Traveling, traveling, traveling...

I know that we're a bit behind in our blog, so let me catch you up in one great big swoop. Ready? Here we go...

Last week, May 14^th – 18^th, we were in about 3 hours south in Chennai visiting a friend from the Honor Academy in Texas. We took the train down by ourselves (so much fun!) and spent a wonderful 4.5 days hanging out, cooking and eating yummy food, talking about the great things the Lord is doing in our lives and the world, and doing a little bit of shopping. It was such a blessing for us spend this time with friends, new and old, and hear about the things the Lord is doing.

We started out bright and early on Saturday morning and narrowly averted getting on the wrong train (Pastor David rescued us in the nick of time). Lesson learned: always check the sign placards on the side of Indian trains to make sure they are going to the place the announcer says they’re going. After safely landing in our seats, the Indian countryside flew by as we chatted with our seat buddy, a lively young Hindu girl who told us about her family, school, Chennai, and many new things about Indian culture.

Three hours later, we arrived in Chennai. We met up with our hosts for the weekend, Melissa, our HA friend, and her fiancé, Daniel. After lunch at Subway, a very special treat and a good deal (75 rupees for the sub-of-the-day), we headed back to Melissa’s apartment and spent the rest of the day resting and hanging out.

Here we are at church on Sunday morning…

Highlights from Our Trip

Eating foods we haven’t had in four and half months

Getting to try new modes of transportation by ourselves

We arrived back in Nellore on Wednesday (May 18^th), a little tired from the travel, but safe and sound. (We got on the right train, no problem.) As we chatting with David and his family, telling them about some of the things we’d done while we were away, we found out that we had been invited to attend a the betrothal ceremony of a distant relation of David’s the next day.

So Thursday morning found us back at the train station, this time with David’s whole family plus his sister and two of her children. Here’s everyone but David (he’s taking the picture):

We had a great time on the train with the family. We rode in the sleeper car because during the day it’s not as crowded. The boys enjoyed climbing up and down and all over, and I (Chelsea) got to take a nap on one of the top bunks. Yes! We were hot, tired, and hungry by the time we were all hot, tired, and hungry by the time we got to the end of the trip. But that was soon taken care of, as David’s extended family gave us a delicious lunch and then sent us to rest in a nearby hotel with an A/C unit. It was a cool afternoon for us as we napped and waited for the evening festivities to begin.

We told you about a betrothal ceremony we attended in February. This one was very similar. Family and friends gathered to wish the young people well as they parents formally announced the arrangement of their marriage. I wish so much that you had been able to witness this event and others like it for yourselves. I feel like I am running out of words to tell you about everything we have seen and learned. I can’t wait to be able to show all of the pictures and tell you these stories in more detail! For now, here are a few pictures so you can have an idea of the young man and woman we had the privilege of meeting.

Friday morning we rode the bus back to Nellore and after a short rest, we headed back out. This time we were going to a village about 2 hours away, where five of the HBA evangelists and 30 or so of the tribal believers had gathered for an all night Thanksgiving Meeting. These meetings are often held to celebrate the good things God had done in the lives of our brothers and sisters here. This one was specifically for Remesh’s young son, who God had healed of a serious infection in his finger a few weeks ago. We were also privileged to here testimonies from many others of how God has proved himself faithful to them. What a delightful time! We were asked to share the word as well. Starting in John 15, I talked about abiding in Jesus Christ and what that means and how we can abide in Him by loving others. Then Bethany shared about our need to forgive others and how unforgiveness divides us from God. We left the meeting early, about 11pm, because we had been traveling for so many days in a row, but the others remained until morning, worshipping and praising God for the good things He has done.

Just in case you’re wondering: there are 20+ hours of traveling – by bus, train, auto, and jeep – represented in this post.

Please pray for us in the coming week. We are leaving again tomorrow for a village where there is a conference being held. Ask the Lord to be with us as we travel and to prepare our hearts, the hearts of all the speakers, and the hearts of all who will hear for what He wants to do.

Grace and peace to you all!