Settling In

If you come to India, wear white pants.  You will not be

culturally relevant or stay cool in the day. They will tarnish.

They will make you stand out. This will come as a welcome

and laughable disappointment as it serves to remind you

 that through grace alone your rags have been washed

clean, compelling you to be unashamed of His power.

 Over the weekend, we decompressed with time alone to

study,give thanks, set objectives for this summer, and sing

together(Rebekah leads cause when she opens her mouth,

I feel compelled to shut mine. so, so good). We made it out

to the park for a camel ride (these walk down the street

though, no bid deal), bumper cars,and Frisbee. Kelsey

 celebrated her birthday on Sunday and what a perfect

day for it to fall on! We sang happy birthday to her and

some new friends when we met in the evening. It was as

tender as a butterfly with sore feet on a gentle breeze

gingerly seeking a soft place to land (true statement).

In following days we have transitioned out of orientation 

into a new routine of study/teaching (Papa Heath!), outings, 

and event time each day. Monday was the first day following 

this routine. I experienced it sick in bed but with meds and 

prayer, was better the next day (Hallelujah!). The guys met 

one of our local brothers/translators and caught up over 

chai and the girls did outreach and prayed over the city 

from the heights of the mall roof. Evening was an adventure 

as everyone went to Inspiration school where Rachel

 presented on family life. Kelsey presented on college life. 

We also presented on American culture, education, and

 leisure acticities. Travis and Alecia(who has now made it 

into this blog) demonstrated how to shag! Then we broke

 into smaller conversations with the students, which

 was somewhat overwhelming. So many questions!

Tuesday morning, Carly had a waffle for breakfast and

thoroughly enjoyed it (best she ever had). A few of the girls

met with some students from Inspiration and the others met a

local sister, whom theywere able to begin teaching and to greatly

encourage. Also, Mary Emily was able to return 4 Rupees that

she accidentally stole. The guys traveled to Rajwada to meet a

man Heath knew 2 years ago and hopefully we will eat with his

family soon. We walked slowly through the frenzied market

streets p-walking and stopped in a music store our local brother

frequents. We spoke at length with the young employees and

neighboring shop owner. In the evening we all returned to

Inspirationwhere the students presented to us on traditional

Indian dances and things that could only happen in India.

The best part of the day was back at home when our local brother

played his newly repaired guitar and we sang together!

On Wednesday, the guys met another brother and his

friend in the mall and after much debating discovered

we each had brothers in the other. It is so uplifting

 to find someone with sound beliefs living here. The

friend was from one of the cities we are visiting

next week so hopefully we will see him again! The

girls were in the mall coming down an escalator with

such grace and style that they stole the attention from a

cricket trophy photo shoot! They were flattered but humbly

and politely declined, walking on un-phased.

At night we attended a local gathering of the body,

personally one of themost encouraging things on our trip yet!

To hear them singing in their native language was phenomenal.

Being with them and hopefully encouraging them is why we

are here! We concluded the day with a family dinner at pizza

hut and walked home from the mall in the cool evening air

(which occasionally carries a whiff of stank). So far the

week has gone well and the work is going well. We are so

 excited for what more is to come for us and the people

of this city. We give thanks for you and your on-going support!

Posted by Nathan