VBS, Camels, and Other Stuff....

Just picture about 2,000 little kids in one room. 

That is about how many kids we had during the 3 days of Vacation Bible School this past week. Our team linked with the children's ministry team at the church and other volunteers taught them songs, did dances for them, games (girls against boys), puppet shows, prayers, skits. The kids absolutely LOVED it. Each day was a focus on a Bible character and an issue that they went through and conquered through God's help. Day 1 looked at Moses and hidden failure. Day 2 looked at Esther and hidden identity. And Day 3 looked at Joseph and hidden hurt. The kids were so smart and willing to participate. I was so proud of the church and of our team for all the effort they put in to truly reaching these kids, because honestly, we don't know what they go home to. That is why the church and the team prayed for and with the kids, showing the the true and constant love of God despite any circumstance or situation. What an awesome opportunity to have a mass impact on kids as the opportunity we had during VBS.

After VBS was done, we went to Grace Home, a home created and sponsored by Pastor Paul and the church. I have been to several orphanages overseas, but this one by far was the most kid friendly, welcoming, and enriching one I have ever seen. The way in which it was built, maintained and decorated is so incredibly helpful in truly creating a home for the children. These kids, who come from horrible situations, are so willing to give love so freely. We sang and played with them, giving the little girls sparkly bangles and giving the little boys coloring books and markers. All the children at the home go to school and learn english. The are given opportunities they might have never had. 

During our free day yesterday we went to the Mysore Palace, which was beautiful. After we were done our tour we were given the opportunity to ride elephants and camels. I got to ride a camel. Honestly, camels are weird creatures. God must have a sense of humor with all the odd animals he made. after eating lunch and a little magic show outside (dude pulled like a million nails out of his mouth and spit fire), we went to the zoo, where honestly from al the stares of the people, sometimes it felt like we were the main attraction. We had dinner at the home of a church member, which has happened throughout this trip. Many church member and pastors have opened up their homes and lives to us so graciously. And the food is always bangin.

More to come....

Back-dated May blog entry: Wednesday

Horses to camels; cows in green pastures to cows in public streets; dollars to rupees; set prices to bargaining; toilet paper to left hand (generally); 4 seasons to winter and summer; this is a whole new lifestyle. As PB said in his last post, we are getting to see the beauty of India as well as its great need. We saw everything from the trash filled streams and streets to the huts and makeshift tents for homes. We experienced the traffic with mopeds everywhere. A nice little tip if you ever visit India, try your best NOT to drive during the day to avoid the traffic and chaos. "If you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere," said one of Sammy's friends the very first night on our way to the hotel. Praise the Lord that Sammy can finally drive and has survived without any damage thus far (and I pray he and the car continue to remain untouched). For lunch the team was treated to Barbeque Nation which is nothing like what Americans would consider to be a barbeque. One would picture a backyard or porch with a grill and lawn games, right? Well, this was a really nice restaurant with appetizers heated over a grill right at our tables with a wonderful assorted dish buffet meal dessert. Meeting the Assemblies of God representative, we were blessed to have some guidance on gestures and sayings to avoid in learning about the culture, especially with India being a "closed country" to the gospel. We enjoyed a trip to Commercial Street for city shopping. Praise the Lord for Grace, Sammy’s sister, as she directed us to great stores and deals. From there we were welcomed into Pastor Pem's home as he and his family blessed us with a home cooked meal. They are so generous. He also brought a message from the book of James regarding the 4 S's to run to God to pray: suffering, sickness, sin, and supernatural. Perseverance through suffering; call on a brother/sister for anointing for healing of sickness; confess sins; see the glory of God through the power of the supernatural in Him. This all comes from James 5. We then had an amazing time of corporate worship through song and speaking in the spirit. There was much encouragement for being filled and moving in the presence of God, especially with the upcoming elections of India on May 16. PRAY for the open door for new congress! Afterwards, we came outside to find Georgia's sandal bit and broken down the alley by one of the stray dogs which just deepened her dislike for them. Ha! Nick's sandal was also missing. It was found with a bite mark all the way down the alley. These little funny moments just add to the many inside jokes as the group grows together, especially in our close quarters. What a day and night! Praise the Lord for rest!

WoW

Thank you to all the friends, family members, and other faithful followers of our team's mission here in India. We apologize that the blog hasn't been updated in a few days now. You would not believe all the things that we are doing to stay busy busy busy bees. We did not mean to worry anyone from not being online for some time. While we were traveling and in Madurai Friday-Sunday we did not have direct internet access. We will definitely be doing a lot of writing and picture adding before the trip is up to backdate all of our experiences as well as the upcoming ones. There is so much to share! 

The whole team is safe and sound. We are persevering through heat, sickness, physical aches, spiritual oppression, spiritual warfare, but it is all for the glory of God. The men and women, boys and girls during the Miracle service, church services, villages, youth service while in Madurai were so amazing. We saw many healings take place from blind eyes opening, legs going straight, headaches going away, etc.!!!! While there we also saw the biggest Hindu temple in all of India! Wow! It was disheartening. Many people have been said to carry things back with them, and some of our team members felt some oppression coming back from the city. Continue to pray for protection over our minds, bodies, eyes, and everything!

We cannot say enough great things about the Thangiah's and their team in place here in India. They have blessed us so much from the food dinners, showing us the sites and sounds, and meeting our every need. We love them so very very much. 

We shall return soon to tell you more of the amazing things we are seeing and doing! :-)

Our hearts are stirred for the people of India!

As we moved throughout the streets of Bangalore today, we saw both the beauty of India and the great need of the people for the hope that is found in the saving power of our Lord.
Lord, stir our hearts with what stirs yours!
Copy and paste this link into your web browser to see a video Pastor Paul made to encourage people to "Pray for India!" :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRL_PI0hw6o

Day 23 - Wednesday - Personal Healing

So... Let me just testify to how amazing God is! So Tuesday-Wednesday morning I really didn't sleep at all, maybe 1 hour? While I was trying to fall asleep, though, I really felt like there was an impression in my heart regarding a healing that God would be pouring down on me. It freaked me out at first because I'm not sick or anything, and with the swine flu scare and other diseases overseas. I dialoged with God, "Okay, Lord, whatever you have for me, I will worship you. May your name be glorified as your will be done, no matter what it looks or feels like." So, later Wednesday morning, Larissa brings up my ankle brace that I had packed away in the team bag, and Nicole asks me how it's doing. It really hasn't been giving me any trouble--just a few pains here and there when overusing it during dancing and other such high performance practices. Before prayer, Nicole looks directly in my eyes and puts out a healing prayer request for my ankle. So, Emily is next to me to lay hands on my foot. After it was done, I felt like someone else was going to pray over it as well. Michelle asked me earlier to see my ankle. Now she came up to me and said, "Give me your ankle." She broke out the anointing oil and prayed over it. As she continued to pray and stretch/massage my foot, I felt my ligaments shift.  She then stopped and confirmed that I was healed in Jesus name. She said that she had seen a dark hand over my foot and that it has now been lifted and replaced by the hand of God, covered by the blood of the lamb. It's amazing how God just links everything together! I had that injury since 10th grade of high school. I would overturn it and re-injure it here and there. No more! By the blood of the lamb, I am standing on His healing that I have received. Praise the Mighty Lord! Georgia's main sinus pressure and such also went away that day! Hallelujah! :-D

-Becky

The Start of Day 3 - Wednesday

Fahrenheit to Celsius. EST to IST. Kilometers to miles. Right side road/left driver to Left side road/right driver. Drinking tap water to not drinking tap water. We are being taken out of our normal comfort zones, and that's exactly where God wants us to be! The people of India have the made the transition so much easier and bridging the gap so much smaller. My heart was so touched by the greeting of Sammy's immediate and church family. While being on the bus chatting with many of Sammy's church friends, I was gazing out the window at the landscape of India. There is so much rich culture here and vast eye catching differences in buildings just on the ride from the airport to our hotel. This is honestly the biggest hotel I have ever seen! "There must be a million rooms!" Georgia said, and she may be close with her approximation. Despite knowing the need to sleep, jet lag set in, and I am still yet awake with my teammate, Georgia, here reporting trip news to you! This is my first time experiencing overseas missions and the unavoidable jet lag! Dun dun dun! Luckily, we have the morning to sleep in until about 11-12 to get up, get ready, and head out at 1:30pm for lunch at Barbeque Nation. Then the afternoon is open. Most likely Sammy will be showing us around to do a little site seeing and shopping. Some of the ladies expressed real interest in getting some authentic sari's and other Indian-wear. Then we will be leaving for dinner at one of the Pastor's houses. Once the amazing meal is finished, the team will be coming back to pre-pack for our upcoming trip to the Madurai for village/church ministry! Hot and humid, people in need, spreading God's love--here we come!

Special thanks to Sammy's sister, Grace, for creating the beautiful itinerary pamphlet and guiding us in our stay here. Thank you to all those that helped with the luggage, video taping, pictures, and just making us truly feel welcome. We couldn't imagine the accommodations or company being any better! We love you! GOD BLESS YOU!

Day 2: Transit from Paris/Germany to Bangalore

So time travel is excruciating. . . lol. We are approx. 10.5 hours ahead of everybody back home on the East Coast. Most of us didn't get really good sleep on the flight from Newark to Paris, but on the flight from Paris to Bangalore, most of us slept... I know for me, I was pretty much in a coma.

The team from Paris landed in Bangalore at 11:55 and the team from Germany landed at 12:15. Once the two teams merged into one,  we stepped outside the airport only to be greeted by dozens of people from Pastor Thangiah's church who adorned us all with lays of flowers and took our luggage for us. Everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming... what an awesome first taste of India. We hop on a bus, driving on the other side of the road (around this time its around one or two in the morning), and drive to the most beautiful hotel I have ever stayed in. In most of the past missions trips I have been on, I have stayed in some pretty sketch places, but this hotel is something else. What an immense priviledge. 

But you know what? Even if we stayed in a crummy hotel or had to sleep on the floor of someone's house, coming here would all be worth it. Having the great opportunity to reach out to others, being able to share love and compassion, the same love and compassion shown to us by Jesus, makes it all worth it. The kindness and blessing of God on this team is just the icing on the cake. 

Keep up with us, there is so much more to come...

~Georgia

Day 1: Leaving for India Mission Trip '09

I was so anxious when I woke up Monday morning, and my adrenaline was rushing so much that I got light-headed in the apartment. Ha! I was checking the clock every hour counting down until when we would be leaving the VFCC campus for Newark Airport Intl for France/Germany and India! By the grace of God, we were able to load up everything, lay out some general information, and head out on time even with such a large group! Praise God! Special thank you's to all of those that volunteered to help move/carry luggage, prayer supporters, and drivers on this day.

Left VFCC campus 1pm. Arrived in Newark about 3pm. We broke off into our flight groups: Air France and Lufthanza. Part of us were going to Paris, France, and the others to Frankfurt, Germany, for our layovers which is just how the tickets worked out. 

Group 1 - Air France: Pastor Phil, Trinidad, Alicia, Nicole, Georgia, Nick, Becky, Sarah, Ruth, Amy O, and Emily

Group 2 - Lufthanza: James, Asha, Emmanuel, Amy P, Larissa, and Michelle (Sammy had his own flight, and met up with them Day 2 in Germany in transit to India)

Lufthanza group departed around 5:30pm while Air France departed at 7pm. 

On a personal note - Air France: It was so awesome to see our group together going through check in, security, and even having our last dinner on US soil together. :-D Thank you team for helping me work through the whole airport experience being my first time in a big place! Thanks, Sammy, for letting us play a joke back on you with Nick "stuck in security" for trying to scare us with "news of current violence in India!" We love our student leader! :-P

2 movies, some music, fun chat, plane food, and funny new inside jokes later, we arrived in Paris (or Frankfort). See Day 2 for more details!

The weekend before leaving...

So what a crazy weekend! Finishing finals for the spring semester... Moving things out to storage, home, or summer housing... Packing for India... Talking and seeing family for the last time before traveling to the other side of the world for 2 weeks (aka Sammy's motherland)... Should I have waited until the last minute for preparing some things? Nope. Tiring? Yes. Worth it? YES YES YES! 

Almost there....

So we are leaving in 4 days....for me at least, the time could not go any slower. I want Monday to be here already! It is so odd to me, looking back when we were a hundred days away or forty days away... all the various meetings and planning sessions are all done. It is truly crunch time now.

My heart is ready and open... because while I have a vague idea of what we will be doing (we do have a day by day itenerary), I have no idea of what we have in store for us there, as a team, and as individuals. I know we will be used, we will be able to serve, we will be able to minister, but it is exciting to see in what capacity we will be doing these things. It is an amazing and beautiful thing to see everyone's unique gifts and and life experiences come together and be used to bless other people... all in the powerful name of Christ.

Plus, I am just excited to get me some Indian food....whut?!!

~Georgia

Service 5/1/09

These are pictures from our great student supporters from VFCC during Team India 09's "Taste of India" service on Friday, May 1st, 2009. Our team did a music worship set in both english and spanish, testimonies, women's dance to Britt Nicole's "Set the World on Fire," Lifehouse "Everything" drama, "Pray for India" video by Paul Thangiah (check it out on youtube.com!!), Pastor Phil's reflection/word, Pastor Cocal's commentary, offering, food and fellowship (we are Guatemala-style food that night!!), and prayer. It was amazing! Praise the Mighty Lord!