Hey Hey everyone. It’s been a little while, but things here are awesome. A lot of exciting things have happened. We went to three different cities; Dharamapuri, Kotagiri, and Udumalpet. When we got to Dharamapuri we worked at CDC and taught the kids some Bible stories. We went to a leper community, and to a families house who had HIV positive. These were really hard for me, but atH the families house I got the chance to pray and God definitely gave me the words. After I prayed the man of the house grabbed my hands and gave me the biggest smile. It was great to have this opportunity to pray for them. We stayed in a hotel and had amazing food. On our drive up to Kotagiri we all were wide-awake. It was such a beautiful drive. It was actually pretty chilly there too, which was a nice change. We were able to meet the Ketcham’s, a missionary family in Ooty. They were so sweet, and made us an American meal, it was delicious. We left Kotagiri and went to Udumalpet. We got to paint the Nazarene Church, and might I add we picked the color and it looks reaaal good. We went to a Crocodile farm, and on the way back we came up to the scene of an accident. It looked pretty serious, considering there were about 6 cars stopped, helping. We stopped our car and Kingsley and Courtney (our nurse) jumped out to check it out. The man had been drinking and had swerved off the road. He was okay but he had a big cut in his lip and was having trouble breathing. A few people called the ambulance and we left after that, seeing as how there were six other cars of people there to help him. The thing that I thought was really cool was how many people were stopped taking care of this man. The unity of this country is unreal. They will protect each other no matter what. Thank goodness he was okay. We have met so many friends and it keeps getting harder to leave them. We left Udumalpet and our friend Daniel, the grandson to the owner of our hotel, was emotional which made us even more sad. We arrived in Musiri about a day ago and it is so good to be back. We saw the kids and they ran to us and hugged us. They were so happy to see us. Just the thought of leaving makes me really sad. We leave for Erode for four days then we’ll be back to Musiri for about two weeks. God is continuing to show me new things everyday. I am in love with India.

These past few days have been wonderful. Kingsley took us to an Island called, Rameshwaram, it was beautiful; we swam in the Indian Ocean. We went there for one night and did some sight seeing. We saw one of the biggest Hindu temples. There are people all around the world that travel to come see it. At the little island we went to, there were people dunking themselves in a very weird way. I asked Kings what they were doing and he told us that in order for their sins to be washed clean, they had to come to this spot and dunk themselves 33 times. Crazy.
Some of the teammates got carsick on the way and they didn’t feel very good for most of the trip. But they are all back to good health. We are back in Musiri for a few more days, and then we leave on Monday to start our travels. Manoj leaves tomorrow, he is our new friend, he is studying to be a pastor, he has such an amazing heart, and he’s hilarious. We are sad he is leaving, but he has to go back to school. We are going to a service Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night. Each night one of the teammates is preaching. Monday were traveling by train to our next destination.
Courtney and I were looking at the pictures of the kids we’ve taken so far and we already started to get emotional. They are so stinkin cute! This picture is one that I’m stuck on. She is so beautiful her name is Sharmilla, she’s Hindu, and her hair was sacrificed to the Gods.
We are so blessed to be here. I’m so excited for the weeks to come here in India. Thank you for your prayers.

WERE HERE!!!

Wow. We are finally here. India is absolutely beautiful. This week so much has already happened. When we first arrived here it was 11p.m. India time and we had to drive 7 hours to get to Musiri, (the first place we are staying.) We had two separate cars to ride in on our way. Courtney and I were in one with Kingsley and a taxi driver, and the other girls, Monica, Rachel, and Kirsta were with another pastor in the area and a taxi driver. Lets just say driving is very different here. Swerving in and out of traffic and honking at every car driving by is a regular occurrence. It was something new for us, but the drive was amazing. India is beautiful. On our way there were so many tiny villages. We were so fascinated that we stayed awake the whole drive. We were introduced to our first toilet or lack thereof, and our new favorite, chai tea on the drive.
Once we arrived we had breakfast and then shortly after we rested. At four p.m. we met the children in the CDC (child development center.) This is sort of an after-school program. I have already fallen in love with the children. They run up to us, touch us, and try to speak the little English they can. We each were assigned to different grades. The next day we told a bible story, sang a song, and taught the children a bible verse. Today we had a prayer time from 10-12. We learned a song in Tamil and we sang it with the youth. There is no better sound then Indians singing a worship song. Tonight we are going to be with the kids and we are teaching them another story from the Bible and games. I love it here, and am so thankful god has given me such an amazing opportunity. The Children are so beautiful and their smiles are like nothing I have seen. The food here is AMAZING. I’m not kidding, every thing we eat has been so good. Every time they offer me tea I can’t say no it is so so good. I thought Starbucks was good, this is the best there is.
In the next few days we are going to have a picnic with the youth of the Nazarene church here in Musiri, and I will be giving a short devotion/sermon. I’m a little nervous but I know that God will speak through me. Sunday as a team we are singing worship songs, two in English, and the one we learned in Tamil. Monday we are shopping for Saris! I’m so excited. We will be here until the 13th then we will begin traveling. Thank you for your prayers! Love you all!