Oh boy!!!

When we first arrived, we were shown a video they had done with pictures from the ministry and video of the church dedication.  I was told one of the projects I would be working on during my time here was to write up an English version of the narration for the promotional DVD.  Today was the day we went to Vijayawada to record and finalize the DVD with me narrating!!! 

This weekend we had a gentleman from Germany visiting for the first time and so our first stop was dropping him off at a church in the city.  He is friends with some of the people that had come from Germany a few weeks ago, but was in India working with other pastors.  He wanted to meet Prabhudas and check out New Hope Ministries while he was so close and was only here for the weekend.  I really enjoyed meeting him and it was nice to have English preaching in church again yesterday. 

This picture is of the street outside the church where we dropped him off.  I had never been to this area of town before.  The road was so narrow and the community went up the hillside from the road so there were a lot of steep stairways leading up to homes. 

The next stop was at a photographer's studio.  Prabhudas was needing some updated pictures for the events he is a part of.  In India, the speakers' pictures are posted on all the banners and flyers used to advertise special events and he'd been using the same picture for a long time.  It was fun to watch and the pictures turned out really good.  At the end, they insisted I sit for a couple of shots, but I'd put my own camera away already so don't have any pictures of me.

Before lunch, we went to this little office to record the narration for the promotional DVD.  They kept telling me to talk faster and if I paused too long they deleted the break so it is a very fast paced video.  They told me to do little sections at a time which was a good thing since my throat was sore and I needed the frequent breaks to drink a little water.  But it went much more smoothly than I had thought and we were off to lunch before I knew it!  Not something I would have expected to be doing when I first planned to stay in India, but I guess that's just how it goes on the mission field!

What have I agreed to?

Initially, my understanding was that if you were married you wore a sari and if not, you wore punjabis. I was fine with that as the punjabis are comfortable and I can dress myself. But this trip, I have been told that it is okay for girls that are not married to wear a sari on occasion, like dressing up. So, after many requests by the Children's Home girls, as well as comments by a few of the ladies, I finally agreed to wear a sari to church. For those who are unfamiliar with a sari, the lady wears a short top and then has yards of fabric wrapped around her waist and brought up over her shoulder. I enjoyed watching Sharelee being "decorated" by Ruth when she wore a couple saris while she was here, but was a bit unsure about going through the process myself. Now all the clothes these ladies wear are beautiful, but there is a difference in designs and materials so I knew wanted something light and flowy rather than the heavier material. Since I was just going to wear it once, we decided I'd just borrow one of Ruth's dresses, but I'd have to have a top made for me. So before heading into Jaggayyapet to finish my shopping, we decided to go through the options in Ruth's wardrobe. She kept pulling out the heavier, fancier dresses and I kept saying, I really want the light, flowy material. So we narrowed it down and I chose a dark blue printed one that didn't have any embellishments and was light and flowy. Then Ruth said, "Okay, and then you can wear this one too." She really wanted me to wear this beautiful, bright purple one tht had a lot of gold on it. Seeing how much she wanted me to wear that one, I told her I could just wear that one, but found myself coming home from the store that night with 2 tops instead of one!!! How did that happen?!? So this morning, I wore this beautiful dress to church and in 2 weeks, my last Sunday here, I will wear the fancy dress Ruth wants me to wear! Actually, it wasn't too bad. It did slip a little in the back, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as I'd expected.

Walking Tour



Picked up a few friends along the way!



Got to walk around the town a bit tonight.  Took the camera and a video camera to try to capture some pics of life in this region to use in the promotional video we are working on.  I had a couple girls from the Children's Home with me and a couple of the younger pastors as guides.  We walked for quite a while and I got to see parts of the community I'd not been to before.  It was dark by the time we got back, but it had been a lot of fun.  The pictures didn't turn out very well since the camera battery died right away and the photos on the video camera were not very good quality, but I enjoyed the trip anyway!!! 



Doctor from the church wanted me to sit at the desk in his clinic.





Visited a Catholic home for girls close to the church.







Thanksgiving in India

I've never been out of the country on Thanksgiving before, but thanks to Skype it was not as hard as I had thought it might be.  My mom had foot surgery 2 weeks before Thanksgiving and I was not home so my sister and sister-in-law were preparing the traditional meal for the first time in their lives.  I had wanted to talk to them in the morning during the prep time which was my Thursday night, but the internet went down after I chatted with a friend and I was not able to connect until I woke up Friday morning.  I was online with them from the end of the football game until they had already dug into the meal.  This is a snap shot I took on Skype of the dinner table.  All reports were that the food was delicious and the newbies had great success!  Well done, ladies!!!  I came home from school to a "Thanksgiving meal" of my own as Ruth had made me mashed potatoes and fruit salad in honor of the holiday I had missed.  Typical of a Thanksgiving meal, I was so full from the special dishes as well as the curry and rice that I didn't eat dinner despite Ruth's protests.  I assured her it was a part of Thanksgiving to be too full to eat again that day! 

Shopping!!!

Ruth and I spent the day in Vijayawada doing some shopping!  I really enjoyed my time with her and I got almost everything I'd wanted to find.  After our first stop, we walked with the driver to a church where he'd parked the car.  We were about to load up and Ruth asked me if I wanted to go inside so I said sure.  It was a beautiful church and I enjoyed getting to peek inside. 

Coming of age

I accompanied Ruth to the celebration of this young lady today.  Ruth said these parties started as a way for a family to let their relatives and friends know that their daughter was ready to marry.  Even when the law set a minimum age for girls to be able to marry at 18, the traditional celebration was continued when a daughter "matured".  It is a very interesting custom.  The girls have beautiful flowers in their hair and have their hands decorated with henna.  They are set up on a stage in one of the "thrones" I'm becoming accustomed to seeing at these events.  I was asked to share a few words before Ruth spoke.  Ruth prayed for the girl and then we had a wonderful lunch before heading home.  The young lady was about to change when we were leaving and I'm not sure what other festivities the day held for her. 

Engagement Day!!!



The bride and groom in their new clothes.

I've become friends in my time here with one of Ruth's nieces.  Shortly after I met her, she had a 5 minute meeting with the man she is going to marry.  My first trip to Hyderabad last month was for the meeting of her family and his to decide if there was going to be a wedding and to finalize an agreement for this arranged marriage.  Yesterday, I got to be there for her engagement.  We arrived in town late the night before and went to her home this morning.  After a short time there, we went to the location for the festivities.  People from both sides of Ruth's family had come for the occasion so they enjoyed some time visiting together while final preparations were made to the stage and we awaited the arrival of the groom's family.  The stage was set up with two large, red, throne-like chairs in the center.  When it was time to start, the groom was escorted up by his family and then my friend was taken up by hers.  Various pastors from the family spoke and prayed.  The groom's family presented gifts to the bride of food, flowers and a new sari.  The bride's family also gave the groom a new outfit and they both went off to change while two of Ruth's nieces sang a few songs.  The couple came back in their new clothes, the families joined them on the stage and they exchanged rings.  Then they stood there while the bride's relatives came up by families to bless them and take a picture.  We all ate lunch and then the photos continued as the groom's family filed across the stage.  The fathers also spent time with various other family members to discuss the details of the wedding.  The date is set for February 14 and now that they are engaged, my friend and her husband to be can finally begin getting to know each other through phone conversations.  We escorted the bride and groom back to the bride's home and then the groom left with his family.  We said our good-byes and started the long drive home.  We had barely pulled away from the house when I was trying to get a couple of bugs out the window and realized too late that I had grabbed a BEE!!!!  I'd never been stung before and it proved difficult getting the stinger out of my thumb.  My thumb thobbed for the first hour or so of the trip!  Bee stings are painful!!!  But otherwise, it was a great day!  =)

Baby dedication

Missed school again today and went to a family event about a half hour away instead.  A cousin came to church yesterday and joined us for lunch to give an invitation to come for his son's dedication ceremony.  We all fed the baby after P spoke and then had lunch.  I was amazed at what a large family this was...the father that invited us is one of 8 and his father is one of 11!!!  It was a fun day, though every time I turned around it seemed like I was staring into the camera - especially when I was eating! 

Movie night!!!

All the kids gathered in the courtyard tonight and we watched "How To Train Your Dragon" which they really enjoyed.  It was great to listen to them laugh throughout the movie.  What a great way to end the day!

Communion Sunday

Today was my first time in church for communion in India.  And I got to be a part of two services in one day!  Last night, I was asked to go to a church in Jaggayyapet this morning with Prabhudas to his friend's church.  On the way, I was told that his friend died 2 years ago, but the son was now leading and Prabhudas has been going for a couple months to encourage them.  I didn't have my camera so did not get any pictures, but I enjoyed it.  Back in town, I ran back to the house to get my camera.  The church was pretty packed and I snuck out after putting my stuff down to get some pictures.

I interrupted the Sunday School classes for pictures as well. 

 After the sermon, it was announced that communion was only for those who had been baptized and others were asked to move to the back so that those participating in communion could move to the front.  The elements were prayed for then given to a group of ladies sitting to the side to get it ready for passing out to the people.  When the cups were being passed out, I noticed a few ladies following those serving and collecting the cups as people finished taking it.  

New Hope School

It's been on my heart for a few weeks to try to raise funds for the school as I really want these kids to have the best possible school environment.  It will take another $6000 to finish the classrooms on top of the church and then the benches will need to be purchased (25 at $32/each).  Everyone is doing a great job making do with what we have, but it could be so much better!  So I took some pictures today to use for an info sheet on the school I'm working on.  This is the best one (I think) of the kids and staff.

One of the pastors that live at the Bible school, took the camera so that we could get all of us in one picture.

Then it was decided we needed one with just me and the kiddos!  I love these little ones so much!!!  =)

Busy day...

After a little school, and a women's meeting, I had a little down time before heading upstairs to do some office work.  Before I headed up, it started raining which I loved even though it meant my laundry didn't get done today.  I did feel bad for the guys working on the water pump as I don't think they were enjoying the rain as much as I was. 

With the storm came some great clouds and I wanted to be outside, but I tried to stay focused. And I did pretty good until it started sounding like someone was sawing through the roof. As soon as a phone call necessitated a break, I dashed upstairs to see what was going on and this is what I found...

  

Ruth had some of the boys using rocks to scrub the black, slimy stuff that was coating the roof and clogging up the drains causing the rain to puddle.  They used the buckets to wash away the yuck that was scrubbed up by the rocks and started scrubbing again!   

I figured while I was up there, I'd grab a couple shots of the clouds before getting back to work downstairs. 

Women's meeting in Jaggayyapet

Went to another women's meeting today in the nearest town called Jaggayyapet.  We met in the home of one of the teacher's I work with and his wife served us lunch after the meeting. 

I shared out of Philippians 4 and referenced I Peter 3:3-4 focusing on developing gentleness.  The German ladies shared about other things but one referenced I Peter 3:1 and the other used one of the same verses in Philippians 4.  It was pretty cool that though we all had different things to share, they had a common theme and the same Scriptures without having talked to each other before hand. 

I moved to the floor to eat as it was easier to balance the plate on my knee. 

It was a bit spicy, but I really enjoyed it!     

Oh so studious...and a special guest!

I was only in school for the first class today and pulled out my camera to capture some of my hard workers.


 

 Little Seanna is 3 years old and belongs to one of the pastors that lives at the Bible college so she comes to join us from time to time during class and today, decided to work on her writing with the bigger kids.