Out of my comfot zone yet at total peace

hey hey hey
greetings from the other side of the world.. It is dinner time here which would make it very early in the morning there.. so wake up people!!!
Actually I am quite tired myself but I get to go to bed soon YEAH!! after some more rice and oh so delicious curry....
On a food note I had the first curry i could not bring myself to eat today for lunch.. so I ate plain white rice and a pop tart-- not so filling alot of carbs--- Oh the type of curry was eggplant-- but in my mind and mouth it looked and tasted like slimy purple leaches with pooy water sauce-- not my favorite by any stretch of the imagination--
But as a Fallow up food note (just for u dad love u bunches) last night we had the pleasure of eating at lynne and rutman's house ... we had rice (but it was yummy rice with flavor) and curry but it was potatoes and cauliflower it was fabulous-- the potatoes changed my life-- well they put me in a great mood... and guess what ... I used a fork!! what a luxury... It actually felt funny but it was nice not to have my hands all messy and we had strawberries and icecream for dessert yummy i ate the strawberries and tried the icecream but opted out of eating all of it (I didnt want to upset my tummy it was very creamy) so Dan agreed that he would sacrifice himself and eat what i didnt finish.. what a guy...

Last night we also watched a Hindi film with lynne and rutnam it was called "jab we met" which really means where or when we met.. it was like a romantic comedy but they would break out in song and it was near 3hrs long and there was some super corny image effects and lines-- super funny..

One of my favorite things about going to lynnes house is being able to hold the baby baby--- she has not yet been named so for now we call her lulu or Jakie Chan or various other names till lynne picks one she sees fitting... anyway moving forward.. this baby is soooooo super beautiful she is 3 months old almost 4 and she is the size of an infant just a tad long... her hand just is able to wrap her fingers around my finger-- she is beautiful and i love holding her little little little body-- soo cute...

so besides the movie and the amazing potatoes the past few days has had some other new things.. we went to the market talk about HUGE-- it was so funn but scary to walk on the street-- lets just say pedestrians dont have the right of way in india-- they r more like coins in a super mario game.....

And today we brought some of the special (HIV positive children) to the hospital to have a check up and get more meds... only the children who came to agape with full blown aids go on this trip... it is so sad and hard to think that these kids have a life expectancy of 5 more yrs.. But by the power and grace of the Almighty it will be alot more...

So this was a huge hospital but way different then ones in the US.. for starters when the kids had to go to the bathroom we fallowed the signs to toilets and it led outside.. yes outside to the back of the hospital where they threw trash and people were just going where they pleased... this custom of India i still dont understand.. the road sidewalk alleyway everything is a bathroom...

after the children had their checkups we walked around the hospital with a man from agape .. it was interesting to see all the wards and compare it to the US.. first off there is no such thing as privacy or personal rooms or records.. people read over your shoulder as you order prescriptions and the inpatient rooms are a huge room with around 20beds -- every one of them filled right next to one another--- boy are we blessed to live in America---

I found myself praying for every person i saw as i passed them or passed a room of patients-- I have always been a person to quickly pray over someone but ever since being in India it is an instantaneous reaction to just pray in my head as i pass a room of patients--- I know God has a mighty plan and I love seeing him unfold it...

One of the most stressful parts of the day involved a little boy form Hostile 1 (HIV negative) he has tinny little bumps on his face and so they have been bringing him to the hospital for check ups as well... what he has is very common among HIV positive patients so they suggested that he be re-checked for HIV...

we all waited in the bus.. well it is an old ambulance they converted into a bus... we waited 2 hrs to get the results-- it was so hot.. we all fell asleep on one another... I awoke to sweaty children flopped all over my but they were so cute...
But the wait was finally over and there is a happy praise report at the end-- the little boy test results came back negative!!! praise the lord!!!!--- if they had been positive he would have had to change hostiles which would have taken him away from living with his younger brother .. so God is Good and soo faithful!!!!

One thing about being in India that has been so awesome, is the amount of time i have been able to dig into the word... I have made time every morning and night and during my down time my two roommates (unbelievers-- there is another prayer request... that there hearts and eyes would open to the glory and awesomeness of god) anyway with the down time they r big readers so I get to dig in then and I have also utilized our balcony and gone out there to read when it insnt swarmed by little children---

IF any of you are wondering i have been digging into Ecclesiastes and Hebrews and it is super cool to not just read and get the gist but to go back after reading the whole book and pick the chapters apart and really pray about what God wants to reveal through his word--- He is a pretty cool guy-- Just thought I'd let u kno... so that has been awesome---

from my balcony you get an areal shot of what is around the hostile and right next door is a road side slum-- the sight of children with no pants or no clothes on the street is becoming the norm... to put an image in ur mind these houses are the size of a 2-4 person tent and they are made of either tarps palm tree branches or sheets of recycles metal put together in a lean-to fashion... it in some intense poverty... and there is thrash everywhere... just like everywhere is a bathroom everywhere is a dump or trash bin as well...

even with the trash is everywhere.. India is still so so beautiful.. and the people are so beautiful.. the children's smiles just light up the room and all they want is to be wanted..

it has been so cool to be used by God in ways I never would have imagined.. some of the things that have happened i would have never even thought i would walk into or be able to do a month ago.. just yesterday i was at hostile one and a little boy had a fever i held him for 4 hrs-- God was most defiantly strengthening my back-- but he just wanted to be held and loved and I was able to do that-- along with get him meds--- I have never felt a childs skin so hott--- But that wasnt the most challenging and having to leave my ownself and own personal comfort levels of cleanliness thing of the day... towards the end of my time at hostile one Deepak a small boy's stomach really hurt.. he was crying and was trying to have me help him but i didnt know what to do but pray so he went down to the bathroom and i fallowed him.. the bathroom he went to was the same on i watched boys pee through the doorway(not even in the hole or near it .. just in the vicinity of the room) his went in and stood there screaming and crying .. he motioned for me to come over so i went in (against everything in me that would have in all other situations stayed far far away form this bathroom) but in that moment all i saw were his tiny hands stretched up at me as he cried in pain.. so i went in and squatted infront of him and just wrapped my arms around him as he tried to go to the bathroom... it was all i could do-- hold hima n talk to hima nd try to calm him down and bring him some essence of peace... I have no idea how long it took but finally he was done and had stopped crying and was just holding onto me.. I cleaned him up (the american way : ) ) and put new pants on him...

It is so hard to see those kids in pain tehy are already HIV positive and then for them to experience other pain is just unbearable to watch-- so helpless-- But God is good and i am so glad i was able to be there for him yesterday--- I saw him today- he is one of the children who went to the hospital so his stomach is not bothering him today at all and he actually fell asleep cuddling with me today on the bus so praise the lord-- I love this kid he is one of my boys!!! so cute


anyway this has been a long long update but alas it is time for more rice and curry so enjoy your breakfast everyone-- or whatever time u end up reading this and know that your prayers and all your support is very very much appreciated and felt---

continue to pray that my ear clears I can still not hear anything out of it and this is a major inconvenience and it is still painful-- But We serve a GREAT GOD AMEN

LOVE YOU ALL god bless