Hello JULY!

Hello July!

July has been a great month! There has been a lot of great work going on here but also a break at time too! It's been really nice!

So I will attach the Pr@yer update so those of you who might not get it can see and if you already have seen it can continue to kneel :)

but before I do that......

keeping in the blog fashion i guess i should give a quick update that doesnt make it into my e-mails. Things here are great! Today I had a really good language lesson with my helper and look forward to going to teach ESL tonight in a slum neighborhood my teammate and I have started working in. Oh and a prasie! I was going to have a boss change take place but the Lord has been really cool and the higher ups have allowed the boss of my team to stay the same :)

Hello!

So these last few months have been very busy! I know it has been a while since I last wrote. There has been some amazing stuff taking place here so here is few things that the Lord has been doing here J


1. A team of four amazing godly women from Liberty University came to work with my team on our “Teach to Reach Team”. Teaching to reach is teaching ESL and bible stories along with ESL. The girls were here for two weeks. Two of the girls stayed at my roommate and I’s flat and the other two at our teammate’s flat. In the morning they taught Vacation Bible School to immigrant children from Nepal in a low income neighbor hood. The girls were amazing! The place where the VBS was held was at a new planted fellowship that meets in a basement. The first day we arrived there were power cuts so we taught the VBS in the dark and by candle light. The girls were great and even with the CRAZY heat in the basement, no lights and no fans it went amazing. The week of VBS was really fruitful and helped to get the fellowship known in the neighborhood. In the evenings the girls taught ESL, ESL was great we had a few parents of the children come and a lot of young adults.
One amazing story from that week is about a young woman. She is from the highest caste here, and is Hindu yet she just felt drawn to the fellowship and to come hang out and learn more about who Christ is. She has faced opposition in her family because her father is a religious leader of some sort in their area and her hanging around believers brings disgrace to her family. Even through the opposition she still came and even helped to serve food at meal time (since she is from the Brahman caste we were told that serving food to us she was defiling herself). This young woman needs a lot of prayers! Please pray for her to learn more as she reads the bible and learns about the person of Christ. It seems that sometimes it is easy for a Hindu to just add Jesus to the many gods they already worship. Please pray for the Lord to show himself greatly to this young woman.
Please be praying for the new fellowship that’s just been started, pray for it’s leadership and the members. Please also pray for the children and the young adults in the neighborhood that came to VBS and ESL that the truths they learned would be upon their hearts and would tug at them.

2. A new neighborhood! My roommate and I have been working together in a neighborhood for a month or two now. There has been mixed responses, some people have been coming out of the wood works in some areas to come a learn while another part it was not well received. Both of these responses is all a part of the work here but with the type of work I am doing there is a fair amount of integrity involved in teaching ESL through stories. We want people to know we are teaching practical English but bible stories too, we don’t want to hide the fact that we are using stories to help teach. Please be praying for our national partner in that neighborhood. He is a great man of the Lord, please pray for our work with him to continue to be fruitful and glorify the Lord. However sometimes it seems like he is mainly wanting people to come to his church and that is his main goal…..so it’s almost like my team and the pastor are working towards different goals. Our goal is to get into the neighborhood form relationships teach the word of God, and go from there….we are not concerned about talking about churches from the get-go. Last week our national partner wasn’t able to meet up with us when we went in, but through it just being two young Americans we were able to spend more time forming relationships with the people we teach. There is a family in that neighborhood that has adopted my teammate and I as their two daughters. We spent a great amount of time cooking together and hanging out. Please pray for that relationship and for opportunities to continue to share the Lord with them.

3. My little sister from the village was able to come and stay the night with my teammate and I. WE HAD A BLAST! We played field hockey in the hallway, watched Hindi cartoons about The Jungle Book, ate some really good food and a great time with the Lord. She is six and is on fire for anything about the Lord. When my teammates teach bible stories to the women from the church in the village she learns them too. A few funny events about her staying here: she was introduced to Jelly Belly Beans! She loved them, I look them out as a treat after we ate. She was amazed that each had a different flavor and loved all the flavors she had. Watching her face at each new one she tried was hilarious. Before we ate anything thing, a snack, supper, or breakfast we had a wonderful prayer time. When it came time to go to bed we prayed and the girl was so funny…..she thanked God for every major appliance in the house (the fridge, the microwave, the oven, the stove that we made tea on, the AC, the fans, my laptop that we watched the show on and the water pump). Along with her prayer of thanksgiving for the material possessions the flat has she prayed very specifically for each of her family members and for her aunt Sarah and aunt Stacey (my teammate that lives in our flat too). In the morning I made us some pancakes, the kid loved them! She commented that they were very sweet and that she really likes American food.
4. The team!
There were going to be some changes made to our team because of the Company Reorganization that takes full effect in a few weeks. I had some thoughts on the changes that might take place with the changing of supervisors. There have been a few meetings about what the Teach to Reach team would look like under different supervision and through a lot of prayer and petitioning the supervisor change will not take place and the team will continue the work it has been doing.

5. Kristin, my amazing teammate and the goal of Teach to Reach!
Kristin has a house-helper that is from a M neighborhood and through that relationship Kristin has been teaching ESL through stories like crazy in that neighborhood! Since the team is based out of a Urban mega city there are many different people groups around us, with so many people groups it is really helping us to gain ideas on how to format our curriculum when we do publish it. The goal of the team is to write a ESL curriculum that other workers on the field can use with volunteer teams when they come out. Since there are many M’s working with many different people groups us being able to give notes or make story/ESL sets for certain people groups really helps more people out! Through volunteer teams connecting with more national people over here there are more opportunities to share the Truth.

6. A BOX! So the other day I received a very large and magnificent box from NDBC in Dunedin, Florida! They sent many amazing things that I love miss, and help make things here even more enjoyable. The two things I have most enjoyed as the bible study they sent and the picture book of bible stories to help in the ministry here. Other amazing things found in the magic box were sweet and sour worms J beef jerky, nerds, crystal light, oatmeal and a few crazy items from the Moon Pie company along with my favorite……CARDS from the fellowship members and a picture! I really loved working there leading up to my departure from the states and am overwhelmed by their gifts of love!

Prayer request!

1. For my relationships with national friends. Please be praying for continued boldness but for sharing that is lead by the Lord and is intentional. Lately there has been some really great conversations with my friend B from the village but please continue to pray for her and as Truth is revealed. When I think of my chats with me I am reminded of the parable of the Sower. I pray that she would be the sees the grew in the rich soil. (Matt. 13:1-23)
2. Team work!
Please pray for our relationships as we work together that my two teammates and I would have mercy, grace and love towards one another.
3.
Travel Mercies- I fly to Thailand for two weeks for meetings about the reorganization and some fellowship planting training. Please ask the Lord for an amazing time of fellowship with fellow workers and that I would learn as much as possible while I am at meetings. After the meetings and training finishes I am flying to Australia to see some friends for a vacation. Please pray for safety as I travel and for a great time. I will have a 15 hour layover in Malaysia I cant wait to explore but would ask fro prayers as I explore the new country alone.

4. Please continue to pray for my family in the loss of my grandmother. Also please pray for my dear friends/ adopted family in Florida as Jen goes through chemo.

5. My best ol’ pal Heather is moving back to America in a few days. Please be praying for her as she says goodbye to this country she loves and prepares for life back in America. There are a lot of exciting things happening when she moves back like her wedding in October and family get-togethers. I am going to miss her like crazy too, some days she’s the one besides the Lord that really gets stuff that’s going on here and can offer some practical advise......godly advise. We were best friends in college and I was shocked when the Lord sent me to this part of the world but happy to know she would be a few hours away. Please pray for the ministry she will be able to do back in the US, please pray a prayer of preparation for the work.


Alright so this was a longer e-mail than usually! I hope you all got through it….if not thanks for trying to

I thank all of you for your prayers and your hearts that are here involved in the work. May the Lord richly bless each of you!

In the next e-mail I cant wait to tell you about an amazing servant of the Lord that is the leader of the new fellowship his story of coming to the Lord and service is amazing and inspiring.

Notes on the brain this month:
A heart song: Instead of a Show, from the Limbs and Branches album by Jon Foreman
A heart verse: Acts 28:1-10 It’s one of my favorite stories in the bible and shows the amazing healing power of the Lord

Comments

Hey everyone! So this afternoon I explored my blog more and now anyone can leave comments and it doesn't requier a lot of work to do it now~ please leave your encouraging notes. I know there are a lot of you that came to know about my emprise blog through my family and friends and I would love to get to know you all too!
In Christ, Sarah

May is here!!!

Hello! So I know it has been a really long time since I have last posted anything. Things have been going really well here but very busy. I started working not only in the slums school but also in a two different slums in my mega city. Here's a little taste of what I've been up to.

Monday: Language Lesson 9-11am, Study time 11-1 ish (on the days I'm feeling ambitious) then team planing 3-4pm, then leave for ESL class in the slums 4-8:30 pm
Tuesday: Leave for the slums school at 7:00am, arrive at school and teach from 8:30-11:30am, then head from the school to my family in the village's house 12:00-3pm, Head home and get ready for house fellowship, house fellowship 5:00-9:00, SLEEP
Wednesday:Leave for school at 7:00am, arrive at school 8:30-11:30 am, head home and rest :) or go back to the village
Thursday: Language lesson 9 am, Study time 11-1 pm, Team meeting for what's going to happen that day, leave for city slums for ESL class & teach 4- 8:30pm
Friday: Language lesson 9am, catch up on e-mail, head to the village with team for ESL class 1-5pm, shopping for what needs to be bought.
Saturday: DAY OFF :)
Sunday: Big fellowship with nationals and internationals 9am-12pm, Head to the village 12pm-6pm, come home
So thats what a week can look like, there have been many meetings in the last month put in there too. It's been really great to meet with so many people that have ideas and plans for what the team I'm on will be doing. It's been great to be so focused and wiped out at the end of day. I sleep so well now :)

Last week was the last week of school for the slum school so they dismissed for the summer due to the heat. The entier experience in the school was amazing. I made wonderful friendships with my fellow national teachers. The teachers were always so helpful with me learning Hindi, it helped to have encouraging women around. The kids were totally cool, I already really miss them. At the school I would arrive in time for morning devotions then head off to my first class room. The I worked with 1st class, they were a group of kids ranging in age from 5-10 years old. The reason the older kids are in there is because they are just now starting school. The 1st class usually had 12 kids in it. They were all so cute and so much fun to teach Bible stories and English to. They were usually excited to learn each day I arrived. When any teacher walks in the room all the kids stand up and say, "GOOD MORNING DEDE" (Dede just means Aunt). Then they all sit down. It's really cute. Some of my best memories of the first class was coloring pictures of how they drew the bible story. They always loved the chance to color. By far the best was when we acted out the "Jesus Calms the Storm" and "David and the Giant". From when I first came to the class there was one little boy that was always sad and never wanted to talk to the other kids, he never wanted to learn, and would sit to one corner of his desk and cry. It was really sad to see such an adorable child so sad and grumpy all the time. Through the weeks that I worked there I had a lot of chances to pour into him and before I knew it we always had a smile on his face. Once he started to smile he started to learn, he started to play with the other kids, and he loved gettin to help tell the bible stories and learn his new Enlgish vocab. The 1st class also had more amazing kids in it too. They were all really exciting to work with and to invest in.

After 1st class I would head to 3rd class, the age group was 10-12. They are the most advanced kids in the school. With them we really got to go in depth with stories and form more complex sentences. My best memories with them was at lunch time. 3rd class had 7 kids in it, 3 of them had younger brothers and sisters in the school. So during lunch they would all take out their lunches. The great thing about their lunches is one person would bring the rice, another the rotti (like tortillas), another kids would bring the cooked veggies, and one would top it off with another random food. Once they all took their food out they would go get their little siblings and bring them in the room. Then after everyone had food they would eat and some times even offer some to me. It was so sweet because the parents didnt make those lunches the kids made most of the meal. They brought so much joy to my heart!

2nd class was my crazy fun class. Those kids were always ready to joke around, be loud, and just have fun. They were the most creative bunch! When we made story pictures they were the most creative. They loved to sing be the christain songs they knew in English and the songs they knew in Hindi. The most fun was one about Jesus having Super powers.

During lunch times I would practice my Hindi. A few months ago I bought some American children books at a local book store. I picked three books that I grew up on. My language tutor and I translated the stories into Hindi and then I would read the stories in Hindi. The kids were funny and would quote the book all the time. On top of reading children books I would also test the new bible stroies I learned in Hindi with the school teachers. The teachers are all believers so thats been nice, they knew the stories and helped me tell them. Besides being able to use my language with them I also formed great frienships with all 4 of the teachers. One teacher is my language tutor's niece, another is a good friend of a friend I made in the city.
Thats the school in a not so small nut shell.

Thia week a group of 4 girls from Liberty University (in Virginia) are here. They are four amazing sisters in the Lord. They are such go-getters. They bring tons of energy and new eyes to South Asia. Two or staying in the apartment my roommate and I have and the other two are staying with our other teammate. All four girls bring something special and unique to the table, they all have these amazing stories of how the Lord is working in their lives. Having them here has been a great refreshed and has made me feel truly blessed. They are teaching VBS in the morning to immigrants from the country above us. In the evenings they are teaching ESL to the parents and other people. It's been amazing! Please be kneeling for them they are going strong but fighting off jet lag. They are with us for two weeks. I know I have to take full advantage of the friendships while they are here.
Okay well it's late i need to go but wanted to say HELLO!

News

Hey everyone! So this past week has had it hard moments but it's also had it's amazing highs too. My grandmother passed away last Friday (a day after everyone found out she was sick)......with everything taking place so fast it's been a little hard to say the least. It's also a big bummer i cant be with my family right now to help out. Please be praying for my mom (it was her mom) and my aunts everyone is having a hard time with this. My cousins and siblings are working through it too! There's a lot more to this story but really all they need right now is to be lifted up to the Father. So today started off great! I woke up feeling good. Last night i went tobed feeling all sorts of nasty sick so feeling better is a blessing.
So this morning i went to the press walla (the guy that presses clothes) he's like a three step walk from you front door। So I said hello and practiced some language with him as we founded my clothes out and then figured out a price. That was fun and then I was offered Chai, so it was cool to get to spend a little time talking and hanging out. While i was there a lady i hadn't met before came over to say hello. She looks to be my age possibly a little older but she was realy nice. Her name is Anu but we can call her "A". So she came over and was talking with me, in Hindi/English. It was really neat, she told me she's from a different part of the country and it getting used to the BIG-D. So it was cool to know that I have a national friend going through cultural adjustment too. It turns out she moved her shorty after getting married and now she works with her husband doing food prep for events. She said that cooking in this part of the country is was different because they dont like their food spicey here. We decided that she would have to cook some spicey food for my roommate and I so we could give it a shot. Today i also have coffee with a girl from Texas. She just moved here a few months ago as well but she's having a really hard time adjusting. Please be kneeling for her and praise the Lord too that she's here. I am so thankful to the Lord that my culture shock has been really minimal i really love this place. Even with all the crazy family stuff that has happened the last two weeks i still love this place. Every now and then when i'm walking down the street......I think to myself THIS IS MY HOME! It's really cool. I get to live in this totally different place and get to do some really amazing stuff. I really enjoy my job and have had a wonderful time forming friendships. So please praise the Father for giving me lots of joy being here and pray that culture shock would continue to be minimal.

Well here's a link to some new photos I hope you like them :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027195&id=79801779&l=44549b0c0f
I've also added new photos of Easter to this album (it's one you've seen before) hope you like them (they're at the end)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026776&id=79801779&l=822bad1dfc

I pray all of you have a great day!

To The Prayer Warriors

Last night my grandmother passed away. I found out she was sick the day before, it's been a little rough to say th least. I really wasnt ready for this and no one else in the family was. It seems like it came out of nowhere. There's a lot of stuff going on right now in my heart so please just be praying that I would mourn as I need to but also stay focused while I'm here. Please be kneeling really really hard for my mom and my aunts. This is a really hard loss, my grandmother was the center of the family. Please be kneeling for my cousins too, she raised one of them and had an incredibly close relationship with my other cousin. There is a third cousin who was currently living with her and he is like 8. This will reall be hard on everyone, my oldest brother and sister were also really close to her. Please just be praying for my family right now and for the Lord's peace and blessings to be felt all around. Death is something I dont really like to talk about or share with people but I know it's something you guys would want to know about.
So please be in prayer for my family as they pick the pieces up and pray that the Lord's light would shine brightly on this hard situation.
Sarah

Family

Please pray for my family back in the states. We're struggling through a sickness right now and it's been a really long and hard day being far away.

Jen and Andy!

Update! Hey so from writting so much about things here I need to tell ya'll about the things you've been kneeling for. Please continue to pray like crazy for Jen and Andy. It is a form of cancer ( a less scary form but still needs lots of prayer) the problem is where the mass is located it is right on her heart and next to her lungs. Please remember Jen, Andy, the Doctors, and theirfamily in your pr*yers!

New Pictures

Hello! There are some new pictures ya'll can check out! :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026776&id=79801779&l=822bad1dfc
Love ya'll!

A really busy week

Jai Missikie! Over hear that means Praise the Lord, believers say it to each other everytime they meet and before they go. I hope all of you are doing wonderful, today was another wonderful day here in South Asia. So this week has been crazy busy and so have the last two. I had great friends coming in and out of the city and so I've had some great fellowship and a lot of fun. As far as serving goes this past week has been one thing after another, it's really refreshing and the Lord has given me more drive to keep it up. Usually when people first come over seas the firt three months is protected language time to get the servant set in language and culture, and the work with your specific job isn't full speed untill after the first three months. My three months are almost up but since I am not staying in the village all the time anymore I get to go do my job while learning language. So monday morning I got up early like a normal working person would I caught an auto-rickshaw and made my way to meet a NGO (non-government organization) rep then the two of us made our way out to the first village I taught English at in the school. Once arriving at the school it was so nice to see all the kids faces and know I would get to teach them for the next few months untill they break for summer. After I finished at the school I took a short autoride to my mommi and papa's house. I had a wonderful day with my national family.

It had been almost three weeks since I had seen Mommi because she was visiting her family. So once i saw mommi she let me help with doing the laundry. This may sound simple but most of my time in the homestay i was not allowed to help with regualr house stuff because I was the guest, and also because they dont think Americans do things for themselves. Many of the upper caste people in the country and the middle caste people have hired help that comes if not everyday a few times a week and does all their cleaning and laundry. I tried telling the family in the begining of the homestay that having househelpers is not very common in America and that many people do their cleaning and regular house stuff themselves. I also told them the various job I did while working in the US (babysitting, hostess, busser, waitress, cleaning and setting up a dance studio, working in fellowships and working at my dad's store on-top of having my own apaertment while in college). However I still dont think they think i knew how to do much, and it makes sense. They do household chores WAY different here and was everything by hand (clothes, dishes, the floor, EVERYTHING). So when you learn a new way to do things it can look like you have no idea what you're doing or when you do it the way your used to it can look totally wrong. These are also experiences I've shared with the woman who cleans the floors in my flat a few times a week. (we have a lady come because dust in this city, dirt and all sorts of stuff somehow work their way into your house no matter how hard you try to keep it out and all the floors are granite) So me trying to make a long story shorter I got to help mommi wash clothes it was really fun, then there was a hole in byaa's shirt and since I have been able to work on my sewing skills while I was in the village I got to help a little. So after mommi and I finished all the work we both took a really long nap. The power was out too and there is not much or girls or women to do when the power is out because usually they watch tv all day once their chores are finished. It was nice to know when I woke up I would be around people I've missed and wouldn't have to go anywhere to work on language studying.

After the nap byaa and I walk to the bazaar (market) to get some food for dinner along the way he had me try some new food. He called it spicy water.....i thought spicy water? That sounds gross and he knows i cant drink the regular water here yet? (HUmmmm). Here's what it looks like....it comes on a leaf that acts like a tea saucer and it dried up, then this little hallow shell thing made out of dough is filled with different veggies and you guessed it.......SPICY WATER. So I tried it and it was a lot like a great snack I had in Kolkata in October when I was visiting a friend. I had one and they decided i was done trying new food for the night, but when you pay the street guy he gives you like 3 or 5 so Byaa had two as well. When we were walking back to the house byaa said he doesn't like to eat spicy water ( as he laughed a little and had a sneaky look on his face ) because i gives him, "loose movements!" Ha ha i laughed really hard for a few minutes after he referred to diarrhea that way. Sometimes I wonder who taught him to say some of the things he says in English, talking with him in English and him trying to help me talk to mommi, papa and my friends when there's confusion is always filled with funny moments.

After getting back to the house I sat and had dinner with mommi and byaa and then my friend Bhavna came over to visit. She is one pretty cool lady! Bhavna is 22 or 23 I cant remember all i know if she is really close to my age. We have a great friendship, she speaks really good English but likes to talk to me in Hindi to help me learn the language (many people that speak English in this country wont speak to you in their native language because it is offensive to them to not speak English with a native English speaker). Needless to say Bhavna is a great friend and helper, she also is really helpful with cultural things I might not pick up on and more importantly she kind of understands my fleeting American culture and is understanding of some of America's norms and taboos.

Things that are taboos in America are not taboo here (like picking your nose, burping, flatulence, commenting on how a person is looking fatter that day or skinny, asking really blunt questions) those are taboos in the US but are totally normal and cool here, but here you dont comment on how a new baby looks cute, you dont say Thank You to friends or people you know when they do something nice, its rude to be asked your relationship status, its rude to not eat EVERY SINGLE THING THEY PUT ON YOUR PLATE (I mean short of licking it clean), its rude to not stop for 30 minutes to talk to someone you know if you see them, it's not nice to not see someone you know if you have been in their neighborhood....there are more but Ill stop there.

Any who....so Bhavan is a great friend she has been a great encourager and is always sending nice little e-mail notes or texts to say hello during the week. She says she is shy and has a hard time making friends but i totally dont believe it she is really sweet and is way easy to make friends with. So after we sat and visited at my Mommi's house her byaa told my byaa that it was time for her to come home......so I asked mommi if it would be okay if i went with her to her house to get more help with my language and to talk with her. At her house we talked in hindi and she helped me study and then we got to talking about Spring and the holiday her mom was celebrating (there are like tons of Hindu holidays in a year in the last two months there's been like 10) so that helped me talk with her about why this time of year is so special to people that follow JC. I got to talk with her all about HOLY Week and why it's so special and why Good Friday is so good but also soo sad. Then we talked about resurrection Sunday and why it makes everything so special and how because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then rose on the third day he made a way for us to be right with God again. We basically talked through the bible in a few minutes and how it all leads to Christ. I've had other chances to share with her about my faith as we talk about each others faiths. She is unlike most Hindu's I've met over here, she really knows the stories about the gods and why the holidays are celebrated and why they are important to Hindu believers, she has helped me a lot with understanding things more about Hindus.

Through talking with her about Jesus and how my heart breaks when I think about Good Friday she said something that brought a lot of joy to my heart, she said she could really see that my faith in Jesus was genuine and that what he did really meant a lot to me. Then she asked if she could attend Easter sunday service with me, ofcourse I was totally stoked and praising the Father from every fiber in my being! I have been praying for Bhavna for a few months now and you all have been too she's been written about before on here and in my update e-mails. So this is the Lord answering prayers and softening her heart, from here what will happen is in the Lord hands but please continue to petition for her and for myself and other believers she comes in contact with. Please pray for protection and that the true way would be made more clear to her and that I would wait on the Lord and not be too eager or too shy but that I would do JUST AS THE LORD TELLS ME TO DO.

So that was monday! Tuesday I went back to the school and played with the kids for a little while, my byaa came with me because after my short visit to the school we were going to his sisters to spend time with her and encourage her. I just love GITA she is an amazing sister and such an amazing sister in Christ. Getting to Gita's was soo much fun! It seems that when I go to Gita's it's always an adventure and byaa seems to be involved in it some way or another. So from the school byaa and I walked in the killer hot sun to another little town to catch an auto that would take us to sister's city. We were having a hard time finding and auto but i was enjoying walking and seeing everything when.......a man on a motorcycle started talking to byaa. The man then offered byaa and me a ride! So totally south asian style there were three of us on one motorcylce. It was a little scary when he got on big roads and started to go fast and I realized i didn't have a helmet on or any way of protecting myself is a problem were to arise.........but it was in those moments that the Lord brought peace to me heart and told me to enjoy the fun ride and not worry but to trust in him. It was fun. I wish there were a picture ya'll could see of it. Picture this one regular sized South Asian man driving, one kind of skinny South Asian dude sitting in the middele (byaa) and one little white girl with a big backback on the back. This time i didn't sit sidesaddle because there was no room so I held on to the metal grill at the end of the seat. It was soooo fun! Someday I only wish I had a motorcycle but then I think that could be pushing it with the Lord and I dont want to test him. After the motorcycle ride through crazy bumpy back streets and on the main roads and highways we got off at a bus station. Then we look a bus for a little while and I met a really sweet girl that I sat next to. (on the busses here there are seats for men and seats for women and the two do not interchange) After the bus ride we got off and were in the big city and started walking towards Gita's. It was fun but I was happy to finally reach Gita's. I had a blast at Gita's we talked, I played with my little nieces and then we read the bible together. Gita is married to a man that doesn't like her going to church very often so she doesn't get to see believers much. Thats why since I'm her "sister" I am let into the home so easily other national believers have tried coming over to see her but she lives with her in-laws and they turn then away and tell her believer friends to leave. So spending time with her gives her good fellowship. The happy news is she is coming to Mommi's on Good Friday so I'll get to see her there!

When I made it home that night I was so stinking tired from the two long days. I also had less sleep in the village because I slept upstares with mommi while papa was away visiting his family. So I slept on papa's cot and got to sleep in a mosquito net it was cool! It was fun to sleep in the main room of the house too with mommi only a few feet away it gave a different feeling to the village. Usually I slept downstairs in the room that was usually byaa's but when I came he had to sleep upstairs so I could have some space of my own. Sleeping in the main room you hear everything going on in front of th house and let me tell you there are animals and people around all night. So making it back to my flat was nice to get a shower and to sleep. The next day I went with my language tutor and wonderful friend C! She's a great woman she is a leader at a fellowship in her village. So we went to her village, it took three hours:three busses, one cycle-rickshaw, a cool hike and to get to her house. The busses we took were crazy crowded I mean like in the US there is NO WAY that many people would be allowed on one bus. So it was really a fun experience and a funny one. I rode a crowded hot bus in Kolkata on my trip to see a friend in October before I moved to this side of the world and that was a crazy bus ride. This one was just funny and fun......since living here my standards have moved down more and my sense of humor in the strange things has risen.

Once arriving at C's house we ate and then I got to help with their children's bibl* club. It was really fun! The kids told me in the language I'm learning what they learned from the bible story that day. Then we played games and ate a snack. That night I went with C to her fellowship, for the last 40 days everynight the member of the church get together and pray over their village! They are going to keep praying everyday together for their village too they are really wanting to see the Lord work in their village. I heard some amazing stories from the believers about what the Lord is doing in their lives and I also heard about the persecution from one of the pastors. He, his wife and another man were BADLY beaten in December by a riot of Hindus. The men in the riot were demanding to know how much the Chrstns had paid them to become followers and why they left Hinduism! Over here many people believe that when a person becomes a Christn it is because they were paid to or because they get some sort of sick and gross benefits for being a believer. It's heart breaking and is sad that many people assume believers are believers because of such a crazy idea as that or that white believers here are a front for something else.

After fellowship C and I walked back to her house but along the way walked other believers back to their houses and got to pr*y ove them. It was GREAT! The when at her house there are two other fellowship leaders living in rooms next to her apartment so we go to talk more about being believers and play some board games. Today I got back from C's house and have been studying my language since and catching up on the web. Tomorrow I head off to a ESL seminar and then to a fellowship that night with believers my age! My friend from the school and my byaa are coming too! Please pray that it would be a great time of fellowship! Then on Sunday I head out to the village again for fellowship and then back to see my friend Heather (Gimpy). She is coming through my city on her way to SPain. She is going on vacation there for a week and so I'm going to ride with her to the airport and hang out with her for a few hours before she takes off!

I know this was a realllllly long one if you read it all the way through THANKS! If not I'm sorry I hope you got the important parts out of it!

Oh i forgot som exciting news! I have been asked by C to speak a little Easter morning to the believrs! PR*Y for me! It's a great chance but also a little daunting it's one of the most important day of the year to talk with people!

Jai Missikie

Holi, motorcycles, Schools, and NEW FRIENDS

Hello everyone! These last few weeks have been pretty cool! Here in South Asia as Spring time comes they celebrate Holi. Holi is a Hindu holiday thats about their mythology of good triumphing over evil. The adults do a lot of pujas (worship to idols) however the kids have all the fun. Here's a link for a site that tells a lot about what happens it was really helpful in giving me an idea of what to expect and what it really about. http://www.holifestival.org/holi-festival.html

So Holi is on Wednesday but starting monday the kids go crazy. The kids do Holi where its more of a secular holiday. The way the kids do it is by getting waterguns, pipes that pump water in them and shoot people with it, also they play with colored power and colored water. So its about getting anyone and everyone wet and colored in colors.

It reminds me of Fiesta in Santa Barbara, California. I spent a lot of time in Sanata Barbara as a kid visiting my mom's family and during August there's this big Mexican part all over town where egg shells are filled with confetti that you break on people's heads or throw at people.

Well back to Holi....on Monday I went to sub-city in my Mega city. I went to visit my Behen Gita (sister) her Mom is my Mommi from the village. So I told the auto driver where I was going and he dropped me off at what he said was the right place. I was told to call my Byya (Akosh) when I arrived so I called byaa and told him i was there somewhere. Well as it turned out the auto driver dropped me off in the wrong place so after waiting some time byaa showed up......ON A MOTORCYCLE! It was so FUN! My family doesn't own a car or motorcycle so i think it was one of his friends. Anyhow, so i got to ride on a motorcycle. A few weeks ago a guy offered me a ride to where I was going on his motorcycle but because I didn't know him and I'm a white girl I thought it was probably a bad idea no matter how bad i needed a ride. I was kinda bumbed out because I really wanted to ride one. SO the Father brought me the best chance. It's okay to ride with him because he's my brother. So I hopped on the back as soon as he said, "can you ride? Will it be okay?" It was pretty darn fun! Here the women sit all sidesaddle, so I sat sidesaddle and held on for life to the cycle. It was a blast weaving in and out, Byaa was really happy to show me his driving skills. You should have seen the faces of the people on the side of the street watching a white girl fly past. (Okay mom dont worry, I'm okay. I know you never wanted any of us kids to ride on motorcycles but it was SOOO fun and it wont happen often so all is good....trust in the Father and pray)

After the fun ride on the bike byaa dropped me off at Gita's house and then drove off. At Gita's house I was greeted by the cutest little niece in the world Brenna. She is like 7 and served me a cold lemon soda as we waited for Dede (sister) Gita to come. AS we waited another guest arrived to my suprise is was no other than.......MOMMI. I was really happy to see her it was such a nice suprise I had seen her the day before but always miss her, papa and byaa. So we all sat there and had some sweets, that were amazing and only come out during holidays. Believers take part in Holi too but they take part in it from a secular stand point just playing with colors, welcoming Spring, and wishing everyone a good year. Later Byaa and Giga-G (brother-in-law) came home too! So we made water balloons and threw them at eachother all day, squirted each other, and threw buckets of water at each other. IT WAS A BLAST TO GET TO SPEND THAT SPECIAL TIME WITH MY FAMILY. The neighbor kids also threw balloons at us as we threw them pack. Another really great part of Holi is you can throw water ballloons at anyone and it's okay. Gita's house is on the fourth floor of an apartment complex with narrow allies and stuff. So i stood on the veranda and threw balloons at ANYONE that walked by. They would look up and see this white girl laughing and then have a look of shock as yelled down, "HAPPY HOLI!" It was funny byaa was rolling he was laughing so hard. After the waters were put away they look out the colored powders. Sister told me to get Giga-G (brother-in-law) really good. So i took a big hand full of what feels like babypowder but is BRIGHT BRIGHT PINK and put it on Giga-G's head and shirt. He looked really funny, everyone was laughing I guess usually he's the jokester. Then mommi came around and put a thumb line of pik on all her kids (including me) and grandkids foreheads as a Holi blessing of Spring. After that Giga-G got me good. I was alll bright pink. My hair, my face, my shirt, my purse, my eyelashes, my mouth. It was funny then byaa came up to me with wet hands and more powder and smeared more on my side of my face and gave a satisfied, "Oh wait, wait.......okay thats better!" It was funny. Alicia the littlest neice was fun to play with we'd get Byaa and Giga-G. Gita and mommi stayed inside away from the mess.

When I went home that night and got cleaned up the water in my shower was BRIGHT PINK for a really long time. It took sometime to get all the powder out. It was really cool to see water that pink. The next day i sat on my veranda (my flat is on the second floor) and threw balloons at kids that walked by. When they saw i threw the balloon they started to throw them back. There were a group of men sitting on the corner across from my house watching. They work for my landlord, they would signal to me when people were coming that i could throw balloons at.

On Wednesday the actual day of Holi i stayed inside. I already had my Holi fun with my family and the neighbor hood kids and decided to play it low. So I bought a movie off of I-tunes, listened to a Francis Chan sermon on-line podcast, read the Word, talked with the Father, and kneeled for awhile. It was a great day of relaxing. The rest of the week flew by.

This week I have talked with a Non-Government Organization (NGO) about helping teach English in their schools. It was really fun, I had dinner with this great woman Rachel and her husband Danny. Rachel's from the UK and her hubby is from around here. It was great to talk with them and get some ideas about doing Bibl* stories through ESL in a school. The schools is located outside of the mega city in the slums close to where I did my homestay. I start next week going on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Please kneel for the Father to prepair a way for me there and guide me to follow his leadership of what's best.

This week i made some friends in the neighbor hood where my flat is! I've been kneeling for freinds here for a really long time now. I've met people but no one that's really wanted to spend time with an American learning their language. However I met this really cool older lady that has a shop near my house. After we were talking in my new language for a little while she said she could help teach me Hindi. Having two people help with language is really great. So she is my second tutor, when I went to her house to do Hindi her grand-daughter was there. Her grand-daughter speaks great English but more importantly teaches the local language really well. So her grad-daughter helped me with a language lesson. It was great! So through a language tutor now I have a new family of friends. Thanks for all your kneeling for me these last few weeks on finding friends here. I've found more and more ladies to talk to in my neighbor hood and tell Bibl* stories to. It's been a really blessing and an answer to my kneeling and all of yours! We serve and amazing Father.

Here are some really needed kneelings! This week I recieved some really hard news. The pastor of the fellowship I worked at in Florida last summer. His wife is sick! I not only worked with him and his wife but I also lived with them part of the summer. They have become like Floridian parents to me (even though they're from California) it breaks my heart to not be there with them in all of this or even be there to help out in any way I can. However I know the best way to help is through kneeling. PLEASE PLEASE KNEEL FOR JEN AND ANDY! Also some famliy friends in Half Moon Bay lost a husband/father this past week, it just a really hard situation. There are kids involved and a grieving wife they are believers and really should be lifted up in this hard time.

Thanks all! Blessing and love Sarah!

Pictures of the Himalayas

Here are the links to the pictures of the Himalayas!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026270&id=79801779&l=c9ff9

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026273&id=79801779&l=a98bf

Europe In the Hills

Greetings!
So I have some fun news to tell everyone! I went to the Himalayas! It was a blast, it is so amazing there. My best friend lives just at the foothills of them and I went to visit her. I spent tons of time on a train so i could spend all day and all night Friday with her. We met at OBU (my college) the first week of shool and over the next three years she was there we became as close as sisters. So needless to say we had a total blast hanging out and laughing all day. This little trip all started on Thursday. I took the 3pm train from my city and got to her's at 9:30. We hung out and slept to prepair for the big day waiting for us.
When morning came I got to shower right before their water tank was empty (what a blessing). We had coffee and chatted for hours about friends, our family, how stuff has been going in South Asia, theology, JC and the Father and her wedding! She's getting married in October so there was lots of fun covos about that! When we finshed coffee we walked back to her house on the walk home her fiance called. I love Michael he's a pretty cool guy, it was fun to get to chat with him a little and them she how happy her face was to be talking to him. After the walk back to her house we had lunch with this amazing woman, her husband and kids. She is an OBU grad as well, she is so sweet and her kids are a blast to chill with. The meeting was no complete without a little ka-rip! Ka-rip is OBU's special go to chant!

Ka-rip Ka-rap Ka-riplo typlo tap
Oh! Oh!
Rincto lincto hio-totimusHopula scipula copula gotimus
Chink-to-lack Chink-to-leeKa-willa, Ka-walla, Ka Victory
Oh! Oh!
Hoogula choogula choogula can.Ragula tagula melican man
Let'er go rip, let'er go ruse
Tingula Tangula, turn'em a-loose
Zip! Bang! OBU!

Poor Gimpy even though we went to school together she's just not as cool as me and doesn't know ka-rip all the way through. SAD DAY :(

So after an AMAZING LUNCH! We got in a taxi and headed for........the HIMALAYAS!!!!!
Pretty darn sure I never thought I ever be going to South Asia and especially never the Himalayas. They are amazing! I've seen tons of mountains and mountain ranges before but this one is like totally different. It's nothing like the Mountain range in Half Moon Bay, Mount Arrow Head (So Cal), the Rockies, the Appalachians, The Witchitas (Oklahoma) or the mountains of Thailand. The city we went to was founded after a town in Wales. The city looked really European like around 1930. It was amazing! It didn't feel like we were in South Asia, it was a little oasis and vacation. We went shoe shopping i got the most adorable shoes for really cheap and can't wait to wear them. I bought a throw for my couch so my roommate could have something from there too. I ate AMAZING pancakes with bananas in them. This little village was really small, but it had the most amazing things! In this tiny shop they had STARBUCKS FRAP cold Coffee!!!!!! It was great, they had Kraft B-BQ sauce, Kraft Blue Cheese Dressing, Skippy Peanutbutter with honey, and tons of American food. I cant tell you what a suprise it was! I also found Jolley Ranchers!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were selling them at the place I ate pancakes, they are AMAZING. They are Jolley Rancher lollipops. The day was one of the best I've had in South Asia. It was a day of great joy. Being with her helped to give me more energy and get refreshed at the same time. My heart was so overfilled.
We were both really sad to have to come down the mountain. We named it Mount Horeb (Sinai) the Father brought us great joy. The Emprise goes on! We were mere steps away from Tibet!!!! (Millions-Thousands yes but still steps) I could see Tibet! The people on the mountain did not act like people in Gimpy's city or mine. People groups are different all over this region its pretty amazing and reallly nice to get to see new ones. I hope you all enjoy the pics! I'll also put some on Facebook and put the link in here so you can go see them even if you dont have facebook.
When you kneel for me, please thank the Father for me! He really brought me more joy in my heart than is possible to write, say or even put into words. Its one of those groaning of the heart things. Only he truely knows how much joy he brought me, I cant even put it into words. Being with a close friend and having a fun day was a true blessing. Please pray for Gimpy tooo!!!

So I came home to my city on the 5 am train, it arrived around 11:30 am so today has been a day of resting and prep for going to visit the village tomorrow YAYYYY! Four amazing days in a row. I've already contacted my good girl pals in the village and can't wait to see them. Please be kneeling for me as we grow in our friendships and please pray for the words to speak the Truth over their lives and tell the wonders of JC and having a relationship with him.