Church Annual Meeting

On the 13th, our church, Gateway Baptist had our annual business meeting. A lot was discussed, but I had to give a little blurb about the India Child Sponsorship program. What we've accomplished and what we're doing. Since you couldn't come, I've included the words I prepared beforehand and some pictures for you that people who attended didn't get to see (aren't you lucky? you get to see pictures and you didn't have to sit through a two hour meeting?)...

Hi, I’m Alycia & as most of you know, Karen and I have taken over leadership and implementation of the India Child Sponsorship program. We were a part of the team who went to India back in September and the primary reason we went was to learn the ins-and-outs of Bal Vikas Kendra or BVK. BVK is the school and children’s home Gateway partners with and we are currently seeking sponsors for the children who live there.

I know many of you prayed for us while we were in India and we sincerely thank you. Not only were we protected, but our eyes were also opened to the needs of the children in India. Just this morning, I was reminded of why I am a part of this program. The church prayed for a little boy named Ashraf who is 10 years old. I have about 30 pictures of Ashraf as he attempted to jump into every photo I took. On the playground, in the chapel, in the classroom, he’s in the background, foreground, and off to the side of many pictures. Ashraf was desperate for love and attention and I am so glad we all prayed for him today.

The reason I’m up here today is to share with you all what we’ve accomplished thus far and what we’d like to do next year. We have started the ICS program and gained sponsors for 50 children- at $40/month per child, our sponsors have sent about $12,250! This is fantastic as we are just getting started, but there’s still 185 children remaining.

We are excited about this next year and we have lots of ideas for getting the word out about ICS, however we need your help. One huge blessing we’ve had towards gaining sponsors is a “match” program that allows individuals and families to sponsor for only $20/month instead of $40/month. This has been an incredible opportunity, but as slots for that are taken- it leaves the majority of children needing commitments for the full $40/month.

We have many ideas for getting the word out about this program, but we need your help. Our major goal for the upcoming year is to get every child sponsored. We want to try to do that by reaching out into the community. We know not everyone is in a position to commit to $40/month, however we also know that everyone knows someone who doesn’t go to this church. Whether it’s your friends, family, or coworkers- there’s someone you know who hasn’t heard of ICS.

We have drafted a letter for you to adapt to help us spread the word. We have hard copies of the letter here and we can also send it to you electronically so you can modify it so it sounds like you. It’s a way to let people know that this is something you care about without feeling confrontational or awkward. A shout-out to ICS will make a great addition to your annual Christmas letter, or if you don’t do a Christmas letter, an ICS letter is a great way to start a tradition.

We also have a sign-up sheet for anyone who wants to sponsor a child, or be involved in helping us lead this program. Karen and I have volunteered to take care of the nitty-gritty details, but we cannot carry 185 children by ourselves. We need people who are willing to advise us and be a voice for the voiceless children of India. If you have been to India before, you are a perfect advocate. We need people committed to helping, praying, and letting others know about what God is doing in India.

So some actionable steps you can do right now-

1.        Sponsor a child

2.       If you’ve signed up to sponsor a child but you’re having problems with payments or automatic withdrawals, please let us know ASAP. We want to help you, but we can’t if we don’t know there’s a problem.

3.       Get a letter or sign up for an electronic copy of a letter you can send out to people you know.

4.      Let us know of any organization you might be a part of that we can come speak at.

5.       This is for everyone- pray, pray, pray. Please pray for the children, their families, their teachers & caregivers. Pray for Karen and I and for a group of people to come alongside us and help us.

Thank you so much for your time and for the opportunity you’ve given us to change lives.

India: Children

The reason we went to India was primarily for me to learn more about Bal Vikas Kendra (a school and children's home) and New Life Center (the parent ministry over it). We did visit many schools, but even outside of intentional children's ministries, there are still children EVERYWHERE in India. Just SO many children. Children ages 0-6 make up about 13% of the total population and ages 0-25 make up 50% of India's population. By the way, once you're 33 years old in India, you're essentially over-the-hill. Average life expectancy is 65 years old.
Anyway, here are some children we saw:

at an orphanage in Mussoorie

These boys were distracted by our visit to their school in Rishikesh.

Sandeep is 9 years old and lives very close to the forest. His home is always under threat of wild elephants (100% seriously. He lives in a house made of mud which can easily be broken down by an elephant. He walks daily to the school and is always excited to learn and play. His father is a laborer and his family lives in poverty. Please pray for him and for his family. (I learned this from his school Principal after snapping this picture of his soul-searching eyes and cherubic smile.)
 

Boys taking a dip in the Ganges.

Girls who traipsed over to a gawking passle of Americans just so they could say "hello" and flash us their brilliant grins.

We saw many children, such as the ones in the last two photos, who were completely unattended. I know in America we're super hardcore about always watching kids, being with kids, and never even feeling comfortable with teenagers out unsupervised. However in India, we saw 6-year-olds caring for toddlers as they toddled down busy streets.

I didn't even take pictures of the impoverished children who would tug at our clothing and put their hands to their mouths begging for money. Shin shared food with a pack of about four 5-to-7-year-old boys and a girl. Ugh. In America, you just never see children begging alone in the middle of the street. I feel like I can't even imagine the atrocities some of these children face. I also can't imagine leaving the 4-year-olds to keep each other company after school as their 9-year-old cousin plays with his friends and "babysits" until mom comes home late at night after cleaning houses.

Not everyone in India is impoverished and not every child is uncared for, but it is astoundinglygreater than what we face here. Oh, I have SO MANY more pictures of tiny faces that broke my heart with their unabashed smiles and giggles as they practiced saying "Good Mo'ning Ma'am" at any time of day. I know India (as any country, organization, or person) is incredibly complex, and it cannot and will not be fixed by just funneling money into poor people. However I firmly believe that something must be done. From Job to James, we are commanded to care for widows and orphans; fear and overwhelming need is not a reason to remain inactive.

Etta Lee Farmer: 1924-2011

My great-grandma died on October 27th, 2011. She was 87 years old and had a stroke on the night of the 23rd which left her unconcious during her last four days on earth. She was an amazing, godly woman whom I unfortunately didn't get to spend much time with. Her legacy is clear in the incredible family she leaves behind. This weekend Shin and I traveled to Hattiesburg, MS for her funeral and we met a LOT of family. I finally met my grandma's brothers, her older half-sister, and her younger step-sister. I also met their children and saw pictures of their grandchildren. Even though I will probably never see most of them again, it was good to finally put a face with a name.

Shin & I graveside (COLD) in Mendenhall, MS

 Saturday, October 29th, 2011

The funeral was also a good reminder that life is so short in comparison to eternity. I know this is a popular video, but our actions on earth DO determine our eternal existence. Chan's message became strikingly clear to Shin and I this weekend. It reaffirmed my desires to live life well. I want to follow God and to serve others because people WILL remember you by the sum of all the small actions that make up your life. Whether directly serving in India, sponsoring a child in need from halfway around the globe, or even serving a child's lunch in your own town (like my great-grandmother did as a cafeteria nutritionist for an entire county school-system), the things you do to serve others are important and they make you who you are.

Catching Up on Life

This is just a list of random thoughts. There's no theme. But it IS brief.

1.        I PROMISE I will continue to share more about India… in case you’ve missed it, all I’ve said so far is there were lots of animals. Trust me, there’s more to it than exotic animals.

2.       I’ve got other things going on. Like school. Working on a project on early childhood obesity.

3.       Shin’s been working hard on his own business (drug screening and background checks).

4.      He’s had several meetings. So far, none have panned out. He also has an interview at the end of the month to be an auditor with the AL Dept. of Public Health. This was a complete surprise. He applied to the state a long time ago. You basically fill out a resume and just send it off into space and they contact you if they’re interested. That was back in the summer and he didn’t think anything about it because he had been applying for LOTS of jobs. So, he has an interview at the end of this week. It would be really great to have a second source of income, but only if that’s where God wants him.

5.       Shin also gave a short presentation to our Korean church about our India trip. Almost everyone at the church supported us financially and it was really great to give them some follow-up on how everything went (other than “it was great!”). It was just 10 minutes, but still. Glad he got to do it.

6.       I also have a short presentation that I get to give at a Bible study in December. I’m pretty excited about it. We get to take our ICS show on the road. My goal is after that, to get to go to at least ONE place per month. (Other churches, Bible studies, youth groups, Sunday school classes, Wednesday night meetings, AWANA meetings, etc).

7.       At work, our office just moved to a different part of town. The new office is just down the street from my house!!! I’m so excited about my much shorter commute. The new office is also bigger and cuter and safer. *sigh* just excited about everything being so fresh and so clean, clean.

8.       This weekend we spent some great time with people from church that we haven’t hung out with much before. We’re having a get together at our house on my birthday (Nov. 12^th). It’s not a birthday party, but that’s my gift from Shin that I get to host a partay. I know, I’m weird. But I love hosting and he doesn’t, so it’s a wonderful birthday gift. Anyway, it’s for S.I.N.K.s and D.I.N.K.s (acronym courtesy of my mom) and I’m hoping that we’ll get to spend time with some new “Single Income No Kids” and “Dual Income No Kids” couples/singles.

9.       I’m tutoring 5 (possibly 6) kids per week. I really enjoy tutoring. But I have really cut down my free time. But we do need the money, so I’m really thankful to be able to do it.

10.    I’m done. There is more going on in life and in the world. But I must go back to paying attention in class.

Pigs, Cows, and Monkeys? OH MY!

So, the streets of India are very different from the U.S... "Very dirty, poops everywhere, cows, monkeys" -Shin Jeong

Around any bend in the road it wasn't unusual to see this:

or this. (Notice what they're feasting on... Yum! Sanitary and delicious!)

 There were also LOTS of these:

Cows on the road.

Cows on the bridge...

Fat cows, skinny cows, old cows, young cows, big cows, little cows, mama cows, baby cows, shiny cows, dirty cows...

You get the idea.

Lastly, there were MONKEYS!

Monkeys in India were as common as squirrels on a college campus.

This guy was on the bridge RIGHT next to us. Like I could have easily reached out and patted him on the head (just like those cows up there). Except he probably would have bit me (not like those cows up there). Unfortunately, he wouldn't look up! So, I made a little "tsk, tsk, tsk" sound...

...and he looked up alright. He bared his teeth/fangs, hissed/growled, and lunged at us like a gangsta affronted! Apparently you DON'T try to get a monkey's attention. He did not like making "eye contact" with the camera (he wasn't mad at me, he was aggressive towards the Kodak checking him out). This shot was taken as we scampered away from him.

India: Dogs (and cats)

There is an overwhelming amount of information and detail to go through in order to thoroughly recap our trip. So I'm starting a little series that will just focus on one aspect at a time. This way I can post a short post and just cover a single thing... Also, I'm all drugged up on decongestants and the idea of writing something coherent is a little intimidating. We'll let the pictures do the talking.

There are lots of dogs in India. This picture was taken at one of the school's we visited in Rishikesh. This school is for dalit (untouchable) children. Dalits are considered to be outcastes within the caste system. The easiest way to understand how a person can be an outcaste within the caste system is that they have no caste. The people are treated so low that they were considered animals who can talk. Now the caste system is illegal in India today, but people are still imprisoned by their caste. We went to a school for middle-class kids; there were no dogs walking around. Obviously a dog on any campus is a safety issue. Now this dog did not seem like a safety issue, he was totally asleep and unconcerned the entire time we were there. But it's just something I noticed.

This dog was hanging out by the Ganges River. He came up to our little group and wasn't begging. He just kind of stuck close in case anyone wanted to drop any food. Maybe he could tell we were tourists. Even though dogs are everywhere, I never saw a dead dog. This surprised me, because even in America where relatively few dogs roam the roads, I've seen plenty of dogs that have been hit by cars.

There are also plenty of pet dogs. This is Snoopy; Helena's dog. She had lots of fleas, but other than that, she was totally safe. She had all of her shots and vaccines: a proper pet. Snoopy could open the screen door. She would stick her paw in the screen, pull it open, stick her nose around the side to catch the door, and walk inside or outside whenever she wanted to. She also remembered where people were. She came to get me in my bedroom five minutes after I had played with her.

We only saw three cats in India. Two in homes and one running acoss the street. This one was at Helena's children's home (Bal Vikas Kendra) and is clearly injured. I hope he makes it.

Home

We're home now... our sleep schedule is still all messed up. We got home at 7:30 Saturday night and immediately fell asleep. Like walked in the door, set the bags down, got under the covers. This (Sunday) morning we woke up at 4:30. Ate, puttered around, I started laundry. We went back to sleep from 8-8:30. Then we got up, went to church, and saw everyone in Sunday School. I was a little out of it (trouble tracking what people were talking about) and Shin had a little headache. We had to share a little bit from the trip up in front of everyone in the sanctuary during big church. I shared something God showed me over the course of the trip, which was from Isaiah 7:9, "If you do not stand firm in faith, you will not stand firm at all." Shin shared from 1 Cor. 15:10, "By the grace of God, I am what I am... though it is not I, but the grace of God that is with me."

And we came home right afterwards. I made fried rice. We ate and we cleaned up everything. Shin was a HUGE help. He was really awesome. He wanted me to be able to focus on my homework. Then he fell asleep, and I worked on my homework. Until 5pm, then I took a nap. We woke up at 10. I freaked out because my homework is nowhere near done. And here I am. I've recorded all the answers (which were provided). Now I have to actually figure out how to get to them.

Ugh. Work & school is going to be really hard tomorrow. (Don't worry, I'm definitely going to post more on the trip... I just don't have it in me right now.)