So ... Culture Shock. This trip so far has been totally out of my comfort zone, but so great at the very same time. I can't believe we are 1/9^th of the way done with the trip. Only about 10 more weeks here. I can't believe that. 

I am reminded of what Paul tells us in Ephesians 5 to "make the most of every opportunity in these evil days." And let me just tell you – India is a hard place to minister. There is a lot of evil here. And there is a battle – a huge war going on between the authorities in the unseen world (Eph. 6). And we are here to fight with God for these people. I want them to know God and the grace He offers through Jesus. Keep fighting for me and my team in prayer.

I am also reminded of a verse that my mom shared with me to have on this trip. In John 13:6 it says, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." I totally feel like that. Right now, I have no idea exactly what God is going to teach me, or how He is going to use me but I'm excited to see what happens.

Ok, let me just share a few things I've experienced during my time here:

Tastes of India: Well to say that they eat curry here is an understatement. We've only eaten out at an Indian restaurant once so far and it was delicious. Spicy ... but delicious. We've been doing a lot of our own cooking. And actually, I am one of the "cooks" on our team. Me and one of our leaders, Jennifer, are in charge of planning out the meals, getting the ingredients and cooking. I like this job. We've made sautéed veggies and chicken for the past couple of nights. We have pb&j everyday for lunch. I think by the time we're done with this trip, I might be a little tired of peanut butter. I don't know – just an assumption. 

Some Sounds of India: Peacocks sound like loud cats meowing. And by the way, they're a little annoying when they're outside of your window when you're trying to sleep. People in our neighborhood play Indian music pretty loudly. There's an airport near our house, so we hear planes flying in quite often. Horns – oh my goodness! People honk like nobody's business in traffic here.

Smells of India: Curry; Car Exhaust; Body Odor, etc. The areas that we've been in so far have actually not been nearly as smelly as I expected. I also expected for it to be much more hazy and polluted than it has been. I mean, we haven't really seen much of a blue sky since we've been here, but I can't decide if that's because it's been pretty overcast and rainy over the past few days, or because of the pollution

Sights of India: My favorite thing is that – seriously – there are cows/bulls/water buffalo just standing around in the road. No lie. They just walk around everywhere. I mean, there are animals everywhere. Dogs, goats, pigs, camels, monkeys on leashes, peacocks – you know the normal.

By the way – the traffic is insane here!! I love it for some odd reason, though. It reminds me of traffic in Brazil, but it's a whole lot worse. People drive cars, rick-shaws (carts), bicycles and tractors on the main roads here. And every traffic law is merely a suggestion – completely optional. And just in case you were wondering, when people think that laws are just suggestions, it turns into a crazy mess on the road.

The people are beautiful! ... Especially the kids, of course. We got to go to 2 different orphanages this week. I fell in love immediately. My favorite thing to do is just hold them so close to my heart. And they just eat it up, and let you hold them tight. I. LOVE. THEM.

First we went to The Asha House Orphanage, and then we went to Asha Mission Orphanage. "Asha" in Hindi means "Hope." And both of these orphanages are offering their children a lot of hope. They teach their children about Jesus, and how to be responsible, obedient, well behaved children. Each of the orphanages has about 20-25 kids.

Our team of 10 people divided into 2 different ministry groups, so that we could divide up during the day and go to both orphanages. My group will be going to Asha Mission, and the other group will be going to The Asha House. I'm pretty excited about being at Asha Mission, because the kids there speak English, and need help with their homework and stuff. So I'm gonna get to tutor! When we were there the other day, they were teaching us the songs they knew, and we taught them some songs, as well.

Everyone will go to their designated orphanages 3 days a week, a leper colony one day a week (Our group has yet to visit a leper colony, and I am excited/nervous about meeting them). We will all worship at the orphanages on Sundays. They have a church service there each Sunday. I'm so super pumped about it. 

Our team has been affected by Jet-Lag a little bit recently. I mean, we're 11 ½ hours ahead of you people. I usually have no problem going to sleep, but then I'll wake up in the middle of the night and just stay awake for a while before finally going back to sleep. But I've had some pretty great conversations at 3 in the morning with my roomies who also are having trouble sleeping. Our team is getting along well, and we're becoming more and more like a family.

Continue to pray for us. I love you guys and miss you terribly! ~Blessings~

P.S. If Kaley's boyfriend is reading this, she loves you a lot.