End of India-Kolkata

We arrived in Kolkata safely! Taking the sleeper train is a very different experience and although it was a little awkward it went well. So what is a India style sleeper train? You have a little compartment (off the main walkway no door or curtain separating it) with 6 bunks. 3 on each side. In our compartment was 4 of us girls and 3 men (take not that there was one extra man). Anyway I was freakig out a little about that (compartments are small and we are always warned to be weary of Indian men). One older man was quite the talker. He worked for the government and was telling me all about India and how important it was to talk to the people to learn about the country and culture (I don't think he realized that I wasn't just a tourist and that I had been working with locals for 3 weeks haha). I have to say that's one thing I love about missions is that I get to know the people and not just see the sights. He also had family in America and Canada. He also informed me that the British have the best manners.

Anyway sleeping that night wasn't the best sleep I have ever gotten...heading back to hot weather, train zooming by (makes the loudest noise in the world), abrupt stops , people coming through selling chai, yeah everything in India is just loud.

We arrived at our hotel (we are staying at a YMCA-cue song!). First thing I did was shower! It felt so good to shower without feeling like you are going to have frostbite afterwards! That AND there is a shower head-no more bucket shower!! After that Val, Kayla and I headed to McDonalds to get fries and ice cream. So good! I have missed western food haha.

I hung out I my room that afternoon and then went to a cafe with Kayla. This cafe is AMAZING!! We spent the rest of our afternoon and evening there just journaling and having quiet time.

We are having a wrap up day today. We had Devo and worship this morning and the. I am running around Kolkata with Gabie to exchange money. We leave for the airport at 4pm. Our flight leaves at 8:45pm.

Since Bangkok has been going through a lot of political changes there is a 10 pm curfew throughout the country. There was a possibility that we would have to sleep in the airport but thankfully there is a curfew expectation for those traveling from the airport!

I really can't believe my time in India is over. Malaysia here we come!! 

Last week in Darj

The village was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I seriously could of lived there. The pastors family was so kind and caring (also made AMAZING food). The drive resembled a jeep run at home...expect the roads were paved. Once in the village you walked everywhere! After our arrival we walked 15-20 mins on a hiking trail (except what I would consider a hiking trail was a sidewalk to them) up the mountain to a house fellowship. It was a couple, grandma and aunt. After having a little service in their house they asked if we could pray for some other family members that lived nearby. It was awesome to bless this family through prayer :) on our way back that night a neighbor hood dog randomly followed us home. We named him Mufsa. The dog ended up waking us all up at 1am with his barking.

The next morning Lynne, Andi and I set out to find water bottles (which apparently do not exist in this village). Just to clarify we did have water in the village they just boiled it to make it safe (for some reason at the pastors house the water always had a smoky taste). Anyway we ended up with another neighborhood  dog after that walk...we named him Simba. That afternoon we took a 30 minute walk to another house fellowship in a different part of the village. This house fellowship was much bigger and included a lot of teens. After that was over we went and prayed for a few people in the community. Later that day we had youth group at the church that the pastor we were staying with led. We played games which everyone got into. I gave the message. I spoke on "Why God wants our hearts." That evening Melinda, Lynne, Andi and I all hung out in my room playing cards. Side note: tea is a big deal in this part of India so in just one day we had 5 tea times.

Sunday was a nice chill morning (church doesn't start until 11am). It was fun being a part of their service :) Afterwards we had tea time and talked with a few of the church attendees. We had a couple of hours to ourselves while we waited for the jeeps to arrive. Right before we left we were invited to tea at our guide's family's home. It was so sad to leave such an awesome place...I really wish we could have been there for a week! We stopped by the tree line on our way back to Darjeeling and while we were there Oy and I were asked multiple times to take a picture with people (being foreigners makes you a celebrity)

On Monday we made and took sandwiches to the beggars again. I love doing this so much! That afternoon we had debrief time with Mel (base director). It was good to think through all the great things we have gotten to do in Darjeeling :) Auntie (the wife of the pastor who we did the prayer walks with) taught me how to tie a sari! That evening a few of us went out to get egg rolls (so good!). First of all I will say that Darjeeling is a pretty safe place (definitely much safer then Kolkata). But for the first time I had a somewhat freaky moment. I was with Kayla and Andi when we got the egg rolls and about that time a beggar came up to us (I am pretty sure this beggar wasn't from here because his begging tactics were very different-more like Kolkata). Anyway we had our back to this guy (I thought he had walked away) when all of sudden I felt hands trying to slide into my front jean pockets. I jumped and yelled "what the heck!"  By the time I had turned around, ready to backhand, he was gone. I thankfully didn't have anything in my pockets not that it would of mattered cause his hands missed my pocket.
After that little adventure we walked back to base. On the way back a family stopped us and asked if they could have picture with us. We started taking pictures and next thing we knew we were stopping the flow of traffic because other families has joined in the picture. As we walked away a random guy walking in front of me asked where I was from and after telling him he wished me a nice day. That night a few of us attempted to have a movie night but It ended up turning into a game night with cookies and yummy chai tea :)

On Tuesday we went back to our weekly ministries. Oy and I went to help kids with homework at the orphanage. They didn't end up having homework so we just played games. At the end we took pictures and then the kids gave us a big group hug! I am going to miss those sweet kids so much. It was pouring on our 20 min walk back to base...thankfully I am finally getting into the habit of carrying an umbrella! Gabie and Val left in the afternoon for Kolkata. They left early so Gabie would have time to apply for a Thailand visa. That evening I made the chai tea for the first time (even the base locals approved!). Then Kayla and I joined the staff in watching a movie. Of course that was after The base leader had to read every movie he had on his computer..."if you are holy...I mean if you are Christian...I have lots of Christian movies...*reads list* Book of Eli, Machine Gun Preacher, Because of Winn Dixie." We ended up watching "Million Dollar Baby"...so depressing.

Today is a free day. We had pancakes for breakfast and then I walked around Darjeeling for a little bit. I am unfortunately starting to feel sick again (cold) so I have been taking it easy all day. Fun night was dinner (great pizza) and game night.

Side note: I am not the only one feeling ick. We have had a couple of people who have been fighting coughs and colds and even had a few people who have had upset tummies. Poor baby Amy has been running a fever and throwing up off and on. Please be praying everyone feels better very soon!

We leave Darjeeling tomorrow afternoon and will be taking the night train to Kolkata. Please be praying that our traveling will go well! We will arrive in Kolkata the morning of the 23rd and then flying to Bangkok the night of the 24th :) I can't believe my time in Darjeeling is over! :(

Farewell Darjeeling
Thank you Lord for the wonderful weather! I loved not sweating for 3 weeks. It was great to look at the  majestic Himalayas daily. Your are such an amazing Creator! Getting to meet the amazing Nepali and Indian people, especially the sweet kids that stole my heart. This has to be one of the best outreach locations! Thank you Lord for bringing me to India :)

Last week in Darj

The village was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I seriously could of lived there. The pastors family was so kind and caring (also made AMAZING food). The drive resembled a jeep run at home...expect the roads were paved. Once in the village you walked everywhere! After our arrival we walked 15-20 mins on a hiking trail (except what I would consider a hiking trail was a sidewalk to them) up the mountain to a house fellowship. It was a couple, grandma and aunt. After having a little service in their house they asked if we could pray for some other family members that lived nearby. It was awesome to bless this family through prayer :) on our way back that night a neighbor hood dog randomly followed us home. We named him Mufsa. The dog ended up waking us all up at 1am with his barking.

The next morning Lynne, Andi and I set out to find water bottles (which apparently do not exist in this village). Just to clarify we did have water in the village they just boiled it to make it safe (for some reason at the pastors house the water always had a smoky taste). Anyway we ended up with another neighborhood  dog after that walk...we named him Simba. That afternoon we took a 30 minute walk to another house fellowship in a different part of the village. This house fellowship was much bigger and included a lot of teens. After that was over we went and prayed for a few people in the community. Later that day we had youth group at the church that the pastor we were staying with led. We played games which everyone got into. I gave the message. I spoke on "Why God wants our hearts." That evening Melinda, Lynne, Andi and I all hung out in my room playing cards. Side note: tea is a big deal in this part of India so in just one day we had 5 tea times.

Sunday was a nice chill morning (church doesn't start until 11am). It was fun being a part of their service :) Afterwards we had tea time and talked with a few of the church attendees. We had a couple of hours to ourselves while we waited for the jeeps to arrive. Right before we left we were invited to tea at our guide's family's home. It was so sad to leave such an awesome place...I really wish we could have been there for a week! We stopped by the tree line on our way back to Darjeeling and while we were there Oy and I were asked multiple times to take a picture with people (being foreigners makes you a celebrity)

On Monday we made and took sandwiches to the beggars again. I love doing this so much! That afternoon we had debrief time with Mel (base director). It was good to think through all the great things we have gotten to do in Darjeeling :) Auntie (the wife of the pastor who we did the prayer walks with) taught me how to tie a sari! That evening a few of us went out to get egg rolls (so good!). First of all I will say that Darjeeling is a pretty safe place (definitely much safer then Kolkata). But for the first time I had a somewhat freaky moment. I was with Kayla and Andi when we got the egg rolls and about that time a beggar came up to us (I am pretty sure this beggar wasn't from here because his begging tactics were very different-more like Kolkata). Anyway we had our back to this guy (I thought he had walked away) when all of sudden I felt hands trying to slide into my front jean pockets. I jumped and yelled "what the heck!"  By the time I had turned around, ready to backhand, he was gone. I thankfully didn't have anything in my pockets not that it would of mattered cause his hands missed my pocket.
After that little adventure we walked back to base. On the way back a family stopped us and asked if they could have picture with us. We started taking pictures and next thing we knew we were stopping the flow of traffic because other families has joined in the picture. As we walked away a random guy walking in front of me asked where I was from and after telling him he wished me a nice day. That night a few of us attempted to have a movie night but It ended up turning into a game night with cookies and yummy chai tea :)

On Tuesday we went back to our weekly ministries. Oy and I went to help kids with homework at the orphanage. They didn't end up having homework so we just played games. At the end we took pictures and then the kids gave us a big group hug! I am going to miss those sweet kids so much. It was pouring on our 20 min walk back to base...thankfully I am finally getting into the habit of carrying an umbrella! Gabie and Val left in the afternoon for Kolkata. They left early so Gabie would have time to apply for a Thailand visa. That evening I made the chai tea for the first time (even the base locals approved!). Then Kayla and I joined the staff in watching a movie. Of course that was after The base leader had to read every movie he had on his computer..."if you are holy...I mean if you are Christian...I have lots of Christian movies...*reads list* Book of Eli, Machine Gun Preacher, Because of Winn Dixie." We ended up watching "Million Dollar Baby"...so depressing.

Today is a free day. We had pancakes for breakfast and then I walked around Darjeeling for a little bit. I am unfortunately starting to feel sick again (cold) so I have been taking it easy all day. Fun night was dinner (great pizza) and game night.

Side note: I am not the only one feeling ick. We have had a couple of people who have been fighting coughs and colds and even had a few people who have had upset tummies. Poor baby Amy has been running a fever and throwing up off and on. Please be praying everyone feels better very soon!

We leave Darjeeling tomorrow afternoon and will be taking the night train to Kolkata. Please be praying that our traveling will go well! We will arrive in Kolkata the morning of the 23rd and then flying to Bangkok the night of the 24th :) I can't believe my time in Darjeeling is over! :(

Farewell Darjeeling
Thank you Lord for the wonderful weather! I loved not sweating for 3 weeks. It was great to look at the  majestic Himalayas daily. Your are such an amazing Creator! Getting to meet the amazing Nepali and Indian people, especially the sweet kids that stole my heart. This has to be one of the best outreach locations! Thank you Lord for bringing me to India :)

Darjeeling update

Busy week so far:

Monday: We made sandwiches and took them to beggars in Darjeeling. We found a group of women who beg outside of a temple. Darcy (part of YWAM Darjeeling) visits them often and these women were so excited to see her! The ladies were very sweet and loved shaking our hands and just getting attention from us. Darcy told us that it means so much to them when we shake their hands because, as beggars, they are not acknowledged. That afternoon we spent doing bible study and that night we watched a documentary "Born into the Brothels". It's about children who are growing up in the Red Light District. After that we had a time if intercession (prayer) for the kids living in that world.

Tuesday: We took off that morning to a Missions of Charity home (Mother Teresa ministry). It was awesome to bless the elderly ladies that lived there! We did some songs, a dance, skit and craft. They absolutely loved the skit and couldn't stop laughing :)
One lady had was a beggar before she came and that was obvious. She came up to me and kept begging. It's so sad that begging was so much of a lifestyle that it was normal to her and that it felt comforting.  That afternoon I went with Kiley (base staff and from Oklahoma) to help kids at the orphanage with homework again. They didn't have a bunch of work so we ended up playing a lot of games. That night we had a unity teaching. Out of that we are supposed to go to everyone on our team and tell them things that we appreciate about them. It was really good. When you live with a team 24/7 encouragement becomes a little rare.

Wednesday: I was awake at 3am to go to Tiger hill (a good lookout to see the Himalayan range and the distant tip of Mt. Everest). The sunrise starts at 4am here in India. Once we got back at 7am we had a great breakfast made by Melinda. The rest of the day was chill but it felt like it would never end!

Today: We went back to the Salvation Army deaf school. We did 2 skits, taught them the Thai chicken dance, and played games. World Vision ended up being there as well to give the kids awards for a marathon they were in.

We leave for a village tomorrow and will be there until Sunday. I am currently preparing a message for the teens we will be working with on Saturday :)

We head to Kolkata a week from today :( I am going to miss Darjeeling!

Oh and I only have a month left in Asia!! I can't believe my time here is almost over.

Darjeeling: Last week

Last week in Darjeeling!
Tuesday: We had morning devos and such as usual and then we headed to afternoon ministry. We were split into groups...Oy and I (with no guide-I felt like a local) walked 20 minutes to an orphanage to help the kids with homework. It was SO much fun! After kids were done with homework I took them outside to play some games. I really enjoyed hanging out with the kids without having the whole team.

Wednesday: Free day! Shaneen and I walked around Darjeeling exploring and going to some markets. That afternoon we met up with Malek (base staff), Gabie, Val and Kayla at the movie theater to watch Spider-Man 2. Really good movie! Indian movie theaters are different...security was intense (no sneaking in food or anything for that matter). They also have a 20 min intermission in the strangest spot to stop a movie. That night we had a big game of human Clue. So cool!

Thursday: We went to a town about 2 1/2 hours away with a pastor and his wife who are starting a church plant there. We went to pray and worship in the building they had just purchased. It was such an awesome privilege to be the first team to come and bless their ministry :) It seemed like such a small thing to our team but when we saw how much it meant to uncle and auntie (that's what we call them) it became so important. Another awesome bonus: we stayed at a hotel with running HOT water!

Friday: We left the town that morning. Once we arrived back in Darjeeling we went to a deaf school that the Salvation Army runs. I helped with the games for the older kids. It was fun although I wish they knew American Sign Language.

Saturday: In the morning we had devos and prep time for a prayer thing we were going to do on Sunday. That afternoon we went to our Saturday ministry. I went to the orphanage that I went to on Tuesday with Miriam, Val, Kayla, and Oy. I was in charge of games. I really love those sweet kids :)

Thankfully towards the end of the week it started to warm up! I am really enjoying my time in Darjeeling :)

India-Darjeeling part 2

We started out the next morning greeted by wonderful weather and ready to track down a jeep to take us to Darjeeling! We found a jeep easily- Praise The Lord!! So we started our journey up the mountain! Those roads are intense but the scenery was breathtaking! 3 hours later we arrived in Darjeeling!!! There are no words to describe how beautiful this area is!

The YWAM base we are staying at has an incredible view of the Himalayan mountain range and when it's clear we can see the third tallest mountain in the world. It is also super cold here! It's their summer but the weather is basically my winter at home. It has rained buckets almost everyday we have been here and the rainy season hasn't even started yet.

Life at the base is interesting...there is no central heating so there really is no escaping the cold. I seriously haven't had a drop of sweat on my body since arriving here-the first time in 4 months. They run out of water easily (we haven't had water for 2 days but will get water tomorrow hopefully), and electricity goes out frequently. Our second day here we lived with candles.

1st day in Darjeeling: cold and rainy. I woke up with a messed up tummy (ate too much spicy food the day before and whacked up sleeping schedule) and fever. I couldn't get warm. It felt like my body was going through shock. I slept through the afternoon while everyone else did ministry.

2nd day: I was 100% and my body was doing much better with the cold. Our team went to two churches. Miriam, Oy, Shaneen, Melinda and I went to a church in a area that most foreigners are not allowed to. The path to the church was incredibly steep...turns out my lungs are not used to walking in an altitude of 7000+ feet. But the walk was worth it. The church was great and the pastor was so nice. The pastor took us to lunch and asked Oy a lot of questions about Thailand. He has a huge heart for Nepali people in different countries. That afternoon we took off on a scavenger hunt adventure around Darjeeling. Shaneen, Oy, and I were a team-almost the same scavenger hunt team that we had when we first arrived in Bangkok! The hunt literally took us ALL over Darjeeling (on foot of course...you rarely drive in this town). It rained for a large majority of the hunt which was an experience for this desert rat.

Today: I am adjusting to the cold really well! We went around Darjeeling via jeep this time with a pastor. He took us to some of the spiritual strongholds to pray. Most of these places were temples and they had INCREDIBLE views of the majestic mountains. The pastor was telling us that even though we may of not totally understand why we are here or other places we are at the center of God's heart. He chose us to be here to pray for these places and bring light. Pretty awesome :)

I am really only skimming the surface of how amazing this place is. I mean I am living in the clouds-literally. The Himalayan mountains is the view outside my window. I get to breathe in crisp mountain air daily. I believe that God had so much fun creating this part of the world :) I can't believe I am so blessed to have my outreach here!

Prayer requests:
-I will do better with breathing. Especially when walking uphill
-health for our team. Many have colds and I fear that I am starting to get one too.
-we will make a mark on this town.
-

India-Kolkata part 1

I don't even know where to start. So much has happened in the last 6 days!

We departed from the Bangkok airport at 1:30 am on the 30th of April to head to Kolkata. I walked right by the place my Summer Thailand team and I spent overnight in the Bangkok airport while we awaited our flight. After a couple hour flight and the long process of getting through the airport customs and such we got on a bus that Megacities had for us (along with Megacities directors) to take us to our sleeping locations.

India is like no place I have ever been. It's poverty level is incredibly high (like Haiti on steroids). Most of India looks like someone hit the stop button on the country and they haven't upgraded since. For example: Their taxis are totally old school- like something out is the 50s. The presence of men is so much higher then women. It's strange being in a culture where women are not expected to have jobs. There are literally men everywhere and it was a while before i saw a women. We dropped off our music team first. It was strange to leave them behind. We arrived at our sleeping location around 5am (it was already totally bright at this time!) we all went into our non air con room (killer when it's 100+ degrees outside ) and just slept the morning away while Manuel and Gabie tried to figure out train tickets. As we feared night train tickets were not available but praise The Lord we were able to get tickets for the next morning! So we ended up staying the night in Kolkata. With that we headed out to exchange money and buy Indian clothing. We had to take 2 taxi's. Unfortunately my taxi dropped off me, val, Andi, and Kayla at the wrong location and we had no clue where the money exchange place was. Thankfully I had taken a picture of the address of the place we were staying so we were not lost! We ended up walking around Kolkata for a couple of hours looking for a place to exchange $$ and we also got dinner. While we walked around we ran into another YWAM team from Kentucky that was helping with Mega Cities. They had a girl named Brittany on their team. We were able to get a Taxi back to our hotel "easily" and while there was multiple times I thought we might die on the way back (drivers in India are NUTS!!) we made it back safely. We later found out that it is usually very hard to get Taxi's to take you the area we were staying in because the crime rates in our area used to be so high. We were so blessed to find a taxi easily!

We started our 10 hour train ride at 9am the next morning. That was an adventure...100+ degrees, three of us (one being some random guy) sharing a small bench seat, no air conditioning, one of the team members phone was stolen, venders and beggars walking in between the train cars. It is seriously a experience. Thankfully after being on the train for about 4-5 hours the guy sitting next to us got off and the weather started to cool off. By the end of the journey the weather outside was wonderful and the last hour of the ride a thunderstorm hit! We arrived in New J-something that night and after dropping off the team at a restaurant Manuel and I headed to look for hotels in a little rickshaw. A rickshaw is a bike that a guy rides with a cart for 2 attached to the back. We looked at a couple of hotels and decided on one and then we headed to bring the team back. When we arrived back at the hotel a traditional Indian wedding was in full swing. I almost knocked out part of the wedding party as I carried luggage through the doorway haha! After leaving the luggage in my room I went down to the lobby to watch the wedding. The hotel manager took me to wave to the bride and he explained the whole Hindu/Indian wedding process to me. I got to watch the grooms big arrival and watch them carry (literally) the bride out to meet the groom.