Israel & Palestine :: by Cory

So, we've done a pretty terrible job of updating this blog since we left India. We arrived in Bethlehem seven weeks ago and pretty much dove right into adjusting to another new culture, figuring out where to shop for food and other necessities, learning about our new jobs, making new friends, learning about the conflict here, and doing some site seeing. It's been amazing, difficult, fun, challenging, eye-opening, relaxing, educational, emotional, thought provoking, and beautiful. Living in the West Bank/Palestine is not something everybody gets to do and it's an incredible opportunity to see a side of this conflict that most people in the West hear nothing about.

For those of you who didn't know... we had to leave India for at least two months for visa law reasons and Israel is where we felt God leading us to spend our time away so that we could continue volunteering our time and gifts. Kevin and I were fortunate enough to visit Israel last year and in our time here we met some incredible people doing some amazing work in the middle of a conflict that goes back thousands of years.

So, we've been working with an organization called the Diyar Consortium in the heart of Bethlehem. It is an organization that was started by Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb who pastors a local Lutheran Church that we've had the privilege of attending a few times over the last few weeks. Diyar has a number of different ministries and is one of the largest employers in all of the West Bank/Palestine. They focus on the arts in helping the people of Palestine express themselves and search for peace in non-violent ways. They do this through the Diyar Academy that focuses on the youth, the Diyar University College of Arts & Culture, young adult leadership training programs, and elderly programs. It's incredible to see how they are impacting the lives and the communities in the Bethlehem area.

We're all chipping in with our individual skills, gifts, and passions and the staff has been incredible about making us feel right at home. The people of Palestine are absolutely amazing, welcoming, and hospitable. Everywhere we go we are invited in for tea or over for dinner. We have loved the beautiful people of this beautiful land!

Kacie & John in front of the Garden Tomb

Orthodox Easter on the Via Dolorosa

Orthodox Easter 

Kacie, John, and Renee at the Church of the Pater Noster 

Cory in front of the Church of the Masses: Garden of Gethsemane

The streets of Hebron

The ruins of Masada

Kacie & John at the Dead Sea covered in mud

Peace Rally at the Cremisan Monastery

Kevin & Angela at the Cremisan peace rally

The Herodium

Angela

Kevin in front of the Mar Saba Monastery

Cory with the Judean hills behind

Farewell at Quarry School :: by Angela

As we conclude our last month here in India (before our 3 month furlough) we are saying goodbye to those we have worked with, taught and loved. The schools and colleges in the Harvest India network are beginning their exam season and no longer need the daily touches of spoken English on campus.

We have already bid farewell to the students at KSK Girls College and H.I. Nursing College; but the most difficult goodbye, by far, was to the H.I. Quarry School 10^th class.

The 9^th class students put on a big farewell party for their 10^th class friends. There was dancing, singing, emotional speeches and tearful goodbyes. We were so blessed to be a part of their year, and encouraged to witness, first hand, the wisdom, training, life skills, friendships and support HI has provided for these wonderful kiddos! We wish them the best in the future, and can’t wait to continue these relationships on our return.

10^th class is the last stop in education for some. Completion of 10^th class in India is comparable to High School graduation in the U.S. (even though the students are 15-17 years old). Some students will begin looking for jobs but most will remain in the Harvest India community and either attend Quarry School Jr. College, KSK Girls College, or Nursing College.  Next year will be the first for boys to have an option in HI schooling; they can either choose Quarry Jr. College or Nursing College. HI has just received permission to begin male education at the Nursing College (Hooray!).

All in all, we are sad to say goodbye, but, SUPER excited to see them flourish on our return next school year!

An Update on College Outreach :: By Kacie

The Residency Team in front of Emmanuel Prayer Tower before the first service.

Since starting our time here in Tenali, one of our team focuses has been on college outreach and making relationships with the youth of Tenali. The town has several colleges and the youth are a huge population that Harvest India is beginning to reach out towards. We began our college outreaches with a program at several different colleges in the area…a few songs, a few games, a message on God’s love from John, and prayer for the students. Our first round of events was mainly to be a presence on campus and promote our “Tenali’s Got Talent” event at the end of December. This was a huge event that we invited all of the colleges to, in which they submitted two teams for performances that were judged and at the end of the night one team won a grand prize. The plan was to have fun and get many different colleges represented under one roof to share the love of God and Harvest India’s intention of starting college ministry. It was on December 28^th and had over 1000 people attend. All in all, it was a great event and a great start of our college ministry efforts. To see a video of our team performing for the event as well, click here. Enjoy :)

After Tenali’s Got Talent, our team went back to the drawing board, reevaluating our main goal of reaching the youth and how best to move forward…after this first round of ministry, what was the best next right step to keep momentum going for a future college ministry at the HI church still being built on the HI campus. How could we go deeper with students and be more intentional in our remaining time here? The answer came a few days after our team meeting. Pastor Bonuprasad from Emmanuel Prayer Tower church (aka HI Town Church) approached Bishop Suresh with his desire to start a Sunday evening English only youth service at his church and would like the Residency team to be in charge of worship and occasional preaching. When Suresh told us we all agreed it was an answer to our prayers of the next right step for our team. 

The first English service in Tenali was on the first Sunday evening in February. We had no idea what to expect. Harvest India was very excited about the potential of this service, but we had no idea how far word had spread about an English speaking service beginning in town, who would come, and really, if anyone would come. We moved forward expectant of what God would do with this new service. Thirty minutes into worshiping together during our first Sunday night service, we had over 100 people in attendance. Cory and Kevin led worship while Angela and I sang back-up vocals. John explained the meaning of one of the songs we chose with scripture and then taught the words to the crowd. The song was, “Set a Fire.” It is a song we love from ROCKHARBOR’s new worship album and has been an anthem in my life lately as we live in India. Here are the lyrics :: “Set a fire down in my soul, that I can’t contain, that I can’t control. I want more of you God. No place I’d rather be than here in your love.” John spoke of how God sets a fire in our souls, that can’t be contained for only ourselves, but that we can’t help but speak of him and his love to others. He illustrated this with the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 20:9 in which Jeremiah speaks of even when he tries not to tell the words of God and wants to deny himself as a prophet, God puts a fire in him and he must share. He can’t help but speak of the Lord and His righteousness. Likewise, there is no better place than the center of God’s will for us, at the center of his love for us. It was amazing watching faces light up when they sang the two short verses in English with us, trying to say the words and beginning to understand what they mean. I had so much fun making eye contact with girls in the crowd as I “caught” them singing and we would smile at each other. There was eagerness in the room for God and an eagerness for English, as strange as that sounds to me. I thought we would have maybe ten people come and God’s design for this service blew my meager expectations out of the water.

The second service happened last night. We passed out English New Testament Bibles and an English songbook of 12 songs our team has chosen for worship songs. It was so fun and so amazing to sing the same songs we sang during the first service and this time have everyone reading the words. The clapping was missing that is such a huge component of Indian worship due to holding songbooks, but it was replaced with everyone’s eyes inside their songbook and huge concentration on singing along with us. I have never had so much fun in church and felt the happiness of God bridging two cultures together. A Pastor visiting from Sun Valley Church in Arizona preached the sermon and it can be summed up in that there is no one greater than an Indian to bring the good news of Jesus to India. He spoke on empowerment through the Holy Spirit and that even one person can be used by God to change the face of India for generations to come. It was incredible sitting in the audience alongside Indian girls ranging from 14-30 and listening to a message about how important they are in the eyes of God and the advancement of His kingdom in India.

Please pray for a few specific things as we move forward. Our heart, from the very beginning, is to train and equip Indian youth to take our place in leading worship. This is especially necessary, not only for empowering them, but also because our team leaves for Israel and our furlough April-July. We will be holding weekly meetings of some sort soon in order to teach the worship songs to interested people and maybe start some sort of small group through it out of this night service, but we especially need a few boys and girls to lead worship on Sunday evenings. Someone who can play guitar would be awesome to find. Please pray that God brings forward Indians who we can train to work alongside us and take our places. In addition, please pray that God raises up interested youth to serve as leadership for this service. Our heart is really to hand this service back into their hands once we find those who would love to serve. There are several amazing people from Emmanuel Prayer Tower who serve with the small bits of set up and tear down, but finding and walking alongside those interested in leadership would be really great. Pray for the youth to continue to come. We are expecting great things for this service, no matter how much or how little English the people know, God is going to use this service in some mighty ways for His kingdom. I can’t wait to see how He continues to use English as the language with Western worship songs, but also makes this service completely culturally relevant as well. The bridging of two cultures is really fun to be a part of. We are stoked to play our part!  :)

  

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