For the First Time

The countdown begins to when we start our journey home!  Wow, time flies when you have a mission to do. Since the last time we posted, we have seen snakes, monkeys, St Thomas's Mount, and the amazing people at each church we visit.  The days do start to blur together, and it's hard to tell which day we went to which village, but each one has it's own special memory. Today we where in the Chittoor district and a majority of the kids we spoke to had never heard God's Word.  Some had heard of Jesus, but when Pastor Todd asked what the Bible was, many shook their head uncomprehendingly.  That made me excited and nervous. These children had not heard God's Word. We were going to teach them about His love for them (for the first time!), Jesus Christ's sacrifice and their adoption into His family. It was amazing to think about. It took a little while for them to warm up to us. At first there were no smiles or laughter. They just sat there and starred at us. But then as Pastor Todd began to play with them and we started being funny, they warmed right up.  It was magic seeing their faces light up with laughter.   

    We did lose Sister Steffie last night. She flew out from Chennai pretty late to get home to her job. We all miss her, and there's a spot in the lessons, the car, and our hearts where she fits.  But as always, we were thankful for the time we had with her.  She is one amazing lady. 

   Tomorrow and Sunday will be our last two days to teach our lessons. It's a bittersweet feeling to think about. I'm equally relieved to not teach, but sad to not go see the kids and give them gifts.  Even thinking about going home is weird. We've been in India for what feels like a month, when it's only been about 12 days.  It's been amazing.  But I'm not going to write the goodbye post yet.  Much too soon for all that.  

   We did go see a dam today, I'll try and attach some pictures from that.  It was beautiful. It made me think again how amazing our Creator is and how lucky we are to visit such a beautiful place as India.  The breeze was nice and the sun wasn't too hot. We even discovered that we had to watch out for honey bees!  

    Well it's an early start in the morning.  So blessings on your Friday back home! 

    *Lindsey*