How has my life been transformed by Christ?

How about yours?

The purpose of my life has been fulfilled.

At my going away party in June one of my friends seriously asked me what I was looking forward to most going to India, what my first most goal would be during my year-long adventure. My retort? “I want to ride an elephant.” I guess I can come home now!! Last Thursday I climbed atop an elephant which meandered around the Mysore Palace during a famous festival called Desara. It was fun. Last week we had a few days of touristy stuff! We visited the palace, which was magnificent. We went to see gardens distributed among an array of fountains. We hung out at a hospital, which definitely gave me an adrenaline rush. During the last few weeks we’ve utilized a plethora of transportation methods: crowded buses, trains, elephants, horse drawn rickshaws, an auto crammed with 12 people, boats, and we’ve crossed a rushing river. We’ve driven through countryside speckled with rocky hills, rice patties, coconut trees and cows. We’ve eaten off of banana leaves. We’ve seen temples, cathedrals, and mosques.

I’ll never be able to adequately describe the things we’ve seen, the people we’ve met, the smells that have reached our noses, the taste of freshly made dosa, the sounds of horns outside our window or waking up to a cow mooing on the street outside. Every once in awhile it hits me that I’m in India. I was sitting on the balcony yesterday journaling. I was on campus waiting to leave for Tamil Nadu. Sometimes I forget that I’m in the middle of a huge adventure. When you’re living in an adventure, that adventure becomes daily life in a way that I never expected to have happen.

I would also like to describe to you a few more things going on in India that have been important to me these past few weeks. October is a big month, with a lot of short term international teams coming in. Most of the teams we meet and hang out with and help the Indians with ‘cause they insist that we can explain certain aspects of India to them better than the Indians can. Me and Elise don’t believe them, but we help where we can. Anyways, one team in particular has blown us away. They are a team of mechanics. They aren’t actually mechanics by profession, but volunteer at their church every week fixing the cars of single parents. They are working on cars for two weeks here for the organization. I was outside before breakfast the other morning just meandering around campus. I was shocked to see them already at their work. They work all day and put their full energy into their tasks, but still have managed to have a lot of fun and build relationships with most people on campus. Elise and I have both been encouraged and challenged by their work ethic and servants’ hearts! I would also like to tell you about my favorite little boys! They are brothers and are simply adorable! Usually 11 year old boys are awkward and don’t know how to carry themselves, but this boy is poised and well spoken. He takes care of his little brother and they are very sweet to each other. And Jeffrey, the older brother explained cricket to me. I’ve had a bunch of people try to explain it to me before, but I never understood it until this kid explained it! I know kinda understand the game and its interesting!

I hope this post finds you well and you enjoyed hearing a bit about the things I’ve been up to lately!

more on my travels!

I’ve been in Bangalore and Tamil Nadu for the last two weeks nearly. It’s been an adventure to say the least! I’m getting stretched and pushed in so many different directions. I’d like to give you one example: We were on our way to a house meeting last Friday. As we were climbing into the vehicle, the brother taking us commented: “Ok, so one of you will be teaching and the other will be singing a song.” We looked at him slightly confused. ”Just kidding!” he laughed. ‘One of you will be teaching, the other will be sharing a testimony.” Still assuming he was joking with us we start laughing. Well, he was serious. So I taught with 20 minutes notice. Its actually kinda cool. It’s always a challenge to keep us on our toes. You have to always be learning and spending time in God’s word because so many times you’ll be called to share what you’re learning—so it’s usually a good idea to be learning stuff from his word. And if you zone out during a prayer meeting, guaranteed you’ll be asked to pray outloud for the requests you just zoned out for. I Peter 3:15 has been made real to us in these last few weeks.



I had the privilege of doing some health and hygiene public health presentations since I’ve been here. I really love public health. Some of it has been common sense stuff, and other stuff has been stuff I’ve researched. I actually got to give a presentation to a group of 75 pastors. It was really strange talking to grown men about how germs are spread and boiling water and nutrition and AIDS. I definitely got nervous beforehand, but once I was up there, I really enjoyed it! There are things here that I would NEVER have had the nerve to try at home, but by being given a gentle push into these situations, I’m learning more about myself and my strengths and having confidence enough to at least try. Well, Elise and I did a swing dance in front of 100+ people. Yeah, I’ve been swing dancing like 2 or 3 times and am not good. Plus the fact that we are in India, so girls don’t dance with guys. This means that Elise had to lead. She is better at swing dancing than me, but—well we’re both girls and neither of us know how to lead. Anyways, it was the only “American” dance that we know. So we put together a swing dance. It was helpful that there were no Americans there, so no one knew what it was supposed to look like. We’ve had so many opportunities in the last two weeks. I mean, I’m just so thankful that we’re getting such a diverse experience in India. I am grateful for the opportunities that I’ve been blessed with here. We’re seen as ‘children’ so they don’t expect us to be great at everything, but still give us the opportunities to try things we’ve never done before. Its led to a lot of growth!

I would like to also share with you some of the amazing things we’ve seen in our travels. Last week we traveled to Tamil Nadu for a few days. We had the opportunity of hanging out with some amazing brothers and sisters who had spent a month in intensive outreach. We had the opportunity to hear reports of what God is doing in this country and spend time building relationships and hanging out with these girls! One of the places we got to see was in the mountains. Well, it was in a valley between mountains where rivers meet in waterfalls. We had a picnic day here. It was beyond gorgeous! I keep thinking that there is nothing that will be more beautiful in the world. Then we would turn the corner and God would reveal another facet of his majestic creation. Its days like these when I wonder at how blessed I am to be in this place.

I would like to share one more thought with you before I finish this update. I was getting ready to speak on Sunday and was growing nervous. Here we were, two twenty year old American girls getting ready to speak His word in front of a group of people who live out God’s commands daily and are passionately in love with him. Not to mention about 6-7 pastors were in the crowd. Anyways, I was sitting there feeling very small and wondering what on earth I had to say, when I turned to Jeremiah 1.

Jeremiah 1:6-7 says: “Ah, Sovereign Lord, I said, I do not know how to speak; I am only a child. But the Lord Said to me, ‘Do not say “I am only a child.” You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.’ “

Thank you for your prayers—Elise and I are experiencing so many new things and traveling. Please pray for this organization as it is a busy month everywhere and there is a lot that needs done.


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Your sister in Him,
Susan