A Foggy Day in Londontown...

So... this post is technically about India... But I did get to spend an afternoon in London due to a missed flight on our way to India(Daaaang it ;)) AND as we were landing in London on the way back, it was a foggy day and it made me reminisce about listening to this Michael Buble song with my roommates.

Anyways... :) this is one of a couple/ a few posts I will write to update you all on INDIYUH! This first post will be more fun, the next will be more logistical and detailed!!

While I was in India I kept a daily(ish) journal on what happened and wrote "a lesson a day" for the number of days I was in India. I also wrote a list of things I will miss most and things I wont miss so much about India. Hope it can give you an initial feel of how the trip went :D.

Lesson #1: Don't ever kill a bug and leave it, it will get devoured by a trail of some 10 million odd ants...

Lesson #2: Always carry a flashlight.

Lesson #3: Bobby pins and hair clips make fairly decent clothes pins ;).

Lesson #4: Always take a rain jacket and sweatshirt to India... believe it or not you actually CAN get very cold and very wet.

Lesson #5: No matter how sketch other people might think it is, always bring a sharpened pocket knife or folding blade :).

Lesson #6: Palmfrond brooms make superb bug killing devices :).

Lesson #7: Always carry extra water and be prepared to roll with anything.

Lesson #8: Always be prepared... to be completely unprepared ;), there's no telling what could happen.

Lesson #9: Triple check that you have multiple contacts when you have a large group travelling through a foreign country who can speak both your language and the native language.

Lesson #10: Countertop cleaner (aka. Mr. Muscle) is very effective against giant flying Indian cockroaches!

Lesson #11: Never go for a walk without your camera!!

Lesson #12: Rain is one of the sweetest blessings!

Lesson #13: Always utilize your rickshaw room! 15 people in one is good ;).

Lesson #14: God is bigger than anything and mighty to save!

Lesson #15: Always wear A LOT of bug spray in a jungle...

Lesson #16: Never. Ever. Ever.... EVER even think about trying to drive in India... It's way too complicated :).

Lesson #17: Indians take tea very seriously :).

Lesson #18: The Truth of God is more powerful than Satan.

Lesson #19: Never make overly emphatic remarks about things to your hosts... they take them seriously to the extreme ;).

Lesson #20: God's Word is full of life and we must be rooted in it daily. He must become greater, we must become less!

Lesson #21: Take time daily to stand back in awe of God.

Lesson #22: The influences of a roommate do stick with a person, no matter how far away they go.

Lesson #23: No kind of deformity or physical ailment of this world can and should be allowed to lessen our joy in God.

Lesson #24: It is an amazing blessing to feed a mouth that cannot feed itself and rejoice and laugh with those that society deems as "handicapped".

Lesson #25: We can do nothing worthwhile or good apart from Christ, therefore He must be in control, supreme, and our source of joy.

Lesson #26: There are so many simple things that we take for granted in the states, like: consistent power, smooth roads, cars with forward facing seats, clean smells, digestive health... and the list goes ever on and on...

Lesson #27: Always be sure to give Alex Goedhart a guitar and have her improv a song ;).

Lesson #28: Goodbyes are always hard :/...

Lesson #29: It's not possible to get tired of naan (delicious Indian bread).

Lesson #30: We serve a Living God who hears and answers prayers.

Lesson #31: Don't let cross-cultural frustrations get in the way of your view of a situation.

Lesson #32: AC sleeper trains are da-BOMB!

Lesson #33: Almost anything tastes good on top of roti (Indian tortilla-like things :))

Lesson #34: Be prepared to feel foreign to your body by the end of a long trip.

Lesson #35: Take the time to appreciate the artistry and talent of others.

Lesson #36: British Airways' abbreviation is B-A for good reason ;).

Lesson #37: You can't beat jet lag... no matter how hard you strive against it, it will overcome...

Lesson #38: I must go back to England someday :).

Lesson #39: Always remember to thank God for all the blessings and gifts He bestows :).

Those are just some of the lessons I learned while in India :). Aaaand, here are two lists:

Some of the Things I Will Miss Most:
-Rickshaw rides through the cities.
-The mercy home kids.
-The dance and music of India.
-The fresh fruit (mangoesssss!).
-Cassidy Hursey and Sam Thompson. (two great people I got to meet on this trip!)
-Having so much free time to reflect on the Word and spend time with God.
-The Taj Mahal :D
-Having tea time 3-4 times a day :).
-The people!!
-The simplicity of joy there.
-Getting to work in their library full of centuries of Christian knowledge.
-The beautiful wood and metal work, or, in short, the ancient Indian architecture styles :).
-Hearing people's amazing testimonies!!
-Amazing coffee.
-The vast array of sounds that come out of vehicles when someone honks the horn.
-The market places ^_^.
-The COLORS!
-The elephants :).
-The wide array of interesting transportation.
-The friendliness, hospitality and kindness of the Indian people!
-The henna :).
-Getting to see God work in such a different way in such a different place!! :)

Some Things I May Or May Not Miss Too Very Much ;):
-unreliable power (aka unreliable sanctuary from the heat)
-unreliable plumbing
-unreliable source and amount of toilet paper.
-dehydration, diziness and nausea.
-the heat and humidity.
-the frustration of a big language barrier.
-the crowdedness.
-being treated like a pop star (aka: being stared at and taken pictures of all the time)
-getting sick.
-the cries of children as their parents drop them off and leave them at the mercy homes :(.
-the amount of trash and varrying smells everywhere.

Chronicles of India- Chapter 3/ End of the year remeniscence...

So... IT'S THE END OF THE SEMESTER!! Finals are over for me, and summer has just begun!! It's crazy to think that I'll be in INDIA in under a month! 21 days to be exact! I can't believe where God has brought us with this mission team and this trip... here's a little update since the last post:

Our team had a 50% due date about a week ago- meaning, if everyone didn't have 50%, people and teams were going to get cut- and we made it! God was so good, and in one weekend He provided for each of us to get our 50% in.

Then we all applied to receive loans from the Student Missionary Union so that we could have all the funding in and just pay it back when we actually get money from our fundraisers.

So ya! we are all safe, officially going, and SO immensely excited! I got all of my shots, I almost have all of my malaria pills, and as I finished my finals today I was glad for the fact that I now, finally, have time to just focus on India!

Keep praying for us and for our preparation, spiritually, mentally and physically!

In other news... I'm HALFWAY done with college... SO crazy.

This has been one of the worst/most difficult/craziest/most rewarding/most amazing/most blessed years of my life so far. Honestly, it's hard to say what I feel about it... at times it's been hard to hold myself together, at times it has been difficult to just function as myself due to my attention and energy being split in many different directions. It's been a year full of mourning new and different things, and of learning about just how dark some places in this world can be... and yet, there have been times where I have laughed harder than ever before, times that I have felt so close to and so much love for the community around me, times where I just wish things could remain like this forever...

This year had so much packed into it that it's really hard to believe it was only a year. I'm going to turn twenty this summer... I'm an upper classmen in college now... My brother is getting married in a week... my life is changing, and I pray to God that that turns out to be an amazing, rewarding, and good thing.

It's been a long journey of a year, but thank God for all I learned in it, and thank God that it's over... now 3 months until I face the next one!

Chronicles of India- Chapter 2

Once I was welcomed onto the team, we all had our first team meeting together. It was awesome to meet the other seven people that I would be spending the next few months working beside. And yet, there was something not quite so awesome about the meeting.



We found out that each of us needed to have $330 by that friday... meaning, two days later.



Why, you ask? We had to put down a downpayment for our flights and pay the Mission Union, all of this adding up to more than three hundred dollars.... In TWO days...



We all looked at our leaders wide-eyed when they gave the announcement, but leaving that room at 11'oclock that night, I had a courage and purpose in my heart to try my best to gather/make as much money as I could the next day, since Wednesday was the only time I had to do anything about it.



Wednesday morning I woke up, a little anxious and nervous about what the day would hold. As I was praying, I realized that $330 dollars was something I didn't have and could certainly not accumulate on my own, so I boldly prayed out of faith that God would completely take this day in His hands and bring me the $330, that I could not do it, and that I had faith that He certainly would.



So I woke up in the morning... and I didn't live my life like a newly popular hip hop song, but I did post signs all over my floor saying that I would be doing henna all day in my room, and that anyone could get a tattoo for $3.


Then I went to classes, having already made about 7 appointments with girls on my floor for henna, I felt amazed at how God was already working.



I had also shot out emails to a few different groups of people: I therefore had scattered meeting with friends and a meeting at 9 at my church with the choir I had just recently joined.

Long story short, I did TONS of henna, I was running across campus all day, and it was the most busy day of my life. BUT, by 6:00 I had somehow, by God's grace, accumulated $180! So crazy. And I knew that I had that meeting with my church in just a couple hours.


So, a bit before 9, I hopped in my car and jetted over to my church. Now, I felt so uncomfortable doing this, and almost turned back multiple times. I hardly even know this community yet, and I felt so weird asking anything of them, let alone large sums of money (obstacle 1).

I got to the church and obstacle 2 hit: the doors were locked. I could see the choir... so close, yet so far! So, I determined that I wouldn't let that phase me, and waited. Thank God, someone finally came out, saw me, and let me in.

Then, of course, obstacle 3 hit. The rehearsal was supposed to be over at 9, and I was supposed to go tell them about my trip (the choir director had invited me to when I sent him an email). Only problem was, by 9:15, they were still going strong, and I had a meeting I had to be at at 9:30.

I felt so torn and so uncomfortable, but despite the strong urge to just give up and leave, God cemented my heart in that pew and held me there until they finally concluded at 9:30.

So I took a deep breath and made my way up to the stage, to stand in front of 50+ almost complete strangers who were all much older than me. I took another deep breath, and began to tell them about my trip, my passion for what God was doing, and my need.

It was extremely uncomfortable, but I was completely transparent and helpless in front of these people, stepping out in the faith that God wasn't having me do this for no reason.

And you want to know what? I was NOT for no reason :) with God I honestly don't think anything ever is!

As I was walking off the stage, a man from the band said he wanted to cover the whole $330! And I was hardly able to step off the stage before I was bombarded with hugs, prayers, encouragements, wise words amongst other things like checks and large bills (not the bird kind mind you ;)).

One of the women said an amazingly true thing to me: "I know it's difficult and uncomfortable, but how is the Body of Christ supposed to meet a need if they don't know about it."

After saying many thanks I walked out of there in awe of God and the amazing community that I didn't even know existed before that moment! I was so encouraged and stunned that I didn't even care to look at the wad of money that I had stuffed in my backpack.

I took the money straight into my leaders and the missions office.

Later that night, I found out the sum of money... The church alone had given me just under $500.00!!! That plus around $200 that I had made earlier....

I can't even accurately describe the feeling of utter awe that I had in God for the rest of the night... for the rest of that week, for the rest of my life I'll carry that memory with me.

God is SO good! Or, as one of my professors said this week, "God is the goodest good, far gooder than what our word 'good' can describe". He never ceases to amaze me, and His provision just affirmed in me even more the knowledge that India is exactly where I am supposed to be this summer, no more doubts about it!!

You know, it is SO difficult to live day to day on complete, blind faith, and I figure not many of us actually ever experience the purity of that. That one day, perhaps the first day I had ever experienced it fully, was so legitimately amazing that I know for a fact I shall never forget it, nor the mightily capabe hand of God.

And, Praise God, two weeks later, my team on a whole has $10, 400.00 of the $28,000.00 that we need to have by around the end of May. PRAISE GOD! He is providing so much for us, and being so faithful in encouragement.

Continue to pray for us as we proceed on this crazy adventure God is leading us through!

Namaste,
~Kendall