A Visual Update (yes, pictures) - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

So, I'm having a difficult time putting stories, people, experiences, thoughts, feelings, and emotions into words this month in India. So until that happens, I wanted to give you a little Indian treat for your eyes. Hopefully these will communicate even just a smidge of what my words cannot. (sorry they're so big, I'm not a computer genius to fix it… so deal with it… and no, you can't just drag the corners, I tried that 🙂

Team Oasis – only in India for a few days and surprised with an invitation to go to a wedding. The next surprise came when we were asked to sing a song. What do you sing when you are unprepared and in front of over 1,000 people who speak Telegu? Lean on Me (watch my teammate Rebekah Clark's video from Mozambique to hear how amazing we sound 😉

Street vendor chai on our day off. 3 rupees, that's about 6 cents and worth every penny 🙂

Ministry on the roof across the street. Kids come, stare at us sleep, say Hi then expect us to entertain them and be "on" like a show. So this day, I sat with them and told them a story. The one about how God created all of the earth, including them. The one about how He loves everyone so much and desires them to be perfect just like Him but how we are not and He understands. The one about how He set up a system to sacrifice animals to atone for our sins, but how that only lasts for a short time. The one about how He sent His son Jesus from heaven to earth to live as a man but also contain all the power of God within Him. The one about how He healed blind people, brought the dead to life, calmed the storms, fed thousands of people with such a little amount of food. The one about how people didn't like Him so they killed Him… on a cross… and He suffered. The one about how they buried His body in a cave. The one about how three days later when women went to see His body, they found He was not there. The one about how He walked and talked with people again and told them to tell everyone about what they knew and saw. The one about how He went back up to heaven to be with His Father again. The one about how when we believe in all of these truths, confess with our mouths that we are sinners and we need Him as a Savior and Him alone, how we have a hope to be with Him, in His presence for the rest of time after our lives here on earth are over. You know, that story. In joy, afterward, we teach them songs with fun motions that they love… on the roof of the house across the street… in the rain. This is my life.

Beautiful colors

Front door, street Hindu art

Nagalakshmi and her son – a woman whose desire to follow Christ despite a Hindu husband and all that comes with that has touched my heart (A blog about her story is sure to come soon)

The beautiful women, their sarees, their hearts, their praise

A homeless, begging Muslim man God nudged my heart to meet. He knew what He was doing. Through the help of Isaac (my translator and friend), he came to know Jesus for the first time. Spiritual food and physical food on the same night 🙂 (He will be the the other story I blog about soon.)

My family here in India. Hepseeba, Enosh, Pastor Philip, Shalem, and Roni. They have meant the world to us. We learn so much about the people, the culture, and feel so loved through them.

All dressed up with somewhere to go… our second wedding. This time we are doing it right… getting all dolled up in our traditional Indian dress sarees. (Can you believe this is every day dress for Indian women??? For us, it's the fanciest we've been since we left home!)