One week and counting!

We are one week away from the Big move! Our internet and power has been the best these past couple days, right after Christmas. Christmas day we were out of power from about 9am to 730pm! That is the longest since I have been here, and changed some of our plans for the day. Even so it was a delightful celebration with our miniature tree, gifts, the Christmas story in video form with a sing-a-long and singing some Christmas songs.

A brief update on things I mentioned previously:
Saroj is with his family in Nepal, where they are originally from, and they will be returning next week! This is a blessing because it means he will continue at the same school, and we will be able to work with him and his brother. I have been working with him on some healthy eating and exercise habits, as well as studies; I am glad that I will be able to continue to work with him and his brother when they return.

My roommate, and Debbie's assistant, has decided that she is not going to stay with us and is looking for other housing and a new job. It is a difficult thing to commit to a job like this 24/7 and she has almost done it for a year. I know she is uncertain about where He is leading her and stressed right now, but she has confessed that she was not committed to continuing here 100%. Please pray for direction for her, and for another person from the US or someone local to step in and help whether for a short-term or long-term commitment. I am so glad I am here at this time to help out in the little ways I can; however, there is a need for someone who speaks English and Hindi to translate where our limited Hindi falls short.

Another exciting piece of news. For Christmas the boys received a keyboard, and I am starting to teach them lessons! This is a blessing for me to have the opportunity to use some of other gifts and to have the opportunity to play while I am here. We were able to do some Christmas carols the day after-since we did not have power the day of, and yesterday I started lessons with them. The oldest boy is eager to learn and practice, but the younger one, Tarun, who is still with us over the holidays is having a more difficult time focusing. Pray for wisdom for me to know how to motivate and encourage him, and that it could be something he could learn to enjoy and commit to practicing. There are some behavior and learning disabilities that make it difficult for the younger two (Tarun and Anmol), but we are hoping that the music will be a helpful tool as they all love music.

Praise that we have power to keep us warm-especially at night. We were so thankful that it came back just in time for us to get heaters running to warm us up for the night. We are all quite healthy for the most part; although we had beef Christmas day that tasted so good, but did not settle well with Debbie or myself. We have recovered quickly though and are focused this week on packing up and getting things ready for the move.

My time here seems to be getting smaller and smaller, and every day new things come up. You may have heard the phrase "on India time." I am learning the need to be flexible and also focused when I do have the time to get things done, because you never know what is going to distract you or interfere with your day. Pray that I would be able to accomplish what He desires for me with each day, and be flexible to step in and help in other ways when I need to and am able.

There is so much to be said about all that I am learning and understanding more each day, but I hope to share these with you in person when I return home, or in a formal letter. My roommate, Debbie and I have been doing Beth Moore's Bible study "I'm Believing God;" the timing of this study and its relevance have been such a blessing. This weeks' key verse: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8). I so often feel like I don't know where He is taking me or even what I am doing here, but He daily reminds me of the end goal, and the purpose of every day until then. Goodbye for now, blessings for the new year and I hope you can continue to remember the gift of His coming to dwell among us and what a blessing it is to know that He can relate to our every temptation, desire, and suffering. Peace be with you!

Merry Christmas and coming soon...

Sorry for the delay, I have an update on its way and hopefully more pictures soon, but our power has been out and internet not working well enough to do much. Hopefully that will be better soon and I'll be able to share the good news with you! For now, thank you, praise be to Him who is able to do far more than all we could ever hope or ask, and Merry Christmas! P.S. A Huge Thank you to VBC for the generator-we are so grateful and blessed at the timing of His provision. There is so much to ask you to pray for and praise Him for… hope to share it with you soon.

Good news of Great Joy!

Hello again friends and family... I am going to try to keep things up to date here with news. Just briefly, all our programs are coming to an end and we have seen Him faithfully answer prayers. Thank you for praying for them with us! The kids and staff have been encouraged by the gifts we've been able to see given and the joy on these kids faces with new clothes and school supplies. Mary, the baby goat pictured below is healthy and growing well. She sleeps in my room with the heater on her to keep her warm in the colder nights, then we take her out to be with mom during the warmer days.

Please pray for all of our health; we have been fighting colds with sore throats, ear aches and runny noses. So far nothing serious, but with the colder weather we are definitely feeling it! Secondly, there is a possibility of us taking in another child in the new year... I'll let you know more if we do, for now just pray for wisdom for Debbie and the ability to support another child in the home.

We have holiday celebrations this weekend to look forward to, and one of the boys that has been away at school returning tomorrow-the first time the house has been full since my arrival! One of the other boys in the home that i have been working with is moving back with his family. They will go to Nepal for the holidays and we are hoping they will be moving back here so both boys can attend school here, and we can continue some work with the one boy. Pray for the health and safety of this family and that the school would be able to help the family financially so they can move here if it is what He wants. Thank you and I will talk to you again soon!

My First Month's Photo Excerpts

Here are some photos I have uploaded to give you a taste of my first month here. Click on the picture to see more photos, and don't be surprised if you receive an oops message-go ahead and click on the link to my photos and you should be able to see them. You can also see a small slideshow under 'My New Photos' on the side of my blog, and if you click on this it should take you to the same link with a bigger view. Thanks and enjoy!

There is so much I could say about what I have seen and been involved with here. It is hard to express the number of emotions I have felt all at once, and how much I really do love these kids.

We were so blessed this week to receive packages of school supplies sent by my life group just in perfect timing for our Christmas celebrations this week. This enabled us to prepare gifts for the Sunday school children and a children’s home that my roommate grew up in. Since we are in the midst of moving, we are not able to do a Christmas outreach program, but we are doing small events with the children who come daily during the week, this children’s home and the Sunday school children. We had 33 children for the Sunday school today and during the story of Jesus’ Birth, our pregnant goat gave birth to a health baby! The baby’s name is Mary.

I have started to do assessments on the children with disabilities and hope to develop a vitamin schedule for them that I can leave with the staff here. I will also be putting together some teaching tools that explain the natural food sources that provide these vitamins and how to prepare foods so that their vitamins are preserved, and things to watch for in vitamin deficiencies and excesses. As I have been studying vitamin deficiencies and preparing resources for them, I have learned that many of the disabilities these children have are probably due to vitamin deficiencies of their mothers, effecting their development during and following birth. I would love to be able to do some education for the community that would raise awareness about food preparation, but I have to take one step at a time.

Though I have learned a few Hindi phrases I can use, it has been hard to find the time and energy to practice Hindi so that I can understand more. Most of the kids in the home speak Hindi and a fair bit of English, so communication is not so difficult there; it is more a barrier to my confidence in working with the staff and the children with disabilities, but all of them have been very helpful and patient with me in spite of my shortcomings.

Right now we are just trying to take one day at a time in preparation for the Christmas celebrations (3 down, 1 to go!), and trying to get things ready for the big move the end of this month. My one week at the hospital last month was eventful, giving me several opportunities for trach care, to encourage staff to remember sterile technique and help them out when things get quite busy in an ICU, with only 2 staff nurses on duty.

Every day I am reminded of who God is and that even though I feel completely inadequate at times, and like I am making such a small difference and want to do so much more, I know He is at work in even the little things. He is increasing my faith daily and revealing so much to me. There is so much more to be said, but for now I will leave you with this. I can't wait to tell you about these holiday celebrations and the miracles unfolding. Hopefully, I will be able to post some pictures to share with you as well. Thank you for joining me in this journey!