Friday, August 1, 2008

The fellowship is broken

Our trip is begining to end. The hobbits have headed off towards mount doom; Maddie, and Isaiah will board a plane tonight for the US, and Kemi is headed out to Singapore. The rest of us will take a train to Mysore to visit the NewSong peeps out there (they run a ministry called H20), then Vanessa and I will be flying back to LA on the 7th, and Tracy and Jon will be off to the Olympics in Beijing.

It's been a wonderful trip, and I'm really sad to see it coming to a close. Last night we said our goodbyes and left Harvest India. I got the worst case of motion sickness (plus migraine, plus food poisoning, plus a cold) ever in the history of man, and ended up making a terrible mess of the squat toilet on the train. Every time I went to sleep, I'd get sick again, so I ended up staying awake all night.
When we arrived I took a shower and went to bed. Unfortunately I wasn't well by the time the rest of the team left for the Mount of St. Thomas, which was a place I was really looking forward to seeing. Perhaps before we fly out, we can visit it again.

It's been amazing going on a mission trip with friends. I've been on trips with strangers and aquaintences, but there's really nothing like having friendships with everyone beforehand. Having started Watah over 2 years ago, it's nearly euphoric seeing this little chunk of church grow in love for each other. I'm honored that God has allowed me to play a role in the construction of the Kingdom of God. If you're in a small group, or just have a cluster of Christian friends, you should definately try to go on a pilgrimage like this together. I'm confident that it will dramatically improve your group dynamic and friendships.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Mysore, it should be a big change from Andhra Pradesh. I'm expecting more Muslims, more mountains, and a more westernized culture. But I'm no expert, so I expect surprises.

Things to do when I get back to the states:
Enjoy American Bathrooms
Sleep
Drink a Large Horchata
Appriciate not having an upset stomach for nearly the first time in 2 weeks.

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