Hear The Cry

Saying goodbye...

2009-08-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hello supporters! We just want to say again how much we appreciate your prayers. We believe this mission has been a huge success! We have been told by the pastors and staff here that we can't even fathom the effect we have had on the lives of all these children. This is so extremely exciting, I cannot put it into words! For many of us on the team, this is the realization of a lifelong dream.
As we travel back to the States tomorrow, a huge portion of my heart will remain here. I know I speak for the rest of the team when I say that we each have a huge investment in this place. Many of us are already talking about returning in the near future if it be the Lord's will.
Our hosts here have been amazing. They have driven us around, made food for us, and taken care of us very well. Today we were pleased to use some donation money from Solid Rock to bless the staff with some tools to make their jobs easier. We were able to purchase for them a microwave, a silver pot, a new toaster, and several other kitchen and household appliances. We are so in awe of the way they have denied themselves and taken care of us these past nineteen days. They will always be in our hearts and in our prayers.
Speaking of prayers, please pray that we will have a safe journey home. Our first flight leaves Harare at 1:15 pm local time (4:15 am Pacific) for Johannesburg, South Africa. Our second and longest flight leaves for Atlanta at 8:45 pm local time (11:45 am Pacific). We will be in the air for about 17 hours. Finally, we will leave Atlanta for PDX at 8:22 am Eastern time (5:22 am Pacific). We are expecting to arrive in Portland around 10:35 Pacific. If you could lift us up in prayer during this time we would be very glad.
Thanks again for your support. You have been essential to the success of the team. See you back in Oregon! In Christ, --AJBrady

Another VBS. Much Larger Scale!

2009-08-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Solid Rockers, family, friends, and other blog followers! Regrettably, this is the first blog post in four days. I apologize for this. The internet has just been down quite a bit lately. I know you would all like to see pics too but I'm not sure when or if we will be able to get those on here. But here at least is another update...
So as I told you, the last VBS went great. That one took place last week and was attended by around 45 kids. This week God is throwing much more responsibility at us. We have close to three hundred kids and are expecting even more tomorrow! Instead of splitting the kids into three groups like we did last week, they are in nine groups. This means that each of us is in charge of three sessions (teachings, crafts, or games depending on the person) each day. Since the people at the Highfield Church over here want their youth to gain more experience in teaching and leading, we are doing a bit more delegating this week. For instance, I have been doing the first two teachings every day and then having my Zimbabwean assistant (Daniel, who also interprets for me) teach the third.
Just like last week, we are teaching on the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13. We taught about the first three seeds (falling on the path, the rocky soil, and among thorns) on Monday, Tuesday, and Today. Tomorrow we will talk about the seed that fell in good soil and give them kind of a recap. I am sure the kids have been very blessed this week. They've learned lots of new songs, stories, and scriptures. But they have blessed us far more. Tom and I were talking this morning about this. Tom pointed out how we came here expecting to bless them, only to be blessed by them. And it is so true. Working with these kids has been amazing for all of us. They are so joyful, especially considering their circumstances.
After VBS, the rest of our typical day is relatively free. On Monday, some of us used this time to go out to an area where there are lots of huge rocks perched atop one another. Picture Pride Rock from The Lion King. There is a very poor community of people living behing these rocks. Mikayla and Christiana were able to share with some children with Jephat as an interpreter. Evan, Becca, and I were allowed into the village where we met the community leader, handed out a lot of snacks, and practiced some Shona. We believe that God used us to plant seeds in that small community.
Yesterday's free time was spent partly at the market where we had a chance to find some souvenirs. Some of us even acquired intense bargaining skills! Then we spent today's free time driving through some wildlife parks. We saw lions, cheetahs (and bears, oh my!), wildebeast, and warthogs. Girikai and I even got to chase a small herd of wild zebras and catch it on film! As you can see, we have had a wild time! God has blessed us in so many ways on this trip!
In closing, I would like to list a few prayer requests. Number one is that God will do His will in us as we spend our last five days here. Second is that Glenn Miller is returning to the States tomorrow to undergo hip replacement surgery. Pray that he will heal quickly and that he would be a messenger of God to the nurses and surgeons in the hospital just as the apostle Paul evangelized Roman guards. Number three: pray that the remainder of VBS will run smoothly. It has run pretty well so far, but if I told you that it has been without a hitch, it would not be the truth. This week has had its share of trials. Just pray that God will go with us as we complete the week. The fourth request I would make is that you pray for our team's unity. God has put together a great team to do His work, but among any group of people there will likely be a few disagreements. Please pray against anything that Satan may send to cause disunity among us.
Thanks for reading and thanks again for praying for us! In Him, --AJBrady

Short update....

2009-08-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

Hey again. Just wanted to give you an update. God got us through a week of VBS and we are looking forward to the next one. As a kind of break this weekend, we stayed at a lodge in a game park. We saw many species of animals, went canoeing, and did a bunch of other fun stuff. Tomorrow we're going to Highfield Church where John Ross is preaching. Please lift him up in prayer. He is at this moment sitting across from me and working diligently on his sermon. Besides that, I would ask that you pray for VBS this coming week and pray against any spiritual attacks sent to hinder us from doing God's work and blessing these kids. Thank you so much. The entire team is grateful for the support back home. In Christ, --AJBrady

P.S.: We are going through the book of Philippians right now as a team. Feel free to follow along. Today we did chapter three up through verse eleven; tomorrow we are looking at the rest of the chapter.

More goings on in Zim

2009-08-12T21:28:00.001-07:00

Hello blogsters! I had planned on updating once every other day. But since now I know that there are those of you who check many times a day for updates, I will try to write every day.
Today's happenings included another session of VBS. The Lord again blessed it abundantly. What we have done with the lessons is we have split the Parable of the Sower into four teachings. The first was about the seed that fell on the path and was snatched up by birds. The second was the seed that fell on rocky soil and was scorched by the sun because it had no roots. The third, taught today, was about the seed that fell among thorns and were choked out by said thorns. Tomorrow (finally!) we will teach on the seeds that landed on good soil. This has been a very effective scripture to teach. We have been able to teach the kids to read the Word often (so that the devil does not snatch it away like the birds), to always have faith (so they have roots in the Lord and will not be scorched), and to follow this passage in Romans 12: "... do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds..." (so that they will not be choked out by cares of this world, as the plants were choked out by the thorns).
The kids have also been learning a new memory verse and a new song every day. I must tell you, teaching new songs over here is amazing. The Shona are a very musical culture, so they pick up songs extremely quickly. We have taught the children four songs now: "Praise Ye the Lord," King of Kings and Lord of Lords," "Be Excellent," and "I Can Do All Things." The latest of the four goes exactly as the memory verse for the day, Philippians 4:13. We taught them another song to go along with the theme for the week. So it is really five new songs they have learned if you include that one. The song is called "Sow, Sow, Sow the Word" (cum "Row, Row, Row Your Boat").
Another event of the day was visiting another children's home. This one was more rural than most of the other ones we visited. Very few of the children there spoke English. What better way for me to practice my Shona! While here, we did a small skit on the parable from VBS and Glenn Miller also shared a Gospel message. It was really a huge blessing to visit these children and know that we were making a real difference in the lives of the young and innocent. I'm sure you will see from pictures (if I ever manage to get them on here), that the kids are very enthusiastic to greet us, marvel at our cameras, and hear whatever we have to say. What an exciting opportunity to share Jesus with them in a very real way!
Apart from those things, today was made up of small tid-bits of interestingness (new word!). We browsed a marketplace a little. A few of us bought small things. Of course, being the only white people in town, all the vendors flocked to us (historically in Zimbabwe, as in most of Africa, the white people have always been the ones with the most money). I was wearing Converse basketball shoes. I must have had a dozen different offers to trade them. They love brand names here in Zim even more than we love them in America. I simply said that I will still need my shoes for awhile and that maybe I would trade them later. We left the market with more cultural knowledge and certainly some mild amusement. But not nearly the amusement I got from explaining American things to people who have not heard of them. Tonight I had the privilege of explaining drive-thru windows to Girakai, one of the workers at Hands of Hope. He said that one could make a lot of money in Zim by introducing it. He had never heard of any such thing. He was also quite amazed to hear that the tallest building in the world is almost one kilometer tall!
Ok guys, that's all I have for you today. God bless and thanks again for all of your prayers.
--AJBrady

Successful VBS!!!

2009-08-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hey!!! Thanks again for your prayers! Just wanted to give another update on our progress in Zimbabwe...

On Saturday, we sat in "The Upper Room" as a group and planned the whole VBS thing. We have now had two very successful days of VBS. It is still a work in progress, but praise God that we get to practice on a group of sixty for this week before putting on the VBS for three hundred next week!

Christiana and Sarah have been the organizers of everything. Their job is to make sure everything is running smoothly. The other nine of us work at different stations through which the kids rotate by age group. Julie, Becca, and Mikayla run the Arts and Crafts station. They have been quite creative with that. Tom, Abby, and Evan run the Games station. They have played many games and, so far, no kids have been injured. John, Tim, and myself run the Teaching station where we teach the Word. Side note: I have had tons of fun preaching and teaching through an interpreter. I'm really not sure what is so cool about it. It's hard to explain really. Try it sometime!

The theme for this week is the Parable of the Sower. We always open up the day with an assembly of all age groups. There, we sing songs, read the memory verse for the day, and read the parable. We then dismiss them to their various stations.

The kids have responded very well to the entire structure of the VBS, praise God! We have been able to work together and mesh very well as a team. It has been such a huge blessing. This has reminded me of the passage in Romans 12 which says that we as a church are all members of one another. Each one has his or her own gift that God has bestowed upon them. And there has been absolutely no shortage of gifts given to us on this trip. We will continue to chase after Jesus and His will with total confidence that He will do more amazing works through us.

Thanks for reading and continuing to pray for us! We appreciate it more than I can even tell you! God bless you all! Oh and.... please comment so I know you are reading. --AJBrady

Mhoroi from Zimbabwe!!!

2009-08-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Two of the world's busiest airports. Hartsfield International in Atlanta. And now O.R. Tambo International in Johannesburg. Except... the Jo'burg airport is not so busy at present. This may have something to do with the fact that it is 2:43 am local time. See, the plan was to board a South African Airlines flight to Harare, Zimbabwe at 7:40 last night. The one problemo is that S.A.A. overbooked our flight. So here we are, the nine of us sprawled out on the tile floor of a very deserted (but normally bustling) Johannesburg Airport.

A.J.Brady, August 7th, 2009: Johannesburg, South Africa

Fortunately, I am now able to report that we made it safely to Zimbabwe. Instead of the South African Airways, we eventually boarded an Air Zimbabwe flight. We've been in Zim for two and a half days now. We have seen many many many amazing things happen in such a short time. God has had His hand in everything.

The very first thing we did when we arrived was an exercise that Glenn likes to call "To the Streets." This game involves being dropped off in the very center of Harare and answering questions from a sheet of paper provided by Glenn. Very similar to a scavenger hunt. By the time we were finished with this exercise, we were good and exhausted (as if the nine-hour time change wasn't enough!). We all hit the sack.

Day two: We visited five homes, including the two Philadelphia homes supported by Solid Rock. These were absolutely amazing. It was great to see firsthand what Solid Rock is doing 15,000 kilometers away. One of the highlights of the day was when Christiana was able to assist one of the caretakers with physical therapy for a traumatized toddler who is still unable to crawl. This was clearly a huge blessing. After visiting the homes, we returned to the Hillside home where we are staying and made plans for the VBS we are putting on next week and the week after.

Finally, today we visited the thousand-acre farm. We attending a really cool church service there. We were blessed and very impressed by the happiness of all in attendance. They sang; they danced; they shouted for Jesus. Evan played a few songs on the guitar. I was able to preach a sermon for the very first time in my life. The team put on a skit and led the congregation in "Lord I Lift Your Name on High." An amazing story about the message the Lord gave me this morning is that, unbeknownst to me, there was a poster nearby with the very same scripture that I shared from: The Great Commission. Praise God for His amazing hand in everything!

On behalf of the entire team, I would like to thank all of you for your prayers. They are much appreciated. I promise pictures next post! Rarai zvakanaka! Good night! --Andrew Brady

INDIA PROM 2009!

2009-07-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Portland Slumdogs!
Jess and Ash here... Quick recap about yesterday's happenings. Started the morning off taking care of the kids, getting them ready for the day, and no big deal... there was a pleasant poop surprise under one of our little ladies' dress.

We were able to draw pictures with the kids, help them with writing, and played a few hand games.

Some of the ladies spent the day cooking an "American meal" for the team and Irene and Roshan. Some others spent part of the afternoon finishing up last minute details for our sarees.
The rain has been coming down really hard and the boys spent the day fixing the holes in the roof. After a long, but fun afternoon, we came home to a fresh, home-made meal: mango salsa, guacamole, and vegetable salad. The beef for the tacos was so fresh that apparently it was slaughtered 15 minutes before we purchased it..?

Later that night, after cleaning and helping around, us ladies were able to play dress up! It felt like Prom night all over again... India style.... We got the opportunity to feed the kids in our sarees. They were so excited to see us dressed up, they were screaming "Supaaaa!" and applauding us.

It's beginning to be more and more of a struggle to tuck the kids in bed and say goodnight to them as we've grown closer to them each day. The concept of time has completely escaped us, and it still hasn't hit us that we're leaving them Saturday... These beautiful kids have become our teachers... We came here to bless them, but more often than not, we feel as though we've been blessed. We try and serve them, but they insist on serving us. We have all learned so much from these kids. All the things we worry about on a daily basis seem so trivial as this place: Happy Home, has been a place of provision and God's grace.

There's so much more we have to share with you all when we get home. Thank you for your prayers. We are all healthy and we look forward to this next week to see what else God has for us.

His therefore yours,
Ashley and Jess.

ps the picutures

Rainy Days

2009-07-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, first of all thanks so much for all your prayers! As our stay at Happy Home is drawing close to an end, we all have felt the Lord's presence and heard Him speak to us in many ways. Yesterday, during our devotional time, we all clearly felt the Lord realigning our focus with His heart, breaking our hearts for what breaks His. The selfless work that Irene, Roshan and the staff do everyday is amazing and tireless. The Lord is truly doing a great work here at Happy Home.

Our day started out with half the team arriving early to help wake up the kids. The morning chores included brushing teeth, washing, and moping floors. The monsoon rains returned full blast and poured down heavy all morning. The rest of the team came at 8:00 and we joined the kids in some praise songs in the classroom. We were excited to welcome back a little girl that had left a few weeks ago because of Tuberculosis. Roshan told us that this little girl and her two sisters had been rescued from being sold into the sex trade. All of us felt so thankful that they were safe and in a place where they are loved and valued.

After many waves, hugs, and high fives, we sent the older kids off to school. We all thought it would be fun to come up with a treat for them in the afternoon so, after creating quite a long list of supplies, we sent Roshan and Mike off to the market to get some fruit and ingredients to make "no bake cookies" (a good American treat). When they got back, some of the girls came together to cut up the fruit and prep it to make a huge bowl of fruit salad for the kiddos. We all thought it was pretty ironic that the apples in fact came from Washington state, a little taste of home. The kids could smell the wonderful fruit and kept trying to get in the door :) Here are some photos of us serving the fruit and the kids eating:

Next on the agenda for the day, Kellie and myself roasted peanuts to make homemade peanut butter. The 'no-bake cookies' reicpe calls for peanut butter, but India markets don't seem to carry this essential product. Therefore, we decided to make our own. Roshan bought us the peanuts and we got to roast them. After much stirring they were finally ready, and they tasted really good if I do say so myself. :) Tomorrow we are going to grind them and hopefully come out with something similar to peanut butter for our cookies.

The rest of the day was filled with playing and loving on the kids. Because of the monsoon rains, the older kids were sent home from school for today and tomorrow. It was nice for us to be all together to play! Towards the end of the day, the guys had to venture off to try and fix some leaks in the roof, which also caused some of the kids to have to sleep in the classroom. A few of the kids are getting sick, because of the weather here, so it would be amazing if you all could pray for their healing. Although there were many power outages and lots of rain, it was a great day altogether. Even though some of the children are sick. the team as a whole is healthy and happy to be here. We miss you all and are excited to see you in a week!

-Kellie and Emma

Bats and Jog Falls...

2009-07-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hello there loved ones!!

Another exciting day here at Happy Home (and the surrounding area)! But before we go into today we have to share an event that happened last night after the blog was written. For the past several nights we have been admiring the HUGE bats flying over Happy Home, who sleep in the tree in the center of the courtyard, and last night Edwin, Irene's brother, shot one out of the tree with a pellet gun. Roshan, a lover of animals, was upset with him, but the bat was mostly just stunned by the combination of lights and the pellet gun and flew off by this morning. It was pretty incredible to see though!

Here is a picture of the proud Edwin and his prize!

Back to today: It was another early morning visiting Happy Home, the amazing Irene and Roshan, and the incredible children. We sang a few songs, prayed to bless the meal, and served breakfast to the little ones; we never cease to be swept off our feet by the heart of the kids here, the incredible servants hearts they have for each other, and how clearly and purely we see the face of Christ in each and every one of them. What a humbling experience, being broken down in this way yet utterly fulfilled and overwhelmed by Gods love.

While we have been experiencing this love, tenderness, and mercy of Christ at Happy Home, Roshan took us on a wild ride out to Jog Falls today where we got a little glimpse into the power and might of our great God.

Here is Jog Falls...isn't it breathtaking!?!

We drove for a couple hours each way to get there, weaving in and out of cars, cattle, rickshaws, children, and stray dogs, through countryside that looked straight out of a National Geographic magazine. [On a side-note: we hire a driver to take us places since we don't have enough room in the Happy Home van, and it's incredible to see the ministry Roshan and Irene do with these Hindu drivers with their idols on the dashboard. They treat them as brothers, serving them with the love of Christ, and it is obvious they are not frequently treated in this manner. ...One of the many little "side-lessons" I feel we are learning here daily :-) ] When we arrived at Jog Falls it immediately started POURING DOWN RAIN...monsooning to an extent that even us Oregonians were taken aback by (if you can believe that)!! It was the perfect kickstart to the neverending stairwell through gorgeous greenery that led to the falls. We were stoked for the adventure, encountering friendly Indian tourists wanting to take pictures with us, aggressive monkeys battling for our snacks (turns out Mike is somewhat of a monkey-whisperer though!), and so much more.

We'll let the pictures speak for themselves from this point on, but God moves mightily in this place of such great faith, and we are so blessed to be here to experience it and offer up a little fellowship to God's servants here.

Love and miss you all, thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement!!
Blessings,
Craig, Whit, and team :-)

another AMAZING day in India!

2009-07-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well hello there! We are coming to the close of yet another day here at Happy Home, and I have the task of re-telling the days events. While there wasn't any elephant riding, or monkey feeding today, there was definitely never a dull moment.

The day began with our team arriving at H.H. at 8 am, just in time for breakfast. The kids got some added entertainment today during the meal, because we had Jordan playing worship songs on guitar while we all sang along. Luckily, it seemed like the kids loved it. After that, we headed back to Irenes house to have our breakfast and devotions/prayer.

A highlight of today (at least for me) had to have been getting fresh avocados off of their tree. We are going to be making dinner for everyone here sometime this week, and we all collectively decided that having guacamole would be a must! Even though it was raining like crazy, Melissa, Anthony, Mike, Roshan and myself ventured out to get some off the tree. It was quite the experience! We ended up with 17 total!

When we were finished, the boys ventured off to do man things, and build new bathrooms and shelves for H.H.
I would argue that the girls got perhaps the better job, of being able to just hang out and love on the kids. We joined them while they were still doing class and physical therapy, but we were more than happy to help.

(Kellie helping with the therapy)

(Ashley helping with the schoolwork)

And as always, no day would be complete if these amazing kids didnt do a dance (or two!) for us!

The rest of the day was filled with more laughing, playing, mopping, sweeping, rain, and being incredibly blessed by everyone here. This blog doesnt even begin to explain how much happened in one day! Everyday here has been such a blessing in its own way. Tomorrow we are off to Jog Falls, which is an incredible waterfall. I hope you all are having a wonderful time back in the states!

-Emma

The most CRAZY-AWESOME 2 days yet!!!!

2009-07-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

Hey home base! It's J-HUGE (the tall guy)

Sorry things have been crazy (in the best sense of the word) so I'll try to cover the last 2 days the best I can in this blog! A lot has happened in a short amount of time so here we go!

Anthony and I looking in the mirror at how gross we look after being sick!

Day 7----

We survived! The previous day half the team got pretty sick (I got it the worst I think, I stayed in the hotel room for around 30 hours). But today we were all "resurrected" and happy to be alive! After feeding the kids breakfast Roshan took all of us out to the "Lions and Tigers Safari." Roshan went up to the gate to pay for all of us but when Mike went up after him the price to get in went from 30 rupees each to 200 each (which 200 rupees is only like 5ish bucks but still, that's lame). Once we all got inside our tour bus monkeys pretty much surrounded us. I'm not sure but it might have something to do with throwing nuts out the window? The Safari was a lot of fun and we all got some pretty sweet pictures!

After the Safari we headed back to Happy Home for a show, i would argue, way better than the Safari! The kids had prepared a bunch of dances and skits to perform for us. It was a blast to sit and watch all these kids performing to Indian-praise-hip-hop dance music! One of the coolest parts was that some of the older kids did a skit from Mark 5 where the woman is healed by touching a corner of Jesus' garments. Mike had just taught a devotional out of that passage to us that morning! I thought that was pretty cool!

Day 8----

I have never done this much in one day as i have today! Our day started with Roshan getting us up early to go to an elephant reserve. It was INCREDIBLE! We drove out to this place and walked down to a lake straight out of the Jungle Book to see a bunch of Indian men scrubbing down elephants in the water. We got to go help wash them and sit on them and take a ton of sweet new facebook pictures. But this was only the beginning. All 14ish of us loaded onto a big canoe type thing and we went for a little boat ride along this amazing lake. On our way back it started pouring down rain and on top of that Roshan almost flipped the boat over! It more just added to the adventure but if Rosh had flipped us over we would have all been pretty unhappy!

After taking a few more pictures with our elephant friends we took off to see the new property for the new Happy Home. It started raining again so we couldn't stay long, but we all huddled up in our rain jackets and our feet literally covered in mud and prayed over the land. Keep praying that everything will come together in the building of the new Happy Home!

As we were returning to Happy Home Roshan decided to take the scenic route back. However, driving this way with Roshan reminded most of us of the Indiana Jones ride in Disney World. We ended up getting to a part of the road where the mud was SUPER deep so Rosh tried powering through it in his little but mighty van. However, we got stuck. Really stuck. For the guys though, it ended up being a really fun bonding experience as we pushed and lifted this little van out of the mud. It was quite the adventure!

We got back to Happy Home to hang out with kiddos, mop some floors and the MEN are working on building a medicine cabinet and fixing up the bathrooms. Just another eventful couple days at a very special place in this world. :)

Thanks for all your prayers friends and family! Your posts are a huge encouragement (we all sit and read them together)! We are all learning and growing so much each day we spend here! I'm sure there will be tons more stories to tell once we get back about all that God has showed us during this time. Thanks again to all to all you guys! Be blessed!

Jordan HUGE

A day of rest and other India Adventures!

2009-07-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family! It's Jess!

We are several hours into Day 6. Yesterday most of the team was down and out sick. But praise the Lord, by His grace and mercy we are back to normal health!

Yesterday, we got the chance to wake up early and greet the BEAUTIFUL children and feed them, wash their faces, and get them ready for the day. I can say on behalf of everyone that we are learning more from the children than they are learning from us. It's so cool that although communication should be a barrier between us and the children, love is the common language that ties us and we are yoked together even still.

Here are some of the kids making silly faces!

Watching the children sit in their perfect rows, singing us songs while waiting patiently for their meals taught me a huge lesson. I looked at their throats (as weird as that sounds) and it was so precious to see the strain on their faces. It was convicting to see even little children sing of the Lord with their whole hearts; with their whole being. It was such a reminder of true worship, and how as we get older we start to fear man above the Lord. It was such a beautiful picture and a sweet reminder.

We were able to go shopping downtown. It was awesome to see a different part of Shimoga. Probably my favorite part of the trip was seeing sweet Irene "takin' care of business (as Melissa would say)." It was fun to watch her barter for a good bargain. :)

A few of us bought rad Indian tunics and beautiful Saree's!

As the day went on, more people began to feel sick, so we dedicated the rest of the day to rest, fellowship, and time with the Lord. We also got to watch Roshan sing a "worship remix!" He sang "Anchor of My Soul" as a rap! SO awesome!

We love you guys. Thank you so much for all the prayers, comment, and emails. Every day a part of us is being broken and it's so freeing to let go. God is teaching us so much about Himself and so much about His heart. It's a funny feeling.... Feeling like we've been here forever- in a good, comfortable way. :) but at the same time, feeling like we just got here! God is at work and it's so cool to watch and be a part of it!

Grace, Peace, and many blessings!!!
Jessica

This one's for ya Allison! Chitra! :)

Learning the Ropes...

2009-07-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

Once the kids were off to school today, it was time to prepare the afternoon meal. As the girls were cutting up onions, smoke was billowing from the kitchen... and the combination caused many tears to fall. Once lunch was cooking, it was off to wash laundry. As the monsoon rains came down, the girls beat the clothes over rocks and hung them "to dry" on clotheslines in the open courtyard. The chickens watched in suspicion...

Meanwhile the boys ventured off in search of supplies to build a roof for the new bathrooms. They also bought tools to build a medicine cabinet and to reinforce the bathroom walls. When they came back we all served the kids their lunch of rice and curry.

Speech therapy class followed soon after lunch, but quickly turned into an energetic routine of song and dance, with the kids grooving to Father Abraham and the Hokey Pokey. After dancing for a bit, Kellie brought out stories and stickers. STICKERS were the BIG HIT!

It was amazing to see each child's face light up at the sight of a colorful sticker. They marched around the room proudly showcasing their stickers as if they were badges of honor. The room was filled with happy chatter (all of which we did not understand) as they placed them on their cheeks, chests and cherub-like faces.

They also were thrilled with story books galore that afternoon. ABC books, farm animals and counting filled several hours. It struck us that even though they could not read the words, every child was delighted with the books. They looked at the pictures and asked us to read them over and over.

As the rain continued to pour down, a friend of Roshan's climbed the palms to toss down some coconuts. The guys likened it to catching bowling balls mid air. Coconut is used in many of the dished here. We also got to sample a bit of fresh coconut meat!

The day wrapped up with the kids coming home from school and a late dinner. Looking back on this day we are still in awe of the children's pure joy in simple pleasures. They have so little and yet they love life and jump so quickly at any opportunity to help one another. The love of Jesus shines through their faces. This truly is a happy home!

We are home at Happy Home!

2009-07-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

We are finally here! After months of planning calls back and forth to India and our other family in Shimoga it all became a reality as we loaded 26 X 50 lbs bags onto our 10 hour flight to Frankfurt and a 9 hour flight to Bangalore. Thank you everyone for your prayers on getting us here safely. We arrived on time and all together in one peace. Once we arrived in Bangalore we had a short 7 hour bus ride to Happy Home.

This is everyone at the Portland airport.

Our short layover in Frankfurt. We started our bible study through the book of Esther here and had many people bend an ear to our discussion on Gods word.

We arrived at 7:30 am to happy home after roughly 30 hours of travel just in time to start the day... All of the kids were waiting eagerly for us to come and meet them all. This was profound experience. All of the pictures we see do not do justice the beauty of these children. It is impossible not to get wrapped up in God's heart for the orphan and the fatherless when you are embraced with such a pure love and never ending hugs.

We were welcomed with flowers and coffee (so good, better than peets)

Just in time for breakfast!

The walls each of us had built up in our own lives started to break immediately. This has become home and the name is fitting, this truly is a "Happy Home". Roshan and Irene have welcomed us in as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. Gods hand is upon this place in such a power way. You start to see a bigger glimpse of the size of God when you enter into to His work in such a pure way.

Roshan has been teaching some martial arts to a few of the kids

We have a full day ahead of us, waking up the kids, bushing teeth and washing faces, school and breakfast, dishes and moping and that will only bring us to 10am. The family does this tirelessly day in and day our 365 days a year with such a joy. It has given me a new understanding of God's word "The joy of the Lord in my strength". The family here prays for you daily and thanks God for there family at Solid Rock for all that God is doing through you.

Jordan is the jungle gym of the team.

This is our faces after driving with Roshan through Shimoga...

God, break our heart for what breaks Yours.

We will now be reading this blog and writing something new each day so please continue to pray that God would lead and guide each of our steps as we humbly submit to His will for us over these nesxt few weeks.

In His Grace,

Mike Melissa, Craig, Whitney, Ashley, Danah, Emma, Jessica, Kellie, Jordan, Anothony Bob,

All Good Things.

2008-07-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

All good things come to an end. As we are wrapping up the final days in our adventures here in India, we are all taking some time to take stock of the experiences we have had here. The canvas for this time of reflection just happens to be one of the 7 built wonders of the world…the Taj Mahal.

We spent 27+ hours on a train to get us to Agra…I (Tony) must admit, the time flew by much quicker than I had expected. It was a beautiful time of rest, reading, and introspection. We all found our nose buried in books and journals, and before we knew it we were here in Agra with anticipation of children at Christmas, knowing the Taj Mahal was on the day’s agenda. We slept for 3 hours or so, and then began our early morning to the Taj. This required us all to “push through” with little sleep and achy limbs and stomachs.

The Taj Mahal is actually quite a beautiful thing to behold. As most of you know, it was built as a tomb to enshrine a love lost to death. It glistens with a brilliant white from all over the city. From every brief glimpse of the towering minerettes, or the beautiful domes, the Taj Mahal has an ability to excite even the most apathetic sight see-er. Although the structure and grounds are incredibly impressive and beautiful (and we were all quite elated to be there), I think many of us at one point were also saddened by it. Man spends so much time and energy glorifying the wrong things.

Two quick things about our team at the Taj: we all sweat more than any of us has ever sweat before, assuring us that heaven will be a temperate place, more like San Deigo than Agra; and we all did exactly what we set out to do at the Taj, get the perfect Facebook picture.

With that said, as is the case during our debrief, I have been reflecting on our trip and wanted to put a few things in writing for you all. I hope it encourages and challenges you as it has me.

Reflections from Happy Home for the Handicapped: This is a place that can only be described as Ben said upon our first arrival “A piece of heaven on earth.” Not because it is a beautiful building with brilliant white, but because the people there make it so. The families and staff that live and work there evince a true servant’s heart every day, and show Christ to the children on a daily basis. The children themselves are welling up with a pure joy and peace that could only be a part of their existence were it for Christ in their life. Their stories are too sad to generate the love they do without Chirst in their lives. It is a truly beautiful and special thing happening there, and it is still very much with our team and me as we continue toward home.

Reflections from Ongole: The villages of Ongole have left me with a heavy heart. We saw the darkness idol worship and false gods can have on communities and families, and two things Jesus said keep echoing through my mind. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) We had one specific interaction with a man who had lost his faith, and claimed that there was no God because of his circumstances. He didn’t see the Lord saving him from his troubles, so he presumed God not to be. I love that verse in Matthew because it put into proper order the priorities we should have. The kingdom is our heartbeat…and if it is, everything else will work itself out. “Some things can only be done with prayer and fasting.” (Mark 9:29) We need to be prepared for troubles in our life that we might not also turn. Keeping our mind and attention on the Lord is of paramount importance.

I know I am getting a bit long here, but I also wanted to take a minute to mention what a beautiful team we have and spend a minute encouraging them and you about the ways I have seen Jesus in new ways through them all. Here is just short list of the qualities I have seen through my team that show how Jesus is alive in their lives, and molding them into creatures more like Him: selfless servant-hood, childlike joy, unabandoned love for one another, extreme patience, authenticity, tender compassion, gentle love, and sacrifice for each other. I am proud to have been a part of such a beautiful group.

Tony

Extra Extra Read All About It...

2008-07-21T04:34:00.000-07:00

Hey all, it’s Danielle! No worries we are safe! PTL (Praise the Lord) as Jordan would say. We had no access to the internet in Ongole. We arrived in Ongole early in the morning around 2 AM. We finally got settled in, and got some rest for a long day ahead of us. We stayed in Ongole for 3 days and somehow managed to get our photo in the daily newspaper. Let me tell you, us white people have Hollywood status. There was a small article about us, explaining that we were here to see the Prime Minister. Apparently she was in town the same time we were.

Aside from having our day of fame, the Lord had many blessings ahead of us and was at work. Every morning after breakfast we headed over to an orphanage with about 200 children to sing songs with and love on. In the Afternoon we headed over to the Jr. College to share our testimonies and words of encouragement. Both the orphanage and Jr. College are part of Beulah Ministries. While we were there we performed 2 skits from the Bible, which the kids loved. We had such a great time performing out silly skits; we felt like kids again. It was definitely a blessing for us to spend time with those amazing children.

The first day we were there, the Lord specifically had a blessing for me. We were having lunch at the hotel restaurant and a man comes over to me saying, “Hello, Miss Danielle.” I look over in confusion and soon realize I know him! It was one of my student’s parents from last year. His son Abhinav was with him. They were just passing through to get some lunch and go further with their travels to see their family. What are the odds? I got to chat with them for a little while and went to go finish my lunch. As I was finishing I couldn’t help but think that this was one of Gods divine appointments. So I prayed and prayed asking the Lord to give me words to speak hoping to at least plant some sort of seed. I finally got the courage to go back over and chat some more We talked about the Hindu religion which they practice once in awhile and how different the cultures are compared to America. I was able to share why we were here in India and what we were doing. Our conversation was coming to an end and I got that panic feeling inside thinking, “what else can I say?” The first thing that came out was, “Can I pray for you?” He was a little caught off guard but seemed open to it as well. So I got to pray for them and wished them the best! So I pray that the Lord used that time for seed planting! The Lord had more to come.

After visiting the Jr. College Wednesday and Thursday we visited some villages. We had the privilege of sharing the gospel and praying for people that were ill. In the first village we prayed with a man who was barely able to walk. He kept asking us to pray that he could walk to the village church and join in the service. With great faith we surrounded the man and laid hands on him, speaking Jesus’ name. By the grace of God he arose to his feet and with Ben on one side and the pastor of the village on the other, he led a processional to the church. It was amazing! To see the hand of God so strongly on this man’s body brought tears to our eyes. The next night we visited another village, where we met a woman who was quite hardened to the gospel. But that didn’t stop it from spilling out of our mouths. After sharing scripture and telling her of the life Jesus had to offer her, we asked if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart and she said YES! What a blessing it was to witness salvation for this woman.

All in all, Ongole was fun, it was intense, and we got to end the trip by going to the Bay of Bengal. A day at the beach was just what the team needed to end a great few days In Ongole. We hope all is well back home! See you soon!

Danielle

Saying our Goodbyes...

2008-07-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

As the team pulled up into Happy Home this morning, I don't know if anyone expected such a sad goodbye. We spent some time with the kids, giving hugs and kisses, and telling them how much we love them, feeling so much love in return. When it was time to go, most of us were in tears as we thought about having to leave this place that we've grown to love so much, these kids we've come to adore. Seeing many of the children crying made it so hard to leave. I will never forget those sad faces waving goodbye to us as our bus left the property. Happy Home will forever be ingrained in our hearts. We will never forget those sweet faces, loving hugs, crazy hand games, gentle touches, quirky personalities and adorable smiles. Our team has been so blessed by our time at Happy Home!

With heavy hearts, we headed toward the train station to start our journey to Ongole. Our first train ride was about 1.5 hours and was a nice break for us to all sit together and just relax. As we waited to board the second train that would take us to Bangalore, the team started talking about last year's trip and the running and throwing of bags that was involved. This made us all a bit anxious, but thankfully we all made it on the train safely and no one was left behind:) I don't know how he did it, but after about a half hour into the ride Roshan had managed to get seats for the whole team in the air-conditioned car of the train. It was a great way to spend the 3 hours!

We arrived in Bangalore and headed to our hotel. Since we've been at the hotel, we've been enjoying the clean rooms and comfy beds. Our afternoon was nice as we all got a chance to relax and get some rest before our long train ride tomorrow! We headed up to the hotel restaurant on the roof of the building for dinner and were greeted by a nice cool breeze, the honking of the cars below, and fireworks!! Dinner on the roof was a fun way to spend the last time our whole team would be together. Bob had to leave for the airport right after dinner to go back home to be with his family. It's been such a blast to have Bob on this team and we've loved getting to know him! We love you Bob and we miss you already!

--Courtney Sell

A sad farewell to our friends at Happy Home

2008-07-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings family and friends from India! Today didn't start off as our usual day here at Happy Home, which usually consists of waking the kids up, helping them brush their teeth, serving them breakfast, and then getting them ready for school. Nope, today Roshan took us on a hike to what they like to call here in India as the "world famous" Jog Falls. And a hike it was! As a few of us hiked down nearly to the bottom Ben mentioned that he now knows what it means on the application when it says arduous hikes! After our hike it was back to Happy Home to spend the last few hours we had left with the kids. It's sad to think that tomorrow we'll be leaving to head to Ongole and we'll have to say goodbye to these precious little faces. But like someone once told me, its never goodbye, it's always see you later!

I think I can speak for the team when I say that the impact that these children have made on my life while I've been here is like nothing I've ever experienced before. They have taught me so much in just this short amount of time that it brings tears to my eyes to even think about saying goodbye to these beautiful kids.

But as we approach our departure tomorrow our team would like to ask all of you to continue to keep us in your prayers, especially our health. A handful of us have been feeling a little under the weather and traveling isn't necessarily the funnest thing when you're sick. So prayer for our health and quick recoveries, and also prayer for our travels that we would make it to our next destination safely. Thank you all for your constant prayers and comments. We read them everyday and look forward to reading more! Love you all and we'll be in touch soon!

Much love
Stephanie

CHAOS!!

2008-07-12T07:40:00.000-07:00

So, here I am, sitting in Roshan’s room, trying to write this blog. And, all I can think of is that nothing I write will even come close to how awesome today was. The kids only had a half day at school. After doing some chores, we sat all of the kids down in the prayer hall. I don’t think they knew what was coming. What came next, can pretty much be summed up in one word…. Chaos. We passed out toys to each of the kids, that wasn’t the problem. We also blew up about twenty beach balls. And from there it starts! The simplest thing brought so much joy, and a few tears, to all of the kids at Happy Home. I don’t think we expected the balls to be such a hit, but a hit they were. The kids were so happy, and had so much fun. It was crazy.. beach balls were flying everywhere. We had to move the party outside. And from there things just got crazier! There were kids running all over the property, and beach balls everywhere! One of the kids was playing with a Frisbee, but using it as a steering wheel, and was making driving sounds and honking at everyone.. and of course as always, our little friend was hollering “Roshan! Roshan!” But the day didn’t end there. Reema, beautiful Reema, took us shopping to buy saris. That was in adventure in itself! From the second we stepped out of the cars and until we stepped back in… it was a little awkward. The streets were crowded and it was hot… and the group of us stuck out like a sore thumb. We found the shop we were looking for and went in. All of us girls stayed and tried on about a million saris, and the guys went and bought bananas. About an hour later… we were ready to bargain. Good thing we had Stella there to help! So, we made our way back down stairs to pay. That took some time. As we stood in the door way, we got plenty of looks, but even more stares. And, yes, even a few, “what country?! What country?!” Roshan said, Africa... We trekked our way back home, and back to the quiet and comfort of Happy Home. I think it’s safe speak for the whole team when I say, to be perfectly honest, there is nowhere else I’d rather be.

Missing you all!
-Christine

Yes, we are still alive...

2008-07-11T06:11:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!!!!!!!! A NEW POST!!!!!!!!

Sorry but our internet has been pretty sketchy the last few days (well ok, it just hasn’t been working at all). We’ll try to make it up to you guys but it was totally out of our control!

The last few days at Happy Home have been AWESOME. However, most of us don’t like the part about Roshan picking us up from the hotel at 5:30 IN THE MORNING to start our work at the orphanage. We split into two teams so we could take turns on who wakes up early. We continue to marvel at the staff here at Happy Home and how they do all this work every single day. It’s hard enough with the eleven of us! Even the kids help with most of the work and they do it with huge smiles on their faces. The kids have really shown all of us what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 1 when he said that God uses the weak things of the world to shame the strong. All those tiny little kids seem to have more strength than we do!

We have played a bunch of really fun games with the kids. We did an epic game of duck, duck, goose with the whole orphanage (only they call it something different in India- it sounds kind of like Obi-won Kenobi☺). Then we played a hard-core tackle game, where Irene ended up tearing her MCL. She doesn’t need surgery, just a cast for 3 weeks then a brace. Pray that Irene’s leg heals quickly and that she will REST. It’s hard to keep her off her feet!

Yesterday (the 10th) Roshan took us on a safari. It’s more like getting into a bus with metal screens and driving through the tiger cage at the zoo but it was still pretty cool. Another bus got stuck in the mud but no one could help them because there were four hungry tigers surrounding it! I think they finally made it after we took a few pictures and videos☺.

After the safari we visited a piece of land that will hopefully be the new Happy Home for the Handicapped. We all circled up and prayed over the land. Believe it or not, a church is trying to kick Happy Home off the property they are on now. When I asked Roshan how I should tell you guys to pray he said pray that they get the land of course, and that the people who own the land would be honest and not cheat them. He really feels that this place is meant to be the new Happy Home… definitely something to put on your prayer list!

Well, that’s about it for now and again sorry about the “long-time-no-post” thing! We will post again soon as long as the internet keeps working! Thanks for the prayers and God bless!

Jordan (The tall guy)

The tigers outside the bus that got stuck

The HOPEFULLY new land for Happy Home

Just a cool pic I took while driving through a village

Bob Roach- sleeping beauty

30 hours later...

2008-07-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Hello our friends and family! Thank you for joining us! I think I can speak for the team when I say, "Hallelujah we made it!!!" Here are a few pics from our travels.

The team getting ready to head through security at PDX.

Frankfurt airport

We finally arrived in Shimoga at around midnight, and little did we know our first team building exercise awaited us at the baggage carousel. I had been so nervous that my bag would get lost, but one by one all 22 made it. I ran to my bag, checked the tag, and as I flipped it over I noticed something slimy on top! Hmmmm what could this be? You got it, team building exercise in a bag!

After a few sighs from me and about 84 paper towels our wonderful team helped me transfer my stuff into an extra bag Tony had brought. God sure works in mysterious ways. It was actually a blessing in disguise, a little shampoo spill substituted for a shower:) But we were off to a good start! Now to the bus. We loaded our bags and got onto the bus only to have our bus driver back into a car behind us. This maneuver would cost us another 45 minutes as Roshan negotiated for us. Whew, thank goodness for our friend (a black belt in karate I might add). We always feel safe with him!

Many hours later we arrived... As we pulled up all I could think was, "Home, sweet home!" Coming back for the 2nd time has a totally different feel. I had been longing to be here for 12 months, and NOW I was actually here. Here are a few pictures of the precious faces that were waiting for us...

And last but certainly not least, here is the woman that mothers each of these 84 children here at Happy Home. IRENE! Her story is too long to post right now, but just know that this woman is a woman of God. We could all learn a little bit from her. Pictures of Reema and Roshan to come...

Love you all! Thank you for your prayers!

-Allison Newell-

"Leavin' on a jet plane"

2008-07-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Hear The Cry blog! Thank you for tagging along with us as we embark on a journey of a lifetime. We leave PDX on Saturday at 1:05PM, and let me tell you, we cannot wait to get on our way! Tonight we had a packing party where we packed 11 duffel bags full of supplies! Thanks to your generous giving we were able to pack these bags full of medical supplies, vitamins, pajamas, stuffed animals and toys for the orphan and widow at Happy Home for the Handicapped!

And now... meet the team...

Ben (Our team leader) and his now WIFE Amanda Newell

The beautiful Danielle Higginbotham

Stephanie Meinig (Wasn't sure what pose to pick, so we decided this would do)

The man, the myth, the legend... Tony Martinez

Tiffany Van Lom- our nurse

Read the sign-Christine Onufrei

The Roach family, sadly we don't get to take ALL of them with us! But Bob is coming!

Jordan Hughes who will soon have kids hangin' all over him

The always sweet Courtney Sell

And hi it's me, Allison Newell!

So there you have it. Our team of 11 is ready to roll. Keep checking in! We will try our best to keep you posted each day:) We love you, and thank you for your support and prayers! Stop by anytime, and leave us comments, we'd love to hear from you while we're gone!

-Solid Rock's 2008 India team-

Update phone call from Ben

2007-08-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Ben talked to Todd this morning and had an update on how the team is doing. He said that everyone is healthy, but they are tired.

One of their biggest ministries has been with the street boys. This is a really intense group of boys because they are right off of the street. Their goal has been to teach them to love the Lord first, but it is really hard for the boys to see. Ben had an opportunity to share his testimony with the boys in which he was able to be really serious with them and share his heart. 20 boys prayed a prayer of salvation and they could tell that 5 were really serious about the decision. The boys are starting to realize that the team will be leaving soon and they have become really attached to the team. They want to make sure that they are leaving Jesus behind and that the boys truly see that what they need is not the team, but Jesus.

Also, the girls have been working at the girls home. The girls in the home are a lot like the street boys but they are now in a home which is a really good environment for them. Pray for the girls too, as it will be hard for them to have the team leave as well.

Prayer Requests:
1. The team would finish the next two days in Kitwe strong. Pray for the team as they will be leaving the people they have been ministering to and it will be tough emotionally.

2. The team will be leaving Saturday to go to Livingston and then on Sunday/Monday they will be going on a Safari.

Continued prayers for safety and health are always appreciated and needed by the team.

Thank you for continuing to look at the blog. Again, the team is sorry that they are not able to post more frequently, but we will continue to keep you up to date as we hear from them.

God Bless,
Solid Rock Staff

Day 9

2007-08-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Zambia!

Sorry that we haven't been able to update you guys on the mission trip. We don't have access to computers and when we do the internet is super duper slow. But God has definetely been working in the most amazing ways here. Thank you for all the prayers! We have been very busy as well, we don't have very much down time but when we do (our morning devotions are amazing!) we're either spending it in the word or fellowshiping.

During the 'work days' the team has been split up between the Girls Ranch, with the street boys, the for Hearts and Souls orphanage and the Chipata Compound. The Girls Ranch is a home for street girls that are ages 14-19ish. Some of the girls are pregnant or have had children. They spend time in bible studies (our girls have actually leds some amazing ones!), cooking and different crafts. The boys on our team have been spending their time with the street boys ... playing soccer games, feeding them food, physically and spiritually. The kids at the orphanage are all growing up and when part of the team visits for the day they spend time playing with the kids but also helping the mothers with chores and ministering to them through conversation. The conditions are definitely better this year and the children are all becoming more fluent in English because of the teacher that came after Shannon, Mary. Today Shannon, Nicole, and Abbie got to deliver the school supplies, Mary was so ecstatic about it and so immensely blessed by what was given by the church. The Chipata Compound is a ministery that just started up a few weeks ago, it is an extension from the orphanage. A few mothers cook breakfast and lunch for the children of the Chipata Compound and do home visits as well.

We've also done many other random services for the Lord, like construction for the Girls Ranch, visit tuberculosis patients and we also joined them at Church on the Rock. As our days come to an end in Kitwe (only 3 more!), please continue to pray for the ministeries that we have been involved with here.

Love Annie.

2007-08-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

As of Saturday, August 11th, we received a call from Shannon with an update as to how their trip is going so far. They have been incredibly busy and the internet connection is still not available to them, so we will be posting the reports until they are able to. (Ben also called this morning and said they are sorry that they haven't been able to update the blog, but the internet has been really slow there.)

The team continues to be in good health and very busy. Along with the other projects they have been working on, they worked on building a place at the Boys Ranch which will eventually allow for 24 boys to live there. The guys ended up laying bricks and the girls cleared the brush.

Prayer Requests:

Continued prayer for their health and safety. Also, that they would be allowing the Lord to use them and change hearts as they are over there, that God would be preparing the hearts of those who they will be ministering to.

As we get phone calls, we will continue to update on how the team is doing. Keep praying for them as we know your prayers are being heard and answered.
--Solid Rock Staff

2007-08-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

We received a phone call from Ben Newell today in which he said that they are having trouble connecting to the internet and they have been incredibly busy lately, so we are going to post for them today and hopefully they will have internet connection sometime soon.

Ben reports that the team is doing well. They all are in good health and their time there has been awesome so far. Today the team went to the Boys Ranch which in the future will be a home for 24 boys. These boys have been taken off the streets where many of them are involved in drugs and frequent fighting. Through this ministry they are being taught the Word of God and being given a safe place to be, away from the dangers of the streets. While the team was there they played soccer with them, cooked a meal, washed their clothes, taught a bible lesson and broke up into small groups. This was an amazing time for them to get to know the boys, love them and share the gospel with them.

Prayer requests: They would love continued prayer for their health and protection. Also, tomorrow they will be splitting up and part of them will be going to do a soccer camp for the Street Boys, some will be visiting with the girls at the Girls Home and some will be leading a Chipota feeding project in which they will be feeding orphans on the streets.

We Have Arrived!

2007-08-07T08:04:00.001-07:00

YAY! After our 49-hour journey, we are all happy, healthy and in Kitwe,Zambia. We arrived in the Ndola airport around noon and after collecting our bags, drove into Kitwe. Upon arriving Pastor Edward and his wife, Barbara had prepared a delicious meal of fried chicken, vegatables, and nshima (the staple starch of Africa...much like thick cream of wheat). The rest of our day will be spent resting up and preparing for tomorrow's tour of all the ministries supported by Church on the Rock, our sister church here in Zambia.

They are all so glad to have us all here. They send Solid Rock and all its pastors their warmest love and thanks for sending all of us.

We are all so thankful for your prayers thus far and for the covering that they have been for us. Please continue to pray for us as we settle in and arrange our living situations as well as organize our schedule for the upcoming couple of weeks. Also, as we are all a bit weary from the travels, prayers for a quick recovery so we are able to start our time of serving refreshed and ready. God Bless!

Still in Transit

2007-08-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

Just wanted to update you all on where we are and what we are doing. Currently we are in the Joburg International Airport waiting for our last flight to take us to Zambia. The last few days have been filled with mass quanities of waiting, sitting and attempts at sleeping.

We left PDX @ 6am and after a 5 hour flight arrived in Atlanta. After a short layover we boarded our flight to Johannesburg. The first leg of the flight took 8 and a half hours where we finally landed in Senegal. In Senegal we stayed seated on the tarmak while they cleaned our plane and boarded more passengers. After an hour we took off again for another 8 and half hours in the same seat. It was nice to get a huge chunck of flying over and done with all together, but 18 + hours in the same seat got old much too fast.

We arrvied in Joburg @ 5 pm and were not allowed to enter the International Terminal until this morning. So we staked out a nice slab of contrete and set up a temporary shelter. We spent the next 13 hours sleeping, reading, praying, worshiping, witnessing and playing games. By morning we were happy to make it to the other side of the airport and finally got a nice cup of coffee.

Thank you for all of your prayers. God has definately been working in all of us on this trip. Please continue to pray for a safe flight to Zambia and that God would be using us as we are going.

-Zambia Team

Team Zambia

2007-08-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

Update from Nicole Scholz:

The day has arrived! Our last day before leaving for Zambia!! Tomorrow morning, August 5th at 3:30am we will arrive at PDX for our 6am flight. We are scheduled to arrive in Ndola, Zambia on August 7th at 11:20am. From there a short bus ride of 40 minutes or so will bring us to the town of Kitwe.

Back row: Dan Coli, Katy Myers, Ben Newell, Shannon Bozarth, Ryan Darrah, Mark Pyatt; Front Row: Abbie Kirkpatrick, Anna Mitchell, Annie Phou, Nicole Scholz, Kelsey Gillespie, Sharaya McDonald

The Lord has so faithfully hand chosen His team of twelve for this trip and we are all truly blessed at this privilege. I ask for your prayers even today as we all are individually preparing, that the Lord would in this time unify His team and begin working in our hearts. We all realize that the trip doesn’t begin once we’ve stepped foot on the beautiful red African soil but it begins now-it’s already begun. And as we are going we want to radiate light and truth that forces darkness to flee in every form. In Matthew 18 Jesus tells us the requirement for greatness in the kingdom of heaven, and that is to become like children. Please pray for just that in each and every one of us. Not that the Lord would show us how to be like children for He’s already given us plenty of examples, no that we would let go of everything except Him allowing Him to change us and make us childlike. That we would truly be transparent vessels in everything we speak and everything we do. That in meeting us people would meet Jesus.

Please pray for trust, openness and eagerness to learn, as these are the characteristics of a child. Please pray for hands and feet that glorify the name of our Father and are beautiful in His sight.

With love to all! (Please pray for the safe arrival of not only us but for our luggage as well!)
More to come,
Nicole

Side Note: We are going to do our best to maintain the blog and give you all regular updates from the various ministries we will be helping with while in Zambia. We realized the expectations are high, so please bare with us as internet access in Kitwe will be irregular at best. We'll be doing our best to keep you all as up to date as possible. So until Africa ... :)

2007-07-20T04:44:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! I am sad to say that this will be the last post that is made from India. :( We are at a hotel in Bangalore, just resting a bit before we hop on to our 2 am flight, which is the first leg of our long trip home. We stop over in Frankfurt, Germany again, and then fly into Portland at 1130am PST Saturday morning

A quick photo recap of the last week:

Our tearful goodbye at Happy Home, last Friday morning....

Train travel pics....

Roshan is crazy!

While we sat in the Bangalore train station, before we hopped our train to Kolkata, the boys went on a mission to find Mcdonalds (Roshan said he thought that maybe there was a rumour one time that their might be a McD's in Bangalore....somewhere. Needless to say, that was enough for them, and 4 hours later they returned triumphant)

Our cockroach friend enjoys french frys and ketchup...

More train travel pics.....

Kolkata! This is sugercane juice....and it is AMAZING! Melis and Ryan take the first sip...

Rickshaws are everywhere. Men like this poor guy carry people around in their rickshaw, oftentimes barefoot, for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week to make a living. It's a hard life....and very evident of the poverty we saw absolutely everywhere in Kolkata. It was sobering to all of us.

This cross was a welcome sight to see for us all! Crosses, or Christian symbols of any kind are extremely rare in this country. It makes seeing one a memorable event. This church is where one of the Faith Comes By Hearing meetings we went to was held. The tape player is their "pastor"

Kaitlynn prays for a Hindu woman and her child...

I had to include a photo of the Kolkata Police. I just think they are AWESOME looking :)

The day we went to visit Mother Theresa's Home for the Dying and Destitute happened to coincide with a Hindu holiday of some kind, so we had to fight out way through a crowd of people selling idols, worshipping them, and making and selling religious articles. It was intense! But then we stepped up to the door of the Home and a peace just washed over us. It truly is a beacon of light and a haven of peace in a dark place. We were asked not take pictures, so I can show you none....but we will not soon forget that place.

Mother Theresa's...

John and Reema and Theresa, in front of Victoria Palace, the old capital building of Kolkata, when the Brits ruled here.

Tiff making friends with a begger kid in the market near our hotel.

More train travel !! Are you getting the idea that we spent a LOT of time on these things? Ha ha ha....we love them :)

When we arrived in Ongole, we went to visit the school and Mt Beulah Orphanage, both of which Simpson (our guide for this portion of the trip) manages. Our reception there was warm and friendly, but our time much too brief. We could have spent weeks playing with the children and learning about the students. God is doing a great work in Ongole. We can share more when we get home...

Ongole is only 8km from the sea, so we spent a few hours of the afternoon playing around in the Bay of Bengal. Wow! It was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity of the last few weeks.

It's been a life-changing trip for each and every one of us. We will come home different people...but with a renewed vision of the need this world has for a God who loves them, and with a passion for how we can be His hands and feet to bring love, help, and truth to those around us...whether that be our next door neighbor, or a villager in the middle of India.

Thank you again and again for your prayers and encouraging messages and comments. It has been so amazing to have that kind of love and support while we are here.

We can't wait to see you all, and share our individual stories and pictures....

Until then, love to you all...

.rebekah

We are alive!!!

2007-07-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

hey guys!! Wow...I know it's been FOREVER since I have posted last, and I am so sorry if you have been worried at all. I have been unable to connect my computer to internet of any kind since we got here. Even now, I can't upload my photos because I am having to use the hotel manager's computer. ha ha ha, gotta roll with it! Anyway, I just want to sum up our last 5 days for you and share a bit about what is next for us.

We arrived in Calcutta (known by the locals as Kolkota) safely and on time at 630am Sunday morning after a 40 hour travel experience (7hrs from Shimoga to Bangalore, 5hrs wait at the train station there, then a 29hr train ride from Bangalore to Calcutta). The train was.....welll......lets just saya few things: 1.Close quarters! 64 people per car, which meant 8 people per "compartment" (no actual curtains or doors, just bunks on the side of the car,in tiers of three). 2.I don't think our neighbors liked some of us very much....but we tried to just love on them and not compare to the wonderful reception that we had in Shimoga. 3. "Bathrooms"...on a moving train...with no actual toilet....it took a LOT of skill. Those of you who have ridden a train in Asia know what I am talking about :)
But all in all, we got to catch up on some reading, make some friends, learned abit more about the country, and sleep as much as we wanted. It was a good trip.

When we arrived we then cruised to our hotel and showered for the first time since Friday. It was SO GOOD to be clean :)

Sunday afternoon we visited a little girl that Ben knows who is handicapped, but has been tought a trade (making sarees) so that she can support herself. Then we went to our first Faith Comes By Hearing listening session. It was rad! There was a woman who asked for prayer from Kaitlynn afterwards, and when we started praying for her, we all felt a demonic presence of some kind. It shook us up, but we continued praying and the woman said she felt she had been freed. She glowed with happiness :)

Monday we spent visiting two different ministries to the women of the Red Light District here. I have been asked not to write about them here, so you will have to wait for our own stories when we get back. Let me just say that I was inspired, encouraged, and sobered. One of the leaders said to us "We all spend our lives on something. We cannot save it up. What are you spending yours on?"

Monday evening we went to another listening session at a church on the other side of Calcutta. It was rad! The people there were happy, filled with joy, and just loved us all and made us feel so welcome. Ben was asked by the pastor to give an impromptu sermon (gulp!), and he just jumped right up there and spoke for about 20 min through an interpreter. He did great! Then we all got up and sang a few Solid Rock worship songs for them, which they just loved. .....and laughed at our funny Western songs too :)

All in all, its been a very full and interesting two days in Calcutta. Today we leave the hotel in a few minutes to visit Mother Theresa's Home for the Dying and Destitute. Then we will view Victoria's Palace and a few other sights. Then at 1130tonight we hope a train for Ongole to see a different children's orphanage that is run by our friend here in Calcutta, Simpson.

Hopefully I will be able to hope into an internet cafe tonight or on thursday when we arrive in Ongole. And hopefully I can use my computer so I can upload some pictures for you guys.

But no promises (as I have learned) ha ha hha

We all love and miss you guys back home. And we are ready to eat some American food and sleep in our own beds. And to tell you all our stories about this beautiful, tragic, inspiring, and sobering place.

Please please please continue to pray for spiritual protection for us. We all agree that when we arrived in Calcutta we saw the bold face of Evil in a new and shocking way. It is not disguised here....it stares you in the face and laughs. We must remember that the battle is already won, and that this is not the world we were made for, and it is not where we will end. And we must, with ever greater fervency, draw others to the Truth that will set them free from their chains.

Pray for us, pray for India.

Love to you all,

.Rebekah

our time here is almost up...

2007-07-12T02:33:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Welll....we spent our second-to-last day here in Shimoga doing some more shopping for the kids, and for Reema, Esther, and Stella (Irene's sister who works here at Happy Home). Then we spend the afternoon and evening with the kids.

Melis in the rickshaw that we took to Ghandi Bazaar (the shopping area). These things are absolutely crazy! They are all two-stroke engines, with a hand lever starter on the floor and 2 gears. Awesome :)

Danielle and Tiff

Shopping....

I just have to share this: this guy's singular dreadlock was just blowing our minds :) ha ha ha. He was RAD!

Here are a few pictures of the streets, just to give you all an idea of the amazing colors we saw, and also of the juxtoposition between seeing such beaty amidst the trash heaps and poverty.

Yes, yes...that is indeed an animal trap of some kind. I've got admit, I was a bit taken aback seeing that for sale right next kitchen supplies, like bowls, spoons, rolling pins, etc.

Jeanne, checking her email. I just thought she was so cute, so I had to share it with you all :)

Irene, bargaining with the salesperson (who we all think looks kinda like Prince) over underwear prices. Some of these kids get dropped off here at the orphanage with no underwear! And as you can guess, it is expensive to keep more than 70 children supplied with underclothes. Especially when many of them are not capable of being potty trained, due to their handicaps. So thank you to all who financially supported us on this trip because we were able to buy more than 400 pairs of underthings!! Through this experience especially I learned how wealthy we really are in the western world. These reminders are helping me to grow in my appreciation of how God cares for me so well, and blesses me so much.

And now some more pics of the kids :) We are so heartbroken to be leaving these beautiful children on Friday! Tears are already being shed, and hearts hurting in anticipation of the pain of not seeing them every day.

Ok, cool story of the day: This woman and child below...

They live next door to Irene, and asked a few of us to come and pray for them yesterday afternoon. So John, Theresa, Danielle, Reema, Allison and I all went over. She shared a bit of her story (Reema translated for us). She and her husband have a daughter (the child's mother) who was married to a man for a few years, got pregnant with this beautiful little girl and then ran away from her husband because she was being mistreated. So she lives with her parents now, and works nearby. They specifically wanted prayer for the husband to reconcile with the daughter, and care for them, and be a part of his daughter's life. They also asked for prayer for some health problems that they are each having. They cannot afford a doctor, so they said that we should ask God to heal them. It was such a beautiful time of worship and prayer! John played "Sanctuary" on the guitar and we sang, and then a few of us got on our knees, put our hands on them and prayed. Seeing their simple faith brought tears to my eyes! I so desire to be that way! They see their need, know that they cannot meet it themselves, and so bring it to their Lord. I must say it again, this experience in India is teaching me so much......we all feel like we are growing and learning in new ways every day.

Thank you again for your prayers! They are felt and appreciated...

I will try to post again tomorrow, but might not be able to. We hop a train to Bangalore in the morning, spend the afternoon there, and then board a sleeper train for Kolkata (Calcutta) at 8pm (that's 8am Friday for you Oregon people). We will be on the train until sometime Sunday morning.

We will get to catch up on reading and sleeping while on the train, which will be nice....but we would give anything to be spending more time with the kids. The time has flown by so quickly....

Oh man, I am tearing up again.

So.....this might be the last post for a few days. But you will hear from me again soon!

Love to you all!

.Rebekah

Wetter than I have ever been....

2007-07-10T21:02:00.001-07:00

Welllll...yesterday was interesting :) We got up super early to have some worship and breakfast with Irene and Roshan and Reema, and then piled onto a bus for a 2 hour drive to Jog Falls. At 830feet, Jog Falls is the India's tallest waterfall. It is only in existence during monsoon season (which is just beginning now). What we saw was pretty huge (see below);

But at it's height, it can look like this!:

I was unable to take my camera down into the canyon, so I am SO SORRY that I can't share with you how how awe-inspiring it was to see something that powerful. More pictures tomorrow, I promise :) The "trail" that we hiked down was made from rocks placed like stepping stones down a very vertical hillside. Because it has been pouring rain for the last 24 hours (and when I say pouring, i mean POURING) the whole trail was kind of like a waterfall in and of itself. Fortunately, nobody got hurt, despite a few slips and tumbles. God's hand of protection was on us :)
Not only was it raining, but the spray from the fall itself fills the entire valley around it's base with a cool steam that felt a lot like rain. 5 minutes into our 2 mile hike we were absolutely SOAKED. It was hilarious! :) But we had so much fun, so it kind of didn't matter.

Here are some pictures from after we finished the hike...

the girls...

ben and amanda

The guys had the bright idea of posing atop this marble pillar at a viewing station that we stopped at on our way back to Happy Home. They are......welll......I will let you insert and adjective :) ha ha ha !

Amanda, attempting to read the local newspaper

Some more pictures of our time with the kids as soon as we got back from the waterfall...

This is Veena....she is sick this week, so please be praying for her!

Manni helps to milk the cows in the evening :)

After we returned to the hotel we all need to wash clothes. I don't think any of us realized how much work it is to wash all your clothes by hand! Needless to say, we all appreciate washers and dryers in a new way now !

Again, another amazing day in Shimoga. We are all sad to be leaving in a few days :(

Your prayers are being felt in a powerful way. Another of the hotel employees, Nagesh, is coming to worship every day. We are all hoping that he will come to know Jesus soon! So please add him to your list :)
Still no sign or word from Kumar...but we are trying to get a hold of him, so keep praying for him as well. Muthi came to worship again this morning as well. He is just glowing with his newfound love of Christ!

How beautiful is our Lord, our Creator, our Saviour. He is revealing Himself to each of us in new ways every day.

John Patton said today in our prayer time "we see these idols that men carve and build, but then we can point at a waterfall and say my God made this one" How true, how true. His beauty overwhelms us here...

with much love,

.Rebekah

Day 10! (i think anyway,...they are starting to run together)

2007-07-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! This one will have to quick, because it’s 6am here, and we are all about to pile into a bus for a drive to Jog Falls (not sure on the spelling there..), which is apparently the tallest waterfall in the world and only flows at this time of year here (monsoon season).

Sooooo…here are some pics from our adventure yesterday.

Mathik (the hotel manager who accepted the Lord yesterday) came to worship this morning and brought two friends with him! Mathik is in the white shirt in the center of the group photo.

These are Mathik’s friends

We went into to town to do some shopping for the orphanage and discovered some interesting tasting chips at the local bakery. Ryan displays them for us to see.

Ben displays a jar of jelly for us

The COLORS in this place are so amazing!

Roshan decided to take us to see a nearby dam that is kind of a tourist attraction.

On the way we saw a rainbow. It was rad to see a reminder of one of God's promises to us :)

Tiff and Danielle

This is our driver for the day, his name is Krishna (he was named after the Hindu god) We talked to him about Jesus a bit, and he mostly just nods and smiles. Pray that we can continue to have opportunity to speak with him in these last few days that we are here in Shimoga.

Ryan and Tiff, battling it out Karate Kid style

Jer’s making friends with one of the guards at the dam we visited

The girls! (photo by Roshan)

So, all in all we had a pretty mellow day. We came home and I dealt with some computer malfunctioning (which has resolved, praise the Lord) and everyone else helped feed the kids their evening meal and tuck them in to bed. So sorry I don’t have pictures of that for you to see, but I will be on it tomorrow!

Thank you for your comments, your prayers and your love. It is SO felt here!

.Rebekah

A cup of cold water in My name...

2007-07-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

Yet another full, full day for the team here at Happy Home! First,I must share my favorite picture of the day. We all got serve the kids their midday meal yesterday, and here is Kaitlynn giving water this beautiful little girl. I can't help but remember what Jesus said to us about serving His children in His name.

And here are some more pictures of the team feeding the kids, learning how to speak Kannada from them, and just enjoying their smiling faces :)

Earlier in the morning we gathered them all together for a time of worship and praise.....then we sung them some them some fun songs with hang motions (Father Abraham, The Lord's Army, Hokey Pokey, etc) They LOVED it! Ever since learning The Lord's Army they have been running up to everyone and saying "akka akka or anna, anna (sister, sister or brother, brother), sing yes sir! sing yes sir!" It is so cute :)

Then we had a dance party with all the kids! They all love to dance, so it was super fun :)

Tiff somehow managed to convince one of the taxi drivers to let her drive his rickshaw around the field. Jeanne and Danielle decided to risk their lives and go along for the ride :)

Tiff, Melis, and Kaitlynn, learning how to cook some real Indian food from Irene

Esther, the cook, grinding some coconut for our breakfast

Chitra's greeting to each of us when we arrived this morning.

Some random pictures of the happenings throughout the morning and early afternoon....

Ok, and now for the finale! Roshan decided to take us on a "Safari"....so we piled into the vans and cruised over the their version of a zoo. It was absolutely pouring down rain, but Ryan and I prayed for it to stop for a bit, and it did! That was awesome :)
This place was absolutely crazy! The closest example I can give is the wild animal petting zoo in Bandon, Oregon. Except even crazier. (Mike, you know what I am talking about here!). We were litterally only FEET away from Lions and Tigers and a very harmless looking sloth bear. We saw jackels and hyenas and crocodiles and pythons. It was amazing! One scary story from Roshan: The tigers that we saw, actually ATE a person here just 6 months ago. Apparently a man was repairing the gates in between the compounds and accidentally slipped over and into the tiger pen. Yeah,.....not good. But don't worry, we all stayed in the bus for the most part, and came away unscathed. Here are the pics!

At the end of the day we all dispersed to our rooms, but Jeremy, Ryan, Ben, and Roshan were at the hotel, and the manager Murthy (pronounced "murtee") asked to talk to them. He shared that he has been fascinated by our group of people. He has known Roshan for a few years, and so was comfortable talking with him. He expressed that he noticed a joy, a happiness in us, and that it was the same happiness that Roshan has in his face. So told the guys his story, about how he drinks too much, smokes all the time, is depressed, and though he was raised Hindu, he doesnt really practice it. He said he felt lost and wanted to know why we were so happy. So the guys just loved on him, and shared the gospel with him. And he prayed and accepted the Lord! Then the guys laid hands on him and prayed over him. Then Roshan told him to go home, throw all his idols away,and to cast his cigarettes into the trash. And he did it! Wow! He came to our worship and prayer time this morning and said he has never felt so free, so happy. God is so good. It is amazing to get to see His hand work in this way.

Thank you all for your prayers...

Please remember to pray for Kumar. We have not seen him in a few days, but hope to contact him again before we leave for Calcutta.

Love to you all......

.rebekah

An eventful day...

2007-07-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

Wow....we had an eventful day yesterday (Saturday)!! We started the morning with breakfast and worship in Irene's home again. Amanda is feeling much better, so she busted in to the mangos from the tree outside.

Jeanne and Theresa got a motorcycle ride from Edwin!

All of us girls walked in to town with Reema to get our sarees taylored. We get to pick them up on Wednesday!

This little mule is one of the many that just roam the streets here in Shimoga. Kaitlynn is totally in love with them all and is making plans to bring one home in her suitcase ;)

Kait, Jer, and Reema

The girls getting a cooking lesson from Irene

These are the watchdogs for Happy Home. Bingo is on the left, and Bruce on the right. They are pretty intimidating!

Ben and Jeremy helping to wash clothes. Hopefully the washers and dryers will arrive soon, and this will be unnecessary :)

Kaitlynn, Tiff, Kieren, and Sindu

Ok....about midday, we all heard Danielle shouting that there was an elephant coming up the road. What?!?! We all ran to the gate and sure enough, there it was. The same one from the day before, it turns out. How amazing is our God ? That He would bless us in such a way as to bring us an elephant? The entrance to Happy Home is not on a main road....and we never did find out why the elephant's owner/rider was cruising up our street right at that time....but we all felt so blessed by it. How amazing is it that our God delights in delighting His children?

Hmm....so, Roshan asked the handler to bring the elephant into the compound and give us rides (!!!). He charged us only 50 rupees a ride (that's about $1.25), which Roshan said was exhorbitant. Ha ha ha...crazy, isn't it? Needless to say, we all took a ride and countless pictures. Check em out!

After we had our elephant adventure, we gathered up the duffle bags we had brought, found the toys and the candy, and distributed them to the kids. It was so fun!! The looks on these kids faces was absolutely priceless. I handed a second piece of chocolate to a little girl, and she shook her head "no", held up her hand to show me that she had already gotten a piece, and then pointed at the girl next to her...indicating that I should give it to her instead. Wow. The selflessness that I saw was so beautiful. I feel like I learn so much from these kids...about what it means to love, what it means to be joyful in all circumstances, and what it means to bask in the love of our Lord.

Here are the pics!

These 4 kids were too sick to participate in the toy distibution in the big room, so we brought them some stuffed animals. They loved it :)

More cuteness....

This guy loved my camera, and so he took his little toy car and was pretending to take pictures of everyone. He was SO cute!!

Well everyone, as you can see, we had a very full day :) Thank you again for all your prayers,and your comments! Your support has been so complete, so encouraging, and such a blessing.

Oh, I almost forgot! The property deal went through!!! Hopefully the paperwork will be drawn up this week, Roshan will make the deposit, and it will be finalized over the next few weeks. Your prayers for this matter were felt, and they were effective :)

Praise be to God.

Please keep everyone's health in your prayers, as well as protection from the spiritual warfare that is going on around us. It is much needed!

Well....more to come for sure, but for now just know that we all love and miss you guys at home, and can't wait to be telling you more stories in person.

.Rebekah

Prayer, Dance Parties, Sarees, and Elephants!!

2007-07-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hello again everybody! Well, Day 5 (yesterday) was another rad day here in Shimoga. Again it started out with some worship in Irene's living room before breakfast. Ben opened it up for people to share what God has been teaching them so far. It was really rad. The consistant theme was definitely "waiting" and "rest." Waiting on God, learning to just rest in His presence, remembering that His timing is perfect. We talked about living out the saying "as the Lord wills." We see that so evident in Roshan and Irene and Reema, and we are all desiring it to be an integral theme in our individual lives.

After breakfast, the guys set about renting a taxi to take us out to the potential new property.....and in the meantime the girls were left in the house with nothing to do....so, naturally, we decided to have a DANCE PARTY!! We started by trying to learn some traditional dances from Reema, but in ended up just being a free-for-all :)

Featuring Manni in the middle :)

This is Edwin...he works on the property here...and he can DANCE!

Jeanne and Manni spent the morning working in Irene's front garden.

Jeanne has the best sense of humour! I absolutely love taking photos of her :) I very much wish I could take credit for this one, but actually it was Tiff who captured the moment :)

John and Theresa and Irene

We took a bus out to the new property to pray over it and have some worship time. It was the first time Irene and Reema had ever seen it!! This place is so beautiful. It is 8 acres, borders a lake, and has rich, fertile soil. Rice paddies on either side, and open land for as far as we could see. No noise or polution from the city....here it is so quiet, with the only sound being the wind on the grass, and the water on the shore of the lake. We can just envision how much the kids would love living here. Our prayer and worship time was extensive and powerful.

After we got back we hung out with the kids a bit, ate, then went back into town so the girls could buy sarees. I regret to say that I left my camera back at Happy Home for this endeavor because it was deluging rain when we left and I didn't think it would stop. Of course, as soon as we got to the Sari place, it stayed dry for the rest of the night. O ye of little faith, right? I won't make that mistake again! Also on our adventure getting food in town, we saw an elephant!! It was just cruising up the street with a guy riding it and guiding it along with a stick! When he saw us gawking out the car windown, he guided the elephant over to our car, and it reached it's trunk INSIDE THE CAR!! I touched it! It was kind of rough and coarse-hairy feeling. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience.....although Roshan swears he can find another one for us to see. So maybe I will have my camera then :)

Anyway.....here are some more pictures of our day....

Kait and Melis eating our amazing dinner of Masalla Dosa

All in all, it was a great day.....but we do have some prayer requests:

First and foremost, we are experiencing what we think is some spiritualyh attack. Ben and Jeremy started feeling a bit sick, Amanda had a pretty severe headache, requiring her to have to stay home from the Sari expedition and rest, and a few of us (myself included) just experienced some unrest and disquiet in our spirits. We have been praying about it and would ask you all to do the same. This is no coincidence that this is happening on the eve of 7/7/07, on the eve of the decision about the property, or just when our bodies are starting to wear down a bit from the jet lag, from the new food, new weatherl, etc. We are all doing great this morning, feeling encouraged, but we would ask that you continue to pray prayers of spiritual protection on us. Pray that we would see Truth, see Satan's hand for what it is, and be lights in a dark place. The darkness is truly everywhere here.....from the many idols on walls, in the taxi, at our hotel, even on the street that we walk on between the hotel and Happy Home, to the Hindu temples that we pass on the streets. But it is a place like this that Christ's light can be seen all the more. Happy Home is truly a beacon on a hill in Shimoga. So pray for us, pray for Happy Home, pray for the people that we come in contact with.

Thank you all so much....

love,

Rebekah

Don't worry about Ben and Amanda and Jer and the health of the rest of us. I am playing "Dr Bekah" and doling out the necessary meds, giving vitamins to everyone, and making them all drink tons of water and admonishing them all to stay away from uncooked fruit and veggies, street vendor food, etc . I'm doing my best to keep them all healthy :)

Day Five!!

2007-07-05T22:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was another rad day for us here in Shimoga. We did some more cleaning, more worship and prayer, more eating Irene's food, and had a few new adventures as well.

God is so good to us!

Before I tell you all about our day, I want to share with you guys some pictures of the Home itself, to show you how these kids live, day to day.

This is where they wash all the kids clothes. They mix soap and water in buckets, and beat the dirt out on the rocks, then rinse them from the faucet, and hang them to dry on lines.

These are the rooms where the children sleep every night. There are several children to a bed, and up to 3 children for every blanket. Many children must sleep on rugs on the floor every night, because they don't have enough beds for them all, and at best, they have a thin blanket to sleep with. I sat on one of these beds, and let me tell you...they are quite hard.

This is the bathroom that the kids use. No toilets guys, just concrete stalls, with a drain and a water faucet.

This small room is where they prepare the food for all 70+ children every day (It is really this dark all the time...light sources in this place are minimal)

The food storage room

This room is where they all eat their meals.....right now it's being used to dry the laundry because it's been pouring rain all day.

So....that is a quick picture into the lives of these children and their caretakers. I hope you all know what a blessing it is to be able to give them the gifts that you at Solid Rock provided! We are passing out blankets, clothes, food, medical supplies, and toiletries, thanks to your generous gifts.

And now, for the rest of our day yesterday!

More mopping!! Amanda and Kaitlynn, getting it DONE!

We hung out with the kids some more...

Manni is popular with the ladies....here Tiff is teaching him the sign for "I Love You"

Kaitlynn and Allison doing some more loving on Manni!

Kaitlynn getting some return love from Manni

A few of us got to go into town with Roshan to buy some fish for the evening meal. Here is a picture of the fish market. Those baskets behind the little boy are filled with dried fish!

On the way back we saw these schoolchilrend out doing their version of "P.E.". They are so beautiful!

This is Khan. We met him at a traffic stop because he pulled up next to us on his motorbike and said hi. The people in Shimoga are so friendly to us white Americans! Everytime we say hello, we get delightfully friendly responses.

Roshan and Ben are truely brothers from different mothers! Here Roshan is showing Ben how much bigger he is :)

Kaitlynn and Reema

Tiff and Kiren

On our walk back to the hotel, we saw these beautiful schoolgirls walking home, and we stopped to talk for a bit.

Danielle made friends with some of the neighborhood kids by offering them candy. They multiplied like crazy!

Ben and and John and Roshan went in to town today and ordered two washers and two dryers!! They should be delivered on Monday or Tuesday. It's going to be so great for these people to be able to wash and dry clothes more efficiently :)

All in all, we had an amazing day. Thank you again for all your prayers. We are rushing out the door right now to go to the potential new property to pray over it. The owners are four brothers, and two of them have agreed to the terms that Roshan is offering, and the other two are going to decide sometime today. The broker is to call Roshan sometime tonight. So, please pray with us that if this is the property that God has for the children of Happy Home, that this transaction would be completed smoothly and quickly, so that construction can start soon.

Love to you all!!

.Rebekah

Day Four Begins...

2007-07-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

Last night, after completing our cleaning of the orphanage (pics of that further down), we all gathered in the small home that Irene, Roshan, and Reema live in, for a time of prayer. It began as a time to pray for Roshan's meeting with a property owner that may sell his property to Happy Home(they are badly in need of new facilities, and the church that owns this property they are using now is taking it back from them),but it turned into a beautiful time of exhortation, praise, encouragement, prayer for healing, thankfulness. There was hardly a dry eye to be seen by the time we wrapped it up with some impromptu praise songs.
We all felt the power of the Holy Spirit in a new way last night. I feel I will never pray in the same way again.

After some much need rest, we arrived back at Happy Home for some more worship

and a meditation on Psalm 107. Then more of Irene's amazing cooking! She made us coffee, tea, sweet rice patties, and coconut milk from the coconut trees in their front yard. Soo good!

Here are some pics from our cleaning session yesterday:

First, the guys went in to town to buy some much needed cleaning supplies. Irene was thrilled! Before this they have been cleaning the entire orphanage with one mop, and two brooms made from sticks.

Melis and Ryan dueling it out. I think she won..

Tiff makes mopping look dang good

Roshan and the crew, mopping the kids classroom.

Jeremy and Ben.....um...not sure what's going on exactly, but they are very into it, whatever it is...

Mopping up...

Tiff and Jeanne have the most beautiful servants hearts. They voluntarily tackled the biggest, dirtiest job, of cleaning the kitchen where they cook for the kids, without complaint. Yes, they are sitting in the "sink", scrubbing away.

Just to give you guys at home some perspective: this shelf is the medicine shelf for the entire orphanage. That's more than 70 children, 3 staff members, and Irene, Roshan, and Reema. Thanks to you all for the medicines and first aid supplies that you provided for us to bring! We are going to bring the bags of supplies to the Home tomorrow :)

When we were done mopping and cleaning, Reema asked if we wanted to try milking one of the Home's cows. Allison and Tiff were first up :)

Ryan went next. I think the cow's tail kept whipping him in the face. That's Edwin on the right, trying to teach everyone about the proper technique

Jeanne get's a ride from two of the boys

And finally, some more pics of the team with the kids from the orphanage, and some from the neighborhood.

Again, thank you all for your prayers, and your comments. We read them every day!

Love to you all...

.Rebekah

PS We think Ben has flea bites

Day 3-Our first full day at Happy Home

2007-07-03T22:38:00.001-07:00

Last night we all got to sleep in a real bed, for the first time since Saturday night. It was FANTASTIC! :) After spending the afternoon with the kids at Happy Home, the the girls went back to the hotel to clean up, and the boys headed into town with Roshan to exchange some money and buy some water for us all. Side Note to the mom's of the guys on this trip: They are being such gentlemen! Taking great care of all us girls, being protective and considerate, and so very servant-hearted. You mom's taught them well and should be very proud :)
On the way back from town, Roshan got a phone call from Kumar, the man who drove our rented bus from Bangalore to Shimoga. He is a devout Hindu, but expressed a love for the worship and prayer time that he had watched us all have when we first arrived at Happy Home, and wondered if he might come and listen some more. Wow! Ben invited him to come out this morning for breakfast and worship time at Happy Home. He came, and Roshan was kind enough to translate the prayers being offered up, and to give him a Bible written in Kanada (the local dialect). He has not recognized God's love for him yet, but we are all praying for him, and he promised to come again tomorrow. God is so amazing!

So...for those of you who are praying, please remember to pray also for Kumar.

Here is a picture of the crew this morning, with Kumar in the center, between Theresa and Danielle:

And some more pictures from our time playing with the kids yesterday afternoon...

Ben decided to leap onto this coconut tree from the roof of the kids' building(at Roshan's urging, of course).....and then while trying to climb down, sliced his big toe open. :( (Don't worry Danita, he's fine...nothing but wounded pride)

(photo by Tiffanie)

Jeremy Reedal....the gentle giant spent the afternoon one-arm lifting all the kids. I think he probably slept the best last night, due to the sore muscles!

Amanda (in one of Reema's saris) playing clapping games with the kids

Kaitlynn and Gayatri

Ben and Mahalaxmi did quite a bit of dancing during the afternoon

Allison and Chitra tired each other out and needed a nap...

Tiff is probably the most popular with these kids. They absolutely LOVE her (and with good reason, of course!)
(photo by Melissa)

Ben and Madhu, enjoying some sweet picture books
(photo by Tiff)

Today we are going to help Irene mop the entire orphange, get a washer and dryer bought and hooked up (currently they wash their clothes in a bucket and then hang them to dry on lines. Needless to say, it is TONS of work), and just do some more loving on these kids.

Prayer requests: Healing for Ben's toe (ha ha ha), continued health for all of us, wisdom to discern the best way to share God's love with Kumar, and any other people we come in contact with, and lastly, that somehow we would be able to convince Irene to let us actually do some WORK!!

More to come.....

.rebekah

We made it! Days 1 & 2....

2007-07-03T02:03:00.000-07:00

Welllll......we made it! We flew a 9hour flight from Portland to Frankfurt, Germany, had a 3 hour layover there, then flew an 8 hour flight to Bangalore, India, where we met up with Roshan, boarded a "bus" at 1am for a 6hr bus ride to Shimoga, and then finally we arrived at Happy Home for the Handicapped!!

It was quite an adventure getting here, and here are some photos from the last 48 hours.....

This is Melissa, me, and Kaitlynn, attempting to clean up a bit in the Frankfurt airport

During our 2 hour layover in Germany, Kaitlynn and Ryan kept us entertained with some worship songs

By the time we got to Bangalore at midnight (which was 12 noon the for us....after having had just a few hours of sleep on the flight....well, lets just say some people were getting a little weird.....and by "people", I do mean Danielle and Allison. ha ha ha :)

Kaitlynn and I didn't get to sit next to each other for either flight. I didn't like that very much....

This is a very typical(if not a mellow version of typical) "intersection" on the outskirts of shimoga, as seen from our super-rad little van that we crammed our whole team into for the ride between Bangalore and Shimoga. Good "bonding" time :)

Kaitlynn again....

We finally arrived at Happy Home!!! This is the whole team, with Irene and the far left, and her daughter Rema the 3rd from the left. You can see Roshan the 4th from the right. Roshan is Irene's son, and our guide and all-around hero :)

And finally, here are some images of the beautiful, gentle-hearted, and inspiring children of Happy Home:

We cannot thank you enough for your prayers for a safe journey! They were answered abundantly! Nobody got hurt, sick, or lost enroute, and most of us even got some sleep on the plane. We are here ,and ready to do whatever we can to serve these amazing people and love on these beautiful children.

Please keep praying for us, for the children, for Irene, Roshan, Rema, and all the other faithful workers here in India.

If you have questions, just email me and I will try my best to answer!

Love to you all....

.rebekah

Pics of the team!

2007-06-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

So, last night (thursday) the whole team got together to pack the duffle bags of supplies that we are going to be bringing to Happy Home. Thanks to the generous donations from the people of Solid Rock, we have 13 stuffed duffles to bring over! We are bring medical supplies, personal hygiene products, blankets, art supplies, shoes, clothes......and lots and lots of candy :)

We also had mini-photo shoot so that you all can start putting names with faces. Here is the team!

First up we have our Fearless Leader-Ben Newell!

And then we have the endlessly-entertaining Jeanne Correll

Next up we have Tiffanie Farrell (featuring Garrett on the left)

And of course, Mr Jeremy Reedal (doing his best male model imitation)

The lovely Theresa Patton

And her husband, John

Miss Danielle Higginbotham (officially the girl-with-the-coolest-last-name)

And of course, we now come to Kaitlynn Taylor (who is apparently super flexible)

And the arty-shot goes to Melissia Heyworth :)

Allison Newell is Super Rad

And now we have Mr Ryan Doucet (that's pronounced "doo-set" in case you were wondering...which took me months to sort out myself)

Miss Amanda Carter

And last, and quite possibly least, we have me! With the beautiful Kaitlynn by my side to make me look a bit cooler :)

Well, that's it, that's all. We will be finishing up the packing over the next few days and saying our goodbyes to you all. Please remember to pray for us, even now, as we begin to prepare our hearts to serve and to learn over the next few weeks.

-rebekah

Testing, testing, One, Two, Three.....

2007-06-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Well this is blog number 1 in the Hear The Cry series for this summer's missions trips from Solid Rock. Up first is our trip to Shimoga, India. We leave this coming Sunday, July1st, at 1:20pm from PDX! We all got together this morning and the church prayed for us in both services. It was both inspiring and sobering. Inspiring to see how much love is being poured out onto us 13 people going, and sobering to be reminded that we not only represent our Lord on this trip, but we also represent the people of Solid Rock who have sacrificed financially for us, and who have been praying for us for weeks.

Well, we are all packing up this week, taking our Malaria pills (which are supposed to give you crazy, vivid color dreams!), and trying our best to prepare for our trip to another world.

Please keep praying for us all. We have felt your prayers, and covet them!

More to come....