The Mega Post

This will be our last post on the blog, expect a lot of reading! We haven't had any Internet to post. Now we're waiting in the Hyderabad Airport, so no better time than the present!

I'll pick up from Thursday, we had an early morning, and went off on a five hour, eight-mile long, hike. Starting from the top of the Kodai mountains and traveling to the base. Our legs are killing us today! Pardamandas, our guide, showed us breathtaking views, exotic/poisonous animals, and he gave us a fantastic devotion at the bottom of the mountain. I truly can't explain the scenery, the mountains rolled, the trees were humongous and dark green, the smell of smoke was in the air from nearby villages. I wish William and I could post pictures, but sadly, our iPhones won't let us. After the hike, we walked to a natural spring surrounded by rocks that we could use to slide into the "clean" water. (It didn't look too clean to me.) John, our driver, picked us up around 4:00pm, and drove us to the girls home in Kodai, called Shalom. We played badminton, sang a few songs, danced around, and had a devotion. Later back at Dency's house, we had an evening prayer, and then passed out from the long day.

(William now) 

Yesterday, (Friday) was another grueling day, but I couldn't think of a better way to end the trip then visiting rehabilitation centers and after school programs. Pardamandas had us visit two rehabilitation centers where mentally disabled, visually handicapped, and hearing impaired kids can learn to lead active lives in the community. He showed us all the ways they train and teach kids differently; they seemed happy to learn (most of the time). After a long drive, a short visit to a hill top, and a long prayer, we visited our last after school program. It was a short visit but being our last, it still felt surreal in a way. On the way home, Pardamandas said he would try and show us some bison. After some searching, we finally found some. They were cool but I was expecting more with all the stories we heard. The day ended nicely with dinner, a prayer, and bed! Probably the best last day you could hope for.

(Back to Bennett)

We've been traveling all day. Three hours in the car this morning to get to Madurai, followed by an hour long flight to Chennai. We had a six hour layover in Chennai before flying to Hyderabad. (Where we had a seven hour layover.) It's 6:00am Sunday morning here, and we're ready for our last flight from Doha to the United States! Pray for us while we travel twelve hours to our motherland. (Well, my motherland at least. I always forget William is French.) 

Godbless! Thank you so much for all the prayers during our time here.

- Bennett and William 

WOOP WOOP HOME

Patience is a virtue

Since we are nearing the end of our trip, Bennett and I have sort of been day dreaming of our lives back home. I think this part of the trip is the hardest but also the most rewarding. It's hard to stay focused, but satisfaction comes with doing as much as we can while we're here. Today we visited the Joshua day care center again and the kids were awesome. They are so happy and giggly. We lead their rhyme time and thought of every rhyme Imaginable. After lunch, we left for Canevate, a Bethania home down in the plains, nearly 2 and a half hours away. On the way down we played a game I invented. It's called Yahtzee. Every time you see someone using the bathroom on the side of the road you yell "Yahtzee!" and get a point. I won with an exciting 4 points while John and Bennett were tied, each with 2 and Oliver in last with a close zero. It was a thrilling game. We arrived to a beautiful boys/girls home in the palm trees, at the foot of an enormous hill. The reason the home is mixed is not to separate brothers and sisters. After playing with the kids for a while we had a sort of devotion time where Oliver shared a Tomel message and then had dinner. Now we're all half asleep in our beds waiting for the morning. 

There is no Internet here so this will be a day late and sorry for no pictures lately, it won't work from our phones. 

Blessings,

-William

P.s. haven't had Internet in a while. Went on hike was fun. Love you guys. 

Sightseeing, Monkeys, and Bethel Boys

Hello America, and whatever other countries are reading this! (we can see which countries are reading the blog.) William and I awoke to the sound of the boys in the Bethel Home talking and studying at 4:00 am, 4:00 am! How on earth do they have the drive to get up at four every morning. I'll never know; I certainly can't do it. They went to school at 9:30 am, and we went off to go look at some of the Kodai views, although most of them were blocked by huge clouds. Our first stop was supposed to be a view down to the valley, but we couldn't see too much due to cloud blockage. After trying to peer through the clouds, we moved on to a new place, the lake view, which is basically, well, the view of a lake. William and I asked John the driver, if he could take us to monkeys. The next stop, we hopped out, and started messing around with monkeys! I tried posting a video of us feeding them, but the internet is too slow. After awhile, we left those poor, ugly, funny monkeys, and ate at the boys home. We crashed until the boys returned from school at 4:30 pm. Once the boys came back, William and I started a soccer match that ended when no one could see the ball because it was so dark. Back inside the building, we sang some songs, and played some games. Now the boys are all praying before they go to bed. 

Godbless! 

-Bennett

Indian revival!

This was an amazing Sunday. Our day started off a little slow when we were almost late to Getsy's church. Luckily, we hitched a ride in a hippy's van. Not sketchy at all. The service was lead by a retired American missionary pastor, whose message is really hard to summarize. I enjoyed it though. After church we ate lunch at a Tibetan restaurant, which is basically Chinese food but better, then drove to the boys home. The boys here are a little more shy then in rajamundry,  but they warmed up quickly. After a game of soccer and some tv time, we were asked to play some music (then we threw a devotion in for free). For me this was the best worship/devotion time all month. Everyone was participating, even the older guys. We taught them songs, made them dance, did a devotion, and then played games. Bennett and I even decided to start a band. It should be called Indian revival. We're on tour. We're sleeping over at the home for the next two nights, but sadly everyone has school tomorrow, so we're going hiking. Thanks for the prayers! 

-William 

Saturday Singing!

Hello friends and family! We didn't visit any homes today, but William and I played sports and hung out with Effy all day! (Dency's nephew) After our breakfast, Effy took us to his international school. Getting us visitor passes took forever! You'd think the president of the United States was there or something. But once we got in it was great;  we played basketball/soccer for a few hours. Around 12:00pm, Effy took us to Domino's Pizza, which was amazing! I ate an entire large pizza. Full and satisfied, we went to go see a mansion his dad was constructing. (His dad is a overseer) The view from the back porch was breathtaking, I could see green pastures, cultivated land going up the mountain side, the vast valley in between two mountains, and a huge waterfall leading into a jungle-type forest. We started hiking down the mountain, but it started pouring rain, so we all sprinted as fast as we could back up it. Once we returned to Dency's house, I was immediately rushed to see a doctor about an infected cut. All they did was give me a bandage and painkillers.. Not sure if that's what I need! Oh well, I'll be alright. Getsy, (the woman in charge of the daycares, also a nurse) asked William and I to play the music in church tomorrow morning, so we borrowed a guitar to practice with. We roped Effy into singing with us as well! The three of us have been singing, laughing, and playing music for the past two hours.

Hope all is well in the US! 

Praise the Lord!

-Bennett

Daycare day part 2!

Today was almost identical to yesterday. We visited two more daycares, and two more after school programs. It's so great to see programs that help these children up until college. The daycares are supposedly very highly sought after, and only accept a big chunk of the applicants. And even though a minority of the children are from Christian families, they all memorize scripture, and worship God. The after school programs are mostly reserved for the poorer population. It's a place where they do their homework, and worship. They also receive brand new backpacks, lunch boxes, and school uniforms for free, from Bethania Kids. Again, we finished the day with a prayer session and a huge dinner! We just finished scheduling our next week with Dency, and it should be crazy! Thanks for the prayers! 

God bless, 

-William 

Daycare Day!

Today was our first full day in Kodai! We awoke to warm Indian tea, prepared by Dency and her family. Followed shortly by a tasty breakfast. Around 9:30 am, Getsy (who is in charge of the daycares here) picked us up, and drove us to a daycare called "Nathanael Daycare Center." Funny coincidence! Anyways, there were 55 students ranging from the age of 3-5. I swear these kids are smarter than I am! Somehow they managed to memorize Psalms, prayers, songs -- the whole works. We stayed at the first daycare for about an hour and a half. The kids wrestled and played their hearts out with us. Then we moved on to Deborah Daycare, which was a bit smaller than Nathanael Daycare. We didn't stay too long before our driver, John, took us back to Dency's house. Once back, we played with Dency's nephew Effy, who's loads of fun! John called around 3:00 pm and said he was going to come take us to an after school. William and I really didn't know what we were going to do there, but it all turned out great. We taught them a song, as well as listening to their angelic voices. The night ended with an evening prayer session with Dency's family.

Godbless! 

-Bennett