Final Celebration

Our final day in Delhi and India all together began in coffee shops reflecting on the last six weeks  the Lord has given us and then a feast at Hard Rock Cafe. We had quite a lovely day and such a blessing to see how the Lord doesn't waste anything, not even a final day in a far off country.

Most of the team went out to an area with a handful of coffee shops and ate together, but then split up a bit to make sure they could find a cozy place to read and journal and reflect on the summer. Alecia and Mary Emily went to a shop together and found a sweet spot. After they had been there for a few hours, a guy came up to Alecia and asked her if she was a student and what she was studying, as he had seen her reading this book and writing a lot. She was able to talk a while with this guy and ended up giving him an extra Bible she had with him.

We all met back at the flat and soon thereafter left for Hard Rock. Amy had gone before us to set up the room with all the gifts and candies for travelling. Each person was given a superlative (make sure you ask everyone what they got!) such as "Most Culturally Versatile", "Most Likely to Use a Flow Chart" and "Least Likely to Bargain for a Rickshaw". (All jokes from our few weeks together.) It's been so fun to be here with this team and last night was a wonderful time of celebrating all the fun we've had together and the way the Lord has knit our hearts together. We are truly blessed to have had these weeks together, and I'm especially thankful for them as I am now staying behind in India to live here for the year. I can't imagine coming on my own and not having had these last five weeks to get acclimated to this new home without my team!

BFF with the Squatty

Most Likely to Use a Flow Chart

Almost everyone ordered a burger last night, and they were quite delicious; although, I've been sick today so I hope no one else has been as they're travelling back. The team is about half way now. They've been travelling, or at least on the go, for the past 12 hours. They left the flat at 5:30AM and should be boarding their flight in London soon to fly to the States. Needless to say, they will be tired by the time they hit American soil.

For the night, I also made a slideshow/video from all the pictures taken this summer. It was so fun to remember all the way back to Myrtle Beach up to now and see pictures of everything in between! From Myrtle Beach, layovers in airports, setting our eyes on India for the first time, riding in autos, eating Indian food, the fresh lemony scent at the Lemon Tree to celebrating 4th of July, riding a train to Jaipur, living in apartments, teaching in homes, trying on sariis, drinking chai, wandering around malls, sharing pizzas, dancing to Call Me, Maybe all around India, riding in a taxi to the Taj, and watching the Olympics together most nights, I'm so thankful for this summer. The Lord has been faithful, and by His grace, we have been found faithful. Love you guys - you carry my heart.

Final Days in India

It saddens me to begin this blog by announcing that this will be the last post sent from I-town. We fly out Saturday morning for Delhi where we will spend a couple days before we begin the trip back to the States. I feel like I can speak for the whole team by saying we are all not ready to leave and have enjoyed our time here much more than words can describe. Here are some brief updates concerning the last couple days…

Mondays: 
The boys have made and strengthened some really great relationships with local brothers. They were able to meet and hang out with them all afternoon and encourage them. It has been very encouraging to see the impact our guys have had on their friends' lives and the passion they have for teaching them more about the Lord. Some of the girls headed to the mall to try to strike up some conversations with girls that could lead to relationships in the future. Pr@yerwalking, as we call it, really has taught us a lot, and shown us how dependent we really are on the Lord. While they were at the mall, Rebekah and I headed to the tailors where some of us had dresses made. The seamstress, Mahut, invited us to have a “snack” which ended up consisting of more food than we would eat over the course of two days. We powered through the gallon of rice and meet that was put in front of us but we could not handle the Indian style curd/ yogurt combo…it ended up in my water bottle when Mahut turned the corner. Gotta do what ya gotta do. That night our team split up into three groups and went to babysit all the kids so the team here could have a nice dinner out. We had a blast hanging out with all the youngsters and it is always nice being able to serve the team here and give them a night off. 

Tuesday:
The boys went to a town around 2 hours away for a training. They always come back with lots of stories and learn so much on these trips. They are all challenged and stretched because they do some of the teaching, and they have risen to the challenge each time. By pouring into others and leading trainings the Lord has really taught them a lot and we all have enjoyed watching their growth. The girls had a day of baking for the team dinner, and then visiting one of our friends’ hostels. We went to go meet some of her roommates and enjoyed meeting some of them and seeing how college students live here, which is very different from American dorms. That night, we all met together at a friends' house and enjoyed a big dinner consisting of chili, salad, apple cobbler, berry cobbler, and apple crumb pie. Little tastes of home are always nice. Some of our Indian friends were able to come over too, and our time with them is always so precious. They were able to sit in as we finished our study of 2 Peter and watched some Olympics with us. Rebekah and Rakshit then treated us to a couple songs: Rebekah on vocals, and Rakshit on guitar. 



Wednesday:
We had the opportunity to visit an orphanage that is about 45 minutes away, including some kids from a nearby leper colony. Upon arrival we were greeted by around 200 kids, ages 3-16. It is a Christian orphanage and we were able to enjoy 200 Indian kids singing us Christian songs in Hindi, something I never thought I would have the privilege of witnessing. Then Alecia (with our friend Priyanka translating) taught about the Battle of Jericho from Joshua 6. Afterwards we had them act it out for us. Some kids were the wall, the priests, and the Israelites. It was a chaotic experience to say the least, but we had a blast in the process. We then took the kids outside and played games with them for the next couple hours. We taught them Duck Duck Goose, Simon Says, and Sharks and Minnows. It was a sweet time with all of them and we enjoyed getting to take part in some children’s ministry. 

For dinner some of our Indian friends took us to a street market in the Muslim community. We sampled several different Indian meats and desserts. A few were too spicy for some, but overall the food was delicious and it was a fun experience. Heath and Travis regretted it a little when they found themselves in the bathroom throughout the night throwing up. Both have recovered well though. Now the majority of our team has shared in the lovely experience of being sick.


After dinner all the girls went to a local chai bar with one of our Indian friends, Priyanka. We proceeded to make it a karaoke night when “Call Me Maybe”, “Someone Like You”, and “Beautiful Soul” came on. We already get stared at so much by the Indians so we have decided to just have fun with it. Priyanka has become one of our best friends here so we love getting to spend time with her and encouraging her any way we can. 

Thursday:
It was men’s and women’s time today. The boys had a fun day filled with playing squash and had a great time with some friendly competition. The girls headed to a restaurant called “The Chocolate Room” and had delicious milk chocolate and white chocolate fondue. It was great bonding time for all of us and gave us a chance to reflect on our time here. Afterwards, we all gathered for dinner to eat some pizza. A bunch of our Indian friends were able to join us, so we had a good time just hanging out and playing some Wii. It will be so sad leaving all the great friends we have here. After dinner we all gathered around the TV, which we have done every night, to watch the Olympics till around 1 in the morning. We’ve found ourselves becoming a lot more patriotic than usual. 

Looking forward to seeing all of you guys soon, but saying goodbye to India will be bittersweet. 

Posted by Kelsey