Night Meetings & Guests

Last night we experienced the first of this trips night meeting. It was so very exciting. The "kid's club" has been going to certain villages weekly to set up a kid's club. They tell fun bible stories, have a big bird all dressed up to entertain, do puppets, play games, give treats and a little take home bible sheet. At the very end they pick names out for winners and they get a little extra something special. Tonight it was little plastic bins (as you can see below). We had a couple of visitors from the States come to spend the day with us in Guntur. You can see them, so excitedly participate in everything we did. After the children's club the meeting began. With lots of Indian singing, then they honor their guests (us) by throwing little petals in the air as we walk past and giving us full lays of flowers. My wonderful husband spoke for a bit and did such a great job! With Harley finishing off the night strong. A call for salvation, from Pastor Wilson and then those who needed prayer came and we got to pray. All of this was finished off with a delicious meal at 11:00 pm, it was good. It was a perfect night, God moved and we were honored to be their and I was happy to capture it.

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xo, carissa

First Sunday In Guntur & Wedding Celebration

Where to begin with such a busy last two days. Sunday was church, which starts at 10, scripture at 11, the chance for testimony then all four of us get up and say a little something. It lasted four hours long, with communion at the very end. It was a great service, and seeing them do communion was so cool. They had a special type of juice and Pastor Wilson's wife filled all the cups up right before. Everything was in Telagu, the language barrier can be difficult but it helps to increase your other senses. Even though we couldn't understand what was going on we could feel the presence of God and see him moving. A nice big curry lunch, and then off we went on a four hour drive for a Monday morning wedding. 

On Monday the wedding was supposed to start at 10:30 and didn't start until 12:00 but we got there at 10:30. Then it lasts about two hours. I would have to say the most entertaining part was the photographers/videographers. As you can see in my pictures below they were all in front of the stage with all their lights set up nice and big AND right in the way! Then they would go up on stage and have the bride and groom look at them in mid sermon, it was nutso! As things happened they would pause and all look at the calendar (mid-ceremony) to snap a 30-60 second image. It was very entertaining, and educational. Moral of the story in India the wedding photographers get in the way and in America we stay out of sight and in secret. The wedding itself was very nice. It was very different from any type of ceremony we have in America, typically they exchange bibles but in this case they did use rings. There was two different messages, three different prayers, four songs, and 3 different vows finished with a big thank you from the groom's father. At the very end they cut cake and then walk through us throwing flowers in the air (or directly at their faces if your kid with flowers in hand). I can only hope that the images tell the story of our crazy weekend better then my words. God granted me the gift of photography not of writing!

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xo, carissa

Home In Guntur

We have made it "home", safe and sound. Home is: in Guntur, has an American bathroom, has a fridge that we fill with water and Thumbs Up, and a bed we call our own. The journey to get here started at 5:30 yesterday morning, so  5:00 pm. MN time. Which wasn't bad due to the fact that our sleeping is no where near normal. Our trip began and as the sun rose it was a deep orange almost red, due to the pollution that covers India. We stopped to eat at a little rode "hotel" and got our classic breakfast, puri with coffee. Then started our journey again. We drove through the Nagarjunasagar Left Earth Dam (pictured below), which used to be the largest dam in the world and as we climbed up the little mountain we saw monkeys! Like crazy, moments ago in the car I had said I wanted to see more monkeys this trip. And then they appeared, tons! So we slowed the car and I took some super quick pictures. Six hours later we got to Guntur, dropped our bags off at the little house we stay in, and head over to the bible school. All the students and almost all the local ministry leaders from surrounding villages had come to welcome us. We got two roses each, and all got lays full of flowers, gave hugs and then headed to lunch. Lunch was at the wonderful pastor's house, his wife is an amazing cook. The meals here are 2-3 times larger then 1 meal in MN, at least for me. But if you tell them you only want a little (which is a normal portion) at least 4 times, they will listen. There was two different types of curry chicken, with fried chicken (not what you think, but the best), green bean with goat, and scrimp curry with white rice! After we finished our delicious meal we headed home to unpack while the man went to some business. After cleaning and changing sheets, plus unpacking, which felt wonderful, we took a little nap (still trying to get used to the time) and then ran to the little store. We got some juice and a couple of little snacks, along with eggs and other necessities. then off to dinner, again at the bible school, where we had chicken curry and potato curry (which is my favorite). We went to sleep last night with our windows open and the fans blowing. Listening to the little white yappy dog barking outside the window. And woke up this morning to the sound of the temples singing the good morning prayers on the loud speakers. We are waiting for today to begin. It will be our only day around the house as we have lots planned for the upcoming week.

The Beginning of our 2012 Spring Trip

We are safe and sound. Our 14 hour plane ride from Chicago to Abu Dhabi wasn't as painful as we had thought. With our own little screens and a wide selection of movies. We got to sit in the Abu Dhabi airport for several hours, and then hopped on our 3 1/2 hour flight to Hyderabad. Arriving in Hyderabad, off to a little guest house (pictures below). Recovering from a bit of jet lag has been a bit difficult. But slowly but surely we are adjusting. It is so wonderful to fly into Hyderabad before going to Guntur because we have a little down time. We got in at 4:00 am India time, which is around 3:30 pm MN time and tried to sleep as late as we could.

We got to enjoy a little restaurant breakfast (below), chutney, puri, & coffee for $3 each. And have had a little time to adjust to the time zones and plan our month ahead. We did a little shopping and exploring as seen with all the images below and then had a little coffee and a sandwich! Now we are relaxing a bit more and are off to Guntur in the morning, a six hour drive.

All the pictures are just from my phone, hipstamtic. Once we are in Guntur the big camera's will be taken out!

2011 India Adventures

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