Life in the village has been in one word HOT! Every morning I wake up in my tent on a roof to sweat and sweat. I think it’s estimated about 100 to 115 degrees F since we’ve been here. Many parts of our day is attempting to find shade; fortunately our house is very near the community hang out that happens to be one of the coolest places in the village. So we can talk to the villagers and keep cool at the same time!
First night…set up tents!
First night…set up tents!
Every morning… Day to day life is mostly the same. I wake up out of my tent and walk down stairs, while my teammates and I are having our breakfast we watch herds of goats and water buffalo being taken out to the fields to eat. They go out every morning at the same time. Typically we go out to talk to people. We go to their houses, follow up from conversations from previous day, sometimes we have a chance to tell people about Jesus for the first time, or some of our neighbors like to show us their fields so we go out to see what they grow. Most farmers here grow cucumbers, chili peppers, limes, mangos, or lemons. There are also huge tobacco fields and corn fields. The people here are so 
generous to us, they inevitably give us fruit for free. We always come back with cucumbers or lemons in hand. They may not all be believers but they understand sharing and giving…blessing people. I have been so blessed on my race in general by people. By people who have nothing…literally but they give to me what they have. In the afternoons it’s the hottest, so we typically find shade somewhere; under out tent or under a tree somewhere. Then in the evenings we play with the kids, if they are out of school and prepare for our night meetings. Night meetings is for now in the middle of the road because we don’t have a building yet. People gather under a light post in the middle of the street. Usually next to the lights are water pumps, water buffalo tied up for the night, or cows also tied up for the night.
tractor ride to baptism!
taylor and I waiting for the people…
generous to us, they inevitably give us fruit for free. We always come back with cucumbers or lemons in hand. They may not all be believers but they understand sharing and giving…blessing people. I have been so blessed on my race in general by people. By people who have nothing…literally but they give to me what they have. In the afternoons it’s the hottest, so we typically find shade somewhere; under out tent or under a tree somewhere. Then in the evenings we play with the kids, if they are out of school and prepare for our night meetings. Night meetings is for now in the middle of the road because we don’t have a building yet. People gather under a light post in the middle of the street. Usually next to the lights are water pumps, water buffalo tied up for the night, or cows also tied up for the night.
tractor ride to baptism! taylor and I waiting for the people…Suri is the first!!!
For now days look like that. We do a lot of praying for people and for what God wants to do here. There is a lot of spiritual warfare here; the Hindu religion is just crazy. So many idols and gods they serve. I live next door to a temple, so we hear the bells for prayer and the services they have. Some people also are snake worshippers. But no matter what they worship, they have welcomed us with open arms. They have been willing to listen to what we have to say and vise versa. One of the biggest issues I’ve encountered here is that people are willing to have Jesus as their god but they aren’t willing to have as their ONLY God. For me it’s been really interesting to understand more of where they are coming from with their idols and gods. I’ve learned so much in the eight days I’ve been in the village. One of the most powerful tools that has proven God to be the only God to them is how he speaks. I know ultimately we want to build a church here but there is more to it than that. More than building a church God wants to speak to the people here. He has brought us here to do that. We hope to have a place for them to meet for church but I also hope for God to keep speaking to them through us.
Just today I was walking around the village and met these two women. The older lady was very clear that she didn’t believe in Jesus and didn’t really care to either. The younger lady said she believes in Jesus but needed to talk to her husband before she made any decisions. God told me to open my bible, so I did. It opened to a passage in Isaiah. The passage talked about a lot but what God wanted me to see was just a small part: “…and the way of peace they have not known.” (Romans 3:17). I didn’t want to jump the gun so I asked her if she sleeps well at night. Her response was no; in fact she hadn’t slept well in a long time. So I told her this verse. I told that God cares for her so much that he sent me to her today to tell her about this peace he has for her. Then she told us about all the problems with her husband and their parents. She just let out a lot. She wanted us to pray for her. Before we left she asked me how I knew she didn’t sleep well. I told her I didn’t know but God knew and he wants you to know he is alive and active and wants to give you this peace. He wants to help you through this tough time with your family. He knows you! I’ve realized when we step our of the way and allow God to speak and move, we come out with a far greater testimony than we could ever imagine. She needed to hear that God is big, bigger than the idols she worships. And He cares for her right now more than any idol she worships.
some kids we teach!
some kids we teach!We have named this month, the month of filling the cube. Scriptures talk about heaven being very specific dimensions. We came to the conclusion that though there may be exact size of heaven, there aren’t enough believers to come close to filling it up. So this month, more than building a church, more than baptizing we want to make believers out of this village. We want people here to have the gift that we have…to enter rest, joy, peace, and life eternal…
MEET OUR NEIGHBORS!!!
MEET OUR NEIGHBORS!!!
