Home Safely

Yes, it is good to be home, thank you for the warm greeting. There is however, a piece of our hearts still over there in India. Upon our arrival many people approached us ecstatic to hear about our adventures and compassionately inquiring about our health. I hear that the body at Church on the Rock Homer and Alaska Bible Institute prayed for our health once they heard that we began to feel a little under the weather. So thank you for your faithfulness in keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Each of us has taken so much out of this journey to India. We are looking forward to sharing with you on Sunday. We will be sharing pictures with you and how each one of us benefited from this trip and our favorite points.

There is so much more than what we got out of this trip. We built so many meaningful relationships while we were there that encouraged so many organizations. This journey benefited so many there in India. Who knows how far it will ripple on. We hope that this trip will benefit all of you that right there supporting us along the way. We hope to be able to accurately portray what we experienced and what God has taught us, to help inform you all.

So please join us on Sunday as we get to share our hearts on India with you. I hope you leave feeling excited as we are to potentially link arms with these powerful and passionate organizations after God’s own heart, in India.

Back to Chennai

Exposure.

As our time winds down we begin to process everything that we have encountered; to chew the cud if you will.

We are back here in Chennai at YWCA just for today until we take off for Singapore.

Our time in Kolkata (Calcutta) was quite different than /Chennai. We could feel the darkness. The city was covered with smog and poverty. We got to experience some good places and people though; William Carrey, Freeset, Mother Theresa, mental handicap halfway house.

We got to check out what William Carrey (India’s first modern day missionary) left behind, a school, church, grave.

We were very excited to meet Freeset and their operations. We met Carrie and his wife and their friend John, from New Zeeland. Carrie and his wife have been heading Freeset for about ten years now. He sat with us and made instant coffee (hm…) and shared with us his passion to liberate all them women in their neighborhood from bonded labor through the sex trade. We went back the next day when all the workers were there and got a tour and purchased some more bags.

We also met a lady who formed a halfway house for mentally handicapped women. She goes into jails and poorly run mental hospitals and rescues these women and starts to treat them. God has truly blessed her journey. She is very smart, proactive, and 79. We were astounded with her energy.

Before we left we visited Mother Theresa’s home and children’s home. We were able to sit with orphans and hold them and let God love them through us. Beautiful.

And this was only during a couple days in Kolkata. Yes, we have definitely been exposed to a bunch.

We miss you all. We are en route home. See you soon.

Much Love

Much Respect

Here We Come Calcutta

We have made so many valuable relationships. Now we are already packing up to head to Calcutta for a couple days to check out a few more people and organizations up there. We said “see you later”(Lord willing) to Vigi and Becky of Oasis this morning.

The last couple of days have been a true blessing, to us and to all those who we have been interacting with. Yesterday (3/9) we got the opportunity to visit St. Thomas Basilica. What a privilege! There are only three places in the world where they know that a disciple of Jesus was buried (Peter in Rome and James in Spain) and we got to visit Thomas’ here in India. We didn’t feel right that they were charging us to use our camera’s there. We were tempted to push over tables. J What a great experience.

That night we went to the Oasis office and met with Vigi again to hand out some of the futball shoes that we purchased for the kids. We handed them out and prayed over them a blessing. They were very encouraged, as we were also. Praise God.

Now we sit here in the lounge of the YWCA awaiting our ride to take us to Henry’s as we will have lunch at his home before we fly away to Calcutta.

Chennai has been so good to us. We have all fallen in love with the people and the kids. Many times we requested to see some kids because we were feeling deprived. J We will miss them. Though we hope we might be able to see them quickly on our way back before we take off home.

Thank you once again for your love and support.

Indian Photos

March 7, long awaited internet access.

3/7

Here we are, well into our journey here in India. We have finally found an internet connection, conveniently enough right here at the hotel. We have lodged here in Chennai at YWCA, where we will be until we go to Culcutta.

We have hit so many places since we got here. Initially, we only had a tentative schedule that our organizer, Henry Waller has set up for us. Fortunately, as we meet more people, our schedule is getting filled up very quickly.

Our first stop (3/4) was to Oasis, which is a community development organization. We sat down and met many of their people and heard their hearts and what they are up to. What a great thing they have going. They are working so closely with so many people in these communities, helping connect them to Christ. So after us meeting the leaders, we went to a few slums and checked out a few of their locations and what they were doing, hands on.

The next morning (3/5) we head on out to play soccer or futball with Vigi and some kids that he was coaching. We met Vigi at Oasis the day before, and we were captivated by his passion. We played for only a half of an hour, but were sweating bullets. We were quite exhausted. Vigi sat the kids down and we introduced ourselves and Jonathan told them a bit of his story.

From there we went to a “small” school. We walked down a small road where there were tons of motorbikes and people walking in front of numerous amounts of shops until we finally got to the school that was tucked away as if it had no significance next to a large Hindu Temple. Once we met the vice mistress though we learned that they had 700 students crammed into this narrow three story school. We heard about their needs with intention to try our best and meet some of the needs. How beautiful it was to see all 700 of those smiley faces that were so ecstatic to see us.

Then to finish our busy Thursday we went to a prayer group that Vigi was putting on that included a lot of kids that were at soccer/futball that morning. We had about 35 kids and us crammed into an upper room at a home where we sang songs and then Martin and David shared their testimonies and then Jonathan shared a message from the Gospels where Jesus called the fishermen out after providing for them. What a great time to see those kids passionately praising God.

The next morning (3/6) we once again played futball with Vigi and some different, younger kids. Then I (Jared) shared a little of my story and then Jonathan reiterated how excited we were to be here with them. David and Jonathan have had quite a blast being able to play futball again. After we met back up with Henry, we went to IJM, International Justice Missions. We were pretty excited to hear what they were up to. They work closely with the government of India to bring justice for people who are being exploited by their “bosses” which sometime expand to some extreme conditions.

Since then we have been given the chance to recoup and reenergize with some coffee and a movie with Henry. We are still so excited to see and help with what God has got going on here.

 

Personal India Testimonies

“Our trip has been such an amazing experience so far. All of my expectations have been totally blown. Most of the people here live such a lifestyle there’s no comparison to in Alaska. I now truly recognize the need that these people have, and the difference that I/you can make. We have met some amazing people here, people that are truly passionate and devoted to serving the Lord. It is so encouraging! The Lord is certainly changing my heart everyday. Thank you for all your support and prayer.”
-Kyle Clapp

“My very western way of Christianity is being challenged, and God is removing the scales from my eyes! These people are showing me how to worship God. In the midst of having absolutely nothing, they worship Jesus as if they have everything.”
-David Kropf

“So far, the impact that India has had for me is how I take my lifestyle for granted. And how people here are very grateful for what they have and how they live. I thank God everyday for bringing me here and opening the eyes of my heart and allowing me to see the big picture and also how God is moving in India.”
-Martin Munoz

“I’ve been having an amazing time here in India. I’ve really enjoyed playing soccer with the kids that Oasis is working with. It’s humbling to see what these people live with compared to what we have in America.”
-Joel Tutt

“I am having trouble finding words to even describe how I feel about this trip. There is so much to see, and so much to take in. It is somewhat overwhelming at times. God is moving here in an amazing way. The other night in the upper room was very touching to see and experience. In a way it was like a first hand experience of the disciples in the upper room. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us in the rest of the trip."
-Colten Tutt

“Oh, how God is good! I have been praying for God to give me perspective on this trip. He has certainly showed up and revealed a numerous amount of truths to me. I am continually captivated by God's beauty through these kids and their smiles and their heart. I look forward to sharing with everyone the details of this journey when I get home. Praise God!"
-Jared Baker

“I am consistently amazed at the power of the poor. Every time I join them I am called to something higher and deeper than I have subscribed to before. I find that the poor have an ability to call out the best in me, they have the abilityto walk free from the snares of this world that challenges me to look for new paths to trod, and many posses a joy that is free from circumstances. As Mother Theresa would say, ‘If you want to be with Christ be with the poor.’ “
-Pastor Jonathan 

March 2, almost there...

3/2

Treated like Kings.  Walking through business class on Singapore we began to drool, looking at those seats (or thrones).  They looked like personal love seats with their own individual larger flat screen TV. We continued on however to our economy class realizing it was just a tease for us to walk through business class. Our seats may not have been thrones, but we were quite amazed by the service of these stewardesses. Welcomed by a warm towel to press over our eyes and face to a couple of full meals. We all also had our own small screens to watch movies, listen to music, play video games, or read some articles on different countries, it was quite an extensive selection.

The 15 hour flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong was easily bearable with the bonuses. We got into Hong Kong at about 7:30 this morning and were given less than an hour in the Hong Kong airport before we took off to Singapore.

We arrived here in Singapore a little after noon. We have a nine hour layover here, but couldn’t have enjoyed it more. We were able to take showers to get cleaned up and change clothes. This Singapore airport is quite amazing. It looks more like a mall with a movie theatre and plenty of restaurants. We are actually seated right next to a Hard Rock Café.

We are still ecstatic about our time in India. We only have to get through a small four hour flight. Our apologies for the delay with getting these blogs posted. Finding a connectable network in these airports has been a bit difficult. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. The Lord has certainly shown us his beauty flying above the clouds the last couple days.

India, finally...

3/1

Eight hours in the San Francisco Airport can really get to you. Don’t you worry, we are having fun. Random tours around the airport, hackie sack in the middle of the crowded hallway, and our last beef dinner for quite some time. We are well on our way to India.

We all came together Saturday evening in Anchorage (except David Kropf who joined us in San Franscisco). We managed to catch a viewing of Slumdog Millionaire, which was a great lead into what we will be exposed to there. We raided Wal-Mart and bought about 25 pairs of kids sandals or $2 per, and bags of candy to give away to kids that we encounter. We then settled in for the night at Jamin and Cate Morris’ place and talked more about our focus in India and how the movie related to what we will be exposed to.

We took off out of Anchorage early (4:00 am) Sunday morning flying to Seattle and then onto San Francisco where we met up with David Kropf, and here we are waiting around during our 8 hour layover. Then we have a 22 hour flight to Hong Kong to endure, I mean enjoy and experience.

We are so excited to be part of this trip. We are having a blast together and can’t stop laughing. God has certainly given us joy in our unity. May this love continue to overflow into the hearts of the Indians we will be serving for the next couple of weeks together.

It truly is a joy to experience the Gospel (aka “Good News” of the Kingdom) in the delight of serving the oppressed and under privileged in our world. May this trip grant us all a broader vision of what our good God is up to in the world… His world.

We pray that you all feel joined with us in this journey. God is continually strengthening us through your prayers. May He bless you as well for your love and support. Please we encourage you to leave comments and feedback. Please Continue to tune into what we are up to. We will try to keep you updated daily.

Much Love
Much Respect

~Your loved ones