Well the monsoon has officially arrived! Though the entire time we have been here has technically been considered monsoon season, it really didn't rain very much in previous weeks. However, this week the skies have opened up and it has rained like crazy. The streets have been completely flooded on some days, making transportation all the more of an adventure.
This past week the boys were in Gwalior for a training, so back here in I-town we enjoyed girls week! Our week consisted of spending time in the Word, going to the malls to share, equipping some of our sisters here, shopping, a spa day, and many other fun activities. Monday through Wednesday evenings we spent quality time with sisters here, training and teaching them from the Word. It was encouraging for us to be around fellow believers, and we pray it was encouraging for them as well. Monday night the ladies graciously let us dress up in their saris and we had a lot of fun as they fussed over us, did our hair, and put jewelry on us. Tuesday night, after the teaching time, they taught us how to dance to some Hindi songs, and Wednesday night they purchased henna and gave all of us elaborate and beautiful henna tattoos. Every night we were in their home they were incredibly hospitable and kind and it was a joy to spend time with them. We have been so blessed, as this has been our experience everywhere we go! The people of India have been very welcoming and go out of their way to help us, from opening new lines for us in stores, to inviting us into their homes and feeding us, to offering tours of restaurants, etc. We definitely do get a lot of stares, and everyone wants to take our picture, but personally I've rather enjoyed being a celebrity! We've all joked that when we get back to America we will miss being famous (we really have made it into the newspaper twice!).
One of our adventures this week was venturing to the Rajwada, which is a quintessential Indian market. We took a carriage ride around just for fun, basically making ourselves a parade. After this Amy took us to some awesome fabric markets where we all found scarves and fabric for clothes or crafts. For our women's time this week we went to the spa. I pretty much could have stayed there all day. For incredibly great prices we all got some combination of the offered head massages, facials, eyebrow threading, manicures, and pedicures.
The Lord's sovereignty has been evident throughout our trip, and this was further evidenced this week as Rachel and a local friend of ours were able to meet two young girls who just moved here and don't have any friends. This is such a perfect opportunity to develop a relationship with these girls since Rachel will be here for an entire year. We have all been learning what it means to be faithful to what the Lord has called us to, and rest in his sovereignty. We can't necessarily measure success here by outward evidence, and the temptation would be to get discouraged. However the Lord has been gracious to remind us that He is the only one who changes lives and calls people to himself, and we simply get to take part in His plan to bring himself glory. What a privilege and a blessing! Today as I was reading in 1 Corinthians 4, verses one and two reminded me of our time here.
"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful."
As we spend our last week in I-town, please pray that we will be faithful servants and stewards of the message that we have been entrusted with.
And the last but definitely not the least bit of our news is.... the Olympics are here! We girls stayed up till three in the morning watching the opening ceremony, rejoicing in the fact that we were getting to watch it before everyone in America. Since then we've enjoyed watching whenever we can (even when that means staying up through the night) and have definitely bonded as a team through watching them. Since the TV channels we watch are not American, we are getting a broader view of events than we usually do. And by that I mean that we've watched a ton of archery, judo, handball, table tennis, etc, and we hear commentary from a non-American point of view.
At any rate, it's been a great week and we can't wait to see what this next week holds!
Posted by Alecia
This past week the boys were in Gwalior for a training, so back here in I-town we enjoyed girls week! Our week consisted of spending time in the Word, going to the malls to share, equipping some of our sisters here, shopping, a spa day, and many other fun activities. Monday through Wednesday evenings we spent quality time with sisters here, training and teaching them from the Word. It was encouraging for us to be around fellow believers, and we pray it was encouraging for them as well. Monday night the ladies graciously let us dress up in their saris and we had a lot of fun as they fussed over us, did our hair, and put jewelry on us. Tuesday night, after the teaching time, they taught us how to dance to some Hindi songs, and Wednesday night they purchased henna and gave all of us elaborate and beautiful henna tattoos. Every night we were in their home they were incredibly hospitable and kind and it was a joy to spend time with them. We have been so blessed, as this has been our experience everywhere we go! The people of India have been very welcoming and go out of their way to help us, from opening new lines for us in stores, to inviting us into their homes and feeding us, to offering tours of restaurants, etc. We definitely do get a lot of stares, and everyone wants to take our picture, but personally I've rather enjoyed being a celebrity! We've all joked that when we get back to America we will miss being famous (we really have made it into the newspaper twice!).
One of our adventures this week was venturing to the Rajwada, which is a quintessential Indian market. We took a carriage ride around just for fun, basically making ourselves a parade. After this Amy took us to some awesome fabric markets where we all found scarves and fabric for clothes or crafts. For our women's time this week we went to the spa. I pretty much could have stayed there all day. For incredibly great prices we all got some combination of the offered head massages, facials, eyebrow threading, manicures, and pedicures.
The Lord's sovereignty has been evident throughout our trip, and this was further evidenced this week as Rachel and a local friend of ours were able to meet two young girls who just moved here and don't have any friends. This is such a perfect opportunity to develop a relationship with these girls since Rachel will be here for an entire year. We have all been learning what it means to be faithful to what the Lord has called us to, and rest in his sovereignty. We can't necessarily measure success here by outward evidence, and the temptation would be to get discouraged. However the Lord has been gracious to remind us that He is the only one who changes lives and calls people to himself, and we simply get to take part in His plan to bring himself glory. What a privilege and a blessing! Today as I was reading in 1 Corinthians 4, verses one and two reminded me of our time here.
"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful."
As we spend our last week in I-town, please pray that we will be faithful servants and stewards of the message that we have been entrusted with.
And the last but definitely not the least bit of our news is.... the Olympics are here! We girls stayed up till three in the morning watching the opening ceremony, rejoicing in the fact that we were getting to watch it before everyone in America. Since then we've enjoyed watching whenever we can (even when that means staying up through the night) and have definitely bonded as a team through watching them. Since the TV channels we watch are not American, we are getting a broader view of events than we usually do. And by that I mean that we've watched a ton of archery, judo, handball, table tennis, etc, and we hear commentary from a non-American point of view.
At any rate, it's been a great week and we can't wait to see what this next week holds!
Posted by Alecia
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