Arjuna arrives in the US on Wednesday for his annual fall trip! On his speaking agenda for this trip is the new Tribal Ministry Vision Nationals is getting involved with. There has been a movement among the Tribal people and many are coming to know Christ. Vision Nationals is networking with these new Tribal christians to train and support them as they live among their Tribes as missionaries, proclaiming the Gospel to their families!
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Enjoy a little cowboy action at the Caldwell Night Rodeo, Baby!!!
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Tom and Jean Hamilton, our hosts in Boise, took us to the Caldwell Night Rodeo for a real Idaho experience!
Archana, Me, Jean, and Tom at the Rodeo!
I felt so at home with the announcer’s twangy voice and being referred to as a “lady” all evening! We sat behind an old gentleman who had rodeoed all his life and was explaining the intricacies of each event to us. Archana felt bad for the calves during the calf tying event…I was really getting into it all (especially the bucking events) and having a blast!
Belle and Whisper
After church on Sunday we were able to take the Hamiltons horses for a ride. It was Archana’s first time on a horse, and she got rather saddle sore. 
After riding around the paddok for a while, Tom and I took them down the road and ran them a bit. So fun!
I LOVE the smell of horses!
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Great People to Share With
Speaking at Good Shepherd Church on Sunday was really fun! Good Shepherd is a church plant started by Tom Hamilton just outside of Boise, Idaho. It was super awesome to drive up to the building where they meet on Sunday mornings and realize it was a Boys and Girls Club!
My new church, Anchor Church, meets at the Boys and Girls Club here in Seattle, and Good Shepherd shares the same vision as Anchor – to impact their community with the Gospel starting with the people right in front of them: the staff and students at the Boys and Girls Club.
There are a couple stories that happened this weekend that I’d like to share:
The first is that I met a lady who was recently and unexpectedly widowed, and she decided to sponsor three widows through Vision Nationals which is a huge blessing for us and for her.
Also, the pastor and his wife reimbursed Vision Nationals – out of pocket – the price of my plane ticket out to Boise. This was one of the most generous acts I’ve experienced in a long time. As church planters, they have no financial security, but rely on God to supply their needs on a pretty much monthly basis. And yet, they give away money like it doesn’t belong to them! Because they live out the truth that it really doesn’t. It’s God’s money. And He is a good provider. What an example!
Another action shot!
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Late last night Archana and I arrived in Boise, ID. We’re here spending time with the Hamiltons, a wonderful couple that have been involved with Vision Nationals for over 10 years now. Tom Hamilton just began pastoring a new church here in Boise, and I will be sharing about Vision Nationals with the congregation tomorrow! I’m looking forward to that!
In the meantime, we had a little tour of the town today and it really made me miss home! The open fields, lots of horses and cows and llamas and buffaloes! But mostly it’s huge open skies and dry heat that makes my heart sing! I love Seattle…but nothing feels more like home than the bright sun in an open sky!
Oh yeah, and we might go to the Rodeo tonight! Fun!
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One of the girls on the team works for Compassion International in the U.S. and so yesterday Heather, Joe and I traveled with the team to Vijayanagram to visit a Compassion site. One of the things we saw while there was a stone quarry.
Endentured Servitude
Many of the laborers migrated to this place looking for work. When things don’t pan out as they’d hoped, they take a loan from a wealthy businessman to make ends meet. This wealthy business man happens to be the owner of a large stone quarry, and he agrees to let them work off their loan – and impossibly high interest – by working in his quarry. These people will spend the rest of their lives working off their debt.
The men swing sledge hammers all day, breaking larger boulders into manageable chunks. The women take those chunks and sort them into piles by size, carrying the stones on their heads in baskets. Then a huge lorry truck comes to pick up the rock piles and take them to who-knows-where where they can sell them.
The workers earn about $2 for every full truck that leaves the quarry. Many of these people have been working everyday for 10 or 15 years. Short of their master forgiving their debt, there’s no way out.
Walking around the quarry yesterday brought a new sense of importance to the work Vision Nationals is doing in India. I was looking at the life most of the children in our Children’s Home were destined for before the Lord plucked them out of their circumstance and brought them to us. How different these kids’ lives will be. And their kids, and their kids, and their kids…because of the work being done here. How blessed I am to be such a small part of such great change.
Changing one life at a time.
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Heather and I
Meet Heather Moga. She comes from Detroit, and has been a tremendous blessing to me these past few days. Her mad administration skills and attention to detail have come in handy many a time this week.
We’re sharing a room in Raji and Arjuna’s house it’s been fun to share the time and space with such a cool person. She’ll be staying on in Vizag for another three weeks helping out around campus. God gave me a good gift by bringing her here! So I thought you’d like to meet her too.
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Hannah and Prashanti making a tamborine for craft time.
The team from Mountain Springs has been putting on a VBS for the kids this week. It’s been a high energy VBS and all the kids are loving it!
Nicole and Prasad making tamborines.
They even got the Children’s Director (who was also translating for us) into the action!
Aravind Singing!
One of the watchman’s daughter joined in the fun. She loves the big brothers and they love her. It was so cute watching them teach her how to play with a tamborine.
Big Bro, Little Sis
The kids love VBS!
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He did a FABULOUS job! I was so proud!
Joe had many firsts today! It was his first time preaching in another country, first time preaching barefoot, first time preaching with a translator, first time preaching with his notes on his Blackberry (which did give him a little trouble), first time preaching in the morning (instead of the evening).
And he did SO well! I would have never guessed he hadn’t used a translator before. That can be tricky, but he grooved well.
And despite what the picture looks like, he was not only preaching to women. But the men sit on the other side. Here’s a panorama view of the church (and no, that Indian man in the pulpit is not Joe.)
Vision National's Church in Madhurwada
Well, we’re off to one of the newer Church plants now where Joe will preach again. Another first! His first time preaching two sermons in one day!
Telugu Scripture
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So…I was interrupted and accidently published my last post. Sorry to leave you hanging. Where was I, oh yeah:
I was more than a little nervous. We were meeting Arjuna’s brother at this hotel. Was he able to find it? And if he didn’t, how the heck were we going to find him in this city, in the dark, at ten o’clock at night?
As we would our way through the narrow alley, passing this lovely mural of King Kong, I was praying things would be okay.
He's much less intimidating in the daylight!
Sure enough, Shekhar was waiting for us in the room. Thank You, Jesus!!! It had taken him a LONG time to find the hotel. And he too was not too excited about it at first. But once you stepped inside you realized it was a good place. The rooms were nice and clean and there was a lift (elevator) and security guards. All was well and we all slept peacefully.
I put up this pic in the pre-funk post. But I’ll put it here again. Though really, the daylight takes away all sense of dread when looking at the hotel sign. Thus Joe’s smiley face. He and I were not exactly smiling the night we arrived!
Our Delhi Palace
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