Deepening Relationships

Good Morning!
We enjoyed a wonderful church service with the EL.ES staff and students this morning and are about to have our HUGE afternoon meal of rice (of course!), dhal (yellow lentil soup) and meat curry! Jeremy did a wonderful job preaching this morning and we were so encouraged, as always, by the student’s passion for the Lord. Last Sunday we visited a VERY rural village for church and had an amazing time fellowshipping with them. While we were there the heavy rains came and we had to wait in their small mud and straw hut for many hours but this gave us a great opportunity to talk more with the pastor and his family and as we look back it was truly one of our best days! We have completed the youth ministry training for the pastors in this area and are now teaching many different subjects in the school as well as doing the staff devotions each morning and the student devotions twice a day. There was a very severe storm here the other night and many huts in this area were entirely blown away and trees had fallen all over the roads. Thankfully the school was not harmed but the day after classes were canceled due to the community’s damage. On this day off we decided to entertain the students and keep them busy with crafts, games, movies, and more fun! We had a wonderful day and our relationships with the students are deepening every day. We love to hear each of their stories and how much they enjoy being at EL.ES. As I write this Jeremy is trying his hand at cricket (India’s most popular sport!) with the hostel boys and doing great! We have each enjoyed just being with the students and talking with them and encouraging them in their faith.
We wanted to share one quick story with you that was special to us and touched our hearts. There are several worker ladies who help in the school and they in particular have had more to do since we arrived (due mostly to the youth ministry trainings being held here and the need to feed and house the visiting pastors) and have really been helping us a lot. We wanted to do something to say Thank You for what they were doing. We knew that each of their kids attended the school and that they were having trouble paying for their kid’s uniforms. We decided therefore to help pay for their kids uniforms as a small thank you. Later that afternoon, one of their small boys came running up to us with the LARGEST grin we’ve ever seen and frantically started shaking my hand and said “You got me my tie!? And my badge!? And my belt!?” He was so excited over this small gift and we were so happy to be able to help! Just when we think our hearts can’t possibly be touched any more than they already have, something like this happens and we are overwhelmed with love for these people.
Thank you all supporting us as we work here, God is still amazing us every day in what he is doing here. We love you all!