Ananthi is Coming to Town

I haven't said much about India, but it is never far from my thoughts and daily in my prayers! As many of you know the re-entry into life in America after time spent in a 3rd world country is difficult. I knew that much of what I experienced would be hard to explain and I also knew that God had allowed me the experience to change ME not so I could expect others to change. As I processed all that I saw and experienced I am happy to say that India has found its way into my heart and I can't wait to go back! David wants me to wait at least a year before I plan another trip and I am good with that.

As I made the transition to being at home I wondered regularly how I was going to be a part of what was going on in the Good Samaritan School. After I had prayed about India one day and asked, "what next?" Laura Marie, the director of the Good Samaritan School stateside, called. I was excited to hear from her and humbled when she asked me and if I would be willing to host an event for the founder of the school, Ananthi Jebasingh, in October. I told her I would pray about it and began to seek the Lord about how to accomplish this. He had answered my prayer of "what next?" much sooner than I had expected and so I began to get busy. The first thing I did was made an appointment with my pastor and missions director at my church. The next thing I did was to make contact with my childrens' schools. Following are the times and places that Ananthi will be speaking in Orlando.

Friday, October 8th at 9:45am Ananthi will be speaking at the chapel service of Family Christian School.

Saturday, October 9th at 6:00pm she will be sharing for a few minutes at Westwood Church's Saturday service

Sunday, October 10th at 9:00am and 10:45am she will be the missions moment in both services at Westwood.

Sunday, October 10th at 6:30pm Ananthi will be sharing her heart about the ministry God has called her to in India at a Dessert fellowship at Westwood Church.

Anyone is welcome to attend any of these opportunities, but the most information will be given at the Sunday evening event. I cannot begin to adequately express my excitement about the opportunity God is allowing as Ananthi comes to share. She is a holy woman that you will enjoy hearing and she has a holy calling that you won't want to miss. Please come and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to leave a comment and I will get in touch with you. Many blessings and much love, JS

Life is Full

Right now I am in the midst of waiting...not my favorite thing, but honestly having some time to just sit is a gift so I will choose to be thankful for this wait.

Our Japanese student is here and he is delightful. He cooked a yummy curry dinner last night(hard to believe after India that I would eat it...) but it was delicious. His name is Shimone and he is 23. I keep beating him at Wii darts and that is fun and he seems to enjoy the craziness that is our family which warms my heart. Every year that we do this we wonder if we will love our student as much as the last one and I can tell you that every year we do. I am always surprised by how quickly my affection comes and how deep the commitment to them is. It truly is as though they are one of us. We only have 2 more weeks with him and we will miss him when he goes.

School has started for Catherine Jo. Another time of adjustments...new school...new program...new classes...equals family mtg to establish new guidelines. It went well though and we are thankful for our mediator and the hope that comes with a renewed commitment to relationships and excellence. It is going to be a good year.

India has remained on my mind, in my prayers, and in my heart. I am so excited about the chance to see Ananthi when she and Laura Marie come to the area in October. I will post more on that later.

I am currently in a Bible study about attitudes by James Macdonald. It is one of the most revolutionizing studies I have ever done. It touches me and challenges me to the core of my being. Wrong attitudes are exposed and studied and then the next week the Godly attitude to be added to my life to replace the destructive one is studied. Powerful stuff. What are you studying right now? I'd love to hear about it! Life
continues to bring circumstances that will challenge my faith...health issues...parenting challenges...relational stuff...but by my Lord's grace I will bring Him pleasure as I choose to believe Him and live a faith filled life.

I will post new summer photos soon...that's the good stuff, I know. Leave a post and let me know how you are, will you? I am a "words" person...your words fill me up. Much much love, js

Home is a Beautiful Word

So, I'm having a difficult time with the whole "re-entry" thing. It is difficult to explain mostly because it is difficult to understand myself and therefore difficult to process internally and there you have it....difficult. I am so happy to be home but the weird thing is that it is like I never left. But, I did. What I saw affected me deeply, but I don't know how to mesh the two worlds that I have now experienced because like I said, in so many ways it is like India never happened. The temptation to view my trip like a "dream" is very real. To just walk back into life here in America and say, "thank God I live here in this wonderful country with Starbucks and Chickfila and Publix grocery stores" is a very real temptation. It would be somewhat easier to do that than to wrestle with God about what to do with "India", but I don't really want to forget. How could I forget? So I will wrestle with God and wait on Him to tell me what to do. In the meantime, when I can't sleep I will pray for the people I met, the school I was privileged to experience and its financial needs, my sweet Mercy girl, and my teammates who are probably going through the same struggles as me. Learning to embrace all that God puts in my life is a challenge I will willingly take if He will continue to allow me to minister His love to the world. Not just that world, but this one as well. In the meantime I have been thinking of the top ten things I do not miss about India....and the top 10 I do.

TOP 10 Things I Do Not Miss About India:
10. men urinating on the side of the road
9. the traffic...be still my poor heart
8. the horns honking
7. hot water coming out of the cold tap
6. unreliable internet service
5. the street vendors and the shopping
4 the unfriendly stares
3. the dust that coats everything
2. the HEAT
and the number one thing I do not miss about India...THE FOOD :-) and since I'm not very good with top ten lists, I have to add that I will not miss the never ending poverty

Things I Really Miss About India:
the children on the way to school and at the school, Ananthi and her sweet leadership, Mercy my sponsor child, the 6th grade girls:Shootsie, Ulma, Ushi, Napur, and Joyce, laying in our bunks and talking with the gals on the team, laughing at Tyler, skyping with the fam at home as they all crowded around the computer to talk with me, Laura Marie and Frances, karaoke on the bus, dinners at the Continental Curry restaurant(not the food, the fellowship), Sanjay and the chai tea he fixed every day for us, the precious children at the MK school, the kiddos in the slums that loved to have their pictures taken, the bus rides where we talked about real stuff, cute little naked babies toddling around...the people...that is what I miss about India...the people.

The Strangest Things I Saw In India:
cows eating garbage, a naked man walking down the road, endless piles of garbage with cows eating it(said that already didn't I?), naked babies out in public, people sleeping on any surface any time of day, work camps with temporary homes, children sleeping on the cement ground under overpasses, very skinny dogs(I only saw one healthy looking dog the entire 12 days), a vet clinic in a posh shopping area, a water slide park, craziest driving experiences ever(now I know why there are so many Indian taxi drivers)

Well, that is all I can think of right now. Thanks for reading my India blogs and praying for me. Say a prayer for the school of the Good Samaritan today.
With love,
Jackie Sue

India's Most Beautiful Natural Resources

2 More Sleeps in India

After being down for the count for the last 36 hours I finally feel well enough to go to the school today. My belly still cramps, but it is bearable and I can't stand feeling so useless. I promise not to eat any Indian food though. Maybe plain rice, but that is it.

I listened to some worship music yesterday and the tears rolled. Honestly, and I surprise myself by saying this, I would do it all again. The sickness was horrible, but not more horrible than being here was wonderful. It has been a life changing experience for me. I am doing a James Macdonald Bible study called, "Lord, Change My Attitude" and guess what this week's study is on??? CONTENTMENT! Only God in His sovereignty could have arranged that. "Contentment-being satisfied in God's sufficient provision....to rest in what one already has and seek nothing more, to say without fear of the future or envy of others, "I have enough." God calls all of us to contentment. Invites us really. We can certainly, and usually do, live in discontentment quite naturally, but He invites us to trust Him to give us what we need and then to be satisfied there. Being in India, seeing what I've seen, I am pondering contentment for them. I have plenty. Waaaay more than I need, so being content will become a conscious choice for me, but not unattainable, by God's grace. What about those living in the slums? How do they achieve this place of contentment? Believe it or not, the same exact way as you and me. Being in relationship with God on a moment by moment basis while choosing to rest in His provision. I can't comprehend it and I don't mean to simplify it, but this I know, God lives in India. He is as available to them as He is to us. He has not forsaken His children and those who are watching see His hand throughout their life, even though they live in the slums. I have seen such joy on a blind woman's face as she sang a song of praise for us. I see it in little Dolci's smile that spreads all the way across her face, even though she is an orphan and wears the same blue polka-dotted dress every day. God is all around me here. My spoiled American self has realized again and again that stuff does not matter. Relationships with God and others are all I will take to Heaven with me. Strip it all away and who am I? Would I choose to love God and be content in Him? O Lord, let it be so. Continue to rip away all that I think is important and make me find my true self in You. I don't want the truths from this trip to wash away when I finally take a shower in my own shower...I want them to penetrate my heart and change me down deep and that is my prayer. I have no idea how to resolve these two worlds, but I know God has brought me here and I don't want to waste what He has shown me.

I have found the child I want to sponsor. Her name is Mercy. Isn't that beautiful? She is the only child of her parents and is so precious. Her mom shared many testimonies of God's faithfulness to their family. They are the caretakers for the school and have a small home attached to the church property. I mentioned them in my last post. Mercy is in 9th grade and is in the top of her class. She and I have made a connection and I want to continue in our relationship. She and I both love to read. We were talking about books and she told me who her favorite author was(Enid something) and then went into her home and brought me out a little story book to read. I took it back to the flat and read some of it. It is separate little stories, sort of like fables where there is always a lesson to be learned. I can't wait to send her the Anne of Green Gables Series! I haven't been back to the school to see her yet, but Colleen(my team member) took her book back for me and she gave me another to read. Colleen told her I was sick in bed. Last night she called me on the phone to see how I was. She said her parents were thinking of me and she asked if I had eaten. They are very big on eating here! I told her no and she said I should eat. I told her I had some toast and she said ok. Too cute. I am humbled by her affection and concern for me. I hadn't even told her I wanted to sponsor her until last night. I can't wait to put her picture on my fridge. Do you have a spot on your fridge for a child like Mercy? There are so many here who could benefit from your generosity. Would you pray about it? It is only $34 a month and could change a life.

I will post some more photos soon. I am awed by God this morning and thinking of you all and praising Him for such a wonderful support system for me. He shows me His love through you. Thank you for being His voice. Many blessings and contentment, js

Sunday in India

Today was a fantastic day. I will tell you about it, but first let me tell you about yesterday.

Saturday morning we went to the school at 7a.m. to play sports with the children. When we got there we had about 12 children. First I played Badminton with some girls which means that we hit the birdie back and forth for as long as we could and if it drops then the next girl plays. I was ok at it. I didn't embarrass myself too terribly. Then we went to play Indian Volleyball or Throwball which means we caught and threw a large ball over a volleyball net. I was doing great until I caught a ball, jamming my ring finger in the process. Ouch! Immediately the first joint of my finger went crooked. I looked at it and since I couldn't straighten it I asked the girls near me to pull it straight. Yeah, it didn't work. Not so much. So, I switched games again and ended up playing with the 6th grade girls. We played freeze tag and Carrom, a game with a large square wooden board with wooden pieces and pockets. Then I taught them how to throw an American football correctly. I even showed them how to hike it which they thought was hilarious. I'm happy to report that I didn't receive anymore injuries! It was such fun to play with the kids and to see them in a smaller group setting. After that fun we had a meal with Ananthi, whom we now all call Auntie.

The team is now divided into 2 teams. One team stays here to minister to the children of the school and the slums(that is the team I am with) and the other team is working in the area of child trafficking/prostitution in Delhi and leaves tomorrow for Mumbai. Our team made more home visits in the slums. It is difficult to convey how these visits go. We walk into a room of about 6x8 which is their entire home. A larger home would be 10x10 with an upstairs roof. These homes are dark, hot and crowded with the double bed platform in the corner which doubles as a couch. When we come in they introduce their family to us and then they share their prayer requests. After we pray they will try to serve us some soda or snack of some sort. It sounds lovely and it really is until you have to do it again and again and again. After the 4th visit I was just done. I couldn't emotionally do it anymore. It is difficult to explain, but the truth that I am powerless to do anything for them becomes overwhelming. They treat us like celebrities...we pray for a few minutes and then we leave them...still living in the exact same situation...to climb into our air-conditioned van and go eat our food in restaurants and sleep in our clean beds. We have seen so much poverty and sickness. Blind people who's blindness could have been prevented by a simple cataract surgery in the states. Naked babies. Cows eating garbage. Pigs running loose. Beggars. Children with skin conditions. A baby with horrible burns who's eyes are painted black because it's parents worship the god of death. You can appreciate that I just couldn't process another visit. I joined our driver "B2" in the car along with a teammate, Glenn, and we talked about nothing. David and Colleen did one more visit and then we headed to the church for a work project. The men did the work(my favorite kind of work project) and Colleen and I visited with some of the women and took pictures. I met one of the students who's name is Mercy. Don't you love that? She is in the 9th grade and is the head of her class. (Her mother is the woman who doctored my bleeding toe the other day)We shared testimonies. It was so nice. At the end of the day, around 730pm we headed over to "Capitol Curry" for dinner. It is a nice Indian restaurant with ESPN on. That was my Saturday. (I prayed for the folks at home who were celebrating our sweet friend, Sharon's, life and Homegoing!)

And now for Sunday....we started by attending church with Auntie. The service was exactly what you would expect in a third world country. Delightful. All three of us that were there were asked to share. Of course I cried, but it didn't go into the ugly cry, just couldn't talk for a bit. All of our speaking was done through a translator named Kapil. I don't have any video of me sharing, but I don't need any. I won't forget that experience for a very very long time. After the sharing we were asked to pray for anyone who wanted prayer. In the states we rarely have anyone come to our prayer room. We don't admit our need very quickly in the US. Here every single person in the church came forward for prayer and waited in line like we were "holy" people. I was struck with the huge responsibility of it all. They waited in line to have me pray for them...me....how absurdly amazing. I even had two women ask me to pray and bless bottles of water. I guess they are hoping that it will now have some sort of power. Only God knows if He intends to use that water for His holy purposes. It was a precious time. Blessing the children who came for prayer was my favorite. If I can say this and not sound arrogant...as the children waited for me one of the older women tried to push them out of the way and I thought about Jesus and how he said, "no, let the little children come unto me" and I asked her to leave them. I loved laying hands on their heads and faces as I prayed. It was like nothing I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing before. God was in our midst. It was a holy experience.

After church Auntie took us to a wonderful Chinese restaurant in a 5 star hotel. It was just 4 of us and we had such a nice time. Auntie is like a holy woman to me. She is one of the most delightful people I've ever met. I have fallen in love with her. While we chatted after our meal our American contact, Laura Marie, called us from New York. She had to leave us on Friday to go back to the states as did Frances. I cried when they left. Laura Marie is a 26 year old woman who is the executive director in the U.S. for the organization we are here to serve. The Lord allowed us to share some intimate conversations this past week and our hearts bonded in a deep way. Part of why God brought me to India was to meet Laura and Frances. Precious people who inspire me to love God and others and journey this life looking for ways to serve the world. She called to check on us as we struggle to get along without her. Frances is 19 and I've mentioned her before. A remarkable gal for her age, really for any age. We had a ton of fun together and are hoping to meet up in July while we are in north Georgia.

I know this is a lengthy post. I hope you have stayed with me through it all. Can I say with a smirk, "comments would be nice!?" Thank you for all your prayers. I will continue to process all that I see and share as much as I'm able. I will post more photos because you know I have a ton! Just 5 more days in India....
Love in Him who is alive and working in India,
Jackie Sue

"Delhi Belly"

So, last night, Thursday, I got really sick in the night. I won't go into detail, but it was bad pretty much all night long. Thankfully I didn't throw up. This morning I stayed back at the flat and started taking Cipro. One of our leaders, Laura Marie, said, "oh, you have Delhi Belly." Oki doki then. The good news is that since I've already gotten this I don't have to dread it again. In all seriousness, please pray for the health of the team. We are all struggling a bit. Tomorrow morning early we are supposed to go do p.e. at the school. I will be the photographer I think. I did a bit of shopping today. Bartering is not my gift, but I had some women with me who were experts at it. Love what I got and loved the price. Let me take a minute to say that for me there is no getting used to the heat or the smells of India. It is sensory overload every day. It is raw and amazing in not a great way. Even in the "nice" areas you will see homeless people sleeping on the ground all over the place. It is beyond description. Simply amazing. After shopping we went to dinner tonight and I had some chicken soup. I have managed to keep it down, but still the belly cramping and aching. I will be fine soon I'm sure. I almost finished Tom Davis' second work of fiction, "Priceless". It is an intense and quick read. I highly recommend it. Well, peeps, I got nothin' else....maybe tomorrow will be better. I bet I will get some great pictures of the kids. Love from India, js
p.s.I tried to upload a video of the kids singing to us,but it was going to take a really long time. It will have to wait until I get home. 7 more sleeps. Miss home but love being here.