the seasons are changing

The picnic to Cherapunjee was a hit and a much needed refreshment for everyone involved. I didn't go because I wasn't feeling well but everyone had an incredible time. Because it was the right time of the year, they saw so many waterfalls and beautiful things. It's about a three hour drive to there from our home and they stopped for some lunch a couple hours into the trip. They stopped many places to look at different points and waterfalls and once they got to Cherapunjee they walked around a bit, played some games and had some snacks. Houser had a really good time and even got a little sun burnt.

I am feeling one hundred percent better these days. The antibiotics helped so much and I am back to my normal self again. The seasons are changing in our lives in so many ways. The past week it has startes to get really cold here and we are having to use jackets and more blankets. I love it. I keep telling Houser, it feels like Christmastime.

This weekend we had a huge project and changed our house around. We moved our bedroom into our sitting room and our sitting room into our bedroom. I'll try to post some pictures. It took hours and we did alot of Spring cleaning, but we are really happy with the results.

Also I am now officially finished with staffing the SOFM. The international team of staff have all arrived and we have started training and praying this week for the time of prayer we will be having here in Shillong. There will be maybe 50 people involved for 8 weeks and we are so looking forward to this time. These past couple of days have been so incredible. We have had really good times of worship and seeking God. It is so good to be in His presence and praying for the Northeast and surrounding nations. My cup is overflowing.

The DTS left yesterday for their outreaches and so truly this is a season of massive change. So many things are going on and we are happy.

Bamboo Dance

There is a family from Tripura (part of NE India) living underneath us and occassionally we'll hear loud thumping noises outside. They have this cultural dance called the Bamboo dance where boys will hold and hit together these long pieces of bamboo as the girls do difference dance steps throughout the moving bamboo. So today for the past couple of hours they have been dancing outside and they are laughing like crazy. I love to watch them from our terrace.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go on a picnic with the SOFM to Cherrapunjee. Cherrapunjee is three hours away and supposedly the wettest place in the earth, receiving a large amount of rainfall . We are just finishing monsoon season and so supposedly there are 7 waterfalls there these days.

These days and weeks continue to go by so quickly. My health is doing a bit better, and my antibiotics are nearly finished. I'm supposed to see the doctor in the next couple of days for a check-up. I've still been feeling really weak and the medicine has bad side effects like headaches and nausea, but hopefully it's killing all of the parasites. Houser has been so kind in taking care of me the past few days. He is a gift from God to me.

neat story

A lady recently came here from a western nation and told us this incredible story. I know I can't remember it word for word, and this is the very short version,but as she shared it with us, there was hardly a dry eye in the room. It so speaks of the Hugeness and Kindness of God.

This friend has been working in Kabul for the past three years and has grown to deeply love that nation. She has learned the language quite well and has been involved in different roles there. After a difficult year, she went back home to be with her family and to take some rest.
One night she was driving in her car, crying out to God and asking Him what her purpose was in life and if He really had a plan for her to be in such a difficult nation. The year had been filled with so much pain and hardship, with little visible fruit. She was frustrated with many different situations and needed some hope and encouragement.

She went to help her parents at some Church service and after a while, she told them she was going to get something to eat. She went on the main road and went to one of the first restaurants she found, a place selling kebabs. So she goes inside and much to her amazement a man from the country in which she works, is working behind the counter. She starts talking to him in his own language and he is so surprised that a girl with yellow hair, so far from his homeland, knows his own heart language. They talk for a while and she gets some food and leaves.
As she was driving in her car again, there was a desire in her heart to bless him and encourage him. She wanted to tell him about the love of God, but was scared and didn't know how to. She remembered that she had a delicacy from his home place, some very old, quite smelly, curd. I guess they keep it for a year until it gets just right. Needless to say this stuff could not be found in her home country. As she was praying for him, she decided that she would go and give him this curd and also bring a Bible in his heart language.

So some days later, she drives back to the kebab shop and nervously enters, searching for the young man's face. She begins to talk to him and asks if he likes this curd stuff. His face brightens and he said "Yes, I love it, but I haven't had any for five years." She produces this large bag of the precious curd and he is awestruck. She then asked him if he went to school and of he could read. He said that he hadn't gone to much school but that he could read his own language. She nervously offers him the Bible, not sure what his response will be, but as he takes it from her and opens it, he nearly starts crying. He told her that he was the only Christian in his family and he had been praying for a Bible for a long time. Needless to say, as she left that place, both of them had been greatly encouraged that there is a God and that He hears our prayers. What are the odds that thousands of miles away from his homeland, God brought a simple girl, who could speak Farsi, bring him his favorite food, and bring him a Bible that he was praying for, that he could understand.

One of her main points and encouragements to us was that we live our daily lives and minutes for that Day when we see His face. There is a day when we will see Him face to face, and there will be people from every tribe, tongue, and nation surrounding His throne. We need to make our daily decisions and choices with a perspective of eternity and the beauty that awaits us there. It's all gonna be worth it.

the days are flying by

Sorry, I've been horrible at writing lately. We've been super busy with a myriad of activities and my health hasn't been so good. We went to the hospital yesterday and they think I have some sort of amoebic dysentery. I had to have an ultrasound done, but they didn't find anything horribly wrong, so I just have to take antibiotics for a week. I'm really hoping that the medicine works. The doctor said that if I don't get better, they want to put a camera in my stomach and look around. With all my heart, I hope it doesn't come to that.
Besides that, so many good things are going on all around us. There are only two weeks left of the Discipleship Training School and then the group will break into two different outreach teams. They will be going on outreach for nearly two months.
The SOFM has 4 weeks left and it has been going really well. Right now we're trying to help the students figure out where they will be going for their two year internship. Many of them have a heart for China and Bhutan.
Beginning in early October, for 8 weeks, we are having a time of concentrated prayer for the Northeast and surrounding nations. Many people are coming for this time and we are greatly anticipating it.

We're thankful the weekend has come and so now we can rest a bit. I will try to write more faithfully.