I just have to say I love the girls at Ruhama. I cannot thank God enough for them and for this trip as a whole. I see God at work each and every day, with each and every girl, and with each and every expedition we adventure on.
All day I've been mulling over the fact that God loves to redeem; He is a healer, a lover, a peacemaker. And you can see that here. I look into the girls eyes and I cannot help but see God's love for them and the restoration He wants to bring them. Already He has brought so much healing and joy into their lives, but I believe He has so much more to give, they just need to be open to receive. Please pray for the girls. There are 5 total right now and I wish I could share their beautiful names with you, but for privacy reasons I cannot, at least not over the internet. But please pray that the walls around their hearts and their minds would be torn down so that God could envelop them with His love and with everything He so desires to give them. Please also pray for understanding and growth in each of the girls lives, both in their relationship with God, but also with their comprehension of english, social interaction, mental expansion, jewelry and card making, and so forth. They are progressing so well, but they still have a bit of a journey ahead of them.
Okay real quick because I have two people wanting the computer... The last two days I have been working with the girls to help perfect their jewelry techniques. I won't lie, it's been tough. Several times I have had to pause myself and just pray for God's help and His patience, but at the end of the day I have no regrets because I really think that the girls are advancing and the time we spend together is a blessing for all of us. Tomorrow Heather and I will be designing new pieces and trying to teach the girls how to make them, whereas yesterday and today we were working on making chains and fixing the non-sellable/defective items. I think tomorrow will be much easier and more enjoyable for the girls, but please pray for grace and for patience for each and every one of us.
Okay, I must run.
Later alligators :)
Rachel Grace
Adventures In India
Greetings from Ooty India!
It took a total of 34 hours to get here, but each and every minute was so worth it!!
My team and I left the US on November 4th, traveled by plane to London Heathrow from RDU. Had a 6 hour break/layover in the grand royal city where we walked around and enjoyed delicious non-airplane food (hooray!). From London we caught a flight to Bangalore and from there boarded yet another plane to Coimbatore. I will confess that the last leg of our journey was a tough one; I made a wretched mistake of consuming Indian mango yogurt (lassi) and I think adding that to the lack of sleep and airport food was a bad idea because it made me feel extremely sick to my stomach. But anyways, when we landed in Coimbatore a Freedom Firm volunteer named Sarah came to meet us, along with Ray, a father of another volunteer. We all packed into two taxis and travel 3 more hours to Ooty.
When we arrived in Ooty I was so very thankful and also extremely happy - we had FINALLY made it!! :). We settled at the Farley Guest House (a quaint little house that us Americans are so blessed to be staying in) and then ventured out into the city for shopping and dinner.
On Sunday we met the Palms (more Freedom Firm volunteers) for breakfast at Holiday Inn where we munched on authentic Indian breakfast, but had the option of some American dishes as well. At 11am we attended the English service at Union Church where most, if not all Freedom Firm workers in Ooty attend. It was such a blessing to partake in the service and see the similarities and also the differences of culture and so forth. It was rather refreshing. After church we met with Mala Malstead for coffee and talked about the upcoming week at the Ruhama workshop. I personally left feeling so extremely excited about this next week because it was so evident that God had orchestrated everything, every little detail and each desire, and we were all on the same page.
For lunch, which wasn't until after 2pm, we got to journey to the aftercare home of the rescued girls (called Roja) and ate lunch with the caretaker and two of the girls. What a pleasure. It was a joy to meet some of the girls and spend quality time with them, especially before jumping into the art and craft projects and training sessions.
Today I have to explain in short (need to get to sleep!), but it was our first day at Ruhama. We started organizing the space and establishing relationships with the 5 girls. We also started working with the girls to discover their skill sets at jewelry making and also began brainstorming about all the projects we want to accomplish this week. The girls were so welcoming and as sweet as can be. A few of them asked if we could stay for forever, but we will see if they say that at the end of the week ;).
I wish I could go on, but I really must go.
Much love,
Rachel Grace
It took a total of 34 hours to get here, but each and every minute was so worth it!!
My team and I left the US on November 4th, traveled by plane to London Heathrow from RDU. Had a 6 hour break/layover in the grand royal city where we walked around and enjoyed delicious non-airplane food (hooray!). From London we caught a flight to Bangalore and from there boarded yet another plane to Coimbatore. I will confess that the last leg of our journey was a tough one; I made a wretched mistake of consuming Indian mango yogurt (lassi) and I think adding that to the lack of sleep and airport food was a bad idea because it made me feel extremely sick to my stomach. But anyways, when we landed in Coimbatore a Freedom Firm volunteer named Sarah came to meet us, along with Ray, a father of another volunteer. We all packed into two taxis and travel 3 more hours to Ooty.
When we arrived in Ooty I was so very thankful and also extremely happy - we had FINALLY made it!! :). We settled at the Farley Guest House (a quaint little house that us Americans are so blessed to be staying in) and then ventured out into the city for shopping and dinner.
On Sunday we met the Palms (more Freedom Firm volunteers) for breakfast at Holiday Inn where we munched on authentic Indian breakfast, but had the option of some American dishes as well. At 11am we attended the English service at Union Church where most, if not all Freedom Firm workers in Ooty attend. It was such a blessing to partake in the service and see the similarities and also the differences of culture and so forth. It was rather refreshing. After church we met with Mala Malstead for coffee and talked about the upcoming week at the Ruhama workshop. I personally left feeling so extremely excited about this next week because it was so evident that God had orchestrated everything, every little detail and each desire, and we were all on the same page.
For lunch, which wasn't until after 2pm, we got to journey to the aftercare home of the rescued girls (called Roja) and ate lunch with the caretaker and two of the girls. What a pleasure. It was a joy to meet some of the girls and spend quality time with them, especially before jumping into the art and craft projects and training sessions.
Today I have to explain in short (need to get to sleep!), but it was our first day at Ruhama. We started organizing the space and establishing relationships with the 5 girls. We also started working with the girls to discover their skill sets at jewelry making and also began brainstorming about all the projects we want to accomplish this week. The girls were so welcoming and as sweet as can be. A few of them asked if we could stay for forever, but we will see if they say that at the end of the week ;).
I wish I could go on, but I really must go.
Much love,
Rachel Grace
Scattered
...Somehow this post was sitting in my drafts, completely finished, but not posted. Oh my.
This was written nine days ago:
Can I say scattered brained & out of it? Oh my word, yes. These last few days [...ahem....weeks really] have not been easy for me...
Upon my return from Seattle, I managed to catch either horrible allergies or a wretched cold. Whatever the case, I was completely worn out and having the hardest time adjusting back to North Carolina life. Despite it being over two weeks later and having my health almost back to normal, I seem to still be struggling. Mild exhaustion has been creeping around me and sadly I’ve been struggling with a scattered brain lately as well as emotional outbursts (the slightest thing can make me cry and maybe that's healthy to some extent, but I do not like it). Part of me thinks that I just need more sleep, but then again, I'm starting to think and see that there might be a larger underlying issue. I leave for India in 9 days and with such a trip approaching, I can only imagine that I am taunting the devil and making him want to attack me in every which way.
I strongly believe that while in India God’s love is going to be poured out and His heart will be revealed, not only to the ones that my team and I will be visiting, but to us travelers as well. I also strongly believe and hope that God uses this opportunity to equip me for future ministry; I think He's been planting some seeds in my heart for quite some time now and I see this trip acting like a watering can. I think God wants to pour some new desires in my heart and stir up old ones. I think He wants to see me move to the next step and enter into a new season of ministry/my walk with Him.
Please be praying for me and my trip. It would mean so much to me.
Much love,
Rachel Grace
This was written nine days ago:
Can I say scattered brained & out of it? Oh my word, yes. These last few days [...ahem....weeks really] have not been easy for me...
Upon my return from Seattle, I managed to catch either horrible allergies or a wretched cold. Whatever the case, I was completely worn out and having the hardest time adjusting back to North Carolina life. Despite it being over two weeks later and having my health almost back to normal, I seem to still be struggling. Mild exhaustion has been creeping around me and sadly I’ve been struggling with a scattered brain lately as well as emotional outbursts (the slightest thing can make me cry and maybe that's healthy to some extent, but I do not like it). Part of me thinks that I just need more sleep, but then again, I'm starting to think and see that there might be a larger underlying issue. I leave for India in 9 days and with such a trip approaching, I can only imagine that I am taunting the devil and making him want to attack me in every which way.
I strongly believe that while in India God’s love is going to be poured out and His heart will be revealed, not only to the ones that my team and I will be visiting, but to us travelers as well. I also strongly believe and hope that God uses this opportunity to equip me for future ministry; I think He's been planting some seeds in my heart for quite some time now and I see this trip acting like a watering can. I think God wants to pour some new desires in my heart and stir up old ones. I think He wants to see me move to the next step and enter into a new season of ministry/my walk with Him.
Please be praying for me and my trip. It would mean so much to me.
Much love,
Rachel Grace
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