God has called us once again to plan another Mission Trip to India! We can’t wait to see what God has in store for our team this time.

This year we are planning on going to………………

well we don’t want to ruin the surprise!  Our official site announcement will be at the 24th CSI Family and Youth Conference. Hope to see you there for our missions trip session, where we will share insights from our last trip and introduce you to our new project.

Please keep us in your prayers as we are solidifying our site and making arrangements. And also think and pray about joining our team this year!!

God has watched over us diligently during this entire trip and made it a spectacular success! We were able to do what we came to do, interact with kids, tour various mission fields, and spend ten days together in fellowship with Christ. Our team working together has been a vital part of our success. Each one of our members gave to the team their individual talents and gifts and this helped us achieve our overall purpose.

Sarita and Justin lent to the team their organization, thoughtfulness, and planning ability. These qualities made them best team leaders we could possibly hope for. Jophry lent his excellent malayalam skills and allowed us to communicate more effectivly with everyone. Lincy was a great overly prepared nurse and her caring for everyone made her that much more efficient. Dennis was our equally overly prepared tech guy that made sure our blogs were kept up tp date and that the pictures were upload in a timely fashion. Dilip was our quite yet randomly funny guy that did all the tasks that generally go unacknowledged like carrying a heavy box or holding up a banner. Carol lent us her skills of journalism and made sure every step of our journey was documented. Divya was willing to learn and accept the journalism job when Carol had to leave. Lena came just in time to take hundreds of pictures and hours of HD video like a professional. And Manju provided all of us with hours of laughter and fun.
PICTURE

However, God was as much a part of our ten membered group as anyone. Only he could bring together such a diverse group of kids with different backgrounds and talents. He created a team that became a family that pioneered the way for all future CSI missions. We were all truly blessed. Thank you for all your prayers.

While in Mysore we visited the home of a sister that is associate with Bethel Ashram. Originally the land around the house was used as a day care center started by Hilder Baker. However after her death, the mission ran into financial troubles and currently only hosts a tailoring school. This mission site is now called H.D. Kotta.

The land is owned by the CSI Sisters Order. It is watched over by Kochamma and one family that lives there to cultivate the fields.

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We have arrived at the Mysore Mission. Upon arrival at the parsonage,  the first thing we saw was St. Paul’s Mission School, built 13 years ago. The school took 1 year to build and is made of mostly cement. Currently, a faculty of 10 teaches a student body of 288 students that range from LKG to 7th grade.

A stone throw away lies the CSI Church which is currently under construction, right next door to the parsonage. PICTURE.

Within walking distance lies Marshally, the closest village to the mission site. The population there is made up of a close knit community of Hindu farmers who’s main crops include raaghi, sugar cane, and cotton. Their single growing season begins in June and ends when the dry season begins.

The people have a reputation of being very straight-forward, friendly and trustworthy. Unfortunately for them, these very characteristics often lead to their exploitation. For example, 1 kilo of dhal is sold for 110 rupees in Kerala, but are bought by the middlemen for only 40 rupees.

The community dynamic consists of the younger children either going to school or staying home or learning from the community elders, while the working-age population often goes outside the village to seek employment. During the growing season, everyone pitches in and helps, including even the very young who herd cattle. PICTURE

We just finished designing signs for the tables at Ashabhavan’s sale that is going to happen at the CSI Retreat Center where we have been staying in Kottayam. Please keep them in your prayers as they face the challenges of preparing for this sale. PICTURE?

We’re currently travelling to Mysore Mission. It’s a 12 hour drive which we started at 6pm because vehicles are not allowed to travel through the forest at night.

Please pray for us as we make our way through Karnataka. Its going to be a long car ride through the night so pray for our safety and health.

- Britney Spears was on a houseboat in Kuttanad for the New Year. PICTURE

- Mamooty was in Kottayam to inaugurate a youth festival on the 6th. PICTURE

- Lizards’ tails could possibly fall off when you touch them. PICTURE

Directly under Thabitha is a restaurant started in October of 1985. PICTURE It was started by four kochamma’s who volunteered their time and effort to get the restaurant up and running. It’s original purpose was to feed the members at the old age home.

Now it feeds between 100 to 125 people each day for breakfast and lunch. Its profits go to helping people learn a trade and to marrying off young women who don’t have a dowry.

There are five women working at the restaurant. They call themselves the five fingers. PICTURE They begin work at 8 every morning  to prepare to open the restaurant at 9. Lunch ends at 3 and the women stay till 5 to clean.

The restaurant offers a new dish for every day of the week all made to perfection and offered at a modest price, However it’s actual claim to fame, according to those who have been patron’s since opening day, is the motherly service.

After our visit to Ashabhavan, we helped out in some of the other businesses sponsored by the Women’s Fellowship. We have been blessed to arrive just in time to watch and then make a few girdles ourselves, as well as help with the entire bread making process. Read more…

Due to a census going on in Karatanaka the children won’t be going to school on January 7^th. Therefore, the team decided to stay in Kottayam for one extra day. We hope to be able to help out for the sale at Ashabhavan and maybe see the children in the day care center, Baby Land.

After our trip to the backwaters we were back on schedule. We traveled back to Kottayam and visited Ashabhavan.

Ashabhavan is a facility for differently able girls from the ages of 18 to 45. The center acts like a day care center for these girls and teaches them the basics of functioning in society. Read more…

Hey everyone,

There’s been a slight change of plans. Instead of staying at Bethel Ashram for four days, God is leading us to Kuttanadu. Our Thirumeni and other achens suggested that we visit this missions field. Kuttanad, Kerela’s rice bowl, is located in the backwaters of the state. The villages are only accessible by boat. While the area is a beautiful and popular destination for tourists, many of Kuttanad’s residents are living in poverty. Since the region is below sea level, residents’ houses are often flooded by the rising water.

CSI has built seven churches and one primary school in Kuttanad. We are planning on spending at least half an hour with the children. We’re also going to speak to some of the achens and missionaries there.

We don’t always know God’s plans for us. But we know that He is always with us, leading us by His hand. Please pray for us as we depart Monday morning.

Praise God! He’s really working for us in marvelous ways!

We’re finally able to post pictures and updates using the Ashram’s DSL connection. Check our facebook page for a compilation of pictures from all of our cameras.

Sunday is our performance night! Each team member and his or her small group is presenting a skit. We’re using Bible stories to help our kids learn English.

Some members were feeling a bit under the weather. Typical traveling problems (stomach troubles, bug bites). Thanks to God’s grace, they’re all feeling much better now.

Hope you’ll keep us in your prayers!

Greetings in the name of Christ!

We really wanted to give praise to God who made our trip all possible.  As we begin to meet new people here in India, we are reminded how God has touched each of us in different ways.

If you’ve checked out our Itinerary on gCal (which can be found on the “Track Us” tab), we are going to Bethel Ashram first.  We’re all ready to play games with the children and teach them a few awesome songs we’ve learned from Sunday School.  It should be a great time of fellowship!!

We apologize for the sparse updates, but we hopefully will get a more consistant internet connection by tonight.  And yes, we’ve already got tons of pictures to post up.    Check back soon for media!

Happy New Year!!

We are all here at the CSI Retreat Center in Kottayam as our home base.  We had a lovely Orientation ceremony where we were received by Thirumeni in traditional Kerala-style “garlanding” with beads.    It was a fantastic way to start our mission to serve our Lord’s people.

We attended the Watchnight service last night at the CSI Cathedral Church in Kottayam and shared our talents with the congregation by singing “How Great is Our God.”  He is so great!!  Every team member has different beautiful talents that when put together was so sweet sounding.  We hope this mission with be sweet a sound to the ears of our God.

We hope and pray God will bless each and everyone of you throughout the new year!  More updates coming soon!

The Trip has begun!  We’re all so excited!   A few of our missioners have already landed in India; praise God for showing them traveling mercies.  The rest of the team will be travelling today!   Please pray for them as they start their journey.

We will be making regular updates on their blogs.  Don’t forget to check the site for regularly for the team’s thoughts, pictures, and footage of their trip.  You can follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook  group as well.  It will be an unforgettable experience that we want to share with you all.

Final preparations are underway for the first-ever CSI Youth Missions Trip to India from December 29, 2009 to January 11, 2010. We are about a month away and excited and blessed (beyond our wildest imagination) to find out how God has provided for this trip from the very beginning.

We wanted to update you all on a few things:

Website:

Check out the new website for the Missions trip for updated information and details (Thanks Jolly, Dennis and Anita for setting it up!). A blog on the trip is being set-up where you can catch up on the latest news and developments from the team.

Also, details on how to purchase a Missions trip T-shirt (see image below) are also posted. (Thanks to Manoj for helping us with this!)

Read more…