Apologies for not uploading any photos from yesterday - thank you, Molly and Oliver, for sharing your God-given photography skills by contributing to pictures on this blog! Here's a quick look at our journey to India.
Friday morning, the team met at church, where we loaded up our luggage and to took a 2.5 hour bus ride to Newark airport.
During the bus ride, a few members of the team had an opportunity to share their personal testimonies on how they came to Christ, and how God called them to serve in India this summer. For some, it was a struggle deciding to go, but God's grace was clearly evident in moving hearts in His direction. He supplied the faith for it. It was a great time of fellowship, encouragement, and getting to know each other better.
From Newark, we flew non-stop to India....
... and we were greeted warmly by Wilson and his wife when we arrived. We went straight to our hotel, tired but excited.
Today (Day 2) was spent settling into our new environment, adjusting to the +9.5 hr time difference, and exploring the Indian culture.
After a night's rest, we got to enjoy a delicious Indian breakfast at the hotel.
We kept ourselves active and busy in effort to overcome jetlag by spending most of the day out and about.
The women on the team were required to wear traditional Indian dress during the ministry days, so Wilson's wife took the women shopping. It was quite an experience buying clothing in India! The salesmen took the women into a roomful of Indian clothing and brought out beautifully made pieces for us to see.
The clothing the women purchased will be worn at the VBS and family conference, which start this coming Monday. What a blessing that God provided for us in such a creative and fun way!
After clothes shopping, the women headed back to the hotel and joined the men for lunch.
The whole team headed to a nearby mall after lunch for some more shopping. On our way home from the mall, we saw more unusual sights not typically seen in the US.
After dinner, the team gathered in Pastor Greg's hotel room (all 16 of us) for some time of worship, prayer, and encouragement. Mark led us in some gospel-centered songs, and Pastor Greg shared from Ephesians 4:29 (" Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."). He graciously reminded us that we represent another kingdom, and the "aroma" that we leave to others around us and to each other should be grace-filled and encouraging, trusting that God would help us see people through His eyes. We then shared prayer requests, prayed for another and the upcoming VBS and family conference, and shared Bible verses which bolstered our faith.
Afterwards, we retired to our rooms for the night.
Please continue praying for the team.
1. Physical health - a few members of the team have felt ill already, due to the food, anti-malarial medication side effects, and slips and falls. Please pray that God would strengthen us physically and grant us rest so that we can carry out His work for us.
2. God is stretching our faith. Please pray for unity among the team.
3. Please pray for the family conference attendees. They will be coming from many states in India, and many of them will be travelling long distances (some travelling over 30 hours) to the conference site. For most, this will be first time leaving their state. Recently, there have also been many floods in India. This may affect the turnout at VBS and the family conference. The attendees are hungry for teaching and excited to learn from us. Please pray for safe travels so as many attendees as possible will be present.
4. Praise God the rain stopped in our area prior to our arrival! Please continue to pray that God would hold the rain back during the conference.
4. Please pray for the team members who are giving messages during the family conference. Pray for quietness of heart as they continue hearing from God during the preparation time, for wisdom in communicating the messages clearly, and for confidence in God's sufficiency, as many of them will be giving messages for the first time. Please pray they would be faithful to His Word, that the translation from English to the local Indian dialect would go smoothly, and that the messages would be easily passed on from the conference attendees to their respective churches.
[We] thank [our] God in all [our] remembrance of you because of your partnership in the gospel... for you are all partakers with [us] of grace... (Philippians 1:1, 5, 7)
Thank you for following our blog and for your faithful prayers!
Friday morning, the team met at church, where we loaded up our luggage and to took a 2.5 hour bus ride to Newark airport.
During the bus ride, a few members of the team had an opportunity to share their personal testimonies on how they came to Christ, and how God called them to serve in India this summer. For some, it was a struggle deciding to go, but God's grace was clearly evident in moving hearts in His direction. He supplied the faith for it. It was a great time of fellowship, encouragement, and getting to know each other better.
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| Siblings Phyllis Jean and Oliver, two of the youngest members of the team. What an encouragement to see God's grace working in young people in moving their hearts to missions! |
From Newark, we flew non-stop to India....
 |
| God's creation is breathtakingly beautiful... |
... and we were greeted warmly by Wilson and his wife when we arrived. We went straight to our hotel, tired but excited.
Today (Day 2) was spent settling into our new environment, adjusting to the +9.5 hr time difference, and exploring the Indian culture.
After a night's rest, we got to enjoy a delicious Indian breakfast at the hotel.
We kept ourselves active and busy in effort to overcome jetlag by spending most of the day out and about.
The women on the team were required to wear traditional Indian dress during the ministry days, so Wilson's wife took the women shopping. It was quite an experience buying clothing in India! The salesmen took the women into a roomful of Indian clothing and brought out beautifully made pieces for us to see.
 |
| Here we are, the women (plus Oliver), getting ready to leave for shopping. Oliver joined us to buy some clothing for his younger sisters back at home. |
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| The clothing shop we visited. |
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| So many beautiful pieces of clothing! This was only one side of the room... |
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| The salesman bringing out clothing, one by one. |
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| We picked out the ones we wanted to try on and buy. |
After clothes shopping, the women headed back to the hotel and joined the men for lunch.
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| Pastor Greg sharing with us the agenda for the rest of the day at lunch. |
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| Pistachio saffron ice cream for dessert! So good. |
The whole team headed to a nearby mall after lunch for some more shopping. On our way home from the mall, we saw more unusual sights not typically seen in the US.
 |
| A camel in the street! |
Afterwards, we retired to our rooms for the night.
Please continue praying for the team.
1. Physical health - a few members of the team have felt ill already, due to the food, anti-malarial medication side effects, and slips and falls. Please pray that God would strengthen us physically and grant us rest so that we can carry out His work for us.
2. God is stretching our faith. Please pray for unity among the team.
3. Please pray for the family conference attendees. They will be coming from many states in India, and many of them will be travelling long distances (some travelling over 30 hours) to the conference site. For most, this will be first time leaving their state. Recently, there have also been many floods in India. This may affect the turnout at VBS and the family conference. The attendees are hungry for teaching and excited to learn from us. Please pray for safe travels so as many attendees as possible will be present.
4. Praise God the rain stopped in our area prior to our arrival! Please continue to pray that God would hold the rain back during the conference.
4. Please pray for the team members who are giving messages during the family conference. Pray for quietness of heart as they continue hearing from God during the preparation time, for wisdom in communicating the messages clearly, and for confidence in God's sufficiency, as many of them will be giving messages for the first time. Please pray they would be faithful to His Word, that the translation from English to the local Indian dialect would go smoothly, and that the messages would be easily passed on from the conference attendees to their respective churches.
[We] thank [our] God in all [our] remembrance of you because of your partnership in the gospel... for you are all partakers with [us] of grace... (Philippians 1:1, 5, 7)
Thank you for following our blog and for your faithful prayers!
Great update...we will be praying for you all as a church family tomorrow! And great pics!!!
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