Hi everyone!

We made it! Thank you for all your prayers for safe travels; we made it to Kalavai without a hitch. The flights were long but good friends (we have a great team!) and a long list of movies to choose from made it fly by (pun intended). One of the movies I watched was “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”. What a perfect movie for a trip to India. It is about a group of (for lack of a better word) old people, who take a trip to India, each for their own reasons. Besides some hilarious scenes and moving storylines, I found that this movie effectively captured all the sights and sounds of India as it appears to a newcomer. It also provided several examples of how different people respond to this incredible place. One of the characters described it well when she said “there is no other place that can put quite an assault on all of your senses.” Truer words were never spoken. But I can say that, as this is my second time around, I am finding it much easier to adapt. This character also said that being in India is like a wave – if you try to resist it, it will knock you down. So the only way to survive is to ride the wave. 

                So skipping ahead… Our arrival in the village was met with a very similar greeting as last time, except this time was 10 times better because I knew everyone! We were able to greet each other by name, grinning ear to ear, and give happy hugs because we are able to see each other once more. There were so many people whom I had developed friendships with and were eager to see but there were two little guys that I had my eye out for. Sakthivel and Vignesh are brothers who became my buds last trip and are the ones pictured on my facebook homepage. I was thrilled when they not only remembered me, but called me by name. It made me feel like I really was important to them, just as they are to me.

                It’s the smiling faces of my boys and all the rest of the village that have given me the courage to “ride the wave” this week and see what God has in store for us. Please continue to pray for the team! Especially for me and the mosquitoes!! One day in and lots of bugspray and still two bugs have managed to make an attack. I pray those are the first and last ones I get on this trip!! Haha

                                                                                                                With lots of love,

                                                                                                                                Victoria

Dancing, Pomegranates, and the Father’s Love…

Greetings from Kalavai!!!  We made it to the village safe and sound.  It’s been a different kind of experience this time around coming straight to the village but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  When we got to the village, we had our standard overwhelming welcome filled with hugs, kisses, tears, and of course… fireworks.  This was followed by a tour of the village that ended with us dancing in the streets with the people from the village (especially the kids) for HOURS.  Three hours of dancing in India and no injuries for me…  haha…  We ended the night eating as a team and sharing what our most memorable thing that has happened so far.  Mine by far was Sandia reaching for me to pick her up and hold her and dancing with me for a good two hours.  Anyone who knows me at all knows how much this little girl has captured my heart.   

On the way to the village we stopped and Prema got us some Pomegranates.  She said they were good for your heart.  She told me to take 2 helpings because I have a weak heart because sometimes I cry.  I  told her that the pomegranates aren’t going to help.  Those tears come from a place deep in my heart.  Sometimes the tears I cry are tears of sorrow and sometimes tears of pure joy.  Sandia has had a place in my heart since I set foot in this village a few years ago, but she’s always been slightly unsure of me.  Her reaching out to me filled me with so much joy that I can’t even begin to describe it.  When she opened her arms to me and it absolutely melted my heart.

Sandia reaching for me made me think of how God must feel when we turn to Him.  I think of my own faith journey and the fact that, like Sandia has been with me in the past, I was reluctant to open myself up to the Father’s love.  I wasn’t sure what to think of Him.  When Sandia reached for me it made me think of how God aches for us to reach for Him.  He doesn’t need us, but He loves us and wants to show us that.  When we are reluctant to reach for him, or even afraid to, it must hurt Him.  But then the joy He feels when we reach out to Him must be indescribable.  I love this people…  I want them to know the Father’s love like I have.  Thank You, God for loving me enough to let me be a part of this story!

Posted by Jennifer Archer

August 2012 India Team

The August India Team is officially in route to India!  They left GCC at 3:15 p.m. today and are currently in Chicago, waiting to board their flight to India.  Please keep the team of 12 in your prayers as they travel and as they serve as the hands and feet of Jesus in India.  Here's a list of everyone on the team:

-Jen Archer

-Heather Chezem (Team Leader)

-Melinda Chisholm

-Dennis Dudycha

-Joyce Dudycha

-Amanda Harris

-Julie LaFleur

-Rick Immel

-Victoria Kay

-Greg Schermier (Team Leader)

-Dale Shafer

-Rachele Whitlow

The team will be focusing on Construction, Conversational English, and Community Meetings.  

(Below is an overview from Rob Wegner regarding what the team will be doing)

Construction

While here at home, the people of Granger are building a natural playground to offer the community, our team will be BUILDING A PLAYGROUND IN KALAVAI. Is that cool or what? Many of the kids have never even seen a playground, let alone played on one. They’re going to feel like the Magic Kingdom has been built in their backyard. But, it’s even better Kingdom that’s truly advancing! The team will also be finishing an apartment (an addition we’re adding as a second floor to the community center we already have built) for our church planters in the village.

Conversational English

While Hindi is the official language of India, English is the preferred language for trade, commerce, business and education. In India, children who cannot speak English with a reasonably high level of proficiency are relegated to jobs that earn less than a livable wage, and are unable to achieve a higher standard of living for their families, thus perpetuating cycles of poverty and hopelessness. The goal of our Conversational English Team is to change that.

Community Meetings

In the afternoons, the entire village will gather with the team to explore two topics through the week: Our Identity in Christ and Overcoming Fear. There will be separate tracks for adults and kids.