
I want to wash their cups or plates. But: “It’s their duty.” 
I want to do my own laundry. But: “I am the guest.” 

I don’t WANT to be a guest

I simply can not explain HOW MUCH I want to throw the cards out the window, to be Christ-like in humility. The cards mean ABSOLUTELY nothing to me. But they mean something to the girls.

“We dare not relate directly to one another. We must allow Christ to be our intermediary. The bridge between us as we relate to one another through Him” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Life Together)

I don’t want it to be me and them. 
I want it to be we and us. 

Differences between one another are inevitable but I want to be able to say yeah we are different but neither one is better than the other. 

I want to be able to serve these girls as they have served me, and as Christ first served us. 

I want these girls to know their self-worth, I want these girls to see that they are beautiful precious children of God and can and will do amazing things if they let God live through them.

-Vicky

One of my favorite things is when the power goes out in the evening and prayer time is outside on the steps by moonlight. No one has arranged seats and everyone is really close, our voices are combined and float up to the heavens for our Lord to look down on us and smile. Tonight that happened, and it was wonderful! Tonight I had a rrevelation, but instead of seeing things from my point of view I saw them from God’s… kinda.

I was sitting on the steps with girls all around me. Mamta was next to me with my arm draped over her knees, Nagi was holding my hand against her face and leaning against the side of my knee, Rhema was in front of me leaning against both my knees, Lata was next to me holding my other hand, and Mary and Savitri were behind me rubbing my neck and back comforting me. As I looked around me  I saw my body being stretched between 6 people and knew that they were feeling my love being poured out to them individually. I was thinking about the fact there is NO WAY that I could pick one over the other and that I love them all with the same amount of passion, but for different reasons. I realized that this has got to be a little bit like how God loves us: not one over the other, but still each with all the love that anyone could give (keep in mind that I am human and God is … well God so His love is on a much greater scale than mine). And as I was thinking this, I was looking around at the girls that I love SO much and feeling them  love me back, and that felt SO good! Again I thought that that must be the way God feels: He loves us with all that He has no matter what we do, but when we love Him back and hold his hand and lean against His knees He smiles down at us and feels the love back and He is pleased! 

I don’t know if that made any sense to anyone but myself, all I know is that God loves me a whole lot and I don’t deserve ANY of it! God loves me the same no matter what I do, but when I love Him back He gets excited and is well pleased. When I talk to God about the struggles that I have He listens and cares, and helps me to get through them, and He is well pleased. When I shout out to Him because I am angry or confused, He listens and smiles because He loves us, and He is well pleased. When I work hard for Him, and then tell Him how it affected my life and how I am processing that, He smiles at us, and is well pleased. My Apa loves me with the same passion and the same love no matter what I do, but when I interact with Him and make Him a part of my life, He is well pleased!

So friends please the Lord, and feel His smile! Weather you are lower than you’ve ever been or flying higher than a kite, tell Him about it and listen to Him. Shout to Him and pray to Him. Laugh with Him and cry with Him. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you do it with Him and recognize that He is in control and He cares, because He DOES! 

Being in India has taught me many things, and I pray that I continue to learn throughout my time here. One thing I’ve realized as I’ve seen the majority of the population serve false Gods that DEMAND DEMAND DEMAND and have NO GRACE and NO LOVE and NO REDEMPTION, is that I serve the one and only God, the Alpha and Omega, the great I AM. I serve the God of wonders, the God of heaven and earth, the God who created us and loves us. I serve the BEST most wonderful God that there is and I am SO happy about that. God is good and God is present in our lives! HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT?!??!?!?! 

“Praise the Lord! Stotra Strotra Stotra Amen!”

First I would like to say I am anti-blog.
I thoroughly enjoy reading other people’s blogs, but I however do not see the point in writing them. I would much rather have a conversation.  Where I can cater my thoughts and experiences specifically for the person I am talking to…. I don’t like the idea of blogs. They are to general. “Just say what’s on your mind, or an experience, or something.”  BUT there are so many experiences, there are so many experiences and thoughts that I am undergoing right now, there is NO WHERE to begin. 

I wrote a blog about the demon possession.
Then because technology hates me, it got deleted.
Then I wrote it again. 
The power went out and no more blog.
So third times a charm right? 
But because I hate the way I write and the mere fact it wasn’t ‘me’.
I deleted it.

There is spiritual warfare going on here in India, which I am sure you have heard about already. I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t know how to react. I don’t know if I should believe it or not. I don’t understand it.  I don’t like it.

BUT.. God is so evident and present here. It is incredible how much He has taught me through His word. It is wonderful to receive God’s love and grace. It is amazing for me to experience the love of 70 little sisters that will forever remain dear to my heart. Words simply can not describe how God is changing my soul and healing my heart through these girls. Although we can’t communicate perfectly. I understand them, and they understand me. We connect on more levels I think then most of my friends in Newberg. It is so great to show them pictures of friends from home. Followed by question after question, then sometimes, the girls will say “this is ______, my new sister/brother. I will pray for them everyday and they will have a new tenghi (little sister) all the way in India.” To see these girls I have fallen in love with, fall in love with my friends at home through a simple picture and story makes me so happy.

I have never prayed this hard or this much in my entire life. I have never drawn this close to God in the midst of all of this suffering. I have never seen so much crap and yet still have so much hope, love, peace, and joy. Thank you Jesus! 

That is it for now, and maybe until I get back. We will see.