my first Indian Christmas

Merry Christmas friends and fam,

So it's my first Christmas away from my family, and I think I will be just fine. Don't get me wrong, I miss every last one of my 18 family members (and my friends too...don't think I've forgotten about you guys!) but I think I had prepared myself for something close to a mental breakdown during this season and that's not even close to how I feel. God has, once again, been faithful to comfort me. Plus I was thinking, it's pretty neat that I get to spend a Christmas on the eastern side of the world, closer to the actual place where Jesus was born!

Last night we had a Christmas party at Saji and Bindu's and did a gift exchange thing, tomorrow we will go carolling from home to home in our neighbourhood, and Christmas Eve we will serve the host families by providing them childcare and waitering for a "Christmas Satsung." Instead of a regular candlelight service it will be a Hindu-style worship night to celebrate Jesus' birth to this earth. They promised we'd still get some goodies out of the deal, just in case some of you were worried for me. :)

Since we've returned from Punjab (which was neat...we saw the Sikh Golden Temple and some famous...rock garden...?) I have been spending my days with five young women, teaching some basic English, playing games with them, and taking some of the load off of the woman who lives with them 24/7. These girls have been either rescued out of prostitution, abused in some way, or banished from their homes for various reasons and they now live together under some supervision. It is quite amazing to see the laughter and happiness in that home. It has God's grace written all over it, just as His grace is waiting there for any of us.

That reminds me, I have been learning a lot from God about his grace. Here is a verse that has been encouraging me. Hopefully it can be the same for you. It goes, "But (Christ) said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9,10). I sure feel weak a lot of the time--thank you Lord that you can use me best in those times!

I thank God that he sent his Son, Jesus, to be born in this crazy world. He is my Saviour!

A few prayer requests to end things off:

-That our team would take delight in having an Indian Christmas away from our usual families.

-For the 30-year-old woman who lives in, 24/7, with the five "sisters" I wrote of. She needs another live-in woman to help.

-Please pray that the rest of my funds for this trip will come in.

-That God would continue to mold me and form me into who he created me to be.

Thank you and God bless!

love, Bethy

p.s. I can't download pictures right now but I'll keep trying!

This little light of mine...

Namaste friends,

F.Y.I.--Photos are coming soon :)

Well, it's December sixth and from the sounds of it, things are really looking a lot like Christmas back in B.C.! It's starting to be sweater weather out here but we won't be getting snow...thank you to those of you who have sent snow pictures!

These past couple of weeks have been filled with an American Thanksgiving party, a friend from church's birthday party, and the end of our Hindi classes with Subodh, our teacher who often preached to us.

This past weekend was a heavy one for four of us (Greg, Jen, Jon, and me) who visited a city called Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in India. Its steps lead right onto the Ganges River and Hindu people from all over this country go there to bathe in it to wash their sins away. Not only did we see people dipping themselves in the polluted water (like seriously polluted...I wouldn't have wanted to dip one finger in that river), but Hindus often bring their dead there to be burned in fires so their ashes can be scattered in the water.

I can't really describe what that was like--to see such masses of lost people searching for truth in false gods. We all felt it too, and the spiritual heaviness was draining.

One morning Jen, Greg, and I woke up at 5:30am to watch the sunrise on the Ganges and we were praying on the steps near the water. A little boy, about 11 years old, came over to try to sell us these floating candles that you can send off into the water. They are actually quite pretty but the meaning behind them stopped us from buying any. As we started to pray he stuck around and a few others gathered. But they were all talking loudly and kept trying to sell us things. At first I thought it was just a bother, but I started talking to the boy (he spoke decent English). I said, "The reason we don't want to buy your candles is because we believe that there is one God only." I pointed around me explaining, "He made the sky, the river, the birds, the sun that's about to come up, and he made you and me. And you know what else? Jesus loves me, and Jesus loves you too." His face looked threatened. Then he walked away. Please join with me to pray for children like this one, that he would see Jesus' light shine even brighter than the candles he sells.

There were some hints of hope in that city: the children with joy on their faces, the picturesque river and sunrise, the baby animals running around everywhere. There is hope for the nations, as promised by God the Father.

Another mentionable and completely unrelated change that happened last week is that I got my hair cut! Those of you who know me well enough would know that that is a big deal because the last time I had it short was in grade 11. I felt it was a thing God wanted me to let go of so I did, and I'm glad about it. Much easier to take care of anyway, and maybe my Fructis shampoo will be able to last me a couple extra months!

Thank you once again for your prayers. We are deciding, this week, which areas of volunteering we will each be focusing on for the rest of our time here, so if you could pray for discernment and peace in that area that would be great. We will also travel to the Punjab state this coming week for five days, so pray for protection and that our eyes would be opened to the way God sees the people we meet.

Hope all is going well…I miss each and every one of you!

Love, Beth