Sunday 9:30//11:00 @ Franklin High School

Hello all. We've arrived safely in Bangalore and have settled in for our first night here. It's been a good, busy few days and finding time to write it down has been tough. Fortunately, today was spent riding a train across India, so there was much time for writing. For this blog posting though I thought it'd be nice to hear from some other team members. So here are some posts from some of the other members of our team telling of their experiences thus far.

Jessica Walter - Current status: on a train to Bangalore! We are over halfway done with this trip and it has been an incredible journey so far. God has been all over India. On Friday we went to our first village which was about 2 hours away from the place we were staying. The car ride there was crazy! It felt like we were on a rollercoaster that just kept going up and down because the road was so bumpy! But that’s kinda how all car rides are in India because their roads aren’t the best. The village was a fishing village so the guys went on a fishing trip while the girls held a woman’s retreat for about 60 women where we taught them how to wash their hands and how to help their children when they got dehydrated. We also had them make salvation bracelets (black=sin, red=blood, blue=baptism, white=faith, green=growth & yellow=heaven) which was kinda hectic but it was our first run through so we had an excuse J.  After the woman’s retreat we went out and hung out with some kids for awhile and we learned how to play cricket! My team lost but it was a lot of fun. We put on a children’s rally afterward and played songs, did a skit, did crafts and games and the kids loved it! They were so adorable! It was a pretty good day and an awesome trip so far!!

Angelica - Right now we’re on a train to Bangalore, my first train ride ever! It’s pretty cool so far. This trip has opened my eyes a lot. I’ve noticed that God’s been working in India so much, with the kids that we visit, and even in our team. He’s given us great weather, the coolest it’s been in a long time, and keeping us healthy. Well, some of us! Luckily only Danny’s gotten sick, but that’s what he gets for not getting sick in 08 J So overall this trip has been a great experience, I love being with all the kids. No matter how hectic it may be with all of them tugging on you and saying “hi!” over and over again, because they don’t know that many words in English. Yesterday we went to an island outside of Chennai, called Vadagodi. Angel said that it was a dark place and so the team decided to fast that morning, so we can connect more to God, and just listen to what he has to say. So we took an hour long van ride to the water, and an hour long boat ride to get to the island. When we arrived the kids were standing on the hill waving at us just waiting for us, it was so adorable. It was a little hard to deal with the kids that morning because we had been tired from the ride there and from not eating, but we stuck through it! When we got there we sang action songs like “Father Abraham” which they loved! Then we made the same salvation bracelets with these kids, and they seem to love it, always showing us the bracelet afterwards. Then this time the girls got to go fishing, and by the way, we totally caught bigger fish than the guys did! J We even got to hold a jellyfish, but one that doesn’t sting, so don’t worry mom! It’s pretty cool; the lake is like 5 feet deep the whole way through, so you’d see people walking in the middle of the water, it was funny. Then we got back and played with the girls teaching them patty cake and the Macarena. We even got a chance to visit some houses in the nearby village. The way they live is heartbreaking, the hut was probably the size of my room at home, and had no lights, and was stuffy and hot. It broke my heart.  It’s amazing to see how they live. We met the woman who lived in the hut and she told us a little about herself. She said that her husband had beaten her and was an alcoholic. They shared a fishing boat with another family, so they couldn’t go fishing every day, only when the other family had used it. And when they got money from the fish, the husband would spend it on alcohol, so it was hard to feed her son and herself. It was so sad. So we prayed for her, asking God to bless that family, and the village, and the missionaries who work so hard there.  We even met an 18 year old girl who had married her uncle. That to me was shocking. So yesterday was a pretty long day. But we ended the day with a nice hot shower and some Domino’s pizza, which I thought was yummy! I’m excited to see Bangalore next, I’ve heard that it’s a complete 180 from Chennai. I’m excited to see what God has in store for us. Keep us in your prayers!

Kenzie - Hey everyone! We miss you all, but we are having an amazing and eye opening experience here in India. We can’t wait to come home and share what we have seen God do so far and the lives that we have impacted as well. On July 8, we encountered, I believe and I’m sure that everyone else on the team agrees, probably one of the hardest days of our trip. Towards two or so after we met with the missionaries and did an overview of the trip, we left to go to a school and a destitute home as well. We hopped on the bus and we were off. As we drove, the scenery outside my window started to change slowly. Not many of us knew what was to come, but we were excited. When we got there, we see tons of little kids all dressed in uniform. We soon learned that this was the school for the poor. And even though we only had 30 minutes to entertain them, we had a blast. We put on a puppet show, and did a concert for them with a few action songs, which they loved. They were all so excited to see us. Once school was out, we walked down the stairs and down the hallway, passing all the kids as we walk by. We turn the corner, and bam. It was no longer filled with laughter and screaming kids but filled with the sick and the dying people of India. All of our faces changed, and so did our moods. The smell that filled our noses’ was incredibly unfamiliar and unpleasant. We split up into two teams to go and visit the different rooms so that we could cover more area to spend time with more people.  My group had Tim with us so we were able to sing along with the guitar which made it easier. We visited three rooms. By far, the hardest room that we visited was the mentally ill women. I was already scared enough being in a place and having to interact with people who don’t speak the same language as me and are very sick, let alone going into a room where the women didn’t really understand why were there. They just wanted to come up to us, and hold our hands and speak with us. Although it was really hard, we got through it and in the end it was very beneficial. It really opened up our eyes and made us realize that without this place, these people would not be getting the help they need. It was really tough and unexpected but we went through it with God on our side, helping us shine our light upon these people. God was and is watching over them and many of us realized this. India has been full of challenges, but we have overcome them together as a team and have really grown closer to God and to each other as well. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Hope that was a good break from the usual writing. We're looking forward to a good first day in Bangalore tomorrow, so I'm sure there will be lots to write about.

God bless!

Hello all. We've arrived safely in Bangalore and have settled in for our first night here. It's been a good, busy few days and finding time to write it down has been tough. Fortunately, today was spent riding a train across India, so there was much time for writing. For this blog posting though I thought it'd be nice to hear from some other team members. So here are some posts from some of the other members of our team telling of their experiences thus far.

Jessica Walter - Current status: on a train to Bangalore! We are over halfway done with this trip and it has been an incredible journey so far. God has been all over India. On Friday we went to our first village which was about 2 hours away from the place we were staying. The car ride there was crazy! It felt like we were on a rollercoaster that just kept going up and down because the road was so bumpy! But that’s kinda how all car rides are in India because their roads aren’t the best. The village was a fishing village so the guys went on a fishing trip while the girls held a woman’s retreat for about 60 women where we taught them how to wash their hands and how to help their children when they got dehydrated. We also had them make salvation bracelets (black=sin, red=blood, blue=baptism, white=faith, green=growth & yellow=heaven) which was kinda hectic but it was our first run through so we had an excuse J.  After the woman’s retreat we went out and hung out with some kids for awhile and we learned how to play cricket! My team lost but it was a lot of fun. We put on a children’s rally afterward and played songs, did a skit, did crafts and games and the kids loved it! They were so adorable! It was a pretty good day and an awesome trip so far!!

Angelica - Right now we’re on a train to Bangalore, my first train ride ever! It’s pretty cool so far. This trip has opened my eyes a lot. I’ve noticed that God’s been working in India so much, with the kids that we visit, and even in our team. He’s given us great weather, the coolest it’s been in a long time, and keeping us healthy. Well, some of us! Luckily only Danny’s gotten sick, but that’s what he gets for not getting sick in 08 J So overall this trip has been a great experience, I love being with all the kids. No matter how hectic it may be with all of them tugging on you and saying “hi!” over and over again, because they don’t know that many words in English. Yesterday we went to an island outside of Chennai, called Vadagodi. Angel said that it was a dark place and so the team decided to fast that morning, so we can connect more to God, and just listen to what he has to say. So we took an hour long van ride to the water, and an hour long boat ride to get to the island. When we arrived the kids were standing on the hill waving at us just waiting for us, it was so adorable. It was a little hard to deal with the kids that morning because we had been tired from the ride there and from not eating, but we stuck through it! When we got there we sang action songs like “Father Abraham” which they loved! Then we made the same salvation bracelets with these kids, and they seem to love it, always showing us the bracelet afterwards. Then this time the girls got to go fishing, and by the way, we totally caught bigger fish than the guys did! J We even got to hold a jellyfish, but one that doesn’t sting, so don’t worry mom! It’s pretty cool; the lake is like 5 feet deep the whole way through, so you’d see people walking in the middle of the water, it was funny. Then we got back and played with the girls teaching them patty cake and the Macarena. We even got a chance to visit some houses in the nearby village. The way they live is heartbreaking, the hut was probably the size of my room at home, and had no lights, and was stuffy and hot. It broke my heart.  It’s amazing to see how they live. We met the woman who lived in the hut and she told us a little about herself. She said that her husband had beaten her and was an alcoholic. They shared a fishing boat with another family, so they couldn’t go fishing every day, only when the other family had used it. And when they got money from the fish, the husband would spend it on alcohol, so it was hard to feed her son and herself. It was so sad. So we prayed for her, asking God to bless that family, and the village, and the missionaries who work so hard there.  We even met an 18 year old girl who had married her uncle. That to me was shocking. So yesterday was a pretty long day. But we ended the day with a nice hot shower and some Domino’s pizza, which I thought was yummy! I’m excited to see Bangalore next, I’ve heard that it’s a complete 180 from Chennai. I’m excited to see what God has in store for us. Keep us in your prayers!

Kenzie - Hey everyone! We miss you all, but we are having an amazing and eye opening experience here in India. We can’t wait to come home and share what we have seen God do so far and the lives that we have impacted as well. On July 8, we encountered, I believe and I’m sure that everyone else on the team agrees, probably one of the hardest days of our trip. Towards two or so after we met with the missionaries and did an overview of the trip, we left to go to a school and a destitute home as well. We hopped on the bus and we were off. As we drove, the scenery outside my window started to change slowly. Not many of us knew what was to come, but we were excited. When we got there, we see tons of little kids all dressed in uniform. We soon learned that this was the school for the poor. And even though we only had 30 minutes to entertain them, we had a blast. We put on a puppet show, and did a concert for them with a few action songs, which they loved. They were all so excited to see us. Once school was out, we walked down the stairs and down the hallway, passing all the kids as we walk by. We turn the corner, and bam. It was no longer filled with laughter and screaming kids but filled with the sick and the dying people of India. All of our faces changed, and so did our moods. The smell that filled our noses’ was incredibly unfamiliar and unpleasant. We split up into two teams to go and visit the different rooms so that we could cover more area to spend time with more people.  My group had Tim with us so we were able to sing along with the guitar which made it easier. We visited three rooms. By far, the hardest room that we visited was the mentally ill women. I was already scared enough being in a place and having to interact with people who don’t speak the same language as me and are very sick, let alone going into a room where the women didn’t really understand why were there. They just wanted to come up to us, and hold our hands and speak with us. Although it was really hard, we got through it and in the end it was very beneficial. It really opened up our eyes and made us realize that without this place, these people would not be getting the help they need. It was really tough and unexpected but we went through it with God on our side, helping us shine our light upon these people. God was and is watching over them and many of us realized this. India has been full of challenges, but we have overcome them together as a team and have really grown closer to God and to each other as well. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Hope that was a good break from the usual writing. We're looking forward to a good first day in Bangalore tomorrow, so I'm sure there will be lots to write about.

God bless!

Today was a great day. We spent all day at a youth retreat in Chennai and got a great chance to interact with some youth who live in the city. It was a great chance for a cultural exchange, and being in an air conditioned room all day just sweetened the deal! We ended the day with shopping and dinner in the city. Sorry for the short post, but we've got a busy day tomorrow and it's getting late now. A longer post will come tomorrow as I'm sure there will be much more to say. Check facebook.com/chrismfox for some pictures and videos from the trip I've been posting there.

God bless!

So day 3. It's actually the morning of day 4 right now, but yesterday was a long day, so sleep was the first thing to happen after returning. We went to visit a village on the edge of the Pulicat lake (look it up on google earth). There is a ministry that serves the people of the 24 fishing villages along this lake and we were helping them put on a women's retreat and a children's program. We began the day with the women's retreat. However, the men of our team were not needed so we all got to go fishing on the lake with some of the locals. It was an awesome time of building relationships with some of the local villagers as well a some of the missionaries who serve that village. We then spent the next few hours playing with the children, singing, and making beaded bracelets. It was a very good day, but a very long one, and beds were more than welcome when we returned.

These are some thoughts from our team leader, Angel Warrior, that she wanted to share:

I am so excited to report that the weather is “unusually” nice a.k.a. answer to prayer! The day before we arrived, Chennai had “unexpected” downpour. It’s been drizzling sometimes while we’re out and about. A few downpours while we were indoors! J Just absolutely amazing and wonderful! Thank you, Lord! And thank you to all who are praying. Please continue to pray. Thank you also to Phil Machek for inspiring me to pray for unusually good weather. After Phil came from Nigeria and gave His praise report, I used his precedence with the Lord and prayed, “Lord, you did it for Phil, can you please do it for our team too?” And He did! J We serve an amazing God who controls the weather and a loving Father who answers us when we call!

On day2, the visit to the destitute home was heart-wrenching. But also very heart-warming to see the staff and volunteers care for the most marginalized people of this society. We were privileged to meet one of the founders, Mr. Selvaraj Boaz. He and his friend started this home called “Little drops” 19 years ago because God laid it on their hearts. They didn’t have much money and he shared that at the early days, even for the basic food provisions, they would have to give post-dated checks to the grocery merchants. But like He provided for George Muller of England (in the 19^th century?), God’s faithfulness and provision has not failed “little drops” for the past 19 years. In fact, they have consistently grown from their small beginnings and now serve 650 aged/dying/mentally ill in two locations in Chennai. As their name indicates, compared to the need of India, what they do are but little drops in the ocean. But it makes a huge difference to the “least of these” who are there. In closing, Mr. Boaz asked for prayer that the churches in Chennai would also be burdened to care for the “least of these” as they are not able to care for more people even the need is huge. He said that if each church can care for 5-10 of these people, there would be a huge impact! I couldn’t resist wondering how this relates to our churches in America.

God bless everyone!