I know... its too long...

So today is my day off – which means I have time during the day when the internet comes in steady – so I thought I could give an update and share some more photos!

So Last Sunday was my last update! Since then I have been working with the MEM ministry pretty regularly. On Monday we went and did a children’s program – here is a picture of some of the children and me praying over the children whose birthday it was! They can wear whatever they want to wear to school on their birthday – they don’t have to wear their uniforms! After the school program I did some medical education about blood pressures and taking vital signs. I will be doing this training with the MEM staff pretty regularly (every Monday) until the next Medical camp, which is in the middle of October.

On Tuesday, I woke up at 4:30 in order to catch my first Indian train and took a three hour journey to Dharmapuri with hopes of visiting the leper colony there and planning for a medical camp and doing some wound cleaning – however, the level of flexibility necessary in India is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. This being said we were able to go to the colony because our interpreter was taking a bath and our driver was no where to be found….ha! But I was able to spend some time visiting a children’s orphanage there. It is a home for girls because the level of female infanticide is very high in this village. Here is a picture of some of the girls from the orphanage (who can speak some English because they learn it in school) and also a picture of Veronica and I. Veronica is the person I have been spending the most time with. She is a Chilean nurse and has been working with the MEM ministry for 3 years now. She is crazy and very fun. Ha!

On Wednesday, we have a “family meeting” where all the YWAM ministries as well as the DTS students have a time of worship and there is some teaching. I am starting to meet some great people here which has been encouraging. After the meeting, Veronica and I went to ACCEPT (which is an HIV/AIDS hospice/hospital/orphanage) and planned to volunteer there two days a week. Then we went back to the MEM house and did some HIV/AIDS education to the staff before we volunteered the next day.

Thursday and Friday, the MEM team spent the day at ACCEPT, Veronica and I volunteered with the nursing staff, while the only team members did some grounds work outside and a children’s program in the evening. No pictures from here because they actually prohibit photos. Sorry. I am looking forward to this ministry opportunity. The first couple days were discouraging. Because of the unorganization it is difficult to know my role and how I am helping but I am hopeful that as time continues I will continue to connect with the staff and as they learn to trust me be more helpful to them. If nothing else, I have gotten really good at physiotherapy and giving body massages to patients. During my time so far at ACCEPT I have been really struck with the sufferings of people here. The stigma attached to HIV in India is really bad. Families will abandon other family members because of it. The orphanage is full of 20 children who are all HIV positive and whose parents have either abandoned them or have died from HIV/AIDS related illnesses themselves. On Friday, I was very heartbroken as I sat with a patient. He was a 13 year old boy who was HIV positive. He had no parents and no known family. He was transferred from a government hospital to ACCEPT essentially for the hospice program. He had been there 3 weeks already. On Friday he moaned, coughed and vomited all day. His CD4 count was at 21 and he had TB and the medication wouldn’t work for him. On Saturday morning I went to ACCEPT to do some HIV testing for a local street people shelter. When I returned after the testing, I found out that this child had died. It was really hard and the first time that the sufferings of people had really struck me.

Like I said on Saturday I went and did the HIV testing for Home of Hope (a shelter for street people – most of whom have either physical or mental disabilities). This was a very cool experience. I even got to do the blood draws! After the testing I was driving home in the back of an autoricksaw when I literally ran into Jen Wahlquist, she graduated 1 year earlier than me from Bethel. This was definitely an encouragement as I learned she stays very close to where I am staying! Sunday I went to church and lunch with Kristin and Brian, they are a Canadian couple my dad had connected with, as well as Stacie, she is from New York working for IJM. This was a really refreshing lunch as I felt very understood with my worldview, could understand all their English, and was able to laugh about crazy things that happen in India. I am really praying these relationships develop into friendships for my time here.

Today, I was sitting outside in a chair reading, which is a very strange thing to do here – sit in the sun that is – when all of a sudden I heard running and barking. I turn around to see 4 stray dogs literally chasing at full speed a cow down the street in front of my house. Only in India….

Here are some pictures of the house I am staying at and of my new favorite fruit – Guavas. Mostly because it is so readily available on the tree right outside the front door.

Prayer Requests:

- Lonliness and Friendships: While it does seem like I am keeping busy – I assure you boredom and lonliness are my biggest enemies here. It is still really hard for me being here and not having “friends.” I am starting to connect with the people I am serving with which is really great but after I come home from the ministry, I find myself getting very bored and lonely. Please pray that these new relationships develop and add more of a sense of adventure for me here.

- Trust for God’s will for me here and Patience: I am also struggling with purpose here. It is hard to have a western mentality of doing many things and doing them efficiently over here. It is just not the way things work. It is discouraging for me and at times very frustrating but I am definitely learning to not only depend on God fully but to also really TRUST His plan for me while I am here. Every day I wake up and have to surrender the day to Him, knowing that it is only Him that is going to get me through it and it is Him that is in control of whatever is going to happen that day. Pray that I am able to be open to however God wants to use me here, whether I am able to understand it or not.

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 The Antin house!

 My room!

 Me and Veronica in Dharmapuri!

 Shreya's Birthday party!

 Prayer for the Birthday Children

The Children's Program at the School

 Guavas

Girls from the Dharmapuri Orphange

some pictures

So I finally figured out how to add some pictures to this blog and also found some time where I had internet for a long enough time to upload some pictures. Enjoy!

Here is The family that I have been staying with. They are so great! My dad's cousin Ravi, his wife Shreya, and his three children. The three people on the right are Shreya's parents and sister who came to visit for the weekend.

Here is a picture from Bidar. The man standing with me in the back is my grandmother's brother and the four women on the bottom right are my grandmother's sisters. The woman sitting on the far left is another one of my dad's cousins.

Here is a picture of Me, My grandfather, and this brother and sister. He broke his hip about a week before I arrived in India so I went and visited him in the hospital. It was a really incredible experience to meet him!

Here is a picture of my grandmother's brother (bottom right) and his family.

Hello Hello!

I thought I would give a quick update. Things are getting much better over here. Not only am I adjusting to India – but I am starting to feel a lot more peace over here. I started this past week serving with the MEM ministry. On Monday, we went to a school in the area and put on a children’s program for the younger students at the school. Then I spent the afternoon sorting through all of the ministry’s medications, arranging them into categories and disposing of the expired medications. This was a huge task because the medications were all over the place – half in Indian and the other half in Spanish! Ha!

Wednesday, we went to the YWAM base in Bangalore for a time of community worship and fellowship. After this, we went back to the MEM ministry and I provided some medical education to some of the staff. I taught vital signs training (taking blood pressures, temperatures, pulses, and respirations) and some patient interaction education. Its crazy that I am teaching these things but the people here are very interested in any medical education they can get their hands on – so I am feeling used. On Thursday, Veronica, the medical director and I planned a lot of education topics for the upcoming three months and planned for our upcoming medical clinic in October. On Friday, we did another children’s program at a nearby school. It is really neat to be able to do these children’s programs because they are very Christ centered programs in schools where a majority of students are Hindu or Muslim. It was a good introduction week, full of a lot of planning for the upcoming months. I feel very welcome within the team and am praying for a sense of unity soon.

Prayer Requests:

-          Lonliness – I am starting to connect with some of the people who are serving with the MEM ministry long term, which is really encouraging. It is still hard for me being alone here, however, God is really teaching me to depend only on Him for my daily needs. I praying that as I continue to decrease, God will continue to increase. He is good and I am learning what it means to truly trust in Him.

-          Joy – While I am adjusting more and more here, it is still hard to not worry and to rejoice in the Lord regardless of circumstances. Please pray that I will find joy in my circumstances here and that I will be free to experience and truly enjoy India while I am here.

-          Spiritual warfare – It is definitely easy to feel a presence of darkness in the area I am in. There are Hindu temples on every corner and it is so ingrained into the culture here it is astounding. Please pray for protection, for peace, and to not get or feel weighed down by this darkness.

-          Presence – Please pray that god will help be to be fully present in my time here. It is really easy for me to get discouraged and feel useless. Pray that I will continue to trust God that His plans are bigger and better than I can see or imagine and that I can show love and life at all times while I am over here.

Hey Guys! Thought I would give a quick little update! God is teaching me unbelievable things during my time over here. Last week, I met with the MEM ministry, which is a YWAM medical and children’s ministry in Bangalore. I was pretty excited about it and I starting serving with them on Monday, yesterday for me. I am still not entirely sure what all I will be doing with the ministry but I do feel at peace here. It is a small team of around ten people. There are two Chilean women who kind of run the team which is comprised of Indians that are around my age. Yesterday, they were very welcoming and were thanking me for joining them – saying that they had been praying for a nurse for a long time. Since the main ministries are medical and children’s with a hint of being able to use my Spanish. I feel like it is a good fit. Like I said earlier, I am still not sure what all I will be doing but will be taking it one day at a time with this ministry. MEM stands for Mobile Enrichment Ministry. They have a website, it is mem3.angelfire.com. From what I gathered yesterday I will be doing some children’s programs with the team twice a week, visiting a nearby leaper colony for wound cleaning and health education one a week, serving as a nurse at ACCEPT (a local HIV/AIDS hospice, hospital and orphanage) three days a week, helping to do some medical training for the staff, developing village health education, and helping out on medical camps (the ministry has an ambulance that they take to villages to provide free medical care). This all being said…It’s India. So I am unsure what all will end up playing out and working out. I do feel peaceful about the start.

Prayer Requests:

-          Lonliness – I have felt more lonely than I ever have in my life here, pray that God will comfort me and provide close relationships with people here.

-          Joy – While I am excited about my upcoming ministry and am starting to feel more comfortable here, I still feel out of place. Pray that God will give me joy and excitement for my time here.

-          Dependence – The independence of being a 22 year old in America is incredible. The dependence I feel here, not only on the Lord, but just in general is very hard. Pray that God will continue to grow me in dependence upon him.

-          Discernment – Continued prayers for discernment of God’s will for me here and how I can best serve Him.

A Moment of Peace...

Since my last blog post I have been very distressed. Thank you all so much for your encouraging e-mails and messages! They really brought me comfort amidst trials here. I do not have any definite plans as of yet. However, I thought I would write a quick update because of the hopefulness I feel.
The past couple days have been hard for me. Being alone in a foreign country without any agenda or plans for serving has been and continues to be very challenging for me. I am learning to trust in God that his will will be done. It is very challenging waiting on the Lord. A lot harder than I ever expected it to be. The patience to ultimately be surrendered and to wait for the Lord completely is something that I lack and has been a very painful experience for me these past couple days.
I have been convicted about trying to run ahead of God and feel as if God wants me to rest in Him and trust that he will reveal His plan for me. However, it has been very hard and as some of you know – I am not very good at waiting. But, I do feel like that is what God wants for me now.
Yesterday, I meet with Campus Crusade for Christ and left feeling less peace than when I entered. That was not what I was expecting. I also met with someone at the YWAM office, this also produced distress for me, mostly because the person did not speak great English and I think a lot of my situation was lost in translation. Today, I attended a retreat for college students that was run by an Indian evangelism ministry and again felt very restless. Then, at last, came the moment of peace. After this retreat, I met with a woman who is in charge of a medical ministry here. I got the contact information from YWAM, as they are a ministry affiliated with YWAM. Shout out to Korey Leafblad for the heads up! Anyway, The meeting today did bring me peace. I will start serving with them on Monday. I am unsure if this is where God wants me or will ultimately be where I end up serving for any amount of time here. However, for now, I feel good about it. Praise the Lord.  If nothing else, I thank God that he has provided me peace and comfort for today and the weekend as I can just rest in him.

Prayer Requests:
- Continued Discernment for where and what God wants from me here in Bangalore

- Strength and peace while dealing with lonliness here being the only American and traveling alone.

- Pray that I will feel a connection with this ministry here and all will work out.

- Continued dependence on the Lord

- Joy and enjoyment of my time here without being weighed down by my circumstances.

WoooooooooooW!

I have spent the past four days traveling around India by bus visiting different family members. It has been incredible to meet such close relatives at this point in my life that live to far away. I have been spending most of my time with my dad’s cousin, Ravi, his wife Shreya, and their 4 year old daughter Jeru. They have been such a strong encouragement to me as they are both very strong in their faith and speak English! Ha!

It has been a crazy first week here in India. I cant believe it has only been one week. It feels as if it has already been a month. God has definitely been at work. For one, this week has been very hard for me. The Jetlag has been causing me to be very sleep deprived as I have only now adjusted to the time change. God has definitely been breaking me down and showing his power over the trip. I have literally spent over an hour everyday in tears. It is so much harder than I ever expected. Traveling alone is very hard for me, as well as being the only American has really caused me much lonliness. I have been clinging to God and definitely am closer to Him because of it. However, it is still incredibly hard for me.

My plan was to travel tomorrow night to Assam to spend the next three months serving at a missions hospital. However, God has different plans in store for me. Since arriving in India I have felt much restlessness and lack of peace concerning my travels to Assam. For one, my friend, Nels, told me definitely of circumstances that were causing him to cancel his plans to join me in Assam. For two, all of my extended family that I have been visiting has very straightforwardly told me to cancel my plans to go to Assam because the area is very dangerous and full of terrorists. For three, I have been very distressed and have almost panic attacks since arriving here concerning my travels there. Finally, I found out the flight that I was suppose to take had been canceled. This was definitely God telling me that I am not suppose to go to Assam right now. I am unsure if I will end up spending any time there during my stay here but I am confident that it is not where God wants me to be right now.

This has left me very broken and uncertain about my time here, what God has in store for me and what decisions I should be making. I have completely surrendered this trip up to God knowing that he has a plan for me that is far greater than any plan I had made for myself. He has definitely broken down my pride. Pride that I did not even know I had coming into this trip. I have finally given control over to Him and am in a time of waiting now for where God will lead me. This patience is something that is very hard. God is definitely teaching me to depend on Him. I am now trusting that He will determine a new path for me here and well as how long my time here will be. As of right now, I am staying in Bangalore with Ravi and Shreya. I will be meeting with people at campus crusade and other ministries in the area to see if God has plans to use me here.


Prayer Requests:

- Strength: this has been an incredibly hard experience so hard. Please pray that God will strengthen me and comfort me.

- Discernment: Pray that God will reveal his plans for me here, that I will have clarity of what God wants and confidence to act upon it.

- Joy: This week has been very draining. Pray that I will be able to trust God and be content and find joy in my circumstances over here.

- That God will continue to teach me to completely depend upon Him for all my needs.



Any encouragement through e-mail (patrac@bethel.edu), text messages (952-239-3144 – I can receive texts for free however I will not be able to respond to them because of roaming costs), or blog posts would be very greatly appreciated! Thank you all so much for supporting me and please continue to pray for me as this trip continues to unfold.