TouchingHeartsForHim: June 2013

June Greetings to All, June 14, 2013

We have survived the May heat, with thanks to God and the inventor of the A/C system! People say within the next week the rains could begin … Onward Ho! To another first… Rainy Season!! It’s hard to believe when you drive across the long bridge and the huge river underneath is all but dried up, that in a couple months it’s a rolling river that’s almost up to the bridge!!

I talked with Mom, Traci and Westin and it sounds like the long, cold winter made the flowers and fruit especially beautiful and bountiful this year!! Here, the pineapple season is in =) and the mango’s and another little fruit called Liti, you peel the outside bumpy shell off and inside is the opaque white round fruit, that Veronica declares feels like an eyeball and yes it does kind of =) the taste is good tho. We truly do enjoy the benefits of all the fresh fruits and veggies that are readily available here!!

A little about the engagement parties we attended. Yes! Plural. David Brown’s was in Phulbani, ( which is about like a trip to Harrisonburg, Va.) And we went and came home the SAME day!! Okay, that was the not so nice, but the engagement ceremonies were very nice and very interesting!! They have family and a few friends, a ceremony where they have singing, family gives their okay and blessing and the minister asks some questions and reads some Scripture. Afterwards, the girls’ family supplies a feast for the guests. The date for the wedding is also arranged. ( This of course is the short version, the long version would fill the page =) Then, Chintu had his here in Cuttack, on June the 5^th. That was very nice because Nirman Home was having VBS at that time also.

Vacation Bible School started on May 26^th and concluded with big ceremony and feast on June7th. The parents of all the visiting children are invited and there was a crowd about like the Easter Celebration! I had the privilege of helping care for the “babies” during these two weeks - five little ones about 2-3yrs. down to 1 yr. This of course suited me perfectly =) and my lack of the oriya language was overcome by love and hand gestures. The time we had to be there every morning will make some of you laugh, try 5:30am. Yes, our God has a sense of humor I do believe! The first week we would have lunch there and then come home to rest. Towards the end of that week I got that nasty old cough again =( and Sunday was home with fever. We had prayer and God took away the fever. So Monday found us all back at VBS. We would come home then around 10:30- 11:00, mainly because I was so exhausted. Then some evenings Chris and Veronica would go back around 4:30 and play Cricket or whatever was going on. It was a great 2 weeks, though very tiring. The children’s classes learned Bible verses and Chris & Veronica’s lessons were about the Armor of God. Lots of singing and fun games and relays after classes. Of course, there was plenty of their favorite game, Cricket, played also!! We even got to join in on a couple of the matches =)

Yes, I do believe rainy season has officially arrived. These people are amazing in the way they adapt. From heat that will fry you, then months of rain like we sometimes have a day or two of in winter. The kind that after a week you are climbing walls and saying “Get me outta here”. =) Thankfully it looks like our June and July will be very busy, trying to get last visits in to each of the Homes before time to fly back to the USofA!! Please pray that a couple things will definitely happen before we leave. First, we want each child to have a Bible. And we are working with the Bible Society and would like to hand them out on our trips to each of the Homes. Second, it looks like God has opened the door for the land, PTL. They began searching in a totally different area, not Phulbani, and almost immediately they found a nice piece of land. So far everything has “checked out okay” and they may be settling for it next week!! Hallelujah! Please continue to pray that all will go smoothly and in God’s will.