Sorrow lasts for the night...

While I was sitting in the rented van that was to take us to our hotel in Bangalore, I wasn't so sure that the sun was going to come up today. I wasn't so sure that I would ever be able to sincerely smile at anyone or anything ever again. The pain and the sorrow that gripped my heart had been making it's way slowly up to my head. I started to think crazy thoughts like when I left the USA...things like "Why did I even want to do this?" Things like "If I knew this was going to hurt this much...I might not have done it...." CRAZY things....

Yesterday....was.....rough.

I had it all together until I hugged Suganya (the girl from the previous post) and Sandhiya back to back (Sandhiya is a girl who I call "von-kohli", turkey, she and I have become best buds). Both of them were quietly sobbing...trying so hard not to let me see them cry. As we hugged, I felt their tiny bodies spasm in my arms...I lifted their chin to offer a sign of affection that we learned in Tamil Nadu (you basically pinch the cheeks of the person and then kiss the fingers that you used to pinch their cheek) and that's where it all went downhill...and downhill fast.

Such sorrow...such pain...such emptiness. I'm telling you, this is a mirror post of the sadness that I felt on SEPTEMBER 13 when I was saying goodbye to my parents and my brother. In that moment, I wanted to just call everything off and say "Okay, we're staying...."

And then I remembered the joy that we experienced together...then I remembered the happy times...I remembered that if these amazing kids didn't share their lives with me over the past 6 months so incredibly...that March 11 would be just another Sunday for me and I am NOT willing to let that be.

As I was thinking about the deep sorrow and pain, I started to think about the incredible and overwhelming joy that awaits at the JFK terminal when I see my family on Tuesday...the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. Isn't that what Jesus meant when He said "I came that they might have LIFE and have it to the full""?

Loving people with reckless abandon...loving and being loved like you'll never be hurt...THAT'S what I've learned on this trip...THAT'S life to the full! And if that's life to the full, that's why Jesus came.

I will MISS MY FAMILY at Carmel to no end. Those children have left an impression on my heart that will last a lifetime. And in a somewhat shocking development, the sun is just about to come up over the horizon. The sun IS going to rise again today. I WILL sincerely smile today...and I can't tell you how happy I am that we did this.


As always...thanks for your support and your love. Your prayers have sustained us over the past 6 months and your financial support made this possible in the first place. This is probably the last post from India. We'll be sure to update you once or twice about reentry.

Thanks for thinking this blog is worth your time to read. There are a group of incredible, beautiful kids that I would love to tell you some more about. Interested? Just let me know :)

It has begun...

No matter how you say it...14 days...2 weeks....half a month....a fortnight (that's my fav by the way) the fact remains is that our incredible journey is rapidly coming to an end. We only have 2 weeks (out of 26) left.

The sadness that we knew was inevitable has started to show already...and it couldn't have happened with a worse person. Let me tell you about P. Suganya. The first time I came to India in 2008, P. Suganya was in 2nd grade. I think that in the two weeks I was here that time, P.Suganya became an actual extension of my body. Wherever I was, she was...whatever I did, she did. We must have played a million pat-a-cake-type games together those two weeks. SHE WAS MY BUDDY!

When I came back in 2010, P. Suganya was in 4th grade. The culture being what it is, it was more difficult for her to be so close to me all the time. She stayed back at a distance for the first few days...It wasn't until WAY later that P. Suganya resumed her role as my shadow. Once she did, it was just like the old days :)

Fast forward to 2011...when we first got here. I couldn't wait to see Suganya and when I did, I saw that she had grown into a beautiful young woman...studying in 6th grade. Although our relationship has been different this time around, we are still extremely close and just LOVE each other's company.

Last week, Suganya and I were reminiscing a little bit about the first time I came to India. I asked if she remembered and she responded that she did. I said "We must have played a million games of 'Zip Zap Zoom' (a hand game)". Suganya got a HUGE smile on her face and said "No Uncle, six million". We laughed about it and then talked some more about 2008 and 2010.

Fast forward to 2 days ago...a typical night at the hostel. I was hanging out with some kids, including Suganya when all of a sudden, I got the longest sustained hug I have ever gotten from a kid in India. It became fairly obvious that there was the slightest bit of crying going on and so I looked at Suganya and I asked her why she was sad. She responded with "I have such sadness, you are leaving very soon..."

UGH...

Kick...to....the....gut.

I could not deny the fact that I was leaving soon...I could simply hold her and say "Yes. I am leaving very soon but we still have two weeks left." The words didn't do much to heal either of our hearts...the damage had been done. Being here six months has brought with it the blessing of beautiful, deep and meaningful relationships. It has brought the curse of having to say goodbye at least for a little while.

The one thing that I can say for certain is that I am going to miss P. Suganya....
I am going to miss her times a million.................
No Uncle, six million.

Newsletter volume 4!!

In all likelihood, this will be our final newsletter from India. There will be at least one more coming once we get home.
We had to make this one REALLY simple because our internet connection has been going crazy and it take literally 8 hours to upload files that are 100K! so...here it is...enjoy!!!!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6364546/Newsletter%20volume%204.doc

(Please copy and paste this link into your browser window)

Lifted up!!!

Team visit summary…

What a great visit! The mission team from the US was here from January 8 – 18. These were dates that were circled on our calendar when we came. We thought it would be a nice to be here to see the preparation for the team from this end…and we also thought it would be nice to see some familiar faces.

Here’s what I didn’t bank on that all of you at home DID…

This was a HUGE lift! I have said a hundred times before that we love what we’re doing here…and we do! But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we don’t miss it…and don’t miss home. The team being here…and the lift that it provided was amazing. I feel like we’re recharged and ready to finish strong for our last 7 and a half weeks. We’re also going to the Taj Mahal on Wednesday, which will be a welcome distraction from our daily routine. These are exciting times indeed!!

So…seven and a half weeks. All of this preparation…all of this time…all of these beautiful and wonderful stories and experiences….and there’s only about 50 something days left. What a mixed bag of emotions. Of everything that I’ve ever done in my life, I am most proud of this! I’m most proud of what we have accomplished here. This trip was filled…absolutely overflowing with little victories and wins that led to something else. We started with nothing but faith and a dream to bring a huge amount of love to the children of Semmandakuppam….now….almost three-quarters of the way done, we have done that and working on the legacy that that leaves behind. I am proud…not of what we have done but of what God has done through us. I am proud that we have been vessels. I am proud that we have been used in the way we’ve been used.

So much emotion surrounds our actual leaving and no doubt there will be more blog posts on them. Suffice it to say that the team being here reignited a spark in us and we’re ready to go for these past 55 days! We are going to finish VERY strong! Thanks, team!

P.S. The Giants are in the NFC championship game…just thought you should know.

P.P.S. There are not enough words to describe how THANKFUL we are to all of you who have supported us. There’s no possible way I can say thank you enough to all the people I need to say thank you to. You have helped us fulfill a dream. We always knew we would be missionaries, we just thought we would be a lot older before we were able to do it. Because of your love and support, it certainly seems more than likely that we will meet our fundraising goal (despite our error). I can’t say thank you enough for helping this dream come true. You have helped us bring hope, love, grace and mercy to the children of Semmandakuppam. I am humbled by your overwhelming support.

The team is coming!!!

Today is a very EXCITING day here at Carmel. The annual mission team comes tomorrow evening and this place is BUZZING with excitement. It is really cool to be here for this experience. The kids are so happy...so excited...so hopeful and just looking forward to an amazing time. I am too! I am excited to see my friends, I am excited to speak fluent English and I'm excited to get a boost for the last 60 or so days! :) It is going to be amazing.

It's about 10:45 on Saturday night here...
I am awake because I am sick. BUMMER!!! I have been healthy for the first 116 days but today (of all days) I have a fever and just feel lousy. It's funny how perspectives change when you're sick.
One of the things that is radically different about India is the fact that the electricity goes off every single day...most of the time for several hours at a time. I would estimate that we have electricity for about 15 hours a day and do not have it for the remainder (but that's a guess...and that's 6 hours on, 3 off, 1 hour on, 2 off, etc).

ANYWAY...it really doesn't bother me all that much except it totally did today while I was sick. In my sickness-induced state, I made a short list of things that are much harder to do in the dark than they are to do in the light....

Here goes.

1) Putting on pajamas. This might not seem like a difficult task but as I am writing this, I am sitting with the "Starter" logo on my shorts facing the opposite way and a tag coming out of the front of my shorts.

2) Finding the cough medicine in the plethora of medicine bottles. It would be nicer if cough medicine was named "Cough medicine"...instead of like Dimetrol or Elixitate or whatever.

3) Remembering which bag you put the dosage cup in the night before. We have a ton of ants here so EVERYTHING has to go in ziploc bags. Well, we don't have a dosage cup Ziploc so it has to live with something else. I couldn't remember which one it was...so I looked through 56 before I found out that it was in with Michelle's razors...of course!

4) Filling said dosage cup to the 2 tsp line. This is simple math that does not work out in my favor...I have a flashlight, a dosage cup, a bottle of cough syrup and sadly only two hands. FYI...flashlights don't taste good. (Although better than the cough syrup I subsequently swallowed)

5) Figuring out if the thing on the floor is a scorpion or one of Zaili's stuffed animals. Seriously, I have not seen a scorpion here...nor do I even know if they are native to India but Zaili's little cat from a McDonald's happy meal looks an awful lot like a scorpion in the dark. Thankfully, it wasn't...and no one was stung.

well, the lights are back on so I gotta go.

Reflections on the first 100 (and 5) days….

This was supposed to be done 5 days ago, that would have made the title make a lot more sense. But alas, in the beautiful and sometimes frustrating world of India, sometimes there is no internet connection for some unknown reason and sometimes there is no electricity (or ‘current’) for the same mysterious reason.

That being said…

100 days down, 82 to go…or as I write this, 105 days down, 77 to go.

This has been a remarkable, incredible and amazing journey of faith, of trust, of fear…everything. This has been the full package. This has run the gamut of emotions. In many ways, I have been looking forward to going home since the day we left…and in many ways, I feel like I could stay here forever with my Indian brothers and sisters.

I’ve tried to think of ways to effectively tell the story of what happens here…of every day life. In a lot of ways life is radically different here when the team (which comes in 10 short days!) is not here. Finally, last week I think I have a story that helps to tell the story a little bit.

I was folding laundry off the clothes line and a little boy named Keshore came by to chat. We talked a little while…or we talked as much as a 35 year old man from the United States who speaks fluent English as his only language can talk to a 6 year old little boy from India who barely speaks fluent Tamil and knows about 30 words in English. I asked him about his school work and what he liked to do and he sheepishly smiled when I told him that he was a very handsome boy and was very smart. It was obvious that Keshore just wanted to hang out. So he did. As I was getting close to finishing the laundry, Keshore grabbed one of the socks from the pile and neatly folded it in half and presented it to me.

Is this the cutest story ever? Yeah…probably. But it has a much greater purpose for the 100 day wrapup. The attitude here is “when one wins, we all win…” By that I simply mean that these people are in this together. They support each other, they root for each other, when one of them has something, they all have it and when one of them is without, they are all without.

There is a sense of unity here that I have never experienced before outside of my own family. This community (and wow…community has a new meaning to me here) bands together like few people can or do.

In the first 100 days…I am proud to say that we have become a part of this incredible community.




The children:
This trip is all about the kids. They have been amazing since the start. They have accepted us into their community like no other. Our goal when we got here was to show them how much they are loved by God…by us and by the sponsors back at home. They have shown us the same. It’s a beautiful story when people who have nearly NOTHING in common get together and become a loving family. We literally have hardly anything in common except for our faith…and THAT has been the building block of some of the most incredible relationships any of us have experienced.

The class:
One of our main objectives was to teach an English class. One problem: I had never taught anything in my life! I needed to become an effective teacher in the span of about 3 days. Passion does some crazy things…I worked my butt off to do the best I could for these kids who were counting on me. Now…there’s spoken English class every single day at school for about 390 kids (something that I don’t THINK was the intention but once it got started, it went really well!).

As a matter of fact, the class is going and has gone so well that there has been a teacher’s class added 3 times a week for about 8-10 of the staff. I looked in an advertisement recently and saw that a spoken English class that was offered locally in Dharmapuri was 6 sessions for $240 US Dollars! I like this advertisement better: Spoken English Class, 15 weeks, 45 sessions…FREE…because we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Free…because God has called us to give and to use opportunities to share our faith. God tells us to put our faith into action and so this is the way we’re being used right now.

The ministry:
There are so many stories I could tell about how we have been treated since we’ve been here. I will start with this one: I was asked to give a Christmas message at the local church in town. Not going to lie…I was a little intimidated when I looked out into the sea of faces and saw hundreds of people who did not speak my native language. I silently prayed and proceeded to give a message based on the Christmas story uniting us. That even though we look different and have different cultures and are from different background, we are united in Christ.

At the end of the service, they called Michelle and I up to the front of the church to present us with a special gift. They had given us a suitcase with their church’s name and logo on it. The pastor said: “This bag is for you. Inside it is empty but know that it is filled with our prayers and our love for you and your family. It is an honor for us to give this to our brother and sister in Christ”. WOW. Just WOW. The only mistake the pastor made is that the bag is not empty at all. That bag is overflowing! I don’t know how it is even able to be closed.

The conclusion:
This place is incredible. It’s amazing and I can’t wait to tell you about it in person! The first 100 days were everything I had hoped it would be and so much more! It has challenged me in ways I never thought possible. It has challenged my faith…it has challenged nearly everything I have ever believed about myself and about God.

It will break my heart to leave. It will break my heart to hug Sandia, Suganya, Gayathri, Yogesh and EVERYONE for the last time. I’m sure tears will roll when I am forced to say goodbye to Freena and Backi.

And then my mourning will turn into dancing when I see my mom and dad waiting for me in Terminal 6 of JFK airport.

I have 2 families now…and I love them both dearly.
Here’s to an amazing 105 days….I can’t wait to see what happens in the next 77.


Coming soon: The Christmas wrapup (AMAZING celebration!!)

NEWSLETTER

NEW NEWSLETTER!!!!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6364546/Newsletter%20volume%203.5.doc

Check out our new newsletter...the Christmas edition.
Also, the year-end, tax-deductible gift edition! :)

Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for your constant love and support!

Chapel Chicken

So there' this chicken that Zaili named, Chapel Chicken. This brown chicken basically lives in the back of the alter in the chapel. Mot of the time you wouldn't know she's there unless you look. Every once in a while the chicken is coming or going during our worship. After being here 2 months there are some things that are pretty "normal" during worship; Chapel Chicken in the alter, Rocky the dog barking his head off outside, a cow passing by and Jimmy the dog curled up, front and center by the alter rail.

But this morning the chicken came in, then moments later in a fit of energy, Jimmy came running in after her. Did I mention Sathya just began our prayer? There was so much clucking and scampering!!!! It was hard not to chuckle to myself at first. Then, it was my job to make sure Zaili didn't laugh her head off. One boy did get up to get Jimmy out...unsuccessfully. The chicken was up front freaking out as loud as she could. The rooster was outside clucking, I guess reassuring or giving instructions to Mrs. Chicken. Amongst this chaos Sathya. a 10th grade girl, kept praying, on her knees, head bowed, eyes closed and completely connected to God....and so were all the other children.

In my obvious distraction, I was struck by their clear focus on God. Inspired, I began to pray in the chaos and connect to my Savior. What a lesson I learned from this morning's excitement. In the US we may not have dogs and chickens and roosters in or around our churches but we certainly bring a lot of distraction into those walls and into our times of prayer and connecting with God. The creator of the universe deserves our full attention. This isn't an easy expectation but not much about discipleship is easy. But all worth it! Thanks to Chapel Chicken, Jimmy, Sathya and the children at Carmel, I will press on toward the goal. Philippians 3:14.

Action King!?!?!?

I have this RIDICULOUS sort-of, part-time nickname in India that Freena gave me. One day, she saw that I was getting ready to go running and she said “There he goes! Jason…the ACTION KING”. It’s completely ridiculous because I consider myself almost the antithesis of an “action king”. Truth be told, there are few things I love more than curling up on the couch and watching a baseball game with a bowl of ice cream in the crook of my arm… HARDLY what I would consider behavior fitting for the pseudonym “action king”.

In any case, “action king” has become a joke among us. Whenever I do anything, I am teased about being the action king. It is self-deprecating as well. When I need to take a nap between classes, I will simply say “you know me…the action king”.

ANYWAY…

Monday turned out to be a rough Monday…probably the roughest one since we’ve been here. The students had their mid-term exams and so I was not teaching in the morning. However, I did have a computer program that I wanted to install on the computer at the school. It is a great program called “Pronunciation Power”. It will be very helpful to them when we leave. (It has been very helpful in my teaching as well). There was only one problem. Electricity. Electricity is not completely reliable here in India. We have electricity for about 15 hours a day. However, there is usually a rhythm to it. We lose electric at about 4am, returns about 6, lose it at 8 or 9, returns around 11…there is USUALLY some predictability. When I left for school Monday morning, I knew there was no electricity but I figured that it would just come back at some point, I would install the program and go on with my day. Well….I waited…..and waited…..and waited……

I sat in the classroom IDLE for TWO AND A HALF HOURS!

Once again…hardly behavior I would accept from the ACTION KING! And certainly not what I had in mind when I decided I was going to work my butt off for the kids of Carmel. But there I was…helpless. I couldn’t do a thing. There was nothing TO do! The kids were taking an exam and there was no electricity.

Later on in the day, I remembered John Wesley’s prayer…. (excerpt only here)…

I am no longer mine but yours…

Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for you or LAID ASIDE FOR YOU!

This is not a great spiritual revelation for me. I didn’t suddenly come to understand that everything I do here is holy (because I don’t believe that). However, this was a reality check for me. I am not always in charge. I cannot always do what I want to do. Some days I am going to have to sit and wait…

Some days I’m going to have to learn to wait…

If I can only take that realization with me back to the US.

It’s not going to be easy…after all, I am the action king!

RAINY Season!!!

When we were researching Tamil Nadu, we were SHOCKED to see the amount of rain that falls throughout the state during "rainy season". There was as much rain in a month as York, PA gets all year!

When we got here, we found out that in THIS area of Tamil Nadu, the rain is not quite as torrential. However, there is a DEFINITE rainy season...and we are just now getting out of it.

For the past 4 weeks, it has rained every single day. (The past 3 days it has not at all...and the locals are calling it the END of rainy season). Sometimes the rain would come in sheets! Sometimes buckets and sometimes drizzle...but it would rain EVERY day. The sun was a rare sight to see for that time and I forgot how much I missed it.

Rainy season absolutely lived up to its name!

Rainy season was also a bit "rainy" for us. Zaili had a very short, very minor bout of homesickness and the day after it, we found out that our cat, Habakkuk, died. It was completely shocking because she was completely healthy when we left and completely healthy up until the day before she died!

Logically I tell myself that death is a part of life and that Zaili (and each of us) will have to learn to deal with the bitter taste that death leaves. As a dad...as the person who had to break the news to her that her cat died..........logic is moot. Logic didn't have to comfort her as she sobbed. Logic didn't have to see her face when she found out. Logic doesn't have to replay the moment in its head time after time. Rainy season has been difficult.

Through the rough patches, It's also a time of tremendous joy! We are absolutely LOVING it here and loving what we're doing! We're building lifelong friendships and making it very clear to these beautiful children that they are loved...not only by us but by God. As the Peace Corps would say, this is the "toughest job you'll ever love". ALONG with that joy is the other GREAT news. If you're reading this blog, you probably already know that Michelle is pregnant and we are expecting our second child in May!

What a roller coaster of emotions a second child brings (most of you know the whole story). What a range of emotions this whole adventure has been. I am completely in touch with the verse where Jesus says "I came that they might have LIFE...and have it to the full..."

This is life...this is life to the full. Every possible emotion, every possible reaction. Rainy season has come and gone.

Never mind the silver lining, the clouds are fine.

It doesn't mean I like it...it means it's life to the full.

RIP Habakkuk Ruth - January 26 2000 - November 2 2011

Newsletter volume 2!

Here's an exciting newsletter, straight from Semmandakuppam!

Enjoy!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6364546/Newsletter%20volume%202.doc

ACCEPTED!!

I wouldn't be as excited about this in the US as I am in India.  Perspective can be a crazy gift.

The other night, I was upstairs not doing much of anything...so I decided to go downstairs and see what was happening in the kitchen.  I walked in the kitchen to see Freena and Gayathri cooking dinner.  They were making chapatti (spelling??) which are flat, round circles (or squares) of bread.  They make a huge amount of dough and then rip off little by little and make small balls of dough out of each.

ANYWAY...all of that to say that I walked in and sat down and just started helping.  I didn't ask if I could.  I simply sat down and started tearing off small pieces of dough to roll into chapatti.

There we sat and there we talked about life....about dreams...about the future and about Jesus.

 This is a MONUMENTAL moment in the ministry here!

This is probably the first time we were just accepted...as equals...as friends.  This was the first time that it was no big deal that I was in the kitchen helping or that I was getting my hands dirty for "no reason".  It was incredible!  It was what friends do.

Like I said...I wouldn't be as excited about this at home as I am here (so no bright ideas about making me make all of your chapatti when I get home!!) :)  but this was a great moment.

I don't necessarily LIKE making chapatti.  It's somewhat tedious and a little bit like a craft (and you know how I feel about crafts) but this was NOT about making chapatti.  This was about sitting and talking....with my FRIENDS.

I can't wait to sit with my friends and family back in the US and talk...about life...about dreams...about the future and about Jesus...and I'm so glad I can now do that here.  

Challenging? Sure! Worth it? ABSOLUTELY!

Okay so first...before I write anything else...

I am NOT liking the new blogspot format. We didn't change our blog to look like this.

It was done by itself. Sorry. ANYWAY...there are way worse things in life :)

It has been a real challenge and a real treat to teach here at Carmel. We arrived at Carmel at the beginning of their quarterly exams. During that time, I “supervised” the quarterly exams by making sure the kids had all of the things they needed in order to complete the test. After the quarterly exams, there was a one week vacation. When the kids returned to school from vacation, that is when the English classes began.

It is just now the end of the second week of English class and I LOVE it. I am not a skilled linguist by any stretch…and I don’t even know too much about what I’m doing. These kids continually motivate me and make me try harder to be better for them. I didn’t know a thing about how to teach English or accent reduction when I got here. However, that’s how Backi and Freena think I can be most helpful so you know what? I’m going to learn as much as I possibly can about teaching English and accent reduction. I have spent quite a bit of time on the computer…checking out what the internet has to offer on the subject and putting together some rag-tag lesson plans. Here’s the best part…you know it’s starting to WORK!

After two weeks, I DEFINITELY hear a difference and TODAY…today one of the teachers pointed out an incorrect sound that SHE heard the students making. It was a HUGE win!

I don’t share any of this blog post to say that I NOW think I am a good English teacher…that’s not the point at all. I think the point here is that I have found (something else) that motivates me! These kids getting out of poverty…these kids having a shot at a life in which they don’t have to worry about the very very basic necessities of life. If learning English can help a little bit in that…you’d better believe I am going to do everything I can to become the best English teacher I can possibly be.

Motivation is an extremely powerful tool! Passion is an unstoppable force! I have had the privilege of being laser-focused on this trip. Just about everything that I’ve done has had a reason and has been a step towards the goal. This is VERY new to me! But again…passion is an unstoppable force! It can make the scatter-brained become laser-focused. It can slow us down to reach the goal faster (that’s a weird sentence but I think you catch the gist of what I’m saying).

Our time at Carmel has been unbelievable so far. My prayer for my friends, my family and for me too is that I pray we can all continually find our motivation…and I pray that that motivation comes from righting wrongs. I pray we can love mercy, act justly and walk humbly with God.

Building...

The other day Jason, Glen and I sat on the sidewalk with Kalai, A. Gayathri and Parimala. At first, we asked each other questions. We asked how school was, if they liked it, what they liked, what they wanted to be etc. The conversations went all over that they asked us questions like, if we had a swimming pool to how much a brick costs. That was really great but it got really cool when they started to teach us Bible verses in Tamil. They gave us each a memory verse to learn by January. I’m so excited, I almost have mine down. Parimala gave me mine. It was her memory verse from 2 years ago. She’s studying in the 8^th Standard (grade) and her ambition is to be a missionary and go to the far reaches where people do not know Jesus. I’m so proud to get to know her and encourage her. I’m also proud that she has taught me a Tamil (and English) memory verse from Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.”

Then another day the littler girls were working on something with downed palm branches. Here’s one trick to helping here…don’t ask if you can help; that answer is an obvious, “No Aunty!” But, I just sat down with Malar and chatted with her as I watched what she was doing. Then, I asked a few questions and before she knew it, I was helping her and the other girls make brooms! Not only was I helping but it was a great time to get to know them better. I found out that Malar knows more than the hand games she LOVES to play and has very good English.

I’ve had several chances to sit and talk with Freena, she asks about our family and friends back home and tells me “God willing I will come visit some day.” We’ve had a chance to talk about what the family of God means to us personally. And we’ve talked about the cultural differences and the fear and danger that is abundant in India, especially for young girls. We’ve laughed together and shared our concerns.

Today, I went to the girls’ dorm in the late afternoon and it was hysterical. They were so wound. They were joking around and pushing each other and telling me all sorts of silly things. They were trying to trick me to put my arms in the air to tickle me. I’m so often reminded of how very much alike we all are. Despite vast cultural differences in dress, social interaction, food, etc, we have so many similarities. We all want to be loved, we all want attention, we all want to laugh, and we all joke about the same silly things. I think about the tower of Babel and how everyone understood each other. I can’t count how many times I was talked to in Tamil today, and a lot of times I just said WHAT?? And laughed and sometimes, more than I thought I would, I eventually understood. If we’re trying hard enough, we can be connected.

Tomorrow we will start teaching English at the school. That was one of the objectives of coming here. But it is clear to me that we’ve already begun reaching a higher objective that Christ sets. We are totally loved and are giving love in this place. We are building the family of Christ. And I don’t mean, me, Jason, Zaili and Glen…I mean all of us here at Carmel. The work is being done. Praise God for the amazing love he freely gives and sets as an example!