I am not sure how to best write this. I have tried and everything has sounded wrong..... the backspace button had suddenly become my best friend.  I cant keep doing this, so here goes nothing.....

Over the last couple weeks, the Lord has made it very obvious to everyone in the team  and Mamma and Daddy as well, that it is not the Lord's will for us to be in India at this time.  Through much prayer and conversation we decided that it would be best for D_ and I to go home as soon as possible.
We flew out of Guwahati late last Monday, and got home to San Antonio late on Tuesday.  I am really not sure what to write...I think that I still have some jet lag. I am so thankful for the time that the Lord gave me in India, it is something that I will never forget. I am excited to see what is going to happen next in my life.
Thank you all so much, for your prayers while D and I were over there!
~K

10 full days now

Well these past several days have been very busy... 

 

Sunday was our first day to be able to go to church here. It was so refreshing after all of the travel and the business to be able to spend the time devoted to the word and fellowshipping with brethren!  Saturday night I was able to go stay where my sister is staying. It was very nice to spend time with D_ and C_. We stayed up WAY too late talking about how we were doing and what was going on spiritually.

 

Monday, one of the families here, the D_'s left to go back to USA, so they came and had some time with us girls at the grace house before they left. I have only known them for a short time, but I am going to miss them being here. I know that it is the Lord's will for them to go back, and I know that the Lord knows way better than I.

 

Wednesday we had school and then prayer meeting.  I was so blessed to have a day of spiritual rest. The Lord really preserved me and kept me from temptation. It was such a peaceful day!

 

We lost all of our running water on Tuesday evening and didn't get it back until yesterday, Friday afternoon. Even then it has been very low, so we are still hauling buckets of water to the bathrooms. It has been difficult, but a blessing at the same time. I am working on the Prov. 31:17 of strengthening my arms.  I have also been getting a good workout going up 4-5 flights of stairs multiple times a day so that I can check on laundry.  We were able to pick up my clothes from the tailor yesterday. That is a HUGE blessing! I only had 2 pairs of bottoms and 3 kurtis, so I really did have to do laundry every day.  I am truly starting to realize exactly how spoiled I was in the US.

 

Today I went over to the W_'s to spend some time with my sister and help while Mrs. W and C_ went out to go visit someone.  I was also able to take a shower while there since they have plenty of running water, even hot running water. It has never felt so good to take a shower before in my life! EVER!  I had not had a shower since last Saturday, when I was at there.

 

I want to thank you all for your prayers. They have truly been felt. I want to Praise the Lord that my health has been preserved. I had a bit of allergy problems when I first got here, but they seem to be dissipating over time.  Please pray for India... It is a dark country in great need of salvation.

In Him

~K

India Arrival

We are now in India! Our travels went so well, the Lord blessed us in so many ways. If there was any doubt in my mind that this was not the Lords will for me, He certainly put them to rest during our journey.

 

1. We were able to take the train to London since there was a mix up in our tickets. I was really happy about this since it allowed me to see much more of the British countryside. (pictures to come)

 

2. We had an AWESOME cabby take us from the train station to the airport. He loaded the four of us and our 9 suit cases into a stereotypical London cab... You know the really cute ones you always see in cartoons. They actually drive those there! Once we got to the airport he realized that he forgot to turn on his meter, so instead of overcharging us he charged much less than what he had said that it would cost.

 

3. The plane from London to Delhi was almost empty, so I was able to stretch out across four seats and get about 2 hours of sleep which was a huge blessing.

 

4. We almost missed our Kulkata-Guwahati connection, but one of the flight hostesses came looking for us. She was radioing ahead telling them to hold the plan and she grabbed one of our cases and ran with us to get us on the plane... She was so sweet!

 

We got in Tuesday afternoon and I have been trying to catch up on some rest and get to know the team here. I am excited for Sunday! I am going to start teaching either today or tomorrow. I will be teaching every other day for now, then once I learn the system some more I will be teaching every day.

 

Well I need to go get started on the day.

 

I love you all, and thank you for your prayers!

~K

Meandering in Manchester

D_ and I have greatly enjoyed our time here in Manchester. We arrived here Friday morning quite tired but we were being advised to try to stay awake. Because of the time difference, if we stayed awake and took a short nap, when we woke up the next morning our bodies should be adjusted. We went out for lunch and a little bit of shopping with C_ and E_, two of the other girls going to India with us.

We rode a double decker bus at one point. It was really fun and slightly scary. It looked as of we were about to run things over!

 

The sleep advise really paid off.  When we woke up Saturday morning we were tired, but we weren't effected by the jet lag.  C_ came over that morning so we could have some time together before we left for the city. We had a lot of fun, and laughed so much!  After lunch we went over to where E_ is staying so that we could all ride into the city together. We went to this BEAUTIFUL park. It was huge! Lots of grassy hills and a big beautiful old house. We were able to sit on the grass and share our concerns, worries and struggles, then we were able to pray together. It was such a blessed time!
 

We went into the city and were able to get all of our shopping done, then we went to a restaurant called Tops. It was a giant all you can eat buffet with a much food! We started off with sushi starters. One of the sushi rolls had caviar on it. It was very good! It didn't taste fishy, or slimy, just very crunchy.  For the main course I had duck, lamb, beef, some veggies, and excellent muscle, and squid. The squid was very good, and I even ate the head!  It was really good as long as I didn't think about what it was that I had just eaten. :P
We took the bus back to the house and went to bed. 
 

We have had such a wonderful time here! I love Manchester and I am sad to leave tomorrow, but I am very excited to get to India.
~K

Passports and Visas

Well this week has turned out very different than I thought it would!

Friday we got our passports in, so we packed a bag so that we could go to Houston either Sunday evening or Monday morning.  At church on Sunday, our pastor told us that they would really like it if we could leave for Manchester sometime this week. Two of the other girls going to India are in Manchester right now, waiting on one of their visas. They would like it if we could meet up with them in Manchester, and then we  could all fly to Guwahati together.  That would be really nice for several reasons.

1:  The flight from here to Manchester is 8 hours, and then from Manchester to Guwahati is 8 hours, so it would put a little break in the flight.

2:  We would all four be on the same flight, so it would be WAY more fun.

3:  We would be able to go to ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we left for Houston Sunday after church, and we stayed with my Aunt. We all thought that it would be better to get in later that evening, than have to wake up early Monday morning in order to get to the consulates office. We turned in our paperwork Monday morning and they said that it would be 24-48 hours processing time. At first we were a little upset because we had heard that it would be a 30 min type thing, but after we calmed down a little, it has turned out to be a huge blessing!  We are able to spend some extra time with my aunt and my cousin, we are able to slow down for a day or two, and if we had shipped it in, it would have taken several weeks.
We are currently waiting on the E-mail that says that the visas are ready.  I am very thankful for this time, we are able to relax and have some fun with my family before we leave.

~K

Depression and the prosperity movement.

My mother ran across this video and showed it to me. It is a very wonderful sermon clip about depression.  I must say that I am encouraged by its honesty. It is not one of those clips that say "if you are depressed, you just need to have more faith, your need to believe more, true Christians can't be depressed." It is saying that this might be why you are depressed. Whether you suffer with depression or not, it is definitely worth listening to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWR46pW4PfY&feature=youtu.be

~K

House of horrors.

You may know that I am VERY much against abortion! I believe that it is wrong to kill a child in the womb no matter what the circumstances are!  I realize that this is not a popular idea, and I have been griped at, cursed at, and over all hated for holding to this belief. People have asked me, "what about if it dangers the mother's health?" Have you asked a mother lately if she would sacrifice herself for her child?  I do not know of a mother out there that would say no. If I held a gun to your child's head and said, "either you die or your child does" I don't think that you would say "kill my child."
I have also been asked "well what if the mother was a victim of rape?"  And I agree that would be a horrible, and tragic thing, but nowhere in our law system is a child punished for the crimes of its father. The news would have a field day if they found out that a child in Timbuktu was murdered because his father raped a woman, so why is it OK for that to happen if the child is still in the womb?????

Well I didn't post this voice my own thoughts, but to raise awareness to a horrible case that is going on right now.  Although I do not agree with Glenn Beck's beliefs as a whole, I do agree with what he is saying in this video.... WARNING: this video contains graphic pictures and children should not view or listen to it. http://www.glennbeck.com/2013/04/15/watch-kermit-gosnells-house-of-horrors/


~K

India!?!

Things have been very busy these last few weeks! About a month and a half ago we started going to a new church. The second week that we were there, the Pastor walked up to us, and spoke to us for a little while. Mamma had told him about how I have wanted to go on the mission field from the time I was young. He told her that the church has a women's grace house in Guwahati, Assam, India, and they needed help, so he gave me the email address of the man in charge.   I emailed him and he said that we could meet up that next Sunday and talk about things to see if I would be of use, and if they would feel comfortable with me going.

   After our conversation we found that they need English teachers, and they have been praying for someone to come and teach the girls how to sew, cook, garden, and do all sorts of other craft things. In India, people don't go to the store and buy a pre made shirt. You go to the store, get material, and then take it to a tailor, so if the girls know how to sew, it would give them a job opportunity in the future. When we spoke with them we decided to think about it and pray about it and meet up again the following week. We knew that we were leaving that Thursday to go to a fellowship conference and we also knew that several of the people that had been to India were going to be there. We all agreed that sitting down and having a conversation with the girls there would be a good idea.

We greatly enjoyed the conference, and the conversation was a great blessing! We were able to settle several doubts and had many of our questions answered. After much prayer and conversation we decided that we would go ahead and plan on going, and if the Lord closed the door then we would understand that it is not His will. We spoke with the people in charge of the grace house and we all said that maybe we would leave end of May to middle of June. About a week later we had our pastor and his family, and the people in charge of the grace house over for dinner and we were able to talk about India, the approximate leave date was moved up to middle to end of May. Then Monday, Pastor got a call from the W_'s ( the family in India) and they told him that they need help over there now. We are now at the point where we will be leaving as soon as we get our paperwork in.
I forgot to mention that D_ is going to be coming too! I am so excited that we will be there together! I am sure that it will be so nice to have her with me, someone that I can talk to and confide in, and someone who understands exactly what is going through my head.

I will do my best to keep this blog up to date with what is going on both before and after we get to India. If you have any questions please send me an email and I would love to talk to you.

~K