Dodie down!

This morning we were able to go to village of kottiambakkum for the first time to participate in a Sunday service of one of Pastor Anbuvanan's congregations. Being the first GCC team in this village, we were unsure how well we would be received; however, within minutes of arriving, several of the veterans felt like we were welcomed in with open arms similar to present day Kalavai. Perhaps a bit more formal than Kalavai, but very similar!

It is clear the impact that the local church of 6 years has made in laying the foundation for community transformation.

Service had an interesting beginning - as I started to preach, my Dodie (i.e., the traditional dress of men here - looks like a "man skirt") fell to the ground. . . Yep. . . That really happened! Luckily, I had decided to wear shorts underneath it this morning, so that was relieving (to say the least!). After Raj helped me get dressed in front of the church and everyone was done wiping tears from their eyes (especially Frank!) from laughing so hard - we started once again!

Within minutes the power went out as well - the two events were unrelated :-)!

After the service, we toured the village and saw some of the homes that we will be finishing to build. The kids were hanging on us (always wanting to hold our hands), and we were quite the mob walking down the street! We also found some puppies, and Dawn couldn't resist!

We will soon be heading back over after lunch to start construction work. It was a great morning!!

Took rickshaws on the way back - always a fun ride

Ted - now with pants on!

Setting up camp - excited!!

We had an amazing afternoon and evening!! We made a mini-pilgrimage to mount St. Thomas (where the apostle Thomas was murdered) and saw the painting that St. Luke had painted for him as well as the stone on which Thomas fell when he was killed. We saw and stood on the same rock that Thomas himself preached from frequently - amazing. Finally, we also visited St. Thomas Cathedral, where the remains of St. Thomas are buried - great moments to be so close to one who walked with Jesus himself!

Andrew also enjoyed a quick swing on a Banyan tree!


After a quick stop at KFC (last Western food for awhile), we headed to pastor Anbuvanan's house. We proceeded to setup our beautiful mosquito nets as they made our beds up with grass mats. Here is a picture of the Ladies quarters.

I snapped this quick photo of Pastor's youngest daughter as she curiously watches us, but too shy to come forward - I love kids!!

We had a great debrief time sharing about how we experienced God today. Of course, what happened next took the cake for all of us I think . . . Raj asked me to preach tomorrow at the church building, and for us all to sing a song. So. . . Jay breaks out the guitar and we ended up singing praise and worship music for nearly two hours - AMAZING!!!! God be glorified!!

Now we are all PUMPED UP . . And. . . trying to go to bed!

Have a wonderful day/night . . . The mosquito count on the top of my net right now . . . 1,324. . . 1,325. . .

Ted

Setting the stage

After a bit of rest this morning, we are up and eating breakfast at the hotel - on a beautiful rooftop setting. Everyone is taking advantage of the last beds and showers for awhile!!! Here we are having some group devotion time after breakfast this morning.

There is a great mood of anticipation this morning as we are studying scripture surrounding The apostle Thomas. It is good and right to recognize and be inspired by those that have gone before us - called by the same God that calls each of us daily!

You may notice in the picture a young man in the back that is new to the team. His name is Nate, and he is joining us for a few days as he travels the world seeing Kingdom work. His home church body is in Virginia and they hold a great relationship with Granger Community.

Interestingly, I just heard already the 4th Hindu call for prayer over the loud speakers in the city this morning. . . And it is only 10:30am. I hope that each of us following Jesus have such commitment to communicate with our King if kings.

God bless you in whatever and wherever God calls you to today - thanks for the prayers!

Ted

We are HERE!!

We have arrived in India!!! The team is doing great and we are getting a couple hours of sleep (it's almost 3am here) before an exciting day tomorrow. Bruce (Raj's son) greeted us at the airport and showed to our hotel. Raj is sick so please pray for him.

For those that have been here before, tomorrow will entail St. Thomas Mount and pizza at Spencer Plaza - classic!!!

We will then head to Vellavedu to settle into our mosquito nets and concrete floor before nightfall.

Thanks for your continued prayer support - we feel it!!

Ted

Halfway!!!

I know that most of you are sleeping right now as I write this from the Frankfurt airport, but good morning/night to all of you (our bodies have no idea what time it is!!). The flight to Germany was smooth, and we are about to board our second flight. Everyone is doing well!!! 

We are leaving, but we've already started!

True statement: 

We are leaving on a plane tomorrow to go to the other side of the world to a beautiful land called India.

False Statement: 

Tomorrow our experience begins.

You see, we have all been on a journey for several months already, and you are a part of the wonderful story that is ALREADY being written. Thank you so much for your support and prayers!

We invite you to continue this journey over the next couple of weeks, and continue to not only pray for us, but also comment on this blog. I will be reading those comments each night to the team, and they are a great source of encouragement. We will be posting onto this site as often as we are able to keep you in the loop. You can also follow us on Twitter: @GCCIndiaTeams

Here is most of our team below (imagine three more - Jay and Liz - there in Spirit, and me behind the camera!) during an amazing experience in little India a few weeks ago.

Hop on board. . . and please keep your seat belt on until the captain turns it off . . .

Hear from you soon,

Ted Bryant

You're Going To Want To See This!

Most Excellent India Team Veterans, Team Members and Friends!  We have been working for a few months to build and structure something that we think will both answer a recurrent desire as well as be a lot of fun, so i wanted to tell you about it.

Starting this month (October), you will have the opportunity to subscribe to our brand new India Team eNewsletter!  It will be a monthly (or thereabouts) publication that will be delivered straight to your Inbox, and will give you all sorts of nifty information about the following:

* Upcoming teams and recruiting.
* Things that the India Core Team is trying to figure out (and would like your input).
* Things that are going on in India (with Raj and family, Kalavai, church planters, etc).
* Veteran celebrations, events and opportunities.
* Updates from India Teams that are currently on the field.
* Links to other blog posts, sites or important or current events related to India and what's going on there.
* Stuff that I or other people think of that we think would be helpful or useful (including guest posts from Rob Wegner, Raj, the India Core Team and President Obama... um... or maybe not that last one, but still, people you will want to hear from).

The eNewsletter is being compiled by our very own Amanda Harris (who, did you know by the way, IS my sister-in-law!), who is a design and communications guru, so we can't wait for you to see it!  We'd also love your feedback if you have any, so please let us know what you think.

Finally, if you actually don't want the eNews for some reason (i'm guessing that the only reason you wouldn't want it is because... um... well... okay, honestly, i can't think of any reasons why you wouldn't want it), just let us know and we'll remove you from the list and subscribe your e-mail to spam generators and pharmaceutical sales lists.  Or maybe we'll just respect your request and not send it to you any more, but it sounds like a really really awful threat, doesn't it?

We hope that you will enjoy this, and that you will feel more connected to what's going on, what's coming up and what you can do to continue to pray, participate and ptalk with each other (i couldn't think of anything else that started with "p", so just made it work).

In the mean time, know that we love you, are grateful for your continued desire to engage and pray for the people in India that we all love so much!

All for One!
- Jack and the India Core Team