Getting Ready

Welcome,

This blog is to help keep you, our supporters, up to date with what is going on regarding our mission trip to India. We will try to post regularly and then hopefully daily when we are in India to keep you informed as to our prayer needs and what God is doing.

First, we want to thank each of you for partnering with us in this incredible story that God is telling through all of us. By joining us, you are coming with us to Southern India to share the love of God to the people of Madurai. Together, we're living a story that goes way beyond ourselves and sharing in God's passion to reach the least, the last and the lost.

So I'm sure you want to know what we're doing and how we got started. Well, here's the story thus far:

Nearly 9 months ago, Shirley, Kirk and Brian went on a canoe trip with the Crossroads Young Adult group. While there, Kirk started up a conversation with Sophia, Mercia and Priya Arul, three girls from India who are living in the U.S. and working, attending school and etc. Kirk shared with them that he had been to India before and always had a desire to go back. They mentioned that their father works as a pastor in Southern India and hosts short term missionaries. We talked about going, but mostly we thought it was just talking.

About a month after that, Kirk contacted their father and said that he was very interested in serving in short term missions with his church in India. Kirk then opened the invitation to other members of the young adult group. After much prayer and seeking, Shirley and Brian also answered that call and thus began an amazing story into learning to rely more on God than ever before.

While in Madurai, we'll be working with the Christian church that is run by the Reverend Dr. John Arul, serving in the orphanage that is run by the church which hosts over 1,000 children. Among other things, we may also be serving the poor by building and repairing homes and feeding the homeless. Madurai is also known as the Temple City (which you can learn more about here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurai ) and is home to many Hindu believers. We'll be evangelizing through our service and our love and hoping to show more people about the power and love of Christ.

We are still in the process of raising support for the trip and are very close to buying plane tickets. With just under a month to go, we're learning the value of leaning solely on God for our needs. We also need to raise money for our stay to cover basic living expenses like housing, food and transportation. All told, we are still looking to raise close to $1,300 in total for all three of us. We are asking that you prayerfully consider joining us as financial partners to tell an amazing story of the greatness of God to a people so desperately needing to hear it.

Mostly, though, we need prayer partners. Please joins us in praying, for it's you, the intecessors, who pray the future into being and who radically change the world with your voices to God. Please join us as our prayer partners as we travel to India and experience together a great adventure and an amazing story.

Blessings,
The Crossroads Mission Team
Matthew 28:19-20

"Serving and Going"