One step forward...

One step forward, and two steps back...that's the story of my life for the last couple days.  We have been in India for only a week.  It seems like a lot longer than that, but it always seems that way to me.  I think it's because our life and activity is so different here, that everything else seems far away. 

So, my one step forward...Since we have been living out of suitcases for so long, I was ready to get rid of the suitcases as soon as possible!  By Monday, I finally emptied the last suitcase and things were looking pretty good in the house.  Now for the two steps back...
(Just for your info., I answered the doorbell 3 times since starting this post)

Then we visited the landlord and told him about a few repairs that needed to be made in the house.  There was terrible mold in one bathroom, and one of the kids' rooms.  Also, one of the bathrooms needed some major repairs.  The landlord said he would send someone after the first of the month.  So, I continued my setting up and cleaning.
 (Just now went to buy some vegetables from the vegetable seller.)
He sent the painters and plumber the next day.  So...the bedroom that was set up and neat...

 

 

Turned into a work zone...
(time to go to prayer meeting)
(Back from prayer meeting, finished supper, and got everyone settled in bed)
The one bedroom and bathroom to be painted, turned into touching up the living/dining room.  The "paint" mostly used here is more like white-wash, so it quickly gets dirty and marked up.  It needed to be done.  So, after 2 days of painting, repairing, rearranging...etc...I am back to one room set up and clean.


Nothing on the walls yet

 

But, the walls look fresh and clean, no pencil marks or dirty hand prints, and the bathroom is repaired (it even has hot water..woohoo!)  So, I'm thankful.  Tomorrow is another day, and we're planning to get the rest of the rooms back in order...along with catching up on laundry since we had no afternoon or evening water supply...and shopping for groceries for the meeting...and working on classes for next week...and...well I think you get the picture!  One step forward! 

We made it

Warning:  This is a long post, but I thought some of you may be wondering how our travel and return to India has gone.
It would be very hard to describe the last few weeks.  I'm not exactly sure what a "time warp" is, but I wonder if we were sucked into one!  After attending one last missions conference, after sorting, discarding, rearranging, and packing, after some very emotional "good-bye's", we traveled to Boston on March 11th.

It is always a little nerve-racking to check-in at the airport on the way back to India.  We are a family of seven...with 15 suitcases...and 7 carry-ons...7 passports...7 visas to be checked (and rechecked).  India is a country that changes its policies often, and without warning.  Sometimes they will ask for a different piece of paperwork that they never asked for before, sometimes they won't ask for anything, so we never know what to expect.  This time they checked and rechecked my PIO card, they discussed it among themselves and handed me a piece of paper that said I could travel on the PIO with no problem.  I never had to use the piece of paper, I was never asked for it, but then again "better safe than sorry"! 
All of our luggage was weighed, and all were under weight! Yay!  If you have to travel internationally and have to pack a lot, get a luggage scale (ours is from LL Bean).  It's a lot easier to move things from one suitcase to another and get the weight right when you are in the privacy of your home, than it is when you are in front of a hundred strangers at the airport (this is the voice of experience!)
After a 6 hour flight to London, a long layover, and an almost 9 hour flight to India, we arrived in Delhi on Friday.  We flew through customs (the customs agent just wanted to know if all these kids were ours :-))

And...we made it!  We are back in India.  The jet lag hasn't been too bad.  It seems we are almost back to a normal sleeping schedule already.  The children are excited to be back, and have been enjoying their friends, and their favorite Indian foods.  I have been feverishly working to get this house looking like a home again, instead of a storage unit! Alyssa and Naomi have been a great help with this.  We had to switch the older girls to a different bedroom, because the room they had been using has mold growing, and Alyssa has asthma issues if she is in a moldy environment.  Since moving to the other bedroom, she seems to be doing well.  Hopefully, the landlord will be sending someone to deal with that situation in a few weeks.
The weather has been beautiful (in the 70s and 80s).  We should have a week or two before it hits 100. 

We have a Bible Conference, next Thurs. to Sun.  The guest speaker and his wife and daughter will be staying at our home, so I have to get the place "guest-ready" before then.  I also have 4 ladies classes to get ready for, so my mind is whirling about all those things, but I am trying to get things done one step at a time. 
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us.  Our travel and transition back to India has gone very well.  We miss many things about the US, we miss many people (and wish they would come for a visit **Hint Hint), but we are thankful to know that God has put us in this place for His purpose.

Blessings of furlough

During these months in the US,  we have been blessed over and over in various ways and by various people all over the US and even in Canada.  I just want to share with you a few of the major ways that we have been supported and blessed during these ministry days in the US.

1. A home

HA HA! Sod house replica in Walnut Grove, MN

We don't own a home in the US (or in India either, for that matter), but while in the US we always have a place to call home.  In Maine, we stay with my parents.  They give up their sewing/computer room and put up with kids sleeping all over their living room floor.  The kids also have a second home with their cousins and try their level best to stay there at least once a week while we are there.  Our sending church has an apartment that we stay in when we are in Indiana or have meetings nearby.  We also have close friends in Maryland who make us feel at home when we are in their area.  Our two large families, ten kids total, stay together and somehow it works out really well! 

2. A van
As a missionary traveling thousands of miles over a few month period, your vehicle becomes another home, and a very important part of your family life!  Friends, who will remain nameless because they may skin me alive if I put their name on the internet, have provided us a 12 passenger van to use while we are here.  Plenty of room for the family, and plenty of room for luggage.  We will definitely miss "the Big White" when we return to India.

3. Prayer cards
Every time we come for a furlough, or have another baby, we need to get updated prayer cards made.  A new supporting church mentioned that one of their members knew how to design cards, and had done a beautiful one for their church.  We got in contact with her and after only sending her a picture and some info. that we wanted included on the card she sent us back a beautiful prayer card.  We have gotten compliments at almost every church about how beautiful our prayer card is.  If you are a missionary that needs a new prayer card design, please contact her.  You won't be sorry.
http://www.marybethhoover.com/layouts#5

4. Love and encouragement
While visiting churches there have been so many that have encouraged us and loved us in multiple ways, I could never name them all or try, but we have been blessed.

5. Luggage
This just happened today so I will share it. Through a contact of our sending church pastor, someone that we have never met donated this beautiful luggage.  (Don't ask me how stressed I feel looking at these empty suitcases, that I will soon have to fill!)   These are the best suitcases we have ever had, the kind that we have stared longingly at in various airports around the world!

And yes..these children do belong to me!  There are so many more blessings I could mention, too many, but these that I've mentioned are major..yes MAJOR blessings to this missionary family.

December already?

If you have been wondering if I would post this on this blog again...so was I!  I do want to keep the blog going, and I have a lot of ideas of things to post.  I have found out that furlough is a different kind of life.  OK, so I already knew that, but.... 
This is actually the longest furlough that we have ever taken.  We usually stay in the US for about 6 months, so it has been different for us to be here for so many months.   While on furlough, we have been visiting a lot of churches to update the ministry or present the ministry to new churches.  When you go from church to church you get a lot of questions.
Do you have a home? (not exactly)
Where did you get your van?  (from a friend)
How long will you be in the US?  (till we go back..probably March)
Do you miss India? (yes)
What is India like or how is it different from the US? (now there's a question with a loaded answer)
Do your kids speak English? (yes)
Do your kids speak Indian? (no, Indian is not a language, we speak Hindi :-))
We have visited a lot of churches and a lot of states, and even made it to Canada.  One of the difficulties of furlough is not having a schedule of your own.  Since we don't have a home of our own here, we are usually staying with family, friends, churches, or strangers.  When you stay with someone else you kind of have to flow with their schedule.  Our schedule of meetings has also been busy, hence a silent blog. 
We have been homeschooling on the road, and the months of October and November were filled with mission conferences and various other meetings.  We have now landed in Maine for December.  Maine...for December?  No, we are not crazy (not much).  I love the cold, and wanted my kids to see some snow.  They haven't seen much in their lives.  We haven't been in the US during December since 2005.  So, we have put away the school books for the month, and are soaking up the cold, snow, and family time.  The kids are learning to slide and make snowmen, and spending as much time as possible with their cousins. 
Look for more updates to come soon (I hope).  Please bear with this furlough missionary! 

Heavy on our hearts

Have you ever been persecuted for your faith?  Do you know anyone who has faced persecution?  I have heard many people talk about having a "door slammed in their face", while on visitation, and being sworn at or having someone take a tract and throw it on the ground, and these instances being given as examples of persecution.  I don't consider any of these scenarios persecution.  These are examples of unsaved people being antagonistic toward the Gospel. 

persecute:  to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; specifically: to cause to suffer because of belief

There is a believer in India who is heavy on our hearts right now.  Because of the situation, I am not giving many specifics or details.  We are just asking our friends and supporters to pray.
There is a person who has been attending one of our churches for a while.  This person is the only Christian in their strong Hindu family.  The family is violently opposed to Christianity.  Recently, this person decided, after much prayer and counsel, that they were ready to take a public stand for Christ.  This person had told us that when they returned to their home, they wanted to share the Gospel with their family, fully knowing that there would be consequences.  We learned today that there have been consequences.  The family confiscated the Bible and phone of this believer.  They won't allow this believer to contact any of their Christian friends, and are trying to force this person to marry a high caste Hindu.  Brian was able to talk to this person briefly on the phone.  This believer told him that they are living in a nightmare, with no escape in sight.  They are a prisoner in their own home, because they took a stand for Christ. 
Please pray for this believer in Christ, who is suffering real persecution at the hands of their family members.  Our hearts are heavy as we are not able to contact or correspond with this person at this time. Please pray with us that God would send strength and deliverance.

"Interesting" trip back to India

Many of you probably know that Brian has traveled back to India for 3 weeks.  When you have a ministry and life established in a country, it is very difficult to leave it for months at a time!  On the way to India, he had a layover in Amsterdam.  When he went to check-in for his flight, they wanted to see his old, expired passport.  Well, he didn't have it with him.  Why? you ask...it's expired..and we've never been asked for it before.  They didn't even ask for it when he boarded a plane in Chicago.
So, they wouldn't let him board a plane to India.  What were our options???
1. He could fly back to the US to get the passport.  Not very feasible or affordable.
2. I could fly to Amsterdam to hand the passport over.  Hmmm...while an interesting idea..not possible.
3.  I could overnight the passport to him.   Sounds a little scary, and we weren't sure where mail would get sent in such a large, and busy airport.
4.  The immigration office in Amsterdam told him to visit the Indian embassy there for help, because this had to do with a stamp for his visa.  Visit the Indian embassy for....help?  This person has obviously never visited the Indian embassy!  Anyway...that seemed like the only option that was possible.  So, he stayed overnight in Amsterdam and went to the embassy.  I don't know how helpful they were (doubtful), but he was able to get the visa he needed to get to India.
You never know what new regulations foreign governments will come up with to throw you off, even when you think you know what you are doing!   He says that when he gets back to the US, he will staple his expired passport to the new one.  Are you allowed to do that?  He doesn't care..he said for the price of 2 staples he can keep a small part of his sanity!  HA!
He is on the plane to India now, please pray for his 3 week stay there.  He will be visiting the churches, checking out our house, teaching a pastor's class, and visiting a new orphanage.
Thanks to everyone who is praying for his travels.  I will try to update you when I can.

Life on the Road

The last couple months have been busy ones for our family.  We spent June in the Maryland/Pennsylvania/Delaware area.  We reported to supporting churches there, and visited a few new ones.

The first week of July, we traveled back to Maine, to celebrate Kara's birthday with family, and to spend a couple days camping. 

After a great week, it was back to the road.  We spent a couple days in PA.  This was an exciting meeting for the kids (all of us really), because we were able to visit with Pastor and Mrs. Dubish, and Bro. Eddie, who had all just arrived back from Mohali.  They are like family to us, and it was nice to be able to hear first hand about what had been going on in India during our months away.
Next, it was on to Minnesota.  We enjoyed our first missions conference of this furlough at one of our supporting churches.  It was a blessing to be at the same church for more than one service!  The Pastor's family made us feel right at home, and didn't blink an eye when Brian got sick and lay half dead (nearly) on their couch for 3 days!  We really pushed the limits of hospitality, but they were wonderful, and we were actually sorry to leave.  Our kids became instant friends with theirs, and were sad to leave them behind!

We spent the next 2 weeks in Wisconsin, visiting Brian's family, and having meetings in that area.  Our kids (especially Ethan) loved life on the farm!
Now, we are back at our home church in Indiana for a few weeks, while Brian takes a quick trip back to India.
Kind of a quick summary of the last couple months, with many details left out, but you get the idea!