The Language of Love

Hello from the city of Joy! We’ve been here in Calcutta for almost two weeks- and I think it’s safe to say that that the nickname for this city is accurate! Well, for the most part- you still have the angry rickshaw drivers. I can also officially say that we’re pro’s at eating with our hands and sitting cross-legged for long periods of time. It’s gonna be a weird adjustment to silverware once we’re back in America!

But back to Calcutta. The kids and communities we’ve been working with are definitely full of joy. Unfortunately, so are the parties that blast loud music late into the night across the street from our guest house! Despite that, we’re loving it here and loving the kids even more, and we’ve been giving our all in the little time we have left!

Our team has been working with two ministries here, both of which are YWAM mercy organizations. We split in half daily- part of our team goes to a shelter run by a woman named Loachumlo, and the other half goes to a village, named Santi (which means “peace”) Park outside the city to a shelter named Light of Hope. Regardless of where we’ve been working these past two weeks, we’ve all been building relationships with kids that have turned our bodies into jungle jims and our laps into bean bag chairs. They all run full-speed towards us when we play with them, blindly expecting us to have our arms open- ready to catch them. 

Needless to say, our energetic team has had a great time bonding with these even more energetic kids. And we’re working with some great ministries to top it all off! Loachumlo’s shelter is in the city, about a 15 minute walk from our guest house. She’s had this shelter for about 5 years, and has a few children from the streets living permanately with her. Most weekday mornings, after her kids leave for school, anywhere from 10-20 children come in from off of the streets to sing worship songs, play games, get a bath, do crafts, learn about bible stories, and hang our with our team for the morning! They’re rambunctious, but lots of fun! Some days, the kids don’t come to the shelter, so our team goes to them- to their “homes” in the streets! These kids live in a manner that we as Americans would consider homeless- with all their possessions piled on the sidewalk, living their lives out in the open for all to see. While this seems outrageous to us, it’s just normal life to them. The families don’t seem to be worried about their situation- they’re happy. Their house is the street; the street is their house. Our team played with the kids, gave them medicine, and prayed for people they met, and ran the risk of getting lice and an extra stare or two from strangers to do so! They all say that playing with the street kids was one of their favorite ministries. 

The other half of our team went to Light of Hope, a village several miles outside of Calcutta. In order to get there, we have to hop on a bus- and sometimes wait a while for it! Then we catch a rickshaw, and then walk for about 10 minutes to the house where the program is run. Light of Hope runs a pre-school of sorts in the morning for the children in the village, all run by a couple that lives in the same house. About 20 kids come every day, between the ages of 2 and 5. The kids sing songs, practice writing Bengali symbols and English letters, and love to color and play with legos. Whether it’s cuddling with the low-key kids or letting the more boisterous ones jump on you, we’ve really made this time about hanging out with the kids and giving them attention. After the kids leave around 11:30, and after lunch, our team goes around to houses to share the gospel, our testimonies, and pray for families. Entering into their humble homes, squeezed into a tiny living space, we told the people we met what amazing things God has done for us. Our prayer is that these conversations would plant seeds in these peoples’ hearts, and that God would open their eyes to the truth. In this village, the couple that runs Light of Hope, Sonatan and Dora, are the only practicing Christians. 

This week, we learned a lot about the language given to us by Christ, which is the language of love. Very few of the kids we’ve been spending time with know English, which means we have to communicate with them though a translator. This complicates everything- from sharing our stories to giving the kids directions, but I think we all learned how to work around a language barrier to get the message of Jesus across.

It’s truly a beautiful thing- to know that these little kids we have such a big heart for have no clue what we say when we speak with our mouths, but they understand us because we’re speaking with our hearts- which means playing with them and just spending time to sit with them. Often times we can only communicate by body language- namely a grin and a thumbs up, but it works. We speak with love, and it’s our prayer that every day Jesus helps us to become more fluent! 

Want a good conversation starter to share your beliefs? Go to a foreign country, one where you can be picked out in a crowd, and wait. Sooner rather than later, you will be approached. Someone will ask- where are you from? What are you doing here? This is the position a few of us found ourselves in at the mall one night while eating dinner. There was a man at the table next to us, named Monise, who started up a conversation with one of our boys, Mark Ishida. Monise started ask questions about our purpose here- which quickly turned into a conversation of our beliefs. Monise was a practicing Hindu, but after a 20 minute conversation of him asking Mark tough questions about God, reincarnation, salvation and poverty, God opened his eyes and he wanted to receive Christ and become a Christian! Mark prayed with him, and we left the mall that night praising Jesus! Monise left the mall waving to us and smiling- which put an even brighter smile on our faces. It was amazing to see fruit like that from our ministry- and the best part was that it was totally unplanned! God is so good. (: 

There are over 1.2 billion people living in India, and when we came here six weeks ago, we had to lay down believing that we could bring the gospel to every one of these people, or even that every person we shared the gospel with would be saved. We had to lay down believing that in our short time here, we could rid the families we met of the poverty they were facing. We knew that these large issues are only solved over time, through a long period of transformation. It happens laugh by laugh, smile by smile, and conversation by conversation. When you zoom out and look at the big picture, when you see all the poverty and unsaved people, it doesn’t seem like we’ve made any difference. But it’s when you zoom in to the specific lives that have intersected with ours over the past month and a half, when you see people like Monise being saved and when you notice improvement in the kids’ behavior after giving them personal attention throughout the week that you see and sense the weight of what we’re doing. We believe we’re here to be the agent God uses to change lives, even if it is little by little. We want to show as much love as we can, and do the most good that we can. We can only do what is within our capacity as humans, and that is love. The rest, we leave in God’s hands, having complete faith that He is working in these people’s hearts long after we’ve left India. 

We’ve had an amazing six weeks, and we can’t believe that it’s already almost over. Tomorrow (Wednesday, the 12th) evening, we’ll be flying out of India and landing in New Jersey around noon on the 13th! This ends our outreach time, and I know that many of us will have India in our hearts for the rest of our lives, and hope to come back here soon! 

Please pray for a safe journey home- especially for a smooth flight and for health for all of us! Thank you so much for keeping up with our adventures and praying for us along the way. We can’t wait to see all of you back in America! (:

Nashik and You Will Find

We had a whirlwind of traveling in the past week, and it’s about to get even crazier! On Wednesday night, the 22nd, we had one last party at Hope of Glory. We had a lovely time of eating, dancing (with the exception of when our team girls had to learn and perform a dance in less than 24 hours…talk about rough!) and hanging out with the wonderful kids we’ve grown to love so much in the past three weeks. The power went out several times throughout the night, which meant that we were in for a late night, but it was a great time. With several tears, laughs, and “I love you’s”, we said our goodbyes and promised the kids we’d never forget them and would do our best to try and come back to see them. These kids are in such a great place at Hope of Glory, and it’s been so amazing to see where they’ve come from and how their lives have been transformed because of the compassion of many givers and lovers. We’re so glad we got to spend our time in Pune with them! 

Early the next morning, we were all set to head out to Nashik (pronounced na-seek), which is about 6 hours north of Pune. While we were supposed to leave around 9 am, we didn’t get on our way until 11 am- hey, we are in India after all! (; We’d be working with the Good Shepherd Home for two short days in Nashik. As we left the city and started to climb over the mountains and scraggly plateaus, I think we were all so happy with the change of scenery! With our driver rattling off words in Hindi into his cell phone and spitting out the window every couple minutes, all while passing trucks and rickshaws, we were all pleasantly surprised that we arrived safely at our hotel (with real showers!) 

This past week, we were delighted to have our base director, Patty Bauman, with us. She’s worked with Good Shepherd Homes for a while, so she introduced us all as we became quickly acquainted with the kids. They have about 40 teenage kids living in the Nashik branch of their homes. We started ministry early Friday morning, driving to the home and not having an inkling of what the Lord would lead us to do while we were there. Thankfully, God showed us exactly what we were to do. 

Because we had little time to prepare for our ministry at Good Shepherd, we prayed and depended on the Lord to help us figure out what to share with the kids. As several of us prayed, we heard so clearly that we were supposed to focus on telling these kids that they are special and loved by God. We also shared the story of Paul’s conversion! We decided to make 1 Peter 2:9 our theme verse for the weekend, which says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Our prayer is that what we shared will not be a passing thought to these kids, but something that will stick with them. Over the course of two days, we had a great time sharing testimonies, playing games, doing crafts, and getting to know these kids.

We want to share with you the story of two girls at the home, Komal and Kiran. One of our leaders, Erika Simpson, was talking to Komal as she shared with her the story of how she ended up at Good Shepherd. When Komal was born, her father was very upset because she was not a boy, so he started to beat her mother and wanted no part in raising Komal. About two years later, her sister Kiran was born, which made her father even angrier and more abusive. Their mother left- their father, the girls- and their father left shortly after, leaving the girls to fend for themselves on the street as a toddler and a baby that could not walk yet. They were utterly abandoned, with no one to look after them. They were alone, having to beg and dance on the street to get strangers to spare a rupee or two to get food. 

Somehow, their grandmother found a shelter for the girls to go to, and while they were separated for a time, the sisters are both now happily living at Good Shepherd in Nashik. Since the girls do not have a mother or father to tell them their exact ages and birthdays, Good Shepherd thinks that Komal and Kiran are now 18 and 16, respectively. We do not share their story to make you feel sympathetic for these girls, or to donate money to kids like them. We tell you this story because these girls are the faces of statistics about the millions of abandoned children world wide, but also the faces of those freed from hurt and pain because of places like Good Shepherd. These girls are the reason why we are here in India. Komal told her story- every part about abuse and tragedy- with a smile on her face. It is the most encouraging and beautiful thing to see how the Lord has transformed her life. She now knows that God is enough for her, and that He will take care of her. She believes that God is good, despite all that has happened in her past. She has favorite bible verses now, and God is using her in her school of “idol worshippers” (her term, not mine) to be a light and to share stories about Jesus. She is using her story to change other peoples’ lives- which shows the complete redemptive power of Christ in action. 

As we built relationships, we all decided that we loved the atmosphere at the home. It was laid back and casual, and though this may be cliche, you could tangibly feel the love in the air. They are happy, it’s as simple as that. We found it was so easy to form friendships with these kids. Whether it was playing with the puppies they have, or having the kids recite scripture from memory, we were so impressed by the character of these kids and how amazing they all were! I think we all learned a lot from them- and they all have a special place in our hearts.

Our team was really just focused on pouring out love on these kids in the short time we had with them. They do not get many teams to come visit them or work in their home, so they were eagerly awaiting us! We all wanted to spend more time at Good Shepherd- to get to know the kids better and to fix up their home. We wanted to do all we could for them. We decided to bless them by painting three rooms- which required a lot of hard work (and team work!)

We scraped and primed the first day, and actually painted the second day. We let the kids pick out the colors for their rooms, so it felt a little bit like the circus was coming to town. The boys’ room became a vibrant green, red, yellow, and blue. The two girls’ rooms turned from white to pink & white and blue & purple. We all had to work as one team to get the job done, as there were 11 walls to be done in a very short amount of time! And even though some of us were sick throughout the weekend, we all came together and used our different talents to get the job done! I think this past weekend was a real testament to how far our team has come from just a month ago when we started ministry, and how much we’ve learned to work with each other- but also how we can improve!

Perched atop bunk beds in lieu of ladders, I wish I could say we finished with no injuries, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Our lovely Jasmine Rochat had an (unintentional) fight with a spinning ceiling fan, and had to make a quick trip to the ER to get a couple staples. Praise the Lord though, she’s just fine! Pray for a continued quick recovery for her. 

After saying our goodbyes to these kids that we didn’t want to leave, we headed back to Pune on Sunday morning for two days off. It’s been a very nice, restful time where we were able to recharge and talk with our families and friends (thank the Lord for Wi-Fi!). Tomorrow morning, the 29th, we’re on the move again as we fly to Calcutta! We’ll be spending the rest of our time there- and I can already tell it’s gonna be an adventure! We’re going to be doing more with street kids and hopefully street evangelism in Calcutta! However, we don’t know exactly what will happen or if we’ll have internet, but please keep praying for safety, health, strength, and patience for our team, along with effectiveness in whatever ministry we end up doing! We want to continue to be able to give all that we can in the last two weeks of this adventure!

Revelation of Desperation

Hello friends and family! We’re nearing the end of our time in Pune- but that sure won’t stop us from doing all we can! This week we had several encounters that made us stop and think, laugh, and to be blunt- feel angry at what was going on around us. 

Imagine this, picture this, feel this. You’re in the nightmare that you’ve always wished would never come true. You can feel the heaviness of the darkness around you. It’s so uncomfortable, you wish that you could leave and forget this ever happened. You avoid eye contact with anyone you pass, in an effort to shield yourself from the evil that seems to be on these streets. You’re just downright uneasy. It takes you a couple minutes to realize that you actually are living out your worst nightmare. You’re in the Red Light District. This is a place where several brothels and prostitutes reside. It’s also a target area for human traffickers to do their so-called “business.”

As I’ve mentioned before, we split up into two teams for ministry times. This week, one of our teams went to a daycare in the Red Light District of Pune for a couple days, and this upcoming week our other team will be going. We’re soaking this time in lots of prayer, and would appreciate your prayers too!

The daycare we work with is run by an older woman, named Dr. Ruby, who gets persecuted for the ministry she does in this area. She has had people threaten her life, eunuchs and pimps have tried to vandalize her building, and she’s been stolen from. The children that attend this daycare are the children of prostitutes. Dr. Ruby goes and collects the kids (ages 2 to 5) from their houses on weekday mornings, and our team went with to help pick up the kids. One of our girls, Holly Peale, was handed a young girl that clung tightly to her as soon as she was in her arms. The little one had what looked like cigarette burns all up and down her arm, and she had been sleeping on the floor of a tiny apartment. Once all of the kids were rounded up (there were about 14), our team did a bible story, craft, and some games in a very small space where the daycare is held.

Then, our team walked into brothels (which have dozens of little rooms) with a translator and prayed over many families they met. They prayed for newness and the healing of hearts and bodies. They prayed specifically for one family, who had just started a new washing machine business. They prayed for prosperity for this business, so that the mother would be able to leave her life of prostitution. They prayed in little rooms that had pictures of Jesus on the walls, and in contrast, ones that had pictures of Hindu gods.

One of the ladies they met in the brothel served them chai (a favorite of ours). This may not sound like much, but it had to have been a sacrifice for her, as her house was smaller than the average American bathroom- which means she doesn’t have many possessions in the first place. It’s the simple things like that, the sacrifices you see people making, the ones you know they can’t afford to make, which twist joy and grief into one emotion in our hearts. She made jokes with our team and didn’t pass up the opportunity to comment on our white skin and (Holly’s) blonde hair color.

It brought joy into this house that sees prostitution as a suitable lifestyle. For a situation where hope is hard to find- just as hard, if not harder to find than it is to spot a trash can on the streets of Pune (which I assure you, is difficult)- this joyful moment distracts us from the horror of this woman’s situation. For a moment, we are able to pretend that it’s a normal house, and this woman has a normal job. But that’s not the reality. When the jokes are finished and the laughing ceases, and you learn about this woman’s desire to have a baby with the man living with her-all while she is selling her body for other men to use- you see the situation for what it really is, and it is heartbreaking. But it also shows us how important it is that once we understand these kind of situations, we need to pray. Earnestly. Or we go, and plant our feet on the ground and say that we will not stand for this.

Another one of our ministries this week was in the slums! Here, we saw a different kind of joy. Over 80 kids crammed into a small church building (well, it was more of a room) for the program our whole team was about to put on. We had a translator here, too, and it was quite a mission to try to explain how to sing “Praise Ye the Lord.” However, it was probably the most fun we’ve had during a worship time here! Then we shared a bible story and drama with the kids, which they thought was hilarious. We don’t know how much they understood, but we hope that they saw our heart behind what we had to share. Afterwards, we tried to tackle the craft- which was the epitome of chaos. With crayons and markers scattered around tiny caramel-colored kids sitting Indian style, we made eye contact several times with each-other and said “I love this.”

These kids have a refreshing type of joy- one that showed us that being satisfied with what you have is one of the surest paths to making the most out of your life and where you live it. It is a conviction and encouragement that we have to take back to our country; to show that we should not find our joy in our possessions, but in our love for each other and for Jesus. Overall, it was one of our favorite ministry times so far- we love being crazy and messy and funny for Jesus!

 We see slums all the time here- but only passing by in the rickshaw on our way to other places. In one of our split-team ministries, we got to see the raw, real community of people living in closeness- the very definition of the word- or what you may think of when you hear about India. There are so many people there, and so many children roaming the streets with no parent in tow. Our ministry was to go along with the staff of YWAM Pune as they went from house to house to pray for people. We also got to share our testimonies with the people we met! As we were walking around in the narrow streets of this 30,000 person slum at dusk, and as the sun finally dipped below the horizon (without any lights there to pierce the night, because the power was out), it made me think of the sky. We all live under the same sky and see the same moon, so how can things be so different? We’re all on the same Earth- just a few hours away from each other- so why is walking around a slum in India like stepping into a whole new world?

This is the only life these people know. A one room house, patterned with the zig-zag of tin sheets and then painted a vibrant blue for wallpaper. Two silver pots of water and their doorstep to do laundry on. Everyday life has a completely different meaning here. Living with three generations in a single room with only one plywood bed is normal- after all, their neighbors and millions of people in India are living the same way. And the crazy thing is that when you look at the streets of a slum in an overall, broad view, these people are supporting each other in a close knit community that feels a lot like family. They’re content, it seems, to live how they do. Their survival demands community. It is their life.

We read about these things, hear about poverty and injustice on the news, but it’s not until you actually go and see that it becomes real life. Suddenly, the documentary you watched a few months ago is in 3D and right in front of you, smacking you in the face with overwhelming smells and sounds, and sights that take your breath away- because of the beauty among the poverty or because of the ghosts of people you pass on the sidewalk-or both (we haven’t figured that out yet.)

You hear about families from slum communities that sell their own daughters to buy food for the rest of their children- the ones that are so desperate that they resort to sacrificing their children to be slaves for a lump sum of money, as if human life can be labeled with a grocery store price gun. But yesterday, I saw what would make a family do that. One of the houses we visited was the size of my bedroom at home, and there were at least 9 people living there- 7 children (including a 16-day old baby), a mother, and her mother-in-law. A girl on staff with YWAM Pune, Reshma, told us their story. The husband had been without work for two years, so the family was forced to take out a loan, because the children were starving. Now, there are people coming to collect the debt from the loan (along with interest)- money that the family doesn’t own to pay back, as the husband only recently found work. While at the house, Reshma had us pray that these people would stop coming to their house.

In many devastating situations, the next thing that would happen is that the people attempting to collect the money would take a family member as “compensation” and end up forcing them to be slaves in a never-ending cycle of bonded labor, one of the most common forms of slavery in India (read more about it at www.globalslaveryindex.org). This family member would end up working in bondage for life. Another scenario is that the family would sell one of their children- most likely a young girl- to a brothel to live a life of forced prostitution. We have seen firsthand- in the dim light of a slum house, with our bare feet on the concrete floor, what conditions will make a family do this. Please do not misunderstand this- we do not feel that this is the right path to go down- it absolutely is not. We are only trying to say that instead of asking how could people be so desperate to sell their own family, we are now asking what more we can do to stop this.

We don’t understand why the world is this way, and we doubt we ever will. But the only thing we can do as we struggle with these things is know that God is faithful. Regardless of what happens here, His faithfulness falls onto this earth like a never-ending rain. It is the only thing that we have to rest in- God’s power and love and goodness- and it is enough. Our Lord is abounding in loving kindness. He never fails to come through on his promises. Our Lord is a just Lord, and though we do not understand His ways, we try to trust in them. He is much more marvelous than we can understand. God is more glorious than the moon; he shines brighter than any star. And the things that we do understand about God- we can only praise Him for. He has a good and perfect plan to restore this broken world. The words of Jeremiah in Lamentations comfort me in the midst of the suffering that we see here: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, ‘the Lord is my inheritance; therefore I will hope in Him!’…For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also brings compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission?”

We also had a different, more spontaneous experience in the slums this week. A small group from our team stumbled upon a slum while looking for some street kids they had previously met. They were able to share food with them, clean and bandage the wounds of some of the kids, and played futbol (which is american soccer) and volleyball with the people there! And the most exciting part- they were able to share the gospel! A local who has been a Christian for 18 years also happened to be at the slum, and though he did not live there, he was able to translate for our group. One of our boys, Mark Harper, shared the gospel in front of a group for the first time and eight people raised their hands after being asked if they wanted to receive Christ! We are praying that these eight boys find Christian encouragement around them, as we found out soon after that encounter that we aren’t allowed to return to that slum.

Unfortunately, we have some limitations that were placed on our group for safety reasons. We were advised not to hand out food to beggars or do evangelistic things in the area because the Muslims here are hyper-aware of our actions, and we don’t want to over-step our boundaries. This does not mean that we are hiding our faith or covering up the fact that we are Christians, just that we want to be careful to avoid any unfortunate situations. I’m also not saying that we are not safe here- we are safe, alive, and know we’re protected by the hand of God. (; We are growing as a team through these limitations, and praying for divine appointments with people so we can share our faith more freely. We’re trusting that God has a plan for us in this slightly frustrating time.

This Thursday we head to Nashik for a couple days, and then we’re off to Calcutta for the rest of our time in India! Thank you all for your prayers and support! Continue to pray for the health and strength of our team, and also for guidance from the Holy Spirit in our ministry times. We love you all, thanks for reading!

The truth about stray dogs, rickshaws, and joyful service

Hello from India! It’s been nearly two weeks since we first started our adventure to the land of dirt and chaos. We’ve been able to settle into somewhat of a routine here, and we’re experiencing new things every day!

Rewind 11 days from this present moment, and we’re happy to finally reach Pune and start to settle into our new homes, after an exhausting 35 hours of travel. Rewind 9 days from this present moment, and we have just finished our first ministry time as a team with the wonderful Hope of Glory Foundation (HOGF) kids. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all adjusted to Indian time and recovered from a brutal jet-lag- praise the Lord!

We’ve already dug into our ministry times with enthusiasm and we LOVE hanging out with the kids here! I know you’re all probably wondering what an average day looks like for us- to be honest we are too! Here in India, things rarely go as planned. It seems to be almost a tradition for the schedule to change at a moment’s notice, which means we’re all learning how to be more flexible! But here’s what we ordinarily do each day: We start the day off with team time- which calls for a home-cooked American breakfast of eggs, toast, and occasionally fruit. Then we have a short devotional, sometimes worship, and team prayer time to focus our hearts. Then, it’s time for work duties (a YWAMer’s favorite pastime) and ministry preparation for the day- which involves planning games, songs, bible stories, and skits. Around 1pm we go to lunch at Hope of Glory. After lunch we have some time to finish preparing and then we go to start our ministry times! As 10 people, we split into two teams most days for this time. We mainly run programs at HOGF, but we also go to Santvana, an AIDS/HIV home, and Dr. Ruby’s, a daycare for children in the red light district. Then we all come back together for dinner at HOGF, and sometimes stay after to help wash the dishes  and put the younger kids to bed!

We’re having an interesting (and sometimes amusing) time discovering how we all work together and what works best for our individual teams in ministry. Everyone is stepping out of their comfort zone to participate! We’ve had a few glitches and blunders- like when we underestimated how much material we’d need to have for an hour-long program (and scrambled to sing 30 extra minutes of worship songs to fill the time), or like the time that the power went out in the middle of the craft time and we had to color by flashlight. But so far, it’s been an incredible experience- one we’re all learning and growing from.

As we become more accustomed to the environment here, we’re learning a lot about this culture. India is like no other place we’ve ever experienced. Stray dogs (along with cows and pigs!) roam the town in packs- we’ve decided that they definitely have some sort of “gang.” On the streets, you see twice as many rickshaws (a cross between a motorcycle and tricycle, or a 3-wheeled golf cart, with a seat big enough for 3 Americans or 5+ Indians) than cars weaving in and out of traffic.  All the pictures you’ve seen of the “typical” Indian streets and slums- crowds of people, pollution like a heavy cloud hanging on the street, makeshift homes on the side of the road with beggars beside them in scraps of clothes- it’s all real. The poverty and destitution is real. The way India is portrayed to the rest of the world is a genuine part of Indian culture (although there are certainly the affluent parts of India). However, we’ve learned that the people that live here do not dwell on the poverty of their situation or nation. They are happy and content- and most are more than friendly to us, going out of their way to say hi! Of course, here in Pune, we are living among a large population of Muslims, who stereo-typically do not like white people or Christians, which means we have to be very careful about who we say we are and why we are here.

Since we cannot say we are here as missionaries and cannot do street evangelism in Pune, we pray for divine appointments with people who we can share with. One of our boys, Mark Harper, was able to talk with a Muslim rickshaw driver, and after a  short conversation,  was pointedly asked if he was a Christian. In this situation, it’s okay to talk about religion. The two then began to talk more, and although Mark did not get to share the gospel with him, he created a relationship- and also what may have been that man’s first interaction with a Christian. One of our girls, Sierra Lobby, got the chance to share the gospel with a few people she met on the street (with a translator by her side), and we later found out that one was a prostitute and although they seemed well-educated, they were all in difficult situations.

These kids have taught us what being joyful in the midst of suffering really means. At the Santvana home that we got to go to, we were incredibly impacted by the kids there- who we knew were affected with AIDS/HIV. I think our time there broke all of our hearts and wrecked us. They are so full of life- yet they have a disease attacking them from the inside. However, you would never know the pain that their bodies are enduring. They love to play games and do crafts, and talk to us about our home. They’re normal kids; they have dreams- of being stewardesses, astronauts, and doctors. They have a pure, innocent, joy that seems to pour like sweat out of their bodies. Our hearts are leaping with happiness and breaking into a million pieces at the same time. We left there humble- convicted about how we were living with so little joy compared to what they had. We left there sad- to know that they did nothing to deserve what is afflicting their bodies. But we also left there happy- to know that because of the home they live in, they know Jesus, and that we will see them in heaven!

For us, outreach is not about a number of people we’ve seen come to Christ. We do not look to that as our goal here in India. For us, outreach is about loving those that have already begun to bloom in the Lord- and also in a new, better life in a home instead of on the street. It’s about us encouraging them, and trying to teach them more about the love of Christ, in hopes to impact them. It’s about showing what God has done in our lives and how he has changed us and brought us to India. Outreach, for Team India, is about serving the systems that are already in place here, to help who society deems “the least of these.” It’s about joyfully doing what the Lord has sent us here to do, with servant hearts and humility. It’s about appreciating the good works that have come about through those that have gone before us. We’re growing in all of these areas, and we’re strengthened by God alone in this spiritually dark atmosphere.

Farewell, America!

Welcome to the official blog of the YWAM Wylie India outreach team! Many of us will not have international phone service or internet while in India, but this blog will be updated regularly, so this is a great way to follow our team’s adventures!

As a team, we just completed the lecture phase of our Discipleship Training School, and we leave for India tomorrow! All of us arrived back from Christmas break yesterday, and have spent today frantically packing our bags- and making sure we have enough baby wipes and granola bars! (; We’re all so excited to begin this new adventure with the people we’ve grown so close to in the past three months, and we can’t wait to see all of the amazing things that God is going to do through us!

We fly into Mumbai on the evening of December 31st, just in time to celebrate the new year in India! Then, we’ll drive a few hours to Pune, where we will be staying at the Hope of Glory orphanage the first three weeks of outreach. While there, we will work with street kids, the children of prostitutes, and AIDS/HIV orphans. Then, we will travel to Kolkata and serve there for 2-3 weeks. 

Our group is so ready to serve! We’ve spent the past three months getting our lives right with God and learning about His heart, and now we’re ready to pour out the love of Christ onto the kids we meet. Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, that you know at least one of us on the team. Just for fun, here are some stats about us to help you better understand the dynamic of our team. 

We have…

5 guys and 5 girls; 2 staff and 8 students; 1 from New Zealand, 1 from Switzerland, 4 from the East coast, 2 from the mid-West, and 2 from the West coast; 7 extroverts and 3 introverts; 10 people ready to serve the Lord and be His hands and feet; 10 people that love Jesus and love people. 

What does that make? It makes for a group of people that love to laugh, be silly, and play games together, but also a group of people that know how to be serious when the time is right. It makes for a committed group of young people that are willing to leave their lives of normality and dive into life in a foreign country, all for the glory of the Lord. It makes for one team, fabricated together by the one true God.

We want to thank you all in advance for your prayers and support throughout this process! If you’re wondering what you could specifically pray for, you can pray for safety and health in travel, that we would have grace for each other, that we would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading in times of ministry, and that we would, above all else, focus on loving the kids. 

We want to share with you the verse that the Lord gave to our team for this time of outreach, which is Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” 

We can’t wait to start this adventure- thank you again for following us to India!