November 2019 – Alicia Writes

To India, With Love: Caden’s Update

Caden: On my trip so far, we have now seen two boys’ homes and one girls’ home. We are going to northern India on Friday. At two of the homes, we did VBS. At the first home, something that was interesting was that they gave us fabric flowers. We played a circle game with a ball. On Sunday, we went to a very big church service which was 6 hours long. At one point during the service, for me it was very brave to be around a lot of girls that were much older than me. I was with one group of 30 girls and another group of 10 girls. We got to sit up in front of many children. I think there were about 300 kids. I got to speak in front of all the children. I told them my favorite Bible story was about Christ being born. The reason why it’s my favorite Bible story is because it talks about Jesus coming to earth.

On Monday, we saw the other boys’ home. We had a lot fun with them. We did VBS with them. First, at the home, we played a bouncing game where when you bounced the ball to somebody you had to say what the leader says, like food or animals or your name. Also, we acted out the story of Jesus calming the storm. We did the same thing at the girls’ home, but at the boys’ home, the second time, they got to do it with us.

On Tuesday, we saw a group of 10 girls and some other homes came, too. We saw a few of the homes do dances together. We saw the 10 girls and, at the end, we did VBS stations. My favorite station was the parachute games. I liked them because one game was about Jesus calming the storm. We wiggled it a little at the start and then harder when the storm came. The other game was about getting the ball to one side, but one time, somebody kicked the ball and it went all the way down to the ground and somebody else had to throw it back up to the roof.

During the 6 hour church service, a very special part of the service was outside. The flowers were given to us when we arrived.

Some of the boys we met on Saturday were also at the Sunday church service. It was great to see them again!

We had so much fun with this family. This is the second boys’ home we visited.

The girls dressed their best for our super special day together.

Many village kids came to do VBS with us. Caden & William has this group of boys to go to the VBS stations – making crafts, coloring, parachute games.

To India, With Love: Arriving

We made it! We flew Emirates Airlines and had a layover in Dubai. We landed in Hyderabad, India around 2:45am and spent a solid hour in immigration. Overall, our trip has been smooth so far. The flights were pleasant, with good food and good seat neighbors. Our first flight was on an Airbus 380. It was huge and very nice. The staff were kind, the food delicious, the seats roomy, the entertainment options plentiful, and our seat neighbors lovely. Blessings on Marie for her many kindnesses to Caden & I on our first flight.

I apologize if the pictures are misaligned. My internet connection and speed is unpredictable. I’m trying to fix them, but the edits don’t seem to stick. Oh well. Our hotel is nice. We arrived at 5am, got cleaned up and took a nap. We’ve had some breakfast (with some AMAZING coffee) and will meet up with the team in the afternoon to tour the town a bit.

Caden’s Update: So far on this trip, we have taken a 15 hour flight and a 3 hour flight. Also, we were given meals about every 3 hours. On the flights, I did schoolwork and played video games. My favorite game was called Invasion because you got a ship to fight weird monsters. I liked getting power-ups for the ship and I really liked the desserts on the plane rides.

On our Emirates flight to Dubai. Then on to Hyderabad.

Look what we found in Dubai! Taken with Caden’s new camera. 🙂

We made it to India! The whole team and all our stuff. Check out our sweet ride!!!

Breakfast: butter idly – like a rice flour “pancake” with chutneys and dipping sauces
I’m not even sure what I ate, but it was delicious. Also, I’m in love with the coffee. This fantastic traveler mostly ate toast, and loved the warm, sweet milk they brought him.

Ready…Set…Here We Go!

We began planning this trip in January and it’s finally here. Thankfully, my 4am wakings mulling over the thousands of little details and final arrangements only began last week. I’ll sleep on the plane, right?

Everyone says this will be a life-changing trip for Caden and me. I’m sure everyone is right. I wonder how, though. I know I want Caden’s world to break open. I want him to see diversity and beauty and poverty and God. He’s an amazing boy – kind, generous, intelligent, serious, loving. How will this experience affect him, change him? Will he become more aware of God in his life or struggle with homesickness? I have no idea. So, if you’re the praying kind, please pray for his faith, as well as his health and safety.

As for me, I’ll admit to having a pretty big blind spot about how this trip will affect me. I’m not sure what I’m hoping will happen, what my expectations are. Will this cross-cultural experience create in me a deep and lasting love for India? Will I come home with renewed purpose in life or exhausted from processing so many new sights, sounds, smells, and people? We can’t control the effects, the ending. We can only be present and be kind. This will be a practice in being flexible, patient, vulnerable, curious, open to new things and letting go of any discomfort we may encounter.

We have pictures and names of some of the people we will meet. As I have prayed for them these past few months, a deep desire to meet them and hear their voice tell their story and share their music has grown in me. My heart for the wives/moms has grown particularly. We may not know what will happen next, but I have already learned that praying regularly for people binds our hearts to one another. No wonder we say that prayer is a gift.