Bye Bye Aaron and Crystal

Ricky: Aaron and Crystal left Kakinada on Oct 2nd to catch a flight from Vizag - Madras - Delhi - Chicago - Tulsa. They reached Tulsa safely! Crystal dad would come and pick them up from the airport and then they would go back to Stillwater.

Crystal and Aaron were a blessing to us here. They worked very hard with many things. I was surpised. Their presence was an encoragement to me here in India. They gave me their account to me so I would be posting about things happing here in India. Please do keep on checking about what's happing with us here in Kakinada and keep us in your prayers. This Blog thing is new to me so I need to explore this.

Coconut Jungles...our last villages

Today we went to two villages. The first village had a lot of children so Niranjan (our fearless translator) and I (Crystal) went with them into a little room and taught them bible stories while Aaron preached to the adults about becoming like a child with Ricky translating. We taught them 4 stories about Elijah since they never heard of him, 2 stories about Elisha, one about King Josiah, one about Jesus healing the ten lepers and how only one came back to thank him, one about Peter and John healing a lame beggar in Jesus' name, and one about Paul and Silas in jail during an earthquake. It was fun, we just kept on going with the stories because Aaron wasn't done with his sermon outside yet. Since there was only two of us we elected not to use the puppets, but the children saw them and wanted to see them when we were done with the stories. It is funny because there is always a little child in each village who is scared of the puppets, while the other children want to touch them all the time. Then some of the ladies who were in there to watch their children asked me questions and made me sing a song for them. They were a really loving congregation. They asked us to come back and visit them.

The second village we went to didn't have that many children, so I just watched Aaron preach and hung out with the older ladies and the children of the congregation. One lady in particular was really sweet. She asked me to sit by her and held my hand. Lately I've been trying to sing along with the Telegu songs by watching the songleader(since we can't sing in English)...it is kind of funny because the children always look at me and smile. I think they think I actually know the songs, while I only know a few, and not very well. Aaron spoke about how God's gift to man is salvation through the death of His son and how God requires us to search for our gift, and how if we stay faithful we will get the prize at the end of our race of faith. One man decided to be baptized, so we were blessed by being able to see him make that decision.

Please pray for us as we fly out on Thursday.

God bless

Love,

Crystal

The last few days...

The last few days have been bitter-sweet. Saturday we tried to make a solution to the food and water waste in the yard of the children's home. Aaron dug a ditch along the place where the water spilled out, while I poured gravel where he was digging. Then we put sand over that...we still need to find out what we are going to do with the mud that we dug up. We thought it would be good for a garden or a flower bed, but we're not sure if we have enough time to make one or not...we will try.

The children all had exams the past week so we tried not to bother them too much while they were studying. After, they all have a 10 day break, starting Sunday, but most of them are going to relatives houses. It was kind of sad because we were excited to spend time with them up until we left, but then we found out most of them would be leaving today. So, yesterday afternoon through last night we just hung out with them, watched movies, played games, Aaron played guitar for them and then we all sang songs and and we handed out friendship bracelets that we made for them. Aaron gave them a good going away talk, but when I was supposed to talk I started crying...so I had to stop. Then like 6 children prayed for us taking turns.

We went to a village today. As soon as I got out of the car a woman from the congregation greeted me (wuntha namulu-"The churches of Christ greet you" Rom 16:6) and then she hugged me. We taught the children some bible stories, Ricky preached, then they put some cloth on our shoulders. We will miss India, the children and the villages. We are going to two villages tomorrow, then I think we are leaving for Vizag on Wednesday morning to spend some time there before our plane leaves Thursday from there.

One week left...

Crystal and I have been keeping busy. We finished the welding shed and are still trying to get the water filter flowing right. I spent today making tools and buying some plywood. There are a few things we want to do before we leave. One of the gutters at the children's home runs into the yard where it sits until it soaks into the ground. We are hoping to figure something out before we leave. Also we want to pour some concrete around the cooking shed post so it won't move in a high wind. I think we are also going to go a few villages which should be fun.

Updates

Crystal: I didn't get to say but Sunday we had a fun bible class...we did the story about Elijah and Elisha and the Chariot of fire, Elisha helping a widow to pay off her debt, Elisha repaying a couple for their kindness by asking God to bless them with a child, and the story about Josiah, who becomes a king when he's eight. Then the children decorated crowns to wear on their heads. Aaron also had the opportunity to teach the young adults class and preach for worship.

Lately we've been working on the welding shed for Raju and Niranjan. Raju has been helping in the mornings because his school is starting later this week, so we've been able to get a lot done. We've also pretty much finished the water filter, but the flowrate is a little too fast, so we have to slow it down.

Yesterday we went with Ricky to St. Mary's College and talked to the Education students about America. We were kind of nervous about it, but it was really fun. My cheeks hurt by the end because of smiling so much. We tried to work in stuff about the church and Christianity. Ricky asked who was going to come to the church on Sunday and a couple of them said that they would. It was funny because we would start talking about America and Ricky would finish what we were going to say in translation...either he is a mind reader, or he really knows his American History...hmm. Aaron played a song on his guitar and then we sang two songs acapella- a Christian song in English, then Naa Pranama, a Telegu song. It was really fun. They asked all sorts of questions about rumors they heard of America, and they asked how long we agreed to be married, which we said forever, and Ricky said 1000 years. I guess they heard about our divorce rate in America. They also thought that in America you can't go out past 8 at night or somebody will shoot you. We also told them how America is a lot different than they make it out to be in the movies and music videos.

The village that we started digging a well in hit a boulder and couldn't get through it, but the government decided that they would help them, and they used machinery, so God blessed their faith and hard work anyway. Joseph, the preacher we worked with, has been starting wells for his other congregations and is having some success. The people there have the mind to work he said. Aaron went with him to buy pump stuff for one of his wells. The money that people gave our group is also providing for a baptistry for a congregation, a sewing machine for a congregation for their outreach sewing class, finishing the church building for the congregation in Bukaluru (where we first started digging a well), and we still have some more to allot to certain things. Thank you all for giving to us, we want you to know that God is allowing us to put it to good use and the need is great here.

Please continue to pray for us. We only have a week and a day left.
Love,
Crystal

Breaking rocks in the hot sun...I fought with the law, and the law won.

Crystal and I started making a water filter last week. We took a class last spring offered by Convoy of Hope on how to do this. It is a simple project, basically a barrel full of sand and gravel. We found our barrel attached the necessary plumbing, and started to load our sand. To disinfect our sand we washed it and spread it out on a tarp on the roof to bake it. We spent alot of time on the roof stirring our sand which was hot, but fun. I made several sand paintings, a tree a goose, a fountain. Perhaps the sun was getting to me. We have experienced how to make our filters with worst case scenario conditions, which is timely but not impossible.

Yesterday we traveled to see brother Samuel Raju at Skinners Garden. It is a beautiful childrens' home and widows' home. They grow a lot of their own food and teach sewing, Bible and driving to young men and women. We recieved the grand tour of the entire campus and spent some time in their library. Please pray for them and their work. They have been facing persecution from some of the Hindus in the area. They were holding a free medical camp when six men drove up and started to tell them to stop. Samuel said the doctors were Hindu, those benefitting from the clinic were hindu, but it was sponsored by the Christians so it was opposed. Also their main well has been giving them problems for some time and needs replaced.

Preacher's Workshop

Today we went to a village for the monthly Preacher's Workshop. They were expecting like 75-100 people and about 150 showed up. I (Crystal) got to sit next to the ladies and pass notes back and forth to the villagers that knew English. I got one girl to write the New Testament Books for me in Telegu. It was fun...I made some friends. The girl I was sitting next to said that we were best friends...she was really sweet. Another lady said that she wanted to go to America with us so I told her that I would have to fit her in my suitcase. They were really fun.

We got to listen to a lot of Preachers speak in Telegu, then Aaron spoke last about how the Bible is our toolbox full of different tools and how we have to use it and live it. It was nice to hear a sermon in English. Aaron and I both miss hearing sermons in English. One preacher was really excited and we could tell he was probably a good preacher, but we had no idea what he was saying. It was a really good experience. All the villagers and the preachers were really loving.

Water filters in the making

We've been working on a water filter for the children's home for the last couple of days. We have found that everything takes a little longer in India because of shopping. We were supposed to buy rock gravel, but they only have limestone gravel, so we bought some big rocks and we are working to break them up. The children from the children's home have been helping us a lot...they all want to do whatever you happen to be doing. Little Suresh has been my helper, bringing me more rock when I run out...he's so cute. His parents died in a car accident. His grandmother was taking care of him and his brother, but she died also.

Tomorrow we are going to a preacher's workshop in a village, so we'll have to get back to our project later.

Joseph's Well at the End of the Earth.

We spent the last four days in the mountain jungles of Andra Pradesh. We visited two villages. I preached in one village and four said they wanted to be baptized. Two of them were the parents of one of the cooks at the Gootam's house. She is Eighteen and her name is Chinni. She is the girl in the lavender between Ricky and me. She has become a good friend to us so we were happy to go visit her village and look at her old stomping grounds...I can just imagine a littler Chinni running around playing there. We are especially happy that her parents decided to become Christians. Next to Ricky is Joseph the super preacher. He was baptized 10 years ago and he has baptized about 25,750 people. He joyfully goes where most preachers think is too far, or unreachable. He used to walk to all these villages (about 150) but then Ricky's family bought him a bicycle. Then later they gave him an old motorcycle, which he takes everywhere. It is old and starts to shake when he gets to 45-50m/hr along with other problems, so we want to try and raise money for a newer motorcycle for him. He preaches to very poor people in the tribal villages who can only afford to give 1 rupee (10 rupees=25 cents). He gives so much of himself so we want to try and help him out. We got to hang out with him one night without an interpreter which was fun. We seemed to communicate even without knowing a common language. He calls us his brother and sister, and has taught us what real Christian brotherhood is.
took us to another village called Bakuluru where we started to dig a well. We stayed in a hotel in Narsiputnam while we worked on the well. It took 3 hours to get there each day and we worked for five hours or so and drove three hours back. We wanted to stay there overnight to work longer but Ricky said it was better to stay in the hotel. Our fearless translator Niranjan did stay in the village overnight. He was supposed to ride the bus to the hotel, but because of the rains the bus never came. So he had to walk 4km back to the village. The next morning he tried again, and again the bus didn't come so he had to walk to the next village to be picked up. It rained every day we were there. The last day we had to re-design one of the digging tools because it was not working very well. Our hole was too wide and we only dug 8 feet in two days. Had we dug a smaller diameter I think we could be at 30 ft instead. Please pray for this church that they don't get discouraged, because they say the water is 140 ft. down, also they are getting ridiculed by the other villagers. Starting to dig the well was like Nehemiah trying to rebuild the wall. We didn't get that discouraged because we couldn't understand what they were saying, but it must have been harder for the few that tried to help. We just understood that they were making fun of us, but we tried to stay light hearted about it. Two women decided to help us the last day, and a preacher from another village, which was encouraging. We sang some songs in English and they would sing some in Telegu. One of the women was laughing a lot and seemed to be a bit onery, which made it fun. Joseph guided the drill bit and bailer, but I think he was doing more than he had to, and took some of the weight on himself.

Sunday

Today we taught Sunday school as we do on Sunday mornings. We really miss having the other girls from our group and Christy to do this, as I am not good at thinking up crafts for them to do. But all was good, we just did a coloring sheet. Today we did the story of Paul and Silas in Prison, Jesus' baptism and temptation, and the story of how God provided food and water for the Israelites in the desert. It was fun. We are trying to do more unfamiliar stories for them, but we are running out of stories that they don't know that are in the children's bible. Last week we wrote the story of Deborah down in children's terms, so we might have to do more of those soon.

Then, after church, we came back and Aaron worked on his well drill. Please pray for him to find a way to do this, because he has been having trouble getting the weld to stick. I sung songs and played games with the children because I really don't know anything about welding. Then we went to the park and played duck duck goose around this garden of flowers with a lot of onlookers nearby. Some people asked if we could take pictures with their children...which was funny...and weird. Some of the children that were in the park joined our game. It was a really fun day.

hospital happenings and well drill making

Crystal- Well, a lot of times people don't have pleasant experiences in hospitals, either because their body is ailing them, or their loved ones are sick...but we had some pretty cool things happen in the hospital. Besides the fact that I had a MRI which is a pretty cool thing in itself, the doctor asked Ricky what he does, and then he offered to give free surgeries to the "genuinely needy." Also, a guy recognized Ricky from the tv program (if you didn't know, Ricky & his fam are kind of famous here.) Anyway this guy, Paul Raj, said he used to drink and beat his wife because she was a Christian and he was Hindu (which happens a lot here.) Now, he gave up his job as a Mechanical Engineer and he is preaching for the Lord. He was there for kidney stones, which he said are a result of his former life. He said that an American that he used to work with an his wife (because she never said anything back to him) were the ones that introduced him to Jesus. I could tell that he was probably in a lot of pain, but he was so joyful, which is strange to see because we've noticed a lot of people don't smile very often here, except for the people in the church. It was really crowded and he was the only other smiling face I saw.

Aaron- MY QUEST. I have searched for material a long time to make some well drilling tools. Slowly I have gathered the things I need to do this. Most of the things seem to have fallen from heaven when I least expect them. God has provided for me several times. There was really only two things keeping from making the tools. The first was some cutoff blades for an angle grinder. This was really no problem since I knew I had seen them in a tool shop earlier. The real challenge was that I need a special kind of welding rod to weld high strength steel. The first time I asked the store keep for it he said he didn't have it. Today I prayed before I went to the shop that this obstacle could be conquered. I asked this time with a print out from a web page that I had found. I thought they were going to order me a case and I would have to wait a week to get them, but they gave me a whole case. I think they had them all the time they just didn't understand what I was asking for. So I was able to start work on my drilling tools today. I am half done with one set. Of course I will need to test them before we use them. Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for water at the bottom of whatever hole we make.

Some minor distractions.

Sorry for the lag in updates. Crystal's shoulder has been paining her for the last week. We have been trying to figure out what is wrong with it since Sunday. She got an MRI today and we were told that she has fractured something. We get the official diagnoses tomorrow. We were unable to go to any villages this week so I have been getting up early to work on the welding shed. I have had some progress but it seems slow. Crystal has been visiting the kids at the children's home while she is unable to do anything strenuous. Please remember us in your prayers because Crystal is frustrated with her shoulder and I am worried for my wife. The kids have been keeping Crystal's and my spirits high. There is something about the love of the children that can help heal the soul. I am sorry this blog is short but I am tired and my bed is calling my name.

Cooking shed take two...

After returning to Kakinada from taking Christy to the airport, I expected the cooking shed to be concreted in place. However my helpers Niranjan and Raju informed me that the land owner was not happy with the design of the shed. I thought that the back of the shed could be supported by a concrete wall that borders the property. The landlord didn't like it this way. After one more trip up the side of the building and a few more hours of welding we had a remodeled cooking shed, self supported and ready to be lowered and carried to its location. We spent most of Friday doing this. Then we shopped for more metal to make a welding shed. Basically it will be a sunblock. It is pretty hot in the middle of the day on the roof. Today we had all the roofing and metal we need to hopefully finish the two sheds. I am trying to adapt to Indian construction materials and methods. I think I am learning as much from Raju and Niranjan as they are from me.

Welding school.

Monday I started to teach Niranjan and Raju to weld. They spent most of the day trying to start an arc and make beads. They are both doing well for beginners. We purchased some metal tubing to make a shelter for the cooks. It is a small kitchen but I saw they had three stoves cooking. The best place that we found to weld is on top of the roof on the third floor. This place is the best because the children won't look at the arc while your trying to weld. We had to lift all the tubing up to the second floor balcony and then pass it onto the roof. Then we welded the structure together and lowered it by rope back to the ground. I welded some of Monday and most of Tuesday and finished early Wednesday. During that time Christy and Crystal kept the kids busy and off the roof. We still need to buy some corrugated plastic or fiberboard panels for the roof of the building but hopefully we can do that tomorrow.

The second part of Wednesday we went to drop Christy at Vizag. Vizag is a nice city and they have English movies. Unfortunately, the English movie had already played by the time we got there. Ricky and our driver, Sekhar, still wanted to watch a movie and Crystal and I didn't want to be spoilers, so we saw our first Telegu movie in a theater. Ricky translated, but most of the movie was easy to get, and the rest of the movie was dancing or fighting. It was a fun experience. We did get to go to the beach there before we left this morning and it is a pretty beach. We arrived back in Kakinada around 2, and tonight we are supposed to go to the church building.

Recent events. Very tired.

Friday the 22ND Crystal, Ricky and I went to the coconut jungles and visited a preacher named John. Last time we were in India John asked Ricky to speak at his village. They had a small community church and they listened to Ricky preach on the radio and television. Ricky spoke and several were baptized by Ricky and I in the ocean. One of the girls we baptized teaches sewing here in Kakinada. John was baptized by Ricky later and he works with several churches in the area. John took us to one of the churches he works with. They were very loving to us. I spoke for an hour with Ricky translating. An hour is a personal record. Most of it was Ricky translating. We asked if any wanted to be baptized and four said they did. We didn't go with them for the baptizing because they had to travel pretty far to be baptized. They requested that we could help them with a baptistery so they wouldn't have to travel so far for baptisms. We had to leave pretty fast to get home at a decent hour, but they were so loving that it was hard to leave.

Saturday the 23 we left very early because we had three villages on our agenda. We were guided by a preacher named Joseph. His area was an hour past the village we had visited on Friday. We arrived at the first village around 11 a.m. This village had several members but only a few bibles. During my speech I asked if someone would read a scripture. Ricky realized hardly anyone had bibles so he told them on his next visit he would bring them some. Ricky and I spoke on the rooftop of the local preacher's mother's house. Crystal and Christy did puppets for the children inside the house on the first floor. One man that could not climb the stairs also watched the puppets and listened to Crystal and Christy teach songs. At this village four also wanted to be baptized. Two of them came to us after I spoke, including the lady that owned the house. They fed us and then to others said they wanted to be baptized. It was 3 p.m. before we left that village we were supposed to be at the next village at 3, but when we arrived it was like 6:30. Some of the people had left since we were late but there was still a group of thirty or so still waiting on us. This village was deep in the Eastern Ghats mountains. It was a very beautiful trip.
They were needing a well in this village so they wouldn't have to walk so far to get water. I hope to return to them and help them dig one. They also had a half finished church that need a roof and walls and floor. Today, Sunday we went to church and tried to rest.

Shopping is hard work...

Yesterday and the day before Aaron, Christy, & I went shopping to buy stuff for the children's home. Christy bought some stainless steel cups and plates for each of the children with their names on them. We bought some clothing material, tools for the well and welding stuff for the well, trash cans, brooms, and paid the tailor to make the clothing. Some of the children don't have clothes that fit them, or they only have pants that don't button, and so a lot of the kids only keep their pants up with a string. Most of their clothes have holes in them and they only have like one or two outfits each, so they really were needing some new clothes. So people that gave to us, we are trying to put your money to good use.

After Christy gave them their plates and cups, we took pictures of them each individually, and wrote down their names.

Kovaru

Last night we went to a village called Kovaru. They met outside the church so it drew a big crowd. Aaron spoke about how we struggle with God sometimes, and how this brings about perseverance, and how if you persevere you can see beautiful things. It was a very good talk. He used the story of how his Dad used to wrestle with him as a kid, and also one of his cave exploring stories. We also told three stories for the children. We told about Sampson, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and the story in Acts where Peter and John heal a blind beggar in Jesus' name. Sampson is a real hit because we get the puppet Delilah ties Sampson up and we also have water bottles that act like pillars that we have him knock over. After, we handed out pencils and pens and then they asked for us to pray for them. They were so nice.

Chillin with the children

We have been staying in Kakinada and playing with the children. It is harder work than you would think. Duck Duck Goose is one of the main games we have been playing, along with heads up 7 up. Crystal and Christy taught the children on Sunday and let them make a Noah's Ark out of paper plates and popsicle sticks. Crystal taught them the Sea of Galilee song which was very challenging and humorous.

Today I went shopping for a welder and other tools to teach with and everyone else went to a village and a wedding. I rode my own bicycle this time in the market. I am very proud of this accomplishment. Finding tools and other supplies is very challenging. I wish there was a Lowe's or a Home Depot here. I never knew how spoiled I was in America until I had to shop for something in India.

Some Pics

We had some difficulty with our camera so we are behind on posting pictures. Here are some pictures corresponding to some of our previous posts

Here is Raju (right) Niranjan (left) and myself with our sidewalk

Crystal painting

Marie and I building some stoves.

For the Children

Aaron-
Yesterday and today we worked on some of the projects we had started for the children's home. Crystal, Marie, Michelle and Sarah started on painting, while Raju and I started working on a sidewalk to the shower. The shower is just a spigot high on the wall that the children stand under to bath. The girls finished painting the front of the building, and Marie and Crystal helped me finish the sidewalk. Sarah and Michelle started to help me but decided they could be more useful stamping and labeling. We finished off yesterday's work with a nice trip to the beach. None of us were brave enough to go completely in the water but we all waded around for a good hour. After the beach Marie wanted to say goodbye to the children. Raju also wanted me to play guitar for the children so we returned after dark for my first concert. I can truthfully say there was standing room only. Marie passed out finger puppets that her sister had made as gifts and the children delightfully re-enacted the battle of Jericho for us. Marie had a hard time saying goodbye. Today I went back to the children's home to get an early start. I worked on the platform for the shower for an hour with Raju before Crystal showed up. She took over mixing the concrete while I worked on pouring and leveling. Mixing is especially hard work since we are mixing on the ground with shovels that have handles only a foot long. I was proud of Crystal, because she worked so hard. Sarah and Michelle returned to the office for another day of stamping and labeling while Marie packed for her return trip. We finished pouring the pad and I am waiting to see the end result in the morning. Crystal, Marie and Ricky left for Vizag after lunch to drop Marie off at the airport. Michelle, Sarah and I will be joining them in the morning. I will miss the girls when they leave. They all have been so good with the children. I think the Children will miss them too.

Hyderabad & Sudeepa's parent's orphanage

Crystal: Sorry that we haven't written in a while, we went to Hyderabad (which is the capital city of the State we are in right now) with the group from OC to drop them off at the airport. A couple of us got sick there, but we are doing better now and we are glad to be back in Kakinada.

Thursday we went to Sudeepa's parent's orphanage, where we taught them about 5 bible stories and taught them the Hippo song, which was fun. There were about 100 children there. Afterward, we stayed and played games with them like duck duck goose and hop skotch. They were really sweet children, they showed me all around the orphanage, sometimes with more than one child holding onto each hand. One girl played with my hair and braided it. She loved to touch my hair. A couple of the children asked me my parents' names, and then one girl told me her parents' names. I thought that was different, but probably because they are orphans. There was one little boy that could mimick all different kinds of animals and even a baby crying. He couldn't walk very well but he was always really happy, and all the children liked him.

Yesterday I got to talk to the ladies class about what gets in the way of being a true worshipper of the Father, while the rest of the group went to a village and taught the children.

Aaron: I have been impressed with the hunger for God's word here in India. Yesterday Michelle, Sarah, Marie and I went to a village where we did a puppet show for over 120 kids. They were crowded into a hut and saw by candle light. We handed out candy and pencils and they were all so excited. Today and yesterday we worked on stamping and labeling some of the monthly magazines that the Joshua translates and prints. We did 4000, but still have 8000 to go. The monsoon rains are keeping us from traveling so we will have plenty of time to finish it. Actually keep us in your prayers because the rains are flooding much of Andra Pradesh. It has been raining for two days straight. Some of the villages we were supposed to visit have cancelled because they were concerned for us. We are staying in Kakinada for now.

Preachers workshop and Mulaparru

Yesterday was the preacher's workshop. It was so encouraging to meet all the preachers and their wives. They all were really nice and are really hardworking! One preacher goes and preaches for 3 to 4 villages, in which most of the time they have to walk long distances, except for those who have "Gospel Chariots" which are bicycles that the church in Kakinada gave them for their hardwork. Aaron spoke to them about Grace and Mercy, Beverly spoke to the women about Mary and Martha, and I spoke to the women about how we should work together to bring people to Christ and how we shouldn't give up or be discouraged if people haven't come to Christ yet. It was fun! One of the girls from the Children's home made us girls all flowers to put in our hair which smelled wonderful. It made us all feel pretty:) Afterward, we all went to Ricky's Aunt's house to put icing on Sudeepa's cake because it was her birthday.

Today, we went to a village that was about 3-4 hours away. We got to teach about 50 kids 4 bible stories about Jesus while we used puppets to illustrate. We taught Jesus in the Temple, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus walks on the water, and the Good Samaritan. The kids here really love the puppets. We also got to teach them some songs with the OC group and then one of the guys from the other group gave a short sermon about coming into the family of the Lord. Then Ricky handed out bibles. Afterward, two women were baptized in the river, which was awesome because the meeting was supposed to originally be only the children, but the adults ended up coming also, which is why one of the OC guys spoke. After that the children huddled around us and were all wanting to shake our hands, some of them shaked our hands over and over again. They were so cute. The churches here are so welcoming and loving. Please continue to pray for us, Michelle has been having some stomach problems, but she is doing a little better.
Love,
Crystal

Construction, oh well...and the village with the girls

Today Jim and I helped the OC group do some work at the Childrens' home. Jim helped paint and I poured concrete for a couple of stoves. We poured a 6x6 pad which we mixed by hand. We rented boards to use as forms for 15 rupees a day. Jordan, one of the guys from the OC group, shared the pleasure of carrying the boards back to the childrens' home with me, on the back of a bicycle. We finished the pouring the concrete. However, it started raining about three hours later. I hope it is still there in the morning, oh well. We have been staying busy and we love all the kids here. Please keep us in our prayers. Love Aaron

Crystal: Today Ricky, Ronnie, the girls, and I went to a village called Gunlapallie. This congregation started about a year and a half ago with only 4 members. Now, there are 60 adults (mostly women) and 70 children. Ricky said that the preacher is really hard working there. He actually made our delicious meal, which is usually made by one of the women in the congregation. The girls (Sarah, Michelle, and Marie) taught the children three stories using the puppets. They taught the story about Jesus getting left in the temple as a child, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and Jesus calming the storm. As I was talking I kept on hearing the children clapping and giggling when the girls were teaching them. The girls said that they LOVED the puppets, so it was good that Beverly brought them. I got to talk about God's perfect knowledge of man, in which I also talked about grace, idolatry, Luke 9:62 which talks about not returning to your old life.... It was really fun. Afterward, Ricky preached to them, using Judges 2 and some other stuff about idolatry. Afterward, the woman surrounded me and wanted me to pray for them. It was really neat. The people were incredibly sweet. The old women always grab your hand tightly and tenderly and kiss you. They were really loving.

Beverly asked Ricky how many congregations are around Kakinada and he said about 1000. Ronnie said that Ricky visits each one at least once a year. Wow, he is really busy! He is making us busy too, which is good. Tomorrow they are having an eye clinic at the church.
We are having a preacher's workshop on Friday and Aaron, Beverly, and I are speaking. Aaron is speaking to the preachers and Bev and I are speaking to the wives. Fun! Fun! Everyone is doing such a good job and is getting along really well, I am so proud of them! We are all becoming good friends. Today one of the girls at the Children's Home have told me that Marie is their best friend...she is so loving. Please continue to pray for us.

New Pics

Today we went to our first village. Aaron got to preach about Freedom. It was really good. Then some OC guys preached and we sang with the OC group. While they were preaching the children that were sitting in front of us kept on turning around at us because of our white skin, and then they would smile after we smiled at them and turn around quickly. They were really cute. One man was baptized after the preaching which was cool. After, the OC group taught a children's bible lesson, and we ate on banana leaves. It was really good, the people were really sweet and chopped off the top of some coconuts for us to drink and eat. Then, we took pictures of the children and they loved it! No matter how many you took of them each time they would look at the pictures they would giggle over and over. They love digital cameras. Thank you everyone who made this trip possible for all of us. We really appreciate it and it is awesome seeing the Lord work here.

Jet Lagged

Yesterday was great we went to Church and the OC group was doing a great job of teaching the children songs and Bible stories. We helped a little but they did most of the talking. I think they were giving us an idea of what to expect from the kids and what we are expected to do. After Church we ate and our team all had to deal with our jet lag. I slept from 4 pm to 5 or 6 am. I do feel better though. This morning our team is going to go to a village. It will be our first trip and I will be excited to tell what happens. Love Aaron

We made it!!!

Our trip to Kakinada was successful! We are all doing okay, we are still awaiting our check in baggage, but the OC team had the same experience and they all received theirs, so we should receive ours also. We have had the opportunity to talk to the team from OC, and they have been busy doing God's work here. We are also looking forward to staying really busy, and are excited to work with the OC team. Continue to pray for us, that God would lead us in speaking to these wonderful people in India.

Love you all!
Crystal

Our last meeting

As many of you may know, we've been meeting almost every Monday night to prepare for India since the beginning of Spring semester. We've had people talk to us and give advice, wrote out lessons for the adults, made bible story books for the children at the orphanage, talked about cultural taboos and travel information, and yesterday we set up a mock water well drill and dug into the dirt about 3 feet. We didn't have a digital camera for all the other meetings, but we have pictures of our drilling and meeting.

T-shirt ideas for trip

Faith

ఫిత్

Hope
హొపే
Love

లవ్

India 2008

ఇండియా ౨౦౦౮

One Month Away ఒనె మొంత్ అవి

In less than a month our team will be traveling to India. We have done much to prepare, like study Indian culture, get lots of shots, and eat delicious Indian food. Last week we ate at an authentic Indian restaurant in Edmond called Namaste. We met a helpful Indian man named Praveen that gave us an intense cultural lesson. He encouraged us to visit his home in Goa on the western side of India. He told us that the area is famous for its beaches and resorts. As nice as that sounds we will mostly be visiting an area on the Eastern coast of India named Kakinada and probably won't get to visit Goa.
Crystal and I have been reading the Bible and trying to prepare ourselves to share our faith with those we will meet in India. I would say the most challenging thing to me is how to connect with people of another culture. I know however the Lord can use even me and my small attempts to spread His truth.
Crystal, Sarah and I learned some great ideas on how to teach the children at Ricky's orphanage various Bible stories from Stillwater's VBS. Not only do we have stories from VBS we have the chief organizer of VBS, Beverly. Michelle has also been working hard to gather material for the children and Marie has been working at a girl's home since she graduated from OSU. I am very grateful for my teammates abilities to work with children. Please remember us in your prayers. Aaron Fuchs