India, Here I Come!

This past week has been a week of many old things coming to an end and many new things coming to a beginning. For the past three months, I have been living an intense lifestyle of learning about God, myself, the Bible, and so much in between, and deepening my relationships with God and others surrounding me in this unique environment. It has been an amazing experience, but it is now time for me to move on from this phase of lectures and learning to the outreach phase of serving and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today the Iceland Team left to begin their outreach, followed by the India and Fiji Teams on Monday. It's an exciting and busy time, but it's also sad and difficult. It's sad to say goodbye, sad to end this special time together (although we'll reunite for a week after outreach), sad not being able to spend Christmas or New Years with each other or our family at home. It's difficult to pack one bag for two and a half months, difficult to deep clean the entire base, difficult to know I won't live in Room 46 again.

It's a bitter-sweet time in my life, but as much as it is bitter, it is oh so much more sweet. For one thing, I get to say goodbye to always being cold and say hello to warm Indian weather! I get to experience a completely different culture. I get to continue growing in my faith and I get to pour myself, my heart, and Jesus into the people of India. And I get to wear Indian clothing! It's such an exciting time in my life and sometimes I can't even believe the things that I'm doing, the places I'm going, and the people I'm meeting.

I have some prayer requests to ask of you to keep in mind whenever you think of me:

• For safe travels, both to and from India, as well as within the nation. We will be traveling from Mumbai to Goa on the west coast, and later to the Himalayas in the north of India.
• For the team--that we are united, have open communication, and unending grace and love for each other. 
• For divine appointments, open doors, and opportunities, along with discernment as to how to act on these, with the people we interact with in India.
• For the people that we will interact with, that their hearts, minds, and spirits will be prepared and in the right place to have meaningful interaction with them.
• For our health, that we can get over any colds or sicknesses we currently have and that our immune systems can be built up and strengthened against sickness in India.

To put faces to the India team, this entry's pictures are pictures of my team members and a bit of information about them. Please keep us in your prayers for the next 10 weeks as we'll be in India!

Michael Van Kesteren, Belgium (Staff)

Clotilde Helene Barberon, France (Staff)

Katrine Lund, Denmark (Staff)

Nathan Ghinn, England

David Hildreth, England

Selena Mckenzie, USA (Right)

Bethany Turner, USA

Sadie Ferl, USA

Lilian Elgert, Germany (Left)

Anna Lise Carolan, USA

Ashley Johnson, Wales

Tiffany Matsumura, USA

Ireland

In Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland in background.

Last week my DTS and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Ireland. It was a long and tiring journey. While most of the DTS was able to take an hour flight, the seven Americans without passports had to drive about four and a half hours from the south of England to Liverpool. From there, we took an eight hour overnight ferry to the Northern Irish city of Belfast, where we met up with the rest of the group. This sounds simple enough, besides the fact that our first attempted departure at 3:30am Sunday failed to get us as far as 20 minutes away. After a fixed car, lots of prayer, more car trouble, and a ferry ride with both literal and figurative ups and downs, we made it across the Irish Sea early Monday morning. Thus, our 13 hour trip turned into what seemed like a 48 hour day.

Part of the base, An Cuan.

That trip, as well as the rest of the week (due to bad weather and snow), required lots of flexibility, turning to God, and good attitudes. In a way, it was the best possible outreach prep without even planning it. Throughout that whole process, though, I knew (as well as the others) that God was with us and teaching us, no matter how confused, tired, joyful, or grumpy we were. Overall it was a rough, tiring, funny, strenuous, peaceful, relaxing, beautiful, cold, hot, joy filled, and adventurous week, and probably my favorite week since I've been here!

We stayed at a YWAM base in the town of Rostrevor in Northern Ireland. The 5 month old base faces the Republic of Ireland, separated by a lock that leads to the Irish Sea. We arrived with snow on the ground, and snow continued to fall every day while we were there. We were surrounded by pure beauty, much like I am at Holmsted. We had lecture on theology (AWESOME) Monday through Wednesday and attempted field trips on Thursday and Friday. Here's a list of memorable things I did:

Had an epic snow ball fight.
Walked to an Irish pub, drank hot chocolate, and listened to live traditional Irish music.
Attempted to make, then helped supervise the making of a snowman.
Ate homemade bread.
Walked by the lock and on the shore during low tide.
Ate snow.
Spent an hour or two walking in the Republic of Ireland.
Visited Catholic and Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedrals.
Caught massive snowflakes on my tongue.
Sang Christmas songs.
Ate soup, soup, and more soup.
Stood in awe of the glory of God and His beauty.

In Ireland with Northern Ireland in background.

St. Patrick's Catholic Cathedral

Catching snowflakes on my tongue.

God's glory.

Meanwhile, back at Holmsted, it snowed and snowed and snowed. It is now melting, but here are some pictures of my snow-covered home.

View from my window.

Our Christmas tree!!

Lastly, I want to remind you that I leave for India on December 20th. That's three Mondays from now! Please keep me, my team, and the school in your prayers, especially for finances and a location in India. Stay warm (as I'm trying to!) and God bless!