Day 7

After we left and was done with our ministry time we had the complete blessing of being able to go and stay in a hotel for our last night in India. I didn't realize until we got to the hotel how completely exhausted I was. It was so nice to be able to decompress a little before we made the almost full day of travel back home. The rest of the trip was pretty smooth sailing...except when they almost didn't let us in the airport to go home...and then when one of our team members got very sick :(. God shined down on us again on the way home and once again almost all of us got a full row to ourselves on the plane ride home. When we arrived to Chicago I think it was possibly one of the best feelings ever. And then to arrive back home and get to hold my sweet babies in my arms, I could have not been any happier. I was then in a comma for about 2 days just constantly sleeping. I think once I was in my own home my body finally relaxed and I crashed. Dan said he was actually worried about me because I was sleeping so much lol.

The trip was an amazing experience, I feel so honored that I was able to go and spend time with these wonderful people, that so many of them just lovingly welcomed us into their lives. I will forever be in awe that God called me to go and the journey I was taken on from start to finish. This trip stretched my faith and I was able to see and feel the presence of God like never before. I will forever remember the faces, sights, smells, and emotions of that trip. Thank you so much to everyone who supported me in this great adventure, it would not have been possible without every one of you and I will never be able to thank you enough. xoxo

Here is a picture of me on the plane ride home

New Year, New Beginnings

2011 was a life changing year for me, I was tried, stretched, and blessed to much. I believe I grew a lot as a person and gained back some of the confidence I feel like I somehow have lost over the years. I am discovering who I am as a person again. I have come to realize we are always learning and always growing. This year I want to challenge myself and actually accomplish things.

Something I have struggled with since having kids is my body imagine. I spend a lot of time thinking about it and being upset. I have worked out before and become discouraged after not seeing much results. This year with the encouragement and support of Dan we have set out on a body changing journey. We bought a very intense workout program called Insanity. It is a 60 day program where you work out 6 days a week. I am starting my 4th week this week and I have to say I am proud of myself. It is pure torture and I hate every second of it BUT I am doing it and sticking to it. I have set a goal to complete the 60 days and I am going to come hell or high water.

Another change I have made this year is to really try and start cooking and by this I mean making real dinners, not just tacos, sloppy joes, or something out of a box. I am trying to make at least one new recipe a week and this will be my 3rd week of doing this. A couple haven't turned out as great as I hoped but most of them have! I am feeling a great sense of accomplishment from making a meal from scratch and not just throwing packaged ingredients together.

So these are some of the challenges I have for myself this year, have you all made any and if so how are they going?

Day 6

Friday was our last day of ministry in Kolkata. We woke up and got all packed up to leave the BMS. It was such a nice place to stay and I considered myself blessed to be able to stay at such a nice place.
Here are some pictures of the grounds.

After that we traveled fir the last time to the jewelry unit, which again was in "china town" here are some pictures of our ride there.

We got to spend some time with the ladies and then said all of our goodbyes.

After saying our goodbyes we headed downstairs to wait for the bus. The floor level of the building is used for the slum school and when we went down Therese got to see all of the school children. They were the cutest things in their little uniforms. They came up to us and wanted to shake our hands. We didn't realize we would get to spend time with them but this was another unexpected highlight of the trip. The kids were so precious and so happy. They were so happy to be in school learning. It made me realize how vital these programs are, how an education is the only way to break the cycle of poverty. By this one child getting an education, it will create a snow ball affect and change the course of the whole family and especially the generations to come. It was a true a blessing to be able to spend time with the

These picture are of where we stayed
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Here are some pictures of the beautiful children from the slum school

Day 5 - The heart of the matter

On Thursday we once again split our team in half with half going to the brothels and the other half going to the jewelry unit. This would have been my day to go to the brothel but because of how everything played out I opted not to go so that I could return to the jewelry unit to discuss a long term project with them. Ms. Tammy and I were honored to be able to present our idea of a bracelet that they would make there in Kolkata ship here to the states so that we could in turn sell it here and then return all the profits back to them.

It was an amazing meeting with Ms. Tammy, myself, Kaitlin, and Ms. Monique. This is where I felt I was in my element, creating, presenting, getting people excited, this is what I love to do and I believe why God called me on this trip. We were able to look at all their beautiful semi precious stones and as a team picked out 9 different colors for the 9 different bracelets we would love them to make. We hope to have the "Navaratna Project" bracelets here in the states by spring. If you would like updates on this line, if you have a blog, store, or group of ladies you think would love to support this amazing cause please leave a comment and I would be happy to keep you posted.

Guest Blogger- An Afternoon in the Brothels

I am so excited to have my first guest blogger and am overjoyed that it is someone who I respect and love so much. Deb is one of the 9 of us who went on this trip and personally was one of my rocks. Deb has one of the most beautiful and loving hearts. She is also funny and sassy. I am blessed to know her and have her in my life.

As I stated in the previous post our group split up on day 4. I really wanted to share the experience that the other group had with you all as well so I asked one of those ladies if they would like to share their experience and Deb stepped write up offering her account from that day in the brothels from her personal journal. I hope you all enjoy this beautiful account from Deb's point of view.

"Today we traveled to the Red Light District where the brothels are located. Our guide for the day, Chandra, was a bold Christian who prayed for our Muslim taxi driver and gave him a brochure for the A/G Church. Pastor Noel was amazed and said it was dangerous to do that. Chandra knew many ladies in the District and introduced herself to everyone she had not met (and of course encouraged them to attend church!). She took us to the home of a “Madam” who is paid a fee for rent and for each customer every girl sees per day. The madam’s mother was 80 years old…very frail. She was a follower of Jesus and asked us to pray for her knee, which was swollen. Praying for that sweet, dear lady was an experience I will never forget. She didn’t speak English but looked into our eyes with great love and understanding of the prayers we prayed for her. She pointed to a poster of Jesus she had taped to the wall.
We met the son of the madam. He had just married a Hindi girl the week before, and is a Christian. He has attended Bible College and has a vision to start a Christian church in the Red Light District. We prayed for him and his wife and also his sisters-in-law. We sang a few worship songs and he played his guitar. We encouraged them and enjoyed their company. When entering the homes, we removed our shoes and sat on the floor or bed. This home had two rooms and a sofa so we sat on the sofa. This was considered luxurious. There is no air conditioning in any of these homes and the heat and humidity is stifling. Lots of sweating going on…
We crossed the “Holy River” on a primitive wooden boat for a small fee. There was very little water…more of a filthy stream. The smell of human waste was so strong that I had to fight not to cover my nose and mouth. There were actually children playing in the sludge and men “bathing” in it.
When we crossed over, we saw temples and shrines to the various Hindu gods. People were burning incense, bowing down and placing flowers in front of the idols. There is a huge temple named the Kali god temple. Animal sacrifices are still made here daily. The blood pours out on the ground and live goats (not for long!) wander around. Kali is the god of death and destruction—this is what Kolkata has been described as: the City of Death and Destruction.
We were introduced to a few more young prostitutes. They have beautiful smiles and they are quick to laugh. I think in my self-exalted American attitude, I believed that I would step in and see their suffering and make some grand gesture to lift them out of their “situation”. I imagined they would beg me to save them from this lifestyle. I expected weeping and sorrow. ​​James 1:9 NCV
 "Believers who are poor should be proud, because God has made them spiritually rich.
"
James 1:10 NCV
 "Those who are rich should be proud, because God has shown them that they are spiritually poor. The rich will die like a wild flower in the grass.
" God showed me in this moment that He loves each one of us equally and that people are really not very different, regardless of where you live. Ephesians 2:18 MSG
"He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through Him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father." We all suffer, but we all find joy in our lives. We all long for something more….we long not to be lonely or sad or afraid. In the end, God is the only “thing” that truly satisfies our deepest needs and longings. This was yet another lesson in humility: God was showing me that I am no different from my Indian sisters or anyone else in the world. This trip was not about me…
We sat crossed legged on the bed –the only furniture in the room. This, of course, is the bed where these young women earn their income. They insisted on giving us cookies and tea. They have so little but are anxious to share the little they have. They all ask how old we are, do we have children, etc. They want to know about us and want to practice their English with us. In the early afternoon they need to sleep because they are awake all night. Each girl entertains 10-25 men per night. 5-10 minutes per customer. Again, their lifestyle and way of earning a living seems so sad yet we feel their hope; their dreams for a brighter tomorrow. So we hug them, kiss them, pray for them and say goodbye. We pray that God's love touches them through our prayers, and the people God places in their lives. We pray that we will see them again one day and that they will experience the Truth of God's love and salvation through Jesus Christ."

Here is picture of gorgeous Deb (and this picture was taken in NYC, not Kolkata, lol)

Four Precious Jewels

On day 4 the group split in half with 5 of us going to work with Ms. Monique's jewelry ministry which I will call "jewels" since they make jewelry and the other 4 went with a member of the ministry to the brothels. I was in the group of 5 who went to meet with the ladies of jewels. We traveled to an area called "China town" where the jewelry studio is located within a large building which used to be a tannery. The building has many great ministries in it which includes a slum school during the day as well as the jewelry studio and a couple of other things. Below are some of the pictures of the drive through China town. When we got to the building which was HUGE and went inside, we traveled up some cement stairs and traveled down a hallway until we reached a beautiful glass door. We stepped inside onto wood floors into a very bright, beautiful, brand new modern studio space. We walked in to see Kaitlin, Ms. Monique's intern sitting on the ground with 4 Indian women. They all immediately stood up and created us with smiles and warm embraces. We all introduced ourselves and joined them on the floor where having praise and worship time. We sat in this beautiful room and listened to these women sing worship songs in the native tongue. It was an extremely moving moment because although we could not understand the words they were singing it was almost as though my souls new what they were saying. You could feel the Holy Spirit in that room and it was so strong it brought most of us to tears. I remember thinking to myself in that moment how honored I felt to be there, that God had chosen me to travel half way across the world and how similar we were to these women. We all love the same God, He created each of us in His image and I couldn't help but think how pleasing that worship session had to be to Him.

After our time of worship and devotions we were able to work with them and help teach them English. We went back and forth asking each other questions. The four women were so sweet and loving to us and were so happy we were there. We were the first American women to come work with them so they had lots of questions for us. It was a great time of fellowship just sharing our lives and stories. After that we ate lunch and then they started working on their jewelry. They were extremely focused and a lot different then the chatty ladies we had just spent time with. They were all silent and very involved in their work, it was so nice to see how serious and determined they were. It was an amazing day just getting to know these awesome women.

"The Accident" Day 3 Part 2

After our wonderful experience at the feeding program we all got in cabs to go to eat at a cafe in the "hippy" part of town. Ms. Monique told us there are a lot of Europeans who come and stay in that area and that they have some cool cafes and shops. So we all loaded into cabs and went on our way. My cab arrived there first, then the second cab arrived not to long after. We sat there for a bit waiting for the third cab which contained Noel, Tammy, Heather and Ms. Monique. We were all deciding on what to order when the burst into the cafe exclaiming "You will not believe what happened! We were in a cab accident and had to get out and run!" So basically what happened was they were in a slow collision where no one was threatened of being hurt but right after the collision happened their cab driver got out and started pounding very aggressively on the other cab's trunk and yelling. It was at that moment that one of them yelled "GET OUT!" Tammy was the first to exit the cab and when she did standing right in front of was a man. Tammy said she thought it was going to go one of two ways at the point. Thankfully the man was very kind and said to Tammy "you will be fine" and he passed her along with the other women to a man standing on the sidewalk who stood in front of the with his arm out in a protecting manner. Once they were away from the accident scene they began to see the mob form and decided it was time for them to get out of there. Although it was a scary thing to be involved in thankfully no one was hurt and we actually all laughed really hard about it. We still do :)