Like everyone else I had many fears coming here; afraid of what I would see, afraid of what I would hear, afraid of what I would smell. I have to say the Lord took care of it all. I wasn’t bothered by any of it. As the rest of my team has posted this trip has been absolutely amazing. Every experience will forever leave an imprint not only in my mind, but also in my heart. There have been many smiles and many tears. God gave all of us the opportunity to experience pure beauty here in India. The other day I mentioned hearing “one man’s trash, is another’s treasure”. Being that Kolkata is a very poor and dirty, many see the place and it’s people as trash. I told my husband, I think I found a treasure. Because the trash that so many talk about was not visible to me. What I saw was pure beauty. The people of India are amazing. They are all so humble with their lives. Because of the poverty you may expect bitterness and sadness. It was exactly the opposite; joy and humbleness.

Obviously every day was a high point, but there were some very touchy moments for me. We talked about many of our highlights over dinner last night. Our first day here we were able to visit just a few slums, but it was the last one we were able to spend the most time at. Their preparation for our arrival was amazing. I was truly at a loss for words. They wanted so much for us to feel special and welcomed; the feeling far surpassed that. We were showered with gifts, dance and song; all of which were heartfelt. Those with so little, gave so much to make us happy. The feeling was incredible. Another high point for me personally was the women’s conference. Melanie, Kim and Stace did a fantastic job speaking about the beauty of a woman, women in ministry and how our unfailing Lord can turn broken in beauty. This was definitely a message that touched me and I thought, “I had to travel 5,000 miles to hear this message in India?”. I don’t know if the ladies knew how much they touched me that day. Thanks girls this was something I definitely needed to hear! Again, every moment we served was amazing. Many rides home stood in silence just because no words could explain what we were feeling. We are in complete awe. Kevin spoke at a youth service on Sunday night and it was beautiful to see them so engaged. At the end of service we were asked to stand before everyone and those requesting prayer were asked to step forward during worship. Looking out watching them all in worship brought me to tears. I have never seen so many young people in such great worship. They didn’t care who saw them and what they would say. All they cared about at that moment was being in the presence of the Lord; giving him glory and honor, just as it should be. I thought about kids back home and how different they were. They just have so many distractions that keep them from relying on the Lord as they should; friends, clothes, cars, money, technology. I talked with Tina and told her it’s like they have so many other things to turn to. We expect too many things in life, when in reality each gift we receive is a blessing from our Lord Jesus Christ. My prayer is that the Lord will continue His work on the heart’s of these young people and they learn to rely on him for everything at all times. After all; in the end nothing else matters.

So as we prepare to leave this beautiful place I pray for the Lord’s protection. Not only protection over our team, but also protection over Kolkata and the people who live here. Life will never be as we once seen it a few weeks ago. I personally leave here with a new outlook on life, love, friendship and beauty. Most of all I leave here with clearer image of God’s purpose in my life. This trip was indescribable.

Chenecua

So this blog I wrote a few days ago but there was a problem when I tried to post it, so do over!

So yesterday was another amazing day in India. We spent our time at the Children’s home with 34 beautiful kids! These are the children that many ladies at NorthPointe have sponsored, including myself. We were royally welcomed (as we have been at nearly every place now) with singing and dancing. Three children (each carrying a different blessing) walked around to each of us and in their own way blessed and welcomed us. One carrying a candle, one marked our foreheads with a red liquid and the last child gifted us with a rose. It was overwhelmingly sincerely and beautiful. They were SO excited to see us and unlike the children in the slums, these kids wanted to climb on our laps and talk to us and it was frustrating to hear them clearly ask us questions and not be able to understand. Our interpreter was the founders daughter and she was a wonderful young lady. She broke down into tears when she talked about how much she’s loves her adopted brother, it was moving. We spoke with her about what the children need and want and she said that they have clothes and some toys but they (the teachers) want to focus their efforts on studies…and it was evident that they do, as these children are extremely smart, reading in English and some even writing as well. I can’t even say that I can do that! When we first arrived I was anxious to see the child I sponsor and I recognized her right way and began to weep…..tears of happiness streaming down my face as I internally worshiped my mighty God who has brought me so far on this journey. I was excited to see her and touch her little face and be in the presence of her smile. My body ached to tell her that my family sponsors her but I was told not too because many kids had not been sponsored and it would cause a problem to share that. I’m sure she wondered why I gave her a lot of my attention. We sat together in the afternoon and I taught her how to fold a piece of paper into a boat….she loved it and we wrote our names on it. She would shyly giggle and whisper words I couldn’t understand in my ear and although I hated that I couldn’t understand her, I knew by her eyes that it was a special message just for me and so loved this moment together. We were all touched by this day and the time we got to play freely with the children. I know a lot of our hearts ached for our own kids to meet these wonderful faces and to bridge the gap in our cultures. I long to hold my boys and kiss them and tell them how amazing it is to serve a God that loves us so much that he gave his only child up for our lives. The greatest expression of love is to lay down your life for another.

So about the bumper cars…..WOW!! Today was a terrible, terrible day in the car. It was insanity! The drivers seemed to be in a race to get to our destination and we were in the middle of that craziness. The car I was in was rear-ended and when we turned to see by whom we realized that it was the rest of our team….ah, ya. The exhaust was thick and between the swerving, stopping and speeding I was having a very hard time. It took everything in me to get through that drive. On the way back I had a panic attack and began shaking and having problems breathing, I just started to pray saying “dhanybad Jesu” which means “thank you Jesus”. I chanted this in my mind over in over begging God to just get me home so I could lay down! I was so embarrassed as I broke down in tears on the steps of our home….everyone standing around us. Oh well, what are you gonna do.

We are headed down to breakfast and then off to another day with the children. It has been a blessing far surpassing to find my worth and peace so far from home. God is God whether you’re in American or India. He is mighty, capable, loving and enduring. As they say here in India “Praise the Lord”!

KimThree children (each carrying a different blessing) walked around to each of us and in their own way blessed and welcomed us. One carrying a candle, one marked our foreheads with a red liquid and the last child gifted us with a rose. It was overwhelmingly sincerely and beautiful. They were SO excited to see us and unlike the children in the slums, these kids wanted to climb on our laps and talk to us and it was frustrating to hear them clearly ask us questions and not be able to understand. Our interpreter was the founders daughter and she was a wonderful young lady. She broke down into tears when she talked about how much she’s loves her adopted brother, it was moving. We spoke with her about what the children need and want and she said that they have clothes and some toys but they (the teachers) want to focus their efforts on studies…and it was evident that they do, as these children are extremely smart, reading in English and some even writing as well; I can’t even say that I can do that! When we first arrived I was anxious to see the child I sponsor and I recognized her right way and began to weep…..tears of happiness streaming down my face as I internally worshiped my mighty God who has brought me so far on this journey. I was excited to see her and touch her little face and be in the presence of her smile. My body ached to tell her that my family sponsors her but I was told not too because many kids had not been sponsored and it would cause a problem to share that. I’m sure she wondered why I gave her a lot of my attention. We sat together in the afternoon and I taught her how to fold a piece of paper into a boat….she loved it and we wrote our names on it. She would shyly giggle and whisper words I couldn’t understand in my ear and although I hated that I couldn’t understand her, I knew by her eyes that it was a special message just for me and so loved this moment together. We were all touched by this day and the time we got to play freely with the children. I know a lot of our hearts ached for our own kids to meet these wonderful faces and to bridge the gap in our cultures. I long to hold my boys and kiss them and tell them how amazing it is to serve a God that loves us so much that he gave his only child up for our lives. The greatest expression of love is to lay down your life for another.

So about the bumper cars…..WOW!! Today was a terrible, terrible day in the car. It was insanity! The drivers seemed to be in a race to get to our destination and we were in the middle of that craziness. The car I was in was rear-ended and when we turned to see by whom we realized that it was the rest of our team….ah, ya. The exhaust was thick and between the swerving, stopping and speeding I was having a very hard time. It took everything in me to get through that drive. On the way back I had a panic attack and began shaking and having problems breathing, I just started to pray saying “dhanybad Jesu” which means “thank you Jesus”. I chanted this in my mind over in over begging God to just get me home so I could lay down! I was so embarrassed as I broke down in tears on the steps of our home….everyone standing around us. Oh well, what are you gonna do.

We are headed down to breakfast and then off to another day with the children. It has been a blessing far surpassing to find my worth and peace so far from home. God is God whether you’re in American or India. He is mighty, capable, loving and enduring. As they say here in India “Praise the Lord”!

Kim< ><-->

What an amazing day yesterday! We were in 3 church services, one in Bengali, one in Hindi and finally, an amazing youth service in English! Kevin did a fantastic job crossing the cultural divide on the controversial topic… SEX!  We got back “home” around 8:30pm and no dinner was being served, because it was Sunday night. I (Stace) wasn’t really hungry since I had two servings of lunch! I was hoping to lose a few pounds while here, but no such luck! I love almost everything they serve; so much that I go for seconds, ok… sometimes thirds! We all brought so many snacks on the trip so we decided to come together on the second floor and enjoy a smorgasbord of snacks! We enjoyed tuna salad & crackers, a few PB&Js, lots of trail mix and beef/turkey jerky, along with some candy of course. We said it was sorta like our ‘Last Supper’.

Today us girls will travel to the Children’s Home… it will be a great time as we get to spend the next two days with the kids there. We’ll be teaching English, nutrition and hygiene. These 30 children have been abandoned by their parents for several reasons, they don’t have enough money or they simply don’t want them… We heard about one boy in particular whose nine years old… his mom came to the home and begged and pleaded with them to PLEASE take her son as she could not afford to feed him. They later heard that she ran off and married another man. The boy keeps asking for his mother.

The guys will enjoy a personal tour of the slums as they were busy teaching at the conference when we went. They will have a meeting or two later in the day. Hopefully the slums will capture their hearts as they did ours. Well, we need to get this day started, so until later… we LOVE and MISS all of you, thanks for all your prayers, they’re truly felt!

With ALL His Love,

Stace and the Girls

Oddly enough we found that many of the people there were cleaning the entryway of their homes and brushing their teeth almost as if to say “we are people too and we are not forgotten”. The streets are busy with traffic and many things share the road including cows, dogs, rickshaws, motorcycles, buses, bikes, and let’s not forget lots of people! The horn is the main source of communication on the road….no words….just horns, and LOTS of them! The kids seem to enjoy flying kites as a pastime and the residents enjoy a good party in the evening as we can hear the music starting at 9pm until late into the evening. We are awakened each morning promptly at 5am with a very loud call to prayer in Hindi that can be heard through the area. We all battle this prayer chant individually with our own personal prayers to God to bless the people of this community and to reign in the hearts of many for eternity, AMEN!

Today is a big day as we will be ministering to 60 women in the slums, teaching them basic hygiene, nutrition and sanitation skills. I (Kim) will be delivering a message speaking to the hearts of these women entitled, “The Beauty of a Woman”. We expect that this day will be honored by God as we are in the hand of the Master, being used for His glory by allowing us to be His hands and feet. We pray that God will pour out of us and onto these wonderful people His blessing and His grace! We know this day will be life-changing as just this morning I (Kim) was wakened with a frantic call from my husband that our home had been ransacked. I praise God that my family wasn’t home, but there is a fear and a violation that shakes me to the core and I know that God has His hand upon this situation and on my family. Please pray for all of our family’s safety and wellbeing, as Pastor Steve said this morning at breakfast “we are on the front lines”. I will say that as a team we are NOT shaken by this and we will keep putting our trust in The Most High. Stace stayed behind with me so I could gather myself for this exciting teaching and so that I could stop shaking and focus on God’s special word to the women of the slums. We sit here journaling our thoughts and preparing to meet up with the rest of the team this afternoon for lunch, we are gathering strength to do the good work that God has already ordained us to do. We are thankful for the opportunity that God has blessed us with and we are at peace with what is in store for us as a team, God is Good!!

Much Love,

Kim & Stace