Last Day in Köln

Well, for our last day in Germany half of the group got the chance to go to the zoo with a group of fourth graders. It was very interesting to see the differences in their zoo and ours. For example, we were close enough to the outdoor penguin exhibit to actually touch them. The kids also found it funny that the zoo had a raccoon exhibit. We had a great time and are ready to hang out and play some soccer and ultimate frisbee at the coffee house. God has certainly forged relationships between our students and the German students here. The other group (along with Colton) is back at the all-girl's high school. We will all meet up around 4:00 and do some shopping before heading to a big dinner with all of our new friends who have helped us so much here in Köln. We have about 30 people all together, so it should be a nice party for our last night. After that we will be levying the hostel at about 5:00 am for the airport. We will be back to DFW at 3:20. We will see you all at the end of customs in Terminal D. We have had a great time, but all of to reading this are sorely missed by all of us. So long from Germany, we will see everyone tomorrow.

Snapshots from Day 2

Tomorrow's our last day???????

Our time in India has gone way too fast! Although we miss all of you, we are dreading the goodbyes we will say to our new camp friends tomorrow.  For you mission trip alums, you know the dreaded last goodbye and the resulting tears!

We continued our camp program today with teachings on Jesus as our Provider, our Teacher, and our Healer.  The team did a super job and the skits were great!  The Indian children are so eager to perform their songs and dances for us as well.  Perhaps the most beautiful sound this morning were voices joined together singing, "I could sing of Your love forever" in English and Telegu.  Courageous and sweet American teenagers who gave up their spring break to serve and the precious Indian children so grateful to be held and loved created an amazing melody...some sappy people might have actually cried while they were videotaping :).  As trip leaders, it is difficult to communicate in words how blessed we are by this team!

As we shared together in devotion tonight, it became apparent that the theme was, "I am not the same," as students shared how God has changed them on this trip.  What an amazing time we have had together!  This will probably be our last posting from India as we have a full day tomorrow with camp and a little shopping before we head to the airport to begin our journey back to America tomorrow night.

Our hearts are full!

Busy in Germany

Well, things have really been busy over the past couple of days. On both Monday and Tuesday we split up into two groups to visit some of the schools here in Germany. We have gotten the chance to visit a Christian School, a middle school, an elementary school, and an all-girls high school. [Colton was a little too excited to find himself in that particular group. :-)] the kids have done an awesome job forming relationships with the kids in a short time. We all have lots of new Facebook friends. We have also gotten the chance to really make some great connections for the missionaries on the ground here. In the late afternoons we have been able to hang out at a coffeehouse that two of the missionaries here run as a way to connect to the kids in the area. We are back in schools tomorrow, on our last day here. One group is actually accompanying an English class to the zoo for a field trip God is certainly using the team to do some awesome things. Please continue to pray that God will give us the strength to make it through one more day.

Happy Campers

Today was a very successful first day of VBS for the India team! We went out to the country (passed a couple goat farms en route) to a home for former street children and were met by lots of friendly faces saying, "Hi, brother!" and "Hi, sister!" The kids from the orphanage were our first friends, but we were soon joined by a couple other groups: one from the school we visited the other day and a couple that traveled 16-18 hours to attend camp. Our hosts had set up a large canopy to give us a break from the sun, giving our camp a bit of a big top flair. :)

We played and played and played today: cricket and volleyball and duck-duck-goose and more. Our students were amazing: so full of enthusisasm and energy, so attentive to the kids around them. It was also fun to see their resourcefulness in action as they invented games or built a human boat to illustrate a parable or devised new methods to distribute glue to 15 kids at the same time.

Our team's outpouring of love was a joy to watch, and although we are tired at the end of this day, we are happy campers.

And we are so conscious of the words we sang during a sweet time of worship together tonight: He loves us. We are eager to give out a little bit of that love tomorrow on day #2.

Game Time

It's morning here in Hyderabad, and we are waiting for our bus with suitcases full of craft supplies for today's VBS kick-off. We are expecting about 150 kids and are excited to get going on what we have prepared to do.

It was an honor yesterday to worship with 2 different congregations and in 2 distinctive styles. The morning service we attended was very traditional and conducted in Telugu (language of the state we're in) with women and men seated separately. Our girls wore their punjabis again, and our guys decided to join the club and wear theirs as well. The people were very welcoming, and we really enjoyed the music, the church member's testimonies (hooray for a translator!), and the hospitality of a cold cup of Sprite afterward. Most of the service was a blur of exuberant Telugu, but we did manage to chime in with a "Hallelujah!" every once in a while. :) A couple of our students were able to share their stories as well, and it was fun to be able to share in the goodness of our God with His people here.

After a gourmet lunch at an upscale vegetarian restaurant (including a welcome cup of coffee), we headed to an English evening service at a Baptist church and were met with warm greetings and fresh flowers for each member of the team. We enjoyed a mixture of familiar hymns and new songs as well as a wonderful message on the kingdom of God from Mr. Kathramalla.

We'd love to write more, but the bus just pulled up! We are praying for the team in Germany and can't wait to give everyone a more detailed update when we return. Thank you for your prayers! We are grateful.

Line Dancing with Germans

Friday Night, Saturday, and Sunday

Friday night we got the chance to go lead a youth service at a church here in Germany. The kids did great and were really able to speak into the lives of the believers here. The German students also loved the line dance we taught them. It was a lot of fun. On Saturday we got to be tourists and went to St. Goar and had the chance to explore an enormous castle there. The kids had a great time getting to find all the nooks and crannies of a 2000 year old structure. On Sunday, we led a church service at a church in town. The church really focuses on the kids so we prepared a message especially for them. The kids did an awesome job and all the little kids loved it. Please pray for us over the next few days. We have the chance to go into some of the public schools here. This is an opportunity that the missionaries here have been waiting a long time for, like 12 years. We are really excited to be the first group to get a chance. Pray our students have wisdom in everything they say and that the German students will ask questions that will give our kids a chance to share their faith. I think that's all for now.

Jai Ho!

Yesterday was an awesome day as we jumped into ministry!  We spent the morning and first part fof the afternoon at a small elementary Christian school.  The girls looked great in their punjabis!!!!  My favorite picture-perfect moment was 15 wonderful Texans and our transplanted Indian teaching the Texas line dance with their cowboy hats and punjabis! A beautiful irony!  :)

My favorite picture though was the one of our students interacting with the children there...and there were many pictures taken!! What a beautiful sight!

We spent last night at Western style youth group in Secunderabad and two students were able to share testimonies and we all performed our line dance again!  It was a full day and they were ready for bed last night!

Today we are heading to a traditional Indian church service...even the boys are in their punjabis!  This evening we will join with another group of believers for their church service.  This is one of the most amazing parts of a mission trip--worshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ around the world!

We are all trying to increase our Hindi and Telegu vocabulary--one of our new phrases is Jai Ho--translated, Live long or live fully! And isn't that we are called to do as believers--to live fully in the Lord?!
Thank you for your continued prayers! We can feel God sustaining us each day!
Jai Ho!

Autorickshaws, punjabis, and naan!

Great day!  We have experienced much of the true Indian culture today...including the "never-be-in-a-hurry" moments~which is sometimes stretching for Americans!!!  The students all found punjabis (the traditional Indian outfit that we will wear in all of our outreaches) as well as a few other treasures!  We rode on autorickshaws--think three-wheeled motor cabs on steroids in a country that views traffic lanes as a suggestion!  The kids loved it!  We were also treated to a FABULOUS Indian meal at Paradise Restaurant...rumored to be a favorite among American celebrities!  After an evening walk around the neighborhood and another exciting ride in the autorickshaws, we are ready for devotionals and a full day tomorrow!  The team has been great at adjusting to the time and food as well changes in direction (literally!)  :)

Thank you for your prayers! We, like the Germany team, are so grateful for your prayers! We are excited at all God is going to do as we move into outreach tomorrow!

Friday in Cologne!

Today we are hanging out with some German students at a coffee house in town. The coffee house is run by two missionaries here who are trying to connect to the youth in town in any way that works. This works really well. Our kids got the chance today to help them develop relationships with lots of students. Tonight we are running a youth service at a church in town. Please pray that our students can be an encouragement to the believers here in Cologne. Out of about 200,000 kids under 18, only about 1,500 go to an evangelical church in Cologne. We are having an awesome time. We appreciate your prayers. They are something that helps more than the good night of sleep we got last night.

What Day Is It?

Thursday (right?) was a good one for the India team. We woke up to the beeping of autorickshaws and rumbling motors in the street and enjoyed a hot breakfast of familiar foods. After hearing each other's trip verses in devotions, we practiced dances for our school visits at our hotel, putting our own creative spin on the chicken dance. It'd be hard to describe our interpretation in a way that would capture the splendor; just imagine everyone rolling around on the floor laughing and crying. Jet lag has a way of making many things hilarious. :)

We spent the afternoon prepping our teaching lessons, and the parable skits were pretty comical as well. Did you know Zacchaeus the tax collector was only 3 feet tall? Or that Jesus calmed the storm by giving the sea an order in Spanish?

After taking a break to play Uno, a mission trip favorite, we had a sampling of several traditional Indian dishes for dinner, and our students were impressively adventurous in trying new things: lentils, chicken, noodles, and spinach, all seasoned heavily with curry or ginger or cilantro. Although we had a fun day, everyone is pretty grateful for our 8:30 bedtime. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day to get out and see Hyderabad!

Welcome to Cologne

We had a great train ride from Frankfurt to Cologne. We got to see a lot of German countryside in a hurry, somewhere around 150 mph. We are doing a little exploring of the city today an just getting comfortable in Germany. Tomorrow we will get to work as we put on a youth service for a local church. Everyone is excited to get to work, but is also excited about our early bedtime tonight. Thank you for your prayers.

Well, it is 8:15 a.m. here in Germany. We landed in Frankfurt about an hour and a half ago. While waiting on our train to Cologne, we are eating a little bit of breakfast at a traditional German spot known as McDonald's. How cliche... :-)

India Team's Safe Arrival in Hyderabad

The India team (and all our luggage!) has arrived safe and sound in Hyderabad, and we received a warm welcome at the airport from the Kathramallas. We have a lot to tell, but for now, it is 4:30 local time, and we are settling in for some good sleep. :) Thank you for your prayers!

Countdown has begun

The countdown not only has begun, the coundown is almost done! 

• On Tuesday, March 8, 17 students and 2 teachers from Lake Country Christian School will board the first of four planes to Hyderabad, India!
• On Wednesday, March 9, 13 students and 3 teachers from Lake Country Christian School will board a flight to Frankfurt, Germany.
• On Thursday and Friday, March 10-11, 94 students and 12 adults will load buses from Lake Country Christian School will board buses to serve throughout Fort Worth, Texas!

Please pray with us that we would walk in the center of God's will on each of these trips.  Pray Psalm 91 with us over each of our groups.

Check back here for more updates soon!!!!