Our India team met tonight for the second time. We had a good meeting! There are only seven of us now- a couple people dropped out. I think a smaller group is better. The group leaders are a cute married couple named Skipper and Preston; then there's Katie and Maureen, who are both in my missional community; and two guys, Jonathan and Jorge.
Our assignment for tonight was to bring three articles about India and share them with the group. My three articles were about education, the poor treatment of women, and the stillbirth rate. Others shared about infanticide, sex trafficking and disease. It was really heavy. We spent time praying over each issue. Prayer is such an amazing thing. It is amazing to know that when we feel overwhelmed we can cry out to our Father in Heaven, and he hears us.
We also talked about our itinerary for our stay and things we need to do to prepare for our trip. They divided us into three teams: Katie, Maureen and me; Jorge and Jonathan; and Skipper and Preston. We will arrive on a Saturday. That Monday-Friday we will be doing activities with the kids at the Good Samaritan School. Saturday we'll be organizing a carnival! Over the next two weeks each team has to come up with the following:
1. Craft for 500 kids (we'll bring the supplies and show them how to make it)
2. A Bible study for kids ages 6-14
3. A devotional to do with the teachers and staff
4. A personal 5-minute Scriptural devotional
5. A Song to teach kids
6. 2 carnival games/activities
7. Recess activity
Honestly I feel like the teachers in India are way more qualified to lead US in a devotional. I feel totally humbled in these types of situations. Who am I with my privileged upbringing to tell these people what it means to trust God? I know that we are hoping to bless them but I am 100% confident that they will bless us more. I am just praying that we will be an encouragement, that we will walk in humility and love, and that we will learn from THEM what it looks like to trust God for everything.
We also discussed the need to begin establishing our "prayer team" that will commit to pray for us each day of our trip. I'm super excited. I love playing with kids. I'm excited to be going with Katie and Maureen. I know that it will be hard there, but I know that God has a purpose in me going. I had planned to go to London this summer with Brittney and the other girls from the Women's Development Program I was in this year. But back in the winter, a week before I had to commit to London, God showed me I was going to India instead.
I can't believe it's almost here. We leave in 3 1/2 weeks!!! Our team meets again in two weeks and we will share what we all came up with for all the above lessons/ activities.
Thank you for your prayers. Lately I have just been feeling overwhelmed by God's love and his goodness. Even in pain and suffering, he is good and he has a purpose.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Beach escape
It's Sunday evening and I'm exhausted. Brittney and I just got back from a weekend getaway to South Padre Island. I love the beach!! We spent Thursday night with her parents in McAllen and then met her sister Amy and Amy's friend Christina at the beach on Friday.
There is something about sitting by the ocean that makes me forget about everything past or future. I think it's because it's so pretty and relaxing and I just want to soak in every minute of it; it helps me just be completely in the present.
We went on a party boat Friday night (not my idea) which was a pretty hilarious experience. One of Amy's friends runs the boat company. As we walked up to the surprisingly small docked boat I wondered how they were going to fit all the people standing in line. Walking onboard, I felt like we were a bunch of Cuban refugees sailing for freedom, but amazingly we all managed to fit.
It was pretty relaxing if you don't count the three hours of BLARING 80s dance music that the onboard DJ played the entire time. Actually he did turn the music off long enough to watch the fireworks which was nice.
Saturday we spent the entire afternoon laying on the beach, which was awesome. I definitely would like to have some sort of beach house/condo someday. It's such an amazing escape. South Padre is really a pretty nice beach. It's no Mexico though.
Here's a photo of Brittney and I during the boat ride. The funny thing about this photo is before I took it I said, "make your best seductive face." Note to self: we REALLY need to work on our seductive faces.
There is something about sitting by the ocean that makes me forget about everything past or future. I think it's because it's so pretty and relaxing and I just want to soak in every minute of it; it helps me just be completely in the present.
We went on a party boat Friday night (not my idea) which was a pretty hilarious experience. One of Amy's friends runs the boat company. As we walked up to the surprisingly small docked boat I wondered how they were going to fit all the people standing in line. Walking onboard, I felt like we were a bunch of Cuban refugees sailing for freedom, but amazingly we all managed to fit.
It was pretty relaxing if you don't count the three hours of BLARING 80s dance music that the onboard DJ played the entire time. Actually he did turn the music off long enough to watch the fireworks which was nice.
Saturday we spent the entire afternoon laying on the beach, which was awesome. I definitely would like to have some sort of beach house/condo someday. It's such an amazing escape. South Padre is really a pretty nice beach. It's no Mexico though.
Here's a photo of Brittney and I during the boat ride. The funny thing about this photo is before I took it I said, "make your best seductive face." Note to self: we REALLY need to work on our seductive faces.
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