Finishing Touches

Yet again, I am at a loss for words. There is so much to say, but I just don't know how to say it, and time is so precious! There are so many stories that I want to share. Hopefully when I get home I can post some of them. For now, we are back in Delhi. After 3 weeks in Calcutta we went to Darjeeling for several days to recuperate and gear up for our last week at Asha Mission. It was such a wonderful reunion! We were so happy to see the kids again, and they were very happy to see us. With just a week left, we are all feeling the time slipping by too quickly. We spent our first 2 days back decorating the orphanage for Christmas. We hung lights and cut out stars and made a Christmas tree and a nativity scene. We also put together a Christmas program. Today we celebrated Christmas with the kids. We stayed up so late last night wrapping gifts and getting everything ready. This morning they were so shocked to come out of their rooms and see Christmas presents waiting for them! For many of them this is their first time celebrating Christmas. They were so thrilled to open their gifts and were showring them off to each other. After church we had the Christmas program. They dressed up and acted out the Christmas story and we sung a few songs and performed a few dances. We had a huge meal and just hung out and played all day. It has been absolutely incredible. It breaks my heart to think of leaving, but I am quite certain this will not be my last visit to India. As long as these kids are here, I will keep coming back! Please pray for our last few days that they will be full of life and precious time with these children.

Overview

We have been in Calcutta for 2 weeks now. We have had the opportunity to visit lots of ministry sites and get an overview of the work that's going on here.

We have visited patients in the pediatrics and cleft palate wards and built some really neat relationships.






We have gone to clinics in the rural areas to give out medicine to the locals there.




We have gone to a school in the slums.




We've gone to a school and home for the blind.


We've gone to a play put on by a local school.


We've visited an orphanage in the outskirts of Calcutta that was started by the same man as the orphanage that we've been at in Delhi.


We've spoken at a nursing school.


We've volunteered at Mother Teresa's. (I don't have pictures of this b/c you're not allowed to take any)

We've gone to Pizza Hut and McDonald's.


We've explored the city of Calcutta!




We have one more week here, then we head to Darjeeling for a few days to rest and spend some quality time as a team. Then we go from there back to Delhi to spend our last days with the precious kids we've come to love at Asha Mission.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. It's been busy here lately. Not only that, but I just can't seem to find the words to describe how things are here. Unless you've been to India, it's hard to explain what it's like. There really isn't anything to compare it to that would give you a true picture of life here. Hopefully one day soon I will be able to sit down and put my thoughts together. But I did want to let everyone that I am alive and well and loving it here. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We got together with several Americans here and put together the best Thanksgiving meal that we could with our resources :) We had turkey and potatoes and green beans. It was wonderful. I am so thankful for this time to be here in India and to travel and just have my eyes opened to all that God is doing around the world.
I hope everyone is well and enjoying this holiday season. I miss you all. Thanks for the prayers. I can't believe that I only have 3 more weeks here!
I will try to write a better update over the next week or so, thanks for being patient with me!
Love,
Liz


Here's a picture of the whole Thanksgiving gang

Varanasi

We were able to plan a short day and a half trip to Varanasi on the way to Calcutta. I was sooo excited! I've always wanted to go to Varanasi. It is considered an extremely holy city, not just for Hindu's, but for almost all religions.
We took a night train to get there. It was a very nice train, but I was sick the whole night and day that we left, so I spent most of it sleeping.
Once we arrived in Varanasi we crammed all 5 of us and our luggage into 1 taxi and headed for our hostel. The hostel that we stayed at was run by a hippie couple from Australia. Their outreach is to the hippie travelers that come through the city seeking truth and answers. What an incredible ministry! The harvest is plentiful there! So many foreigners and even indians come through the city desperately searching for answers and peace and spiritual awakening. Because of this, the city is much more 'westernized'. The locals are used to seeing foreigners and we don't get stared at quite as much and many more people know English are are friendly towards us. The couple, Brenden, Leaf, and their 5 year old son Tarren, are amazing. Their hearts are so beautiful and sincere and we were so encouraged by them. The hostel is beautiful! It's like a green oasis in the middle of a bustling city. They have a huge yard and a garden and have decorated everything so nicely. From their roof you can look out over the Ganges river and see the whole city skyline. It's breathtaking!
We spent some time getting to know them and helping do some yard work. Then Leaf took us out for a girls night. We went to a Japanese restaraunt and then took rickshaws to a market where we got bangles to match our outfits. I've never seen so many bangles and sparkles in my life! It was a lot of fun. Then next morning we took a sunrise boat tour of the Ganges. Our boatman was supposedly one of the most famous. He sings to you as he rows you down the river. As the sun rose, people came down to the river. Some were there doing the ceremonial washing, hoping for some kind of miracle from the river, which is considered a goddess. Others were simply bathing or doing laundry. The air is filled with sounds of bells, monks chanting, and the eerie call to prayer. There is such a spiritual heaviness there. This so called holy river is filled with rotting bodies and sewage and all kinds of things, yet everyone is so blind to it. They even say that the river is clean! It was an interesting experience. My heart is heavy for those people. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting lost in the gullies of Varanasi, exploring the ins and outs of the city. Our time went by so quickly. I wish I could have spent a month there! There is so much to see and do, and so many people to build relationships with. But we had to leave. We crammed in another taxi that afternoon and headed to the train station to go to Calcutta. It was quite a ride. We rode the sleeper class, which is basically the one that the everyday indians ride. You can get on or off at your convenience. Beggars get on and off as well as street venders. We spent 17 hours on the train before arriving in Calcutta! Definitely an experience I won't soon forget.
We are here now in Calcutta volunteering at Mercy Hospital, a hospital run by Calcutta Mercy Ministries. Please check out their website, it is an incredible ministry! So far we have been able to take some time volunteer with Mother Teresa's organization, the Sisters of Charity. We have also toured the hospital, learned a lot about the organization, and visited children in the pediatrics ward. We have a full schedule, and I can't wait to see all there is to do here in Calcutta.
Thanks for all the prayers and comments! I miss you all, but I am loving my time here. Dec. 19 is going to be a very sad day!
I'll try and post pictures soon.

Travels

It's been an amazing few days here at Asha Mission. We've gone to Pizza Hut, had the AIM team over for church, and had a fun birthday celebration today with cake, pop corn, balloons, and games. We are all having so much fun!! It is difficult to think about leaving in 2 days, yet exciting at the same time. I've always wanted to travel around India. We leave Thursday on a night train bound for Varanasi. In Varanasi we are staying with an Austrailian missionary couple who run a hostel for the spirtual seekers that come through India's most holy city. We hope to encourage them and help out in whatever way we can, while also seeing the sights of the 'city of lights'. On Saturday night we get on another night train and arrive Sunday in Calcutta. In Calcutta we are working with Calcutta Mercy Ministries (there is a link to their website on my first post). The 4 girls I am with are nurses and will be working in the hopsital. I am not sure what I will be doing, but I know there are plenty of opportunities to serve, especially since we will be the only volunteers there at this time. After 3 weeks in Calcutta we will get on another night train headed to Darjeeling in the great Himilayan mountains! We will spend 4 days there sight-seeing and debriefing out time. Then we will return to what we now consider home, and spend the remainder of our time with these beautiful children. We are going to have a huge Christmas party and there are more birthdays coming up that will be celebrated as well.
Sorry this is so brief and lacking detail. I have so many stories I would like to share but am currently lacking the time and energy. I will post more as soon as the traveling days are over. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures from the last few days :)

Pizza Hut

Yes, believe it or not, there are actually Pizza Huts in India (and McDonalds and KFC and even Subway!). One of my favorite things to do is to take the kids on a special outing to Pizza Hut and then a park to run around and play. The first time this wondrous event occurred was in 2006 with the kids at Emmanuel. At that time there were about 280 kids, so we spread it out over 2 trips every day for 4 days. You would be amazed at how many kids can cram into a car!!

Last summer while I was here we decided that we would take the kids of Asha Mission. This was a much easier task due to the fact that there were only 19 children. This was the first time most of them had ever been to Pizza Hut. One little boy, who happened to be 5, at 10 pieces of pizza! Of course none of them were used to this type of food, and practically all of them got sick. Needless to say Gracie and Saji, the couple who run the orphanage, gave us good warning this time to limit the number of pieces they could have.

We told the kids about the trip on Friday afternoon when they got home from school. They were so excited, especially the ones that had never been before. The air was full of so much anticipation that night and into the next day as everyone got ready for school (yes, they go to school on Saturdays... bummer). 3 didi's went to Pizza Hut early to decorate and set up while me and another didi stayed back to pick up the kids from the bus and hurry the process of getting ready and getting in the car. We got to the bus stop and the kids rushed off the bus to head home to change into their nicest outfits. I carried cute little Chinny, a precious 3 year old girl who had never been to Pizza Hut before, home from the bus stop, and she kept saying Pizza a jao" which means "Pizza come". We stuffed all the little kids into 2 cars and headed off to Pizza Hut. The drive took about 30 minutes and they were quite crowded, but it was well worth it. We were greeted by the other 3 didi's on the sidewalk and walked all the kids up to Pizza Hut and our little area decorated with balloons and nametags. They all found their seats and were served glasses of pepsi while the drivers went back to pick up the rest of the kids and adults still waiting at the house. The kids at Pizza Hut were now introduced to so many new things! Each glass had a bendy straw, and I noticed that some of the boys weren't drinking their drinks. The more I thought about it, the sooner I realized, they didn't know how to use a straw! I had to demonstrate how you suck on the end to make the liquid come up. Soon enough they had it down, and were delighted to realize you could blow the other way and make bubbles in your drink. Another new thing for them was cold soda... they are used to drinking things that were cold... that mixed with the air conditioning and the kids got really cold! I think my favorite thing to introduce them to is the bathroom. In India, most people use squatties. It's basically like a hole in the ground. Pizza Hut, being a more modern Western restaraunt, had Western toilets. These kids have never seen anything like that and are quite perplexed when they get into the bathroom. They aren't really sure what to do. Most of them will just climb up onto the seat and try to use it like a squatty! We had to have a didi stationed in the bathroom to show all the kids how to use it. One girl was so enamored with it, she just didn't even know what to do with herself. She kept looking at it exclaiming, "what is this? What is this? Oooooh, so beautiful". We got a video of her reaction I will try to post soon. They were also introduced to automatic hand dryers, which actually scared a lot of them. After our fabulous time at Pizza Hut we all paraded through town to a park a little ways down the road. We played red rover and soccer and freeze tag and all sorts of fun games. It's so wonderful to let them get out and run around. We finally loaded up the adults and the little ones in the car to head home while the didi's and the older kids stayed in the park to wait for them to take that load home and head back to get us. Once it started to get dark, we walked back towards the market. We got all the kids their first ice cream cones while we waited, and they were asking if it was okay to eat the cone. We assured them that it was. Soon enough our ride came and we went home full and happy and tired!
When we got back one of the boys who had never had pizza before came up to me and said "pizza nahi acha" which means "pizza no good". I asked him why, and he proceeded to demonstrate how he threw up when he got home! It upset another little girls stomach as well. But the next day they both exclaimed how much they loved it and were even asking for more!
Here are some pictures from the spectacular event.
Love you all! More to come soon :)

Sam

On Friday we took the day to go to a popular tourist market. I have been several times and find it somewhat stressful. You walk through row after row of little shops, and people shout at you as you walk, saying "come into my store" "I give you good price" "You are my first customer of the day!". Then once you get in and find something you like, you have to barter to get it at a good price. I wouldn't say that's something I'm good at, but I'm getting better. I actually ended up making some friends this time. I went into a shop and started talking to the men that ran it. I asked them their names in Hindi and they got really excited, assuming that I knew how to speak Hindi, which I don't. I know a few phrases here and there and I shared with them what I knew. We chatted about all sorts of things, including the price I would pay for some pants. I walked away a few times before they "gave me good price". I was there for about 30 minutes and really enjoyed the time spent getting to know them. In India it is very rare that we have contact with men outside the ones we know through the orphanage. It isn't appropriate for us to talk at them or really even look at them. Their perception of american women isn't the greatest, largely based on what they see in the movies. But at this market they are very used to foreigners and it was nice to be able to just hang out and have some fun chats.
While getting on the metro that morning to go to the market, I couldn't help but remember a boy my friend Reecie and I met there last time. He was so young, and was walking around selling necklaces. We weren't really interested in the necklaces, but these people are persistent! He followed us around and he even taught us some Hindi. We eventually ended up sitting outside a shop waiting for our friends and he sat across the road from us. We talked back and forth and learned that his name was Sam. There was a cop who came and tried to run him off and hassled him and tried to hit him with a stick. We eventually parted ways, but not before buying a few of his necklaces. I'm not sure why but I never did forget him. What a life for a teenage boy to lead. No schooling, on the streets every day trying to make money by selling necklaces and hassling tourists, trying to avoid being beaten by the cops who tell him he's not supposed to be there. It's been a year and a half since that trip. I was hoping that I would run into him again, but the odds of that happeneing are SO small I knew it was probably impossible.
The last thing we did Friday was go into a shop to look for shoes. It was the same shop I went to last year, so I took the girls there and waited outside so that the shop wouldn't be so crowded. A young boy approached me with necklaces and tried to get me to buy them. I wasn't really interested, but he was just so cute and I wanted to help him out. I tried to get him to sell me necklaces for 5 rupies each. He wasn't sure what to do, and then an older boy came up and he asked if that was ok. I talked them into it and they both agreed, and I bought some necklaces. I still had sime time before the girls were ready and figured I would chat with these boys until they came out. I asked them what their name was, and the older boy replied SAM! I couldn't believe it! He was so grown up, but it was the very same boy I met last year!! I asked him if he remembered me and we talked about how me and Reecie talked with him last year and hung out. He said he remembered, I'm not sure if that was just because I was so excited to see him or if he really meant it. I asked him about his family. He has a younger sister. The boy selling necklaces with him was his friend BJ. As we were talking a woman came to chase them off. Apparently that wasn't their market area and they weren't supposed to be there. I was really sad. As the girls came out and we walked to the main street, I heard a whistle, and looked and saw the two boys a little ways down beckoning me. I went to them and we talked some more and we took a picture. I promised that next time I came back I would bring the picture and try to find him and give it to him. I gave them some money to buy some treats and we both went away smiling. That was by far the best part of my day. Not getting a great deal or finding Christmas presents for my siblings, but seeing Sam again. What an amazing God we serve that he would cross our paths again. I hope to have the opportunity to go back just once more to deliver the picture, although it will have to be a God thing because I have no idea how to find him again!













Me with Sam and BJ

Emmanuel

Joy. That is the word that comes to mind when I think of Emmanuel orphanage. 3 years ago when I left that place, after having been there for 9 weeks, I was so sad to think I probably would never be able to go back. And here I am, visiting again for the 3rd time! I cannot tell you how much my heart explodes with love for the kids there. Many of them are so grown up now, and it is wonderful to see them step into roles of responsibility. They joyfully serve the others there and look after and take care of one another. When I was there originally, there were about 280 kids there; now there are 92. Many have run away, been sent home, or gone to other orphanages. Every time I go back, someone else has left. My heart cries out for their safety and that the Lord would keep them in his hands and that they would remember what they learned about Jesus while they were there.
There is a group of siblings there that I have fallen in love with since the first day I was there. Arti was the baby 3 years ago when I was there. She could always be found right next to me or sleeping in my lap. Despite the language barrier, we had a very strong bond. Pooja is next. She loved to be twirled around and up on my shoulders. Now she is too big for me to pick up! Supna is the oldest sister. She is such a young lady now! I am so proud of who she has grown up to be. Money is the oldest boy. I didn't know who he was the first time I was there, so I was constantly baffled when Arti would point and say, "money, money". I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about. Now I know. I'm not sure how I missed it, they look exactly alike! Since then, 2 more siblings have come. There is a little boy named Morgan, who I know very little about, and a beautiful little girl named Vijiya. I met Vijiya last time I was here, but I didn't know her name, so I called her little monkey girl, because that's what she was! She would crawl all over me, take gum out of my mouth, and was just generally curious about everything! I only went twice last year, but as soon as I walked through the gates last week, she ran up to me and jumped into my arms! I feel so at home holding her.
There were also 2 brothers that I was close to, Michael and Ayub. They spoke very little English, but I adored them and loved being around them. Michael loved to draw and Ayub loved to sing. He would walk around in his own little world singing songs and making crosses out of anything he could find. They are still there and SO grown up! Their English is so good and it is awesome to be able to talk with them now!
Of the 280 or so that were there that summer, most of them are gone. There are 92 children there now, but most of them are new. My heart continues to miss the ones that are gone and pray desperately for their safety and well-being, but it also brings so much joy to my heart to see the ones that are still there and be able to tell them that I still love them and think about them and that Jesus loves them too!
(This trip back was actually 2 weeks ago... I'm a bit behind in posting but our internet has been down for awhile. We get to go back this Friday!!)














Me, Pooja, Arti, and Supna













Me, Michael, and Ayub














Me and Jessica, a member of my 2006 team and now the leader of this one, and some of the girls that are still there



P.S. Happy Birthday mom!!

Prem means Love

Prem is the oldest boy at Asha misson. He has been in at least 3 different orphanages in his
short 15. He was at Emmanuel orphanage 3 years ago when I came on my first trip to India. It's amazing how much he has changed over the years. He has grown into such a young man and has grown so much in the Lord. He is such a leader here. The next closest child in age to him is around 10. Because of this he has a lot of responsibilities and seems to have little time to just be a teenage boy. He helps cook and clean and get the kids ready for school. He
translates for us and leads prayer time and also has to find time to do his homework and take
care of himself. I pray that He is able to find time to dig into the Word himself and grow. I
hope that I am able to be an encouragement to him while I am here. He needs someone to really pour into him and disciple him and I am praying that God would provide that.
We have spent a lot of time together lately because I have been attempting to help him with
his homework. In order to understand what a challenge this is, you have to understand
something about schools in India. They go against so much of what I was taught in college
about teaching/learning. It gets so frustrating at times. Almost all of it seems to be rote
memorization. The teacher writes a question on the board and then the answer, and the students copy it down in their notebooks. Then their homework is to re-copy it on the next page. There is no comprehension going on. They are copying down and memorizing words that they don't even know what they mean. It's hard to explain English words to them using only English words... it would help if I could speak hindi! We are getting tutored for an hour a day, but since I came a month after the other girls I am already behind and find little time to study. Anyways... back to Prem... we spend a lot of time on the roof working on homework; mainly geometry. Now, it's been at least 8 years since I have done geometry. Not only that, but there is little explanation in the book, so I have to rely on my memory and try to figure things out. We spend a lot of time just looking at eachother pondering a problem and saying "I don't know". We do our best, but it takes a long time just to do a few problems.

I have also spent a lot of time with a boy named Ravi. He is sooo smart, but he really struggles in school. His conversational English is great and can even translate, but when it
comes to reading/writing/spelling English, he has trouble. We have spent at least 4 days
memorizing answers to questions about a story that they read in class. Even some of the
answers they get from their teachers aren't gramattically correct. We've spent so much time onit I can practically quote it myself: "What happened to Lucy when she was searching for her mother?" "All of a sudden a fierce storm arose. It was dense darkness and it began to rain
heavily. Lucy was caught in the storm when she was looking her mother in the town. She fell in a river and died." Really? Half of those words he doesn't even know, but he has to learn how to recite it. I feel as if there is a battle going on inside me. I want so badly to really
teach them, to help them to read something and comprehend it and really really learn how to
learn. But at the same time, there are 26 kids here and I can't do much to change the school
system, so I just have to bear it and try to help them succeed in this crazy thing they call
school.
Despite all of the frustrations, there have been many enjoyable times. It gives me a chance to sit and talk with Prem and get to know him better and it gives Ravi a chance to get away and have one on one attention. I hope to encourage him and boost his view of himself.

I cannot even tell you how much I love and adore each and every one of these children. Just
spending time with them is a blessing. I love serving them through cooking and washing their
clothes and helping them get dressed in the morning and walking them to the bus. There have even been several children who have gotten sick, some with almost a 102 fever. It is heart wrenching lying there with them trying to bring some sense of comfort, all the while they are crying for their mom, who we all know very well isn't going to come.

I am already thinking of how much heart break there will be, on both sides. These kids have
seen so many people come and go out of their lives. My hope is that they realize how much we love them, but even more, internalize the love of Jesus Christ. With 3 prayer services a day we really try and pour into them and plant the seed of the Word in their hearts.
I love you all and pray you are well! There is so much more to write, but this will have to be
enough for now. Sorry for the jumbled thoughts, I hope this all makes some sort of sense.

Prem with a load of laundry













Some of the boys with their school uniforms.











more pictures to come later :)

A Walk In the Park

I can't believe I've been here for a week! The time has flown by and I want to make every moment of it precious. I feel so blessed to be able to return time after time and have the opportunity to love on these children and let them know that someone out there cares. This week they had a day off of school for the hindu holiday Diwali. With 26 kids living in a small house in the city, they have little room to run around and just play and be children. We decided to use the day and take the children to a park. When we told them the news, they were jumping up and down with joy! Come to find out, they didn't know what the word park even meant, they were just excited to be going somewhere. Whenever they go out, whether it's to the park to play or for a special treat to Pizza Hut, they all put on their nicest clothes. Nothing we say can sway them, they are determined to look their best, even if they are going to be running around getting dirty. When everyone was ready to go, we piled as many kids and didi's into the car as we could and headed for the park.

We seem to create a following wherever we go. It isn't often that foreigners come to this area of India, so to see 5 white girls with 26 kids is quite a sight. We end up having crowds gathering to watch us wherever we go. There were at least 2o indians at one point just sitting on the sidewalk watching us play with the kids. We even had a man come up to us with his son saying that his son had always wanted to meet a foreigner. We shook his hand and he went away as happy as he could be. There were also several street children at the park. There is so much need here it feels overwhelming at times. We were able to have them join us for the breakfast that we brought, but that is only temporary relief. That was probably the only meal they will have all week if not more. What's worse than that, that small meal is nothing compared to the eternal bread they are lacking. The language barrier makes things even more difficult, although we have a tutor and are getting better.


Thanks for the continued prayers and support! I love being here with the kids and want to enjoy it to the fullest.
Love.

It's a New Day

After 22 hours or so of travel, I finally arrived at my home in Bijwasan, India. It warmed my heart to be greeted by so many familiar faces. I feel like everything just picked up right where it left off, although there have been a few changes. There are 9 precious new children that have come since I left a year and a half ago and 2 girls have left. When I asked where they were, I simply got the answer, "they went home". I cannot tell you how much this breaks my heart, because their home is in the brothels where their mothers work. Something you have to understand about most of the children here, and in many of the orphanages, is that they are not true orphans. They have families who either don't want them, can't afford them, or live in difficult and dangerous places such as the brothels. They bring them here and drop them off, some of them might perhaps make the occasional phone call or come to visit. I can't even imagine the pain of feeling abandoned and the confusion and hurt that it brings. But these children always seem to have a smile on their faces and a song in their hearts.
In all, there are 26 children, ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 15, mama Gracie and papa Saji, 2 amazing women on staff, and 5 didi's (they call us 'big sisters') and we live together in a wonderful little house in a quaint village outside of New Delhi. I can't even begin to try to put words to what it is like here. India is not like anywhere else I have ever known, so there is not even a comparison I could make that would help you picture what it is like to be here. Perhaps pictures would help. I will try to post some later.
I have only been here for 4 days so far, but I feel as if there is so much to write! I could fill up pages of stories. For now I will just give you a brief idea of what I am doing here and will add some stories later on.
A typical day starts at 5:30 am. The children have their prayer service and then we help them get their baths and get ready for school. They eat their breakfast and pack their lunch and we all head out the door at 7 to the bus stop, sometimes because we are late. We get a lot of looks walking down the street... indian children and their white didi's. After they are on their way to school, we head back to the house for quiet times and breakfast. There are several children who are not in school yet, so we spend the morning teaching them and loving on them. At noon we pick up the children from the bus stop and come back to the house to play and enjoy each other's companies. These children are great fun and we have had such a good time! At 2 they have afternoon prayer followed by lunch. Then we help them with their homework, which can be quite interesting at times! We spend the rest of them time hanging out and resting until 7 when we have our night prayer service. One of the didi's will share and many songs are sung and prayers are prayed. Dinner is not long after, and then the children go to bed, only to wake up and start all over again the next day.
I can't begin to explain to you how much being here warms my heart. I love these children and being in this place. It brings such joy and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to know and love all of these precious children.
Thanks for your prayers and support!! I will post some pictures later on of the kiddo's.

Bhaut Achaa!!! (Very Good)

The time has come... I am going back to INDIA!


I am sooo excited. 3 years ago when I got on the plane to come back home, I never thought I would be able to go back, and now here I am going back for the 3rd time! I am so blessed.

I am going to be in New Delhi living at an orphanage called Asha Mission... It is the same one that I was living at for 2 weeks in the summer of 2008. I am so stoked to see all the kids again, and of course Saji and Gracie, the amazing couple who run the orphanage.
Please keep Saji in your prayers. He was recently diagnosed with Dengue fever and Typhoid and was in the hospital for several days. He came home on Friday (Praise the Lord!) but is still recooperating.


This is Saji, and Gracie with their daughter Kezia







This is a picture of some of the kids that live at Asha Mission. As you can tell, they are full of personality!


When I was there last, 19 kids lived at Asha Mission. That number has since grown to 26, and I can't wait to meet the newcomers!!
On November 16 will be taking a train to Calcutta to work with Calcutta Mercy Ministries for 3 weeks. The 4 other girls I am going with are nurses and will be volunteering at the hospital and I will be volunteering wherever they need me. I won't know for sure until I get there, but I could be teaching street children, helping prepare meals, or visiting with the children that are in the hospital. It is a great organization and I am so excited to work with them! You can learn more about them by clicking on the link.
Then we will go back to Asha Mission for the remainder of our time and celebrate Christmas!

Prayer Requests:
Final Preparations:- I am still trying to get everything together to depart on Friday. I am getting all the kids Christmas presents and have lots of other little things to try and get packed and last minute things to do.
Saji- that he would fully recover and have the energy to do the things he needs to do.
Travel- Scout, the girl I am traveling with, and I have a 14 1/2 hour flight! Pray for safety and that our luggage arrives in it's original state :)
Annie, Jessica, and Amanda- these are the girls that are already there, they've been there since Sept. 2. I don't have specific prayer requests for them, but pray for renewed energy for them. Jessica and Annie were with me on my original trip in 2006 and have both been back since as well. I can't wait to see them again, especially in India! It's a very special place for us.


This Annie, Jessica, and I. I don't have pictures of Scout or Amanda because I have yet to meet them, but I will post some soon!







Thank you so much for sharing in this journey with me. I will try and post weekly, so keep checking back!