I will be ok If i never go on a train again...

Kate and I with the newly married couple
On our way to the wedding with Rani a member of the Kumar family. I think this was while the car was broken down (that happens alot)

A beautiful sunset in one of the villages 

The Paradeep harbor
A village in Rourkela (hottest place in Orissa) All the ladies who have been baptized cover their heads

Attu and Kate eating off of the leaf plates that we used almost our whole trip in Orissa we also ate only with our hands (who needs forks anyways)
Kate and I with the family who are in charge of the orphanage in Rourkela Orissa
Me in front of an old jeep at the King's palace in Balangir Orissa wearing a real saree
A 2 day  old goat, soooo cute
Babu (we just met him the night before the wedding, but him and Attu are best friends) and his wife Lina getting married. We actually got to see the ceremony (the wall was decorated with merry christmas, we couldn't figure that one out) 
This is in Pastor Daniel's fathers village, we spent a day there. The ladies put fairness cream on me and Kate, and loaded us up with powder. We tried to explain to them at that home we lay on the beach for hours trying to get darker, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. They really believe the stuff works...
This is how the bathe, looks like fun to me. It is their washing machine, their bath tube, and their play place
All of our fruit that we ate on the car ride from the train station. 

one of the cutest little kids, babu


This was a children's home where the kids were taken from where all of the Christians are being persecuted terribly. 
The Lord is good, so after over 100 hours on a train, eating the spiciest food of our lives, swimming in the bay of bengal, walking miles to villages where humans are still sacrificed while trying to hide from the witch doctor, traveling for 2 hours in a rickshaw with 14 people on to pray at a families house for 15 minutes, being watched by the whole of orissa and being known every where we went, meeting so many new people, speaking to crowds of people about Jesus,hanging out in the hottest place in India, sweating more than our body weight, staying in different orphanages, riding on motorcycles going not safe speeds while holding kate's hand on the opposite bike, trying to stomach the food we were given with a smile on our faces, not brushing our hair the whole trip, riding in buses that were packed with atleast 50 people too many, we finally got back to Delhi. 

So yes, if i never ride on a train i will be completely ok. It was wayyyy too long, it took 36 hours to get to Orissa, then throughout the trip we took other numerous trains around the state, and then to get back to Delhi it was another 40 hours. We felt like we lived on trains. oh and one of the funnest parts was going to the bathroom in that little hole in the ground while the train was shaking like crazy (it was not pleasant.) But once we got to Orissa, it was beautiful, but soooo hot. Like living in Florida we think that it is hot, but this was like 10 times hotter and with no AC, there is so much we take for granted. 

Well now i will tell you the good stuff, i could tell you all about the scenery and the beauty of Orissa but I'll leave that part out and i will tell you about what matters...The fact that there are Christians over here getting persecuted for standing up for the faith in Jesus. They are being tormented and abused, and killed for their faith. We drove for hours, hiked for miles, and finally reached a village. As we walked through the bush the pastor told us about the history of these villages; the people are still held by witchcraft and it dominates their lives, they live in fear...When the witch doctor sees something he doesn't like he performs mantra on them and some horrible thing happens sometimes death. The pastor was telling Kate about how one time he was in a village (not the same i don't think) and he was praying for people and this man started to perform mantra on him from afar wanting to kill pastor, but it ended up killing the man instead. It is hard for us to believe that this stuff is really happening, but it is. Right across the world from us... After hearing these stories and walking for miles we finally reached the village, the people were very welcoming and the witch doctor sat down the road and watched... As soon as we sat down two girls came out with a bucket and the came to me and motioned for me to take off my shoes and then they began to wash my feet. It is their custom to wash their visitors feet after they arrive...I pretty much just sat there in shock as they moved down the line of our little group washing foot after foot. And then it was our turn to speak, all i could do was pray and ask God to use my words to reach these people. I am not even sure what i really said, but i know they weren't my words. After we sang and talked they sat our group down on mats and told us to take off our shoes so we did. Then they brought out leaf plates and bowels, and served us dinner on them. We have had some practice with using our hands, but this was the real test...everyone was watching...I think we did a pretty good job, but the thing is everyone is watching to see how you like it, so even though it basically burned a whole in my mouth we had to smile and keep using our hands as spoons to put the spicy goat back in our mouths. By this time it was pitch black outside, and we had brought one small lantern so that was all we had to see by. After we ate, we spent some more time with the people, taking pictures and talking. We had to walk back in the dark, so with tribal drums in the background we took each step carefully and we hiked the miles back the where we left the rickshaw. 

Having this opportunity is once in a lifetime...I will never forget this, i will never forget the women of the villages who just want to hold my hand and stroke my back. Or the little children who we teach high 5's to. These people have made an impression on my life, their faces are etched into my heart and they are helping form me in the way God desires me to be. 

I don't know if you know what an auto rickshaw is, but it is this little three wheeled almost golf cart thing that goes pretty fast. Well i think we should get an award for the most people on it, because we functioned with fourteen on an over two hour ride through bumpy roads and rivers. We only had two days to visit all the villages because of how far out they are, so we drove a couple hours to this one village where there is a family who are the only Christians for miles and miles. They have even been shunned from the public well so they have had to make their own. They have no means of transportation and rarely anyone has time to drive out there. So they are alone, the family consisted of a mom, two daughters, and one son. Could you imagine being the only Christians in south Florida? That's how they were. We were only able to spend maybe 20 minutes with them because we had a train (uh) to catch. But they needed some encouragement, and plus for them to see white people is a rarity. Most have never seen a white person before. We are now used to the consistent stares and wide eyed expressions as we walk by. But seeing this family that has no one else, makes me think of all the encouragement we get from our church's and Pastors. I love my church, it is big, but everywhere you go there is someone there encouraging you and we think our lives are hard.... I admire the village people so much. They have so much faith, and so much perseverance. At another village we visited (where again we ate with our hands off of the leaf plates in the smoldering hotness) we learnt about the Auntie's(the lady whose house we were eating at) husband who had gone away thirteen years ago for business and got possessed by and evil spirit, so much so that when he came home he could not enter his house, the spirit would not let him. So he has been living outside their house for thirteen years. When we learnt about this, Attu and the pastor's wife went over to him and asked him to join us for lunch..He agreed!!!! We watched as this man walked into his house after thirteen years of watching from the outside. His expression was wide eyed as he took every thing in and walked through the front room. He came and joined us, didn't say much but had a huge smile the entire time. After we went and spoke to a group of people who had gathered under a huge mango tree. Before we left we were able to pray for the Auntie, and her husband. 

Over the two weeks we were gone, we experienced so many things... I have so many other stories to share also. But for now i will leave you with this. Please pray for our perseverance in these last two weeks that we are here.