Hope, Joy, Love

I have been here for 2 months! Wow time is seriously flying a little too fast for my liking:( there is still so much I have to do and all I can say is good thing God's timing is on my side. My only hope is that by the time I leave here the work The Lord wanted me to complete is done. I've had two dreams that I came back with no report other than, "It was a good trip." As of right now what that means is I am not present enough here. Physically, I am completely here, but the rest of me is invested back home. This is one of the dangers my professor warned me about and now I know what she meant. So my hope and prayer is that I would be fully invested in my time here. After all this is a once in a lifetime experience and it won't last forever!!

Last Tuesday was the last day of school and I was actually a little sad. I loved working with those kids and the teachers. It's always a good feeling to feel needed, accepted and liked. The teachers I was working with definitely displayed all three in their own special ways over the past month. Through feeding me mountains if rice everyday, teasing me when I tried to use malayalam, or the small conversations we had those four women have become friends I will miss when I have to go back home. Of course I'm going to miss those smiling faces greeting me every morning with hands folded saying, "Good morning Teacher!" In the last few weeks I was able to learn many of their names (trust me when you learn what face belongs to names like Amjith, Anushka, and Mizhi you get pretty excited!) and form some interesting relationships with the different classes. One moment I will never forget is meeting Mizhi's mom. She was so excited to introduce me to her mother. As we waited for her mom to finish talking with the teacher introduced myself "Hi I'm Alyssa..." "Yes! From California," she said interrupting my introduction, " Mizhi has told us so many good things about you!" Wow!!! Hearing those words brought joy my heart and made me understand even more why I'm here.

In other news I am finally starting to experience love in new ways. On more than one occasion in the past week I have felt big loved and accepted by my host family. My host mother, who has given me the name Elza (it's how my name sounds in her accent. I kind of like it) now introduces me to people as her youngest daughter!! Yeah I've been adopted!!! The feeling if being adopted into a family that barely understands me when I speak is a wonderful feeling. There is a new sense of comfort and peace now. Not only have I been adopted, I've also been asked by my host father if I wanted to live in India permanently. "Do you want to live in India permanently? You can find a husband, get married, and move in." Of course I gave him the good Christian response, "I don't know where them lord wants me. I'll have to pray about it." That answer is always safe. It's not a yes, no, or maybe. When said with the right intentions its simply saying "I will do whatever the Lord wants me to do and where he says go I'll go. Not my will but his be done!" Anyway him asking me that question assured me I'm not just some girl from the states doing conducting a project that's intruding on their everyday loves. No at all. Instead, I'm accepted, welcomed and loved.

I cannot thank you enoughnfor taking the time to read my blog. It truly means a lot to know I am supported and loved by so many people. I am truly humbled. As always please continue to keep me in your prayers!! I love you all!! Blessings.

Ps. Big thanks to this who have been supporting me financially!! We have passed the half way point to my $10,000 goal. Only $4000 to go!! If you want to partner with my in moving forward with my kingdom assignment email me at astrickling09@apu.edu or my mom at tonyabegonia@pacbell.net Thanks again!!!

A New Kind of Sabbath

I'm finally here and feeling settled!!! Yeah!!! Only thing left to do now is all my school work and learn the language!! Those things will come with time so I'm trying my best not to stress about it. In my prayer time Abba told me to "trust my timing. Things are going exactly according to plan. Not too fast and not too slow. Just right." So this is me trusting those words.

In other news I have come to love Sundays in a new way. I have always loved Sundays because I get to see my beloved church fam, worship on one accord with other believers, eat good food, and have fellowship time that's always does wonders for my heart and spirit. Here my Sundays are a bit different. Every Sunday I wake up to the sound of the house church down the street singing and praying their hearts out to Abba. I lay in my bed and let their praise fill my spirit. I'll return in we soaking music pull out my bible and read whatever passage The Lord puts on my heart, journal about it, pray in the spirit, and start my day. Usually we eat and relax at the house. Sometimes Austin and his parents will come over which is ALWAYS entertaining. Experiencing Sundays in is way is teaching me to be quiet before God and to seek him for myself. My new Sunday routine is just another way God has been drawing me nearer to himself.

This past Sunday was very similar to the rest. Praise down the street, Holy Spirit time in my room, eat, play with Austin, relax. However around 5 o'clock PC looks at me and says "They're getting ready for an outing go get ready." I wait for Maria to move then I follow. She looks at me and says, "don't wear jeans. We're going to the beach!" YEEEEA!!! I have been dying to get to the beach here. I have seen many pictures and they are absolutely beautiful. The drive getting there (like all the drives) was beautiful. We drove through the country side which was much more rural than where I am now. Cows, trees, and rivers for days!! When we got to the beach, well, Let me tell you it was more beautiful in person!

We got there right around the time the sun was starting to set, my favorite time of day. After crossing the street, which was almost like playing a game of frogger, I whipped out my camera and started taking pictures. As I snapped away I couldn't help but think about how photography is truly a gift from The Lord. You have an amazing device to capture an amazing moment that will immediately become a memory you can now look back on for years to come. You can share it with many or only with those who made the moment possible. Either way that picture holds more than just a pretty image. That was a long side note sorry. Anyway.....we played keep away with the water and laughed hysterically at Austin who hated every times the waves touched him. As I took a moment to put down camera and look around at all the people with their rolled up pants, skirts, and saris I couldn't help but smile. I'M IN INDIA!!! My feel are in the warm Indian Ocean, the sand is red, the sun is orange, there is not a skimpy bathing suit in sight! Someone pinch me because I must dreaming!! *ouch* Nope not dreaming! This is my life, and I love it!!

Another exciting event was purchasing my first two saris!!! Basically a sari (saree) is a 15ft long piece of beautiful fabric that is wrapped around a woman's body. It can be casual enough to wear to the grocery store or formal enough to be worn as a wedding gown. Either way they are beautiful! Maria tried to teach me how to drape it, I failed. She just smiled and said, "this is your homework!" #toughest:assignment:ever!!

As another week is coming to a close (it's already been 5 weeks) I continue to feel blessed even in the hard times when I miss home. Thank you to those who have contributed financially I think I'm about a fourth of the way to my $10,000 goal.Thank you you all of your prayers and continued support! I love you all dearly!! God bless :)

If you would like to support me financially email me at astrickling09@apu.edu or my mom at tonyabegonia@pacbell.net. Thank you in advance for partnering with me in moving forward with my kingdom assignment!!

Love Challenge...

I know I just posted a blog yesterday, but I wanted to share some more thoughts with you. It's pretty simple actually......I MISS YOU GUYS!!! There I said it. As much as I love being here I am really starting to miss my family in the US. Every time I look at Facebook or Instagram I cannot help but wish I was there experiencing life with all of you. It's hard being away. I the book, "¡Gracias!," I am reading, again, Henri Nouwen explains my feelings perfectly. In his chapter titled "An Inner and Outer Struggle," he writes:

"I find myself hardly interested in telling about the daily events of my outer life, but strongly compelled to share openly even nakedly, what is happening within me...writing letters (in my case skyping) is becoming a way of self-emptying, of being nothing more and nothing less than someone who wants to give and receive love...unexpectedly I am experiencing a deep depression. Perhaps the days of friendly greetings and introductions have kept me on an artificial level of contentment that prevented me from acknowledging my dee seated feeling of uselessness...the most pervasive feeling is that of being a outsider, someone who doesn't have a home, who is tolerated by [her] surroundings but not accepted, liked but not loved" (130).

After reading these words I couldn't help but say, "Wow, this is exactly how I am feeling!" I am the kind of person who has a constant need to feel loved. I love being around people who I love and who know how to reciprocate love back. For almost a month now my heart is thirsty for something as simple as "an embrace, a kiss, or a smile" (Nouwen 131). I know the Lord is seriously testing me in this area. In my prayer time he has told me "I want you to fully rely on me for all your needs." Until this feeling came over me I thought he was just talking physical things like money to pay tuition and resources to complete my studies. Now that I know he means in the area of feeling loved I am excited to learn a new meaning of Abba's love.

With that said since Facebook, Instagram, and Skype are the things attaching me to the life I miss and keeping me from being fully present here I am going to be limiting the amount of time I spend on them. Not the solution I thought I would come to at all. I feel in my heart this is what the Lord is calling me to do for at least a season of my time here. I know it is going to be challenging, but I want to experience all that Abba has for me to the fullest.

As always please continue to pray for me, especially now that the Lord wants to take me through a challenge like this one. I love you all!!! Thank you for your continued support and prayers!!

Educating-Mosquito-Children

No the title of this blog entry is not a statement, rather they are three separate words describing my last few weeks in India.

The first word is "educating." While I am here I am required to have an internship that works with and for the community. What better way to care for a community than educating it. I have been working with the nursery section (aka: kindergarteners) at Holy Cross English School. I absolutely love it! Everyday I leave with Maria around 8:30 to catch a taxi that brings us to the bus stop where we are either picked up by Sir George, the school administrator or a bus. When we get to the school I go straight to the nursery section where about 100 little ones are there to greet me with a smile and say "Good morning ma'am!" Every morning before classes start all of the students stand in lines, say a prayer, national creed, and sing a few songs (usually "where is thumby" "twinkle, twinkle little star" and "the wheels on the bus.") After that they go to their respective classes.

Each class has about 30 students. While they are walking to class the teachers will talk about something then one will come up to me and say "Teach my class today." With a wobble of the head and quick feet I go to my assigned class. Since this is the end of the school year the students are preparing for their exams which test them in English, Maths, Malayalam, Hindi, and Evironmentals. My job is to go over all the material with them. It's a lot of repetition and memorization so I use a lot of the skills I've learned reaching Sunday school and VBS classes to make the material easier to manage. The most difficult part of working there is trying to explain instructions. Since they are young they are not fluent in English yet so going over instructions is a challenge every time, but we manage.

The second word is "Mosquitos." Seriously if you are reading this please stop and pray at I don't get bit tonight. I have over 40 bites and its only been three weeks! That's an average of 2 bites a night. Gross! Sometimes they form clear bubbles that remind me of bubble wrap. The only thing is I can't pop these. They are super thirsty and seem to love American blood. Great just my luck. So if you could please pray against these devils I would greatly appreciate it :)

The last word is "children." This last week I stayed at the student hostel at the school. So far it is is definitely the highlight if my time here. There are 16 children who live there. All have traveled many miles away from their homes to live at attend school. When I got there last Saturday I didn't really know what to expect. After a few games and songs we had a good time. Aside from the games my favorite part of being at the school was being part o their worship service. It was truly an honor to experience the sweet sound of children singing praises to their father in heaven. It is a sound like no other and the atmosphere their voices created was pure worship. The Holy Spirit was definitely there delighting in the joyful noise.

Another highlight was going up to the roof of the 4 story school. The meaning d Kerala, he state I am in, is God's Own Country. When we got to the top of the school I could see why. The view from up there was absolutely stunning. It was as if God wanted me to see a small piece of what his creation is supposed to look like, pure and untouched by human hands. What a treat!!!

Sorry this was such a long post. I didn't have connection at the hostel. You read it all the way through I really appreciate it!! Please continue to keep me and my studies in your prayers. I know God is getting ready to rock my world a little bit more and I cannot wait!!! Also since this is for school I have to pay tuition prices. It comes out to about $10,000. if you want to make a donation to help me pay for this trip I would greatly appreciate it!! Just shoot me an email at astricking09@apu.edu and I'll give you the information from there. Blessings family!! Love ya!!!