Nina

Nina is a friend of mine who is a pretty new follower. I met her last Christmas actually and over the course of the year, we have enjoyed getting to know each other. Nina is young, I would say around 18-19. She comes from a very low caste, her and her family live in one small room. Nina has three kids ages 3-1- and and 3 month old.... AND she is pregnant. As I was sitting with her, she told me she was thinking of having an abortion. She can barely look after the three she has. Well, my Hindi went into overdrive convincing her to NOT abort the baby. I told her that every baby is a life from God. I mentioned the thought of adoption. I told her that there are plenty of people who would love to have a baby of their own. She seemed to like this idea. She said "well, in my heart, I know I shouldn't abort. But my husband doesn't want it". Nina lives in a world where a woman has very few choices. I told her I would try to help her although I know nothing about the adoption system here. If you could please pray for Nina and for this little unborn baby. Pray that he will have a chance to live and that this would be a good outcome.

More Pictures From the Training

We were working on writing a song based on Scripture.












Some nationals friends working on their songs.



























Meeting together to model what a house group would look like

His Name Is Plumber

So, living here HAS gotten easier as time has passed. Through the school of hard knocks, I have learned to keep the phone numbers of people who are good at their job. So, stored in my phone are contact entries like "electrician" or "postman". Or even "the guy who drove me to Delhi that one time who was pretty good but he flipped someone off once so he might have some road rage issues" :-)

The last few days, I have been working with "Plumber". He has done some work for us in the past. He is a jolly fellow and does a pretty good job. He always comes to work in a sweater vest. Its cute. He has spent the last three days installing a new water tank on my roof. Today, as we were finishing up, he said to me proudly "your landlord said I could have your old water tank. I am going to throw it off the roof, take it with me on my bike and sell it!". I tried not to laugh. I just smiled and said "what a great idea....you do that" O dear -sweater- vest Plumber. You made my day.

This Season

As we enter into this Christmas week, there are alot of things that make it seem not so much like Christmas. Its hard to really get into the "spirit" of Christmas when the only bells I hear are the ones that my neighbors ring to wake up their gods every morning.The only fake snow I see is the white fluffy mold that is growing on my walls. Its easy to turn inward and sink into self pity.

But in reality, its not ultimately about me or how I 'feel' at Christmas. In reality, this season is about a young couple who took a ride on a donkey and who had a baby in a lonely stable. This season is about the Savior who came to carry our sorrows and bring us redemption. The lack of Christmas sales, lights, parties and peppermint lattes at Starbucks doesn't really change the fact that LOVE came down to earth. This season is about the fact that our God doesn't NEED to be woken up. He IS the LIVING GOD, The GREAT I AM. The PRINCE OF PEACE. And that's what this season is about.

Telling Stories

We have spent the past week leading a training for some women who have already started some storying groups in their communities. Its been a sweet time of encouragement and equipping. It seems like so many times this week I have said "you can DO it"! Its pretty cool to empower people to take His Story and share with others. These pictures are of us during a time of singing praise songs

City of Widows

We just recently went to visit a holy city called Vrindavan which is to the east of us. It is also nicknamed the "City of Widows" after the large population of abandoned widows that seek refuge here. Often times, after a husband dies, the wife is left to fend for herself by the family. This city provides refuge and aide to the many who flock here.

Because this is such a religious city, many swamis (religious men) can be seen walking around. You can tell that they are swamis because they dress in all orange like this man below.

this is a statue of the lord Krishna

Swamis walking on the side of the road

one of the big temples in the area

I have heard of horse power before....but??

One of the many many temples that are in Vrindivan

a cow walking through a temple door

They often put blankets and jackets on the animals here to keep them warm for the winter