Movements

The life of a traveling bum is all about moving. Here in India movements are always delayed but always quick. Walking down the street I still jump every time I hear the ear piercing horns inches behind me. It doesn't matter how far off the road I am the horns always continue to blare! And one must always be aware of the vicious monkeys. I am always a big fan of a fury animal, it reminds me of myself but when too many surround me I move fast cause rabies doesn't interest me too much. And of coarse there are the quick and sudden movements that come as a result of the curry...And then of coarse the need to move on from here. Today we venture down the mountain a little way to see what we can find with an awesome couple from Argentina. Sometimes I long to get nice and cozy comfortable in a place but it seems that every time we find any comfort at all we must keep on moving. But really there is a movement going on that is much bigger than us. The movements of a faithful God. Coming to India I so desperately wanted to see what and how God was and is at work. In only a short time we have seen the fingerprints of a father who loves His children here in India. Going to the deaf and dumb school with a ywam team last week we saw 11 young guys give their hearts to Jesus. Then later that week we heard from that same team who reported that they had been in the home of a Hindu family when a lady suddenly dies in their arms (literally) after a while when no pulse was found they began to pray to the one and only true God of heaven and then, Bam! they heard a gasp and she was back to life, True store happened just this last week!, that same team saw another 10 kids and 2 teachers in a school give their lives to Christ as well. There must be something real in all this I think to myself and daily I continue to pray that God would increase my faith. For us the movements we see are a daily faithfulness and a deep encouragement. As I sat in church the other day between a Hindu man and a Buddhist man both earnestly praying to God I was humbled and reminded again that the God I serve is indeed making His movements across the globe. Daniel

Phantom Pains

I have heard stories of how sometimes when a person loses a limb or a part of their body, they will have phantom pains. Basically this is their minds fooling their body into thinking that the body part is still there. It can be anything from an itch to even a sharp pain in that spot. Recently I had a very similar experience. Just a little while ago I had an incident that was quite traumatic and I lost one of my extremities. First there was the feelings of shock and then a scared feeling of "what just happened." But it was not until just this morning when I had my first phantom pains that it really hit me. I woke up in our hotel room and was getting ready for the day, when suddenly out of the blue there it was, the phantom pains. I went to put my hair into a pony and the pain hit like a semi truck hitting a deer on the interstate. No longer was I a whole person, there was something missing, that possibly could never be replaced. I stood there almost to the point of tears knowing that I had entered a new stage in life. I had joined the ranks of men and women around the world who would always think back to when they were a whole person. The pain comes and goes, but it is only when people stare, that my heart really drops and I think back, to the good ol days. A time when I could go out and not feel like I was different. So if anyone reading this can relate to my story I just want to say that your not alone. After my trip to the Barber I am no longer part of the elite group of mullet sporting people in this wide world! Lehmann

Thanks For The Tea

Here we are in the incredible town of Darjeeling. It is a unique place where Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian all live together in peace. On one corner you can see Buddhist monks playing cricket and then with just a glance in the opposite direction you can see a variety of Hindu temples and Muslim Mosques.

Its a place renown for its tea. But many people and especially backpackers that come

through here are on a spiritual pilgrimage to find enlightenment and truth. Therefore it has been a perfect place for YWAM and also for we three to be wandering the streets. Upon arrival into this small city in the Himalayan mountains we found such an incredible group of people here. The team that was in from Oz was just so life giving to the three of us. We had the opportunity to worship with them, share stories of our different adventures and just be revived. They also let us tag along as they hung out with a school for deaf and dumb kids. That was an incredible time as well. I got to just hang out and talk in sign language with some of the kids there. It was slow going but over time the alphabet came back into perspective and I remembered what I had learnt as a kid working at camps. Now we are getting into some practical work here painting and building bunk beds for our friends that are living here in Darjeeling. We have also been able to really live out our faith though in day to day life. Just the other night walking home from supper we met three backpackers that were stranded without a place to stay for the night. So after talking with them for a while and sharing about our trip and what we were doing here, we got the opportunity to show them what we were talking about. Our friend here said that we could sleep on his floor and therefore these three could have our hotel room for the night. With this news we grabbed their bags and walked them across the city to our hotel talking the entire time about the amazing God that we are in relationship with. They ended up being able to get a room of their own at the hotel, which worked out great. I don't think that our talk with them changed their belief in God but maybe it changed their view of Christianity. And just today we were visiting with the new group that showed up here and they were saying that last night they had this great conversation with three backpackers from Europe. As the story went on it was pieced together that it was the same three, and they totally remembered us and were amazed that only a day later they were meeting more Christians that were challenging them to think more about Christianity. So our time here has been quite eventful already with meeting some amazing new friends from all over the world and also being able to really get involved in the community. Lehmann

The pics for India

When they honk at you, you GET OUTTA THE WAY!!! (check out that gun)

Tashma Hall. (That's as close as we got... )

Temples everywhere...

Ladies watch out!

Kendall... good luck...

Gateway to India.

We were on this train for 26 hours. It was a lot of sleeping, and eating.

Here we were just doing our best to find a ride. Sitting on their roof seemed like a good idea.

India

Our time in Thailand is over and we are now experiencing all the wonderful things of India. We arrived in New Delhi on the 14th, with very little idea of where we were going and what we were doing. With a spirit of encouragement that our parents left us in Thailand we were feeling optimistic about this friend who replied to Daniel's email. This in itself showed great promise. We got ourselves involved with a small business that sets people up with tours around northern India, in order to book ourselves the best way to meet with our contact. We began to to experience the smooth side of Indian business people who are willing to be your best friend before selling you anything. This new best friend of ours explained our best route to Darjeeling... that we would need to swing by very close to the Tashma Hall, as we waited for our train there. So when we did arrive in Agra we spent our night in a hotel he had booked us in. The next morning we were ready to meet our driver for our tour of the town and of Tashma Hall, followed by getting on our train. The problem was, our driver explained to us there was no train for us to get on, and that if we wanted to catch the train he booked for us we would have to go straight back to New Delhi to make it in time. We had no time for tours, we just had to get right back in that car and drive four hours back. On the way back after driving a while our driver gets another call that we don't need to rush the train we are booked on now is going to leave the next day. We weren't very impressed with the situation and were not very willing to turn our car around to do the tours for the day, so we decided to continue back stopping to see different temples along the way. It was beginning to quite hard to keep that positive excitement that gets you through the hard times. Along with India's cultural differences, like crazy traffic, car horns that seem to be trying to cause people's ears to bleed, and a high expectation for foreigners to leave a hefty tip for every act of service. We were in serious need to find a place to chill (quite literally, 42degrees) and really find some people who were following their hearts by serving God. Our contact here was exactly what we were searching for. We came way up into the mountains into the city of Darjeeling, where our friend met us and helped us find our way around. This city is now in it's warm season as well, but we have found it to be the coldest place we've been in the last six months. These mountains are within viewing distance of the largest mountains in the world, (even Mt. Everest which I've decided to climb, maybe..) So we have now connected with the Christians in this area, and we hope to find a way to keep our days filled with work, Bible studies with the locals, and just meeting the people who live here. There are teams here also doing different programs, which has been a way for us to find good fellowship and have times of worship with them. We're praying God's blessing and protection over you guys as you move on through India. Take care. Kenton. Side note: we're looking into finding a map of this city for our friend to have and we're not very computer inclined, if anyone would have suggestions of how we could piece together a big sweet map of Darjeeling from the Internet, (maybe a good website) let us know...

A Few Pictures ...

Here are a few quick pictures for you to enjoy ... Kenton's Parents (Ed & Darlene), Dan's Parents (Jake & Loretta), Dan's brother and sister-in-law (Jon & Purdy) and Jordan's Parents (Rick & Caron) are all here in Thailand to visit us.

Bitter Sweet Moments

Moments in life are precious and for most of us we need a good slap in the face to be reminded of how truly blessed we are. Half way done, or half way to go, depending on which way we look at, but lately for myself it has been half way done and only 6 more to go. Every traveller hits a point where they feel done, finished, ready for home, Well entering Thailand I hit that point. I felt tired of everybody selling me something, tired of having to find a new home every night, tired of ...well everything, Then to my great dismay I lost a dear close friend. Matthew was a great man. Everyone knew him for his laugh and his amazing video's. He brought so much joy to so many people and had a unique presence that made the school FGBC a much better place. The night I lost Matt I felt like giving up. Walking home in the warm night rain on the streets of Bangkok I felt so alone and abandoned. Most people would. Losing somebody close is like having a peice of yourself ripped out and you can never get it back. I know that Matt had so much love for so many, I never felt more encouraged by any person that I have ever known. Matthew had a way of making those around him feel appreciated, feel like every word or every deed that they did mattered. Death has its own way of slapping us in the face to look at our lives, to look at the moments and to cherish those around us and mostly to look up to a loving God and admit our anger, our hurt and even our dissapointment. Just when life seems to fall apart my soverign God always seems to be there. Last Sunday all of our parents came to the Bangkok airport and one day later my brother and sister Jon and Purdy came. It is the kind of moment most people dream about their whole lives. Spending my moments on the other side of the world with most of my family is a dream come true. It is the bittersweet moment that I know came just in time for a man with a broken heart. I cant even begin to share the stories but the days are filled with laughter, excitement, sun and a whole lot of brand new experiences. My heart hurts for Matt and yet I know he is experiencing a deeper peace now than he would have ever found in this life. So as I look to my moments now I cannot help but shout it out that we serve a loving good God. When life hits us in the face with pain and confusion we cannot forget the one who made it all begin. Thanks Father I am a blessed man.

Dan