wings

Lately we've been having warmer weather in Shillong and it has brought with it flying bugs of Biblical proportions. They each have 4-6 wings and they fly in huge swarms together. The other night I was walking down the street with Beverley at dusk and there were literally hundreds, if not thousands of them flying in the air. We felt like we were living in the book of Revelation or something. I told Beverley, Jesus is coming soon.

They lose their wings at night and so sometimes we walk outside and there will be hundreds of wings outside of our door. They fly in our house also, the wings, and so I'm constantly sweeping up these brown wings in our house. It's kind of eerie.

We are leaving this afternoon for our journey, and will return to Shillong in a little over a week.
While Houser has a leadership meeting on Friday, Bev and I are going to go up to Darjeeling, which is very famous for tea, and Houser will meet us there on Saturday. Then we all have a meeting throughout the next week, a couple of hours journey from Darjeeling.

ha

This week we've had quite a mix of people here with us from several different tribes. Houser has been teaching them this week and they will leave early Friday morning for outreach. It's really exciting because this is the first MA that we have run here that has had an outreach outside of India. Several of our staff just returned this evening from the last MA outreach that we had and it seems as if everything went really well. It is always good for our hearts when people return. There was a special dinner tonight of smoked pork, which is Houser's favorite.

Tomorrow Houser, Bev and I will leave in the afternoon and we will take an overnight train to a state nearby. We will be out of Shillong for a little over a week for a couple of meetings that we have. More than anything, we're looking forward to seeing many of our friends that we haven't seen in a long time. This time of year the weather is incredibly hot in the "plains" of India. Over 40 C. I've forgotten how to translate that into fahrenheit, but it means very hot.

I love this picture of Beverley. There is a relatively new coffee shop sort of place here in Shillong and sometimes we go there to talk and drink coffee. The majority of coffee here is instant coffee and this is one place that you can find brewed coffee as well as espresso. It's in the weirdest location. You drive past through a slum sort of area, and it's right there, across from a motorcycle repair shop. We were laughing so hard because whenever she took a bite of this pastry, her teeth would be fully brown. She tried to make the waiter laugh when he came by, but he didn't find it nearly as funny as we did, or maybe he was trying to be polite

busy days

We think this is a neat way of mowing the lawn. They use these big animals to pull some contraption that mowed the lawn. Then they would use the dirt and grass for other purposes. No gas is involved and it is a good use of resources.

This last week has been quite busy and so I haven't had much time or energy to write. Last week we had a large group come for Mission Adventures and they left on Friday for outreach in a large, nearby city. We have heard reports that they are doing well but that the weather is incredibly hot.

On Saturday, we had a big women's party at our house for Aren, Theja's wife, who is expecting a baby in July. It's not really a part of the culture here to have a baby shower, but it was really on my heart to have a little party for her. She has been spending most of her time at home and so it was good to have fellowship and fun with her. We cooked lots of food and played a couple of games and prayed for her. We really had such a good time.

Another MA team arrived today and so the activites keep on continuing here. Houser will be teaching them all week and then we leave Shillong on Thursday evening for a program that we have in a nearby state. We will be gone for a little over a week and then we will return to Shillong for a few days before leaving the country for a little over a week. Every six months we have to leave India for visa purposes and since our calendar is full from July to December, we have to leave in June. Needless to say, the next few weeks we will be travelling quite a bit again and so we would really appreciate your prayers for strength and health.

games

We usually start MA with an afternoon of games and icebreakers so that we can get to know each other better and laugh a lot. I'm really proud of the staff here, they have really invested a lot of time and energy into this whole thing. It takes so much preparation and behind the scenes work to get everything ready, to plan and prepare to feed 50+ people, three meals a day, and to do all of it with joy and love. I feel privileged to live and work amongst such excellent people.

Nikki's Fair

We have continued with our Hindi Lessons and Poonam, our teacher, and Nikki, her daughter, invited us to the school fair with them. Houser, Bev, and I met them there and had a fun time playing games and eating some fair treats. Nikki was dressed up in her party dress and she had lots of friends there to play with. We were surprised by how many parents and children were there that we knew from different places. We had a good time.

On Tuesday we went to the orphanage again, this time with Sunny. Sunny was the star as she told the story of the Good Samaritan and taught them new songs. We played games and read stories. I really respect and admire the two women that work there. They don't have a day off and are continually responsible for the 74 children that are there with them.

On Wednesday night we had a prayer time in our house from 7:30 until about 1am. A bunch of people came and we had a really good time worshipping and praying and spending time together. We watched the Transformations video about how 4 different cities were transformed and changed as people gathered together to pray. Jails were closed down and drug cartels were dissolved. It's so good, it makes me cry every time.

The new group of MA Participants arrived last night, altogether there are 35 of them. So we are looking forward to this next week that we have together with them.

Luke and Chloe

Yesterday my sister called me and it was so good to talk to her on the phone. My nephew Luke is getting so big and it made me so happy to talk to him. He's a baseball star. He talked to me on the phone and told me that he has the snuffles and that he's going to hit the ball hard and run real, real far at his baseball game.

minestrone and sushi

Bev and Sunny came over to our house yesterday to make dinner. I lived with Beverley in California for about 6 months and I never saw her cook a thing. So she's promised since she came here to make us dinner. She said that minestrone is her specialty and so I went with her yesterday to the vegetable market and we bought all the things she needed. It took about three hours to make it but it was delicious. We were going to invite the girl staff over and so she made tons of it. Last night we barely made a dent in it and so we'll be enjoying it for the next week or so.

Sunny is from South Korea and she makes incredible food. Last night she made sushi but put egg and cheese in it instead of fish. It was really good. So we had some international cuisine last night with our international family here.

We haven't had another rat in our house for days. Maybe there was just a family of 6, and we caught them all.

tea

The MA team left on Friday to go on outreach and so our base is quite quiet again. The next group we have are coming next Saturday and there are 35 of them total, so it's a big group. This last Thursday we had tea in our house and had a good time with all the MA participants and our staff.

On Friday, Bev and I wanted to go on a prayer walk so we walked up to the Tibetan Buddhist Monastery. We joked around that we are training for Base Camp, because Bev has always wanted to climb Mt. Everest, and the monastery is quite a hike up in the hills. We are already over 6,000 ft, and there are parts of Shillong that are bit higher than that. She had never seen this sort of monastery before and we talked with the monks for a little while. The cook and one other monk served us tea and tried to talk to us, but they speak only Tibetan and a little Hindi. There are 13 that live there full time and every morning they spend hours in prayer. They have hundreds of prayer flags hanging in the trees and on lines and they believe that every time the wind moves the flags, that the prayers are released into the air.

flip flops

Bev and I went again today to the orphanage in the afternoon. We always have so much fun there. Today we split the group in two and played games with them and then read them books. I hadn't played Duck-duck-goose in such a long time or Ring around the rosies. I found myself searching through my mind trying to think of games that I played years ago so that I could somehow entertain them. I think that it is good for the heart to play with little children. They are so easily satisfied and entertained. They don't have a tv or even lots of toys laying around, so they always play games with each other. One child today asked Beverley how many brothers and sisters she had. After she answered, the child was suprised and with pride said I have 83. It really seems as if they see each other as brothers and sisters, they are so precious.

The other thing that surprised me is that they all share everything. Even their shoes are community property. While we were playing games a bunch of them took off their flip flops and then when we were finished, they all put on different shoes. It's impossible to tell them apart because they are all simple white and blue flip flops, just different sizes. So sometimes the last one to get to the pile of shoes doesn't get any.

It really must be rat season because in this last week we've caught 6. It's ridiculous. It's true that they really like cheese, all over the world. One day we ran out of cheese and used butter, and that night we didn't catch any. They're becoming very bold these days and just run into our house as if they are a welcome guest. Somehow I feel a little guilty killing all of them. I remember growing up, my sister had a hamster and we paid $80 dollars for a vet to put an IV in him when he became dehydrated because of wet tail. That seems like so long ago and worlds away from here. Now Houser and I run excitedly to the kitchen in the morning to see if we caught anything in the night.

We have 12 people here right now doing Mission Adventures and so Houser has been really busy teaching. They'll leave here on Friday to go on outreach. Both Houser and I have been asked to share at a Youth Conference tomorrow and so we'll be waking up pretty early as it's over an hour away. I'm supposed to share about prayer and he's supposed to share about missions. It's a neat opportunity because usually we're asked to share separately at different events and so it will be good to finally share together.

We woke up again this morning and there was yet another rat caught, I'll try not to post any more graphic pictures though. We had no idea that we had that many guests in our house at night. When we were sharing it with our staff, our friend said that he has caught 6 so far.

So many different things have been going on this last week and this next one is quite full with Mission Adventures. We are expecting participants to arrive on Monday.

There are a large group of Americans here on an outreach from Florida. It's a bit overwhelming because we haven't seen so many "foreigners" in such a long time and to walk into a room with 18 Americans is a bit shocking. There are 18 of them and they are from various places in the States, even one girl from Lancaster County. It's the neatest thing because even though we have never met them before, we feel an instant connection and love because we are from the same family. The same thing happens as we meet other believers from different tribes and countries. Somehow, we connect heart to heart and have a love and understanding that breaks through languages and cultures.

caught

Just a quick update that we have already caught two mice/rats within 24 hours. We set traps up last night after the rodent invaded our home. When we woke up, I checked the traps and we had caught one.

Just now, tonight, we were in the living room and we heard a loud snap. We went and checked and another one had been caught. It's the weirdest thing because normally they don't come inside when the lights are on, but the past couple of days they have been coming in while we are still awake. Houser said it's maybe because of the change of seasons.

Staff training for MA is going on right now and Houser has been involved with that and orientating the new staff that have come. Bev and I are spending our days studying and praying and then sharing with the students at the Discipleship School of Ministry in the afternoons. We are having such a good time with them. We leave every day encouraged.

cheese

Is it really true that mice like cheese, or is that just on cartoons? We had an invader in our house tonight and we aren't quite sure if it's a full grown mouse or a young rat. He ran quickly into our living room and I saw a brown blur in the corner of my eye. I screamed like a girl because it frightened me and said "Houser, there's a mouse!" It kept running and then hid behind our couch. Houser said he didn't want to kill it and I said "Please, do something!"

They're so small and harmless, but somehow still they are quite unnerving. I didn't want the mouse/rat to leave the room so I guarded the door while Houser went to find some sort of weapon. He returned with a shoe. He told me to move away from the door and after a minute or two, the mouse/rat scurried through the door into the kitchen. Houser aimed and threw the shoe down hard, but the mouse/rat escaped back through the hole that it came in through. We have a small hole in our kitchen where the water from the sink drains out.

Occasionally we will see some rat droppings and figured that they come and play in our kitchen in the night but we have never seen one in our house. So tonight we set some rat traps to see if it returns. We put some cheese on the traps and it made me wonder, do they really like cheese? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

exciting times

So many neat things have been going on this last week. This last weekend they were celebrating a revival that happened here in Meghalaya 100 years ago and a church here invited me to come and speak and lead a prayer time. As I was preparing to share with them I was studying the history of revival here and it was so inspiring and encouraging. A group of people had gotten together to pray because they heard that exciting things were going on in the world (the Welsh Revival). The book I was reading said that they had a longing in their heart for God and a desperation because of their own powerlessness in sharing the gospel and reaching out to those who don't know Jesus. So they started praying. There was a meeting that was held and thousands of people came and had incredible encounters with God.

Suddenly, normal lay people in the church started going out on the streets and sharing the gospel with people and in 2 years over 8000 people were saved. They said that there was incredible unity within the church, people were getting out of debt and becoming generous, and there was a new hunger to share the gospel with the unreached. The thing that encouraged me was that it was normal people, like you and me, who started praying and the results were like those in the book of Acts as lives were changed and localities were changed.

So we had a neat time of prayer that night, asking for God to come and move again within this city and the surrounding regions. Beverley and I were asked to share with a group of youth this week in a training program and it has been good. There are somewhere between 30-40 of them and they are from different states within northeast India. We are mostly sharing about prayer and trying to instill a love for God and hunger for His word. It has been challenging and fun.

Last night 4 new people arrived who are going to be on staff with us now. We are starting Mission Adventures again this Monday and running it three times this month. It's a ten day program with 4 days of training and 6 days of outreach and ministry. So our base is full of activity and preparation for this month to come. We have been praying so much that God would do great things and we feel like we can see glimmers of answered prayers. It's really an exciting time.

orphanage

On Saturday Beverley and I went to a local orphanage to spend time with the children. Beverley really has a heart for orphans and so we wanted to see if there are ways that we can help out there. This particular orphanage is mostly Khasi and only for girls. There are about 74 girls there right now ranging from ages 4 to 16.

It was really funny because we didn't have any program prepared, we just wanted to meet them and find out if there were ways that we could help. However it was a rainy day and so they had all of the girls inside. They really wanted us to share some stories or teach them some new songs and so we sang with them and I told the story of David and Goliath. I had a volunteer, the tallest girl, stand on a chair and be Goliath. Another tiny girl was David and everyone was laughing really hard. Beverley and our friend Ayophy shared some things as well. Those little girls are so precious, I cannot even properly explain.

We found out that we can come and play with them on Saturdays and on the weekdays we can come in the afternoon to help them with their studies. So especially for the next couple of months we hope to go there a couple of times a week.

easter eggs

All over the world, Easter is celebrated with Easter eggs. My Grandma sent me a package with some Easter goodies in it, and so here is a picture with Bev and some candy easter eggs that she sent. My nephew Luke is holding an easter egg that he made for his brother Noah. My sister is 8 months pregnant and so Noah isn't even born yet, but we are all anxiously awaiting his arrival.

We went to church yesterday on Easter Sunday and they gave us boiled, colored Easter eggs. I was really surprised that they would do that here. My friend Sunny was sharing that in South Korea, they also hand out Easter eggs at the church services symbolizing new life. So it seems to be a worldwide phenomenon.

Today, April 17th, is a great day. It is my Dad's Birthday and our ten month anniversary. One of our friends was making fun of us because we count our anniversary monthly. Maybe we'll stop counting after we hit the one-year mark, but to us, it's a big deal.

The DTS is leaving for outreach today and so our base will be quiet for a couple of weeks until Mission Adventures starts.

Chicken Biryani

On Friday night, a couple from the DTS that are originally from Maharashtra (West India), came to our house to talk. They were supposed to leave for the outreach to Bhutan on Monday, but they needed over 10, 000 rupees (about $250 US dollars) to pay the school and outreach fees. They were heart broken because they had completed the three month lecture phase and were wondering if they could somehow get credit for that since they weren't able to complete the two month outreach to receive a DTS certificate and graduation. It was really hard because the husband was sharing with us that he really believed that God was going to provide for them, but the deadline had come and gone and they didn't know what to do. For sure we don't have an extra $250 dollars laying around, and we didn't know how to counsel them, except to say that we could give them a certificate for the lecture phase and pray that God would clearly lead and guide them and provide for all of their needs. They left our house and said they wanted to make dinner for us Saturday night.

The next night they came to our house and brought the chicken biryani dinner with them. They had good news. Suddenly that day their phone had rang and someone from Maharashtra said that they would send them the money they needed for the outreach. Their faces were bright and shining and their joy was contagious. It was so encouraging because Peter really believed that God was going to provide for them and He really did, just in time. So we prayed for them, along with the rest of the DTS today as they are leaving this afternoon for their outreach to Bhutan.

They had invited a couple of other people over to our house as well and so we had a neat dinner of chicken biryani and celebrated the faithfulness of God. Biryani is a famous dish in India that is usually made for special occasions like weddings and birthdays. It is made up of several different layers and is often served with some curds and vegetables. It was delicious and we had a good time.

Good Friday

Today has been a really full day. It is the last day of Housers' teaching this week and the last day of the lecture phase for the DTS. We had a really neat time this morning praying for all of the staff and students and celebrating Good Friday with worship and communion. It's bizarre to think that these students are leaving in a few days. They are going on an outreach to West Bengal and Bhutan for a couple of months. Sunny prepared some tea and snacks at her house this afternoon and we all went to hang out and spend time together.

Last night we had some girl's fellowship at our house and it was a really rich time. We had some tea and snacks (it's a huge part of the culture in India) and we prayed for each other, told stories, laughed a lot, and some even cried. It's one of my favorite parts of our life here, to spend time with these women. Today two of my friends here gave me little Easter baskets and it brought joy to my heart.

Houser and I have to run down the mountain tomorrow to visit some friends from Brazil. He has known them now for over six years and they are returning to Brazil for good on Monday. We are really sad to see them go.

Tonight they showed The Passion of the Christ (the Mel Gibson movie) on a major movie channel here in India and it was dubbed in Hindi. It's incredible to me that all over India, the story of the passion of Jesus is being told. It's hard for me to watch that movie. It's hard to believe that it all really happened to Someone so innocent and kind. However, I am thankful for what He has done.

"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."
Isaiah 53:3-5

cricket chaos

Houser returned from the cricket match around 3:00 in the afternoon and the match was supposed to have been going on late into the evening. When I saw him, he didn't smile, and he looked very disappointed. I knew that there was going to be an interesting story.

They arrived at the field in the morning and waited outside the gate for over an hour and a half. Then they were sitting on the stands for three hours, waiting for the game to start. There had been a lot of rain the past week in Guwahati and so the fields were drenched. Thousands of people were waiting in the stands to see India play against England. During these hours there were no annoucements or any communication and the crowd became restless.

There were mostly men in the crowds and in the beginning they would cheer when a woman walked by. But after a while they started throwing things at the women as they walked by. Houser even saw them throw a banana peel at a women's head and everyone laughed and cheered. Really. As the time went by, they started throwing things at Houser because they thought he was from England and wanted his attention. If you notice from the picture, Houser is wearing a shirt that says India. He was definitely cheering for the India team. A man gave him a free India hat since he had come from so far away.

The people who organized the event even brought in a helicopter to fly over the field in circles, hoping that it would dry out and the game could start, but it was to no avail. When the crowds began to realize there was not going to be a match, they became outraged. Many of them started tearing down parts of the arena, advertisements and whatnot, and setting things on fire. It was about that time that Houser and the group decided to leave.

A little over three hours later, the weary group reaches Shillong. We found out from the news that the crowd really started a lot of trouble and the police had to use tear gas to break up the madness. It was even a big story in the newspaper this morning. Houser and everyone that went were joking that they have more memories of the event now than if the game had really gone on. We're all glad that they made it back safely. Houser is teaching this week in the DTS. This is the last week of the lecture phase and we are having a Commissioning night for them this Friday, before they go on outreach Sunday.

cherry blossoms

These are pictures from Manali. The one is of me and a lady who lives in the village there. We were on a walk and enjoying the beautiful flowers and mountains. She came out and started talking to us and said that it would be good if we would take some pictures in the yellow flowers there. It was lovely.

While we were out walking we saw so many beautiful things and people. The cherry blossoms were just budding on the trees. The whole scene reminded me of some of the verses that we had read at our wedding ceremony last June:
"My beloved spoke and said to me: Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away!"

I love these verses because they remind me of the love and grace of God. It's a picture of His heart toward us in any season. He is always calling us on to choose life and to arise from our complacency and apathy. He delights in us and calls us to forget what is behind and to press on toward what is ahead. Our pain and sin truly is captured in the idea of winter with it's bleakness and barreness, and He calls us onward into joy, righteousness, and beauty with Him, regardless of the time or season.

The choices that we have to make daily are glorious. We can choose to love and forgive and to give of ourselves to those around us. Daily, over our lives, He says "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away!" He desires our love and affection, and His mercy and compassion are new every morning. I love that about Him. No matter what we have done or how far we have gone, He is calling us to arise and choose His love and grace. He casts our sins into the sea of forgetfulness, and beckons us to draw near. The time of singing has come.

"This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him." Lam. 3:21-24

mashed potatoes

Beverley and Sunny have arrived safely in Shillong after their long and adventurous travels. It's so good to have them back here. Beverley has a really good camera and so she took quite a few more pictures and so I'll be posting more to share. These are pictures of us at the Taj Mahal, last month. Since Houser is away to watch the cricket match, Beverley is staying with me tonight and it's good to catch up with her and just to hang out.

We decided tonight that I'll make some mashed potatoes and I'm horribly embarassed to say that I don't really know the right way to make them. I have one really good cook book here and although it has many varied recipes, there isn't one for mashed potatoes. I think it's because it's one of those things that everyone should know how to do. So Beverley and I have been having discussions about the "right way." Do you boil the water before you put the potatoes in? Do you peel and cut the potatoes first, or just wash them and plop them in the water? How long do you boil them for? This led to discussions about boiled eggs as well. Do you boil the water first, or just put them in with the cold water? How long do you cook them? Please give me wisdom.

So as I write, there are some potatoes (skinned, and cut in small pieces) boiling in the kitchen. It was Beverley's idea to cut them in small pieces, she said that they would cook faster that way.