Moving on to Goa

Since we didn’t have a chance to update you Monday or Tuesday, here is what we did on Monday.  We finished up the meeting with the church leaders.  There was a lot of great discussion on some very sensitive subjects.  God was definitely at work. The meetings were very successful and everyone felt blessed to be a part of them.

Late morning on Monday, a few of the team members went back to the SPICE hostel to spend time with the children.  We jumped in our rickshaws for another entertaining ride.  The children were all excited to see us again.  Some of them were in school, so we were not able to see all of them.  But, some of the boys found out we were coming and they left school to come back!  We weren’t quite sure how they found out we were coming back when we only decided we were going back to visit them a half hour before we actually got there!?  In any case, we were welcomed with lots of smiles and greetings.  We took a tour of the boys and girls dorms and then spent some time singing together.  They wanted us to teach them something “American”, so we taught them “If you’re happy and you know it…” and “the hokey pokey.”  They LOVED the “hokey pokey.”  They wrote the words down in English so they could continue to practice it. 

After spending a few hours at the SPICE hostel, we started walking down the street to find some rickshaws to take us back to the rest of the group.  A lot of rickshaws passed by us and we didn’t know why.  We found out later that they were on their “lunch break” so they didn’t want to pick us up.   After walking a bit, we finally found enough rickshaws to take us back.  We joined the rest of the team and church leaders for lunch.  They offered us a special treat for dessert—ice cream cones!  We were all very excited!!

About 4:00 in the afternoon on Monday, we left for the airport for our flight back to Kathmandu.  When we arrived at the hotel in Kathmandu, we found out that there was no electricity…and, that the electricity would be on from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.  WHAT?!  Who needs electricity at those hours?!  Needless to say, there was no hot water, so not many showers were taken! And the elevator was not available to use because we had no power, so we dragged our baggage up 4 flights of stairs…quite the workout, but we were grateful for the exercise, since we had been spending much of our time sitting in traffic or on an airplane.  We all went to a restaurant for a very late dinner and called it a day around 11:00 p.m. (no reason to stay up later since we had no electricity!). 

Now…on to Tuesday.  This was a transition day.  After breakfast at the hotel, we piled back in the van to drive back to the airport.  We were flying from Kathmandu, Nepal to Mumbai, India; and then from Mumbai on to Goa, India.  All of these airports have been so interesting!  It’s amazing the difference in the entire security process and baggage claim compared to the States.  Ask us, and we’ll tell you all about it! 

We had a small issue when we arrived in Mumbai from Kathmandu, before our flight to Goa.  Three members of the team were detained in immigration.  It was in relation to the tourist visa and having to leave and re-enter India.  All of us had the correct paperwork completed; however, the seven other members of the team got through, but three did not.  They were pulled inside the immigration office to go through some additional paperwork.  Ken was able to speak with them and help fill out the paperwork.  It was a little frustrating, because we had another flight to catch and didn’t have much time.  And...it didn’t make sense that seven got through and the three didn’t.  Our theory was that it was a slow day (which it was, hardly any lines) and someone wanted to throw their weight around a little bit.  After about a half hour detainment (and being served some tea!), they were on their way again to catch up with the rest of the group.  We ended up running through the airport to try to catch the next flight and actually made it.  Thankfully, that flight was delayed for some reason; otherwise, we would not have made it on.

We made it to Goa safely and we’re now experiencing the tropical side of India.  It is very warm here.  We’re staying in a guest house, and we’ll be meeting with some other church friends over the next several days.  We’ll also be involved in some children’s ministry work and other church services this weekend.

We have certainly experienced a full circle of temperatures while we’ve been here.  Early on in the trip, we had the cold and rainy days.  Then, needed wool hats and gloves for our trip to the top of the mountain; and now, very warm temperatures at the beach!

We joined our friends here for dinner on the beach and are calling it a day around 1 a.m. We are excited to spend the next 6 days here in Goa- learning and experiencing the culture, spending time with church leaders and friends, as well as be involved in several different ministry opportunities.

Everyone continues to be doing well. We praise God for the safety of our travels today and that all minor “glitches” worked themselves out.

Please continue to be in prayer for the health of the team as we are into the last week of our trip.  Pray for renewed strength and energy as we minister here in Goa, as well as pray for all connections that will be made as we work with the people here.

We do not have internet service here at the guest house in Goa.  So, we’ll be going to a local internet café periodically to update the blog.  That being said, we may not have opportunity to update each day.

Thank you all for your prayers. We definitely feel them over here in India!