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!