And so it begins...

Today was my first day "on my own" in India.  Chris and Sharelee left for Hyderabad super early this morning.  It was so weird coming home from school and walking into the empty guest house.  I packed up and moved to my new room right after lunch.  It was really nice to settle in for my stay here.  I am in the room I stayed in last time I came, but the extra bed has been removed and a desk put in which is really nice to have. 

For so long, I have dreamed of being on the mission field for a longer period of time, but I don't think the reality that I am actually doing it has fully hit me.  With Chris and Sharelee here, it seemed like just another trip in many ways, but it became something completely different when we said good-bye at 3:00 this morning.  I am excited to see what the future holds throughout my stay in India!  I am praying that I will not miss anything God has for me during this time!!!

Last few days with the Johnsons

Monday, I was not feeling well, but made it through classes.  I tried to introduce them to the Bible but did not have an interpreter to truly communicate.   

 I spent the afternoon resting and went to bed early while Chris and Sharelee were at an outreach. 

 

I was feeling better on Tuesday, but still had a headache.  I spent the afternoon making flashcards with Sharelee while Chris and Prabhudas did computer work.  We had some time with all the kids at the Children's Home that night.  Chris played a few songs while Sharelee and I passed out snacks. 

Wednesday was their last day here.  Sharelee was with me for the first class before coming back to the campus for some cooking lessons.  Later in the afternoon, she manned the camera to take individual pictures of each girl as I wrote down their names so that I could start learning them.  We took shelter under the carport during a bit of rain, but then moved back out front to play some games with the girls before we joined them in a time of prayer and worship. 

Working on numbers 

And how do you spell that?!?!?

Children's home girls

  

Run, run, run!!! Fun game, but I'm not sure how I ended up being the only one still running?

Nightly prayer and worship time outdoors tonight.

Chris and Sharelee are starting their journey home at 3:00am!  I'll get up to say good-bye and then hopefully get some more sleep!!! 

Church in Vijayawada

This was my first time to the city of Vijayawada and I thought the drive there was quite beautiful.  It breaks my heart though to pass so many temples and idols along the way.  Service was very good at the small church we went to and we were all impressed with a young girl that quoted quite a lot of Scripture at the end.  After lunch at a hotel buffet (very good food), we stopped at the "man mall" to pick up some electronics before heading home.

  Large statue of monkey god outside of town.

 Blue sign says "Welcome to Vijayawada"

At church and lunch

"Man mall"

 

  I love going up on the roof when the sun is setting!  Beautiful!!!



A Catholic visit

Across the street from where I'm staying and right next door to the church is a Catholic campus. On Saturday, we got to go visit the school. Out of 900 students, only 10% are Christians, the rest are Hindu and Muslim. We got to see the students and teachers while they were on break and then toured the facility stopping in several of the classes. It was a pretty impressive campus. We all really enjoyed the opportunity to visit.

Catholic school (kids are waving from the balconies).





 

Spent a little time visiting in the office



Freedom to Love, Freedom to Serve Conference

Wednesday through Friday, Chris did a conference for over 80 pastors from around the region.

The conference focused on Luke 4:18-19. 

 

At the end of each session, there was a time of ministry which often required pairing up.   

During an afternoon session, they had a baby dedication for this little guy's first birthday.  Chris visited his parents' village on one of his previous trips and after praying for them to have a baby told them they would be pregnant within a year.  Now, 2 years later, Chris got to pray a blessing over this precious boy.  His parents named him Samuel and like his Biblical name sake, his parents are devoting him to the Lord. 

 They fed everyone from the conference every day!!!

 

 On Friday, we went out to the tent where the pastors ate each meal and got to mingle.