Packing for Guatemala

Early this Saturday morning I get to meet up with around 40 of my best friends to go to Guatemala.  I apologize in advance for anyone who was hoping to get any sleep on the 9am flight to Guatemala City.  I'm sorry.

but not really...

My little brother graciously gave me permission to go on this trip.  I felt like I needed it since I'll be missing his high school graduation.  But hey, how many opportunities does a person really have to just up and go to Guatemala?

I'd decided to do a little research tonight before I go, and hopefully start packing a little.

Apparently the weather should be pretty nice.  The high temperatures are around the 70s and low 80s, which should be a nice break from the Oven that is the American South in June.  Looks like there will be thunderstorms though.  It may or may not change our plans to a sports camp with los ninos.  I suppose we'll see.

So excited!!!

A Chicken and Hen (Ringgold, GA Disaster Relief)

"My name is Willimay."  She shook my hand and smiled at me right in the eyes.  She subconciously brings out my own southern drawl.  Behind us-- flattened mangled houses, a community once scattered with pecan trees older then our country, now they kiss the earth leaves still green.

In front of us-- her house standing firm.  Proud she told me, "We painted it two weeks before the tornado came."  Her neighbors called it Barney because of the specific glossy shade of purple, but not Willimay, she said Jesus wore purple.  "So my house is still standing".

19 people/38 hands started working right away when we got there.  Black trash bags in one hand they went out picking up pieces of rubble: torn shingles rippped from roofs, business papers wipped from office desk miles down the road.  We find a teddy bear far from it's home face down in the woods.

With a tear in her voice, "I've lived here 60 years, and I ain't never seen anything like like this". She breathes deep, "Never anything like this." Ringgold sits in a valley.  It's a small country town. But whoever said tornados don't go through mountains was a liar.  We could trace the destructive path straight up the mountain side.

The chainsaw whines.  I may not be blessed with muscles strong enough to hurl logs off of roofs, or to carry them on my shoulders to the roadside where the government will take them away.  I may not be skilled enough to rebuild a house when the foundations have shifted and water's dripps into living rooms from the ceiling.  The sweat of hard work runs down the brow of our hardworking relief team.  Willimay invites me to walk with her to her church a block away.  We walk through the yard, and she tells me about how after the storm they went to the church to find that the outside of it was completely destroyed, and the inside looked like it had never seen the wind.  The pews, perfectly in line, a basket of artificial flowers positioned on a table up front.  Ironically, the entire North wall wasn't there.  Willimay and I walked through her church parking lot. and she showed me.  We stepped through a gash in the tarp that covered the wide open wall.

She told me, "When we came back to the church the first time after the storm, we found some bibles opened up.  One was turned to Psalm 50, the other turned to Proverbs 1."  At this point I was really wishing that I had a memorized version of the bible on file in my mind, but I tried to remember the references so I could look it up after I got back to the bus since I had a little bible in my purse.  Willimay talked on about how God was telling this community that it was time to get right with him, since time is so short.  I'm amazed at the faith of this woman.  She wasn't mad at God for destroying her neighborhood.

We walked back from the church, and I went to the bus to get my bible.  I read the first few verse and gasped at the third one.

"The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. 

From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. 

Our God comes and will not be silent; 

a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages." Psalm 50:1-3

I told this verse to a few of the girls, and it sent goosebumps up their arms.  I suppose this is a mighty part of our God that we're unfamiliar with. I walked up to Willimay stating my astonishment with this verse, and she invited me into her living room, and sat her own bible in my lap, and told me to turn to Proverbs 1.  The team still hauling tree branches to the roadside.

“How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? 
How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? 

Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, 
I will make known to you my teachings. 

But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, 

since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke,
 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; 

I will mock when calamity overtakes you— when calamity overtakes you like a storm, 

when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you." Proverbs 1:22-27

My eyes are only opened to the clear whirlwind reference now as I write this.  I asked Willimay, what she though this meant.  She said, "This community for far too long has ignored God.  God is calling them to get right with him.  This life is too short! They need to get right with God now."  She seemed so strong, so full of powerful faith. She's "a voice in the wilderness"  calling people towards God, and yet the Holy Spirit told me that if I asked one more question I might get to see the hidden disaster zone in her own heart.  A simple question, "How can I pray for you?"  Tears welled up in her eyes, and her heart opened wide.

Some people may be skilled at clearing broken trees, but God has me working on broken hearts.  Together, the will of God accomplished.  A beautiful thing.

We walked back outside and pointed to a little funny-looking plant in a pot outside her house, we had a conversation about it for a minute, and then she decided to give it to me.  I told her that I wasn't sure I could take care of it, but she said that if it could survive a tornado, then it could survive for me. hehe It's called a Chicken and Hen.

Chicken and Hen

A Reminder

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:38-39

A look at the past: Swaziland

How do I go on when I have nothing left to give? I have nothing left to say. What do I do when strength drains out of my legs to walk forward? I stood in the hospital hallway alone looking down into the women's ward filled with beds. Each bed has a different story. Each woman has a family (or once did). Each precious soul grabs at the love of Christ whether they know it or not. I stood there saying to myself "I have nothing left to offer these women". The reality is that most of them are just trying to suck the most out of life in their last few moments before they die from AIDS. So I just stood there. God has begun to reveal to me a secret that should have never been a secret.

2nd Corinthians 12:9

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

This verse is beginning to come to life in me in a new way. I walked into the women's ward. Jesus didn't rip open the ceiling or anything (yet) (Isaiah 64), but by God's Holy Spirit I've been able to form precious relationships with some of the most precious people in the world. God himself has gently got my hand in his and he is taking me on a journey to see his people as he sees them.

He sees the woman's sweet tear that roll down her cheek as she waits for her surgery when she says that her family doesn't even know of she is dead or alive because they live too far away to visit.

He sees the deep pounding loneliness of the 20-year-old young woman lying alone in the hospital bed. She has no one left to comfort her except the strangers God sends. She lets herself cry as she tells me that her mother and father are both dead. I'm reminded that I am just about her age.

He see little Nhloso. He has been in his bed since September. His wounds are starting to rot. God please intervene! He has no family, but he never stops smiling. He never stops praying.

Each bed has a story, and whether I understand it or not God is the author. His love never fails.

[A Blog from Swaziland- March 12, 2008]

Nhloso and I

Stories from Around the World

Last week we had a party to celebrate all that God has done in the past year, globally, in Water's Edge.

100 People have gone out on 11 trips, and raised over $200,000.

I'd say its worth partying about!

I caught a few stories on video. They're a little rough, but I hope you enjoy them.

Guatemala Story: Jonathan from Danielle Williams on Vimeo.

Liberia Story: Amy from Danielle Williams on Vimeo.

Haiti Story: Kerry from Danielle Williams on Vimeo.

Down the Nilgris Mountains- A journey to South Asia, the Jungle Chapter

[The Jeep we took up the Mountain]

We woke up at 4:15am excited to start the day because we were driving up the mountain again, this time to hike down it. There are not many moments when I have felt more adventurous. We drove up the mountain as the sun peaked over the horizon, and shot it’s colorful rays into the dark clouds. Roger sent us on this trip with two trusted men in a jeep. One of them knew a little English, so he explained to me the best he could that we were first going to pick up two more jungle guides. The sun had completely risen when we stopped to wait about 30 minutes for our 2 extra jungle guides to come. We all rolled out of the back of the jeep, feeling so relieved for the opportunity to regain our composure. Our stomachs certainly were happy for the rest. Almost everyone was nauseous from the curvy bumpy ride.

A young boy walked by with a black lab puppy on a rope leash. It was so cute, and I looked at it with a Oh-I-really-want-to-hold-you-but-I-shouldn’t-because-neither-of-us-have-had-a-rabbis-vaccine face, and our driver read my face and called out to the boy for me to hold the puppy anyways. So after a few minutes cuddling with the puppy, and taking in several deep breaths looking out into the valley to resettle my stomach, our two extra jungle guides emerged from the village. Roger told us that they were so in tune with the forest that they could smell a tiger if it were near.

[A little girl we met as we waited for our other two jungle guides.]

Here is the Jurassic Park Theme song for you to listen to as you read:

We took another short drive to where we would start our hike. We start by walking in between fields of tea. Now by this point, I had to go pee, and I knew I couldn’t be the only one. So I asked our guide who knew the most English, “Do you know where we can use the bathroom? (crap, they don’t use the word “bathroom”) Um, I mean the toilet…even though I know there isn’t a toilet out here, but really we just have to go pee.” Gracefully worded… I know. He was like, “Yes, Yes. I understand”, and then he pointed us girls to the tea field while he took the boys further down the path to do their business. Us four girl just squatted in a circle and peed in the middle of an open tea field. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard.

We came to the opening of jungle, and our English speaking guide told us that we must be silent from here on out. All I had brought to India was sandals and flip-flops, which I couldn’t wear on this hike, so Roger had generously let Carlie and I borrow so of his own hiking boots. I walked through the forest like it was a wonderland with the team. All of us knew that at any moment we could spot a tiger, panther, leopard, or an elephant. On one hand, it felt like danger could be around any corner, or behind any bush. On the other hand, we had three Indian jungle guides for the six of us, so there was no sense in feeling any kind of fear except wonder.

I slowly felt it coming on, those leather shoes were too much for my soft feet. Every step began to feel like someone was inside my boots sawing into my heel with a serrated knife. (gruesome I know) I tried my best to keep quiet for a long time. I knew I wasn’t the only one getting a little uncomfortable, so I tried my best not to mention it until we stopped for a water break and I got to take my shoes off. I took off my socks, to find sufficient proof of my pain on both my heels. I told Grace, “Oh, Grace, I wish I could walk down the rest of the mountain on clouds. I don’t think I can bear to put these shoes back on.” I couldn’t even manage to get the shoes back on my feet. Brent donated his socks, and I decided that I should just walk down the rest of the mountain in a double layer of socks, and pray I don’t step on a briar…

(And for those of you who are thinking, “What a big baby” right now. I’ll have you know that it has been almost 2 months now since this day, and I still can’t wear shoes that touch my heels. I self diagnosed it later to be an Achilles tendon injury.)

I started walking down towards our guides in my socks, and our English speaking guide asked me what was wrong. I explained to him that I couldn’t bear to put my shoes back on. Then began a beautiful moment of Indian kindness and hospitality, he took his shoes off and gave them to me. They were cushy sandals, with big soft straps. He gave the leather boots I was wearing to one of the other guides, and that guide wore flip-flops down the rest of the mountain. I began to walk in the cushy sandals, and they literally felt like clouds. I couldn’t believe it. God answered my prayer through the kindness of our jungle guides.

I nearly forgot about the pain completely with those sandals on. I’m so grateful.

That day we quickly packed up our things. I double checked the rooms to make sure we got everything, and we were on our way home.

Mid-way through the trip home, we went to a bird sanctuary. Check out the bird and crocodile pictures. It was so cool.

Half-way home Roger got a call his cell phone, and looked back at us and asked, "Did anyone leave their wallet?" I thought, "for sure not me... I double checked everything." I began to search through my bookbag and purse, and there was no wallet to be found. Roger remained completely calm, and he said, "don't worry, we'll get it to you". I didn't know how in the world he would figure out how to get it to me, but I went ahead and trusted him.

but, really!? I left my wallet in the tree house back in the jungle!? So frustrating!

[Rebecca and Carlie in the middle of the hike]

[Posing with the baby cow after the hike...see that mountain behind us? That's the one.]

[Those black things are fruit bats. aww, "Stella Luna" :) ]

The Mystery of the Stolen Soap and Other Things- A Journey to South Asia, the Jungle Chapter

I woke up in the morning a little startled to hear banging on the roof and screeching. I peeked out the unsealed door hinge to see a female monkey just taking a stroll on our front porch. I quickly got dressed what was going on. I grabbed my bible and journal, and let the other girls sleep in since we had been on such a rigorous schedule the week before.

I found a seat out on the balcony, and I could hear a monkey screaming angrily on the tree branches next to the boys room. It obviously woke Brock up because he began screaming back at it from inside his room. I just sat on the porch and giggled. I mean really- monkeys woke us up?! I love it.

The angry monkey looked a little territorial, and climbed around to the front of the house to get a look at me. It sat on a branch about 10 feet away from me and stopped screaming to stare me down. I just stared right back at in the eyes and eventually it got the hint. It left our tree, and it didn’t come back. Take that monkey.

Eventually Brock and Brent came out to see what it was. (Brock must have woken Brent up with his screaming.) Apparently the bars of soap that they had put in their shower the night before were gone, and there began, The Mystery of the Stolen Soap.

Maybe they misplaced it. Maybe mice ate it. Maybe the soap was just a figment of their imagination, but I think it was the monkeys. I think the monkey snuck into their unlatchable window and stole the rosemary mint scented soap. For what purpose? We will never know.

[Suspect #1]

I walked down to the creek next to our tree house to finish my quiet time. I had to get to it by walking down a convenient staircase down into the 20 foot ravine. For maybe 10 minutes the only thing I was thinking about was my tiger escape plans.

Now if you’d like a quick Animal Planet lesson here it is: The Tiger, Panthera Tigeris, is the largest of all the big cats. They can reach up to 11 feet long and 660 pounds. It is India’s national animal, and India is home to the largest population of wild tigers. Although humans are not regular prey for tigers, they have killed more people than any other cat, and although they are an endangered species, it’s still kinda scary to walk down to a creek in the Indian jungle by yourself—even if just to pray.

[Man eating Tiger from Calcutta. 1903. Killed 200 people.]

This is what I came up with:

Plan A: Get Getto Crunk on that Tiger, and bow up and scream, “GET AWAY FROM ME IN THE NAME OF JESUS!!!”

Plan B: Run up the ravine as fast as possible. Run to the Tree in house. Run up the first flight of stairs, and then the second. Try to get in the girls room, and if the girls had locked the door from the inside… then my life would just be over and the girls would open the door to see my poor mangled body and a gigantic tiger waiting to get them too.

Despite all these gruesome thoughts, I could feel Jesus reassuring me that I would see no Tigers, and that I could stay there as long as I wanted, so I did.

Roger came to pick us up. Breakfast with Samuel was simple, toast and eggs. Roger took us to his farm again, and back behind his house was an natural elephant haven. Brock, Carlie, Grace and I walked down a steep path and into a dry river bed with a small river winding through it. There was elephant poop everywhere, and the bamboo sounded like a chorus of creaking doors. It felt like an elephant wonderland.

[Elephant Haven]

We walked back up the steep path, and as I was coming back into Roger’s yard I about stepped on a tiny lime green snake about 1 foot long. It quickly squiggled away, and we lost it.

We then left Roger’s farm and began the trek up the Nilgris Mountains to a city just over the peak called Ooty. We wove through 32 hairpin turns. Some of us were feeling sick, but I was not. The view was incredible. I just felt so full of joy! .

[Fields of Tea were terrace all through the mountains]

The Scorpio started to overheat 3/4ths of the way up the mountain. Not good. We all got out and walk about 100 yards up the mountain, and found the Scorpio parked. The whole way up the mountain I had Waterdeep’s line, “Go tell it to the mountain tops, that I’m alive! Dark and Night are not your masters.” The car was leaking orange liquid. We waited about a half hour for it to cool off, so we took pictures by St. Josephs Church.

• Go by Waterdeep

More Waterdeep music on iLike

[Our picture by St. Joseph's Church]

[St. Joseph's Church]

While we were waiting I tried (unsuccessfully) to catch a little yellow butterfly. I tried for maybe 10 minutes, and it never flew away from me. It just delicately hovered all around my hands, but quickly dodged them every time I went for it. This little butterfly was significant to me because I had the same one when I was about 8 years old. I think I bought it at a school book fair, and it was dead and pinned inside of a little clear plastic box. It was my treasure as any 8 year old girl holds on to something tiny and beautiful. It was an itty bitty butterfly, not bigger then an inch. Mostly yellow wings, but with one black marking at the top of each wing. Being sentimental as I am, it really touched me, that God would allow me to have that same kind of butterfly when I was a little girl, and then show me their origin when I’m a young woman. Maybe I’m sappy, but to me it was confirmation that God had known about this experience in India long before I had. This butterfly apparently is only in India, and the only place I saw it was in the mountains.

[ThePlain Sulphur (Dercas lycorias)]

We poured the rest of our bottled water into the coolent container under the hood, and took off for about 5 more minute to the peak of the mountain. The car was greatly relieved when we started to go down hill again. We coasted into the little city of Ooty, pasted the Kingfisher man’s Ooty house, and went to Café Coffee Day in the city while Roger went to go get the car fixed. Grace and I had personal veggie pizzas, and we split some delicious chocolate icecream brownie desert. Rebecca had a spicy chicken sandwich. Brock and Carlie ordered personal chicken pizza, and all Brent ate was a special brownie desert that came out on the same plate that fajitas come out on. The server poured hot fudge over it, and it boiled and steamed… the way molten chocolate lava should be.

We went across the street and did a little shopping. I brought a pack of 8 Bhindis for 4 rupees. (the cheapest/funnest thing I bought in India). Bhindis are a decorative little sticker to stick between the eyebrows. They are not religious. When a personal has painted a dot, or put colored powered in-between their eyebrows, it is usually from a Hindu alter from a prayer asking for a third spiritual eye. My cute little Bhindi’s are always decorative with no religious association though… so I thought they were fun.

[Indian Women, I'm not sure who the artist is]

We did have plans to go explore a waterfall, but our car trouble kept us in the little city. I was a little sad about that. I love waterfalls! Oh well, We found some cool knives for the men in our lives, and I bought a couple things for my mom and a yellow silk scarf for me. The scarf was about 100 rupees ($2).

Met back in Café Coffe Day and bought some Snapple for 120 rupees (way too much again, Snapple… Snapple, do you really have to be overpriced everywhere?)

I also bought some Non-Sense brand tea, the same kind of tea Roger’s wife uses. I hope to duplicate her tea when I get home. I bought my Dad some peanuts, but when I showed them to Roger he said that I should probably not give my Dad those because he’s afraid they might make him sick.

We drove back down the mountain, and Roger stopped to let me take a picture of the mountains. I hopped out of the car, and my skirt got all caught in briars. I thought, “Oh, I can just get out of this”, but after several minutes of everyone in the car watching me struggle in the briars, Rebecca hopped out of the car and saved me… I’m not even sure if the picture was that good.

We drove to a restaurant and had mashed potatoes and other American dishes. We had great conversation about sperm donors, drinking your own urine, and yes, if you and I were trekking in frozen Alaska, and you died, and I was starving I would eat you, and no Brent, I didn’t know that the butt would be best to eat, but thank you for that tidbit of information.

Just as we were walking to our car, we heard some commotion from the workers at the restaurant. Apparently there was a wild elephant in the dark just beyond the fence. A man positioned his Jeep headlights into the brush so we could get a better look. There it was, a full grown male wild elephant. We stood at a distance, in awe, watching him eat. Apparently this same elephant had climbed on top of one of their cars and the two story building next door before. It had climbed up the stairs! They said the BBC had come out before to do a story on it.

A man came and told us, with his finger pointed into the darkness, “A women spotted a tiger just over there this morning.” Creepy…

After a long day of wildlife adventures, we went back to sleep like the Swiss family Robinson in our tree house. We didn’t go driving, looking for tigers after dinner because we knew we’d have to get up at 4:15am for our mountain trek in the morning.

I slept so light because the boys were in charge of waking us up in at 4:15am. None of us girls had brought a watch or alarm. It was so windy outside, and I could feel the whole tree house swaying and creaking. I woke up several times thinking the boy were stirring and fixing to wake us up… I thought I heard something going up in their room.

[Keep reading for the continuation of our Jungle Adventures…and comment so I don’t feel like talking to myself.]

Who gets to be in a Bamboo Tree house anyway?- A journey to South Asia, the Jungle Chapter

[Stopping for a bathroom break on our road trip to the jungle.]

[Grace, in all her beauty]

Roger had told us on the first day our 3 options for our little mid-trip jungle escapade. Our choices were: (1) Cottage, (2) Mud Hut, and (3) Bamboo Tree House. So of course we all agreed that the BAMBOO TREE HOUSE would be the best possible option. I mean really, who gets to ever stay in a bamboo tree house overnight ever. That’s right, no one, except us.

(Please forgive my smack-talk. Really, it’s just my way of saying, “Holy Cow!!! I’m so excited to stay in a treehouse!!!)

We left early for the jungle-mountains. Brent and I sat in the back with Roger’s bird books, coffee and mango saplings, and everyones book bags. We stopped at a really cool place to eat breakfast. Most of us ordered Puris, which we started calling poof poofs. (Roger misunderstood, and though we were calling them poo poos)We stopped in Mysore, and it was super cool. We got to tour an old Maharaja’s Palace.

[Puri's/Poof Poofs]

[Carlie and I waiting for our table at breakfast]

[Brock, Rebecca and Grace waiting for a table at breakfast too.]

[Indian Doughnuts...spicy]

Paul Billy dropped us off in front of the palace and drove off to go find us some pizza, and immediately we were surrounded by Indian salesmen selling all sorts of trinkets. They were selling all sorts of overpriced tourist goods, and seemed so excited to find Americans. One man sold post cards, one sold silver anklets, another sandlewood fans, and another wooden flutes. This is hilarious: as soon as we stepped out of the car, the flute man immediately switched from his Indian tunes to Celine Dion’s, “My Heart Will Go On”. So we walked through the first courtyard to the first metal detector all the while being serenaded with the Titanic theme song…. (I’ll never let go Jack, I’ll never let go.)

My Heart Will Go On from on Vimeo.

I swear I don’t know these people. I just found this video on a search for the song. Notice the guy in the school library… so funny.

I waltzed right through the first metal detector, but when I looked back it seemed like Brent was having some issues. He had his nice pocket knife with him, and was forced to go find a hiding spot for it back in the salesmen courtyard. He found a nice spot by some bushes, but just when he thought his knife would be safe, he made eye-contact with the postcard salesman. We thought for sure someone would take it while we were inside.

[Mysore Palace]

We walked on through the massive palace courtyard and checked our shoes into the shoe keeper. (The whole “shoe-checking-in” process reminded me of a roller rink, only we didn’t get roller skates in exchange for our shoes). We proceeded to the entrance of the palace, but an upset security guard who didn’t speak English got mad at us for having our cameras. Apparently we hadn’t read the sign: “No Photography inside the Palace”. So we turned around and walked across the massive palace court yard barefoot. We took some silly pictures by the panther statues. Some men stopped Brent to take a picture with him (… maybe cause he’s tall?), and then we walked on to go check our camera’s into a locker. As sketchy as it seemed we handed our 3 camera’s over to the locker keeper, and finally got to go inside the palace.

[Being silly in front of the Panther Statue]

[Hindu Temple next to the Palace]

It was incredible-- way more impressive then the palace in Aladdin. The entire palace had beautiful tile floors and detailed artwork everywhere: floors, walls, ceiling, windows, chandeliers. If I had a camera in there, I would have taken 200 pictures. The most impressive room was the marriage room. The marriage room has a 50 foot ceiling with massive decorated green cast iron pillars and a massive circle of stained glass with vibrantly colored glass peacock encircling the ceiling. It filled the room with colorful warm light. There were paintings of Indian history on every wall, and Giant Ivory Tusks framed portraits of the old Maharajas.

After our slow pace through the palace, we went back to get shoes, and got over charged to get them back. (Who does he think he’s messing with anyway?)…

We got our camera’s back, and walked back out through the salesman, and to Roger who met us with two fresh cheese pizzas. We all were delighted to see that no one had stolen Brent’s knife, and in fact the postcard salesman had been watching over it. So we thanked him and bought some Mysore Palace postcards from him at the full price of 50 rupees (close to $1).

We drove through a Tiger reserve and into the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu to get to the tree house. We scoured the brush just waiting to catch the eyes of a panther, a tiger, a leopard or a wild elephant. We all suddenly felt like we were in Jurassic Park. Grace did find a Crested Hawk Eagle. We found a few wild Peacocks, and Roger taught us the Peacock mating call, which was hilarious (eye-oh, eye- oh). We saw some wild bison, deer, and two different kinds of monkeys.

[Eye- oh, Eye-oh!]

[The Tiger we wish we saw]

Finally after 6 hours of driving we arrived at tree house. Oh! It was so cool! It was built about 40 feet up into a mature bamboo cluster. It was made with just two bedrooms, one that us girls claimed, and the boys got the other one. There was a creek running right next to it, so we walked down to go feel the water and get a good look at it.

[The View from the Balcony]

[The Creek next to the Tree house]

Roger’s then took us to his farm, and we met Roger’s farm aide family. We unloaded the mango and coffee saplings, and then went to go see a tamed Elephant feeding. The elephants ate huge balls of mucky stuff. There was a male elephant walked away and peed... We thought it was a girl elephant, but then BAM it was definitely not a girl. Really really funny. Brent vowed to never own male pets because they are just gross.

[Roger's Farm at sunset. Notice the man on the right, he is the farm's caretaker... he turns out to be a very special man for me.]

We went to a hotel where Roger’s friend Samuel was the cook and made us some delicious chicken and French fries. The god of creepy mccreepiness was on huge posters on two walls, but not so out of the ordinary. After dinner we went driving, looking for Tigers at night shining a flashlight into the brush. I got sleepy, and Rebecca feel asleep.

So we went back to do our “Swiss Family Robinson” thing, and met Betsy the spider right away in our bathroom. Brent killed her, and left one of her long legs on the floor. Rebecca took care of the leg. She’s so brave.

The showers in the tree house were so icy! There was no geezers (water heaters) to be seen anywhere.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever fallen asleep in a tree house, but there are a few things to be aware of. It sways with a good gust of wind, and the bamboo creeks all the time like old wooden door hinges. Not to mention all windows must be tightly secured to keep the monkeys out. I slept really well that night. Carlie and Grace shared the bed, and Rebecca and I laid on mattresses on the floor.

I woke up in the morning a little startled to hear banging on the roof and screeching. I peeked out the unsealed door hinge to see a female monkey just taking a stroll on our front porch. I quickly got dressed to see what was going on…

(A continuation of the next day’s jungle adventures are in the next blog. Please keep reading! And post a comment so I know if anyone is reading this!)

A Gold and Red Salwar Kameez- A journey to South Asia

Sabrina Grey is my friend from the dance team at 12Stone. She is an incredible woman with a love for Indian clothes, I discovered this when we did Jai Ho at church last year, and she offered us girls her wardrobe to dance in.

[Sabrina Grey is the beauty on the left]

[Pictures from when the dance team did Jai Ho at church in Sabrina's clothes.]

So about a month before we left for India I sheepishly facebook messaged Sabrina to see if she might let me borrow some to wear in India. So because she is wonderful and generous she gave me 6 whole outfits to take and wear, and on my first Sunday morning in India I put on her beautiful Red and Gold Salwar Kameez.

On Sunday morning we quickly planned a creation skit and rehearsed it for 10 minutes, AND it was awesome and the kids at church that morning loved it. We worshipped in English, Kannada and Hawaiian at church. Hehe…

The church had a party for all the Dads afterwards, and served an Indian feast for everyone. After we ate, we hopped in the car to go to the youth camp that we were leading in Hindustan that afternoon.

The Youth Camp was for kids 14 and up, and I think there were some older people there too. Brent did the same trick that had amazed the kids the day before, and some guys at the trick duplicated it 2 or 3 times! We were utterly amazed.

We did the everything skit (you can type “lifehouse everything skit” in youtube if you don’t know what it is). Brent, of course, was Jesus. Grace was the girl. Brock was the Money Guy, Rebecca was the drunk girl, Carlie was vanity, and I represented fear and oppression. It turned out to be very effective. They loved it and shouted for joy when Jesus broke through and saved Grace.

7 girls (I think Hindu Girls…) received Christ this day when Brent shared the Gospel. So wonderful!!!!

[ Some of the girls making a cross to represent their new faith.]

[The Youth Camp Crew]

We went to bed that night so appreciative of the day, full of praise towards God, and excited for the next morning because we were headed to a tree house in the jungle the next morning as the team’s well deserved break.

The jungle adventures are to follow.