After 4 four weeks in India, it seems it was such a long time ago that we were in Indonesia where we started our trip. Now we are down to one week left. There is a part of me that is looking forward to going home but at the same time I am committed to finish the work I have left to do.
This last Wednesday I had an interesting experience while I was preaching during the Wednesday night prayer meeting. About halfway through my message I got very dizzy, light headed and my stomach was about to exit its contents out my mouth. I had to stop preaching walk over to one of the first pews to sit down. As I was walking to sit down I almost lost my vision as I was on the verge of blacking out. After I sat down I was able to compose myself and calm my body down. The congregation sang a few hymns and then I stood back up and gave a “conclusion” to my message before I left to walk back to the guest house to lie down and rest. So what happened? Well, I was dehydrated and while I was preaching in the heat and sweating (no A/C in this part of India) my body was shutting down because I did not have enough water and electrolytes. I went right to sleep for the night and woke up the next morning with the same dizziness. So I had to take a day of rest from teaching and replenish my system with water. I ended up drinking 4 liters of water by lunch time, but it wasn’t until dinner time did I feel back to my normal self. This was an interesting experience for me because I had never dehydrated myself before even with all the training I’ve done for my sports activities. Anyway, I’m all better now and I was back to teaching today.
Five members of our ministry team left today to head back to America so we are back to just Steve and Becky and me and Jodie. It was sad to see them leave but even sadder for the people here that they ministered too so faithfully. The Christian school had an assembly yesterday morning where they sang songs and gave gifts to us. It was a special time and a great pleasure to see the joy and happiness in all their faces. They wanted us to make sure and give Thanks to all of you who have supported us and prayed for us in our ministry because your giving has impacted their lives through us.
Prayer Requests for this last week include:
Continued strength to finish the work we have committed to do in the final week.
Josh will be preaching twice again this Sunday.
Jodie is working with 3 different teams teaching them The Redeemer skit, pray that we can teach the complete skit before we leave (we are also working to get full length video and music to pass on to them so they can teach themselves – the college kids are very eager to learn so they can use these in their ministries)
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Mosquitoes in our net
The rest of the group (4 people) came about a week ago so Josh and I moved from the house where we were staying into the orphanage. We are in a room on the 2nd floor right by the boys rooms. So now every morning instead of pouring warm water over our heads we poor freezing cold water over our heads!!!!!!!!!!!!! It sure wakes us up!!!
We have been working at the school each day teaching with the teachers and helping them plan lessons for the next day. I have been working mainly in the second grade which has been somewhat of a stretch for me. Most of the teachers are very interested in having us teach or work with them on different ideas of how to teach a certain topic. They are open to new ideas and wanting to learn which is an encouragement.
Josh and I have been teaching some of grade 10 a drama. So for the past few days after school they have been staying after and working with us. A few evenings back we (the whole team) were asked to go to a service that the college students were having for the freshman (freshers). Once we got there they wanted us all to speak! Oh my! So we all had to think on the spot and share something. Thankfully the Lord brought something to my mind to share.
Everyone has been fairly healthy the past week. I am constantly itching. It seems any type of bug or bacteria is attracted to my skin! Fun times :) Josh and I have not had anything unusual living inside of us though which is a praise! Let’s hope it remains that way! Josh and I are sleeping on two beds that have been put together and our “mosquito net” is more like a tent on top of the bed. It looks like a dome shaped tent just without the stakes. I think it’s really cool because we don’t have to tuck in a net we just unzip the tent . Anyway….the other night Josh wakes up in the middle of the night (without me knowing) and gets a blanket from outside of our tent and brings it inside. Well, at some point during the night I wake up and hear whining/buzzing around my head. When we woke up the next morning there was about 4 mosquitoes in our tent. They had come in with the blanket! And guess who got bit…..that’s right me. Josh didn’t have one bite on him. I told him that if I got malaria it was because of him. Haha.
Most of the group that is here now leaves this Friday. My parents and Josh and I will remain for another two weeks. Pray that we finish strong. We are both getting very tired and are missing home.
We have been working at the school each day teaching with the teachers and helping them plan lessons for the next day. I have been working mainly in the second grade which has been somewhat of a stretch for me. Most of the teachers are very interested in having us teach or work with them on different ideas of how to teach a certain topic. They are open to new ideas and wanting to learn which is an encouragement.
Josh and I have been teaching some of grade 10 a drama. So for the past few days after school they have been staying after and working with us. A few evenings back we (the whole team) were asked to go to a service that the college students were having for the freshman (freshers). Once we got there they wanted us all to speak! Oh my! So we all had to think on the spot and share something. Thankfully the Lord brought something to my mind to share.
Everyone has been fairly healthy the past week. I am constantly itching. It seems any type of bug or bacteria is attracted to my skin! Fun times :) Josh and I have not had anything unusual living inside of us though which is a praise! Let’s hope it remains that way! Josh and I are sleeping on two beds that have been put together and our “mosquito net” is more like a tent on top of the bed. It looks like a dome shaped tent just without the stakes. I think it’s really cool because we don’t have to tuck in a net we just unzip the tent . Anyway….the other night Josh wakes up in the middle of the night (without me knowing) and gets a blanket from outside of our tent and brings it inside. Well, at some point during the night I wake up and hear whining/buzzing around my head. When we woke up the next morning there was about 4 mosquitoes in our tent. They had come in with the blanket! And guess who got bit…..that’s right me. Josh didn’t have one bite on him. I told him that if I got malaria it was because of him. Haha.
Most of the group that is here now leaves this Friday. My parents and Josh and I will remain for another two weeks. Pray that we finish strong. We are both getting very tired and are missing home.
Friday, July 22, 2011
A busy week, just two weeks left
Well, it has been a busy week and I have not been able to post for the past several days. This is a quick update on how things are going. The rest of our team has joined us this week. Another Pastor Steve from Indiana will be teaching a module class on Biblical Counseling and his wife will be working with the teachers at the school. Former missionary Kay Lamb will be doing Bible Studies with the ladies and Sue from New Jersey will be organizing the new library for the school. This trip we brought over 300 books that will be added to the library for the students at the school. The few books these students come into contact with are mostly the textbooks for class. So the library that has started here at the school brings many new books for the students to read.
I finished teaching the book of Isaiah and gave a test and I’m happy to say that all my students passed. In fact there were three 100% and everybody did better than 80%. Today I started teaching the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament and will continue for the next two weeks.
Yesterday I was able to spend some time with three of my students. They were asking me about life in America and I got to know more about them and their background and how they came to study at the Bible College. There are a few challenges to communicating with the students in the class room. One being the language barrier but along with that is the student’s respect of the teacher and not wanting to question the teacher. Also, they can be intimidated by an American and be afraid to use their English in front of you or in general just be nervous to speak up and ask a question. (The president of the College, H.C. Steven also told me that the Indian people will sometimes feel inferior to the white man because of the former British Empire colonies in India). So one of my goals is to establish relationships with my students so they can get to know me a little better and I can get to know them and they can be more comfortable in the classroom.
Thank you for all your prayers.
I finished teaching the book of Isaiah and gave a test and I’m happy to say that all my students passed. In fact there were three 100% and everybody did better than 80%. Today I started teaching the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament and will continue for the next two weeks.
Yesterday I was able to spend some time with three of my students. They were asking me about life in America and I got to know more about them and their background and how they came to study at the Bible College. There are a few challenges to communicating with the students in the class room. One being the language barrier but along with that is the student’s respect of the teacher and not wanting to question the teacher. Also, they can be intimidated by an American and be afraid to use their English in front of you or in general just be nervous to speak up and ask a question. (The president of the College, H.C. Steven also told me that the Indian people will sometimes feel inferior to the white man because of the former British Empire colonies in India). So one of my goals is to establish relationships with my students so they can get to know me a little better and I can get to know them and they can be more comfortable in the classroom.
Thank you for all your prayers.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Clothes, Bugs, and Bumps
It has been raining a little each day here as it is their rainy season. The rain is a great thing as it cools everything down! However, rain does not help our clothes washing experience. We wash our clothes in a bucket and then rinse them off in another bucket and hang them out to dry. It’s a lot more work to wash clothes then what we are used to but it’s actually kind of fun. In fact, I’m thinking of getting rid of our washer and dryer when we get home! J/K.
We have seen a variety of bugs while here. This really big beetle thing flies into our living room area almost every night. The kids at the home here just pick it up and throw it outside. We are all afraid to get near it…lol. Last night I was getting ready to get into my suitcase and I saw a critter run behind it into hiding. I jumped back hoping it was not the mice that we were told were in the place we were staying. The past few nights a little Gecko has been watching my nightly rituals of getting ready for bed. Probably waiting for me to leave so it can move again. The good thing is that we sleep under a mosquito net so they can’t get us while sleeping. Although this morning I woke up and there were about 5 flying things in my mosquito net. Not sure how they got there!
I developed some big bumps on my arms and some on my legs that itch. We have been told that there is a worm here that comes out and if you touch anything it touches you can develop these bumps that itch. However, some think that I may have a food allergy. The bumps are starting to get better which is good; however, I do not know what caused them!
Things are really going quite well here even though living here is much different than the states! All but one day has been pretty cool. There is usually a nice breeze which is great! This past week was the first week of school for the students here in Churachandpur. Many teachers were absent so Barb, my mom, and I filled in as substitute teachers all week. Between the three of us we had math, geography, writing, and reading covered. We also led the devotion time on Tuesday and Friday. We sang songs and Barb taught a lesson to the students from the Bible. The past three nights, my dad, Josh, and Barb have given a message during the boy’s orphanage devotional time. Tomorrow Josh is preaching 2 times and tonight we are doing a drama for the youth group here. Please continue to pray for health and strength. We are going to bed around 10 every night and get up around 4:30 or 5:00 each morning. Because everything is open (i.e. windows) we basically wake up with the sun.
Josh and I have had it made while here. We’ve not been staying with the rest of the group. We have been staying at the pastor’s house so we have some luxuries that the others have not had. For example, we have a fan at night…..of course it’s only on when the electricity is on which is very touch and go…but still….it’s better than not having it at all! We’ve also had hot water for bathing. The houseworker puts two canisters of hot water in our bathroom that we mix with cold water in a bucket to bathe with! The others are bathing with cold water….sshhhh don’t tell them.
We have seen a variety of bugs while here. This really big beetle thing flies into our living room area almost every night. The kids at the home here just pick it up and throw it outside. We are all afraid to get near it…lol. Last night I was getting ready to get into my suitcase and I saw a critter run behind it into hiding. I jumped back hoping it was not the mice that we were told were in the place we were staying. The past few nights a little Gecko has been watching my nightly rituals of getting ready for bed. Probably waiting for me to leave so it can move again. The good thing is that we sleep under a mosquito net so they can’t get us while sleeping. Although this morning I woke up and there were about 5 flying things in my mosquito net. Not sure how they got there!
I developed some big bumps on my arms and some on my legs that itch. We have been told that there is a worm here that comes out and if you touch anything it touches you can develop these bumps that itch. However, some think that I may have a food allergy. The bumps are starting to get better which is good; however, I do not know what caused them!
Things are really going quite well here even though living here is much different than the states! All but one day has been pretty cool. There is usually a nice breeze which is great! This past week was the first week of school for the students here in Churachandpur. Many teachers were absent so Barb, my mom, and I filled in as substitute teachers all week. Between the three of us we had math, geography, writing, and reading covered. We also led the devotion time on Tuesday and Friday. We sang songs and Barb taught a lesson to the students from the Bible. The past three nights, my dad, Josh, and Barb have given a message during the boy’s orphanage devotional time. Tomorrow Josh is preaching 2 times and tonight we are doing a drama for the youth group here. Please continue to pray for health and strength. We are going to bed around 10 every night and get up around 4:30 or 5:00 each morning. Because everything is open (i.e. windows) we basically wake up with the sun.
Josh and I have had it made while here. We’ve not been staying with the rest of the group. We have been staying at the pastor’s house so we have some luxuries that the others have not had. For example, we have a fan at night…..of course it’s only on when the electricity is on which is very touch and go…but still….it’s better than not having it at all! We’ve also had hot water for bathing. The houseworker puts two canisters of hot water in our bathroom that we mix with cold water in a bucket to bathe with! The others are bathing with cold water….sshhhh don’t tell them.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
First week in Churachandpur
I will be preaching each Sunday that we are here for the next five weeks and sometimes twice on Sunday for a total of about 7 sermons. I am really appreciating the opportunity to preach and I pray that the Lord will encourage his people from His Word.
I am continually amazed at the students I am teaching. Our class room is without electricity so the only light we have is the light that comes through the windows. And they will sit and learn from 9:00am to 3:00pm with a 15 min break every 2 hours without any lunch. They get two meals a day breakfast and dinner.
There are other difficulties we work through mainly with the language barrier. All the Bible college classes are in English, and it is a requirement for admission to speak English. However, their English comprehension ability is junior high level. The first two days of my teaching, the students struggled with my lectures. I have had to continually rethink my teaching methods and get more creative. Each night I conference with Jodie and her Mom for help on my teaching techniques and helping the students get the most out of my lectures. Today was much better and I’m hoping for continued improvement. I greatly appreciate your prayers.
Please pray for the church in Manipur, India. The community in Churachandpur has an Orphanage and a growing Christian school along with multiple churches in the city and new church plants in the hills. Please pray that God will continually work in and among these nations to reach the rest of the Indian people. Just a few kilometers south of Churachandpur there are no more churches and the region is predominately Hindu. In my class I have students from Hindu families and students from the neighboring country of Nepal. I am praying that some of my students will be missionaries to these areas and start churches in areas where there are no churches.
I am continually amazed at the students I am teaching. Our class room is without electricity so the only light we have is the light that comes through the windows. And they will sit and learn from 9:00am to 3:00pm with a 15 min break every 2 hours without any lunch. They get two meals a day breakfast and dinner.
There are other difficulties we work through mainly with the language barrier. All the Bible college classes are in English, and it is a requirement for admission to speak English. However, their English comprehension ability is junior high level. The first two days of my teaching, the students struggled with my lectures. I have had to continually rethink my teaching methods and get more creative. Each night I conference with Jodie and her Mom for help on my teaching techniques and helping the students get the most out of my lectures. Today was much better and I’m hoping for continued improvement. I greatly appreciate your prayers.
Please pray for the church in Manipur, India. The community in Churachandpur has an Orphanage and a growing Christian school along with multiple churches in the city and new church plants in the hills. Please pray that God will continually work in and among these nations to reach the rest of the Indian people. Just a few kilometers south of Churachandpur there are no more churches and the region is predominately Hindu. In my class I have students from Hindu families and students from the neighboring country of Nepal. I am praying that some of my students will be missionaries to these areas and start churches in areas where there are no churches.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Arrived in India
Thank you for your prayers for the church in Indonesia while we were there the past week. God has raised up incredible leaders that have a true vision for church planting across the entire nation of Indonesia. Steve and I were able to visit a “free Medical services” clinic offered by the hospital in a town 45 minutes outside the city. Some 500 people went through the clinic that was hosted inside the town’s government office, which is predominately Muslim. Steve was able to talk to one of the former leaders who claimed to be Muslim.
The hospital is a vital asset to the church community providing a positive influence on the community in order for churches to be established without resistance. Each person has to claim a religion and have their license id card labeled as “Christian” or “Muslim” or “Hindu” or “Catholic… If you are a Christian things don’t come easy for you. You are not allowed to have any signs for your church or proselytize. In order for a church to build a building there must be a certain number of members AND a petition has to be signed by 60 or more non-members from the community. These types of things make establishing churches difficult.
After the Medical services visit, Steve and I traveled another 20 minutes to a local church plant that is the 3rd church plant by the senior Pastor in his area. They meet in a house and are planning to build a church building next to the house property but they are waiting to build until they have enough funds. They have the foundation laid on a plot of about 1080 square feet which will be used for a church that will seat approx. 80 people and a parsonage for the pastor to live. Completion of the project is on hold for funds that would equal what you and I would pay to buy a used car.
Becky and Jodie ran a teacher’s education conference from Monday through Saturday totaling approximately 50 hours of training for the teachers of the Christian schools that are run by the churches in Sumatra. It was a huge success and Becky and Jodie were loved by all the teachers. These Christian schools are an amazing tool for ministry and evangelism in the local communities here. One school in North Sumatra has 1000 students for just an elementary drawing many non-Christians in attendance. Most all these schools have been started in the last five years so they do not have the established grades past junior high but that is where they are headed in the future. I was able to talk to the pastor of this church during the Mission’s Conference and he was expressing to me his desire to see an American teacher come and teach English for a semester and teach from God’s Word. This is what Steve’s ministry is all about – Partnering with the local ministry to provide ministry help in any way we can. We are praying for these kinds of opportunities and praying for those who will answer the call and be willing to come from America to teach for a semester here – possibly a college student, or recent graduate.
God has taught me many things about the ministry here in Indonesia and it has been a true blessing to be a part of the Mission’s Conference for Team Sumatra. I was surrounded by 50 incredible pastors that have a great heart for evangelism and church planting. While they gave me the opportunity to speak with them about a couple of things such as God’s plan for the church to reach all the nations to bring citizens into the Kingdom of God and from John 17 about the importance of prayer in evangelism – I most certainly had many more things I learned from them and their experiences. I also had the opportunity to preach both Sundays we were in Indonesia and I pray that God’s word was a blessing to the congregations. As we leave Indonesia pray for the ministry there that God would bring many more people to faith.
We are now on our way to Charachandpur, India where we will be for the next five weeks – pray for us and also as we are here, pray for the church in India and specifically for the region we will be ministering in. The region surrounding Churachandpur has 65 Baptist churches in the New Testament Baptist Churches association, with a seminary, Christian school, and an orphanage. This area is rural and “in the hills” with limited resources, but we know that God does mighty things from the lesser of things among us.
The hospital is a vital asset to the church community providing a positive influence on the community in order for churches to be established without resistance. Each person has to claim a religion and have their license id card labeled as “Christian” or “Muslim” or “Hindu” or “Catholic… If you are a Christian things don’t come easy for you. You are not allowed to have any signs for your church or proselytize. In order for a church to build a building there must be a certain number of members AND a petition has to be signed by 60 or more non-members from the community. These types of things make establishing churches difficult.
After the Medical services visit, Steve and I traveled another 20 minutes to a local church plant that is the 3rd church plant by the senior Pastor in his area. They meet in a house and are planning to build a church building next to the house property but they are waiting to build until they have enough funds. They have the foundation laid on a plot of about 1080 square feet which will be used for a church that will seat approx. 80 people and a parsonage for the pastor to live. Completion of the project is on hold for funds that would equal what you and I would pay to buy a used car.
Becky and Jodie ran a teacher’s education conference from Monday through Saturday totaling approximately 50 hours of training for the teachers of the Christian schools that are run by the churches in Sumatra. It was a huge success and Becky and Jodie were loved by all the teachers. These Christian schools are an amazing tool for ministry and evangelism in the local communities here. One school in North Sumatra has 1000 students for just an elementary drawing many non-Christians in attendance. Most all these schools have been started in the last five years so they do not have the established grades past junior high but that is where they are headed in the future. I was able to talk to the pastor of this church during the Mission’s Conference and he was expressing to me his desire to see an American teacher come and teach English for a semester and teach from God’s Word. This is what Steve’s ministry is all about – Partnering with the local ministry to provide ministry help in any way we can. We are praying for these kinds of opportunities and praying for those who will answer the call and be willing to come from America to teach for a semester here – possibly a college student, or recent graduate.
God has taught me many things about the ministry here in Indonesia and it has been a true blessing to be a part of the Mission’s Conference for Team Sumatra. I was surrounded by 50 incredible pastors that have a great heart for evangelism and church planting. While they gave me the opportunity to speak with them about a couple of things such as God’s plan for the church to reach all the nations to bring citizens into the Kingdom of God and from John 17 about the importance of prayer in evangelism – I most certainly had many more things I learned from them and their experiences. I also had the opportunity to preach both Sundays we were in Indonesia and I pray that God’s word was a blessing to the congregations. As we leave Indonesia pray for the ministry there that God would bring many more people to faith.
We are now on our way to Charachandpur, India where we will be for the next five weeks – pray for us and also as we are here, pray for the church in India and specifically for the region we will be ministering in. The region surrounding Churachandpur has 65 Baptist churches in the New Testament Baptist Churches association, with a seminary, Christian school, and an orphanage. This area is rural and “in the hills” with limited resources, but we know that God does mighty things from the lesser of things among us.
Suitcases and Strikes and Roadblocks……OH MY
We left Delhi this morning with our 14 suitcases, 11 carry-ons, and 1 red pan. We have added one more member to our team which means 2 more suitcases! It has been quite an experience traveling with so much. We have had some trouble with some of the airlines because of the amount of suitcases. We try to explain to them that most of the luggage are supplies for kids in an orphanage we are visiting, but I don’t think that really matters to them. However, one of the pastor’s brother in law works at the Delhi airport and helped us get through a lot of our luggage without having to pay for a whole lot of extra weight!
The five tired travelers landed in Imphal excited to get to the orphanage and settle in for the next five weeks. However, upon landing and meeting the local pastor in Imphal we learned that the people who were supposed to pick us up and take us to Churachandpur couldn’t get through because of a strike. Locals who are upset with the government are on strike and block the roads so no one can pass. This also meant that instead of getting out of Imphal and onto Churachandpur we had to get a hotel in Imphal and hope that the strike ends tomorrow so we can get to our final destination.
So….the five of us with our many suitcases rode around Imphal in 3 separate cars with the people from the church here trying to find a place to stay! We are in our hotel rooms now waiting out the strike Thank the Lord for fellow believers from Imphal who so willingly helped us.
We had a nice relaxing time in Delhi. We ate at KFC, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut! We also had traditional Indian food in the YMCA where we stayed. Josh and I had a wonderful cockroach friend that joined us in our room at the YMCA I woke up one night to Josh on the floor with my shoe reaching under a cabinet trying to kill the pest. He claims he got it; however, I saw one in the bathroom the morning we left. Not sure if it was the same one or a different one
We were able to do some shopping in Delhi. Everywhere we went people were following us trying to give us directions, asking us for something, or trying to get us to buy something. I think by the 3rd day they were used to us walking around and didn’t come up to us as much.
Wednesday night in Delhi we went to a church and were able to minister to the people there through drama, singing, and testimonies. There was a boy at that church who was in the orphanage in Churachandpur 3 years ago when I was there. He was a part of the group that I taught puppets and drama! He is now in Delhi going to school and studying botany. It was neat to be able to see one of the kids I had taught 3 years ago.
The five tired travelers landed in Imphal excited to get to the orphanage and settle in for the next five weeks. However, upon landing and meeting the local pastor in Imphal we learned that the people who were supposed to pick us up and take us to Churachandpur couldn’t get through because of a strike. Locals who are upset with the government are on strike and block the roads so no one can pass. This also meant that instead of getting out of Imphal and onto Churachandpur we had to get a hotel in Imphal and hope that the strike ends tomorrow so we can get to our final destination.
So….the five of us with our many suitcases rode around Imphal in 3 separate cars with the people from the church here trying to find a place to stay! We are in our hotel rooms now waiting out the strike Thank the Lord for fellow believers from Imphal who so willingly helped us.
We had a nice relaxing time in Delhi. We ate at KFC, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut! We also had traditional Indian food in the YMCA where we stayed. Josh and I had a wonderful cockroach friend that joined us in our room at the YMCA I woke up one night to Josh on the floor with my shoe reaching under a cabinet trying to kill the pest. He claims he got it; however, I saw one in the bathroom the morning we left. Not sure if it was the same one or a different one
We were able to do some shopping in Delhi. Everywhere we went people were following us trying to give us directions, asking us for something, or trying to get us to buy something. I think by the 3rd day they were used to us walking around and didn’t come up to us as much.
Wednesday night in Delhi we went to a church and were able to minister to the people there through drama, singing, and testimonies. There was a boy at that church who was in the orphanage in Churachandpur 3 years ago when I was there. He was a part of the group that I taught puppets and drama! He is now in Delhi going to school and studying botany. It was neat to be able to see one of the kids I had taught 3 years ago.
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