It's been a whirlwind few weeks in India. We've moved locations, but are still active helping the community around us. I'm thankful to have been blessed with good health overall.

The last couple of weeks include teaching English to college students and young students in slums, preparing inservice material for teachers at a school here, and visiting orphanages, amongst many other activities. I'm sorry I can not include more here right now ~ our time online is very limited at the moment.

Please take a moment to enjoy the pictures with some of my new friends (top left) and eating lunch at a conference after we performed a skit.

Blessings,

Amy

Thank you! On our way!

Thank you all for your prayers and support! By the time you read this, we'll be on our way to India! I'm excited for what the two months ahead will bring ~ and I have no idea what that will look like! :) That is an exciting place to be, one of total dependence on God for what the future will bring. I've been pretty desperate for that for a while. I struggle with taking back control, but am so thankful for His loving guidance that brings me back to dependence on Him.

So again, thank you all. I look forward to staying in touch as often as I can. Right now, I hope to update this blog every week or two.

Blessings to you!

Amy

Support update

Please note the change on the right hand side of the blog. If you would like to support me financially, you may send checks to me at the Seneca address (if no tax-receipt is needed) OR still to Asbury Church with my name in the memo (for tax-deductible receipts). For those who have asked, I am trusting God to provide the remaining $2400 of my budget for this season in His timing.

Thank you all for your continued support. I firmly believe I am able to approach my days here with hope and expectation for what He has in store, because of your prayers. I'm thankful that God has placed us in each others' lives, to weave in and out for encouragement and growth. I continue to see how awesome that is as He reunites me with friends I haven't seen in years.

Thank you, God, for allowing us in each others' lives. Thank you for knowing and providing just what we need.

Four days and counting!

We serve a great God! Tuesday was the final day ALL outreach funds had to be in for my classmates, and God provided it all through the sacrificial giving of many. I'm thankful God is my loving Father and Provider and cares for our needs even more than we do! He even arranges times of encouragement with friends ~ thanks Dusty and Kristen for your hospitality, and to the many others who have let me stay in or offered their homes and support as I've taken this step. I love and appreciate you all.

This week wraps up our Lecture Phase of training. In just four days we'll be making the 2 day long trek (with layovers and such) to Trichy, India. Please keep our team in your prayers for safety, rest, love, and unity as we begin this second phase. We've been starting to apply what we've learned here at home, but we're excited to show God's love through us as we head into another culture with people who have many differences, yet many similarities to us.

Because that last sentence is true, these two weeks of training have been so important. Last week, Patience Gifford spoke about Spiritual Warfare. She began with a focus on character. How important that was! If there's one thing that Satan optimizes to keep us away from relationship with God and others the way He intended, it's this. We started by listing all the things that would make someone a bad soldier, someone we wouldn't want in battle. Maybe 30% of those things would be physical, but the other 70% is about character! (Ex: lazy, unprepared, poor listener, doesn't follow commanding officer, etc) How true this is for us in our daily lives too. Ephesians 6:12 and others point out that we are in a spiritual war, and if so, it is our responsibility to be good soldiers. The rest of the week, we discussed the enemy's battle plan, God's battle plan, and practical application of both. All of this = so important as we enter a country with a very different spiritual climate from our own.

This week, we discussing missions. Yes, true, we've been preparing for that all along! But we've taken a practical look now at what that looks like. I hope to share a little more of what that looks like with you before I leave, but for now, I must head to bed! Must be taking care of my body as well!

On a funny note, I might not experience my birthday year this year. Depending on when we cross the international dateline, we might hop right over September 15! Don't worry, though~we're already planning on celebrating a teammate and my birthdays the weekend we get there. Plus, it'd be a funny story to tell~I could forever be one year younger than I really am! ;)

Love and blessings to you, and thankfulness for your support,

Amy

Praise God!

Just a quick update to praise God for providing my classmate's funds to go with us on outreach!! Thank you to all who've prayed for us this week!

Just two more families are waiting for outreach funds to come in, and several of us (me included) are looking forward to seeing how God will meet our remaining financial needs as well.

More to come Sunday or Monday!