Hello all. After a 14 hour train ride, we are all safe in Anantpur to visit our last orphanage before we head back to Delhi. So just as a quick entry, I thought I would list several quotes by various team members that have kept our spirits up and laughter loud:

1. "How far? Just five minutes."
2. "tii...This is India."
3. "Yee Haw...hooh doggy" (from our Indian tour guide)
4. "Emanuel, you just took a dirt nap"
5. "Can I have my cipro back"
6. "But I don't want to put a cork in it"
7. "Have you seen the chickens around here?"
8. "What movie?"
9. "Is that pee?"
10. "Is that pee, again?!"
11. "I shaved so you didn't think I was a terrorist."
12. "What big city do you live near in Ohio?" "Columbus." (thinking) "What NFL city do you live near?"

More quotes to come, which all will be explained in our post trip out-takes.

Sincerely,

Spicy Spice

Posted by Adam Lapp at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hello to everyone out there reading about our trip. So far, it has been only what I can describe as a life-changing experience. Several hours before we boarded our airplane (SpiceJet Airlines, are you kidding me), we were absolutely honored to hand out report cards to the children of Pastor Veer's school. Just the publicity of us, Americans, being there will help him to build his school into what he envisions...a 1,000 children.

As we left, an 11 year old boy named Sagar began tearing up. He stood somberly against a post an cried as we said our good-byes. Whereas the other children were in great spirits, although they too did not want to see us go, Sagar was the only child crying. He had played David in the "David and Goliath" skit and several of us had grown attached to him. He simply had a look in his face that you knew he would grow up to be a great servant to God.

So Herb and I (he too had become attached) went over to console Sagar. I said to him, "Don't cry Sagar, we will be back again," then proceeded to give him a huge bear hug. This is what India does to you. It opens your heart to where you don't think about loving on somebody, you just do it. And because of this, I will be back.

There is so much more to say about the last two days, so I hope my fellow bloggers will cover me. We are leaving Vijayawada today and heading 4 hours north to Rajamundry (I think I spelled that right, even though spell checker underlined it). The trip is winding down and we have a lot of travel in front of us, but somehow, I believe many of us are feeling increasingly refreshed and ready for what lies in front of us. I'm not sure how accessible the internet will be in the next couple of days, but I hope to make at least one more post.

Sincerely,

Adam

P.S. In honor of SpiceJet Airlines, we have all now acquired "spicy" nicknames:
- Herb: Papa Spice
- Mike: Bunny Spice
- Matt: Biggy Spice
- Adam: Spicy Spice
- Allison: La femme de la Spice
- Eric: Hair gel Spice

Posted by Adam Lapp at 2:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

...we prayed for small school children. In the 90 degree sun, the roof soaked up the heat and they only had access to a fan for one hour per day. That's the little amount of electricity the "slums" of Delhi are allotted.

Unlike the first orphanage we went to yesterday, whose children seemed happy and quite full of joy, these particular school children seemed eerily quiet. It must have been purely a result of where they lived and in what conditions. Although the first orphanage was in a very desolate part of Delhi, with sewage running in open air on the side of the street, this school was in an area that I would have a hard time imagining if you told me to think of what a slum looked like.

In a place like that and with children like these, we did what we felt our hearts to do...we laid hands on them and prayed. Each one of them stood up straight and placed their small hands together and we prayed for God's grace to be on them and for God's love to affect their lives as they grow up. Then after our good-byes and much waving of hands, we walked down the steps carefully ducking our heads under the high voltage power line that hung over the top of the staircase.

Even with all of the poverty we witnessed today, I am grateful and utterly optimistic for the pastor in charge of this school and also the leper colony, Joseph. He had a bright demeanor and an even brighter vision for what he could do. It was a vision that stretched far and would impact very many, but for some reason, I had complete faith that he could do it. He is going to need a lot of help, from both God and us back home.

Well, it's getting late here so I am going to retire to my room. I just want to ask for anybody reading this to lift us up in their prayers. Eric has warned us that it is only going to get more difficult and exhausting (physically and emotionally) in the preceding days. Thanks for all of your support thus far...the personal letters were an immense blessing.

Adam

Posted by Adam Lapp at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)