Pictures

These are friends from the church. I know all of them from when I was in India with my family in 1996. They have been so great and have really welcomed me in. This was also my first time to wear a sari in India :) It was so much fun!!! Later on two of the girls took me shopping in the bazar that is close by. They all speak English very well so communicating with them is pretty easy.

These are two of the girls who live on the compound. They are AMAZING! I have really enjoyed getting to know the two of them. They really take care of me and are constantly blessing me. The one on my right is Nidhi and she is married to the one on my left Titi's brother. Titi's parents also live on the compound and are amazing people as well.

Two week gone in a flash

I can't believe that I have already been here for two weeks. I planned to right more often but I have been crazy busy. Since I've been here I have been spending most of my days Monday through Saturday at Brooklyn Mission School where I am doing my research. On the drive up from the airport when I flew in I found out that the schools here get out a the end of May which kinda put a damper on my research since I am suppose to have 12 weeks to gather my info and instead I have 4 weeks. However, God has been REALLY GOOD to me and has help me to get a lot accomplished in the two weeks that I have been here.

The hardest things have been, I'm really exhausted. The heat here really plays a toll on your energy. I guess I should be used to that after all my years of life guarding but it still really surprises me that I can be so tiered when i didn't really do anything that uses very much energy. The other thing is that :( my stomach has begun to disagree with my taste buds about the Indian food :(:(. I still LOVE the taste but my tummy just doesn't seem to be feeling the same way. I kinda went crazy for a while just eating everything in sight which wasn't the smartest thing. I am being more careful now who I take food from. This is a lot easier said then done cause here in India if someone offers you something it is rude if you don't take at least a little.

Some of the neat experiences I have had have been getting to hang out with a missionary family who works with a nomad people group, going to prayer meetings with Christians from the community, playing games and trying to communicate (which is a game in itself) with the students of Brooklyn Mission school, going to Patnitop(a mountain top park in the Himalayas), going to the market/bizarre(always an adventure), teaching the students dance classes and learning some Indian Punjabi dance as well.

God has been blessing me more than I can even express. He has brought some amazing girl friends into my life who are really welcoming me into the community and are helping me to settle in and adjust to the culture. They have also been great examples to me and have encouraged me in my walk with the Lord. One scripture that the Lord has been placing on my heart is Psalms 57:7-11
it reads...

"My heart is confident in you O God; no wonder i can sing your praises! Wake up, my soul! wake up, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord, in front of all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth."

One of my friends showed me this verse when I was in Thailand a few years ago and it was so encouraging to me. Once again the Lord has brought me to a nation other than my own and he is calling me to worship him. Although at times I doubt myself I can always be confident in the Lord, that is what it is all about.

I'm Here

I arrived in India late Thursday night and becasue my flight from Delhi to Jammu was not until 12pm on Friday I stayed in a hotel in Delhi for the night. Wow!!! What an experience. I love how you step out of the Delhi airport and literally feel that you have been transferred to a different world. My heart was overwhelmed with excitment as the taxi drove me to the hotel I was to stay at. It felt so much like a dream as Indian music was blaring from the radio and my driver, as well as others on the road, wove between the slower cars and the 5 lane highway became 7 lanes. The next day I headed to the airport and made it up to Udhampur meeting Shamona in Jammu and then driving to Udhampur from there.

By God's grace I have not been sick at all. This is awesome especailly since when I have come in the past I have always had terrible stomach aches. Even better than that I am actually LOVING the food. This is really a miracle considering I have hated rice for years and that is one of the main parts of the Indian meal. Thanks who ever is praying for this are, please keep it up :):):)

I really want to write some more but I am too sleepy :( so that's all for now.

Pictures from the past

As I was packing my bags my mom began to pull out some pictures from when we were in India in the past. Wow! They all bring back so many memories.

After planning for months to go to work in a village called Totopara which is in West Bengal India, the plan for this summer is now to go to Udampur, a town in the state of Jammu and Kashmire.I will still be working at a school and will be doing the same type of research I had planned on doing in Totopara. It is great considering that I spent a ton of hours last semester writing up a research design for how to measure the impact that a school has on the community it is located in.

I am sooooooo excited because I will also have the opportunity to take music and teach a little dance while I am there. After taking a mission trip to Norway a few summers ago with Steps of Faith I have been praying that the Lord would provide more opportunities to use dance as a form of evangelism in other countries. Dance in such a powerful communicator and form of worship. I believe that the Lord is really going to use it through this trip.

While Im in Udahpur I will actually be living at the same mission base that I stayed at when my family went to India in 1996 and in 2000.