Sam George came to our hotel yesterday morning to see us off. After that we headed down the mountain to the airport in some city (forgot the name). I kinda have to throw myself under the bus for a minute here, but Kelly & I found it so funny that after the plane was up in the air for only about 30 minutes, it landed & we thought we were in Mumbai already. We saw everyone stand up to get there bags, we even saw Jeremy stand up, so Kelly & I thought "Oh well, guess we're here" As we went to get of the plane, both Allison & Eric called from behind us & said that this wasn't our stop. I'm glad that they were sitting close to us, cause we would've gotten off in Cochin wondering why our pals weren't getting off! Sorry, I'm not used to planes stopping to let people off like a city bus or a train does. Back in Mumbai now & we went went back to see the kids at Mathews place. It was a secret so when we got there, they were excited. They remembered our names and wanted me to dance with them this little dance that I made up off the top of my head but it was a hit there! I got to see my soccer kids, That's right, I'm on a Mumbai team. We went to the market for just a little bit, like an hour and a half, and headed back. We are all in 1 room right now, we didn't want to pay for all of us to have rooms for just a few hours. We will grab a bite to eat soon & head off to the airport around 10ish for a plane that leaves around 2:30AM.

I'm going to miss this place, the kids, the pastors. Everything. I think the plane right to London wil be better than the one from London to here. I will have plenty of time to go back over many parts and events of this trip. Oh yeah, I have also been given many new names here in India. Since my name sounds like "Tea", I have been called Chai or Chaia, and then on one of my plane tickets my name was "Pia"! I'm shocked that I still remember my real name!

I miss everyone & can't wait to see you all. We have asked God to bless you as you have prayed for us here and for our safe return.

See you real soon.
Much Love
Tia

Posted by Tia Longhouser at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, we have skipped a few days of blogging cause we have been extremely busy since our last time online. Tuesday, after we blogged & grabbed a bite to eat, we went back to play with the orphans in Kerela. Like I said, there was 120 of them. I think this was our biggest group... Kelly & I got plenty of excersise at this place. The children like being picked up, spinning around in circles by their hands. They love to climb on you just to reach your face. They want to hold your hand. They want to kiss you on the cheek. They want to sit in your lap during prayer. They want to braid your hair & marvel at your painted toe nails. Can I just say tht India is the only thing that has ever made me want to have atleast 100 arms so that I can hold every single one of them...

Well, we would raced back & forth in the yard, played more football/soccer. We gave out candy, HAHA, they LOVEEEEE them some candy, lemme tell ya!!! It's funny because I didn't know that one of my many jobs on this trip would be singing, but it was & I did it. I have been singing so much & I'm so glad that their pretty little voices are loud enough to cover up mine. There was a girl & a boy there that we prayed for before we left. One had a fresh open would on the back of her head & the boy had had a deep cough, I'm hoping it wasn't his lungs, but we prayed over them & will continue to, of course. After we left there, we headed back to our hotel & called it a night, we were a little beat, but we had to be up to go to the other 2 orphanages that were about 3 or so hours away. This was where the tsunami had hit & one of the places that housed the orphans was only cheap becase the lans was where the tsunami was & the people that had owned it were not found after it hit the coast. We met tons of children that were effected by that tsunami in 2004. There stories of survival will send chills up your spine. I won't go into their stories, but Cliff & Mary have been great about obtaining stories about the children & taking pictures to go along with that, so I'm sure we'll have something up & running for everyone not long after we get back. The other place we went to (I wish I could remember the name of it) was just as amazing. They gave us flowers we sang more songs, we even did a choo choo train in the yard, all the kids were lined up making train noises! That was cute. Jeremy & Veer played soccer with the boys & veer was playing so hard that he lost his lunch if you get my drift! I'm sure it was worth it : ^)
I ended up arm wrestling with some of the boys I got beat a few times, but I did win once, I think he let me cause I'm a girl & he saw me losing so much. We played duck duck goose & ended up making new rules to make it more fun & then I got to draw & paint a picture for one of the boys. I didn't get to finish it, but when I asked him to finish it for me, he wasn't as sad. Then the long drive back & we met up with the Chester team for dinner & our devotionals. Oh yeah, & before you heare it from anyone else, I love Indian food & they are laughing cause they say I can put away some food. Let me just say thatI am enjoying the food very much & it is no lie, I love spicy food all, but they have video of me pigging out (Hellooooo, it was curry!!!!), ok not really, but they thought it was funny cause I was in my own little world while they were talking.

Ok, so yesterday, we spen 8 or so hours in the bus driving through the mountains to Tenkasi. Can I just tell you how BEAUTIFUL this place is!!!! The weather is beyond perfect & the scenery is post card perfect. We woke up this morning, had breakfast & Kelly had a mosquito in here eggs, but she is a champ cause that didn't stop her (can I just say we have adapted) then we were of to Sam Georges place. We spent the whole day there. We did our bible story, sang songs, taught for about an hour & a half, hung out with the bible students, went to the new site were they are building, I got to get pushed around in a wheelbarrow (sp?) with the kids, got to play on the roof (What a view), we bought them tons of rice, shoes, toys, stuff they needed. I was binging back one of the girls from playing in the field when Mary, Cliff & Elizabeth (Sam's Wife) were rushing off to get a woman out of the street from up the road, they brought her back in our bus & she was so weak she couldn't walk. She was so skinny and probably hadn't eaten in a while. She couldn't talk, they carried her out to give her a bath & they are taking her to the hospital. Her name is Reba & she is not well at all. I wish I could explain her condition more, but I just can't it brings tears to my eyes. We started to pray over her & she was just looking up at us. She was in pain & we could feel it. Please pray for Reba's recovery. I'm sure we will be able to get updates on her condition as we keep in touch with Sam's place.

We will stop by Sam's for just a moment tomorrow & then have a 4 hour drive to get on a plane back up to Mumbai. We will stay 1 day & then Fly out heading back home this weekend. I can't grasp how fast this trip was, but I can honesty say that this has changed my life. A part of me is kinda looking forward to sleeping in my bed, hot water in the shower & a cold glass of milk. The other part of me, a larger part doesn't want to go & kinda won't mind if Allison loses my ticket home. Seriously, though. It's hard to leave behind. I already can't imagine not waking up early in the morning just to have tons of children wanting you to love on them. Anyways, we have to be up early & I will get back on in Mumbai.

Posted by Tia Longhouser at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Really quick, I was feeling rather bleh yesterday & I was looking at the time back home. I was thinking about how everyone was at church & then ministry night. Kelly & I got to talking about how nice it would be to get a pocket sized Matt Green with a pocket sized guitar so that we can put him in our pocket and have him just sing where ever we go. Kelly ended up having some of Matt's older stuff on her Ipod so we listened to that & then we heard Flint start talking. I thought that was pretty cool. I kinda closed my eyes & pretended I was there for a bit. It really did get me geared up for today!

Posted by Tia Longhouser at 3:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Our train was late the other night but not as late as the one in Mumbai, so seriously, no big deal. I think we were all coming off of a sugar high because we chose not to eat dinner so we grabbed some snacks instead. Veer came back on the bus with chips, chocolate, cookies & soda. Our crash happened at the station, so we got tired fast. Anyways, on the train we were stacked in 3s, We were all kinda, well, lets just say we weren't perky cause we were all so tired. I was on the 2nd bunk from the bottom & some guy was telling me to wake up because he wanted to sit up (his bed was under me). So I got kicked out of my bed, Veer saw what happened & decided to give me his bunk, poor guy, he ended up staying awake. It's funny how things happen. I can't believe I was so patient during that whole thing!!! Thank you, Jesus!!! We are now in Angamaly, taking a break from our shopping trip. We just picked up tons of toys for the orphans here. There are 120 of them! And they are beautiful! They put flowers around our necks & guess what, they love making funny faces!!!! I think it's funny when a kid can make funny faces back at you, especially when it's 120 of them. We are about to go look at a washer for clothes & maybe some lunch, by then, the children should be out of class. I guess I'll add more later. Until then..... : ^ P

Tia

Posted by Tia Longhouser at 3:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Right now, we are sitting in a train station killig time on the computer. After we "blogged lastnight, we walked to the hotel, which meant in the street, that was scary. Today we woke up bright & early, got picked up by Jaison to go back to the Goa orphanage. We 1st stopped by to see our bible school friends that we made yesterday. They worshipped with us, it's exactly what we needed. We praised God with song & laughter & friendship. They are very amazing people, brothers & sisters in Christ is what we are & making us feel like family wasn't a problem. THEN (my favorite part) we picked up the children & took them shopping for new clothes!!! They were so excited because they have never been shopping before. I got to pick out outfits & make sure they were getting the right size. HAHA, I can't stop laughing cause the look on their precious faces was priceless. They were gratefull & were having a blast. They are to cute for words. There is a guy here named Yang Mi, he is 25 & takes care of the children in the lower half of the orphanage. He used to be an orphan himself & has decided to follow the path that God has made for him to walk, and he does it proudly. We talked with him a little outside while we were waiting for everyone to pay for the childrens clothing. Compared things about our parts of the world, talked about God (Hello, my favorite subject!). We headed back to the orphanage where Melona, Jaison's wife, had been cooking for us the whole day. I love rice! what can I say, I love curry more!!! I love spicy food & I haven't met my match here yet, but I'm enjoying taking on the challenge. I think I may be the only one who can hang though, cause the others don't seem fond of it, the super hot stuff, that is. You guessed it, I took her up on seconds. I decided to go down to the boys rooms & see what they were up to. I walked in & they were playing with the toy cars we got them. Yang Mi showed me the gifts they made us. They had drawn pictures & made crosses that were yarn stitched. These boys have talent! These pictures were so amazing! Then they sang more songs to us, some of which I learned so that I can teach my kids when I get home. Then we went upstairs to sing some more, we did our bible story. They had a blast doing it! I absolutely love interacting with these children. We played more badminton & I almost took quite a fall skating through the clay mud, my feet are stained cause I was wearing flip flops (that's right, I gave up on the sneakers)! I got to listen to Yang Mi's testimony and found out how much he loves to sing, helloooo, I so knew that by watching how he alsways sings with the children. I got to talk to him for a good while after that & feel like I made a good friend. I have a pen pal now, yay!!! It's heart breaking to hear some of the things we do in the states aren't even going to be possible for some people here or in other countries like India. A plane ride for example, they just know they won't get to, and they don't even mind, all you do is share with them the fun of it & they find that just as amazing. We prayed for the children & then they prayed for us. It's amazing how they pray out loud all at the same time. The Holy Spirit, I'm telling you guys, He has been drenching us with His presence. I love this place. I love these children, I love this trip. When we were saying by yo the children, I turned around and just cried. I really just want to stay here with them. Bleh, I'm tearing up now just thinking about it. But I know that it's going to be harder in Kerala leaving them. I guess I'm tired of leaving. I always just want to stay. But I really like Goa & hope that The Lord needs me here again soon. I have this video on my camera that has the boys singing the most beautiful song & I have played it over & over again just to hear their angelic voices. Anyways, keep praying for us, dear friends. And pray for those children, too! One of the 1st things I've decided to do is support an orphanage here when I come home. I'm hoping that with these stories we are sharing, that you might want to come out here and see for yourself & make the same decision I have.

Much love & blessing,
Tia

Posted by Tia Longhouser at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We left Mumbia on Wednesday & had some time to spare so we went on the boat to check out a mountain. I guess I'm just not prone to getting motion sick, cause man, this boat was all over the place.
It ended up being an emotional day for me, I didn't want to leave Mumbai cause I wanted to see those awesome kids again. I won't go into it to much, but I know that The Lord is working on me here. Sooo, we went to catch a train to Goa & out train was 4 hours late, so we sat on the floor & made the best of it. Played cards & read the Good Book and then a novel. I learned a new phrase T.I.I. meaning "this is India". On the train, I did my normal thing, then fell asleep. for a whole 12 hours. I went to sleep @ 4am & woke up at 4pm. I had something to cover my eyes & then some earplugs. So, now I'm back on the time at the states when I get up for work! As soon as we go to Goa (oh yeah, Mary tried jumping from the train, she fell and rolled & rolled, I'm glad she was laughing about it cause you better believe I was!!!) we dropped our stuff off an ran straight to the orphanage. We walked in while they were doing their devotionals, then they began to pray & when they prayed, they prayed out loud, all at the same time. It was so powerful, I couldn't describe the feeling in that room at first, but when they started to sing, the most beautiful song I have ever heard, I knew that what I was feeling in that room was the Holy Spirit. Amazing! The Pastor & his wife were so hospitable, very nice. We met the children & Yungami, who takes care of them. All were very amazing. We came back to the hotel, did devotionals & we all got letters from our friends back home which was great timing for me, & the rest of us I'm sure, but it made me feel like I had that person right there with me cheering me on, So THANK YOU, my friend!!! That meant more to me than you know! We woke up early & met Pastor Jason downstairs, he took us to a Fort with the children AND 65 other pastors & bible students. Again, these people were awesome. We went & ate lunch with all of them and then we all went to the beach to play. I spent a majority of the time with the kids playing soccer/football (I'm getting better at this game). This is also one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, also had the biggest waves, too. We went back to spend more time with the kids back att he orphanage. Allison & I sang songs to the kids & then they sang songs to us, it was really funny cause I think I'm on video dancing or something, then Kelly, Allison & I played badminton, that was fun, but it's Monsoon season so the clay dirt was slippery & all of us were all over the place, but it was funny to all of us, I don't think anyone fell though, which is good. Then it was time to go : (
It's hard to leave them, but we have one more day with them tomorrow, then I'll pout, but not until then. Sooo, I'm trying to figure out how I can just come back to Goa after the last stop in India, and just stay here. I'm dreading the day it's time to go home....

Posted by Tia Longhouser at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I learned that I can sleep standing up, this seemed to amaze Allison & Eric. I think Allison & I are competing for a title to see who can sleep the most or in the weirdest places. They find it odd that we can both sleep in the taxi's here on these roads! I can now sleep sitting up, too. It's weird cause I'll be wide awake & then somehow my eyelids wont open ; ^ )

Posted by Tia Longhouser at 2:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

We went to AM Mathew's orphanage on the outskirts of Mumbai yesterday. On the driver there, I had a young boy come up to my window asking for money for food. It's hard, cause back home, I can easily give a homeless man a few bucks to grab a bite to eat, but it's not like that here. The kids will get drawn into the street and can get hurt in traffic. It was all I could do to just look away. Anyways, we got to the orphanage & met the teachers. They were very sweet people. Really quick, before I forget, it's really cool how they say "Yes" here! We nod our heads 7 they kinda do the bobble thing, it looks really cool & I have a feeling I'm going to be doing it without knowing it shortly. The children came in and gave us bundles of flowers, they were very beautiful. These children were so excited that we were there! I made up this dance off the top of my head that they got a kick out of, Allison jumped in & before you know it, we had the whole upstairs singing & dancing & laughing. They wanted us to right our names in their notebooks, on their hands (their hands are so tiny, it's so adorable) they wrote us letters, we did a skit & we playd football, in the states it's called soccer by some & the boys said I was really good "for a girl" too cute!!!!! So, of course I got a picture with my football team. I didn't want to leave there at all. I could've stayed there forever & played with those children, & that was just the first one we went to! I think it is so amazing how these children are going through what they are, but it's no big deal!. They have their faith & that's all they need! They start

Posted by Tia Longhouser at 1:20 AM | Permalink

WOW!!! I'm finally here in India. I think we got here around 1:00am in the morning or so, anyways.... I thought that when I first got here, it would be more like a dream, like I wasn't really here. Well, I am, and it's not like a dream, it's different in a way that makes you feel spoiled, but I can't say that's a good feeling.

Today we met up with A.M. Mathew (orphanage director here in Mumbai) & took him shopping for toys to give the children. We got him some chess games, soccer balls, volley balls w/ a net!!! We also got some jump ropes for the for the girls and of course CANDY!!! The best part about being a kid is the natural love of candy. We will go & visit them tomorrow which is great cause we knocked out half of the shopping today which means more time with the children.

Yes, our luggage was lost! We should have it tomorrow. Cliff & Kelly didn't lose theirs, so we've been kinda dippin' in their bags a bit ; ^ )
It's cool though, we'll pay them back w/ interest in hand sanitizer!!!

Thank you for continuing to pray for us while we are out here. We really appreciate it & God Bless!!!

Oh yeah, Kelly & Allison forgot their passport, so I am typing for them & they just want to say "Thanks for all your prayers" & that they "love you" & to keep a look out for their blog which will be posted shortly!! (tomorrow)

Hugs to all, Tia (Allison & Kelly)

Posted by Tia Longhouser at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)