Siliguri, India - 97 degrees, Rain

Well, I'm here. A year and a half after I got an email from the Wards (the missionaries I'm living with), and I'm finally here. It feels good. There's something about this place that feels like home. Of course, it feels extremely foreign in a lot of ways: the traffic, the heat, the people, the languages, the food. But I feel at peace here. I'm glad to be where I am because I know God has called me to this place across the world.

It took about 2 days to get here, and I've been trying to recover from the time difference (11 1/2 hours ahead), so we force ourselves to stay up til at least 8. ha! I woke up at 5 and then 6 this morning. I am also trying to remember to be patient. In the midst of my frustration and striving among a new culture, God is slowing my heart and reminding me that my relationships at home were not formed in a day. And neither will the ones I have in India. So I am taking it one day at a time, trusting that God will provide all that I need.

Some things I'm excited about:

*The sight of real mountains (not hills) in our back yard. The missionaries said that you can see K3 from the roof. Wow!

*Milk Tea which Menuka (helper) makes

*Walking club we're going to start with one of Victoria's Indian friends and her mom

*Soccer in the backyard

*Possibility of trekking in Indian mtns (don't worry mom, the highest peak is just 40,000 ft. ha!)

Things I'm not-so-excited about:

*The gecko's living in my room (I've named them Winston and Rufus)

*Headaches that come from Indian traffic

*Heat...although I'm slowly getting used to it. My hair isn't...

*Unknown

Pray:

*That God would give me consistent places to go around Siliguri to form relationships with people

*For patience

*For wisdom in teaching Victoria (we start school on Monday)

ps-I'm including some pics of my last week in Nashvegas. Sweet friends and fun places. Baja burrito...I will miss thee.

Camp girls!

See You at the Pole 2009 with B-Max and K-Murph

Last farewell with Jim and Charley

Special Birthday Cake

Love these girls!

None other than Baja

It's a hartebeest of course!...and Bryan and Camille!

What a jolly sister pic

My desk in India

Bed and sweet windows

Me and Victoria (girl I'm teaching) on the way to Siliguri

The view from our backyard. Outta Control!

Nashville - 73 Degrees, Mostly Cloudy

Well, the day is finally here. I'm leaving for India in a couple of hours. Made my morning run to Frothy Monkey, my favorite Nashville coffee shop, for one last cup of Tennessee tea. So now we're rushing around trying to fit everything into two suitcases and a carry on. NOT easy, even for a low maintenance girl like myself.

I'll update when I get to India. Please pray for safe flights and sleep for the 15 hour plane ride!

Family

Family. I take them for granted...a lot. Until I hear stories like I heard this weekend, about a family consisting of all women because the fathers have abandoned the mothers and children. A family where the mother (a 36-year-old who is also a grandmother) is the only one working to feed 8 people. It is when I hear those stories that I am so thankful for my family, that God has abundantly blessed me with a mom and dad who love Jesus a lot and are willing to let me go to India for the sake of the gospel. For a grandmother who is completely freaked out that her granddaughter is moving to India but who wants Indians to know life through Jesus. For an aunt and uncle who are so hospitable and sensitive to God's spirit in their lives that they would let their Chinese waiter stay at their house and pray for his salvation. For an aunt who would do anything for me and open up about issues that families sometimes shove under the rug. For a cousin who is so beautiful in the Lord because she is confident in who she is in Christ, who is so generous with what she's been given. God, thanks for my family. I can see You in them. Help me to pass on Christ like that to my family like they have done for me.

Birthday Buddies! This is Grandmother. We have the same birthday - July 29th...she's 67 years older than me.

Aunt Tricia and Uncle Larry

Uncle Larry is such an example of how God's power is made perfect in our weakness. He has pancreatic cancer, and God has revealed himself to and through Larry in such a powerful way. It is so encouraging to hear his testimonies of God's grace in his life and what he is learning through trials. Please pray for God's continued hand on his life.

Let the Goodbye's Begin...

You would think that saying goodbye to someone you've only known 3 weeks would be a piece of cake...especially compared to the ones I'll have to say in a week when I move to India for almost a year.

PSYCHE!

Today I can say that my heart physically hurt from having to leave these new friends, my family, I met at Carolina Creek just 3 weeks ago. I'm much more of a "see ya later" kinda gal, and I couldn't really do that today because I don't know if I'll see them again. And that makes my heart hurt. When I had to hurriedly give Camille Spillman a last hug, and we started to cry b/c this month she became a friend instead of just "Bryan's wife." Or when I squeezed little Caden for the last time, realizing how sad I am that I'll miss when she learns new words and her dancing to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Or when the high school work crew girls wouldn't stop hugging me and how I wish I could be their Young Life leader b/c they're so awesome. Or when I was sandwiched in between Brad and Bradley, who have become my long lost brothers, taking a final picture. Or when I ate Mini Wheats next to Lunden this morning for the last time and he covered his face b/c he can't stand to be around people eating cereal (stupid i know, but that's Lundie). And so many others. Bryan, Jonathan, Alli, Sutton, Krimm, Dave, Cristina, Heather and Brandon. So many stories.

God, thank you for that family. What a sweet gift you gave me in that month before leaving for India. Consistency. Unity. Focused. Fixed on Jesus. Community. Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Sons, and Daughters in the faith. My heart is so grateful for them. I've gotten to experience Jesus through each of their lives in such a raw and real way.

Thanks guys.

Bryan, Mexican food, and the Handlebar Moostauche

Lunden and Sutton

Camille and Alli

Bradley and Brad

These friends are all so jolly!

Sought After

So, for those of you that didn't know...I'm single. Ha! Have been for 22 years...and pretty sure am going to stay that way for at least another year. God has really brought me peace about this because my calling to India has been so strong and I know that I wouldn't be in this position if I wasn't single. However, I am surrounded by mostly married people at Carolina Creek (the camp where I'm currently working in TX). Marriage is so awesome...it's not only a love relationship but it's a partnership, a "let's do this hard thing called life together" because 2 is better than 1...I need you and you need me. There's a ton of grace in it (or at least there should be if it's gonna work). And I can see Christ in every marriage here, and even in the people whose spouses aren't here. It's just cool how God reveals himself in a whole new way in marriage (I'm excited to possibly experience that personally someday).

Anyway, so I'm surrounded by married's. And I've found myself longing for that, so I've started to pray that God would help me fix my eyes of Jesus and grow my affection for him daily. Jesus, I need you to show up...show me your love. I need to be reminded that you are in pursuit of me. I'm using the blue book (a young life guy put it together) as a devotional, and Tuesday's scripture was Isaiah 62. Go right now and read all of it. I wept when I read it b/c it was exactly what I needed to hear and paints such a rich picture of God's deep love for us...

No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah (his delight is in her),
and your land Beulah (married);
for the LORD will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.

⁵ As a young man marries a maiden,
so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you

¹² They will be called the Holy People,
the Redeemed of the LORD;
and you will be called Sought After,
the City No Longer Deserted.

So even though I'm not married, God is letting me experience some of the joys of marriage through people at camp & hearing their stories and through the way He loves his church, his daughter...me. It is incredible to witness God's pursuit of us. It is OUTTA CONTROL! ("OC" as I've coined it). I hope that you're able to see the ways in which God seeks after you.

ps - it's not easy to keep up my blog working 18 hr days. woo!

pps - enjoy the random pics!

Sneak out Dive-In Movie

Muck Warz!

Muck Warz...1st weapon: flour!

Riding on Walruses with Camille of course

Jonathan and Bryan as the Redneck Ninjas..."Bust yer face!"

Princess Night! Miss J is the one in the orange...she was a SNL character in the making.

Baby Caden...the official baby of Carolina Creek. She is hysterical. All summer I'm trying to teach her how to say "orange." It's working (she can say "or"). She couldn't walk when she 1st came but now she's trots everywhere!

"Your job is kind of stressful"

When Bryan Spillman and Jonathan Drinkwine told me about this position @ Crooked Creek, I honestly thought it would simply be pushing play and turning up the volume (which it is). However, I didn't think I'd get a crash course on Sound Board, XLR Cords, Mics, etc. It really isn't "hard" but it has been a little stressful because I feel like I'm running from the Dining Hall to the Field to the Ropes Tower to the Club Room to get mics and cords to the next event. And if there's a run-on skit or game, then I have to be ready with all the song cues...or they just look silly on stage. So it's fun when everyone does their part and it all comes together, with the kids loving it or laughing hysterically. With Young Life, it's go go go 24/7. Which is fun, but exhausting...something that knocked me in the face. But I'm going to be "stressed," this is the best place to be, because I'm surrounded by ridiculously awesome people who I can be in community with.

Consistency. I'm thankful for it. Consistent people, places, and times. I truly believe God knows my purpose in being here, and I trust in his wisdom. Today I told God that I absolutely can't make it 3 weeks like this on my own. I need Jesus, I need his mighty working power in my body. And I need him to show up, to make himself known to me, to encourage my small faith.

"For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to will and to act for his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13)

ps - this video of the Glo-Stick Rave we had last night describes what it has been like in the past couple of days (which has felt like 3 weeks...in a fun and crazy way). it was awesome!

pps - this is Sarah Samuel, Indian lady my family ate with last Friday. love her!

From Music City to the Penitentiary…I mean, Wyldlife Camp

Well, I’m @ the Houston airport…the Hobby Airport to be exact. I was supposed to meet Jonathan and Alli Drinkwine & Bryan and Camille Spillman here so we could drive up to camp together. But for some strange reason we couldn’t find each other in baggage claim. It turns out that we are @ different airports. Awesome. Ha! Who knew that Houston had 2 airports? I sure didn’t. I just wanted the cheapest plane ticket, so of course I chose Southwest. Wrong move, Meg. Now the team is driving down to get me (an hour away) and we’ll drive another 2 ½ hours to Carolina Creek in Huntsville, TX, where we’ll be for the next 3 weeks.

That won’t stop us from getting there! I know God has big plans for these 3 weeks…for the middle school kids who will experience the “best week of their lives,” for the leaders who will get to have so much quality time with kids who they try to pursue and earn the right to be heard during the school year, and for the assigned team who devote their time to making sure that the gospel is seen even in things like funny games and skits. It all points to Jesus. Pray that that will happen: KIDS WILL HEAR ABOUT AND RESPOND TO THE LOVE OF JESUS.

Please also pray that God will reveal himself to me in a way that prepares me for my time in India and will simply draw me close to HIM. I think I am tempted to think that now that I am away from Nashville that I will not be tempted to strive and to put myself in overdrive. Pray that God will allow me to rest – physically, mentally, and spiritually.

2nd Life Lesson for the day: Huntsville, TX is home to a Penitentiary that houses 2000 inmates. awesome.

Financial Update: As of today, people have given $7500 out of the $10,000 I need to raise. Praise the LORD! And I have not been able to follow up with many of my supporters. If you’d like to be a part of supporting me financially while in India, please email me: megansusanstephens@gmail.com

Pictures to come later today!