Thursday, January 27, 2011

Festivals, Food, and Frocks :)

I have the great joy of picking up where Bethany left off in the last post and catching y’all (the part of me that lived in Texas is coming out) up on what else has been happening this week. I’m going to start with Monday night…

After we came back from the village and had a chance to rest and get cleaned up, Pastor David took us to visit a couple who have been friends of the family for years. Both husband and wife were college professors before they retired, and they have been faithfully serving the Lord for their whole lives. They served us sweets and coffee, and Bethany and I both suffered through a whole cup of coffee, just to be polite (Bethany actually drank two!). This may not sound like much suffering, but both of us really dislike coffee so it was quite a sacrifice :) Though our taste buds did not really appreciate the coffee, our spirits fully enjoyed to wonderful fellowship with these two older believers. We had great conversation about the Lord and both learned new things. It was wonderful!

Tuesday we did not have any programs scheduled because none of the youth were available to come and sing with us. (All our friends here take their studies very seriously and they are nearing the end of their term, so they have a lot of work to do.) Instead, it was a day of getting things done. In the morning we cleaned and met the engineer for the missions center which HBA is currently constructing. (There is a post devoted to this project coming as soon as we finish it… wait with great expectation J) After lunch, I (Chelsea) went with Pastor David to a small shop and “Reliance Super” (a large store similar to a Super Walmart) and we bought things needed for both households. It was really very exciting because we rode on the motorcycle… something I have decided I really like doing! (FYI: it’s not as scary as you might think, or as I thought at first. Indians are actually very courteous drivers, even though it might not seem like it to those of us used to driving in the States.)

When we came home, David helped Bethany and me set up our stove… something we hadn’t been able to do before because the gas hadn’t arrived yet. It was quite a bit of work to get the hose connecting the stove top to the gas cylinder (very similar to a propane tank for an outside BBQ) on, but we finally succeeded with the help of God and our strong muscles J (though Bethany did get a blister from it). Once the gas was attached to the range, they taught us how to light the stove and how to make Indian style tea. We have been insisting since we arrived that we know how to cook, but after witnessing our (well, my) first attempt at tea making they seem a little suspicious. I have managed to turn out two fairly decent meals so far, but whenever I convince one of our friends to try any of my cooking they say it has “no flavor” – meaning I didn’t put any of the spices they are accustomed to in it. In making tea, the score is 2 out of 3, I’ve had two successes out of three attempts (Pastor David said this morning’s tea was a great improvement), not bad for someone who’s just learning. Check out our journal for tea-making instructions and videos! (http://withhiminindia-journalsstories.blogspot.com)


(Chelsea's "flavorless" soup that we so greatly enjoyed; David and Bulah, not so much)

Tuesday evening, Pastor David and I went out again, this time to pick us the clothes that Bethany and I purchased last week from the seamstress. We stayed up way too late trying on our new Indian outfits and taking pictures of ourselves. (We have no full length mirror so this is the only way we can see what we look like.) We’re such girls! :)


(Two of our outfits)

Yesterday (Wednesday), was Republic Day, the 62nd celebration of India becoming its own nation, separate from the British Empire. In honor of the day we attended a parade/cultural festival at the Police Parade Grounds, which is very near our home. It was quite the experience. There were “floats” (large banners draped over semis) detailing different government projects, forestry/conservation, education, and medical care among them. There was also a demonstration of police dogs who have been trained to stop thieves, performances by different schools which dramatized different aspects of Indian history and culture through song, dance, and acting, and the presentation of awards for outstanding service in the last year. Our favorite part was the school’s performances; everyone else’s favorite part was us. At one point, it felt like there were two hundred children gathered around us (more like 25), shaking our hands, dropping flowers in our laps, and telling us their names. It was really quite overwhelming and completely wonderful. We were also informed by our friends last night that we made the afternoon news on TV and this morning Pastor David showed us our picture in several newspapers. Apparently, everyone greatly enjoyed the fact that we have come to India to “study their culture.”

Yesterday evening was the mid-week gathering of believers in the homes of different church members. This week it was at a home which was completed just before we arrived, and they happen to be our, neighbors so it was very easy to get there. Bethany shared out of Joshua 24:14-15, where Joshua is reminding the people of what the Lord had done and challenging them “Choose for yourselves this day who you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” She challenged all present to make a commitment (not casually on the spur of the moment, but in quiet and thought when they reached their homes) that they and their families would serve the Lord, no matter what their neighbors may do. It is good for us all to evaluate whether we are serving the Lord and to make sure that our motivations lay in glorifying Him.

On that note, I will say “Good night,” or “Good morning” to all of you since you are just waking up. Much love and prayer is floating your way from India and we can feel the same coming back toward us.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

To "the ends of the earth"


o/’ o/’   “How great is our God; sing with me: How great is our God. And all will see how great, how great is our God.”  o/’ o/’  <-- (those are music notes—eighth notes, to be exact :)

Oh, how true those words are! Can I just say, the words to so many songs have all of the sudden become much more meaningful to Chelsea and I; and when we sing them, our worship is full of so much more understanding and appreciation of who our God really is. I think all of you need to come on some life/culture shaking adventure that forces you to consider the truths of God in a brutally honest light. We are experiencing just a little of that and I say with firm conviction that it does the spirit good. I am more confident in my God every day; knowing that this is no misplaced trust.

What has happened this week? I feel that I could fill a month’s worth of reading in all the descriptions of what we’ve seen, experienced (which, as you should know, is often different than what is actually seen), and been instructed by people and the Spirit of God. Lord, do not let these valuable lessons and insights be lost. Keep them in our minds forever so that we can retrieve them for our encouragement and rebuke, and also for aiding in the instruction and encouragement of others.

Saturday I was able to talk with Patrick for just a few minutes. Praise the Lord!!! A special thanks to Daniel and Laurie Lowndes for allowing him to crash in on your house so I could see him on Skype.  Chelsea also got to talk with her family (and visitor, Nate Bergstedt); can I just say from eavesdropping, you are a hilarious family J. You all brightened Chelsea’s day so much!  I also got to talk with my family yesterday morning (Tuesday my time; Monday night theirs).  They were just about as silly as Chelsea’s. Be forewarned anyone joining either of our families through marriage… you will laugh so hard you lose weight, eat so much that you gain it back, and find out that you can truly love a group of people so much that your insides hurt irrespective of any dietary influences.  We are so encouraged by the words and prayers spoken over us by our beloved families, friends, and church members. Thank you all. Nothing happens on earth until it is first directed from heaven. Nothing can happen here until there is movement from our God in heaven, and you are ensuring that He does not forget us.

Sunday… was a very busy day. In the morning we helped Pastor David teach Sunday school.  We taught the story of David and Goliath (same story as we taught the slum children on Friday, but elaborated to contain deeper principles about the Lord we are serving).  There is a little boy named David in the class so I pulled him up to play the part. He really enjoyed swinging his invisible sling around and “killing” Goliath Chelsea.  Following, we also taught them the signs for the chorus of “Our God Is an Awesome God.” I love hearing them sing it with their accents and seeing them form the shapes with their hands. They call us Chelsea Auntie and Bethany Auntie (names come before titles; and Auntie is a term of respect for a woman older than you). During church service, we sang a new Telugu song that we learned last week called “Jeevonadini” with help of Pinky (Priyanka) and Chandana (P.David’s niece and friend). Chelsea spoke for over ½- hour (incl. translation) about the faithfulness of God. The message was very powerful for the church here at this time.  Praise the Lord for such a message which He has been teaching her for years and that He enabled her to deliver the truths in a way they understood. We continue to pray for the depths of that message to sink in and direct peoples’ lives.
After church we taught the youth group. They learned a new song with actions (Blind Man) and then we used props to deliver the convicting question of “Is what I’m living for worth my dying for? Is it worth Christ dying for?” We pray that the question will continue to plague their minds until they surrender their entire lives to Him.





Sunday night we attended one of the local Baptist churches where they have a weekly English service. We were called up to sing five songs (some of which they knew and some they didn’t).  Praise the Lord for preparing us to be comfortable singing into microphones in front of people. Had he not prepared us, these spontaneous opportunities would be absolutely nerve-wracking and we would not have enough peace to be sensitive to the Lord’s Spirit during these times.  Pastor David now has a new favorite English song: “We are one in the spirit, we are one in the Lord…And they’ll know we are Christians by our Love…” Do you know it?  With all four verses, it is quite a relevant and stirring message.


Monday (we’re moving forward slowly… bear with us and we hope these stories are encouraging and challenging to you): It’s our first day traveling out to the tribal villages.  After a drive of about 30 miles traveling out of the city and into the wilderlands (these are the areas that no one else is yet reaching) we arrived at a small church building that appeared to be almost in the middle of nowhere. The building is the first church building resurrected in that area; it is also the first one that HBA built.  For those of you who would understand, when Teen Mania came to this area in 2007, they helped Pastor David dig the pit for the foundation of this building. We got to stand in it after it has been heavily used for several years. What a wonderful blessing for us to be there! (Due to severe weather from last year, the roof has major cracks in it and is in need of repair; but the believers continue to treasure this building as a gift from the Lord and pray that He will provide for roof repairs).

Four evangelists and their teams met us dressed in mostly white (the clothes they wore for their baptisms into the faith) with musical instruments. The evangelist named Preabudas (we guess he’s 30-35 years old) pastors the church we were at and is reaching out to the nearby village we were going to. He is a native of the Yanadis tribal people who inhabit the land around Nellore. When Pastor David found him, he was a cripple begging for food. He was healed by the Lord and gave his life to preaching the Gospel.  I’ve been told he is illiterate, but that doesn’t stop him from speaking boldly about the truth. He has been through many trials and his story and dedication to the Lord are very convicting to me. I’ve posted a short part of my journaling about it:  (http://withhiminindia-journalsstories.blogspot.com/)



Being in the village was incredible. The buildings look just like I’ve pictured tribal/“primitive” villages to look like all my life.  A few of the newer buildings are brick; but many are still made from big sticks and palm leaves. They’re amazingly well built. It is not a large village and we reached it by a short dirt road. We sang to attract the people—or send them scurrying into their homes where they hid from the foreign spirit which we brought and which might offend their resident gods.  Either way, they heard; and in hearing there is an opportunity for the Lord to split their fearful or hard hearts in order to allow this good news to seep in.  Several of the evangelists spoke; Chelsea and I were also given opportunities to share the gospel and proclaim that the God whom the evangelists were talking about is the creator of the heavens and all the earth—He is in control of the whole earth, not just one small area. We and the evangelists testified to the power which Christ Jesus has. He is the only God who has come down to earth as a man in order to save the souls of man by His own power. He is also the only God who is able to raise the dead. We are praying that the words spoken by the team will remain in the hearts and minds of the villagers so that when their times of testing come, they will remember and turn to the Lord. 

There are two believing families in that village which we were able to visit and encourage through prayer. One of those families wanted to give their baby boy, 9-month-old Isaac, to us for us to raise in a safe, Christian environment. He had the biggest eyes and a huge smile. We are safe from motherhood at the moment…but, hey, Patrick… if you want to start a family real soon… ;)

As we were walking down the street, one tribal woman followed in my footsteps (I was at the end of the group at that point) and spit on the ground where I had walked.  After returning to the church we were allowed to share and encourage the team (20+ people). From the words of Paul to the Galatians: “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” We exhorted them to 1) not give up; 2) not grow weary; and 3) eagerly expect you wages (the hearts of men for God).  We reminded them of who the god is that we are serving. Psalm 89 says that in the assembly of all the holy ones, God is feared. The woman who was spitting to ward off our spirit or send curses on us…pah, the spirits she is calling on are trembling and refusing to go forward, for GOD is with us.  What can humans, spirits, or circumstances do to hinder the promise of God that we will reap a harvest. Don’t grow weary; don’t give up!

As we were getting ready to leave, I was asked to pray over one of the men—this evangelist had broken his arm and couldn’t afford to go to the hospital to have it set properly. Now it hurt tremendously and he struggled to play the drum during their walks through the villages as well as many other daily tasks at home and work. I rejoiced to pray for him. He was not healed on the spot, but I am eager to see him again and see what the Lord has done for him.  Many of the women then took Chelsea and my hand and placed them on their shoulders or heads for us to pray for them.  I was blessed to bless them! Chelsea and I are actually common nobodies. Yet we see now that the Spirit of the Lord resides in ALL who believe and because of their faith in the spirit in us, we are able to pray over them and the Lord responds!!! How amazing!

Pastor David says that starting next week or the week after, we will start visiting villages and evangelists several times a week. Praise the Lord! I am so glad to be constantly in places where the Lord’s eyes and attentions are constantly fixed: A place where the good news of Christ has not yet been heard or understood. 

Ahhhh! I still have so many things to tell: I’m only up through Monday afternoon! Well, there is so much to chew on from what I’ve already written.  Know that we are thriving here and getting ready for the next wave of adventures. Tomorrow we’ll go to the evangelist’s meeting (50-60 people) and maybe get to share some encouragement/challenges with them from the scriptures.  We are so excited to meet this band of dedicated servants of the Lord. We hope to update you again on Friday!

Andariki Vandenalu
(Thank you all so much!)

PS: Don’t forget that we’re going to by Skyped in live at the church this Sunday! (grahamcovenant.org) Hope to “see” you there!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Upcoming Schedule

Today is a two-post-dayJ We wanted to share with you what will be coming up in our lives this next week. We have a very full schedule, so just in case it takes us a few days to get it posted, here’s what you have to look forward to and pray for with us:

Sat, Jan 22nd

-Cottage Prayer Meeting in the Evening

Pray for us as we bring the Word to our fellow believers.

Sun, Jan. 23th

- Chelsea is preaching in the morning at HBA (Hebron Believers Assembly)

- Leading the youth meeting and children’s Sunday School in the afternoon

- Leading worship for a large interdenominational church service in the evening

Please pray that the Lord will give us His words and His heart as speak to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for us Saturday as we prepare for a busy day Sunday and the rest of the week.

Mon, Jan 24th

- Preaching and participating in the baptism of 5 people in the tribal village of Adurupalli (Praise the Lord!!)

Please pray for clear translation between ourselves and the tribal people. We ask the Lord to give us much grace in our first ministry experience outside the city.

Tues, Jan 25th

- Teaching the youth songs in English in the evening

Please pray for our relationships with our new friends, that we may encourage them in their faith through our own.

Wed, Jan 26th

- Cottage prayer meeting in the home of one of HBA’s members in the evening

Ask the Lord to give us words of encouragement to speak and for continued development of relationships.


Singing at last week's cottage prayer meeting

Thurs, Jan 27th

- Teaching at a meeting of the village evangelists for training in the village of Venkatachalam (approx 40 evangelists will be there) during the day

- Teaching at a large meeting of high school junior and senior age students in the evening

Pray that the Lord would give us a word for these men who are laying down their lives for the Gospel. May we hear His heart for them. Also, pray with us that we would be able to impart to the youth a desire to know the Lord intimately and begin giving them the tools to do so.

Fri, Jan 28th

- Woman’s prayer fellowship at HBA in the evening

Again, pray for relationships and clear communication with our sisters in the Lord.

Sat, Jan 29th

- Resting, house work, preparing for the next week

Ask for a spirit of refreshing after a busy week.

Sun, Jan 30th

- Sharing with our home church, Graham Evangelical Covenant Church, about our first two weeks in India (we’re so excited to talk with you all!) If you would like to attend the service that morning and hear from us live in India, it begins at 10:30am PST. Check the website for directions, www.grahamcovenant.org

Pray for the Lord’s grace in communicating to all our friends at home about the things He is doing in His church on the other side of the world.

Our First Day of Ministry

You may have been wondering… “Are they ever going to stop playing around and actually start doing something?” The answer is “YES!” After a week spent in getting over jet lag, accustoming ourselves to the culture and food, and getting to know those we will be living/working with for the next months, we are bounding with energy for the work the Lord has sent us here for.

Today (Friday) was a very exciting day! It was our first day of ministry among the people. We left in the late morning for the slum area of the city where the rag pickers, thieves, and prostitutes of the city live with their families. A group of local ministries, including HBA (Hebron Believers Assembly), supports a school for the children of the “least of these.” Pastor David is on the board for this school, so we will be able to visit them frequently during the months we are here.

We had a wonderful time with them. We sung a few songs in English for them and they clapped, and smiled, along. Then we acted out the story of David and Goliath for them. I (Chelsea) was Goliath, and Bethany narrated the story and played the part of David. We had so much fun preparing for this special time. We then walked around a little and saw the place where the children play after school (a Hindu burial ground) and their homes. Everywhere we went, people came out of their homes to stare at us or greet us. We shook more hands than we could count as we walked. We must have looked so funny as we gestured and pointed, trying to make ourselves understood.

Afterwards, we came back and helped to serve the children a special treat, chicken curry, with their normal lunch of vegetable soup served over rice. The children were delighted that we came to sit with them and kept trying to get us to eat from their plates since we didn’t have our own. We did eat later, after we made sure they had had enough. Just before leaving, we handed out a final treat - bananas! They were so glad to receive them.

Serving Lunch

Bananas! Yum, yum!

Everyone was sorry to see us go, but we promised to come back again soon.

General Prayer Requests

- Learning the Language: Pastor David goes with us everywhere, but it would still be very nice to actually be able to speak some with our new friends ourselves.

- HBA Jeep: One of the reasons we have been staying so close to home the last week is because HBA’s Jeep has been in the shop for repairs. We have made the decision with Pastor David to start traveling around even before the repairs are finished, but the “autos” get expensive. Please pray that the repairs will be finished quickly.



Getting into an "auto"

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Quick update...


We taught the boys to play “War” with cards last night.  They can now play that and “Go Fish”.  These games serve a double purpose: We can have fun with them without always playing active ball games; and they can have fun with something new by themselves while we escape to spend time with the Lord or help someone.

Tuesday night we were given a rare opportunity… Pastor David and his sister, Grace, took us to purchase Saris, Punjabis, and Indian shirt/pants/chuni outfits.  The process for buying these is that you go to a cloth seller (one of these little shops-in-the-wall) and pick the materials that you want for your clothes.  Then you take them to a seamstress and she measures you and gets your preferences for the outfits.  All this was done late on Tuesday night with the excellent advice of our Indian family.  We will show you pictures after the outfits are complete. We also have some everyday Indian clothes that were purchased at the local store.  Because we are both old enough, we are allowed to wear Saris. Young girls are not supposed to wear them until they “come-of-age”.  



Tuesday night I (Bethany) got bad stomach cramps with my monthly period.  Our Indian family was so concerned that they went to great lengths to make sure I had everything I needed.  The next morning, they brought me various fruits to try and help with my insides. Most amazing to us, David brought in cocoanuts for us to drink the juice!  We’ve never drank out of a cocoanut before!  Apparently the electrolytes in the juice are really good for a girl’s insides (it’s almost like Gatorade).  We were also given tapioca and noodle pudding (with raisins) from our host at the cottage prayer meeting last night (meaning they meet in a member’s home rather than in the church building).  It’s also supposed to help the body out apparently.  It was interesting and I liked it!!!  


Tomorrow we will be going to the nearby slums to play with the children.  They gather in the dump and graveyard which serve as their playground.  We will be telling Bible stories and others, playing games, providing a meal, and possibly giving clothes (we’ll see if that one can happen).  I sure there will be many stories following that one.  Please pray for our activities tomorrow to bring hope and life to these children and their families.  Oh, that we may be like Christ in blessing these young ones and drawing them unto Him!

Andariki Vondinalu
(Thank you all so very much)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Mundi and the Beach and other fun stuff :)

The Dayasagar family has graciously welcomed us in with open arms. As we have been adjusting to a new time zone, different ways of doing things, and spicy, but delicious, food (pictures to follow in another post), they have been very patient with our questions and our mistakes. They have also been anxious for us to share with them in their fun and games, as well as their ministry, especially the children. We wanted to share some of the fun with you. :)

Sunday night, after Bethany had finished blogging, we were attacked by a group of girls, held down, and painted all over... ok, well, actually, Pastor David's nieces, Chandana and Vineela, graciously offered to put mundi on our hands and arms and we accepted...














Bethany and Chandana


Me (Chelsea) and Vineela, with Grace and Bethany
Letting our arms dry (it takes about hour!)
The finished product

Yesterday(Monday), we went to the beach with the whole family (almost, Pastor David wasn't able to come because he had a meeting). There were 15 of us all together. I don't have a picture of the whole group so you will just have to imagine the spectacle. We were with four ammas (Telugu for mother), four teenage girls, five children (ages 6-12), two very white Americans, and one hired driver, all packed into the van Pastor David hired for the day. We will probably give the neighborhood something to talk about for a long time, of course we're all ready doing that :)

On the drive to the beach, Bethany taught every one the signs (as in American Sign Language) to "Our God Is An Awesome God." We also played a singing game where there were two teams, one thought of a topic and the other had to sing a song about that topic. Both teams sang in English and Telugu :) We decided after that van trip that my family (the Arnolds) are a quiet family and that any families which make less noise than us is completely silent.

Once we arrived, we had a wonderful time playing in the water. We jumped the waves and played ball. And later we had races along the sand.

After we were all wet :) (most of our extended Indian family is pictured here)
...Don't try to find Bethany; she took the picture :)

After the beach, we had a picnic lunch outside a church near the beach and played games. One of the women who came along, Raj Kumari, wrote everyone's name and several activities, like dancing, singing, or mimicking some animal or person, on slips of paper and each person had to do whatever was pulled with their name. We also had a quiz on Bible trivia. The whole afternoon was so much fun.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Day Three... only that many???

Halleluiah! Praise the Lord!
(No need to translate that to Telugu...they say that all the time)

We are here! Alive and well. Actually, far better than well; we are unbelievably blessed by the Lord. Through Pastor David and his family, the Lord is taking such good care of us and we are having an AMAZING time :) Just wait till we tell/show you some of the things that have taken place in just three short days.  Has it only been three days?!?!?!  WOW!  I feel like a whole week has already gone by! (We apologize that none of our videos are able to be posted yet; hopefully we can get those loaded soon) 

We arrived in Chennai (pronounced with a hard 'ch' as in choice) just after midnight on Friday morning.  Pastor David with his family were there to meet us as we walked out of customs. I felt immediate peace when we saw them and both Chelsea and I knew right away that we had followed the Lord's leading in coming to Nellore with HBA.
The wonderful welcome we received by our Indian family.
Pictured (L-R): Havilash, David, Nathan, Bulah, us!
(Taking picture, cousin Rohith)

Our three-hour ride back was very safe; the driving rules are a little different ;) Nobody obeys street or speed rules. But we felt very safe riding with a skilled Muslim driver that Pastor David hired.  Along the way, there were huge fires all along the road with groups standing around.  David explained that we've arrived during a festival. There is no school or work during the festival so everyone gets to be home (which is why the whole family could come to the airport).  I can't remember what the purpose of the festival is (Chelsea says it's a harvest festival); it's a Hindu festival where they build fires (preferably out of material they are able to steal... more favor with the god's I guess) and draw elaborate designs outside their doorways where the god's will come and sit during this festival.

Because it's a holiday, we get to rest with the family and all the friends who are able to be here.  We are loving the time of relaxing with them and are already learning so much!  For instance, yesterday (Saturday) we sang American worship songs with the girls (and Havilash tore it up on the hand drums) and were able to teach them many songs like "Our God is an Awesome God" which we then sang today during church.  They also taught us many things in Telugu.  Grace taught us an entire Telugu song (five verses with chorus!!!) which we sang today in church for everyone.  I know we sang many words wrong but they all loved it!  Pastor David said afterwards that it proved we have missionary hearts.  We are also learning many words already.  I can say "Vondanalu" which means "Thank you!"; and "na peru Betany" which means "my name is Bethany" and if I think really hard I can remember some of the others words and phrases.  

Yesterday we also went shopping (where I got accosted by a group of giggly young girls asking my name and then telling me all sorts of things I couldn't understand because I can't speak Telugu yet).  We each bought one Indian-styled shirt (in pictures below).  We made most people stare as we walked around. The best thing is to just pretend you don't see them looking at you ;)  Other new things we are experiencing, like: refreshingly cool showers with only cold water (weather is 75-80 degrees at night and a cool shower in the morning is so nice); how to hand wash all our laundry (our 17 year old friend, Chandana, taught us...she laughed at us for not knowing how); and how to eat with our hands (they have silverware for us and in their hospitality insist that we use it, but why not eat just like they do?!...I'll take a picture of that soon). 

Today (Sunday) we were privileged with sharing from the word of God during the church service. This is our second time teaching through a translator since arriving, and I think we're starting to get the hang of it! The first time was Friday night, where we sang at the prayer meeting and shared our testimonies. And then we spoke from the scriptures about the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met and the power of her testimony.  Today we greeted the whole church and Chelsea shared with them how the Lord had brought us to India.  Then, at Pastor David's request, we shared the Word. We chose the first two verses of Psalm 91.  (Vaneela recorded it as well as our singing in Telugu...videos to come). After church Chelsea taught the youth about Jesus' words on greatest commandment:
 
Chelsea teaching the youth after church

Then we taught them an American song with actions. They loved it and made us do it twice with them!

Can you guess which song? 

"Every Move I Make"

I have so much more to tell... The home we are living in is wonderful; and the building that is currently being constructed is so exciting!  We will take videos of both soon so you can see it all.  Tomorrow, because it is a festival and no Hindu will listen to us, we are all going to travel to the beach for another day of rest.  We are almost over jet-lag and will resume "normal" life on Wednesday after the festival.

Thank you all for your prayers! We are being faithful to journal so even if we can't tell you it all here, we will not forget what amazing things the Lord is doing!

Our blessings and prayers are with you!

Andariki vandanalu!!!
(Thanks to you all for reading)

Monday, January 10, 2011

Packing (dun-dun-dun)...

So we're almost there. It's about a day and a half before we leave... WOOHOO!... and we are packing:) We thought we'd share some of the fun with you


this is all the stuff we're bringing with us... well, most of it

There's been been a lot of silliness in the last week as Bethany and I have spent a lot of time together getting details finalized- everything from rain jackets following us around GoodWill to laughing ourselves almost sick over trying on full length skirts and other things to Bethany finding herself in a box...



I think we've gotten everything packed now. We're spending our last few days at home with our family and friends. Please continue to pray with us that the Lord will prepare the way before us in India.