Almost Home...

Do you remember the movie “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”? Well, I feel like I am right in the middle of it. After a bumpy 16-hour bus ride, a very long 16-hour “layover” in Bangalore and a smelly seven-hour train ride, we finally made it back to Chennai. Our flight to Australia leaves tomorrow afternoon and then it’s back to the States in just a little over a week!

It’s going to be bizarre to go back to a country where I will drive on the right side of the paved road, pretty much all cars have A/C, four wheeling is for snow and “off road”, horns are typically only used in frustration, people are fined for littering - it’s definitely not the way of life, showers are prominent - no more bucketing!, STDs are sexually transmitted diseases - not the phone booths I use to call home, people are usually over 18 when they get married, the only things women wear on their heads are hats and sunglasses - no baskets, sticks, etc., I won’t a superstar (but I will be a bride!) or a singer (oh yes, as sad as it is, many microphones have been put to my lips over the past few months), no one will ask for my autograph or try to take pictures of me, the only herds I see will be of people at a good concert, I’ll have my very own room (at least for a little while!) with a mattress on a bed, children suffer from obesity and materialism (not poverty and starvation), children will be in school - not working construction, carbs are bad, you go to the grocery store for food - not your backyard, tap water is drinkable, Thanksgiving is the only meal that takes more than two hours to make, high maintenance orders (I would like an iced, grande, sugar-free vanilla, non-fat late please) are common and shoes are pretty much required everywhere you go. Crazy as it is, in so many ways, I am really going to miss India!

Valentine's Day, Ministry and More...

"Who is this guy?!?!" is exactly what my teammates said when we walked in the door after ministry yesterday to find 48 beautiful, long-stemmed red roses and tons of imported chocolate from "Jason Surratt, South Carolina, USA". Who knew that you could send flowers across the world? Especially to an address of "783 Near Merces Church" – no that is not the street name, just a general direction. God definitely had His hand in the success of Jason’s incredibly romantic Valentine’s Day display. I feel so blessed to have such a thoughtful and devoted fiancee! This one can go in the "Jason’s Guide to Romantic Moments" book.

Thankfully, ministry is going just as well as my love life. We have spent the past few weeks working with about 40 children – teaching songs and dances, playing games, giving English lessons, telling Bible stories and helping with homework. I felt like such a mom yesterday as I went back and forth between helping one girl, who was reading a story, with words she didn’t know and counting with another! It has truly been better than I could have ever imagined. Our last day with them is this Sunday and it is going to be so hard to say good-bye. Turns out that Hancee got a sponsor and is going to be able to attend a great school in June! She is really coming along with her reading and speaking.

Jason and I have decided to sponsor a sweet, very artistic (the first day that we were there he spent a couple of hours drawing me a picture of Jesus) little boy named Durgenai and I couldn’t be more excited. He came from a village on the outskirts of town and a Hindu background. His parents both passed away when he was very young and, before he came to the orphanage, he was living with a relative who also passed away. He came to the orphanage for what was supposed to be a short time as his relatives sorted out where he would live. When it came time to leave, he was very unhappy because he wanted to stay with the children. For his better interest, his relatives worked it out for him to stay in the orphanage temporarily. Now he will be able to stay permanently and is going to be enrolled in school in June! We are delighted to ensure that he will be raised in a Christian environment and get a good education. Even more so, I am glad to be able to support him and all of the other children in prayer. I can’t wait to get to a better computer where I can post pictures – they are so precious! If you are interested in sponsoring a child, please feel free to ask me for details.

Glory to God - Ephesians 3:20 Style

Thinking back, so much has happened since my last post. We spent an incredible three weeks in Rayakatta, a marvelous mountain encircled village, two hours south of Bangalore. We were so blessed with wonderful accommodations and even hot water! Though we had been warned that Rayakatta would require much spiritual warfare, nothing could have prepared us for what we experienced. We worked mostly with Pastor Johnly, a wonderful servant of the Lord who moved to the village 30 years ago when no one there had even heard of Jesus. Since that time, his church has grown to over 400 members. During our stay, we did a lot of village ministry – house visits and open air meetings, visited a reformatory school, two private Christian schools, preached the gospel in front of a couple of Hindu temples and performed/gave messages and testimonies at several churches. We witnessed many salvations, saw an entire village come to Christ (!) and prayed for and saw a demon possessed woman delivered. Praise God!

I admit that I am fairly sensitive and, if you went to Sri Lanka with me a couple of years ago you know that the poverty brought quite a few tears to my eyes. I mentally prepared myself before coming to India and, though I have seen conditions worse than I imagined possible, I have been holding it together quite well. However, my heart finally broke one night as we prayed for a 90 year old man – lying on his death bed, a dirt floor with a pile of old clothing as a pillow – to receive healing. He received salvation. This man was the head of the village. I don’t know what moved me more – the fact that he had waited so long and lived almost his entire life without knowing the Lord or the hope that his last dying wishes and words to the village people would be that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

After a smelly, 16 hour train ride, we are now in the state of Goa (a.k.a. God’s one acre!). Our initial accommodations were not exactly five star – a roach infested kitchen, two bedrooms (no beds), a hall and one squatty potty for eleven people and a baby. But, once again, God has been faithful and provided us with a much better set up, real toilet and all. We are positioned very close to the orphanage where we have been and will be working during the majority of our remaining time in India. One of our responsibilities is to help the children with their studies so yesterday I was going through this ABC type book with Hancee, a precious twelve year old girl. I asked one of the older orphans what we should be studying for school and was informed that Hancee is not going to school. She came from a bad family and was never been enrolled as a small child. Now, neither the public nor private schools will take her because she is too old. This absolutely kills me. I am going to do everything in my God given power to try to rectify this situation. The sad fact is that there are countless numbers of children just like her all over this world. Please pray for Hancee and the many other children who do not have the opportunity to have an education.