On to the next part of our journey...

Go Packers!!!!!  See I told you they won!

Greetings!
It was with heavy hearts this morning that we left Madhavapatnam India, as I said before the people there totally captured our hearts.  Yes, it's true that there is poverty and filth everywhere.  Yes, it is true that animals wander everywhere turning the streets into obstacles of manure.  Yes, it is true that at any given point of the day, in any given area you are likely to see someone relieving themselves out in the open.  Yes, it's true that women do the laundry (no clothes pins) in rivers only yards away from wading cows and sewage.

However, I must say I have never been anywhere in this world where people have been more friendly and loving to total strangers who look very different from themselves than right here in Madhavapatnam.  While in this village and neighboring city where we spent the nights, we never encountered another "white" person.  I do believe for many we may even be the first one they ever saw based on the looks we received.  But never did we feel threatened, or scoured upon...we were always greeted with smiles and waves. The ironic thing is, is that based on the amount of garbage you see laying around and knowing that they've been throwing it out their windows for centuries, you would think there should be a lot more...in America, our family alone can produce in one month what it would take a whole community there to accumulate in a year.  When they served on paper plates, it was literally "newspaper" plates...when they shop they don't come home with bags and bags filled with plastic wraps and cans, as they get things fresh from the market.  Like I said before, they even use the cow dung for making fires...nothing is wasted.  I really felt bad that they had to keep buying bottled water for us since those containers were just turned into garbage.

So what we choose to remember about India is not all the cultural differences, but the beauty in the faces.

It is for that reason that we will return someday.

Here's what I'm talking about...

We are currently in Hyderabad and leaving for Dehli in the morning.  Our plan is to be able to check out the sites there before heading out on our Safari the following day.  I hope I will continue to have Internet access as we move forward on our journey so I can keep you posted on our adventure!.

Our love to all back home!

Namaste ~Jenny

Flash floods hit the village Madhavapatnam!

Today was our last day in the village of Madhavapatnam...

If the amount of tears shed is any indication of how much love was harvested there this week, you would understand why I say "flash floods".

But first let's back up a day.

The day's highlight had to be our trip to an even more remote village than Madhavapatnam. 

We were told we would need to take a small boat across the river in order to get there, but we had no idea what we were in for.  The river itself is not all that deep however it is not safe to be in because of the water snakes in it (the poisonous land snakes aren't anything to shake a stick at either).  At one point we were grounded (yes even in India), and one of the men working the pull rope had to get into the water and push.  I'm happy to report that there were no casualties!  The purpose of the trip was to visit a house church there...we were warmly welcomed and amazed at this simple form of lifestyle.

The only distraction during the service was a wild dog fight right outside the tent, but not to worry...someone just threw some rocks at them and they ran back into the jungle.



I believe this is called "dirt walk chalk"

Now for today. We started off by attending Novahu's church (in our new Indian attire) which is located in the lower level of his house...yes that is also where the orphans sleep, and cutting and tailoring teachers teach.  It was a beautiful service filled with music and encouraging words.  Following the service we handed out the sweaters to the orphans that we brought along from the women at Immanuel as well as the new outfits purchased by their sponsors.  The children were all very excited to receive such nice articles of clothing.  After they put their new things into their trunks, it was time to play...but of course not before they picked a treat from "Sophie's Sweet Bag"...today's candy was Lollipops.

 

The girls had a wonderful afternoon filled with plenty of playing prior to the big Celebration.  We watched them prepare the area for the evening festivities. 


This is a look "behind the scenes...

In case you're not sure what that is, it's cow dung drying out to be used for fires to cook the rice.

They also helped decorate the stage and practice the dances.

We watched them bring the food in for the dinner following the Celebration...

they needed a little help from Big Bob...

These pots are filled with cooked rice.

At the Celebration we handed out "thank you" cards to all the teachers and staff for their hard work.  Along with a cash gift we gave the women a "made with love" by the Landowgals bag and the men a WM hat.  The photo below is the girls with 3 of the "cutting and tailoring" teachers.  They were all very appreciative of the gifts!

Then the dancing began...

The kids all did a fabulous job performing!


Following the program we were ushered through the crowd of hundreds like "rock stars" shaking hands on the way.  The village people (clearly not to be mistaken for "The Village People") were so happy to see us! It was overwhelming to feel such love from people we really did not even know.  They are all very grateful for the education their children are being provided with, a difference really is being made in this small part of India.


Here is a view from Novahu's looking down at the crowd.  Note the food table.

Excuse me, but could you please tell me where I can throw out my plate??

After we ate, they brought the orphans in to say good-bye to us.  Oh my stars...how could this have happened in only a weeks time?!?!?  They have stole the hearts of us all!!!!!!!  At first it was just us crying...the one little girl came up to me and said as she wiped my tears away, "don't cry auntie, I'm still your bestest friend".  It was a pitiful sight, so Novahu suggested we have a prayer and head out...well during the prayer first one child started crying and then another, and then another and then another and before you know it there were flash flood warnings in Madhavapatnam!  Tears of joy for the bonds and friendships that were made, tears of sorrow at leaving this all behind, and tears of the shear blessing which has befallen upon us.  Life is good!  Now at the risk of shorting my computer out, as the tears are falling again onto my laptop...I am signing off for now.

On a side note...we promised them all that we'd return so we will be starting to take on "workin' 4 changes" jobs as soon as we get back home.

Namaste ~Jenny

p.s. being that we are a day ahead of you all, just thought I'd let you know that the Packers win the Super Bowl...35-21