almost over

This is probably the last blog i will be writing from India. we have a little more than two days left here. Its strange how fast it went by. I kinda want to stay longer but i dont know... I still feel like im just barely getting to know most of the people here. we spend most of our time working in the library and we dont really get much time to hang out with the girls because we have to work and they are at school, we eat dinner with them, and hang out for a little bit but then its time to go to bed. I am kinda frustrated right now while im writing this so alot of what im writing is coming out really negative, i think. what I mean by all this is, a month isn't a long time, its barely any time at all. there is still so much more to do. There are still so many people here who i have barely said hi to and asked their names. The library is almost done, but we will be working on it till we leave.

One of my favorite parts of the day is when we play volleyball with the guys up here at the bible college. It is a blast. Reishang, the warden here at rti, is amazing at volleyball. when someone gives him a good set, he practically makes a crater in the ground he hits the ball so well. Everyone else has gotten really good at velleyball also, It is soo fun... The only problem is, the guys finally get done with all their stuff around 430 and thats when we play volleyball, but the girls at the orphanage get home from school around that time also. Everyday when i go to dinner at the orphanage, they say "why didn't you come play with us this afternoon?" It is quite a dilemna. :/

We got back from Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, another state in india, yesterday. We were there for a couple days. It is a totally different climate than here in kerela. Our journey was about 4 hours to get there. We stayed at a lodging house for christian missionaries. Coonoor is a beautiful city up in the mountains with tea plantations everywhere. I think it was the most beautiful place i've ever seen. I want to live there sometime. We had european style meals at the place we stayed, it was really nice to eat some mashed potatoes, roasted chicken and green beans. a group went hiking around 6 AM. I managed to somehow wake myself up, but just as i got dressed and got outside, they had left and were out of site. I decided to go hiking and explore by myself. I looked up and saw the highest point on the hill we were on, and said to myself, im going there. after hiking through lots of strange plants, asking random people where to go, and being confused, i made it to the top of the mountain thing. It was an incredible view from up there. I couldn't wait very long though, because i had to make it back for breakfast.

I got sick later that day and felt super crappy the rest of the time we were there. i dont know what it was but im feeling better now. I bought 1200 rupies worth of tea at the factory. I figured i wouldn't get very many opportunities to buy real indian tea right fresh from where they grow it, so i capitalized on my oppotunity.

Im sad to be leaving on tuesday. I miss America, I miss warm showers and pizza and all that kind of stuff, but i know im going to miss this place so much more when im back in the US. I am already thinking about when i can come back here, i just wish i had a teleporter where i could come here instantly for free.

We bought a couple new guitars for the guys here a few days ago. They all love playing guitar. I teach them lots of stuff and we all sing together and play. It was wonderfull to be able to buy them some more guitars so more than two guys can play at one time.

It is going to be very sad when we leave. I feel at home here. I am definitely going to be coming here more in the future. Some of the older girls at the orphanage and the third year students at RTI will be gone next time im here. That makes me really sad. I know I'll see them sometime though, maybe on this earth, maybe not.

I have to go now. I'll try and write one more update if i can.

ALEX

Turning Indian!

We've been here for two weeks as of today, or somethin like that. Its been intense. All the library stuff is coming along. We've run into alot of problems, but we have overcame all of them, and we should finish while we're here.

SO, I am turning Indian. I am relatively okay with eating curry and rice for three meals a day, 7 days a week. I am not really bothered by the fact that there are geckos, spiders, and other strange insects under my bed, over my bed, and on all the walls beside my bed. 99% percent humidity doesn't feel that bad, rain feels nice. I walk around barefoot in the dirt and rocks, playing cricket. Turning In-di-an, I think im turning Indian, I really think so.

I miss all my friends and family. well, I miss you a little bit I guess, but more, i wish alot of you were here and could experience all this with me.

we had pizza the other day. it was awesome. I didn't know we were having it so i ate a big meal of curry and rice at six thirty, then at 7 they were like "pizza is ready!" so i had to eat alot of pizza too. I ALMOST EXPLOSIONED.

I have been teaching the kids and the guys at the college alot of new songs, they love to sing and they always want me to teach them something or sing with them. the power goes out everyday at 930 so i gotta hurry up with this.

everyone is doin great. The Matthews are all doin good, Felisha is workin hard at the library cataloging, as is Kathryn, and I dont really know where Jean Luc is. I havent seen him in a few days. I think he ran off with the indian mafia or something. hahahaha Just kidding folks. He is here protecting us from all the insects and mosquitos. He was up at 530 this morning killing ants with a newspaper.

Some of the girls here are the nicest people I've ever met in my life. They always run off with my plate so they get to wash it when im done eating. they wont let me carry anything they always want to help. the 13 year olds act more mature than 16 year olds in America, at least thats how it seems to me. our time is half way gone, im not gonna want to leave.

ok the power is out, surge protector is keeping the computer on for a couple more seconds... gotta... go... byebye

ALEX

we're still here!

Alrighty, this is Alex Fogal. I am taking over this blog as of now. There has been alot of stuff goin on here at Rehoboth. It was very sad when everyone left to come back to america. I was pretty bummed, but i have realized that there is so much to do here, im not gonna be bored. Lately, our days have looked somewhat like this 7:30- breakfast 8:00- work on cataloging, organizing and laminating the books in the library 10:30- tea break for the best tea in the world. 1:00ish- lunch 4:00- finish work, play with kids or play volleyball 6:30- dinner 7:20ish- prayers and songs with the little kids 8:00- prayers with the older girls. 9:00 head to bed.

Everyone is doin good, we are getting to know evryone here better now that there is more time to hang out and talk one on one with people. Felisha wasn't feelin too great today but i think she'll be better soon. we have a couple thousand books to get entered into the library. we will definitely have enough work to do while we are here. sometimes we get to go help out at the girls school. We get to teach the alphabet and fun stuff like that. The food is really good, im glad i really like indian food.

im sorry about the lack of organization in this blog. its late for me here. im tired. i sprayed on some bug repellent about an hour ago and my skin is still wet. icky. The mosquitos like biting me alot, it looked like i had the chicken pox on my feet i had so many bites.

During "prayers" with the girls, we sing a bunch of songs, the americans do a skit or tell a bible story or somethin of that sort, pray and then say goodnight. we told the story of jesus feeding the multitudes on the mountain with the loaves and fishes, we tod them the story of jonah noahs ark etc... but today i told them a different story which i am going to tell you.

One of the first days we were here, we were setting up the new computer for the library, trying to figure out how to hook up everyting; the power adapters and surge protector and all that chaunna. we got it all plugged in and turned it on. a few seconds later, we heard a beep and then an explosion that sounded like a gunshot. we were worried that the computer had blown up but it was only the surge protector. we were relieved and we cautiously plugged the computer back in a few minutes later. it was fine at first, but a minute later there was another explosion and this time there was a cloud of smoke and sparks shooting out from the computer. We unplugged it and sat down in dismay. The computer was definitlely fried. We all just sat there, wondering what to do. no one wanted to say anything though. We figured it was a problem with the electrical wiring in the room because it blew up the surge protector and the computer. Mary had the idea to pray for the computer so she led us in prayer and she prayed that it would work again and that all the "elecrical demons" would go away. I was scared to plug it back in. i thought it was going to fry whatever was left of the computer. we plugged it in and turned it on, the light came on, it started up, and everything works fine. We have used the computer everyday since then and haven't had any problems. At one point we had a fried, stinky, sparkling, smokey ball of metal, and now everything is working exactly how it should. It was definitely a miracle.

On tuesday night, i saw the cutest thing that i have ever seen. everyone was saying goodbye to the people who would be leaving the next day. It was a sad time. i was about to head up to the Bible college to go to bed when little Sheri Ann came up to me (sheri ann is one of the really young girls who doesn't speak very much english) and said "Alex uncle, tomorrow you not going to amerikikiki?!" I said no, im staying for a month. It was funny because i knew she had asked one of the older girls how to ask me that in english.

Ok im going to bed now. i'll put up pictures sometime soon.

ALEX

Last Day =(

Today was the last day at Rehoboth Orphanage for most of our team. The daily tasks stayed pretty much the same, with half of our team helping out at the children's school and the other half helping to finish up library work. After our work we were treated to a little taste of America, BASKIN ROBBINS! It was amazing tasting ice cream after almost two weeks with nothing but rice and curry. We wanted to do something special with the girls for the last night so we decided to put on a skit that re-enacted Noah's Ark. They loved watching us make fools of our selves. After worship and the skit our team was given the chance to share with all of the girls about our experiences here at Rehoboth. It was very sad saying our goodbyes to the girls, but we know that we will be forever bonded in Christ. Although it was very difficult saying goodbye we were treated at the end with words of wisdom from Mummy (Sister Phyllis). She presented our team with her testimony and it was AMAZING! One of the many amazing words of wisdom Mummy said was brought up by Mary. Mary asked if Mummy ever got lonely here at the orphanage, or ever felt alone. Mummy responded by saying, "I'm glad that there is no one else here for me to lean on becuase it makes it so I depend all on God and speak with him without any interruption."

Tomorrow we will wake up early and leave for town around 9:30 a.m. We will shop and eat in Cochin until about 8:00 p.m. I will try to update the blog when we arrive in Singapore, but for now this is our itenerary:

• Depart Cochin July 2 (Wednesday) at 11:15 p.m.
• Singapore Airlines: Flight 5367 (4 hour 30 min)

• Arrive in Singapore July 3 (Thursday) at 6:15 a.m.

• Depart Singapore July 3 (Thursday) at 9:45 a.m.
• Singapore Airlines: Flight 12 (18 hour 10 min)
  One short stop in Tokyo Narita for re-fueling

• Arrive in LAX July 3 (Thursday) at 12:55 p.m.

Thank you guys for all your continual prayers we can't wait to see you guys!

P.S. For Alex, Felisha, Jean-Luc and Kat's parents: Alex is going to keep up the blog while they are here for the rest of the month. It will be the same exact website, so keep checking!

Work Day Monday!

HI FRIENDS! Today the girls are off to school and we are off to work! The group was split into three groups: Mary and Andrea worked on coding the books in the library. Brad, Alex, Jean-luc, Jen, Felisha, and Kat, worked in the fields, picking weeds and digging around coconut trees. Sarah, Alana, and Bethany helped out at the pre-school. We are all working very hard, and are trying not to think about leaving in a couple of days. The rest of the day we will be preparing for tonight's devotions and spending time with the girls when they come home from school, and playing in the rain! God is so awesome. We love and miss you! Pictures will be posted soon!

Sorry everyone about the delay in this post, yesterday was very busy. Our team woke up EXTRA early today and attended one of the traditional India church services. After the church service we decided to take a trip to town to see elephants and go to the beach, since most of the girls would be attending church back at the orphanage. The elephants were amazing, we have never seen so many in our life, and the beach was very cool. (Pictures are coming!) After our adventure in town we came back to the orphanage and spent the rest of the night with the girls. Jen, Alex, Chrissy, Felisha and Alana led devotion by re-enacting Jonah and the Whale, the kids loved it. We closed in prayer and went off to bed. Thank you all for your prayers and comments, we love them! See you in two days!

HI EVERYONE!
Today has been incredible! The girls didn't have school today so we have had ALL day with them! We picked rubber nuts in the fields then it started to pour, so we went inside and have been playing games and singing songs. There is so much energy here, God is doing amazing things with our team...and we can't wait to see what the next few days hold for us. We hope all is well back in the States! We love and miss you guys! More pictures will be up tonight! Again...thanks for the comments, we all really love to hear from you!

Tonight was another amazing night with the girls. A group of us were able to perfrom a skit portraying the power of prayer in christianity. We split the girls into two groups and were able to do arts and crafts and puzzles with the kids. The kids are impacting the team so much and we cannot wait to see what God has in store for us.

Work at the Orphanage!

Hello families!!!
It's friday and we have been very busy. Between digging holes for coconut trees, cataloging library books, teaching computers and teaching the kids new songs, there has been lots to do. It's crazy to think that our week here is half way over (for some of us)! Tonight (for Brad's b-day) we are going to set of fireworks!!! I think the girls here are going to love that. Tonight Mary, Sarah, Bethany, and Jean-Luc will be leading the Bible study for the girls. Here are a few pictures from today...more to come!! F.Y.I. although our schedules are very busy, if you NEED to contact your son/daughter call 011919746407387. This is Mr. Mathew's cell phone.

Another day in India!

Today was our first official day of work at the orphanage. Most of our team started the day by setting up a new library at the Bible College at the orphanage. Thanks to generous donations by several families our team was able to provide hundreds of books and a brand new computer for the college. The second half of the day our team helped out the several schools at the orphanages and we were able to take our first trip to town! Our day ended with a traditional India church service and dinner. Thanks for your prayers!

INDIA!

We finally made it. After over 24 hours of travel, we arrived at Rehoboth Orphanage at 1:30 a.m. There we were greeted by the familiar faces of the girls, they were so excited to see us and we were equally excited to see them. This morning while the girls were at school we were able to rest a little bit and got to experience some Indian RAIN! It was awesome. Today's adventures consisted of, playing with some of the kids, visiting the elderly, and catching up on sleep. Tomorrow starts our work at the library. We love and miss you all!

Arrival in Singapore

So after another 4 hour flight we arrived in Singapore. After landing we decided to spend our 8-hour lay over on Sentosa Island. It only took us about 2 hours to get there, but we finally arrived! We visited an attraction called Water World, which was pretty exciting, and spent the rest of the time at the beach. The day was full of excitement, but what was really on all of our minds was the showers back at the Singapore Airport. It's now about 7:30 p.m Singapore time on June 23rd. Our plane leaves for Cochin, India at 8:50 and we all cannot wait for another 6 hour plane flight! Talk to you guys soon!

We're in Taiwan!

After a long 14 hour flight, we are finally at our first destination, Taiwan!!! After the 52,200 grueling seconds on flight 109, which included six hours of oxygen mass use, severe turbulence, and our first use of the "lifevests", (hahah just kidding!!) we finally reached Taiwan. Due to our American addiction to caffeine, we are now sitting at the oh-so-popular Starbucks! In about 40 minutes we will begin our journey back to the plane where we will have a six hour flight to Singapore. We love you guys! Thanks for your prayers

Updates!

Just a couple reminders before tomorrow's meeting!

• Make sure you have your visas and that they are checked for any mistakes.

• Please bring a copy of your passport to the meeting tomorrow, June 19th at the Trahan's house. This will enable us to select the seats in flight so that we can be closer to one another.
  

• We will also be collecting our love offering for Rehoboth at our meeting.

Also give some thoughts on our travel to the airport.

1) Could we car pool;
2) Do we have an alternate arrangement;
3) Do we travel on our own

Thank you all for your time and prayer. We will see you tomorrow at the meeting!

Parent Student Prayer Meeting

The time is coming for departure! We are sure that your are all praying that God will bring all things together as we prepare to serve at Rehoboth.

With all of the excitement with senior trip, graduation and grad night we decided to move the parent-student prayer meeting from the original June 14th date, to Thursday June 19th. The meeting will be located at the Trahan's house and begin at 7:30 p.m.

Directions:

• From Christian School of the Desert head north toward the freeway

• Make a left turn on Country Club Drive

• Head straight past Washington until Tamarisk Row Drive
  

• Turn right on Tamarisk Row Drive
  

• Make the first left into Regency Estates
  

• The gate code is 5002

• Make your first left on Cricket Cove, and they are located at the end of the culvasac on the left

Address:

39954 Cricket Cove
Palm Desert, CA 92211

Remember to visit your doctor and get malaria medication. Most medicines have you start a week before your departure. Also remember to have your passport stamped with the proper India Visa with all of the details correct. And the most important thing is to continue to pray for our mission team!

Ephesians 2:10
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advanced for us to do."

First Meeting!

Wednesday May 28th was our first official India Mission trip meeting. We had it at Christian School of the Desert where we discussed several details of our next India Mission trip! We have an awesome team consisting of 13 missionaries with Mr. and Mrs. Matthews leading the trip. Like before our team will be staying at the Rehoboth orphanage in Cochin, India. Our team will be working at the orphanage doing tasks anywhere from chores assigned by the staff at Rehoboth to leading evening worship and devotions. God is doing amazing work already for our team and we are very excited to see what is to come! Although our itinerary may be subject to change here is what we have so far:

• Meet at LAX on June 22nd (Sunday) at 9:00 pm
  
• Departure is on June 23rd at 12:55 am by Singapore Airlines
• Lay over in Singapore is 8.5 hours
• Arrive in Cochin at 10:15pm (India time!) on June 24th

*Reminder that luggage should not exceed 50lbs (this has changed since our last meeting) and you are allowed one carry on for change of clothes in Singapore. You can visit: http://csod-india.blogspot.com/2008/03/final-departure-reminders.html for reminders on what not to pack and what to pack.

There is a parent meeting on June 3rd at 7:00 pm in Room 11 at Christian School of the Desert. This meeting is set up to answer any questions or concerns parents may have about the trip. Our next group meeting will take place on June 13th at 3:30 pm at Natalee Gaddini's house, directions will be sent out soon. We want to plan some sort of hiking day trip before we leave for India, so be thinking of somewhere before the meeting! See you soon!