There's a Frog In My Guitar

No, that’s not a catchy title. There is straight up a frog camping out in my guitar. India is amazing.

Another great day at VBS. Even though we just arrived 2(ish) days ago, it feels like we’ve been here forever and we are seeing God blessing all over the place. One of the greatest joys we are experiencing is that every day, for 6 days, we get to see the same kids/teens/adults and so each day, our relationships with them continue to grow and this gives us opportunities to share the love of Christ with them over and over and over again. It is hot (Heat Index at 116 degrees today) and we are disgusting, sweaty messes, but as we shared in our debriefing times tonight, while this is a challenge, we wouldn’t change a thing about it. Staying here in the Mission Center allows us to cultivate relationships with those in the village and those who are living at the Mission Center. The hardest part - no lie - is knowing that in 4 days we will have to move on from here and onto the next area of service. We thank God so much that He is allowing us to do what we’re doing here and we thank you for your partnerships in praying for us and the Mission.

One of the blessings of the mission structure this time around is that, for the most part, our schedule is the same each day. That allows the team to come together each night, debrief the day’s mission experience and look ahead to the next day and how each member should prepare. Your India 2012 Team is to be commended so much for their hard work - not just on the ground here, but in the weeks and months of preparation that has allowed us to follow the Spirit and move freely in and out of the different mission activities together. The Team has come together in a way that can only be the work of God and we give Him thanks for your hand in keeping us lifted up to the Father.

This morning, we had a “Call time” of 8:00 a.m….and everyone was up and ready to go…by 6:30. After a great devotion led by Justin Hanneken, the kids began rolling in and we were able to jump right in and love on them as soon as they arrived. Speaking of which, the Mission Center buses/taxis kids from all over the villages here in those little motorized rickshaws. These “autos” can barely seat 3 adults comfortably. And yet, somehow, today I saw no fewer than 40...FORTY…4-0...children jump out when the auto pulled up. It is a literal sight to behold. If you don’t believe God still does miracles, come to India for a day and watch these kids pile out of the autos. Loaves and fishes.

For our morning program today, we did two skits and two Grain Game activities, as well as teaching the kids some new songs. Just before that, though, Mission Center pastor, Pastor Gnanam (NYAH-num) led the children in singing a Tamil worship song about how we should rejoice because God our Father is always with us. These kids can sing. Loud. And we have no clue what they’re saying, but you can feel the Spirit of God moving as they lift their voices to Him. Our first skit was our “David and Goliath” skit. As mentioned previously, our skits are about 95% narrated and 5% dialogue to keep the translation easy. However, what you can never prepare for well enough is the time that translation will take. So after a line of narration, there is a good pause in which we have to wait for the translation to complete. For a bunch of non-actors, this means trying to figure out how to continue to “act” during those times - and your India 2012 Team nails it. Granted, we look ridiculous…but the continual laughter from the children is assurance that they are connecting with the performance. Our second skit was “Daniel in the Lion’s Den”. With both skits, we realized that one of the best ways to connect with the kids is to have them perform with us. So, the children made up the Israelite and Philistine armies and also the “lions” in the den. The other kids love watching their peers in the skits.

On to the Grain Games! Today we did another four Grain Game illustrations/demonstrations, the first being led by Debbie Chiodo. She taught out of Exodus when Moses and the Israelites were trapped between the Egyptians and the Red Sea. As she’s telling the story of how God brought an impossible rescue, she’s cutting a hole into a single piece of notebook paper big enough for an adult to pass through. In the end, she teaches that just as she cut the paper and easily walks through it, in the same way God has created a way for us, through Jesus Christ, to pass through death as well. She does a great job with it.

Following that “Auntie Betty” led the very first Grain Game illustration we were ever shown: Lavente’s Candle. In this demonstration, we took a plate (the World), poured soda into it (Humanity) and in the center put a lit tea candle (The Light - Jesus). Then, a glass cup (Sin) is put over the candle to separate the soda from the candle (Sin separates from God). But, before the candle in the glass goes out due to a lack of oxygen, the candle draws the liquid outside of the cup into the cup before the light is extinguished. In the same way, we show that, while sin separates from God, Jesus entered the world and through His death, brought men who were far from God close to Him. It’s so simple, but the imagery is so effective.

After a fantastic lunch, we did our afternoon session in which we did two more Grain Game illustrations. I was able to lead one of my favorite illustrations: “Remove The Dot”. I had Moses, one of my Indian buddies, come to the front as I talked about Adam and Eve’s sin and how they foolishly tried to cover it and hide from God - yet God shed the blood of an innocent animal to take away their sin. In this demonstration, a “White Out” dot is put on Moses’ nose. We point out that the dot is embarrassing, so we try to cover it up. So a marker is used to color over the White Out dot. But this just makes it worse. And so the demonstration progresses with Moses trying to cover the shame of the dot - with a face-full of shaving cream, a bucket over his head, a sheet over the bucket….and so on. The kids loved seeing Moses look silly - but then the teaching comes in and points out that instead of trying to cover over our sin with good works (church attendance, tithing, pilgrimage, etc.), it would be so much easier - and much less shameful - to remove the dot. We teach how God allowed another innocent to be killed to remove our sin and that in Christ alone is our forgiveness. It’s such a fun demonstration and yet it teaches a great truth.

Our last Grain Game was “Beach Balls” - and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Justin Hanneken led this one and brought up a volunteer to play “catch” - only, he used a beach ball with no air in it. He talked about how a beach ball with no air is a useless toy. And as he communicated the truth about how God breathed His breath into Adam, he began to blow up the beach ball. The kids were so engaged and they loved seeing how Hanneken used the visual of the ball being blown up as a picture of God breathing His life into us and giving us a purpose. Following that, all the kids were moved outside for a huge group picture…and then we tossed 20 beach balls over the second floor terrace for the kids to play with. Such a great end to the day.

Around dinner, David kindly took us out to the beach for some time of refreshing. Some got in the water and cooled off (Leon has an Oscar the Grouch bathing suit - don’t tell anyone), while others hung out on the beach and basked in the ocean breeze that I’m pretty sure was a direct gift from our generous God. For the record, Jen, I did NOT get in the water. I was in no danger of being eaten by a crocodile (I apologize for this personal aside, but my wife is convinced that I’m going to be eaten by a crocodile if I get near the water). We enjoyed dinner at a roadside restaurant called “Mama’s Kitchen”. We didn’t get to meet “Mama”, but the fried bananas, rice, chicken and Nan were crazy delicious. Our evening concluded with our debriefing time giving God the glory for His provision and a time of looking forward to tomorrow.

One of the things that came out of that Team time together was a realization of how blessed we are as Americans. Listen, I know that every time someone you know goes away and experiences another culture they always come back talking about how spoiled and focused on “stuff” and “comfort” we are…but there’s a reason for this. When you come in contact with such a culture that has nothing compared to what you have, you should feel embarrassed. If you don’t, shame on you. We came back to our rooms today discovering that, while we were serving, ladies from the Mission Center came into our rooms, cleaned up our things, made the bed, swept/mopped/cleaned the bathrooms, etc…and the embarrassment washed over us that these ladies had seen the excess that we had brought. It’s pretty safe to assume that each team member probably brought more clothes/items for a 2 week mission than the people we’re serving have altogether. And they were serving us. We were challenged tonight to be mindful of the command in James 1:27 to look after the orphans and the widows - champion those who have less than we do. But when we look at those who are serving, we want to be careful not to say they are “hurting” or “have need”…because these beautiful people would not describe themselves that way. We’re applying an American standard that is false, assuming that we NEED this or NEED that. Our wants look a whole lot like “needs” these days. And I’m not trying to preach or change your minds in this tiny blog thing - only to point out that these people, who have CONSIDERABLY less “stuff” than we do seem to have a whole lot more joy and satisfaction in serving. The challenge to us is to chase after this same joy and find satisfaction in serving God and others. With all that we believe God has blessed us with, if it’s not drawing us to Him in thanksgiving and service, then it’s just “stuff”. Over and over again we are convinced of the joy these beautiful people have and we are being challenged every day to love with a sacrificial and joyful spirit. Come to India - it’ll change you.
Wow…ok, soapbox over. Sorry so heavy for Mission Day Two. Well, onto prayer requests. We thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. For tonight, we ask that you pray for these things:

1) Debbie C’s ankle is very swollen from twisting it last night. This has not stopped her from participating or loving on the kids…but it certainly makes it very difficult for her to do all she wants to. Please pray for miraculous healing. She’s a trooper, but right now, she desperately needs your prayers.
2) A prayer of thanksgiving for the energy the team has each day - it is a miraculous thing to see your India 2012 work so hard being so outside their comfort zone.
3) Continued prayer for the strength and energy of the team. We have the desire and the passion - we need you to lift us up for more energy each day and throughout the day!
4) That we would hear God’s Spirit moving us and leading us in how to more creatively serve and develop relationships here in India.

David told us that each year it is typical to see continued growth each day of VBS. Yesterday we had 188 kids. Today we had 217. David says we could get up to 250-300 by the end of the week. Here’s the thing, though - we don’t share this to celebrate numbers. We share this to let you know that God is drawing kids/teens every day and every day new kids are hearing the truth of God’s word. Your prayers are NOT in vain. To love on all of these kids, to communicate well to each of them and to see the Holy Spirit at work in their lives is a task that 8 team members CANNOT do apart from God actively working here. Pray that His Spirit would have free reign, that the children would feel loved and that each day their ears and hearts would be open to the truth of Jesus. We love you guys. We miss you…but we thank our God for your partnership in this. Your prayers are going up and we see God answering each day in many different ways.

Nandry. (Thank you)