INDIA!

Right now, Aaron is in Mumbai. I can't remember how many months ago, our pastor said to Aaron "Hey, you want to go to India with me?" We thought he was joking, but as you can tell...he was not.

India. Wow.

So, about a year ago, Pastor Jim went to India to check out some of the missionary work that a good friend of his was doing there. He stayed for several weeks, and when he came back, he came back with a heart for India. So much so that he began selling hunting gear to raise money to send. He was so overcome with concern for their need for Christ, for clean water, for church buildings, for orphanages and care for the many parentless children...that he started a big campaign within our church to help fund some of those things.

Thus far, Hope Church has helped dig a fresh water well and built a church building outside Coimbatore. Eventually an orphanage will be added on to the top of the church building.

So, Pastor was planning to return for the dedication of the new church. The original plan was for this to happen right after Christmas. So, it was probably at least 6 months ago, that he first popped the big question to Aaron.

India. Wow. First, eldership. Second, co-preaching a sermon for Pastor Appreciation Sunday. Now, India. Can you tell that my husband is getting stretched?

But stretching is good. It didn't take us as long to pray about India as it did for us to pray about eldership. Aaron is a great candidate for a trip there. He has had so much interaction with people from India in his experiences working for Walmart. He has come to learn quite a bit about the culture, has picked up a few phrases in Hindi, and even likes the food. Aside from working with many Indian people, he's also taught guitar lessons to several Indian boys. His coworkers from India think it's really awesome that he is making the trip there.

So, at first we thought they'd be going end of December, but airfare doubled due to Christmas, so they postponed the trip until now. I'll go ahead and mention that a trip like this isn't cheap. Anyone who has gone on any type of mission trip knows that there are quite a few costs involved. But can you believe that the entire trip was covered by several anonymous donors in the church? What an amazing gift! We are so blessed by the generous hearts that we get to serve alongside in our congregation.

Aaron and Pastor Jim flew out of Northwest Arkansas on Valentine's Day. We joked about how they could cuddle and eat airport food by candlelight. :-) They left yesterday around noon. They were supposed to fly to Minneapolis, but got rerouted through Atlanta. From Atlanta they took a 9 hour flight to Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, another 9 hour flight to Mumbai. They arrived in Mumbai around noon our time today. 20 hours in the air so far. Dang! They had a rather long layover today, so they got a hotel room to sleep, hopefully. India is 11 1/2 hours ahead of us, so they arrived around midnight. Their next flight to Coimbatore will depart around 4am our time and is a 2 hour flight.

The itinerary in Coimbatore and surrounding areas is to go to church with the missionary group that is hosting them, to visit two orphanages, and attend/lead two building dedications. They are taking toys (soccer balls, Frisbees, jump ropes, etc) and candy for the children and a new laptop and theology software for the church. They are only in Coimbatore for 4 full days, really. The travel to and from takes the better part of two days each way!

I was able to Skype with Aaron this afternoon. They were resting at the hotel, which looked very nice. He said there were LOTS of mosquitoes. He has a mosquito net and something with deet in it for repellant...but those things are in his checked bag. Wouldn't you know all of their checked bags got lost?

Well, how is this for an instant update: He just Skype'd again and he has his luggage! Yay! But Pastor's is still floating around in Amsterdam somewhere. Boo! They hope to have his in hand by Sunday.

He is in great spirits right now. He said he got some good sleep at the hotel, and ate a good meal. They even ventured out and took a walk. He said traffic is crazy! He was offered a ride on a rickshaw, but declined. I told him he needs to have at least one token rickshaw adventure while he's there. :-)

They're going to head to the airport in a few hours to get on the plane to Coimbatore. I don't know what communication will be like once he gets there. I'm hoping there will be a few places with wifi where he can Skype again...or drop me a message. Pastor purchased a limited amount of texts and minutes to use while there in case of emergency. Today, at the hotel, they had it great. It's a very nice establishment. In all likelihood, things won't be like that where he's going. Please keep him and Pastor Jim in your prayers for continued safety and health, that P. Jim gets his bags, and that they are able to advance the kingdom in all of their interactions with our brothers and sisters and the children there!

I will do my best to update frequently. I'll post tomorrow too, about some of the fun things the mice are doing here at home while the cat is away! :-) Until then, nighty night.