On the road again

After being in Hyderabad, India for about 2 and a half weeks we are northern bound to Dharamsala, India.  And after being a solo leader for about 2 weeks I'll be meeting with John, one of my co-leaders, in Delhi.  Our travel plans are to take a plane this time back north.  It is much cheaper to go by train to Delhi but I thought that experiencing the train ride once was enough.  Now that we are really in the summer months I didn't think it would be good for the teams health to get back on.

From Delhi we take a bus to Dharamsala for about 10-14 hours.  The team and I are really excited to get out of the hot weather and go to the mountain region in the north.  But we will miss the friendships that we made with this base and the staff in it. 

During our stay here we had the opportunity to meet with the regional director of Andhra Pradesh, his wife, and the city director of YWAM Hyderabad.  It was closer to the end of our time here but he sat down and welcomed us to India and to Hyderabad. He told us:

"India is hard to describe because there are so many different characteristics of each region.  It is a land of extremes.  In the north it is extremely cold but in other regions it is very hot.  There are extremely wealthy people and also extremely impoverished people."

This is probably the most accurate description of India, but at the same time its not.  There is still more of India to discover with each state, city, county, and village but for now, we go north.  With little delay we finally go to our second location of outreach.

I am NorthEast Indian....

...well I'm not but I found out that I look like it. When we did some of the ministry I met people that looked similar to me. I asked the staff where they were from and I was told they were Indians. In the North east region they have Indians, not Nepalese, Chineses, or Bhutanese people that live in India but Indians that look like me.

So I officially look like half of the 10/40 window.

The team has been in India for about 2 weeks now. It's been such a cultural experience and an amazing time in getting to know the base staff here and others we met along the way.

Above is a picture of the orphanage we visited. It's a YWAM shelter home for street kids and orphans. Its mostly a place for young boys who live on the streets. There were a few girls there but most of the girls are sent to a different home for safety reasons. The kids love to dance and sing worship songs and to play. There was so much joy in the kids I forgot about their circumstances, that they are separated from their parents. Some of them even know their parents, they just live on the streets so the shelter took them in.

These are pictures of an HIV clinic we visited in the city. Before they started the clinic they had a little devotional time. During that time we were given time to sing a couple songs for the group. The message of the devotional time was out of John 5:1-16. The words out of verse 6 stood out, "Do you want to be healed?" This stirred something in my heart to ride on the back of that scripture and just pray for the patients in the clinic. Our team was able to pray and preach the gospel to different people. Not all of the patients were Christians. Some where Hindus who believed in Jesus but also in everything else and some Muslims as well. The staff there were very kind in allowing us to pray for patients. Some of the volunteers were YWAMer's from a different base that we got to meet. They come about twice a week offering help to a clinic that offers service to patients with HIV for free.


These are a couple of ministries that we were able to get involved with. Some of the things are speaking in churches, prayer walking in a Hindu temple, and visiting other centers for children. There are so many pictures and videos to upload and share what we've been doing but I'm not 100% sure how to embed videos directly and I'm trying to figure out if I can make and album page. So until then, I'll be posting it like this and when I get back to the U.S. I'll share some more of the things God has been doing here.

Very soon we'll be moving north to Dharamsala. Please keep us in your prayers.

Hyderabad, India

The record high this week was 104 degrees F. After riding so long in a train for 30 hours with no A/C we are welcomed to Hyderabad where the word hot is an understatement. I didn't know that it was even possible for somewhere to be so hot day and night. And we finally arrived at the YWAM base in Hyderabad

The picture above is a picture I took during the class I was teaching. On the second full day I had a chance to teach a mini-DTS that was taking place and they asked the team to teach. That day Joyce and I taught the classes. It was really touching and inspiring to be with Indian believers. Some of these people came and left their families to attend for just one week, others traveled to the YWAM Base many hours by train to come for this one week course. It is such desperation to be closer to the Lord. I don't know them each individually but I do know that for them to have come they must really love the Lord.

This is my first time in India and it is very difficult to describe India. There are no such things as lanes of traffic, people turn whenever they want, honking doesn't mean get out of my way or express anger but it means I'm coming, people squeeze in tight spots to get ahead and even people on mopeds weave in and out of traffic. The city I'm in has alot of different American and European fashion but it also has buildings that look very broken down, the main eating utensil is your hands, and it is very hot. Food is always cooked in some kind of spice, usually curry or something similar to it. Trash is thrown everywhere and many times beggars will come and hold out their hands until you give them something or you have to be just as stubborn and not give in (that's because sometimes the beggars are scamming). The same problems that we see in the west are also here as well as problems we don't face. They have a really poverty mindset which leads to the country being in poverty.

But even in such brokenness and chaos, I'm loving it. The staff I'm working with are so friendly and they have been very helpful. As they have taken us around town, as we have seen different areas of the city, I'm falling in love with India. God has a heart for this place and He's giving it to me too. I'm so touched and encouraged by the believers here and it's only been about 5 days. There is so much more for us to do and see.

Finally on our way

We are finally going on outreach to India.  After being in Honolulu for about 9 days we are finally going.  Thank you so much for your prayers and please continue praying for us. 

From top right to bottom left it is:
Jeongki, Gahwe, Elizabeth, Damian,
Francis, Joyce, Olivia and me.

There are 2 not pictured that will be meeting us later.  The first is John who is married to Joyce and Minji a student who is currently in Korea working out her visa.

Faithful, He's always faithful

Valeri and Jonathan Faubel 

Today is the day part of the team should have left for India but we didn't. After deciding that we should split our travel agent told us that the next flight available was Friday and by then the whole team would have gotten their visas so now we will all leave as a team.

During our time in Honolulu we have been struggling with our budget. We did not plan to be here as long as we are and the cost of living in Honolulu is much higher than Kona, which is much higher than the Continental United States. By two-thirds way through this outreach we will most likely run out of money.

Our team has been praying for provision and the favor of the Lord. It's a real struggle being on outreach in a location such as this not having planned for it. But even in the midst of this the Lord has been faithful and true. This couple that we met through a friend that has offered to take us in for housing. We were so grateful because they have offered to also pay for our groceries while we stay at their house. The house is a very small 2 bedroom apartment but we are managing to cram 5 guys in the living room and 5 girls in the bedroom. Oh I forgot to mention that they have only been married for 4 WEEKS.  

On the 4th Day

Today is the 4th day of outreach. So far we have filled our days with wandering around the city of Honolulu. I know it doesn't sound like outreach but it technically is. The more difficult part of this is trying to live a lifestyle of evangelism, worship, and prayer. The Lord has really been challenging me about what it looks like to live it instead of compartmentalizing it and making it an activity we do only during set times that we designate

Spending time in Honolulu becomes difficult because of our limited connection. Please understand that Honolulu was originally supposed to just be a layover stop that turned into a week and a half stop because of visa issues. I'm so blessed to have a team that is constantly looking to minister to the community.

The picture above is of me praying for a homeless guy who said had cancer. This is one of many examples I'm talking about with my team. The picture was taken on the 1st day we were here and since then others in my team have ministered to people that we have met during meal times or just our free time by preaching the gospel or praying for them.

As of now, our plan is to split the outreach team up into 3 groups. I will be leaving to India on either Monday or Tuesday and the other teams will follow. Please keep me in your prayers as I lead this group out.