Time with the ROCKharbor 2-week Team

We were fortunate to be a part of something new to end 2012.  Our home church is ROCKhabor and all of us came to India for the first time with our church on a two week mission trip.  This is how we all came to fall in love with India and Suresh's far-reaching ministry.  Now that we have been living here for 3 months, living and breathing this ministry, we had the opportunity to welcome 26 people from our home church for the same two week trip we have all experienced.  This was a new experience for our church; to have members already here in India to walk alongside a mission trip from home.
We are close with several of the team members, so it was refreshing to see some familiar faces and to experience the ministry we love with these friends.  All the new faces we didn't know were a joy to be around as well.  Seeing them experience India for the first time and watching God working in and through them at each of the ministry events was awesome.  Since the Residency Team does not usually do the two-week trip ministry stuff, it was a great reminder of how incredible Harvest India is and how God works through each ministry.  The team spent half of their time in Tenali and half in the town of Peddapuram (4 hours north of Tenali).  
Some of the ministries we did with the team included: food/clothing distributions, red light district, leprosy camp, sending time with the IPP women, visiting KSK college and seeing the new construction there, visiting elderly homes, HIV hospital, small crusades at villages, and going to village churches together.  We also spent New Year's together with with the ROCKharbor orphans and HI staff that included communion, cake, dance parties, and fireworks.
We had been looking forward to the team visiting ever since we landed in October... praying, worshiping, and just being God's church together all the way over in India was such a blessing to the six of us.  It was like we never left home.  We all laughed together, cried together, sang together, ate Indian food together, made new friends and had an overall great time.

Thank you Jesus for bringing our friends here and back safely.
Thank you for blessing us with their joy and love for India.

Here are some photos from our time with the team:

The Team

At the food distribution

Food distribution

Angela and one of the sweet elderly ladies

Clothing distribution at Thota house

Talia using her nursing skills to assist at the Leprosy camp

Food distribution

At the construction for the future site of KSK college

Worshiping at a village church

Suresh and Christina with the "Mother India" railway kids.  The team served them a meal.

Rockharbor orphans praying during New Year's celebrations

Tenali's Got Talent Dance

For those of you who need something to make you smile today... please enjoy this video of white missionaries dancing in India! 

He Hears Our Prayers - By Renee

Last weekend, we had a crusade in the Bapatla area.  Cory and Kevin documented the event while the rest of us prayed over the people as they stood with bold proclamations. The entire Harvest India staff was there along with a choir from the HI Nursing College and some talented students from the Quary School who helped spread the Gospel through dance.  Many people heard the the Good News, were healed, and experienced Christ in a new way. This wasn't just limited to the people in the surrounding village; the Harvest India staff were changed as well (I LOVE that we are considered staff now!).

As I'm sure many of you heard, Ravi wasn't at the Crusade on Sunday night. He was in a motorcycle accident earlier in the day. Here in Tenali, motorcycles are much more common than cars and helmets are a rarity. After being thrown to the ground, Ravi got up and brushed himself off assured that he was fine. Moments later, he collapsed and was taken to a local hospital in Bapatla. Recognizing that they did not had the facilitates to care for him, he was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit in Guntur.

It wasn't until Monday morning that we caught wind of the news. In an instant, the room was shattered. We were told about the accident, the hospital admittance, and that Ravi was unconscious and paralyzed on one side of his body. This news literally rocked me. God has used Ravi in huge ways in India. I first met him 2 years ago on the RockHarbor two week trip.He is the director of the Harvest India Children's homes. Ravi is such a man of God and his love for His people is so evident. He's a quiet one, but a powerful servant of the King!  Two months ago, I had the privilege of meeting Ravi's sons and aunt at a local church service. His aunt had recognized me from a picture they have on their refrigerator. Ravi told me that they had been praying for me since our 2 week trip had left nearly 2 years ago. What a blessing!

After hearing the news, we cancelled our teaching schedule and instead decided to fast and pray for Ravi. Suresh came over to our house with Danny and as a team (along with Ramaraj) we prayed like I've never prayed before. We were broken and scared. Our prayers were honest and desperate. And the good news is, God heard them!

A couple hours later, we arrived at the hospital to learn that Ravi had recently woken up and was able to move both sides of his body! His brain was hemorrhaging, he wasn't out of danger yet, but God had brought him a long way. Angela and I were the first of our team to in and see Ravi in ICU. I had no idea what to expect. When we approached the bed, Ravi simply looked like he was sleeping with a breathing mask; there were no visible signs of trauma. His wife gently shook his arm, whispered a few words into his ear, and Ravi slowly opened his eyes. We could literally watch his eyes focus as he took in the world around him. His first words out of his mouth were "Praise the Lord!" Yes Ravi, Praise the Lord that He has you in His hands! Praise the Lord that He is good and just! Praise the Lord for how He has already healed you and will continue to heal you! Praise the Lord that you are safe in his hands! Yes Ravi, Praise the Lord!

It was a hard day, but in the midst of pain His sweetness reigned.

We were able to pray for Ravi as a team in that hospital room in Guntur; but the beauty of prayer (and God for that matter) is that it is not limited to a moment or a room. Within a few hours, literally hundreds if not thousands of people around the world were praying for a single man in India. The news quickly spread via Facebook, emails, and texts. RH pastors, life groups, and the India community as a whole were lifting up Ravi in prayer. That is what we are called to do as the Church. To love and uphold one another. So beautiful!

Ravi is still in the hospital but is out of the Intensive Care Unit. Praise the Lord! We traveled to Guntur yesterday to find the hospital room in much higher spirits. Ravi was more alert with complete feeling on both sides of his body though he was complaining of an intense headache (naturally). His wife was able to smile and tell us that after asking about their father for nearly a week, his boys are able to go see him--- they may even be with him as I'm writing this.

Last we heard, Ravi is scheduled to have another MRI to assess the progress of the hemorrhaging in his brain. After witnessing God's healing hands over this past week, I'm expecting to hear more good news. Please continue to pray for Ravi: for healing, for comfort, for His story and His plans to be revealed.

College Outreach

Performing at Amedkar College

One of the main reasons Harvest India asked RockHarbor to send a Residency Team to Tenali is to help them grow their college ministry. Harvest India is an organization that basically has ministry covered from birth to death, but they really felt like they were missing out on the college age kids. Recognizing that RockHarbor has done a fairly good job of attracting the twenty-something crowd, they approached our church about helping out.

Jump forward a year or two... now you have six Americans living in India trying to connect with the youth. How in the heck do you do that? By exploiting the allure of our "western-ness", and playing American pop songs and Minute To Win It games of course!

We've visited Ambedkar College, St. Peters College, KSK College, Harvest India Nursing College, and next week we'll be visiting JMJ College. We've spent the last few weeks performing songs, playing games, and connecting with local colleges all over Tenali. It's been a great way to spread the word about what Harvest India is doing in Tenali as well as inviting the kids to become a part of a larger community.

We've also been inviting the schools to join us at an event and competition that we are calling Tenali's Got Talent this December 28th. We are formatting it in the American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, and America's Got Talent type of competitions with judges and prizes for the winner. Each of the schools that we've visited will send two teams of students to perform a song, dance, or drama at the competition. Our team will also be performing some songs and dances to make things extra interesting. The winning team will receive a cash prize and the pride of Tenali!

Aside from all of the fun we've had, it's been a really encouraging and exciting process to see our team grow through this experience. We are all being stretched to step out of our comfort zones by getting up on stage to sing and dance, act silly, and speak in front of large crowds when those things may not necessarily be one of our strengths. It's been an a process that has really brought us closer as a team and forced us to rely on each other for support and encouragement. More than anything it's forced us to really rely on God to get us through each event. It all seems to fit the theme of "being called to be uncomfortable".

Here are a few images from the events so far:

Suresh welcoming students at Ambedkar College

Renee, Kacie, and Angela with students at St. Peters College

Students at KSK College

John encouraging the students to engage their community

Thoughts on Teaching - By Angela

Teaching in India is a very different experience than teaching at home.

There are a few reasons for this:
1. India is a collectivist society.  They consider the group before thinking for themselves. As an American educator a lot of the habits they have formed in school- things like sharing answers, shouting out an answer for another student, looking at one another’s papers- seem like cheating.  It is taking great effort for me to understand how they collectively have class, without assuming that they are not individually learning, or otherwise cheating.  
Some aspects of the collective approach to teaching are fun; they are very good a choral response.  When I say or write something on the board for them to repeat, the room rumbles in a rhythmic beat of syllables, it makes me feel powerful, like a high ranking military officer. They also genuinely want to help each other. I see no pride or arrogance in ones efforts. This is both good and bad for me, as a teacher. I like their humble and caring hearts; but, at the same time, I really do not know who originally came up with the answer written on everyone’s paper across the row.  I want them to understand that at this point I could care less whether or not the answer is correct, I just need to know who is getting it correct and who is not, and what I need to go ever again.

2. India is a respectful society.  Like in Spanish, the Telugu language has set apart words for respected people: elders, teachers, mothers, fathers and respected people in society.  It is a wonderful tradition and aspect to language that I feel we have let slip in our society. Never do I hear, “ma’am,” and the only time I hear children calling adults Mr. or Mrs. is in class to their teacher. 
When I walk into my classroom the students all stand and say “Good morning madam”  (I have been called madam more than I care to count-it makes me feel like an old woman or a brothel spinster).  Anyway, it is a sign of respect here and I appreciate it!  If a student is late to class they do not speak, they only stand at the door and salute until you invite or wave them in.  These are two simple examples of many that show the utmost respect these students have for adults, teachers, and education as a whole. 

3. Indian boys LOVE to dance.  Not much to say on that, other than that I have never seen a SINGLE boy in America as eager to dance as EVERY boy is here.  The kids, boys and girls alike, are truly enjoying Renee’s dance classes.  She is so good at simplifying the choreography to counts that language is not an issue. 

4. India is a society hungry for education.  Many students at home roll their eyes when they are assigned homework, dislike going to class, dislike their teachers, complain about the long days, fake illness, find any excuse not to attend school….I know, I was one of them! 
Schooling in India, in this area, for this caste of students is a PRIVELEDGE!  The students look forward to coming to class, they are as a whole eager to complete their work, and they appreciate their teachers. At home, even teaching kindergarten, I struggled trying to make the learning fun, relevant and entertaining.  Here, we have a chalkboard and crappy white chalk; no technology, no manipulative, no cool art supplies, and the students are enthralled with learning. Simple strategies like charades are a welcome break from day to day class work, and even then I feel that at home charades might not be enough entertainment for some. 

All in all, I love teaching here and I have a lot to learn!

Thoughts on Holidays and Diwali

In America, we have weekends.  The rhythm of the work week says that we work Monday through Friday and we don’t work on Saturday and Sunday.  Indians don’t have weekends.  In India, you will see children going to school six days a week.  During exam times, they will go to school every day of the week to prepare for the exams.  People who own shops go to work every day of the week.  Some workers will work 6 days a week.  Churches start late because people need to work in the morning on Sunday and then will come in at 12 or 1 PM.  

During one of the first meetings with Suresh, he asked whether we wanted to have weekends.  We said that we did.  This seemed like it would be important for our sanity.  Some of the Harvest India staff will ask us to do something on Saturday, but then will stop and say, “Oh wait, you have holiday.”  The staff members refer to our weekends as holidays.  

I wondered how Indian workers keep their sanity without weekends.  One important thing to note: the people I work with are very depend on their daily wages.  If they don’t work, they don’t make money and they don’t eat.  Weekends wouldn’t be helpful for that.  Another note: they have so many national holidays in India that they don’t need weekends.  We’ve been here six months, but there is at least one large festival every month.  October had Dusserah and November had Diwali. 

Hindus celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, as a very important festival to worship the goddess of weath, Lakshmi.  The Hindu celebration focuses on the victory of darkness over light.  Hindus will say special prayers and go to special services on this day.  They celebrate Diwali by buying new clothing or jewelry or automobiles on this day.  In effort to make Lakshmi feel welcomed in their home, they will light small clay lamps and set them up outside their house.  They will also clean out their entire home and repaint it if they can afford it.  It is the beginning of the fiscal year for financial businesses.  Finally, they will light off fireworks (also called bombs) all over town to scare away the evil spirits.  To learn more about the celebration, please visit the Wikipedia page.

Our team got to celebrate Diwali.  Christians don’t really celebrate Diwali, but Suresh invited us to eat a nice dinner and shoot off some fireworks for Diwali.  I had to think about why we would be celebrating Diwali.  We don’t want to impress upon other Christians that we are acting Hindu.  We also don’t want the Hindus to think that as well.  I asked Suresh why we were celebrating Diwali.  He said that every year, people will just give him a ton of fireworks for free.  He won’t waste them, so he lets his kids and the house workers light them off.  He does it for his kids.  Thinking about it, it seems similar to Non-Christians celebrating Easter or Christmas with gifts.  If you use Diwali as an opportunity to light off fireworks and spend time with family, then how is it different than the Fourth of July?  Anyways, from my experiences here in India, I think that Indians will choose any opportunity to light off fireworks.  

Before we went to Suresh’s house, we checked some prices on fireworks.  Fifty Rupees (about $1) bought a package of 10 boxes of sparklers.  Twenty Rupees (less than fifty cents) could buy a bag of 100 small fireworks that look like mini sticks of dynamite.  Fireworks are CHEAP and legal here.  

When we got to Suresh’s house, there were a ton of fireworks and bombs.  Bombs are an appropriate name because when they light off they explode and make loud noises.  There were small sparklers that came in boxes of 100.  They were great, but short so some of the arm hairs feel singed.  There were some fireworks that went into the air and exploded.  There were some rolls of fireworks that were hundreds of small stick fireworks that when lit would set off a chain reaction of lighting up and exploding.  There are spinners that are attached to sticks similar to sparkers.  There are fountain fireworks.  All of these are really fun to use.

The Canadian team joined us as we lit fireworks.  It was amazingly fun yet super dangerous to American standards.  Bombs were lit and exploded a little closer than they should probably have.  Fountain fireworks were lit by other fountain fireworks.  I had a close encounter one time when I lit a fountain and it didn’t look like it lit up.  The whole thing was caught on video that can be seen here.  Cory also had a problem with a fountain firework.  You could light the fountains and then hold them as the sparks came out.  One Cory had exploded in his hand and burnt it.  We put ointments on it and prayed and it was healed within two days.  

Renee, Angela, Mercy and Kacie with sparklers.

I had so much fun lighting bombs with some Harvest India staff and then running the opposite direction for cover laughing the entire time.  Looking around, there were scenes of fireworks going off.  There was joy on everyone’s faces.  Suresh’s wife, Christina, looked like a little kid lighting off some of the fountain fireworks.  Suresh’s children and house staff were so excited and having so much fun.  During it, I realized why Suresh celebrated with fireworks for his kids.  It was a wonderful time celebrating together as one big family.  We weren’t celebrating Diwali with family, we were celebrating family with fireworks!

The Team and the Kumars