GOD's humble heroes...

WOW - God revealed Himself over and over in India 2009. We met hero after hero who work directly as His hands and feet - what a joy and blessing to serve in INDIA!

In Pune - we were introduced to the awesome ministry at Santvana (which means PEACE) where Dr. Edwards pours her heart and soul into the lives of God's precious children with AIDS/HIV. We saw firsthand the love, care and teaching of a woman following Christ through darkness and bringing the children to HOPE. These children were rescued from the red light district, where Dr. Edwards serves the commercial sex industry workers... those who so many others refuse to treat medically or acknowledge socially. Her ministry there is invaluable as it shows children and mothers a better life possibility. She, along with her staff, are breaking the cycle and allowing an alternative to a life of sin and death. The children share in community, are given a home, with beds, a courtyard, structure and love of a family... along with complete medical care and education (both academic and spiritual).

We were so blessed to share in the lives of these children... to see their hearts for Jesus, hear their prayers, touch them with love and warmth, speak hope into their world, and witness for them a taste of the eternity that awaits them. Some of these children are very sick, unable to leave their beds at times, but JOY is present nonetheless. They have stories that break hearts over and over, their abusive pasts, their abandonment, their rescue from death - both literal and spiritual. Praise be to GOD for Dr. Edwards and her staff for the GREAT SERVICES they provide - may they be extremely blessed for their efforts.

Delhi - We met another hero, in Mrs. Masih - who - alongside her husband - have multiple ministries to the children of the slums. The Muneer Welfare Society has blessed 28 girls with a home, in an orphanage in Delhi, where we were blessed to spend time. The LOVELY girls are given, not only homes and "family", but also education, spiritual discipline, structure and care... and DO THEY EVER WARM HEARTS with their beauty, creativity and passion!?! They greeted us warmly with songs of JOY! Mrs. Masih has further ministry in the slums in Loni - where Grace Academy is growing. This school serves as many children as possible (currently around 280) and is set to grow as the walls of potential buildings will expand. The school will then serve upwards of 600. She has advocated on behalf of this community for the placement of 7 deep tube wells which bring fresh water to so many in need. We were blessed to visit the site where one is in process of being dug, and where one is in use and brings fresh water to homes of many. What JOY to see the fruit of our giving across the world. AGAIN God showed his grace and mercy as we visited the "streets" of this community...

Umashankar Shankardas - who could be a greater hero to our team... the man is amazing! Personal thanks for his great care in showing us his beloved India... and teaching us of the ways God has shaped his ministry through Orphan Outreach. Uma selflessly shows God's love to every person he connects with, from members of our team, to the servants mentioned above, to the children and families in every community we visit. He is "uncle" to so many and he is a sign of the hope brought to them as he brings more teams to meet them, love on them and care for their basic needs. He coordinates so many details in order for us to serve, to get us safely from place to place, and to open doors to future ministry opportunities. PRAISE GOD for His hand upon Uma and his family... allowing him to bridge gaps SO WIDE and seemingly impassable.

My faithful Team Members - What heroes you are to me! Thanks for an incredible opportunity to serve alongside YOU - your hearts were revealed over and over as we spent time in these beloved settings. PRAISE for the overcoming of fears, the victory of Christ in YOU, and for the blessed memories we will share. CONTINUED prayer for all of you as you seek future opportunities in ministry to orphans and lost souls... YOU ARE BEING LOVED!

Things to remember

1. Delays are not inconviences but God's way of getting you where you need to be when He wants you there.
2. Once God has finished His work then he will allow people to close a city to foreigners (but not before).
3. A 6 hour bus ride + one IPod = awesome time of worship
4. Never waste a moment it may be the moment of a miracle.
5. Dance with Cinderella while she is there...
6. Love now you'll never know when you'll be back.
7. Precious children around the world are living through circumstances most of us don't want to imagine - we can make a difference if we allow God to use us.
8. I met the real heros of our world - funny not a single one wore a cape.
9. God breaks hearts only to heal them bigger and stronger.
10. Love like today is your last day, speak truth today while you have the chance, dream big dreams and give God the glory in all you do.

Lessons Learned Halfway Around the World

I haven’t gotten the chance to write anything for the blog, so I’ve chosen our last day to write some of my thoughts down. It’s kind of long, but hope you enjoy a peak into what I’ve been thinking these last 10 days.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my 2nd trip to India. After last year’s trip I fell in love with this country and got bitten by the mission bug again. My first mission trip was to Mexico when I was 13. Since then God has given me a heart for the world and lately I’ve felt Him pulling more and more on my heart. I’ve tried to keep that passion burning and not put it on the back burner like I have done in the past, which is why I was so excited this trip could be arranged this year.

From the time I heard there was a possibility of a trip I started praying about how God wanted me to be involved in missions. I’ve always had it in the back of my head that maybe someday I could do a longer trip or maybe even be a full time missionary, but didn’t know if I had the guts for it so soon. In the last few months, I have repeatedly had many of my married and single friends telling me that if they were my age and didn’t have anything to tie them to the States that they would be in another country serving as a missionary.

So I’ve had these ideas in my head that this 2nd trip to India would help me decide if I was ready to do a longer trip or maybe even do something full-time. As I’ve prepared for this trip and even as we drove from the airport in Mumbai to Pune, I kept praying that God would reveal what His plans were for me on this trip. So I kept trying to be “aware” as I worked with the kids at Santvana or the girls at the orphanage in Delhi, or even as we would walk around market shopping. Maybe there would be something that God showed me that meant I could handle being here longer.

We were blessed to be able to attend Delhi Bible Fellowship on Sunday. This was my 3rd time to go to church there and I loved it. Pastor Jeremy spoke on “God’s Cure for Your Confusion”. He talked about different kinds of stresses that distract us and how, no matter what stresses there are, they all need to be surrendered to God by letting go of control, being content, laying down plans, and leaving everything up to God. I won’t go into the entire sermon here, but this sermon helped me immensely. I have been trying so hard to prepare myself for God to descend from heaven in some way to reveal His plans for me that I haven’t just been content to be where I am right now, where HE has me right now, and wait on HIS timing, not my own for what’s going to happen in my life. This is true for more things than just how God wants me to be involved in missions, so obviously it should be true for everything in my life. His timing is perfect and He has perfect plans for me and will reveal them when it’s time. I pray for continued contentment and reliance on God as I do His will for me in the present.

Our Day at The Taj

Our henna

My friend Kushboo

Everything has an end

We said goodbye to the sweet girls at the Muneer Orphanage. We were the first team that had ever visited this orphanage. The girls were so sweet and in some you could see the shadows from the hard life they had already lived. I will miss the sweet smile of Kushboo. She would find me first thing everyday and talk to me i her VERY limited English. She was such a sweet girl. As I left I told her to be good and I would miss her, carefully picking my words so that she would understand. A big smile flew across her face and she said, "I will miss you too Renae."

Our last full day in India was spent at the Taj Mahal (or if you are in India you call it "THe Taj"). We left our YMCA Hostel at 6am and returned after 11pm. This trip is always an experience! The trip to the Taj is about 4 hours if you can drive at full speed. There are often unexpected items in the road (demonstrations, festivals, etc.). So a 4 hour trip can soon turn into a 6 or 8 hour trip (one way). We ran into several such delays but these adventures are never a waste of time. As you leave Delhi and head to Agra where the Taj is you begin to see life as most Indians live. You pass through countless small villages and see the families living under a tarp or in a mud hut or right on the side of the road with no shelter at all. I believe God uses this time to remind me of the great need in India and our world.

This will be my last blog before we leave India. Today we visited the wells and schools in the slums of Muneer. Westport Church installed 7 wells into the area to provide fresh clean drinking water to the people of the slums. We've also enjoyed a home cooked meal at Uma's house. It has been wonderful to laugh with his children and spend time with his dear wife Yaman.

I find myself in a paradox as I type. It is hard to leave beautiful India but my home is calling me also. I know for now God is saying my work is done and I pray that someday God would bring me back to India. God has been so good during our time in India. He has kept us out of danger and cleared our paths of all disasters. Not everything has been easy but everything has been God's will. The darkness is great here in India but I pray through the last 10 days there has been a spark or two of new light. Someday the nation of India will sing praises to God hand in hand. What a glorious day that will be!

Sweet faces

Praising God for rescueing these precious girls from tragic circumstances. They are wonderful and precious!

You just never know....

It is so easy to think that you didn't make a difference. It is so easy to think that supporting short term missionaries is a waste of time and money. But today I learned that you just never know the difference you are making.

I met a man today in India. We sat for a long time and discussed some work he is doing. I've known of the projects he has in the Delhi area for some time and I've even visited a couple of the projects. We spent some time talking about budgets and needs for the upcoming years. Once the discussion wound down he leaned over and in a quieter tone said I have one more project I'd like to tell you about.

He began by telling me his story. For the blog we'll call him "Mr. M". Mr. M was born into a Muslim family. His father was a Muslim priest and well know within the Muslim faith in India. At a young age Mr. M was sent away to learn the Koran. He spent years away from home studying and deepening his faith in the Muslim religion. He grew to be a man and obtained a job as a police officer. One night he set up a road block and demanded money from every vehicle as they passed through his road block. One car that night was missionaries visiting India. They handed him a bible instead of the money. He brought the bible home and it sat in his house. 2 years later he opened the bible for the first time and read the gospel of John. He tells me that for a year he continued to think and remember what he read. One year later after reading the gospel of John and 3 years after someone had handed him a bible instead of bribe money he fell to his knees and asked Jesus into his heart.

Mr. M now has MANY social ministries (vocation schools, orphanages, primary schools in slum areas, relief centers, etc.) but the most amazing part is he has planted close to 700 home churces. There are almost 6000 Muslims that have been converted to the Christian faith and are attending a home church because of the work that Mr. M does. All because one missionary visiting India handed him a bible instead of a bribe.

We can never know the plans God has for our work. We must be faithful and courageous for God! That missionary will never know the unbelievable change that one bible has made to India.

Kailea

Uma

Delilah

A change in plans

Today was planned to be a day of rest for the team and we were headed to the Taj Mahal for the day. We were scheduled to meet our driver at 6am. At 4:30am we received a call that our driver had been waiting for us since 4am. Today is Independence Day in India and unknown to us our bus needed to be out of Delhi by 6am because of a huge parade that goes through the streets. We decided to reschedule our Taj Mahal day and visit the Muneer Girls Orphanage today.

Most of the girls at the Muneer girls orpahange come from the Muslim community. We have records showing each of their stories. Each is tragic and some very difficult to read. We had no idea what to expect going in. It was so wonderful to walk in and see a room full of smiling faces so excited for us to be there.

The age ranges at the Muneer home range from 4 to 18. With the teenagers here there is definitely a different dynamic. It is great to be able to work with some older children.

These children like the children at Santvana are being taught about Jesus. Most have come into the home much older and were raised in Muslim homes until they came. I feel an added burden for our time with these children and the teachings. It will be so easy for many of them to worship the false gods they grew up with after they leave the home. Please pray that these girls would see The Truth and hold on to Jesus for eternity.

Beginning to say goodbye to Santvana

All of the team with all the children, Dr. Edwards and staff.

Prayers

Please pray for a couple of special children.

Sonaji (pictured) is very sick. He is around 5 years old although know one knows his exact age. He was abandoned on the side of the road in February probably because of his disease. Dr. Edward nursed him back to health and he was doing good but now he has turned for the worse. His AIDS virus is very advanced and I'm worried he will only make it weeks or maybe even days. My prayer is that God would take him peacefully and that He would not be scared in his finaly moments.

Atul was sick when we arrived this morning. Atul is about 10 years old. He has a fever and cough this morning and is feeling very dizzy. The worry is he may have contracted Swine Flu. He went to the hospital yesterday to get his AIDS medications and was exposed to the the Swine Flu since the the particular hospital he went to is one of the treatment centers he could have been exposed. Pray that he heals quickly and the other children would not get sick and that the swine flu would not attack these fragile children.

The work is great but God is faithful

How can anyone argue that the work being done is not great? To look into the eyes of a child that has been raised in the brothel, that knows ALL that happens in the brothel in detail, that came from a place of darkness, that came from a place of that hurts women and children in the name of a God or Goddess, that was thrown to the street and now see peace in their eyes as they sing songs of praise to the one Holy God.

Some of these children have changed their lives. They refuse to go see a grandparent at holiday time because they'll be forced to go to the temple and worship a false God. In a land consumed with false God's this is amazing.

Your prayers and support are changing lives! God is alive and moving through India. the work is hard and tiring but God is refreshing.

Our prayer today is that the words of our mouth and the work of our hands would bring Glory and praise to God so that all the people will be able to sing "I Am Free"!

Today we will leave Santvana AIDS home and travel to Delhi to work in a girl's orphanage in a Muslim area. Please pray for safety as we travel and our hearts as we will be sad to leave the children of Santvana.

Today we will also visit Preet Muneer an orphanage here in Pune. This is an added stop in our trip planned solely because one of our teammates was adopted from there 19 years ago. The visit will be a special time and I feel honored to be able to experience it with her. She is nervous as is to be expected but we are surrounding her with prayer and support.

And I danced with Cinderella.....

We had a great day today. We are falling in love with the children at the Santvana Childrens AIDS home and saying goodbye will be heartbreaking. I can leave in peace though knowing they are being loved and are learning of a God who loves them. We were disappointed to find out today that we will not be going to the Red Light area at all. Americans are being blamed for the swine flu outbreak and there has been some unrest in the Red Light area towards foreigners. For our safety we will not be visiting. I am glad for the safety but sad that we will not be able to visit those who need to know of God's love so desperately.

We were able to spend hours with the kids today just enjoying them and forming relationships. As I was on the patio of the Santvana home I heard the song Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman start playing from our Ipod we brought. A sweet girl that reminds me of my Emily back home grabbed my hand and began dancing with me. As we're dancing around I'm hearing the words sing out over the country side on an amazing India evening.

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone...

It brought tears to my eyes how beautiful the moment was dancing with my little Indian Cinderella.

Pune - Day 1

The city of Pune is literally being shut down around us. The swine flu scare has taken over the city. People everywhere are wearing whatever they can find over their faces as a mask. Even the street vendors have put aside their plastic toys and cell phone chargers and replaced their inventory with cheap masks being sold for up to 900 rupees (about $20). The schools have been shut down which has been a blessing for us because we get to have more time with the children of the AIDS home. The government has demanded that all large gatherings be cancelled and today we got word that the Red Light District will closed because of the swine flu. How odd that the swine flu can do what so many can't - close down the brothels. Although according to Uma (the director of India for Orphan Outreach) it probably won't stop the brothels from being opened. There is a chance that we won't be able to get down to the brothels though. We are praying that God would open the door for us to get a few of our team members down there. We'll have to see how it works out tomorrow.

The children at the Santvana home were so sweet and dear. A few are very sick and deep down I know that likelihood for them making it to their next birthday is slim. As I type this I thank God for Dr. Edwards and work at the home. Each child has a different story but each is tragic and full of sadness. These children are learning about a God that loves them, they are praying and they are full of joy. Some are brand new and are still learning, some have been there for years but all know they are loved by Dr. Edwards and are hearing of the love of Christ.

The team is doing well. We are all jet-lagged horribly tonight and are looking forward to collapsing in our beds. I wish I had the energy to relay more this evening. Please continue to pray for our health and that God would be glorified in all that we do.

Delays

A test of patience? God keeping us out of harms way? We'll never know for sure why today (or the last two days depending on how you look at it) have been filled with delays. What we do know is as a team we faced each delay with a smile on our face and we are all safe and sound.

We left Hillsboro, Oregon at 4:30am on our way to the Portland International Airport. Once seated on the aircraft we were informed by the pilot that the tower had notified us of a delay. We don't know what the delay was for but we sat on the tarmac for an hour waiting to takeoff. We landed at the Newark/New Jersey airport a little late but in no hurry since we had a 4 hour layover in our schedule. Waiting for us as we debarked the plane was our 7th team member Delilah who had flown in from Maryland.

Delilah was introduced to the team members she had never met and we did what every team heading into India would do for their final dinner. We ate beef!! We sat down at a diner and ate burgers together. During dinner I received a call from my husband about a tsunami warning around India. After some research we found out that the tsunami warning was actually on the Eastside of India in the Indian Ocean and we were landing on the West side of India. Giving thanks to God we closed down our computers and walked the airport before our long flight.

We boarded our plane headed to Mumbai and as the boarding started coming to an end I looked around and 6 out 7 of the team members had entire rows to themselves. Our 7th team member had 2 seats. We all gave thanks to God for His provision. Little did we know that He had knowledge of what the rest of our day would look like and the extra sleep we received from the extra space would be needed.

As the doors to the airplane shut we got notice from the captain that we would be delayed because of weather i Pennsylvania. The weather was in our flight path. The runways were stacked up because of the delay and it took us 2 hours to get out of Newark. I knew this would put us into Mumbai very late and I was wondering how the details of our day would fall out. I prayed and asked God to work it all out for us and to give us comfort in His provisions and closed my eyes and went to sleep. 8 hour later (YES! 8 HOURS LATER!) I awoke. It is truly amazing how much you can sleep on a plane when you have a couch to sleep on.

As we neared Mumbai the captain came on to tell us that the airport was stacked up with delays and we would have to circle awhile until we had clearance to land. Now, delays can be caused by many different types of weather and technical issues, but have you ever heard of an airport being shut down because there is a dog on the runway? Seriously, a dog was on the runway and it shut down an International airport. We all had a good laugh about it and FINALLY landed in Mumbai 3 hours late.

We pulled up to the terminal and the jetway would not work so after 20 minutes of delays they pulled up some stairs and bussed us back to the terminal.

The swine flu is breaking out here in India and the country is in a panic about it. There is extra security measures at the airport to go through to make sure we are not sick. Everyone is wearing masks. I would covet your prayers for the whole team as we serve. Please ask God to provide health and protection to all of us as we serve.

Our team flew through the health screening station and 5 of us were through the customs checkpoint when the computers went down. Another delay....I sent 3 team members on the baggage area to start collecting our bags while I waited for our team members to get cleared through customs. Finally the computers were up and running and we were all collected again in baggage claim. Praises to God for ALL our suitcases arriving safely!

The team then proceeded to move outside of the airport. We spotted Uma right away and headed through the thick crowd to make our way to him. By the time we arrived outside of the airport it was 1am Mumbai time. We had been traveling for 32 hours. We loaded our luggage and team members into 2 vehicles and headed to Pune, a 4 hour drive. This was the only leg of our journey without delays.

As I'm typing all the team members are snug in their beds and our wake up call should be in about 2 hours. We'll start ministering to the children at the AIDS home tomorrow and visit the Creche in the evening. Please continue to pray for strength tomorrow as we fight jetlag and minimal sleep. But like I told Uma we didn't come to sleep we came to serve our God so we will persevere.

Good night for now.

Prayers for continued PEACE in HIM

I can't believe we are just 39 hours away from leaving for INDIA... It is not surprising that we have accomplished much and overcome challenges to get to this point. We have raised funds/struggled to do so, we have overcome emotional challenges, we've prepared our travel, service and activities schedules. Most importantly we have accepted the changes to our hearts. The Lord has given us opportunities already to GROW and STRETCH toward His will.

It is so odd for me personally, to think that my biggest fear is that I am not afraid this time around. I keep battling satan's accusing voice telling me I am NOT READY because I am NOT worried. I feel very blessed by GOD'S PEACE... However - I too am not w/o hurdles - in the last few days I learned of a family member's relapse into drug use/criminal behaviors, disruption of family plans/dynamics and several other "causes for concern". I am praying for protection for all of these and that my heart will not become distracted by these issues. I TRUST GOD and know HE is in control! He is MIGHTY TO SAVE and HE is ENOUGH... and nothing I can do will change that or add to HIS GREATNESS!

I pray all my responses will be acts of PRAISE for what HE is/has done for me. May HE be seen in my service and my love for his people, may HE be in the center of all I DO!?!

I SEEK TO HONOR MY KING - - -

Humbly,

Jen

Photos from 2007/2008 by Renae

I've uploaded just a couple of photos from my previous trips to India. Looking at them reminds me why the call to go is so strong for me. These faces are why I do what I do. Someday in eternity I pray I will be standing next to those sweet faces singing songs of praise to God.

Nikael - 2007

Nikael
Originally uploaded by niebs4pk

Nikael died 2 weeks after this picture was taken. His home was the Santvana AIDS home which we'll visit.

Very sick sweet girl - 2008

IMG_0460
Originally uploaded by niebs4pk

Indian girl - 2008

IMG_5057
Originally uploaded by niebs4pk

Indian boy from the slums - 2008

IMG_5074
Originally uploaded by niebs4pk

India Food Cart

India Food
Originally uploaded by niebs4pk

A post by Angela

I was feeling very overwhelmed yesterday. I have been under a lot of attack lately, with my work here at the house and my preparations for India. However, as I stepped into the church yesterday and I saw Renae and Jen on the floor with all the supplies around them, I felt this amazing sense of peace come over me, immediately followed by excitement. Our time together was a much needed time for the whole team. We shared a meal, our struggles over the past week and lots of laughter as we packed away. As always I was struck by what a blessing our leaders are. I have so little to worry about, since they have taken care of it all. This morning for the first time in weeks I woke up more excited then stressed. I can't believe I leave for India, the other side of the world, in a little over 5 days. It is surreal to even think about. At this point the only things I can think of to pray for is our safety and protection as we pack for this trip. For our travel to go smooth and for the whole team to be rested and ready to go when we hit the ground in Mumbai! Thank you all for going with us! Angela

Distractions

Distractions. These are the things that unfocus us on the important things. Sometimes we look for distractions to take our mind of something unpleasant. But often distractions come and take us off course. I would say this is a week of distractions for the team. Among other things we've had sickness, car problems, money concerns, lost credit cards, too full schedules and unbearably hot heat. These distractions have been persistent and bothersome to say the least. It is so easy for us to get off focus just days away from leaving. We all know the importance of coming to God in prayer these days and asking Him to provide the focus and clarity we need to spiritually prepare for our trip.

We leave Monday morning. Our flight will take off at 7:45am which means we'll begin picking people up at 4:00am. It will be an early morning but I'm not sure much sleep will be had anyways the night before.

Here is what our schedule will look like:

Monday, August 10th - 7:45am leave PDX

Tuesday, August 11th - 9:00pm arrive Mumbai, India and begin 3 hour drive to Pune, India

Wednesday, August 12th - Santvana AIDS home for children and Creche (evening shelter for children of the brothels)

Thursday, August 13th - Santvana AIDS home and Creche

Friday, August 14th - Santvana AIDS home and fly to Delhi in the evening

Saturday, August 15th - Taj Mahal

Sunday, August 16th - Attend Delhi Bible Fellowship, Muneer Orphanage for girls

Monday, August 17th - Muneer orphanage for girls

Tuesday, August 18th - Muneer orphanage for girls

Wednesday, August 19th - Unknown what we'll do this day possibly vist the water wells that Westport Church had installed. Fly home at 11:00pm

Thursday, August 20th - Arrive in PDX at 10am

We'll update as much as possible from India but we've been warned that our internet access will be limited. I'll have cell phone access so I'll be in touch with my family. I'll have Jamie post some updates to facebook occasionally when I can't get onto the blog.

Please continue to pray for us as we come to the end of our preparation time. Pray for health, clarity, peace and courage as we step out into this journey God has called us on.