home in tenali

Crystal, Bethany, and Taylor enjoying Indian breakfast
in Hyderabad

After a long and tiring (though exciting) five day trek, we have finally made it to Tenali and are getting settled into our new house here.  Let me start off by saying how awesome the house is...it's nicer than any of us expected.  We are in the heart of downtown Tenali and therefore smack dab in the middle of the hustle and bustle of this little town, which means we are not only close to shops and places to eat but we are greeted each morning with the sounds of India!  In fact, our back wall is shared with a mosque that is so close we could throw rocks into their backyard...and can hear very clearly the 5 time-per-day call to prayer over the loud speakers!  This is all fine and good until the 5am call to prayer...we are definitely thankful for ear plugs around here.

I am happy to report that the whole team is in good health and good spirits.  We are excited to begin our work here and jump into life in India.  We will be taking the next week to rest up, get acquainted with our surroundings, and learn how to become independent in our new town.  We started things off true Harvest India style when we arrived here at 5am this morning and snuck in 3 hours of sleep before heading out in two teams to local churches to fellowship with some of the dedicated believers in the area.  It was a blessing visiting some of the local Christian communities, being a part of their worship, and praying for many members of the congregations.

John preaching in a small Tenali church

My team had an extra special experience as we were blessed with the presence of our dear friend John Brokenshire (who has been living here with Harvest India since last October, read about his adventures here) and his lovely parents Mark and Marlyn who are visiting him here for 3 weeks.  This is John's second stint in India and his parents first visit out to see what their son is doing across the world.  John preached in church and his parents were able to see firsthand just how dedicated John is to serving Christ in India!  It was awesome to be a part of this wonderful family's reunion and to see the pride in Mark and Marlyn's eyes as John passionately shared his heart.

Elana & Crystal on their first camel ride in Dubai

Getting to India was a long journey but we made sure to have some great fun along the way.  We had an eight hour layover in Dubai on the way and we got to visit the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.  Crystal and I also decided we really wanted to ride a camel...so we did!  It was super fun and exciting, and even a little scary!  Camels are crazy giant animals and I had never before been so close up to one.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts...and for stopping by to read our blog.  More updates to come soon!

Prayer requests:

-Please pray for Lizzi, our pregnant team mate, who is experiencing the joys of first trimester morning sickness...on top of all the smells of India!  She has been a trooper so far!

-Continue to pray for health for the team as we are settling into the diet here and trying to catch up on our sleep.

Much love from India!