Hi everybody!!!

These past few weeks of living in India have been packed with tons of crazy adventures. I could easily write pages and pages of all the ways God has already been working over here, but I thought I'd just take the time to share one particular story that had a humongous impact on me. It's not really an earth-shaking, jaw-dropping kind of story; it's pretty simple. But it had a monstrous impact on me and reawakened my passion that I thought I had lost. A little over a week ago, we went to worship with the kids and staff at one of the orphanages for the first time. After the intense, passionate service, I went up to sit by a wall to rest for a little bit while some of the others went out to play. A couple of minutes later, a little boy came in and timidly sat down about five feet away from me with a Bible story book. I moved over to him and asked him if he wanted me to read it with him. He eagerly accepted my offer, so I began reading the Bible stories in English. But he surprised me by saying the words with me at the same time! Gradually, he just started flipping through the book and explaining all of the Bible stories that he knew in broken English. We sat there for at least half an hour as I filled in the gaps and asked him questions about what he was telling me. At one point, he pointed to a picture of Jesus on the cross and said, "He is hurt. It makes me sad." So I asked him if he knew why Jesus died, and when he said no, I was able to tell him all about how much Jesus loves him! His eyes lit up when he remembered that. It was just so cool to see how naturally and easily God was able to crash through the language barrier to share more of the Gospel with this little boy. It was so encouraging and fulfilling for me, and God used that simple experience to totally refuel my passion for teaching! I could have sat there for hours with him. Not even the fact that Snowball (a tiny kitty that is no bigger than a dollar bill) was crawling all over me was able to distract me from this little boy. I am so excited to get even more opportunities to teach and work with these precious kids for the next few weeks!!

Our team here has been becoming more like a family every day. Every person has amazing gifts to share with the team. Kaley's constant joy puts all of us in a good mood. Carlye's extraordinary faith and trust in God are an inspiration to all of us. Maribeth's wisdom is so calming and comforting. Kayleen's compassionate heart is revealed through her desire to become closer to the female staff members at the orphanage. Kelsey Scherven's positive attitude is always an encouragement to us. Megan's genuine and levelheaded personality is so refreshing. Kasey has an awesome ability to speak truth. Wally has a never-ending energy that makes it so easy for him to connect with the kids at the orphanage. Evan has already become like an older brother to all of us by sharing his humor and maturity. Jane always has such a joyful attitude, and Jennifer always takes the time to ask how we are doing. Everyone has a role to play here, and it is awesome to watch God work through all of us!

Living on the other side of the world in a place full of darkness has naturally had its frustrations and challenges. It has taken a while to get used to the strange culture. We have seen police come to the store outside our house to settle an intense fight over an overpriced onion. We have been dropped off in the middle of nowhere by crazy rickshaw drivers. We have watched TV with lepers. We have had beggars literally reach into our car windows to grab food. We have had our rickshaw pulled over by obnoxiously curious policemen who just want to cause trouble (fortunately, Travis randomly happened to be driving by us on his motorcycle at that time and was able to save us from that little predicament). We have to keep remembering that God has called us here for a reason; we may not know what He's got under his sleeve, but we have to "live by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7) and make the choice to follow Him anyway. It's sometimes difficult and almost always uncomfortable, but that just goes to show that God is definitely a part of this. We are able to rejoice in the tough situations by remembering that we are now working for a higher purpose than our own, and fighting for a cause that has more worth than our own comfortable lifestyle.

Thank you so much for your support, everybody! Please pray that God will show us how to become more like Jesus with every passing minute so that we can bring His light into a place that is filled with darkness. We love you all!!

- Kelsey M

"Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." – 1 John 2:6

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." – Matthew 16:24