Psalm 126

We've kind of fallen into a routine now, wake up at for a 8:30 breakfast, head to the camp around 9:45, spend time singing dancing and hanging out with counselors until 1:30pm.  Then it's back to the house for lunch, then 3pm back to the camp, then 7:30 pm back to the house for supper.  It's been a joy to understand the inner workings of IBCM.  We met with some of the district coordinators two days ago, these men are the men in charge for reaching over 30 million people!  These men are serious, they will partner with thousands of churches, providing training and material to reach the children of Tamil Nadu.  One of the most exciting things about this ministry is that it is slowly becoming self sustaining.  This year 40% of the camps are Indian sponsored.   The plans are in the works for much more.  Next year IBCM will not supply any funding for camps, but will only supply the materials and training for the staff.  Churches take care of the camps themselves.  This ministry is poised to explode, 70,000 kids is just the beginning!

First Impressions

Well it's been a couple of warm days in India.  We haven't had the chance to sit down and write an email, ministry in India is cruising and we are very busy.  It's been a fascinating last couple of days.  Sunday Morning we had a chance to worship with an Indian church in Chennai.  It was great to sing the English version of popular NA songs as the rest of the congregation sang in Tamil.  We quickly visited the place where the disciple Thomas was speared in the first century AD and then it was off to the airport to catch a plane to Trichy where the IBCM office is.  We visited a follow-up program Sunday evening, which consisted of us sitting in front of a 100 kids who were so excited about us being there that they were almost going crazy.  They loved hearing Eric and Lori's testimony.

Driving in India is always an interesting experience, I'll try and post a video to try and give you an idea of some of the culture we saw as we drove.  Today we just got back from a counselors training time with 300 counselors, which was an intense time of singing and dancing while wearing this flower necklace thingy that swings all over the place while shedding rose pedals all over the place.  I met the "Antony" of Nepal who is a very encouraging man who has a heart of gold.  The team from Canada is tight.  Lots of great memories are being made as we spend lots of time together.  One last thought which I never imagined I'd say...but I'm actually loving the food!  Thanks for praying!

London Adventures

Hi all, we're just sitting around exhausted in the London Airport after a really fun day of wandering around the city.   All the flights and connections have been perfect so far and spirits are really high all around.  The time in London was really fun, figuring out the tube train was sweet, speeding through the underground tunnels was so fun.  Everyone is pretty over tired but that makes it more fun as personalities begin to loosen up.  I feel so blessed to be with a group like this, they roll with the punches and are always ready to meet new people.  Andy's idea to applaud the pilot on a successful landing got us a bunch of interesting fun looks.  Please pray for renewed health in some of us, the lack of sleep is causing some sore throats and upset stomachs.  Everyone keeps talking about how they are really looking forward to getting to India.  I'll try and post some pictures about our London adventures once we get to India.

India Bound!

Well, I've been counting down for the last couple of months, waiting and waiting until April the 19th would arrive, and here it is. We're on our way to India! Here's a copy of our Itinerary: (Check out this link to find out what we're doing in India)

1 Air
AC - Air Canada
Flight 264
Booking Code: Q
Date: Thursday, April 19, 2007
From: Winnipeg Intl Arpt, Winnipeg MB - Canada
To: Lester B Pearson Intl, Toronto ON - Canada
Departs: 5:25 PM Arrives: 8:47 PM
Status: confirmed

2 Air
AC - Air Canada
Flight 858
Booking Code: Q
Date: Thursday, April 19, 2007
From: Lester B Pearson Intl, Toronto ON - Canada
To: Heathrow, London United Kingdom
Departs: 10:55 PM Arrives: 11:10 AM Next Day
Status: confirmed

3 Air
GF - Gulf Air
Flight 6
Booking Code: V
Date: Friday, April 20, 2007
From: Heathrow, London United Kingdom
To: Seeb Intl, Muscat Oman, Sultanate Of
Departs: 8:30 PM Arrives: 7:00 AM Next Day
Status: confirmed

4 Air
GF - Gulf Air
Flight 66
Booking Code: V
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2007
From: Seeb Intl, Muscat Oman, Sultanate Of
To: Chennai Arpt, Chennai India
Departs: 10:00 AM Arrives: 3:10 PM
Status: confirmed

5 Air
GF - Gulf Air
Flight 67
Booking Code: V
Date: Saturday, May 12, 2007
From: Chennai Arpt, Chennai India
To: Muharraq Arpt, Bahrain Bahrain
Departs: 4:10 PM Arrives: 6:20 PM
Status: confirmed

6 Air
GF - Gulf Air
Flight 7
Booking Code: V
Date: Sunday, May 13, 2007
From: Muharraq Arpt, Bahrain Bahrain
To: Heathrow, London United Kingdom
Departs: 1:15 AM Arrives: 6:25 AM
Status: confirmed

7 Air
AC - Air Canada
Flight 869
Booking Code: Q
Date: Sunday, May 13, 2007
From: Heathrow, London United Kingdom
To: Lester B Pearson Intl, Toronto ON - Canada
Departs: 8:30 AM Arrives: 11:05 AM
Status: confirmed

8 Air
AC - Air Canada
Flight 257
Booking Code: Q
Date: Sunday, May 13, 2007
From: Lester B Pearson Intl, Toronto ON - Canada
To: Winnipeg Intl Arpt, Winnipeg MB - Canada
Departs: 12:55 PM Arrives: 2:28 PM
Status: confirmed