Chapter 1

Hey guys!

I’m finally getting settled in, adjusted to the time zone, and over the jet lag. At the moment I’m with a group of 9 people from Kensington church which is in Michigan. I haven’t had a lot of alone time because of the KCC (Kensington Community Church) team is here, so that’s my excuse for it taking so long for me to blog, and I’ve been having a lot of trouble with uploading photos. I honestly feel like this adventure of mine won’t truly start until I’m alone.

Nevertheless, I have stories and pictures to share with you all. So much has already happened that It would take me several hours to write it all, so I’ve decided to narrow it down to a few things. 

The Travel

This was my sixth trip to India and really my eleventh time traveling across the world counting there and back. I have to say, I’m getting good at it. My dad and I left for JFK airport thursday morning at about quarter to 12, and by 1:30-2 pm we were sitting in a Chili’s Too enjoying our last solid meal, beef. 

We had a flight to Amsterdam where we would meet the team from KCC and then fly on to Mumbai, and then to Hyderabad, and finally to Rajahmundry. In total it takes about 36 hours. The first flight went well, we didn’t have the little TV’s on the back of the seats but it wasn’t that bad, 6 hours went by fast and before I knew it I was sitting in the Amsterdam airport casino watching a guy play blackjack. The rest of the travel is a big blur, I slept for 6-7 hours on the flight to Mumbai, and the last two flights were only 1-2 hours long. 

The highlight of the travel was us landing in Mumbai and waiting for the Indians to pull the stairs up to the plane. I could see the stairs 20 feet away from the plane, and six Indians sitting on the luggage carts talking. After about 20 minutes the pilot (who’s American) comes on the intercom and announces, “Hi folks, um I don’t really know what’s going on. I can see the stairs and the Indians sitting around but no one’s really doing anything. Um, I’m really sorry, hopefully something will happen soon. Welcome to India!” 

Another highlight was the funnel line concept. There’s no such thing as order in India. Lines DO NOT exist. So when my dad and I are putting our luggage through the X-ray machine and an Indian who has less bags than us, walks in front of us and puts his in first, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise. And to me it didn’t come as a surprise. It was a very different story for my dad, ask him about it sometime. 

Arrival 

We arrived at CEM campus and were greeted by all of the orphans and 50 dollars worth of flowers. Trying to keep in mind that most of you who are reading this have never been to CEM campus, I took some photos of the property and a video of us arriving that I thought I’d share with you. (I couldn't upload the video. The connection is too slow.)

                                                                                         CEM Campus Gate

                                                                  

                 

                                                                                         Flower welcoming 

More Flowers

Vita Getting Covered In Flowers

What we’ve done

Nothing crazy has happened yet, and that’s probably a good thing. I’ve spent as much time as I can playing with the kids. It’s so exhausting but you mean the world to these children, and I think it’s important that I give them every spare minute that I have. I have to sacrifice very little to bring the biggest brightest smile to their faces. 

October 3rd (October 2 for you) was a very fun day. We dedicated the hospital which gave me a taste of how much of an impact this hospital is going to have on the community. I have a picture of the front of the hospital that's almost finished. 

That night Greg, Jim, Prasanth, Deepthi and I filled up some water balloons and launched them from the roof down at the kids playing in the courtyard. It was so much fun and the kids love it. For those of you who don’t know, Jaya Sankar started this orphanage, his wife’s name is Lakshmi, they have 6 kids, 4 of which are adopted. Devi and Prasanth are their biological children and then they have Deepthi who is 4, Keerthi who is 2 or 3 and lastly twins who are 1. I can’t pronounce their names let alone spell it right. 

Deepthi is the cutest little girl and has so much personality! Jaya told me that when I left last february she was calling my name and asking when I’d come back. At first she was really shy with me and might run up to me, poke me in the leg, and then run away laughing. This night she really opened up to me and we had so much fun playing tag and running around laughing. It’s amazing how much joy children can bring to you, Jaya and Lakshmi are the luckiest people in the world. I know I’m going to have a very hard time saying goodbye to Deepthi. 

                                                                                         Deepthi and Prasanth  

Deepthi and Jaya

And Deepthi again

At the moment I’m feeling very anxious. I haven’t had a lot of alone time and I’m really looking forward to the KCC team leaving so that my journey can truly begin. All of my previous trips here have been more of a sprint, you have 7 days to do as much with the children as you can and then you get on a plane and go back home. It’s so nice to not feel rushed like that. 

Other than feeling anxious I’m doing very well. I honestly don’t mind the food, I’ve been eating a lot of it and I have about $175 of food that I brought with me in case if I get sick of it anytime soon. 

Prayer requests are that:  1. God will take away this anxious feeling and allow me to enjoy my time with the KCC team. 2. That I’ll stay healthy and keep up the positive attitude toward the food. 3. that God will continue to use me and reveal himself to me on this trip. 

I’ve attached a few more random photos for the fun of it. 

Landing in Rajahmundry, it was sunny.

The airport control tower.

A few of GCH (Grace Children's Home) kids doing chores. 

Chapel 

Praying

Gumya laughing (I think that's how you spell her name)

GEM students

Courtyard

Where I'm staying

One of the orphanage buildings.