Super Travels and More!

So turns out, India's pretty much the exact same as Gunnison only different. Okay, just kidding, it's a lot different. I LOVE IT! It's everything I'd hoped and then some! Traveling was lots of fun. I had a wonderful conversation with an elderly Jewish lady on the flight from Denver to New York. God opened the door for our conversation. After explaining where I was going and what I would be doing, she asked me how I got interested in religion. I was able to share my testimony before we even took off! The conversation continued for the next couple of hours. It was good, but also very difficult. Like so many people, she believed that she was “good enough.” I was reminded of Mark 3:17 where Jesus says, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” She felt like she was old and there was no point in changing now. How sad to see the spiritual blinders on people. It helped reinforce for me that people will not understand the Gospel unless God first opens their eyes. Please be praying for Beverly.
Pastor Daniel found me easily in New York and we then flew to Dubai in some 12-14 hours. Less conversation on this flight and more sleep. The woman next to me spoke hardly any English. Next flight to Chennai also went well. There were fewer people and I slept most the time. The taxi ride to the train station was very interesting as well. It was heartbreaking to see all the people sleeping on the sidewalks going there. Driving in India is super exciting. I don't even know how to describe it, it's just something I wish every American could experience just once in their lives. We waited at the train station for a couple hours before our train came. This was a busy place. Despite what you may think, there's actually quite a few people in India. Pastor Daniel said that with each train that comes in, there's probably about 5,000 people who get off. Glad we were there during the slow time. It was here though, that Pastor Daniel reminded me of a very hard thought. As we gazed at the FLOODS of people coming from the trains, he reminded me that the saddest thing is that only 2% of India knows Jesus. It was truly heartbreaking. It is so hard to see people wearing the dot on their foreheads that signifies them as Hindu. It is nothing short of the mark of the beast, a sign that they are on their way to eternal destruction. May God save these people!
We rode the train for 8 hours and then waited for Daniel's family to arrive. His family is amazing. We all jumped in a taxi and had another not-so-leisurely drive to Eluru.
God gave us so many blessings during our travels. First, we didn't have as many bags to carry because one of Pastor Daniels bags didn't make it. Second, I don't have to worry about breaking my sunglasses here because I already accomplished that on the plane..yeah..apparently me and sunglasses and pockets aren't a great idea. Also, the inside of my backpack will not be getting any bug bites or malaria this trip due to one of my bottles of bug repellent exploding in it. In all seriousness though, God has blessed us greatly and we are very thankful to be here safely.
As we came to the grounds, some of the orphans had apparently been expecting us and came running out jumping an laughing. I LOVE them all already! They are all so precious. I learned that some of them have infections. I have already been able to play some games with them and get to know them. We played freeze-tag, steal the bacon, and other games. They have been teaching me more Telugu than I can keep up with. Very few speak English. So, with the ones who don't, our entire conversation is “trading” languages. For example, last night we were hanging out and we saw some frogs. I pointed to it and said, “Frog.” They smiled and said “Kappa” (spelling is probably wrong). So now I know how to say, “Praise the Lord,” “Come here,” “Go away,” “Give,” and “Frog.” Good start. “Come here, give me the frog. Praise the Lord, go away.” Seriously though, if I can retain everything they teach me, I know I will pick up the language quickly. Please pray that God would strengthen my mind so that I can effectively learn Telugu.
Church here on Sunday was absolutely amazing! The believers in this church are few but mighty. Pastor Daniel had me preach for a little bit yesterday. God gave me great clarity of mind. I've heard it's hard to speak with a translator when you're not used to it. I thought it was great. It gave me time to think before I spoke my next sentence...which some of you know I need sometimes. Might have been helpful to have a translator in America. “Okay, here's what Paul actually means.” haha. Anyways, it was great.
Physically, God has blessed me as well. I am already adjusted to the sleep schedule and feel great. The food is delicious. Everything is spicy, but good. It's almost like they just put Creol seasoning on everything, which is what I did in America anyway. It's great! Spiritually, God has already been showing me things inside of me that need to change. Areas of my life that are still focused on me. I have been handing those areas over to God. I realize more and more every day that in order for me to be effective for His kingdom I must be dead to myself and my own desires. He has taken me in His mighty hand and given me His strength and I trust Him to keep guiding me. My devotional this morning was very encouraging. Oswald Chambers said, “One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question--'What do you expect to do?' You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing.”
One of the things I told the people on Sunday was that even though I am very far away from my physical home, home is where your family is, and so I am home because they are my family in Christ, which is the greatest bond of all because it lasts for eternity. I told them that they are not alone and that they have family in America who love them and are praying for them. They are also praying for all of you! I can't tell you how incredible it is to hear them pray for the believers in America. I cannot see the spiritual state of things here very well yet, but I trust that God will make it clearer to me as time goes on. I feel like I could write an update every day and it's impossible to get even half of everything in one update a week. This will have to do for the first one though.
Thank you so much for praying for us. We will need it in the days to come. You are all so special to me and I love you very much.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” Ephesians 1:7-8a

Pray for:
Beverly—that she would feel the weight of her sin and turn to Jesus for salvation.
My brain—that God would give me the Telugu language.
The Hindu people—that they would come to Jesus and be born again
Your family here—that they would be filled with the Spirit and be bold witnesses to their neighbors.
Me—that God would be glorified through me.