We're coming back!!!

We leave for the airport in 6 hours. We will be back in the USA on Wednesday at 6pm.

Sunday, June 26th, we will be sharing at Graham Covenant Church and having "snacks and stories" after church for 30 or 45 min. If you want to come, we would love to see you!!! The morning service starts at 10:30am and snacks and stories will be 12pm.

Bhongir and Hyderabad - our roaming continues

This week we have been having a wonderful time visiting Pastor David's sisters, Joy and Grace, and there families. Monday night, we left Nellore by reserved bus (meaning that you purchase your tickets ahead of time and they don't sell more tickets than there are seats) accompanied by Chandana, Rohith, Rinish, and Havilash (David's niece, two nephews, and oldest son). We arrived in Bhongir Tuesday morning at the home of Joy and her three sons, Ranjith (23), Abini (19), and Rokshith (14). After getting cleaned up and eating a delicious tiffin (a.k.a. breakfast) of dosa (very flat pancakes) and groundnut chetni (think spicy peanut butter), we headed out for adventure.

We climbed to the top of a rather high hill to explore the ruins of a fort. The fort was occupied about 1100 years ago by a powerful queen who ruled the town and the surrounding area. The "getting there" was definitely half the fun as we paused frequently on the way up to talk, take pictures, eat snacks, and be silly. We had a great time exploring the barracks, playing on old cannons, and poking our noses into forgotten corners.

Once we got back to Joy's house, we ate lunch and then spread out throughout the house for naps (everyone was very tired after traveling through the night and climbing the hill). That evening we had a great time meeting several of Joy's friends, singing in Telugu and English, and even doing a couple of "action songs." As you can imagine, we were very ready to sleep when bed time came around despite the naps of the afternoon.

Wednesday began early for Bethany and I because we were going out with Joy "canvassing." Joy is the headmistress of a school, K-10th, and since the Indian school year will be beginning in the next two weeks or so, she was taking several of the teachers out to the villages to recruit more students. We went along and provided much entertainment for the villagers that morning. We saw tribal women in their traditional dress and they even did a traditional rain dance for us. We also sang for them and Bethany taught them the actions for the chorus of "Our God is an Awesome God." When we got back to Joy's about mid-morning, Bethany and I needed a second nap, so after breakfast we did just that. We had planned to go swimming that afternoon, but apparently the tribal women's rain dance worked, because the temperature dropped about 4 pm and it poured for a good half hour. Since Bethany and I haven't seen much rain since arriving in India, we were really excited, especially Bethany. We initiated a "rain party," which consisted of everyone going up on the roof and dancing and playing in the rain. Let's just say that we will be remembered in that neighborhood for a long time. That evening, we went over to the home of Joy's best friend, Dr. Sandhya. We had a wonderful dinner and a fabulous time of fellowship. Dr. Sandhya also insisted on presenting us with saris in keeping with Indian tradition. Bethany chose a brown and gold one with green flowers and I chose one that is different shades of blue with sun flowers.

Thursday morning, we packed up our things and went to look at Joy's school. After touring the school, we all loaded on another bus for the short trip to Hyderabad - Joy's three sons also came with us to visit their aunt and cousins. Thursday evening was spent hanging out with Grace and her family, Emmanuel (her husband), Vineela, and Hashita (her two daughters).

Friday, we rented a car for the day and went sightseeing with the whole family. Grace took us to see a very famous park where there is a 40-foot statue of Buddha in middle of the lake. As we rode out to the statue, it started to rain again! Apparently, the rainy season is starting right on schedule. Thankfully, our clothes dry really quickly here. Afterward, we went to another historical site in the heart of Old Hyderabad, Charminar. It was built in 1591 as a memorial to all the people who had died of the plague in the city.

This afternoon (Saturday), we are going our shopping with Grace to some of the well known centers, where we have been told we will be able to find fun Indian gifts for our families very inexpensively. And tonight, we are heading back to Hyerabad.

It's been a long week, but we've had so much fun!!! As we start to wrap up our time in India, please pray that we will continue to be a blessing to those around us and that the Lord will use the remaining time to the fullest in our lives and the lives of all we meet.

A weekend of events - once again written by Bethany and posted by Chelsea

(I was unable to upload the pictures that go with this blog because of difficulties with the internet. I will try to add them later.)

Good evening everyone!

We’re about an hour out from departure time. This time our toes are pointed west…to Hyderabad! We’ll be spending five days with various members of the extended family: 2 days with Pastor David’s oldest sister, Joy; and 3 days with older sister #2, Grace. We’ll be returning to Nellore early on Sunday morning after a night journey by bus. Then, next Monday morning we’ll be departing again for three days in a tribal village.

These past few days have been a constant parade of programs. After returning from Hukumpet village early Thursday morning (26^th at 2am), we cleaned ourselves up, unpacked, and then prepared to attend the 5-year memorial service of our house owner’s husband (this means he died 5 years ago on May 26^th). We are renting half of Premeela-Auntie’s house and she has expressed multiple times that she is going to be very, very sad when we leave because we have become much more than just renters to her. Premeela-Autie spends most of her time alone. Her two daughters are married and have 3 little girls between them, Janu-6, Nemo-5, Smiley-2. Auntie’s son, Havilash, lives with her but is usually only there during the late evenings and nighttime.

The memorial service was a reasonable size (50 friends and relatives attended), and was held on top of the house. Indian homes are built with flat cement roofs that have 2.5 foot walls all around. This provides optimal space for hanging laundry, storing odds and ends, sleeping, and (in this case) hosting gatherings. We were honored to attend this service to remember our dear Auntie’s husband.

Friday morning, we attended a house dedication for Pastor David’s uncle (called Anna-Uncle by the children and us). It is traditional for all the husband’s family and close friends to come and hold a dedication ceremony in the new house. All of the man’s sisters are expected to bring gifts of clothing for the husband and wife. Since we know many of these relatives, we felt very comfortable among this wonderful crowd of people. We were also given opportunity to sing during the ceremony and to take pictures of and with various family members. We are definitely going to miss these wonderful people when it’s our time to leave India.

Saturday evening, we attended another memorial service for the grandma of one of our church members. For this memorial, there was no space on the roof so the meeting was held in the small street and any traffic was routed down other passages.

Come Sunday morning, we were drawing on paper crosses with small group of Sunday School children who then got to learn about the value of Christ, His death, and resurrection from the apostle Paul’s passionate claims. Please pray for these children. We are merely planting seeds, but we can see several of the children (Muslim, Hindu, and Christian alike) being deeply affected by all that they’ve been hearing and talking about over the past several months.

During church, Chelsea was given the great and marvelous task of encouraging and exhorting the believers of the church. She spoke about the parable of the lost son from Luke 15, using the older son from verse 25 as an example. I wish I had recorded this message. Chelsea was able to accurately speak to our misunderstanding of God and the way He chooses to bless “undeserving” people. She then touched on forgiveness and the power of Christ in us which enables us to live with a character that is unoffendable.

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Seems like every day is a new adventure. I’m sure we will have hours of additional stories to tell when we return home.

Our love to you all!

Written by Bethany, Posted by Chelsea - we're a great team

(As the Deer) “I love you more than gold or silver only You can satisfy; You alone are the real joy giver and the apple of my eye.”

Christ alone is the real source of joy; and joy is the oil of the Lord, to keep us going. Like a car is able to run smoothly over many bumps if it has a clean supply of oil, so we also can travel long over bumpy roads of life with a continually fresh stream of joy.

Both literally and spiritually, Chelsea and I have been traveling a lot this month. We have seen and experienced such diverse things over the past few weeks that our physical and emotional selves should be entirely worn out. But the Joy of the Lord—which often comes without reason, or comes from identifying the Lord’s purposeful hand in the situations—has continued to energize us so that we are thriving (gaining more life). Certainly, this is the best way to go through life: alive and eager for more, not downtrodden and always looking to avoid.

Spiritually we have also been run hard. Our Lord is a strict and dedicated coach, set on us achieving the gold medal in the heavenly race. “Lord, I’m tired; must I go another lap?” “Yes; and try to beat your time on this one.” And somehow we do; with Him cheering us on. Looking back we see how we are stronger, our responses are faster, our physical and emotional actions are being trained to react accurately and quickly to the spiritual situations.

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Sunday night through Thursday morning of this past week was another grand adventure, this time heading far north to the top of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Just below the southern border of the state of Orissa, there is a village called Hukumpet, a small hill station where people of a different tribe have lived for centuries (not the Yanadis tribal groups which HBA is concentrating on).

We reached the “steel city” of Visakhapatnam (nicknamed “Wysak” and known for its steel production) early Monday morning (5:30am), quickly changed our clothes in a very, very crowded lady’s room (during which we were again reminded how public all areas of life are here), and headed off for a morning of official tourism. On an overcrowded train that took us through mountains and tunnels, we met a very friendly Indian family that joined our party for the touring. Arriving in the beautiful (but still hot) Aruku Valley station, we went for lunch at a tribal family’s restaurant.

Some of the most distinguishing features of these tribal people are their ornaments, their style of clothing, and their facial structures. Women wear two to three nose rings (both sides of the nose and the middle) and snake-like earrings on the side of the ear. These women also tie their saris in a different style with the older generation often not wearing anything underneath the cloth. The men are easiest to identify by their high cheek bones and by the upper/lower jaw bones that are slightly larger than the rest of their facial proportions.

Watching these people interact with the bustling, “modern” society around them I saw very sharply their struggle of being in this new, invasive culture, without being allowed to be a part of it. People are fascinated by their ways of life; but only in museums with live models. Having to share your bus seat or conduct business with them is less favorable. However, the church in the tribal hill station of Hukumpet does not treat these people with contempt. There we saw these people being accepted, loved, and pulled into the truth of Christ through the hands of an elderly couple who moved to the area and have ministered there for years.

Back in Aruku Valley (with our train-friends), we got to tour Borra Cave, a large and famous cavern that was nice and cool inside. On the way out, a flock of monkeys (is that the correct term?) came down to greet us. One even attempted to climb on Chelsea’s back and watch as she took pictures of the other monkeys. A quick stop in the tribal museum, the souvenir shop, and a long wait at the bus station, and we were on our way to the point of destination: Hukumpet.

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The week-long conference we were joining was put on by the same group of pastors and friends who held a conference in February in another village that we had participated in. This made the trip very fun, because we were seeing a lot of old friends.

There were many wonderful speakers there, so Chelsea and I were not needed to fill the program. Our participation was primarily: singing, recording and taking pictures, and entertaining the children. On Tuesday morning we made friends with a bunch of the little village children who then sat with us during the late morning service and made quite a ruckus. We attempted to keep them quiet and out of trouble by supplying pens and paper and utilizing the universal pointer-finger-over-the-lips gesture. They were a lot of fun overall and will probably never forget the day the white girls played with them.

Tuesday morning we had explored the village by ourselves. So on Tuesday afternoon, two of the boys—Hyde and Vijay—took us a kilometer out of town to the river. We happily splashed our feet in the water, leapt across the boulders, admired the wild hills surrounding, and generally made quite a spectacle of ourselves. On the way back we stopped at a house and had our first papaya ever…and it was fresh off the tree in the yard! While eating, we watched the neighbors goats scale the rock face of the hill behind the house.

That evening, after a fiery sermon from Pastor David Dayasagar on fellowship and unity within the church, the five Sunday School girls performed a beautiful traditional-style dance wearing miniature saris, jewels, flowers, and makeup. We recorded the dance, so you can watch it at home if you’re interested!

After a late, but refreshing night of sleeping in the cool mountain air, we prepared to say goodbye to all our new and old friends. Looking back, I’m sure the impression we left with these dear people was not one of dignified American ladies. The whole trip, from the train rides to the touring, and from singing and socializing to playing and roaming, we were like small children set loose on a beach for the first time.

There was a joy and excitement about everything spilling over us. We were quick to laugh and smile; took everything lightly as though the future was not ours to consider. There was no bitterness or anger within us towards anyone or anything; there was no worry or fear within us towards our futures or surrounding situations. All these things are in the hands of our great Lord. “Though you have not seen [Christ], you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).

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The train ride home was quite an adventure. This is traveling season and the train had about twice as many people as seats. For example: at one point I was seated in an 8-person area and there were 13 men all crowded in the bunks above and the benches next to me. Fortunately, none of them seemed able to speak English and I was spared from the usual Indian interrogations. At another point during the day-trip part of the journey, Chelsea (and later I) were given space among the extra luggage stored on the top bunk where we happily folded ourselves up, ate a snack, and dozed.

At night the consideration for others grew as strangers squeezed into bunks together to make room for numerous displaced passengers (incl. us) to sit or lay. Throughout the night we were counting, and at one point we reached 19 people (incl. us) sleeping or sitting in our single 8-person area. Looking down the aisle, it looked like seaweed washed up on a rocky shore (only the rocks were luggage and benches, and the seaweed was people sleeping). We saw a family of six members (mom, dad, 4 little boys) sleeping in one cot. This was accomplished by the dad and two boys laying on top of the 2-ft-wide cot, the two littlest boys sleeping under the cot with their feet sticking out, and the mom sitting on the ground with her head on the corner of the cot.

Our final resting place for the journey was on the edge of a cot where an elderly woman was sleeping. Chelsea, me, and the woman’s grown-up son formed the fourth wall of her bed chamber; a prime spot for us to sit and observe the comings and goings of the various passengers. The young man could speak basic English and helped us and other passengers negotiate room for our luggage and limbs.

At one point I turned to him and said, “Thank you for letting us sit here.” I knew that if we were not there, he would probably lay down on the edge of the cot to rest. “Oh! No problem; no problem,” he said and looked away again. As an afterthought, he glanced back at me and just stated “I’m Indian.”

“I’m Indian”

What a lot that one phrase communicates. He was telling about his culture and upbringing. I’m Indian: I grew up in crowded places; my comfort wants can’t/won’t always be met and I’m okay with that. I’m Indian: I’ve been taught to respect, value, and serve those whom I view as equal or better than me. I’m Indian: I’m exposed to so much need that either I am hard and cold to all needs or meeting needs is second-nature to me.

If I turned to someone and simply stated, “I’m American,” what would that communicate to them? What if I looked at someone and said, “I’m Christian”? …………………

In many ways, a lot of Indians can appear very blunt, very pushy, or very rude; but it is situations like these where we see the brotherly bond between strangers come out and the generosity, servanthood, and concern shine through.

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!

This was originally written on Thursday, 5/12, but due to internet problems and busy schedules I'm posting it today...

First off, our deepest apologies for not updating the blog in the last week. Let me assure you, we are healthy, happy in the Lord, and having a wonderful time. If you had been here you would not blame us at all, because you would have seen how busy we’ve been (we haven’t done laundry in almost a week either – yeek!) It would take hours to tell you all about everything we have seen and heard in the last week and everything we have thought about it, so instead of trying to cram all that into one post, I’m going to share some pictures with you and give you the highlights and once again you will just have to wait until we get home to pepper us with questions :)

Wrapping up where I left off in our last post, here is a picture from the last day of VBS…

You will notice three shining, white faces in this picture instead of only two. Allen Graham, a long time supporter and friend to HBA and Pastor David’s family was with us visiting from April 19 – May 9. We had a great time visiting with him, hearing stories about his life and previous visits to India, and carrying out ministry with him. Much of Allen’s life has been dedicated to children’s ministry, so he especially enjoys being in India during VBS. Throughout the week, we averaged about 50 children each day, with the most kids coming on the last day – about 65. A large number of children came from Muslim families – maybe a third of those attending. What a privilege it was to be able to get to know them a little and teach them about the Lord Jesus Christ. David said most of them have never been to church at all before. Several of them also showed up for Sunday School this week. Please pray with us that the seeds that were planted in their hearts will land on good soil and bear much fruit!

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week we also got to travel to villages where HBA is working with David and Allen. Wednesday and Friday were a wonderful time of fellowship with the believers in the village and with each other; both nights we had a wonderful time praying on the drive back to Nellore, asking the Lord to work in the lives of those we had met and prayed for and praising Him for His goodness. The working going on in village we visited on Wednesday is very new and there are still only a handful of believers. We shared a very simple Gospel message with them, inviting them to know the one true God. The evangelist in that village, Simon, drives an auto to make the money his family needs in addition to HBA’s support. (At this time, HBA is only able to support the evangelists for about a sixth of their basic needs, so all the evangelists have jobs where they work in addition to being in fulltime ministry.) Simon makes it a point to share the Gospel with every person who gets into his auto. Please pray that the Lord will give Him a great harvest as he tells all who come across his path of the love of Jesus Christ.

Thursday’s visit was scheduled to be along the same lines as Wednesday and Friday, but the Lord had different plans. Early in the afternoon, David received a called that one of the church members in the village we were planning to go to that evening had died. Because Indian tradition says that no one in the family or village may eat until after a dead body is buried, the bodies are always buried promptly. After David had purchased a simple woven basket as a coffin, we left for the burial service. It was much like many other funerals or memorial services I have attending, people paid their last respects to the body and Allan shared a short message about the hope that we have in Jesus Christ and the importance of how we live and die. Afterward, the body was carried out into the rice fields, where a deep hole had been dug at the edge of the field. We prayed and she was buried. What stood out to me were not the slight differences of culture and tradition, but the great similarity we share with all people. I look forward to the day when I will meet this sister and be able to hear her story and praise God with her.

All of life has seasons, and Wednesday and Thursday this week we were able to witness a very different season in the life of two Indian couples. Bethany and I had the great honor of attending two Indian weddings this week. The first wedding was early Wednesday evening, and was a very small simple wedding in between two poor young people.

There are so many Indian wedding traditions that I can’t possibly tell you about all of them, in the picture above I’ve highlighted a few. Marriage in India is not a only personal choice, sometimes it has little or nothing to do with the desires of the young people. In this case, this was a “love marriage,” one initiated by the couple, but it still must be officially blessed by the families (left). The wedding chain is worn by all married women in India. In this case, it is a thin yellow rope (yellow is the color for long life and health) with a small gold medallion on it. Even in the poorest families there is gold on the wedding chain; in weddings among the middle and upper classes, the rope is replaced after the wedding with a gold chain (see center picture). The picture on the right is of the family blessing the couple at the end of the wedding. After the spoken blessing, everyone threw rice that has been tossed in turmeric at the bride and groom symbolically blessing them with long life, health, and plenty.

Many of you will remember, in February, we attended a betrothal ceremony. Wednesday, after the wedding, we piled in to the jeep with the whole family and traveled to the festivities marking the night before the wedding. We saw many, many traditions played out we had only a vague knowledge of before. Our favorite one involves more turmeric… :) At the end of the night, the bride was seated on a sheet and in front of her were placed several dishes, in one of them is turmeric mixed with oil. The woman of the bride’s family and her close friends take a scoop of the turmeric and smear it on the bride’s face and hands (her sister even made her lift the hem of her sari and smeared it on her feet), then they sprinkle rise mixed with turmeric on her head, blessing the young woman with health and long life.

She looks so happy. We could tell that she felt very loved by all her family.

Because we’re Americans, we got to “bless” her as well. Our hands are still yellow :)

The wedding of Swarnalatha and Chakravarthi was today (Thursday). We are praying that the Lord allows them a wonderful life together serving Him!

That is a quick overview of the last week – I hope you enjoyed it :) On Saturday, we are taking the train to Chennai to visit a friend for a few days. We will be back in Nellore the middle of next week. Please pray for safe travels and opportunities to love those around us even while we are resting.

Grace and peace to you!