2 Days Left: All My Bags Are Packed

Evening, fellow Missionaries.

Already we are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support from each of you walking this journey with the India 2012 Team. Our desire is that each of you would feel a part of this mission experience as we take the love and truth of Jesus Christ to Chennai. Again, you are a vital part of this team and we beg for your prayers. As I write this, we are 48 hours away from take-off. After talking with some on the team, we feel so overwhelmed with how much we have left to do, personally, before we head out. If you would, please lift up the team in this time as we are are working hard to have everything in order before we leave. Fortunately, so much time was put into mission preparation that we feel prepared for the mission ahead of us, but on a personal level there is so much to do. Also, while you pray for us, please don't forget to pray for our families. There is so much excitement for the work God has prepared for us, but there is a lot of anxiety as well as we spend these last moments with our loved ones before a long time apart. Thank you, again, for your prayers - please continue to lift up our families as well!

As stated earlier, we really want you to feel connected to this mission and understand the work that you are praying for. So, for tonight's blog, we thought it would be good to just lay out the basic logistics of what our trip will look like. This may seem a bit "dry" compared to some of the other stories we will share, but we want to lay out what all will be taking place - as best as we know now!

For now, here are the basic details. The Faith India 2012 Team will be departing from BWI on Friday, May 4th at 9:25 p.m. After a 3-hour layover in Heathrow, we will arrive in Chennai (pronounced "CHEN-ay") at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday May 6th. Total flight time is 18 hours. Our Mission this time is to partner with David Rajan to help support his annual VBS in his Mission Centers located in the villages of Chennai. In 2010, much of our work was done in the main city of Chennai, but this year our emphasis is almost solely in the villages. We will be responsible for leading some "programs" and "Grain Game" activities. Many of you are friends with David Rajan on Facebook or receive his email updates - and if so, you should be very familiar with his VBS mission work. So many children come out to the Mission Centers for a two-week, all-day Vacation Bible School and we are so excited to partner with them! Tomorrow we'll provide a backstage look at the "Programs" and "The Grain Game". We're really excited for you guys to hear about both of those things. During our time in Chennai, we will also be taking part in some Church dedications and worship services. After two weeks of HARD work, we will be jumping back on a plane on Saturday, May 19th at 5:30 a.m., stopping for a 5-hour layover in Heathrow and then arriving home at BWI at 7:50 p.m. on the same day!

One aspect that hasn't been mentioned yet, only because it is so cool, exciting and completely scary for a bunch of pampered Americans: the lodging. Initially when the team signed on, we thought that our lodging would consist of staying in David's beautiful condo (like 2010) or living out of hotels in the villages. Only three weeks ago did it end up that those plans fell through and now our weekday lodging will be in the Mission Centers. Fortunately, God has blessed us with the greatest host of all time in David Rajan. This wonderful man has been working night and day to make sure that his American family will be comfortable. At first, the idea of staying out in the open-air Mission Centers scared some people (and by "some people", I mean "me"), but the whole team is so excited to have this experience. We know that God is going to provide for our every need and we can't wait to see how He works through this whole experience. At the same time, this does present a real need for prayer for our ability to rest and recover for the next day's work. Please pray that God would restore us physical each night so that we can be the most effective servants we can be - that is our heart. Even when the weather reports are showing anticipated temps of 100+, we just laugh knowing that this is one more way God will reveal His goodness and incredible grace to us. As we've talked as a team, we do realize the potential for disunity to creep in when you take a team out of their comfort zone, force them to be together 24 hours a day for two weeks and toss in 100+ degree weather. Please pray that as a team we fight for unity and don't let any physical discomfort lead to division or conflict. We recognize that the mission requires that we stay united and the enemy will be working hard to destroy this. Please lift this up as a significant pray focus.

Well, that's what the agenda looks like right now. HOWEVER, a phrase was coined on our last trip here that appropriately puts everything in perspective: "It's India". When you hear this or see this, know that what we mean is that at any moment - because of the weather, the government, political in-fighting - every single thing could completely change - and probably has. We have prepared with a basic understanding of how we might be used, but we go trusting God to lead us to where He wants us to serve. This is such an exciting place to be and we go giving this trip to Him for His purposes and His glory. Thanks again for walking with us. See you tomorrow!