Rain

Rain. One of the greatest smells on this Earth.  Well, okay, actually it's the smell of the rain adding moisture to the dirt and plant-life.  I LOVE rain!  Of course not in excess, when there is flooding and severe damage caused by it.  Rain reminds me of summertime, since here in Colorado, that's when we experience it the most.  Strangely, it's only April, but since the weather has been warmer here, we got some rain for the first time last night. Supposedly there was even some hail, and possible tornado sighting.  But yes, the very pleasant and welcome rain blessed us with it's presence yesterday.  And we have already had a little sprinkling today, with a chance for more severe weather this afternoon.  But I welcome it.  MUCH better than snow!  I've lived in Colorado for over 20 years now, and still do not have much appreciation for the white stuff.  It's cold, it's messy, it's not welcome in my mind.  I always tell people that when the day comes for us to move to a place without snow, I will not miss it one bit!  "But we need the moisture," people will retort.  My immediate response is, "That's what rain is for!"  


Rain brings a smile to my face, and joy to my heart.  Although, once in awhile I may also have a little fear, because of those severe weather happenings that accompany rain (thunder, lightening, tornadoes, hail, flooding).  I will always remember being in Mumbai, and worrying about the monsoons.  Now you must understand that most Indians wholeheartedly welcome the monsoons!  Heck, even I was thrilled to have some cool rain sprinkle the city with a smidgen of relief from the May heat!  But I was also not naive enough to forget that sudden downpours also flood the dry earth and inadequate drainage systems of the ancient "Bombay".  But even that does not dishearten the grateful people of India.  And so for now, neither will it to me! 

Women in Asia

The greatest challenge for women in Asia today is to simply survive through a normal lifespan.  From birth -- and even before birth -- to death, a burden of oppression follows her through all the stages of her life, threatening her very existence.

·         Young girls throughout Asia are ravenously abducted and forced into a life of prostitution with every agonizing day one step closer to an early death from AIDS.

·         Widows in India bear the blame for their husband’s death. They’re shunned by their communities, rejected by their families and forced into an inhumane lifestyle. Tens of thousands take their own life just to end the pain.

·         Every year in India more than 7,000 women are doused with kerosene and burned to death—by their husbands. The wife’s crime: an insufficient dowry.

It is no surprise that the suicide rate among young women in India is ten times higher than the world’s average.

GFA Resources:

http://bcove.me/kmvrkmak  

http://www.gfa.org/women/overview/ 

http://www.gfa.org/womens-ministry/stories-videos/

http://www.gfa.org/ministries/widows-a-desperate-struggle/

Websites:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/women-pregnant-girls-pressured-abortions-india/story?id=15103950#.Tx7scYHQcdk  ABC news report on India’s deadly secret.

http://www.thp.org/reports/indiawom.htm  the Hunger Project Chronic Hunger and the Status of Women in India.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jul/22/india-sex-selection-missing-women

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/11/06/india-journal-why-does-india-hate-women/

Please pray for the women of Asia, and that the gospel of Jesus can be spread, to open their eyes to see the worth of women and girls.

A Reality We May Never Face

~ From Cari @ Gospel For Asia :)
January 2012 Mission: Persecution

Happy New Year Friends!Let’s kick off the new-year off featuring persecution.

Persecution is a part of life for many Christians around the world. Our GFA-supported missionaries are no different.

Jesus promised His followers that the world would hate and persecute them. Many GFA-supported missionaries have come to know the harsh reality of Jesus' words.

Beatings, death threats and imprisonment are a few of the things they encounter on the mission field. But despite great hostility, they continue to press onward as they proclaim the Good News of Christ to the unsaved souls of Asia.

The Persecution section of the GFA website is full of stories and videos of missionaries and pastors who have suffered for their ministry. Please check out the links below and pray about how you can help.

GFA Resources: http://www.gfa.org/persecution/

Websites: http://vimeo.com/9607938 - Francis Chan speaking on Persecution
http://www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.asp - Voice of the Martyrshttp://blogforasia.org. (A work in progress!) On this website you can find links to each month’s missions, there are resources, and a blogroll so you can get to know other bloggers for India. There will be more additions in the coming weeks and months.

Cari Poweziak
Blog for Asia Coordinator
www.gfa.org
800.WIN.ASIA (800.946.2742)

Revolution In World Missions

I cannot believe that we (husband & I) have had a heart for India for 3 years now!  Time sure does pass quickly.  I can remember back to the day he told me about this "call from God", like it was yesterday.  What an amazing adventure we've had, just in learning about this precious sub-continent.  The culture, history, people, food, and so many other things.  And to think, we actually made a trip there!  But thinking back, I remember using a lot of resources in our quest for knowledge of anything Indian.  One particular book comes to mind, that was titled Revolution in World Missions.  I think my husband signed up for the free book from www.gfa.org. This book was very influential to us, since we knew God had placed India on our hearts.  It was such a powerful book about the Gospel For Asia organization.  How it started, how it continued, the struggles and victories.  I remember just being stirred further in regards to the mission field.  How often my prayers were laced with concern for those in need and in poverty, and those who were ministering to them.  The book also showed the different opinions and attitudes that people here in America have towards missions and missionaries. Both good and bad.  I remember times of sadness for the lack of interest in supporting missionary works, compared to the exorbitant materialistic mindsets.  But there were also moments of awareness of the needs that needed to be met.  This book was very eye-opening to the needs, and challenged me to personally support overseas & missionary works, both financially and prayerfully.  Even now, we faithfully contribute to works in Africa and India.  If you want the eyes of your heart to be opened up to God's desire to see other nations & peoples being reached, I highly recommend you read this book!

I also recently received No Longer a Slumdog (also from GFA), and am in the process of reading it.  Looking forward to more of the Holy Spirit's challenging my heart for the nations!

English and Spanish

Yesterday we had the privilege of picking up an international pastor from the airport.  He is from Panama, which is mostly Spanish speaking.  As we met up with him at the baggage claim (which took DIA a VERY LONG time to get the baggage delivered), we had quite a bit of time to try a small amount of Spanish on him, and his small amount of English on us.  Needless to say, it was quite interesting indeed.  Just standing there with a person from another country reminded me of our own adventure in another country.  I will never forget standing at the baggage claim in Mumbai International Airport.  A very nice Indian girl helped direct us a little, since she is from there, but lives in the US and knew English very well.  Later on, I regretfully realized that I wished I had gotten her name and number.  But alas, hindsight is 20/20.

So, once we finally retrieved our pastor friend's luggage, we headed home, into the sunset (literally!).  Since I knew we needed to have dinner ready for his arrival, I decided on Frito pie as the dinner of choice.  Something that can easily be made ahead of time, and thrown in the crockpot for awhile to simmer and wait for us.  Needless to say, he was very satisfied, and even asked for the recipe. You can find the recipe at my food blog: http://heathersmanyrecipes.blogspot.com/.

Now if only we can take another trip to India, and have someone waiting there for us! :)

Indian Food!

So, as many of you may know, one of my most favorite past-times is cooking Indian food!  And I must say, I've gotten pretty good at it.  I love the accomplishment of setting out to find a perfect recipe for a particular dish, and finally having the satisfaction of making it mine!  Samosas are just one of the many recipes I have tried and if you check out my other blog, you'll find a great recipe for them!  Hope you like! :)
http://heathersmanyrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/summer-samosas.html

It's amazing what can happen when you get in contact with an old friend.  Recently, I got wind that a friend of mine had been sent to pastor a church in Bangkok, Thailand.  Of course, human nature stepped-in with the curiosity factor and so I emailed that friend an inquiry.  Lo-and-behold, she and her family truly were in Bangkok!  I could hardly believe it!  She responded with how fast it happened and all that was going on.  Being someone who also feels the "call of God on our lives", I began to really take this all to heart.  What am I personally doing, or not doing, to prepare for that myself?  Am I bogged down with "other stuff" that is not necessarily bad, but takes my eyes off of "a heart for India AND BEYOND"?  (The beyond part can be anywhere...including my own city of Denver/Lakewood, by the way.)  I began to realize that some of my daily pursuits (online social networking, product reviews, giveaways, etc.) were not bad at all.  But are they contributing to the overall higher calling of leading people to Jesus?  Another moment of reckoning came last night, while I was in bed reading one of my favorite book series, "Anne of Green Gables".  In this volume, Anne has come home from college, to discover that a dear school chum of hers is deathly sick.  Anne has a realization that I will type out here, hopefully with the author's acceptance:  "The little things of life, sweet and excellent in their place, must not be the things lived for; the highest must be sought and followed; the life of heaven must be begun here on earth."  I realized that the one true thing that matters in this life is to strive for a better and closer relationship with our Savior and Heavenly Father, and to develop as many relationships with people as we can.  Anne realized this and my friend Socorro is living it.  Now, it's my turn. No more product reviews or giveaways (even though I only truly did one).  No more silly social media stuff (although I'll stay "linked" for others to contact me occassionally).  It's time to live the life of heaven here on earth.