Our days in India start bright and early at 5:30 am.
The first teaching sessions start at 6:00 am -7:00 am with
singing and joyful sounds. Brenna started her second session with the kids who
were very receptive and engaged as they became more comfortable with us. Siromani was Brenna’s vibrant
translator. I think she was giving the
kids mini sermons as she was translating.
The kids are up early and go to bed late studying. We are tired keeping up with their schedules
but are enjoying the enthusiasm of the kids here. This year we only going to one of the other homes on Friday as it is hard to transport all of us around.
We have been blessed to see the new bibles and clothes from
our Christmas giving of friends back home in the United States. The kids are very thankful for the gifts and
treasures from our friends back home that pray and support them.
After our morning breakfast, the kids head out to school and
we have been heading to the pastor’s conference.
The drive to the pastor’s conference is quite the
adventure. We leave the town of Narsapur
and head through several villages to get to the East Godavari region. Our car has to navigate small roads through coconut groves and rice fields as well as fitting on small foot-bridges that
take us across the canals of the Godavari river. The Godavari river which is often called the
bread-basket from West to East across India is amazing to see. We are viewing the river before it feeds out
to the Bay of Bengal. The East Godavari
people are some of the most colorful, joyful, prayerful and loving people I
have ever met. They love the Lord and
they love their fellow man. The villages
are filled with beautiful coconut groves and rice fields as that is their main
source of income. It’s amazing to see
piles and piles of coconut shells that are used for cooking as well as ropes
that they make from them. We also
noticed some nice concrete homes that look like they were in pristine
condition. It was sad to hear why many
of these homes are here. Many of the
women in the villages have been contracted to be servants in homes in Dubai and
various countries in the Arabic region. The
women send money back home to build these homes as a sign of their status now
in life. The life for these women in
these homes abroad is not one of joy and happiness and many cases they are
mistreated. Their families are separated
with husbands left to fend for themselves and children to be left behind. Many of these kids are now in some of our
Lifesong homes.
Once we arrived at the pastor’s conference, it was amazing
to see the many village pastors, their wives, and villagers coming to hear
God’s word. Pastor Chris Hopf has been
sharing each day morning and night with the assistance of Bob and Siromani
Stoll and two of the main pastors who speak English. They have been very receptive to Chris and
love him dearly as this is his third trip to India to be in fellowship with them. This particular day we experienced the joyful
music of some of the pastor’s singing with Siromani in Telegu. Although I am not able to speak the language
well, I am able to understand every word they are saying.
After the service, we were able to spend some time getting
to know some of the people and their needs.
Many of the women and children came up to us asking for specific
prayer. It was amazing to fellowship
with them and most importantly lay hands and pray for them. The people here are not afraid to ask for
prayer for the smallest and biggest thing going on in their lives. Back home in the States when are shy to ask
for prayer. When was the last time we
asked a fellow brother or sister in Christ to lay hands on us and pray for our
ailments or needs? Brenna and I were
humbled by this time and their sincerity and love for the Lord.
We returned home that day going along the same exciting road
and this time got to see many monkeys on the foot bridge, which Neha absolutely
loved. The ride was long but amazing to
experience how the majority of India lives each day.
We returned home for some rest, late lunch and time with the
girls at home from college. We started
our third lesson with the girls and they became more and more comfortable with
the teaching and us. The jet-lag finally
hit Neha and she went to bed without dinner and was out till the next
morning. Very unusual for me to retire
early in the evenings and I have enjoyed spending that one-on-one time with
Neha each evening and morning.
Bathing here is been exciting for Neha. The water is cold or lukewarm from the tap
and the bathroom is all one room, sink, toilet and shower area. She has learned to take a quick body bath
kicking and screaming. I am so glad that
her first trip to India has been going to the orphanage and village areas
instead of the big cities where things are comfortable.
Love, Eliabeth and neha
Love, Eliabeth and neha
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