Hey Everyone!
I hope all of you are doing really well. Also thank you so much for your emails and blog comments! It is so exciting to hear your thoughts on everything too.
Well another week has passed. It’s hard to believe that we’re already into the second week of June. As usual everything is a blur, sorry for the disorder, but I’ll try to recap everything for you. Last Saturday night there was a really bad storm, our first monsoon experience. I was all alone in my room and thought the building I was in would really just collapse around me, so I grabbed a towel and ran to Kyle’s room. He was in the apartment above him with the Thomson’s, so I joined them as well. Of course the power went out, so we just relaxed by candlelight and listened to the rain. When the rain finally stopped I went back to my room and tried to get some sleep. It was the first night here without power…and it was hot, really hot. Some of the faculty even slept on the roof of their building to escape the heat. The bad part about this power outage was not only that it lasted through the night, but also that it caused the water to go out as well, fun fun. This was the worst power outage we’ve had thus far because it wasn’t due to power cuts in Maharashtra but was caused by the storm. Although it was hot as blazes and we were all smelly for a few days with no water, it was kinda fun to be in it with everyone. We were all miserable together and could just laugh about it. It was a bonding experience for us and all the faculty. The power finally came back on Monday morning, but I was still without water until that evening.
Monday began the official school year for the MI Students, well at least the upper classmen; the “freshers” as they’re called here, start next week. Now that everyone is getting settled in I’ve been able to get to know a few of the girls pretty well. Two of them actually graduated last year but have come back to work in the library. Benari and Emmy are the cutest little Nagaland girls and so fun to work with. Neither of them has ever used a computer and they will need to enter books after we leave so I have been teaching them the system. It’s quite refreshing to be around people who don’t know what “shift” and “tab” mean. I’m giving them assignments to help their typing too. It’s fun being a teacher when your students really want to learn the stuff. So this is pretty much what fills the day time hours now. At night I go the Mercy Home as usual. There are many new kids there now so it’s also been great to spend time getting to know them.
Okay, well, I started this blog last week and didn’t get to finish, or post it for that matter, so now I will try my best to give you all the highlights of the past couple of weeks…
Good news, I finally started my interviews with the Mercy Home children! Before we left America we were told by the director of RIMI that he wanted us to interview the kids and native missionaries for 2 books that he wanted us to write about their stories. When we got here no one mentioned anything about this task that Saji gave us, and not wanting to order anyone around or make them change their schedule for us, we put the project on the backburner. A few weeks ago Saji emailed Kyle and I to remind us of the interviews and see how things were going. So we decided that we should get on the ball with the interviews. Back to the actual interviews: Joseph, one of the wardens, speaks English fluently, so he has been translating for me, thankfully! It is difficult to ask the kids such tough questions about their families and what it was like for them before the Mercy Home. I really hate making them relive these terrible memories, but I know how much their stories will inspire others to help here. The first girls I talked have no parents. Their father set their mother on fire during an argument, which led to her death. Their father was then taken to prison and died soon after while there. Another girl doesn’t know why she was sent. Both of her parents are living and her older sister is in school at an expense boarding school. She loves being at the Mercy Home, but wept talking about her parents and home life. Those are just a few short pieces of what I’ve heard from the kids this week. If you want to hear the rest you’ll have the buy the book! Support RIMI! And it’s just fun to say that I’m writing a book, for real, haha.
Last Sunday we went to Parseoni , it’s a small village about an hour outside of Nagpur city. It was a lovely drive, being away from all the city traffic and pollution. We saw tons of monkeys and it was gorgeous, tons of trees and flowers in bloom. We are outside the city a little ways, but the campus is right next to some rock crushing plants things and rock mines, so needless to say it is not the prettiest place I’ve ever seen. I asked Eshwarie if she wanted to come with me and then she found out where we were going…and freaked out! The church in Parseoni used to be the girls Mercy Home until the one on the MI Campus was finished. She was so excited about seeing everyone there; she misses it there a lot. Her younger sister and another girl who used to live there also joined us. I think we caused a bit of trouble since we had 3 extra people and had to change vehicles, but oh well, I was really glad they got to come with us. Upon arrival at the church our chaperone told us that we would be preaching that morning…thanks for the notice guys. I talked about Romans 8, my fave, and my depression (testimonies are quite popular), and Kyle talked about Elijah. I think I want to be a preacher when I grow-up, it’s fun. We sang and prayed for a long time before church was ‘over’. Everyone was served chai by the preacher’s wife and I played with the kids in one of the back rooms while Kyle began interviewing a few of the members. After about 20 minutes or so I heard screaming from the church room, the pastor’s house serves as the church, former Mercy Home, guest house, etc. I went in to see what was going on and Kyle and a few others we praying over a woman that was wailing. I squeezed in and began praying too. The woman continued to scream, cry, dry-heave, convulse, make growl-like noises. It was the craziest thing I have ever experienced, but I don’t think I have ever felt more moved by the Spirit to intercede for something like this before in my life. This went on for 20 more minutes or so until the woman sat up and announced that she was okay now. Kyle interviewed her prior to all this and found out that she comes from a strict Hindu family and just a few months ago heard the gospel and started coming to church. Since she started coming whenever she prays, and most times at church worship she is wrought with gut wrenching pain and demon control. Demon possession is very real and crazy here. Please pray that by God the people suffering from possession will be freed from that bondage. And buy the book to hear more about this woman’s story and more like it! (Nice plug, huh) After this all died down the pastor took us a few kilometers away to show us the preschool he started 2 years ago. It is in 2 small storage rooms that he rents from a local woman. I loved Parseoni and everything about it. The church members were mostly new converts who are so excited about learning and worshipping the Living God. The pastor and his family are so kind and humble. I would love to come back and work with them in some area. Really, I loved it there.
Monday was Shibu, the campus manager’s son’s birthday. Little Benny turned 1 and they had a big party for him at the Mercy Home. I spent most of the day helping them prepare it. It was great to sit around the kitchen with the women and cut vegetables for hours, pick the little bugs out of rice with the younger girls and roll chaipati with the Mercy Home kids. I think this was one my favorite days so far.
Now that time is getting short I am spending a lot more time at the Mercy Home and with the faculty families. I feel at home here and am really going to miss everyone when I leave. We have only 1 more full week until we leave for Delhi and then back to the states.

Thank you all again, as usual, for the encouragement and prayers. I am excited to be able to talk to all in person. Miss and love you very much and am praying that everyone stateside is doing well.
And Happy Father’s Day if you’re reading this…