We are all headed our separate ways now! Megan will stay here in Chicago, Marcie and Kassen will fly together into Denver, Layce is headed to Amarillo via Dallas, Scott into Phoenix, and Abbie, Dad, and I are going to Los Angeles where we will leave here and head into Santa Barbara. Praise the Lord for safety in our travels!!!
Our Favorite Verses:
Abbie - Philippians 4:6-7
"Gives assurance that God is in control and the only one capable of giving us peace that we never knew was possible!"
Layce - Philippians 3:12-14
"It doesn't matter what has happened in the past, I have to forget the things that have happened in order to obtain the ultimate goal!"
Jenni - Psalm 139:23-24
"It is my desire to let the Lord search and know me. I want to know Him just the same, and what a better way than to give him permission over all the areas of my life!"
Kassen - Jeremiah 29:11-13
"I worry a lot and this helps me realize that God has a plan for everything! We need to keep our eyes on him."
Marcie - Psalm 138:8
"No matter my plans or expectations, successes or failures, I have confidence that God will fulfill His purpose for me and He will not abandon His plan for my life."
Megan - Proverbs 3:5-6
"My grandpa shared this with me and I really look up to him. It is a good reminder to trust God because we are limited by our human perspective!"
Robin - Hebrews 12:1-3
"In life it is not 100 meter race, it is a marathon. Go the distance. Obstacles hinder. Do I focus on problems or the finish line? I need to fix my eyes on Jesus."
Scott - 1 John 5:13
"This verse gives security forever, the promise of eternal life, that believers need to hold onto!"
The Great Commission: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and o the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And teaching tune to obey everything I have commanded you.
The Greatest Commandment: Love the Lord your God w/ all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.
"Preach always, use words if necessary." -St Francis of Acici
"The ministry of Christ demonstrated the seamless harmony of obeying both The Great Commission and The Greatest Commandment."
-The Poor Will Be Glad
Through this trip we pray that our words and actions truly were a reflection of Christ alone!
He enabled us to evangelize, encourage, and edify through our partnership with Christian Sports Fellowship in Chennai and Trichy! Thank you for all of your loving support and prayers! May the Lord bless you this wonderful summer day!
Yours in Christ,
Jenni
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Back in Chennai
Day 16
First morning back in Chennai at our 'home' aka Marina Inn. Grabbed a couple quick pieces of toast n headed to an early match at the field hockey stadium next door. Thomas and Reegan feel the need to have us get up bright and early once we left Trichy, to, "beat the heat" as they put it. And we'll have you know, we sooo appreciate the 5 degrees differences from a 7:30am to 10am match...everyone likes waking up at 6:30! ;) But in all reality, both Thomas and Reegs sacrifice way more sleep than us as it is almost an hour drive to and from their homes! We have a running joke that if the guys are late they drop an give us push ups. :)
After playing the girls we were fortunate enough to go back to our rooms rinse off, relax a little, check email, and have coach Scott and Jenni share their LifeMaps during team time.Second match of the day was against YMCA girls. We tossed out little signed volleyballs with all our favorite verses on them to a very rowdy crowd!
Third match was against their men's team. Layce was pelted in the arm while they were doing hitting lines so we highly graciously but forcefully asked to move to a men's net. Let me tell you, those additional 7 inches could have been the Wall of China and we were thankful for every bit! Abbie, Kassen, and Jenni shared some personal testimonies and the Gospel.
Match #4 was again at the Field hockey stadium. Megan and Layce shared from their hearts and the brave girls responded with a few questions even as the lights were shut off and we were all sitting on gravel in the dark. Today we played a total of 8 sets and went to the Royal Hotel with appetites! The owner said he was a Christian since birth so that was exciting, but several food items were added to our bill and food portions were over exaggerated so I personal felt a little deceived. Quiet night...besides the non-stop tuktuk horns and occasional crying street dog.
Day 17
Won 2 matches at a lovely Hindu school! We were greeted with a marching band that brought us into a 4 store square indoor area with a newly floored volleyball court! Sports Ambassadors had the privilege of playing the first couple matches on it! Following the introduction speeches and games we were provided with a beautiful breakfast and of course tea!
About 15 were at St. George's outdoor gravel court for our Coaches Clinic. We focused on the basics and attempted to teach them the Butterfly Drill. Marcie served once then excused herself as the giant coaches were too scary for her. (Marcie wrote this last line, but I would like to say she made it through much more than one serve! And that the men were very intimidating to all of us!!!) Dad got in as middle blocker a couple times and he lacked the understanding that 'floating' out while blocking may not prove to be beneficial especially when little Abbie and Layce are the ones to stop his floating!
An all-American dinner at KFC and ice-cream in Spencer's Plaza, along with shopping for scarfs was a lovely end to the evening!
Day 18
At 8am we left to (Dad's friend of 20 years) Sampath's Church. Worshiping with the Indians and seeing their transparent hearts is such a joy! After an hour of that we 'sang' Reegan's skit and taught the congregation sign language to *King of Kings* a couple girls share and Dad told a story of 40 strong Christian Wrestlers of the Roman Empire that gave up their lives for the Lord.
Lunch was at Mattsya (our second time) we got soup and veggie or cheese pizza! My favorite cell group was this afternoon with SDAT. Those girls have an amazing woman of God coaching them. Her name is Mercyrejina ad she has given up her "successful" future to pour into young women even though it separates her from her husband for a few months at a time. A woman named Roslin gave her testimony. We later found out her husband was almost lost by the Tsunami but he and 25 of his police officers left their beach practice 10 minutes before that coast was destroyed in order that he might go to church!
Abbie's last full match before she goes into the work force and starts a possible teaching career was in the hockey stadium. I am pleased to report that we won both sets! :)
For a last hooray dinner 16 of us went to Sangetha, a vegetarian restaurant, and unfortunately our reservation was given away so we all cluttered the fairly small upstairs restaurant waiting on abother table. We had a great time laughing (some too much cough cough Namu!) and finished the evening back in the hotel lobby affirming our new friends: Thomas, Reegan, Immanuel, Franklin, Sampath, and Sebastian.
Coaches 51st birthday is today and what a lovely gift to head out early to a colorful courtyard, 5 story, welcoming school. We were greeted by one of the first male principals so far and were all SO overcome by his hospitality! To name a few things I was asking him about the process of making their coffee/tea and he had someone run to his home to get a couple packages of his best tea. He heard we loved biscuits and got each of us a package to take back. My dad was talking about his visit 7 years ago and a city that is the t-shirt capital of the world, to make a long story short it is near his home town and he offered to send some shirts!
I was blown away and HE was the one telling us that he wished we were around for 3 or 4 days! We lead something similar to a PE or fitness class then a clinic-boys and girls.
A quick scrimmage against intermediate boys and a match against a tall strong boys team wrapped up our last games!!! We then were able to share how Jesus Christ changed our lives!
Roslin offered to take us last day shopping in the streets and a 7 floor department store! Layc and Kas wanted to make a last run to get T-shirts at the mall so missed dinner with us but seemed to have a good time with Namu and Reegan. We had our last naan and chicken teeka and finished it of with ice-cream and a happy birthday song for coach!
We packed up and Paul came to say goodbye wishing he was able to spend more time with us. We sent our best wishes to his wife Grace (orphanage director) and started Part 1 of Toasts of encouragement. We spent an hour and a half reinforcing Abbie, Layce, Kassen, and Megan! Each of us shared how we were impacted, loved, blessed, and encouraged by them!
Day 20
We loaded up the luggage after tears were shed when the boys presented us with memory plaques that summarized our trip. Around midnight we were at the airport boarding and preparing for a long day of travel!
Jenni
Friday, July 8, 2011
Trichy time!!
Day 11: Sunday- July 3, 2011
We got all dressed up again in our beautiful, bright India wear! We each had the privalege of sharing our testimony and life stories at Reegan's home church. We once again got to enjoy an Indian worship service! They all worship with everything they have in them and with so much passion! Reegan is their keyboard player and an amazing on at that! During the church service we saw them take communion. The pastor went around and actually poured the "wine" into their mouths and placed the bread in their hands. After the service we spent a lot of time with the kids, teaching them tricks and singing songs to them.
Reegan's cousin, Roger, came after church and asked us to go pray for his family! It was an honor to have someone as US to pray for their family. We went into their home and prayed as they had asked us to do. Next, we had a delicious lunch at Reegan's home and got to meet his whole family! He has a two-year-old niece, that would NOT leave his side. During this time, Reegan shared his life story with us! One that will forever be imprinted into our hearts and our mind. After this time of fellowship, we all got ready to head out to Trichy!
We started this journey with an 11 passenger van... but 13 passengers! FUN! A 5 hour ride and 7 toll booths!! Even more FUN! ;) This definitely became a huge bonding part of our trip. Thomas-- the ghost, Asha, and Bharati joined us for this trip! When we got to Trichy, we were kindly greeted by Phillip, David, and Anthony. They were so excited to finally meet us as we were to meet them! They booked us at the, 5 star, Femina Hotel! The "5 star" hotel had an extremely nice, yet deceiving lobby! After we got settled into our rooms, we went down stairs and had dinner in the hotel restaurant! This is where we received our itenerary from Phillip! When he told us we didn't have to be ready until 9:30 the next morning, we were all pretty stoked that we got to sleep in. Our dinner at that restaurant was extremely good, and extremely filling!
Day 12: Monday- July 4, 2011
We started out our day with an all girls clinic at 10 A.M. There were about 60 girls and they all played in their school uniforms. These girls had never played volleyball before. God definitely taught us patience this day. After the clinic we played a quick match against a couple of the girls and a few of the women teachers. It was a fun time! From 12-4 each day, Phillip gave us "rest-time". This might have been our favorite part of some days! ;) On this day, we got to nap for a little while, then we had team time. During this time Abbie and Megan shared their life maps! HOORAY! It has been so much fun learning about each of the team members through life maps. They've really helped us to grow stronger and closer in such a short amount of time.
Next, we had a match at 4:30 at the YMCA! We played a group of girls that were all from Hindu background, but afterwards we got to share with them our life stories and how we got to where we are now. During the girls match, a team of men got together and decided they wanted to challenge us as well! Reegan played on our team for this match. We had a good time. We're all learning more and more how to have fun, yet play our game at the same time!
After the matches, in honor of the 4th of July, we went to and American food restaurant-- Mary Browns. Here we had fried chicken, chicken strips, chicken sandwhiches, french fries, and soda. All of this followed by brownies and ice cream (2 scoops each). :) It was a fun way to celebrate Independence Day in India! At the restaurant they all wanted to take a picture with us, because we were the first American's to be in their American food restaurant! They loved it!
Day 15: Thursday- July 7, 2011
We got all dressed up again in our beautiful, bright India wear! We each had the privalege of sharing our testimony and life stories at Reegan's home church. We once again got to enjoy an Indian worship service! They all worship with everything they have in them and with so much passion! Reegan is their keyboard player and an amazing on at that! During the church service we saw them take communion. The pastor went around and actually poured the "wine" into their mouths and placed the bread in their hands. After the service we spent a lot of time with the kids, teaching them tricks and singing songs to them.
Reegan's cousin, Roger, came after church and asked us to go pray for his family! It was an honor to have someone as US to pray for their family. We went into their home and prayed as they had asked us to do. Next, we had a delicious lunch at Reegan's home and got to meet his whole family! He has a two-year-old niece, that would NOT leave his side. During this time, Reegan shared his life story with us! One that will forever be imprinted into our hearts and our mind. After this time of fellowship, we all got ready to head out to Trichy!
We started this journey with an 11 passenger van... but 13 passengers! FUN! A 5 hour ride and 7 toll booths!! Even more FUN! ;) This definitely became a huge bonding part of our trip. Thomas-- the ghost, Asha, and Bharati joined us for this trip! When we got to Trichy, we were kindly greeted by Phillip, David, and Anthony. They were so excited to finally meet us as we were to meet them! They booked us at the, 5 star, Femina Hotel! The "5 star" hotel had an extremely nice, yet deceiving lobby! After we got settled into our rooms, we went down stairs and had dinner in the hotel restaurant! This is where we received our itenerary from Phillip! When he told us we didn't have to be ready until 9:30 the next morning, we were all pretty stoked that we got to sleep in. Our dinner at that restaurant was extremely good, and extremely filling!
We started out our day with an all girls clinic at 10 A.M. There were about 60 girls and they all played in their school uniforms. These girls had never played volleyball before. God definitely taught us patience this day. After the clinic we played a quick match against a couple of the girls and a few of the women teachers. It was a fun time! From 12-4 each day, Phillip gave us "rest-time". This might have been our favorite part of some days! ;) On this day, we got to nap for a little while, then we had team time. During this time Abbie and Megan shared their life maps! HOORAY! It has been so much fun learning about each of the team members through life maps. They've really helped us to grow stronger and closer in such a short amount of time.
Next, we had a match at 4:30 at the YMCA! We played a group of girls that were all from Hindu background, but afterwards we got to share with them our life stories and how we got to where we are now. During the girls match, a team of men got together and decided they wanted to challenge us as well! Reegan played on our team for this match. We had a good time. We're all learning more and more how to have fun, yet play our game at the same time!
After the matches, in honor of the 4th of July, we went to and American food restaurant-- Mary Browns. Here we had fried chicken, chicken strips, chicken sandwhiches, french fries, and soda. All of this followed by brownies and ice cream (2 scoops each). :) It was a fun way to celebrate Independence Day in India! At the restaurant they all wanted to take a picture with us, because we were the first American's to be in their American food restaurant! They loved it!
Day 13: Tuesday- July 5, 2011
Tuesday morning we got up like usual, but to find out that coach and Robin had been robbed in the middle of the night. Their wallets had been stolen! We had all heard someone trying to get into each of our rooms, but we were all smart enough to lock our doors the night before-- they however, were not! ;) We got a little bit of a late start, due to them getting things worked out and situated back home with credit cards and ID's and stuff.
We then drove for about an hour to the clinic of all girls. There were about 65 of them and once again all in their school uniforms. Again, these were girls that had never played volleyball before. So... again, a learning experience. After this, we went for a "light lunch" that ended up being not so light! Then we went back, packed up, and changed hotels. After that, we were off to play another match. We played at Anna Engineering University. We got spoiled this time, because we got to play on an indoor court! They honored each of us with shawls and little tokens. Then we exchanged flowers with the other team, to show that it was a friendly match. We played 3 games here, and won all of them. It was good competition though!
It was pouring rain, but we proceeded to Phillip's home where there was a cell group being held. We once again got to experience their worship. The girls performed a coreography. The boys sang/rapped, and did an amazing dance! They practiced and got all of this together just for us! After cell group, we had dinner in Phillip's home prepared by his wife! There was so much food and it was all so good! After dinner, we had ice cream for dessert. We all had 3 scoops, except for Jenni and Abbie, they had FIVE! ;) We all talked and fellowshipped for a while, then it was back to the hotel for a good nights rest!
Day 14: Wednesday- July 6, 2011
We started our day with another clinic of all girls. There were about 50 of them. And once again, they knew nothing about volleyball! We thought we were going to be trampled over, just so they could touch us! HA.
We tried a new restaurant this day, and it had a well working air-conditioner that felt AMAZING! After our little break from 2-4, we had another match at the YMCA! Again, we played a girls team, but quickly following that match, the mens team wanted to play us again. It was a fun time of games and fellowship.
After this we went to a HUGE college in Trichy. We got to tour a little bit of the college, then we went to one of their chapels. We worshiped with them and then they turned it over to us! We performed a skit that Reegan had taught us earlier that day. It was a huge success, more in the girls chapel than in the boys. We each talked a little bit to the groups and we taught the girls group, "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." They fed us biscuits and mango juice afterwards! We went and ate dinner and then headed back to the hotel. When we got to the hotel, we had to say bye to Thomas, Asha, and Bharati, because they were heading back a day early, due to the girls having school. Over all it was a good and successful day!
Our day started out with an assembly at an all boys school. There were about 4,000 boys at this assembly. We got up on stage in front of all of them and performed our skit. They all loved it. We then shared the gospel, we tag teamed it and everyone shared their own part. Then we did a clinic with about 50 of the boys at that school. Then we played the hottest match ever against their school volleyball team. They were all very good players, but we managed to pull off another W! :) Next we went to lunch with the team, Phillip, David, and Kevin. After lunch, we had to say goodbye to all of them. It was very sad. After hugs were given and good byes were said, we headed back to Chennai. This time, the van was a bit more roomy on the way back, since the other three headed back early! It was still a long 5 hour drive back though. In the last hour, we had to make a little, quick stop, so that Jenni wouldn't pee her pants! HA. We got ice cream and orange soda at the stop, so it wasn't a complete loss! We finally reached Chennai at about 9 P.M. We are staying at the Mirina Inn again. I'm sure these people are extremely glad to see us again... Once back at the hotel, we had a girls night! We laughed, cried, and had a good time! Overall, we've had a successful and full past 4 days! (:
Love, Layce & Kassen
Saturday, July 2, 2011
string hoppers, kids, and a whole lot of volleyball
Day 6:
Day 7: Sangita Orphanage Day
Today we had the opportunity to spend a day at Sangita, the orphanage started by Paul and Grace. After hearing some initial stories about the orphanage from Paul, we headed out to a program for the widows of the surrounding community. We were so blessed to witness over 250 widows gathered for a short program and provisions of rice and sugar. Some of us were able to hand out the food to the women while others had the chance to pray over these women. It was impactful to hear stories of the lives of these women who are cast out and do not have value after their husband dies. The women can only enter the house if they can bring food which is why a lot of women make the effort to come. A lot of the widows suffer from many health problems as they chew tobacco to suppress hunger. It was very moving to see their smiling faces, the genuine joy of seeing us there despite all of the hardships we know they are suffering from.
The orphanage is a home to about ninety children. We had the pleasure of playing with the kids for the afternoon. All of the children were so happy to interact with us. All of their smiling faces brought us much joy. We sang songs, played with bubbles, and performed a few skits. Jenni shared the Gospel with the kids using the evangecube. We all had the opportunity to pray with the children in smal;l groups.
Before we left we met with the staff of the home. All of the women who work at the orphanage have a unique story. We wanted to make sure they knew how much we appreciated what they were doing and to affirm them in their work with the kids.
Day 8:
Day 9:
We had a 6am wakeup call to head to St. George's. We helped the Life Sports Academy girls prepare for their tournament that day. We played a practice match. All of us were struggling to find energy as it was early in the morning and a slow paced game. We spoke in an assembly in front of the school. We sang Father Abraham for the kids and did not get a lively response. We thought it went terribly, but Reegan said that they enjoyed our song. We went to the tournament to support the girls from our clinic. It was fun watching their game. During our lunch break we had a chance to talk about how things were going so far. It was really a turning point for all of us. We were feeling tired from the grind of each day, but we recommitted our time here to God knowing that we are here to serve. We decided to pray before each day to let our attitudes be positive and to be ready to serve God the best we can.
It was a long bus ride to St. Joseph's, a college of 20,000 students. It was a beautiful campus with gorgeous facilities. We had a program in front of the students. They performed a song and a dance for us. We had the chance to perform a skit and share a little bit of our stories with them. We played a match against their girls team, the best team in Tamil Nadu. This was our first formal match with real referees and lineups. They do things a little differently, so we had no clue what to do. But, we had a blast playing in front of a crowd. We were definitely the crowd favorites :) After the match, they served us an amazing dinner. I think we all would agree that it was our best meal and match we've had so far.
Day 10:
Not sure if we'll have the internet in Trichy, but hope to write again soon. Thanks for all your prayers. We really appreciate it!
Love, Megan
In the morning we played a match against a boys team at a Hindu school. The school was huge and it had over 6,000 students. It was the first time CSF has been able to come to the school so it was really cool to be there. It was very encouraging to hear from the principal that he loved having us come and would love to continue times for CSF to help with sports. We played a pick up match against a club team at a training facility. In the middle of the game it started pouring down rain! It was the BEST feeling ever. We enjoyed another cell group at Sebastian's house at night. He was a very gracious host and served us a wonderful dinner.
Day 7: Sangita Orphanage Day
Today we had the opportunity to spend a day at Sangita, the orphanage started by Paul and Grace. After hearing some initial stories about the orphanage from Paul, we headed out to a program for the widows of the surrounding community. We were so blessed to witness over 250 widows gathered for a short program and provisions of rice and sugar. Some of us were able to hand out the food to the women while others had the chance to pray over these women. It was impactful to hear stories of the lives of these women who are cast out and do not have value after their husband dies. The women can only enter the house if they can bring food which is why a lot of women make the effort to come. A lot of the widows suffer from many health problems as they chew tobacco to suppress hunger. It was very moving to see their smiling faces, the genuine joy of seeing us there despite all of the hardships we know they are suffering from.
The orphanage is a home to about ninety children. We had the pleasure of playing with the kids for the afternoon. All of the children were so happy to interact with us. All of their smiling faces brought us much joy. We sang songs, played with bubbles, and performed a few skits. Jenni shared the Gospel with the kids using the evangecube. We all had the opportunity to pray with the children in smal;l groups.
Before we left we met with the staff of the home. All of the women who work at the orphanage have a unique story. We wanted to make sure they knew how much we appreciated what they were doing and to affirm them in their work with the kids.
We went straight to a cell group at Thomas' house. It was a great evening of worship and testimony. It was a long ride home, but we played a few games of mafia to pass the time!
Day 8:
We had a match against a girls college team in the morning. After waiting for three hours to play, we finally did and we won. We welcomed a new player, Suku, who plays on a college team here in India. It was fun having on the court with us. For lunch we went to Sparky's, one of the restaurants with American food in Chennai. We were all very excited for this lunch and it was awesome to have a change of pace. In the afternoon, we went to another school for a clinic. We met with the principal and were served biscuits, cashews, and coffee. A few of us had the chance to share our testimony after the clinic. We went to a cell group at Franklin's house. Despite the power outage, the cell group had many people there ready to worship God. They presented us with flowers as a welcoming gift. Franklin's family provided us a wonderful dinner of rice, chicken, cucumbers, and mangos for dessert. Franklin's father is a pastor of Glorious Gospel Church. They are in the process of building a new church builidng. We all went to the property and prayed over the church. They have the foundation completed but as of now they do not have enough money to continue. They need $20,000 in the next three months to finish the church before the rainy season starts.
Day 9:
We had a 6am wakeup call to head to St. George's. We helped the Life Sports Academy girls prepare for their tournament that day. We played a practice match. All of us were struggling to find energy as it was early in the morning and a slow paced game. We spoke in an assembly in front of the school. We sang Father Abraham for the kids and did not get a lively response. We thought it went terribly, but Reegan said that they enjoyed our song. We went to the tournament to support the girls from our clinic. It was fun watching their game. During our lunch break we had a chance to talk about how things were going so far. It was really a turning point for all of us. We were feeling tired from the grind of each day, but we recommitted our time here to God knowing that we are here to serve. We decided to pray before each day to let our attitudes be positive and to be ready to serve God the best we can.
It was a long bus ride to St. Joseph's, a college of 20,000 students. It was a beautiful campus with gorgeous facilities. We had a program in front of the students. They performed a song and a dance for us. We had the chance to perform a skit and share a little bit of our stories with them. We played a match against their girls team, the best team in Tamil Nadu. This was our first formal match with real referees and lineups. They do things a little differently, so we had no clue what to do. But, we had a blast playing in front of a crowd. We were definitely the crowd favorites :) After the match, they served us an amazing dinner. I think we all would agree that it was our best meal and match we've had so far.
Today was another early morning. We had a clinic for 15-17 year old boys this monring. They were so fun to play and to work with. We were so impressed with their work ethic for a Saturday morning. We went straight to another clinic with young girls between 13-16. We all had a small group of five girls that we got to spend a lot of time with during the clinic. Kassen, Jenni, Abbie, and I went swimming in the pool which was incredible. It felt so good to be in the water. In the afternoon, we had a third clinic for boys and girls. Kassen and Abbie worked with the boys and the rest of us worked with the girls. We played a practice match against the boys. Thomas, Reegan, and the PE teacher played with the boys, but we still won. We made the boys sing Father Abraham as punishment. For dinner we had pizza hut. We were all very hungry and loved the meal. We also had delicious ice cream for dessert! We packed up all our stuff and we are Trichy bound in the morning. We are going to Reegan's church and then we'll head off on our six hour drive to Trichy.
Not sure if we'll have the internet in Trichy, but hope to write again soon. Thanks for all your prayers. We really appreciate it!
Love, Megan
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