Our first two weeks of ministry in India were spent in the nearby village of Tanguturu. While we're here we are partnering with an organization called ICM (India Christian Missions). The organization is growing and growing with many different branches and ministries. There are projects working with worship schools in Hyderabad, village evangelism and many others. The section we have partnered with helps orphans or underprivileged children to grow up in a Christian home and go to school. Covenant Children's Homes are all around the Ongole area with 20 different homes now and hopes for many more. The children that come to these homes have lost either one or both parents. There are no more than 10 children in each home in hopes that they will be provided with a family atmosphere. A village pastor and his wife are the ones who watch after and cook for all the children. The kids are provided with school uniforms, a private education at an English learning school and a safe place to live. The vision is that they will be able to attend college, find a job and be a Christian witness in the nation of India. Also, they would be able to give back to where they came from and fund more CCH projects in the future. One day CCH would love to be self-sustaining.
So, back to the village of Tanguturu. In the video below, most of the footage is from our time there. Our team packed a small daypack for the whole week and went to live there with the boys. We slept and ate upstairs in the church part of the home. While we were there we were able to paint the entire inside and outside of the home. Frank and Kelly even did a great Lion King mural in the boys' room. We also had a great Lion King movie night with a laptop and some cookies! All around it was a great time. Even though there were some tough communication problems and promises that paint would come by 10am, then tomorrow, then Tuesday…we learned about Indian time really quickly. It's not quite as efficient as American time. Also, we were taught how to paint. "Three coats of paint" means that you move your paintbrush to the right, left, then right again and there you have it! When we weren't painting or sanding (we wore the same outfits for two weeks and the village ladies offered to wash our clothes and told us we should wash ourselves!) we had time to play with the boys. They are certainly full of fun and personality. Each morning we were woken up by laughter and screams and pigs and whatever else, along with a cup of coffee. The boys helped to paint some and were always ready to play a game. They served us our meals and did our dishes. Really they just taught me how to relax and enjoy the wonderful relationships around me. Lily, the pastor's wife, was a fabulous cook and she always had a joyful smile! I can't think of a better way to spend my time in India than with sweet children who love the Lord.
This last week has been spent going from place to place and traveling sometimes for up to an hour or two a day. We have gone to other CCH homes to put on a VBS themed "On Fire for God." We've talked about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and how they stood up for God in a pagan land. We talked about being the light of the world like Jesus and spreading that light all around India. It has been a fantastic time to see such innocent joy and excitement for life. The children have done my soul good and I'm blessed for being able to serve them this month.
Here is a little video made up of tons of different videos. There's not really a flow to it or a theme…just wanted you to get a "Glimpse of India"!! Thank you for following and please continue to pray for my team as we will be traveling on Saturday to northern India for a few days and then later on into Nepal. Three months have certainly flown by!
