Wrap-Up

Another double post!

Yesterday we had another day at the office, where we got some unexpected work thrown at us! Apparently with the photojournalism we were doing we were ALSO supposed to get video testimonies, 30 in all (6 children, 6 women, 6 church planters, 6 youth, 6 workers). I started at the list with absolutely no expression in my face and thought to myself "I should have seen this coming..."

Stuff like this happens during short term trips. Crucial bits of information get literally lost in translation and since we leave for Bangalore tomorrow, we had VERY limited time to get these done. Luckily we had done 3-4 church planters, and a number of believers and workers from our Adopt-a-Village trip to Kanavaipudhur. Kyle is working on a fantastic video, but we're waiting on a 12 minute translation of one of the testimonies...yikes...

We met with our translator and were able to set up 6 youth interviews and 6 community college interviews which we (meaning Kyle) finished in a number of hours. I was camping out in the dining area working on drawings for the campus designs I was asked to do at the beginning of the trip. Normally projects like this take a couple weeks...I was somehow able to get it done in two days. We did have an adventure on the way back from the office when we stopped at an "art store" where I was able to get tracing paper, drawing paper, and surprisingly, Faber-Castell colored pencils (art nerds will know what I'm talking about) for C.H.E.A.P. I got about 40-50 dollars of materials and supplies for less than 180 Rs (3 USD). ***SMILEY FACE***.

We are still in the process of banging out work since we have limited time at the office tomorrow. Today we spent in Salem doing some work in the dining room (we claimed tables...reminded me of studio) and some shopping (we have about 30 people we needed to buy thank-you gifts for...!) Kyle was also able to sit down with his sponsored child, Yogapriya, and chat for a while. She is precious.

Tomorrow we have an early day at the office (Extended Prayer Time, De-briefing, final submissions, etc) and then we depart for Bangalore at 2 PM. Its been an incredible experience, being here at Sharon Gardens and the India Gospel League, and its PAINFUL to leave. We have already been given an open invitation to return with more people in the near future. If God allows, this might become a reality and we'll be back before we know it! I'm sure I speak for both of us when I say that the time we've spent here has given us some major perspective. Things look a little clearer than before, but concerning things we weren't necessarily expecting. We will have more than enough time to elaborate in person when we get home/over jet-lag/used to Western food/etc. As for now, we've got four suitcases to pack (as well as 15 more people to buy for...UGH) and we leave early for the office tomorrow, so its time to sign-off.

See you in the States! 

Two-fer!

Yesterday and today were very lax, so I've combined the blogs. We had a day at the office with our fellow Ohioan Hanah (with one h!!) where we corrected some very amusing attempts at English
. We actually finished editing very early, so we ended up working on other things throughout the day. Kyle and I are working on a video and field report for the Adopt-A-Village program, so we spent some time doing that. We're waiting on about 12 minutes of audio translation, hopefully that will be done by Monday! Today we got our schedule changes twice. What was originally a medical camp day became a sports day and then turned into a Community College day. We spent some time in the morning with the students and had the rest of the day off. We ended up playing with the kids for a couple hours and we took another walk through the campus. We taught them duck-duck-goose, but I'm pretty sure they didn't understand much beyond "touch people and run." It was fun nonetheless.

I also broke significant ground with the German interns Alisha & Sabrina. The rest of their team left on Friday so it is just the 5 of us until we leave. They asked if we thought that the German language sounded angry. At which point my head exploded and I showed them this video. It became a point of humor for us and now we punctuate sentences with angry German words. 'Tis fun.

Tomorrow we have another service at the English church and then the rest of the day off. Might be time to bang out some campus designs and finish up a report! We have two more days at the office, (one of which might turn into shopping) and then a half day before we take off for Bangalore and our flights home (***cry***). This trip has been challenging, exhausting, but extremely enlightening for the both of us. We're still having some trouble processing and expressing how incredible things have been! It will be hard for us to come home, even though there are many good things waiting for us in Columbus.

Yogapriya - Kyle's sponsored child. She is full of sass and its delightful.

Independence Day

Today is the beginning of India's 67th year of independence! We participated in the morning celebrations with two flag raising ceremonies, along with some dancing, drills, speeches, and tons of color. Apparently, when India earned its independence (August 15th, 1947), it sparked a chain of other countries gaining their own! I'll have to do some research on that. I know that a majority of the countries in Africa gained their independence in the mid-late 50's...it would be interesting to see how that played out. Some the more interesting parts of the celebration were seeing a kid dressed up as Mahatma Ghandi (hairstyle and all), the style of marching and saluting they do, and some of the music that was danced to. I might have to get some, so my roommates at home will probably be annoyed with me after I listen to Indian pop on repeat. Sorry I'm not sorry :-).

Today was the Y-21 Youth Leaders Training conference. The chapel (more like a pavilion) slowly filled as more than 200 students and student leaders came to hear the speakers. Our German friends took a few sessions while Kyle and I added a little something from the US. I gave a slightly extended testimony and Kyle gave a teaching from the book of Colossians. Each year presents a different theme that is adhered to in each conference. The theme for this year is "The Body of Christ." I wonder what next year's would be?

Gerhard (Germany) taught on being willing to be called on by God from Isaiah 6
Dr. Reinhardt (Germany) taught on Leadership principles from the story of David and Goliath
Kyle taught on Unity and Love in the Body of Christ from Colossians 3:12-14

We later attended another Children's Program which was very similar to the one we went to last week. A couple new dances and testimonies, but largely the same. Kyle was able to meet his sponsored child! Little Yogapriya is going into the second grade and was very grateful to meet Kyle.

I'll post photos tomorrow as I'm le tired and will be "taking rest." Tomorrow is another day at the office (we think...) Catch you later!

Another day at the office

We had another schedule change today! Instead of attending the YMCA planning conference with the German team, we were asked to edit more reports at the IGL office. Today we had literally dozens of profiles chock full of testimonies and prayer needs. We also took the opportunity to edit and deliver some of the photos and videos we've been working on.

Tid-bit! Apparently, the YMCA in Germany is insanely good. I'm not familiar with the YMCA, but I've heard that many are beginning to essentially drop the "C" and use the facilities for social and recreational activities. I've never been part of the YMCA in Columbus, so most of this is news to me! This is not true in Germany however, where the YMCA acts as a church facility as well as a missions organization. It is extremely evangelical is its mission as an organization. Sam Stephens is also the president of the YMCA in Salem, so he was able to connect with the German YMCA in order to put on this conference. Many of the YMCA's in India are becoming secular, so this conference was held as a way to transfer knowledge and plan methods for becoming more like the German YMCA's.

I've never typed YMCA this many times in recent memory...

Also, we had an OHIOAN come today!! Her name is Hannah and she is from Lebanon, OH. Her parents were her just for the day to drop her off, and they leave in the morning. Her dad is a Delta pilot so he get's free flights whenever. Hannah is here for 3 months as an intern, and will later spend time in Austria. She is essentially creating her own "gap year" as she just graduated high school. It'll be nice to have a city neighbor with us for the next week. This is her first time coming to the Majority World so she's a little nervous, but she has an incredible time ahead of her.

Thats all for today. Tomorrow is the Indian Independence day, so we'll be attending a number of ceremonies and Kyle will have the opportunity to speak at a Youth Conference! Pray for him!

Development Day!

As the title suggests, today was a day spent completely in a village, documenting the community development initiatives taking place through the Adopt-a-Village program. We were accompanied and guided by an IGL worker named Sarah. She, along with a few other workers help oversee the development work taking place throughout Tamil Nadu and surrounding states. Each adopted village has a viable, witnessing church present, most of which are the result of barefoot pastor work in the area. This program is meant to be based in the church but available to anyone in the community who is interested. We met Hindu and Christian alike who were benefitting from the program.

The Adopt-a-Village program is a 5 year initiative focused on meeting both immediate physical needs and bringing long term sustainable change to a community. The program is tailored to fit the needs of each village. There are many different facets to the Adopt-a-Village, which include but are not limited to:

• Providing affordable housing
• Construction of infrastructure (roads, sewers, etc)
• Water well provision
• Life Center construction
• Women's Transformation Groups
• Micro-Loan Programs
• Micro-Financing Programs
• Trade and Production Center's
• Early-Middle Childhood Supplementary Education
• Day-Care Centers

We were able to see an example of each today. And for the sake of my brain not exploding on you lovely people I will try to keep it short...but I'll make no promises. :-)

Our village was Kanavaipudhur, which is actually a conglomerate of many (12) smaller communities. We first met with the pastor, Rev. Sathrack, who has been working in the area for 20+ years. We then visited a Day-Care Center which is host to 15 unsponsored children, most of which live in the area. The Day-Care Center provides beginning literacy education as well as small Bible lessons. They keep profiles for each child and run a medical camp (seemingly identical to the one we visited at Bethel Care) every 3 months. We were able to hear some testimonies from local Hindu women about how grateful they are for the Day-Care, as they now have more time to work to provide for their children. One of the women's children had some issues with eating soil instead of food (don't we all?) but was resolved with proper eating among village children at the Day-Care. 

We then heard several testimonies from church members, as well as a long story from the pastor about their fellowship and how the Adopt-a-Village program has impacted their community. I absolutely LOVED hearing so many different stories of redemption and transformation. Once we get the 'official' translation back I'll have more details to share...stay tuned. 

We then traveled to a Tailoring Center, where 8-10 women were standing by their cherished sewing machines, which are provided by donation through IGL. There is a tailoring program that the women go through at their own pace, though they must complete an "album" of examples to prove their skills. These machines and the training provided help women to make a supplementary income while learning valuable time/money saving skills. 

Next was the Life Center and the Production Center. There we met Daniel, the first believer in the village. He is a leper who has managed to bring the Light of Christ to this village after meeting Sam Stephen's father, Rajah, in a train station many years ago. It was through this man that IGL began work in the region, and has continued to this day. It was a privilege meeting him today. The Production Center is home to 8 women who make merchandise for Sharon Enterprises, the division of IGL that sells the handmade goods made by women in IGL programs. This center produced bags, floor-mats, and block printed napkins. There were 2 large looms and 8 industrial sewing machines in the center. Today was floor-mat day, and the looms were in full gear. I was not expecting to see looms!!!

The Life Center serves as a meeting space for both church services and adult literacy programs. There is a well on the property which provides a safe source of drinking water. I don't think I can overstate the importance of safe water. There were many puddles and clogged gutter systems full of contaminated water in the area. This contamination can seep into the groundwater and damage the entire water source. As bottled water can be a luxury here, many rely on boreholes or streams as their water source. Many people die from preventable diseases because they were driven to drink contaminated water. There is also a large Hindu family that lives and farms next to the Life Center. We discovered an elderly women living on the edge of their property in a VERY small woven hut and soon realized that she is an older relative of the family. She was apparently "banished" from the house once she became "useless" to them. I found her quite dainty.

We then went to the center of the village and saw two of the homes build for community members. They are small but extremely sturdy cottages built from cement brick which are built through IGL, though the beneficiaries must provide their own land. We had the honor of hearing the heartbreaking yet wonderful story of a woman named Chitra. She is HIV+ and buys, raises, and sells goats for income, which was actually started through a micro-loan program from IGL. There was a baby goat on her property that was just born that day. It wouldn't shut up, but it was adorable so I let it slide. 

Also in the town was a Women's Transformation Group (WTG). This is essentially a co-op of women who share trade skills such as literacy, accounting, etc. This particular one was very good at making soap. There is a micro-finance portion to the WTG which allows for the pooling of community funds which can then be used for loans, large purchases, etc. Only women who participate in a WTG can the be a beneficiary of the micro-loan program. Small loans (2,500 Rs. or about 45 USD) are given for the specific purpose of starting a business (like Chitra and her goats). Loans are then paid back with minimal interest, and those returned funds can then be given out as another loan. Larger loans are available to those who successfully repaid their first loan. 

LASTLY we visited the evening study center, which functions as an after-school program with some additional teaching from the Bible. We were warmly greeted by a crowd of around 40 children, and we were able to distribute gifts to each in turn. Some of these children were "graduates" of the Day Care Center we saw earlier that day. Kyle distributed to the Day Care Center children in the morning, while I distributed to the older children in the afternoon. It was a good end to a rather exhausting day.

Overall, I was very impressed with everything I saw. This program is multi-faceted while still being strategic and inclusive. The amount of accountability was encouraging; these villages get regular visits from IGL staff, and some of the church members act as liaisons between each part of the program. Also encouraging was the capacity-building which I saw almost across the board. It is EXTREMELY important to make these efforts a part of the community environment. Otherwise, it becomes just another handout, and the recipients will lack the training and motivation  to continue the work themselves. When people take part by financial or relational investment, they gain a sense of ownership in the things they're investing. For example, the loans are paid back with interest. The houses are built on land that they acquire themselves. They produce goods which are then sold locally. They pool community resources for wider sharing. Above all, they are investing in one another, regardless of spiritual beliefs. This bond of community, this morale if you will, is often the hardest yet most crucial part to any development effort. This is a major component to sustainability; getting those involved to be motivated to make sure the work continues. This village has been transformed as a result of a 5 year commitment, and there are many other cases dotted throughout the country. It costs $75,000 to Adopt-a-Village for 5 years, and considering the outcome, I believe that it's well worth the sacrifice.

.

Chitra, who is HIV positive and unafraid due to her faith in Christ.

Home built by IGL

Sarah, our guide from IGL, and Rosie

Rosie's parents whom IGL helped build a home

Register's for the WTG funds

Deep, scary, well.

Evening after school tutoring program

Church in the pastor's back yard

Pastor (Shadrach) Sathrack

This little feller was born the morning we took this picture

Chitra's home built by IGL

Everyone, meet Daniel, the "untouchable" leper who was able to touch many in Kanavaipudur

Switch-up!!

GET READY FOR A SCHEDULE CHANGE...

So instead of going to the village development program as originally planned, we went to the IGL office to begin our editing and writing of reports. We essentially proof-read many different documents written at the IGL office. I promise it was actually much more exciting than I'm making it sound. Among the documents were some profiles of students at a local training center, de-briefing reports from July's activities, Life Center propositions, Barefoot Pastor church plants, etc.

It was actually very enjoyable, being able to read about the work God is doing through IGL in these reports. Though the English needed touched-up a little (hence why we were there to edit...!) the content was loud and clear. God is moving powerfully all over India and Sri Lanka through the work happening at IGL. I wish I could go into more specifics about each of the testimonies and debriefing reports, but if I started I wouldn't know when to stop and I would have you reading all night...so I think it's best to leave it at that. If you decide to sponsor a barefoot pastor, donate to a Life Center, or take part in any one of IGL's programs, you would receive reports similar to the ones we were able to edit today.

We also started to work on brief reports concerning the two Life Center dedications we attended at Polur and Kolathur. We also began the long process of editing and transferring the photos and videos we've taken so far. Today marks our half-way point in the trip! 11 days down, 11 more to go. Do we really have to go home...?

...I know I definitely have something waiting for me at home! My first niece was born yesterday. 4lb 15oz Felicity Rose Mowery came into the world on 8/11 at 1:36 PM. My heart might have grown another size...

Tomorrow we may have another day editing reports...? I guess we'll play it by ear. We begin devotions agains for the community college boys tomorrow at bright and early 5:30 AM., and since it is almost midnight here in Salem, I bid you good night.

K.R. Thoppur & Kolathur

Evenin'!

Today we spent completely with our German counterparts. I'm still bad with the names, but there are technically three/four different teams in the group of 10 (I'm still unsure myself). We have two girls who are interning for 10 months. A young family of four who are spending a week doing YMCA work and then traveling. An older group of three, one of which is mentoring the two girls who are interning, and a lone ranger (named Christian nonetheless) spending God know's how long doing God know's what. I promise I'll try to get names...but now I'm fascinated by their accents. Some speak good British English, complete with British AND German accents. I'm having a heyday.

We traveled to a village house church in K.R. Thoppur in the morning. There were possibly around 40 people there, crammed into a small compound with both indoor and outdoor seating. A blue tarp was spread over an open space for people to sit outside. This was definitely my kind of homegroup! We were able to hear a number of testimonies from the church members, which was definitely a change for us! We've given our testimonies a few times, but we've never heard them in return. There were a number of great stories involving healing from paralysis, rampant stubbornness, persistence in prayer, and other scenarios. All of the testimonies given were stories of either Hindu people receiving Christ or those who believed in no God coming to know Him through the church's prayers and miracles. Some were vaguely similar to stories of people back home, but other's were different in ways I didn't imagine. It was a nice change of pace.

We then traveled through the countryside to Kolalthur for another dedication service. We were actually early, believe it or not, and had about an hour to relax and enjoy the intermittent breeze. This gave Kyle the opportunity to hang out with some of the nearby village children and teach them how to throw stones at birds. He probably shouldn't have done that ;). Along with that, Kyle got to play many games of "stick and rock" cricket with two of the boys. Two memorable children were James and John. Who were twins. And who loved Jesus.

One of the German's had the honor of dedicating the building and cutting the ribbon (his name is Dr. Reinhardt Schink). I did NOT end up teaching (phew!) as the dedication ceremony was primarily for the German team and sponsors. The atmosphere at this church was very different from the first one we attended. This gathering was much smaller but seemed more communal than the last. Interesting how some of that can be observed by outsiders! We headed back to Sharon after the dedication. It took a couple hours to get to each of these places, so half of the day was spent in a bus (very general estimate...)

We were blessed to see that Lisa & Carolyn were still at Sharon! Executive decision were made to stay an extra day for safe measure and the head out to Sri Lanka on Monday morning. Lisa is feeling much better and was able to eat some food with us before we all turned in. They are still not sure what was wrong with her. It could have been something bacterial mixed other trip factors (lack of sleep, body adjusting to new food, stress, heat, there's a lot that can happen on these trips!!!). An IV and some antibiotics seemed to do the trick. Pray that their time in Sri Lanka is successful, and that whatever mystery bug Lisa had does not happen to Kyle, myself, or our German counterparts. Also, I am expecting a niece to be delivered any second now! My older sister and husband Jessica & Erik are expecting their first daughter, and she went to the hospital yesterday I believe. Pray for them and that baby Felicity will make her way into the world safe and sound!

Tomorrow we head out to see a village development project, where I will be running around like a happy puppy. Not joking.