Happy birthday to me!

August 6

            I never thought my first birthday spent away from home would be as soon as my 18^th and all the way across the world in India! I woke up seriously depressed because I started thinking of all the things I would be doing if I were home, first, my mom would have come in and woke me up...not the Muslim in Hindu prayer calls -_- but thinking about what I WOULD be doing did no good what so ever, so I stopped and reached over to the four birthday cards people had written me that I had been SO very tempted to open every day since I got them! In addition to birthday cards I was sung to plenty of (if not too many) times! Once by the girls home earlier that week and once by the boys orphanage, and again by my group, and then a little later in the day by about 200 kids. Haha so I was definitely well covered on my birthday! Hearing all those children sing to me made it special enough!

         We got to visit a beautiful waterfall, and while we were there we saw wild monkeys and got to feed them! So far a pretty different birthday from any I've had before! But that's not the half of it!

We made our way to a conference...we're still in the mountains so it was more curves and plenty of near death experiences! I've learned the best thing to do is just close you eyes till you've come to complete stop and the car is turned off! Haha but by now we are all used to the driving! We arrived at the conference where a band met us at the top of the hill and played the whole time we walked down the hill and into the building. And when we entered the building...whew! Everyone stood up and started clapping and were all excited! I felt like we were some sort of special football players running out onto the field! Then they put flowers around each of our necks, and this is where I got my birthday song by the 200 children!                               Their respect for visitors and speakers certainly touched everyone in our group! We each talked a little and I did my evangecube and some balloon animals and then painted some faces, they were all so excited and listened to every word we had to say! Some of the children were Hindus so it was wonderful to get to share the gospel with them and some of their parents!

       Then we drove to another meeting, where the excitement of a girl older than me getting a balloon animal was a  special thing to see, you'd have thought I'd just given her a car by how excited this girl was!

But I think the most exciting thing that happened on my birthday was what Mr. Fred told us right before we went to bed, and that is something I will put in my next post because it deserves a post by itself! It will be called “His Word will NEVER return Void.” So looking over the day I'd say I had a very good, interesting, different, and God filled birthday! I am blessed, Praise the Lord!

In Him -Katie T- The Daughter of a King

Call to Prayer...literally

                  Over the course of our few days down Kumily and southern India I was fearfully shaken awake to a reality which I had been previously overlooking, due to lack of experience. I was sitting in our hotel room getting ready for bed when I started to hear people in the room below us start to chant and pray, whether they were Hindu or Muslim I don't know, but shortly after they started I heard a noise from outside my window that made my heart drop. It was the Muslim prayer calls from the mosques which I got to hear for about the next 30 minutes, as well as the family beneath me worshiping and praying along with this call. Nothing I can type up can describe my feelings when I heard this happening. I think I was angry at first and then just somewhat confused, at one point I felt the heaviness of the darkness around me crowding out all light, followed by a deep sadness for the many MANY souls that are being lost to this. While the family beneath me was praying to their gods I started singing hymns of praise to the one true God to try and drown them out and somehow touch their lives with the truth. When they stopped I thought it was over, but then the Hindu temples started up! I never before have felt such an urgent call for me to pray to God, pleading and crying out for these lost people! I wanted to run to the temple and use their speakers to tell them all about Jesus, I wanted to tell everyone that they were being deceived and lied to, but I couldn't. I never before have felt SO useless! All I could do was sit there and pray urgently for those lost. I don't know how long I laid in bed trying to fall asleep but not being able to because those horrible speakers kept going and going, and at five in the morning it woke me up. Yes, the Muslims and Hindus really do get their “call to prayer” three times a day, its not a joke, its not something that just happened in the past, its real and going on everyday here! But at the same time it calls them to pray it calls me to pray as well, and I am praying to someone who's name alone has the power to turn darkness into light and to make the demons surrounding and choking this country TREMBLE! SO IT IS IN JESUS NAME THAT WE PRAY FOR HIM TO CONFUSE THEIR MINDS SO THEY WOULD SEEK OUT HIS TRUTH, THAT HE WOULD SEND THEM VISIONS AND DREAMS, AND THAT HE WOULD BIND THE DEVIL AND FALSE RELIGIONS OF THIS LAND THAT HAVE HAUNTED THESE PEOPLE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS! THERE IS POWER IN HIS NAME TO DO THESE THINGS...IF ONLY we would have the faith of a mustard seed....do you have a such a faith in Him? Such a faith to ask BOLDLY such IMPOSSIBLE requests?!?! NOTHING is impossible with God and God DELIGHTS in doing the impossible so we can see just how GREAT AND MIGHTY HE IS! There are over three HUNDRED MILLION gods in India...now did you get that? THREE HUNDRED MILLION! Not three not thirty but three hundred MILLION gods and goddesses in India.... but we know “Our God is GREATER, our God is STRONGER, God you are higher than any other! Our God is HEALER, awesome in POWER, our God! And if our God is for us then who could ever stop us and if our God is with us then WHAT CAN STAND AGAINST?!” Just as these people are called to pray three times a day, I'm asking that you to would be called to prayer three times a day for all the lost and confused here in India and all over the world. I was also a bit ashamed when I heard all these prayers, because I looked back on my life and thought, how often do I stop what I'm doing and just pray for 30 minutes at least ONCE a day much less three times? They show much more dedication to their gods and prayers than some Christians do, imagine what it would be like if Christians were as dedicated? Imagine what we could accomplish setting all things aside and just giving God the praise He is due? Most importantly imagine the lives we would touch by doing this... These are just a few of the MANY thoughts that ran through my head as I listened to these prayer calls. I knew that these went on, but it wasn't until I was in the middle of the battle that I realized just how dangerous and horrific they really are. I felt like a tiny candle surrounded by an unpenetrable darkness...until I called on Jesus. “...and I will fear no evil for my God is with me, and if my God is with me, WHOM THEN SHALL I FEAR?”

“The LORD is my light and my salvation, WHOM THEN SHALL I FEAR? The LORD is the stronghold of my life OF WHOM SHOULD I BE AFRAID?” Psalm 27:1

In Him -Katie T- The Daughter of a King

                  Right: Just one of the MANY THOUSANDS of temples here in India. They are about as numerous here as our churches are in America only probably 2 times as many...PRAY PRAY PRAY!

Oh Just 4 More Kilometers!...5.Hours.Later...

August 4-5
                   Left at 3 in the morning to catch our flight down to Kochi, and then all piled (more like smushed) into a van and started off on our first LOOOOOOONG car trip of MANY. If you ever come to India you will understand perfectly what the title of this blog means -_-  haha just a "few" kilometers really does turn into just a "few" hours! The four and a half hour drive down to Kumily was definitely not your average "smooth sailing on the highway" road trip. It was all up hill on twisty curvery mountain roads...you haven't experienced curves till you come here! Instead of our little sgwiggle line that represents a curve coming up they have an actualy N representing their curves! And with big buses taking up most of the road sometimes we had a LOT of close calls but we had a good LOCAL driver! Getting into a car in India is taking one big leap of faith in the driver!  But through the nerve wracking driving God gave us front row seats to view His beautiful creation! The mountains were gorgeous and we passed SO many waterfalls, pictures don't do this amazing creation of His justice at all but here is just a few for your mind to expand on and imagine what it really was like!

"I tell you, if you remain silent, even the rocks will cry out!"
"No sky contains, no doubt restrains all you are, the greatness of our God!"
"The heavens declare the glory of God the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour fourth speech, night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard"


How could anyone who looks at this and the stary sky, the sunsets, and the sunrises not think there is a great and mighty God?!
                 When we finally got to Kumily we went to visit the boys orphanage. They are just like the girls only in their own boyish ways. That respect for God and their elders is evident at every moment, pray for these precious children of God! Pray they will grow up to be strong Christian leaders and be on fire for Him! We got to hand out care packages to each boy (about 40) and no words could ever express their faces when they received their gifts! One little boy that was sitting in front of me was smiling so big and looking through his bag with joy and such excitement it was over whelming to watch as he clung to his bag and hugged it so hard i thought it would burst! They all took out each of the items in their bags and with pride and a smile showed us and each other what they got :)  They are currently working on building a bigger orphanage so they can have more room and house even more boys! While we were there they told us how a man came to the orphanage not to long ago and said that it was to small and they would have to get rid of at least 20 of the boys, but praise the Lord he said since they are building this new building they can keep all the boys!! Pray that the funds would be raised to build this building and they will be able to finish soon! This is the orphanage that the laptop went to that a precious couple at my church bought and donated! So excited they were to receive it because the need for one was great! Their thanks go out to you!

Right: The new building project!!
Left: All the boys!      

                       Also while we were in Kumily we got to ride elephants!!!! :)                           
           Can't really put into words everything we experienced, the jokes we made, and every little thing God showed us! We left the boys orphanage wishing we had more time to spend with them, and started on our long journey back...but wait, God doesn't stop here, He has much more in store for His weary travelers that are trying to adapt to a strange culture and who get overwhelmed time and time again by His greatness in many ways! Right now all of you have only seen a tiny corner of the picture God is painting with this whole trip, and I'm holding my journal which contains almost four weeks more of this "painting"... I feel bad only to be able to throw tidbits of information to you and one day at a time! Thank you all for your patience and I pray you will continue to follow my journey to see what God is doing here in India!                            
In Him -Katie T- The Daughter of a King  

little cultural changes...

August 1-3 

        Every morning the girls sing songs and have devotion, to ever know what it feels like to listen to them you need to experience it for yourself. No words can describe the respect and obedience these girls have for Enoch, Nancy, and the Lord. Their adoration to the Lord through song and their sincere faith through prayer is astounding, especially for their ages! The children of America could learn much from these girls, and I think I am in danger of them teaching me more than I could ever teach them.

      For these three days we spent much time with all the HIM PALS. They are the partners in India that HIM supports. There are about 25 PALS all together, and for them to get the opportunity to all meet in one place with us was a huge blessing for them and for us as well. Their stories and testimonies were amazing to hear, and it was wonderful to just spend time talking with each. God is using each of them, all in different parts of India, to do His work through things like, orphanages, churches, evangelizing, street ministry, bible classes, and SO much more. These are just the PALS in India, HIM ministries has many more all over the world! Please keep them in your prayers!

     It seems like my stomach is ALWAYS grumbling, no matter how much I put in it. The food is definitely different from in America, everything I put in my mouth either seems to be very spicy or very sweet! I have learned by now that if a local says something is not spicy, to stay away from it because it will set my mouth on FIRE! Haha One of our team members saw something that looked like a green bean on his plate so he took a big bite and quickly found out that green beans and chilli peppers look awfully alike!! We all had our laugh of the day as he ran as fast as he could to the nearest water tank, and we made it a point to know the difference so we wouldn't make the same mistake! Some of the locals said that they wouldn't even eat those chilli peppers! Haha

     To say “yes”, instead of shaking their heads up and down like we do they shake them from side to side.....this had me SO confused for the longest time! I eventually just had to ask someone to please explain why people would shake their heads like that at me! Haha

Unfortunately my group found something to tease me about. One night I was walking around outside and almost stepped on the biggest frog I have ever seen, and of course I screamed like anything. So when they found out it was just a frog I was hollering about they made sure I never forgot it -_- haha and God added in His little humor when the next morning we were having devotion on the rooftop and one of the psalms we went through was 105 where in verse 30 it says “their land teems with frogs, which went up to the bedrooms of their rulers...” that got us laughing and had me checking my bed every night juuuuust in case!

    Got to ride in my first rick shaw! The driving here takes getting used to, there are really no rules, but to keep people from speeding there are speed bumps everywhere! To get directions to somewhere drivers will just stick their hands out the window and honk at a passing car, or someone on the street, even if its a car coming the other direction if they see you they will stop just in the middle of traffic to see what you want. So THATS why I haven't seen any road signs!! Its just so much more convenient to drive up along side someone and ask! Haha

    Things here are so very different than in the states. Things which are normal here would be considered extremely rude back home, and I'm seeing that some of the things I thought were normal at home would be considered rude here. Lord give me grace so I won't be offensive to anyone in anyway!

Well everyone, eat a nice big hamburger for me! Thank you again for your continued prayers and support!

In Him -Katie T– The Daughter of a King

So this is what they call Jet lag! -_-

July 31

For the next few days my group and I are staying at the girls home (where I will be staying at when my group leaves). Before I go on I will introduce my group from Kansas to you: Theres Fred Kornis who is just amazing, Bob and his daughter Cassie and his mother in law Pat, Joe and Carla, Jeff, James, Jon, and Brayn. They are all so sweet and it has been a blessing to be with them!

Had my first cup of Chai that first morning there and then walked to a nearby church where we met with young men from a bible college here in India! Praise God! No AC no comfy chairs no loud speaker system, just a gathering of precious people who love the Lord! Where worship is from the heart and prayers are prayed with great faith! They told us after the worship service that just down the street from them are Muslim extremists who could come harm them at anytime, but they still come to church and have faith that God will protect them, what FAITH! When was the last time we had to pray that people wouldn't come and attack us in our church? We haven't. But just try and capture the amount of faith it would take us if we did have to pray for protection! After the service the Pastor sat us down and gave us cake and chai, the people here are VERY respectful to their guests.

By three I was finished, I just couldn't keep my eyes open, hello to Jet lag! We all have been leaning heavily on the Lord for strength!

That night I watched 9 of the 15 girls from the orphanage get baptized! What an amazing thing to see! Was not like our baptisms at home at all. I watched them each with tears in their eyes fully understanding what they were doing go down into the water and emerge with joy on their faces! The love of Jesus is pouring out of these girls lives! At such young ages their understanding of Him is astounding! So very excited about being able to stay with these girls for the next 5 months! They can probably teach me more than i'll ever be able to teach them! For about 4 years now i've had a picture of these girls up on my mirror and have been praying for them, so overflowing with joy God blessed me with an opportunity like this to come see them! Praise the Lord!

In Him -Katie- The Daughter of a King

Welcome to India!

I've been keeping a journal because I knew I would not have time every night to write in my blog so now that I have time I will start that the beginning. Right now its about 9 at night and we have a three hour drive before we reach our hotel so I have plenty of time now! Haha We just left one of the many gospel meetings we have been attending the past few days, and don't worry I will write about that eventually!

Its so hard to try and decide what to write, there is no way you can adequately describe and convey the feelings and moments you experience. But I will try my best to write this out best I can and you try your best to put yourself in my shoes so maybe you can feel a little bit more apart of what i'm doing!

Leaving at three in the morning and catching 4 different flights with a total flying time of about 24 hours certainly can wear someone out! But I arrived safely with my group and ALL our luggage made it! Praise the Lord! One thing that really caught my attention in the airport when I got to India was that I wasn't free anymore to mention Jesus when ever I wanted to. To keep our group safe we couldn't even tell people what we were really doing when they asked. It gave me a new appreciation for our freedom in America, but then I realized something, how often to I USE my freedom when I am in America? Not as often as I should. Lord, help me when I come home to take FULL advantage of the freedom you gave me, and I would encourage those reading to take hold of your freedom and Praise the Lord anywhere and everywhere you can! You never know what seed might get planted!

It took me a good 20 minutes to realize they drive on the other side of the road here :/ duh haha and the driving here is INSANE! I know why people say India has the craziest driving its because THEY DO! And they are constantly honking their horns, all the time, even if theres no cars around! Haha But I have gotten used to it, and its a good thing I have!

Its a bit strange to be the stranger that everyone stares at. Now I know how they must feel when they come to America, people who are reading this whenever you see someone from a different country maybe Mexican or Indian please give them a smile full of the love of Jesus, they will love it! Its funny to turn around every now and then and find someone with their phone in their hand pointed at me taking a picture hoping I wouldn't notice, I can not count the times they have done it! Haha there must be some pretty interesting pictures of me between all those pictures! But many haven't seen white people so to actually get a picture of one in your town i'm guessing is pretty cool to them.

I always end up killing at least 6 tiny little bugs in my bed before I get in, and I fall asleep to the sound of honking (of course ;), dogs barking always, trains, and numerous other noises some I can't even imagine what they are haha. But it was wonderful to have a clean bed and have been able to take a shower even though it was cold. Thank God every day for the little things, never take anything for granite!

This is only the beginning. So I invite you to follow me on the rest of my journey!

In Him -Katie- The daughter of a King

God's provision!!

I know you all are anxious to hear about what I have been up to, but I want to take a moment and talk about the week before I left. God provided everything, physically and spiritually. Everything I needed for the trip was provided I would get two or three people come up to me everyday and hand me something else that was needed for the trip until EVERYTHING was provided for!! someone even showed up at my door with a brand new laptop for the boys orphanage!! Never EVER doubt God's provision, this whole trip I put in God's hands and by faith put the list of things needed before him, and what did he do? Provided EVERYTHING not one thing was left out! No matter what the situation, if it is his will He WILL PROVIDE you with everything you need!!

But mostly I am grateful for the spiritual provision I received. Ever since March I have been dreading one particular moment of this trip..saying goodbye. I thought I would be one big blubbering MESS! But I prayed desperately everyday for peace if this is God's will. And let me tell you “those who ask receive” I received an overwhelming feeling of peace! I felt like I was in the calm of the storm every moment the week before I left! What a blessed reassurance that I am in the will of God! When God gives you peace, boy he goes ALL the way! I didn't cry when I said goodbye to my best friends I didn't even cry when I said goodbye to my family! I had that heavenly peace and oh did it feel wonderful!! When I said goodbye to all the people I love in my church I had tears of joy because I realized anew that I have SO many people who God has put into my life who are there for me and who I can count on to pray for me and encourage me!

Before I got on the plane however, I did cry a little but then I pulled out a devotion book that someone had given me the day before I left and opened it to that days and this is what it said “You are Mine. You are not your own. With a great price I have purchased you for Myself. If you will listen to me I will reveal to you more fully so that you may know more clearly how vital you are to My purpose. There is work to be done, and I need you as a vessel through which to work. I want to do a beautiful work! There will be inconveniences to be borne, self- pleasing to be laid aside, SACRIFICES and PAIN- BUT what a blessed reward I have in store! Yes, in store for you, if you are able to let Me use you the way I desire. Lo, I wait for you. Come to Me.” I could not have asked for more comforting words than these at that moment! PRAISE THE LORD HE PROVIDES!!!!

In Him- Katie - The Daughter of a KING!