Goin to America...

Wow, how time fly's! It seems like just yesterday I arrived in India. I had the amazing opportunity to spend six months of my life in India, praise God! I can't begin to explain how much God has done in my life in the past six months! All I know is that I'm going home a different person and I am so thankful for that!

When people ask me what's India like, I don't have one precise answer to give. India is fast paced yet calm, India is polluted yet fresh, India is poor yet rich. That may make no sense at all, but that's what India is like.

I want to definitely come back here, I just don't know when. It's all in God's timing. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity in my life to have six months to live in another country and serve God with all that I am. As I already said, there is no way I can fully explain how God has changed me from the inside out. It has been a very LONG process to get where I am now in my walk with him and I know that I still have so much growing to do. Isn't it amazing that as Christ Followers, we never stop growing!? God is ALWAYS doing something in and through us, just as long as we are willing to be completely transparent to him.

I'm sorry that my last blog is so short, I just feel like no matter how much I write about my experience, I can not do it justice over the computer. But I would LOVE to talk to you about it when I come home. In fact, we leave for the airport tonight. I'll be in America Sunday afternoon.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support! See you soon!!!

Craft Day

Craft day has been going great! In my last blog, I totally forgot to mention how craft day has been going! My bad.

We had the kids make masks from paper plates and they loved it! Our original plan was to tie string around it, but the "string" turned out to tape. The boys thought the tape was just as good because they were taping all over themselves. A boy decided to put tape over his eyes and another boy made a beard out of tape and taped it to his chin.

Janna, Juliana, and myself made example masks. i drew a cat, Juliana drew a sun, and Janna made a chola. Yes, a chola. She said it was in my memory ( I was never a chola though. Well, maybe a little bit.ha)

The kids loved our examples and some started to copy the ones we made. I LOVE being around those kids. They make my day. Every time I'm at the school I grow closer and closer to them.

Happy Holi

Holi is a festival of color in which you basically throw/ rub powered color on people you know and don't know. It's wayyyyyy more fun than it sounds! We went to a friend's apartment complex to celebrate it with them (they're American) and we ended the day with Punjabi dancing :)

The day after, we went to the school and we were welcomed with Holi number two. Two girls covered me and Juliana with colored powder. My face was literally red. Haha

Today, we are going to our second wedding since we've been here and I get to wear my Saree again! I am so excited!

Only two more weeks until I'm going back to the states, and each day is going by faster and faster! Each day I'm treasuring it as it comes... I just don't want to leave. This has been my home for the last six months of my life and now I'm leaving and not sure when I can come back.

One prayer point that I would like you to pray for is one of the slums by the school. The owner of the land is forcing all the families to leave, which could force the children to stop coming to school because of how far they are moving. We are praying that they are able to stay in school and that their family is able to find a place nearby to stay. I just found all of this out yesterday and I was deeply affected by it. This school is the only source of education that these kids are receiving and I don't want to see them picking trash as a living. They not only sell trash as a living, but they also live in piles of trash.

I love these kids and I believe that God has a plan for each one. Please pray that their hunger for the Lord increases and that they would still be able to attend school on a daily basis instead of working with their parents going through trash.

Thank you so much for all of your continued prayers and support! See you all soon!

Jules and I have already had our third Friday of arts and crafts and it has been going great! The first day we did a craft that included coloring on rocks (it was our first day, ok) the second Friday we made Valentine cards, and just last week we taught the kids the song "head shoulders knees and toes" and put them in pairs to draw their partner and asked them to label "head, shoulders, knees and toes." The kids loved that they had to draw their partner, they thought it was the funniest thing. We seen some interesting pictures of kids with fangs, elf ears, and even green faces. For fun, and to give an example, Jules and I drew each other in front of the kids, and man did they get a kick out of that! Jules did not forget to draw a sombrero on my head, a maraca in one hand, and a taco in the other (it's because I'm Mexican). I drew her with a potato in her hand because she's from Idaho, and because that's all I could think of.

The Valentine craft was just as much fun, by the end of the class some of the boys were gluing hearts to their foreheads. none of the kids knew what Valentines was, so me and Jules tried to share a little bit of what it is and shared with them that the greatest love of all is the love of God.

These kids have been impacting my life in a way that I have never even dreamed of. I know I say that in almost every blog I post, but it is so true! As I spend time with them, I miss them and I'm not even gone yet. There is a boy named Ashish and he is about 5 years old and I love him to death. At first he was a tough cookie to crack, but now every time I see him he gets the biggest smile on his face because he's finally warmed up to me! He cracks me up... He always come to school with his yellow bag, and instead of coloring on the paper we give him, he puts it in his bag and he doesn't forget the crayons too. So after every craft I have to check his bag for crayons. It's so funny when I take them out because he doesn't even try to stop me, he just smiles.

The first craft day was difficult because I've never done anything like this before, so what did I do? I sat on the ground with the kids and had a tickling party! I remember that when I first seen these kids, they hardly smiled, but now they smile so much! I take advantage of every opportunity I have to make them laugh, whether it is by tickling them or by making a funny face.

There are two sessions that Jules and I teach, the Burmese Refugees the first session, and the Ragpickers the second session. Each class is about an hour, it may not seem like a long time, but with a class full of kids who speak another language and with no desks in the classroom, it makes things a little challenging. But we are always up for a challenge! I called the second session kids "Ragpickers" because their parents (and sometimes the kids) pick trash for a living. It is how they are classified at the school as well, and it is by no means used in a derogatory way.

Looking back to when I first got here, I can see how much I've grown. At first, I was so consumed with learning the language, that I failed to do what St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." I'm preaching the Gospel and showing a bit of who Christ is just by loving like Christ has called us to love. There are no words to express how the Lord has been transforming me from the inside out, and just how grateful I am for it.

I'm leaving here in less than a month and I already miss it.

We Went to the Taj!

We have a new addition to our family! Miss Juls Lutz is from Idaho and has graduated high school early to come to experience India for a little over a month! :)

She just got here less than a week ago and we have already had so much fun together! I'm so thankful to have her here and excited to experience new things with her! Her dad, Doug, made a short trip out here to see her off and has adopted me as his other daughter. Not legally, but spiritually haha.

We finally went to the Taj Mahal! It was better than I expected and we all had so much fun! It is absolutely gorgeous and I'm glad that we got to go. The only thing that I didn't enjoy was the car rife there. Usually, people would take a train or bus, but we drove. Why? Because we do what we want. Just kidding ;) So driving there is supposed to be shorter, but it definitely wasn't. The way there took a little over three hours and he way home took more like five hours! There was a total of eight if us that went in the vehicle. The girls got the very back, which wasn't a very good idea. Every time we went over a bump we caught major air and by the time we got home, our tailbones felt bruised. Next time...train it is.

When we finally arrived, we were greeted by several boys trying to sell key chains, post cards, and a variety of other things. So from our parking spot to the actual entrance of the Taj was a little less than a mile, so what do we do? Ride a camel to the entrance of course!! That was my first ever camel ride and it was so much fun! Hemet really needs to get on that. The camels had a covering over their mouth to keep them from spitting on people, which was a comforting thing to know.

Once we got in, we were amazed at the beauty. We got to feel the 100% white marble building with our bare hands. We also had the opportunity to walk inside the Mosque that is just on the other side of the Taj and that is where all the fun began. Marshall and I were observing the ceiling and noticed a swirly type of design that was in the shape of a circle. When you see something like that, what would be your first reaction? Ours was spin in a circle as fast as we could while looking up at it and then stopping abruptly without falling. We did that a few more times until we felt confident enough to go show the others. When we went to go show everyone else, they wanted to try it too (who wouldn't?). The guys said that the girls ( Janna, Juls, and myself) should have a contest of who could spin the fastest and then stop without falling. I definitely lost. Long story short, I spun the fastest, but was the first one to fall. Not only did I fall, but I ran in to the wall on the way down. Mike got it all on video and I'll be sure to put it up when I can. Haha.

Oh, I forgot to tell you..The guys brought home flowers for all girls a few nights back, so our house is filled with the sweet smell of flowers! There is a flower stand down the street from our apartment and every time we pass it, I always say, "Look at all the pretty flowers". So they stopped at the stand one night an brought us all flowers! Isn't that the sweetest thing!? :) It's the little things that get me. Haha

We finally have our dryer fixed after about two weeks of not having one. That was a pain. I never appreciated having a dryer as much as I appreciate it now. It wouldn't be so bad if it was warm outside, but it's cold, so nothing ever dried.

On a more serious note, this Friday, Juls and I are going to start our first craft class with the Burmese Refugee children and the Ragpicker children. We have been discussing ideas of what kind of crafts to do and are excited to get the class going! Every Friday we will be in charge of the class and the craft and we can't wait to get started! This week the kids are learning about the different kinds of rocks, so we are going to have the kids paint designs on rocks. We are going to try and incorporate their lesson for the week with the craft we plan. This Saturday we are going to go to a girls home that is about an hour away to have a Hawaiian Party. As I type, Juls and I are brainstorming inexpensive ways to make this party happen. So far, we have come up with a few games and and decorations. One game is going to be "hot coconut" (like hot potato, but with a coconut) and a gift that we are going to give the girls is going to be flower bracelets that we are going to make. I'll be sure to let you know how the craft day and the party go!

Monique

It's already 2010!

I can't believe that it's already 2010! Where is time going!? My time in India is almost half way done! Everyday I wake up thinking how much I'm going to miss this place. I am forever grateful for this opportunity that I have had and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. So much has been going on lately and i haven't had time to update the blog.

Lets start with New Year's Eve... Janna and I went to our friend Michelle's house to stay the night with a few other Americans. It was a group of 5 girls and we had a great time. We started our night off with a trip to the mall to watch a movie and get some dinner (there are movie theaters in the malls here). After dinner, we went back to Michelle's and when the clock struck midnight we all went outside to bang pots and pans and wish all of India a Happy New Year. I don't know if the people next door enjoyed it, but we sure had fun! Soon after that we went to bed. For breakfast, we went all out! We had eggs, cinnabons(yes, there is a cinnabon here), pancakes, french toast, and apples! Don't judge. After breakfast, we headed to church and after church we came home to chill and watch Aladdin(yes, Aladdin). It was one of the best New Year's Eve/ New Year's Day that I have ever had. The girls we spent our time with are so much fun and we all enjoy each others company.

Now for a recent update...We recently returned from a trip up in the mountains that lasted three days. Janna, Muan, Marshall, and myself went to Himachal, a small town 12 hours from Delhi. 12 hours on a bus is not something I would recommend. But when we finally arrived, we were greeted with 5 smiling faces of 5 beautiful girls. The reason we took a trip out there was to visit a family that Global Family sponsors. A widow runs a children's home of thirteen children. These kids live in the home because most of their parents are not able to provide. Most of the fathers are drunks and do not work. Their moms make only enough money for rent and are unable to put a proper meal on the table. The girls that live in the home were at risk of being trafficked and were rescued by the grace of God and put in to this loving children's home that the widow runs. The whole time there I never got her name because we always called her "Auntie".

One day me and Muan took the girls for a walk and I had a girl on each side of me wanting to hold my hand. As we were walking, something came over me to skip. Before that, I can't remember the last time I have ever even thought about skipping. But I must say, that is the most fun that I have ever had while skipping!

While there, me and Janna discovered hot water bottles (the things that you place inside of your bed a few minutes before you get in) and they are amazing! It's an instant heater in your bed! As soon as we returned to Delhi, Janna and I went on a hunt for some hot water bottles and bought some.

Auntie takes very good care of these children and the love of God is apparent in their lives. The second day there, we received cards from the girls that were decorated with bright colors and flowers everywhere. At first, I wasn't excited to go on the trip because I'm not much of a bus person, let alone 12 hours on a bus. But by our last day I didn't want to leave. Not because I didn't want to get on the bus, but because those girls impacted my life in an indescribable way. I will keep their card forever and never forget their faces. Before we left, I made them all cards as well and they loved them :)

Something more recent... two days ago I went with Muan to one of the slum schools and helped get updates of all the kids for the new school year that just started for them. I was in charge if writing the information down and waving to the kids to make them smile. These kids are constantly growing on me and never fail to touch my heart. These kids come to get basic education and devotions every day before class. The classroom is a small room with no desks or chairs, but this is normal to them, this is the only school that they know. Every time that I see these kids, they always always always have a smile on their face. Even though they come dirty and cold, they are still smiling with the most beautiful smiles that I have ever seen in my life. I enjoy every moment with them, even if I never have an actual conversation with them. Just waving and smiling is fun, for them and myself. I am LOVING it here and so grateful for this chance that I have to not only spend time with these kids, but also to draw close to God and spend 6 months of undivided attention with my Maker. God has been teaching me so much while I've been here and I pray that I would never forget this experience or what I have been taught. When I go home, I want God to continue to have my undivided attention 24 hours a day 7 days a week. There is nothing better than being in the presence of God. While being here, God has shown me what love really is. Before coming here, my view on love was distorted . My parents divorce had a huge affect on me and how I viewed love. My dad said he loved me, yet he abandoned me by leaving. He told my mom that he loved her, but left her because he wasn't happy. I didn't believe in love anymore. But being here, God has been pressing through all the walls that I've built up and knocking on the door of my heart asking me to let him in. I finally made the choice to let God in and have him tear me apart. It has been one of the hardest things ever, but I can tell that I'm making progress. I'm also reading a book called Abba's Child and that has been a huge blessing to me. I recommend that book to anyone who hasn't read it. My experience here has been difficult in many ways, but it has also been a HUGE blessing and I wouldn't trade any of it for a million dollars!

Happy Christmas!

Instead of Merry Christmas here, it's Happy Christmas. It sure has been a while since I've last posted, and I apologize. Things have just beens so busy! I don't know where to start... How about Christmas Caroling?! I experienced my first caroling adventure in India and it was great! Janna and I had no idea what to expect when we arrived at the meeting place. Come to find out, we were going to be the only girls present. Can you say AWKWARD!? It was too late to turn around and go home, so we decided to be troopers. After all, we knew a few people that were there so we made the best of it. And it turned out to be one of the best nights ever!

The first stop was an apartment complex. Everyone made their way up the stairs and entered the house singing a Hindi Christmas song. We were greeted with croissants, cookies, and an amazing vegetable soup. The soup was so good that me and Janna had seconds. Little did we know that the soup was only the beginning of the food to come. At the second house, we were once again greeted with a meal. We asked the Pastor why there was more food and he simply stated, " Well of course, there will be food at every house. This is only the second one of the night out of five we are supposed to visit." Janna and I looked at each other in terror.

By the end of the night we never wanted to eat again. When ended up learning that when a caroling group from church gets together, it is planned what houses they will visit and what food will be prepared for them. It's basically a progressive dinner. But don't be fooled, you can't just not eat at a house because then you are offending the person who prepared the meal. Not to mention, it's completely normal to stay out till at least 2am. The people who commit to this are truly dedicated. They all have day jobs and get off late at night, but still chose to spend the remainder of their night caroling. And it's not just caroling that they spend their time. The church takes full advantage of the Christmas season and uses it to spread the Gospel. Before caroling, street evangelism takes place. Pastor Vincent said, " This is the only time of the year that we can share the Gospel in the streets without any problems." Janna and I started to discuss how amazing it is to see the fire that these people have for the Lord and spreading the Good News. I have never heard anyone complain of being tired from the night before. They are dedicated to sharing their Jesus and more of us need to do the same. America needs to get with it and go out in the communities to preach God's Word. We live in a country that allows us to have freedom of religion yet not very many of us use that to our advantage. There are people living in countries that can be killed for spreading God's Word yet they still choose to do it.

Christmas Day was just as fun for us... Janna and I woke up early to make hot chocolate for the guards in our apartment complex as a Christmas treat. The hot chocolate was accompanied with oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. While handing out the goodies, we also handed out the gospel of John in Hindi. It was our way of spreading some Christmas cheer while evangelizing at the same time. When we came back inside, we made eggs and toast and opened up our stockings (a.k.a. Janna's socks) and our presents. We did this all while being dressed up. Janna put on her Snow White costume and I dressed up as Santa. Then the party began. If you haven't dressed up for Christmas, you really should. It just makes things that much more fun! Later that night we went to a friend's house for Christmas dinner and played some games, not to mention watched Home Alone :). Even though this was my first time away from home on Christmas, Janna made it feel like home to me. I can honestly say that my Christmas was amazing and I loved every minute of it. After all, it doesn't matter where you are or who your with on Christmas because it's about remembering Jesus. Nothing else really matters because Christmas wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for Jesus.

Oh and I forgot to tell you that Muan dressed up as Santa for the Burmese Refugee/ Slum School. The kids LOVED it! I've never seen happier kids. The night before, Janna and I wrapped at least 100 presents. It was a long night, but every minute of it was worth it when we seen the kid's faces. They even got hot chocolate and a Samosa(an Indian treat). It was so much fun and I'm beyond grateful that I could experience that. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to be in India! I would have never thought that I would be here three months after graduating high school and experiencing what I'm experiencing. God is so good and he is teaching me sooooo much! Thank you all for your prayers and support! Miss and love you all! I'll be home before you know it, time is flying by!!