We are home safely

God is good ... All the time!

We arrived safely home last night around 6pm after quite a long journey. Our bodies were weary, our emotions were high, but our souls were refreshed. 

God's hand of protection has been upon our group the whole trip and we are so grateful. We had no real illnessss (just a few minor colds and such) and no big travel or safety issues. The unrest in Delhi that was happening prior to our arrival was much worse than any of us realized, however, God worked mightily and the riots were finished before we landed. 

Our many, many hours of traveling allowed us time to reflect on our trip, both individually and together. Our team meeting in the bus was a nice time to build each other up and share our positive qualities along with what we learned about each other. 

We had time to think about and remember all of the amazing people that worked with us and befriended us along the way. I will never understand how those bonds can become so strong after only a few days, but God makes it so! 

As our mission trip comes to an end, it's important to remember that the mission itself is not over. While we are home and no longer meeting new people in India, God is still working there. I am reminded of Paul's words to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 3 where he is talking about being co-missionaries with Apollos. "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth." We were so blessed to have been able to plant some seeds while in Punjab. Pastor Daniel and his ministry have much growth and have done much planting already and we were blessed to partner and plant a few more. You see, through the clinic, we were able to touch over 800 unique individuals through the eyeglass clinic. And our witness station shared the gospel of Christ with all of them. They all received a New Testament bible to continue reading about God's love for them. Many of these people wouldn't have ever stepped into a Christian church, but they did because they had a need for vision ... They saw their need for physical vision (and we provided that in the form of glasses); God saw their need for Spiritual vision (and provided that in the form of sharing the gospel in their native language, giving them witness bracelets to remind them of this gospel, and sending them with bibles to continue to learn about it). These are some of the seeds that we were blessed to have been chosen to sow. Now Pastor Daniel and his ministry team will continue to water those seeds, as they've faithfully done for so long. And we leave the growth to God. We have seen Him grow so many of the seeds along the way. You've already heard of some of the growth .... People joining the church because of the clinic; people coming back for reading glasses because they wanted to be able to read the bible they received; community members wanting to serve alongside us and being able to see Christians in action! God is just so good!! We know that all of this is only possible through His hand. 

And we cannot express our thankfulness to all of you. You have supported us, encouraged us, prayed for us and with us, and loved us along this journey. We are so grateful for all of you. You can't know how much you've impacted us. So, thank you again. Thank you for sending us! May God richly bless each of you to see how you've impacted missions around the world and how you can continue to be missionaries where you are or in a future trip. 

Love from, 

Your India Mission Team

The journey home

Today we began our last leg of the India mission trip; the journey home. We began with another great breakfast at pastor Daniel and Elizabeth's, and then some tearful and heartful goodbyes to all of the people we were serving with for the past week. I really felt that we had developed a special bond with our host family, and the Christian servants in India. It was truly difficult to leave them.

The sadness was made even more difficult as we drove to the airport. Our "seven hour" bus ride ended up taking about12 hours to complete. Then we spent an hour in line to get into the airport, another hour checking our baggage, and a third hour waiting for security before beginning a half mile sprint to our gate (while holding up my pants and trying to put on my belt).

As I sat down for the flight, tired, frustrated, and disheveled, I took a moment to make sure everything was in order. We had made the flight, survived the treacherous drive in, and completed a successful mission for God's glory, and through all of this God took care of us. Thank you for your prayers and support throughout this trip. We look forward to seeing you after arriving Sunday afternoon.

Matt Topel

Our Day at the Market

Friday was our last day in Dasuya and we used it to fellowship, rest, and shop! After our delicious breakfast (aloo prantha and omelets are the best!!), we visited and got ready. We headed to the market with our translators (and barterers). 

Some of us bought clothes for ourselves and some of us bought gifts. It was just fun to see the different experiences in the markets as opposed to what we are familiar with at home. 

One of us was silly enough to give Jason her phone ....

There are literally hundreds of them. 

We went for a nice late lunch at a restaurant and enjoyed our celebration dinner.  It was a great time to relax and share some memories. 

We went back to the house for some more fellowship and also got mehndi!

Overall, it was a really great day. We enjoyed our time together and the time with our Indian friends and family. 

Thank you for your continued prayers as we begin our journey home to the other side of the world. 

Blessings,

Your India mission team 

P.S. This didn't post when it was written.  We are currently in Amsterdam. We will update you on our journey soon. 

Last Day of Clinic

Day four of clinic was such a busy day! We started out slow and felt so confident that the day would be completely organized and efficiently carried out, we soon learned that would not be the case.

264 people came to clinic to get their eyes checked today, and we gave out 349 pairs of glasses. The last day was the busiest by far but we all still had a great time. 

The grand total of people we saw over the past four days was 843 people. 843 people received the gospel after getting their eyes checked and were given a copy of the new testament. Over 1000 glasses were given out over these 4 days! Alleluia (As pastor Daniel would say)!!! 

At the end of the day we cleaned up and all got together to give thanks for each other and the wonderful blessings God gave us in the form of translators, cooks, and drivers. We talked about our favorite parts of India and the thing we are most excited to do when we get home (in case you were wondering I personally couldn't choose a favorite part and I can't wait to see my dog:)). 

These past 4 days have been so successful and have truly touched my heart. The whole team feels blessed to have taken part in this experience. Jai Masih Ki (praise the Lord in Punjabi)

Grace Veenstra

Day 3 of clinic

Our third day of the clinic began with a drive through the fog. The way people drive in India is scary enough for Americans, but it was especially frightening when we couldn't see any other cars until they cut right out in front of you, but through it all God's hand of protection was over us.

One we arrived at pastor Daniel's house we had another amazing breakfast from our hosts followed by the best beverage of all-Chai tea. Once breakfast ended, the clinic began. We got into the normal routine oif testing and fitting glasses to the people of Dasuya and the surrounding areas. It was really amazing to see one of our translator's mothers come through. Neetu was so excited to introduce us to her mother, and we were blessed to help her be able to see again. One very special story from the day came from Josh. A man came back to the clinic to be re-tested, because he was not able to read the Bible he received the day before. What amazing work by the holy Spirit!

During the evening we went on a short tour through a few different house churches in Dsuya. We listened to some excellent music from the church, and then Pastor Daniel asked me to speak to the congregation. I was very surprised and honored to do this, and one verse quickly came to mind.

"I have become all things to all people so that be any means necessary I might save some, and join with them in the message of the gospel that is Jesus Christ" 2 Corinthians 19:22 (paraphrased).

To me this is the goal not only of our mission team, but of all Christians, in India or America. To do whatever we can to allow people to share in the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. 

Matt and Sam Topel 

Day 2 of Clinic

Well, we seem to have gotten ourselves a day behind in blogging, but it's only because we have been so busy and we've been enjoying our time with our Indian brothers and sisters. So, I'll tell you about the second day of clinic and we will plan to tell you about today's clinic in a few hours (after we've slept a little). 

Yesterday was an incredible day at the clinic and we saw so many great people. It was really exciting to watch the people move about the clinic and finish with a new pair of glasses. There were so many wonderful smiles and thank-filled hugs. 

One thing we've learned is that no matter how hard we strategize on making the clinic orderly (by American standards), things just aren't going to go as planned ... And that's okay! While it's hard to accept, it's absolutely okay because we have moved into this culture for a few days, but we are not here to change it. American lines don't work for Indian crowds. And God has used that to show us that even our best plans pale in comparison to what He had planned (take a peek at Proverbs 16:9). 

While the way people move through the clinic is a little different than we would expect, we still have an orderly and well-tuned system working. We set our goal at 200 people for Tuesday ... and we were able to see 206 people!! And we distributed 247 pairs of glasses! It was an incredible day! We did a quick check after day 1 and felt that we were all in the right place doing the right jobs and that really showed during day 2. We have become a pretty great team ... And our team includes many great people from Everlasting Life Church, too! We would fail miserably without the volunteers and our translators. 

After clinic, we sat with Pastor Daniel and the family and listened to them sing a couple songs. They are amazing! Many Christian churches in other cultures still sing Western/American hymns and songs which is difficult for the members. Pastor Daniel and Wittness are so gifted that they write songs of worship in the style of the culture so people can worship God in a style of music that is natural and comfortable. And the music is very good!

We capped off our day with a trip to McDonald's with some church members. Some of the food is the same and some is very different, but the fellowship was great. We laughed for what seemed like hours!! 

So, that was day 2! We continue to thank you for your prayers and your love. God has been so good to us and we all feel honored that he selected this team as a whole. We've all been uniquely touched on this trip and we can't wait to share our stories with you so don't forget to ask!! 

Many blessings on your day as we rest our eyes for the night!

Your India mission team 

Just a quick update

Sorry for the brief update tonight ... It's just a little late and we had a long day. We will post more tomorrow. 

But we did want to let you know that we had an incredible day!!! The clinic was immensely successful and we saw over 200 people!!!! God is so good!!

First Day of Clinic

Monday morning began with breakfast at pastor Daniel's house...which is always delicious!

The clinic began with a beautiful ceremony from pastor Daniel and Elizabeth. We were each given a neck garland by different members of the church and then Elizabeth led us in song. Sister Sandy was then asked to cut the welcome ribbon to begin the clinic. We were blessed by pastor Daniel and then we were off! 

Since we began a little later, the clinic started out slow (which was good for us rookies). However, it quickly picked up speed and we had a healthy stream of people coming through the line. The people were wonderful and had so much joy when they could finally see! 

I personally had a wonderful time watching one of our translators, George, be silly with his wife while she was getting fitted for her glasses. 

Everyone just seemed to be having so much fun and I loved learning the different words in Punjabi. However, my most favorite part of doing the fitting was a couple of times the people would use their newly acquired bibles to test their new glasses. What a wonderful way to see for the first time! 

The total number of people that received glasses today was 161, with 192 pairs of glasses being given out. Many more came in to have their vision checked, but glasses were not necessary. Still they saw the love of God through our work. One person came to faith and decided to come to pastor Daniel's church because of this clinic! ਪਰਮੇਸ਼ੁਰ ਦੀ ਉਸਤਤਿ ਕੀਤੀ! (Praise God!)

We closed out a wonderful day playing with the local children, watching the sunset and showing the ladies of the house how to tie scarves Sarah style :)

 Sarah Urbahns 

Back to Acts

After two 8 hour flights, 3 continents, 1 Taj Mahal tour, and approximately 17 hours in a bus ( van ), at 8 am our team arrived at our hotel in Dasuyaokk

I. We had enough time (barely) to get to our rooms, shower, change our clothes, get back in the van, and go to church. God is good and has blessed us in so many ways with this trip... from on time flights, to customs and security being cooperative, to having a bus driver able to 'safely' navigate the roads and get us to each destination in one piece.

After meeting the team in the lobby, Pastor Daniel picked us up to take us back to his house for breakfast and fellowship  before  church. Elizabeth, Pastor Daniel's wife, is an absolutely amazing cook!  While we were eating, we could hear the church service going strong right above our heads. We went upstairs to join the service....absolutely amazing! 

When we went in, Wittness was leading the music ministry. He is truly amazing to watch. The  sermon was like  beng transported back to the time of Acts. These people are on fire for the Lord. 

Several stayed after to help us set up for the eyeglass clinic (which starts tomorrow (Monday). Because we were able to get set up early, we had Elizabeth and pastor Daniel go through the clinic and get some free eyeglasses! 

I saw some boys playing cricket in a nearby lot. Since we were done with our work for the day, I decided to go observe. As soon as I walked around the corner they stopped playing and scattered as if they were in trouble. I went back to the entrance to wait for the rest of our group. When I turned around there was one boy from the cricket match standing there staring at me. I smiled, said "hello", and put my hand out for him to shake. He giggled and shook my hand. The next thing I knew there were 6 or 7 boys running to shake my hand. I took a selfie with these boys then asked if they would throw me a pitch and let me bat with their cricket bat. They did. It was quite a moment. Not just for the boys, but for myself and the part of our team that was present. I thought I was doing them a "favor" by being friendly and outgoing. But it was I that saw and felt the love of Christ every bit as much as they did for those brief moments we were together.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the eyeglass clinic, so it's off to bed for the first full nights sleep in a bed for us since we left. You are all in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers!

Jason Urbahns

The Taj Mahal

I'm starting this post from the back seat of our packed bus ... Loaded with people and luggage (much of which is strapped to the roof). It's been a long couple of days, but they have been filled with adventure and blessings. 

We arrived safely in New Delhi Friday night and God made our path through customs completely clear. It was wonderful. Pastor Daniel and Wittness met us and we loaded a shuttle bus to get out of the airport. We transferred to our rented bus and drove to our hotel for the evening. We made it to our rooms around 3 am and did our best to grab a little sleep. 

We woke this morning and met for breakfast at the hotel ... There were some interesting choices for breakfast but we all had our fill and then loaded into the bus for our long day of travel.  

Our travel adventures took us through the streets of Delhi to Agra, and there was much sight-seeing from our seats. From the many people piled into vehicles and motorcycles to the people harvesting in the rice fields to the monkeys, camels, elephants, and various other animals.  The best part of the journey was seeing the many people and the culture that is so very different from our own. 

While being amazed at the crazy traffic, we were able to navigate to the Taj Mahal and pick up a tour guide along the way. He told us all about the history of this wonder! We walked about and were struck by the beauty and craftsmanship of this huge monument, all hand-made. 

We stopped at kfc for dinner ... We know this isn't exactly traditional Indian food ... And then got back in the bus for the long journey to Dasuya. We are planning to be there in time to worship with our brothers and sisters of everlasting life church. 

God has been so good to us and while we are all exhausted, we know that we are so blessed to be here and are all looking forward to setting up the clinic and serving people. 

Thank you for your continued prayers. 

With much love from India,

Your mission team