India Imagery

You can come across some curious sights in India,

We love the unexpected beauties that we see, things are just done differently here.

These two coconut blokes are simply stylin'.

We drink the coconut juice from the green coconuts often, they just hack it open with a machete and it's refreshing as can be.

We helped with the cleaning of thousands of carrots...Joseph got barefoot with the fellas and moved the carrots through the washing process...we might not think to wash carrots with our feet, but it sure does get the job done.

The flowers you see here are actually not real. Our friends in Ooty took us to this place called the thread garden, where there are thousands of flowers and plants made by handtying thread around shapes....which took 12 years of work. It claims to be the most beautiful work of art ever known to mankind...we didn't agree with this assesment, but it was impressive in some strange way! :)

Todhas Villagers

Wow! What a blessing it was for us to be able to visit some dear brothers and sisters in the Niligris mountains...we had such a uniquely beautiful time with this tribe, the Todha people, an ancient tribe. They welcomed us with open arms and we had lovely fellowship with them!

They are so hungry for the love of Jesus and have been through so much persecution. Christ has become their strength and their song! There are some lovely traditions that we were able to experience, such as the way the woman do their hair, they did Christy's hair, which was really fun. They are also very skilled embroiderers as you can see by the shawls here. They also bless people by putting their feet on people's heads.

We felt immediate kinship with the people we met here...we sang and danced, prayed and laughed and wept. We shared traditional food and cocoa tea and lots of hugs...until it was long past time to go and our hearts were moved by our dear new friends. Abba, bless them deeply.

Scenes of India

Waiting for Elephants

Waiting for elephants is only one of the things we do differently in India than we do in Alaska....we have missed them by about an hour twice now...so we are getting excited...our friends chased them off with firecrackers like we chase off bears in Alaska...a funny similarity.

Other things we do differently:
We take bucket baths...cold, unless we boil water for a special day.

We wash our laundry by hand and hang it on the line...of course there are no dishwashers either.

We are happy when we realize the scurrying on the wall is a lizard, and not a massive spider.
We carry toilet paper with us every where we go
We take our shoes off to enter homes
We hear a man blowing a whistle every night outside the house...all night off and on.
We eat with our hands.
We are the minority.
We dodge motorcycles, rickshaws and cows on the road.

We have been spending most of our time with Jacob and Blessi and their daughter Sarah. Keep us all in your prayers that we will be full of the joy, peace, freedom and wisdom of our loving Jesus. We are so blessed to be here, learning so much and leaning on the Father's heart together ...He is so good.
Love,
Joseph and Christy

University of India

Heylo!
We are learning a lot in India.
Jesus has been giving us sweet times together...for instance... yesterday we were out on a walk together in the countryside. The sun was warm, the flowers exotic, and the butterflies romantic... Only to be disturbed by the loudest and scariest roar we've ever heard...most likely a leopard..., coming from about 10 yards away in the bushes. Joseph was saying, "oookaaay.... turn around...faster! faster!" While Christy was having a relaxed stroll singing, "trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding.. In all of your ways acknowledge him and He will make your paths straight...." Good times.. So we escaped alive...only to be met by a large herd of stampeding oxen with huge horns, running and leaping right at us! Thank the good Lord there was the best looking ox cart we've ever seen. Just barely escaping sure impalement, we were able to jump aboard just in the nick of time, while the oxen swarmed around us like African killer bees.... So the romantic stroll finished with us arm in arm, heart rates pounding, and laughing our faces off at the sheer fun of it all. Arriving back at the childrens home, it was time for a game of volleyball and a relay race with the kids. They didn't like the idea of taking turns so they just ran all at the same time, having a ball. Bless their hearts. Just another day in India. Thanks for your prayers. :)

We love and cherish each and every one of you.
Many Blessings,
J and C

1 week in India

Hi and Happy Thanksgiving!

India is so unique. It is warm, but not too warm right now.

We saw Bill from Montana here for the first few days, which was great. Here's us with him.

We have enjoyed seeing friends and also some wonderful hiking. (photo of mountains and of our villageman guide...he knows how to talk to elephants and about the plants etc.)

The land where we will be has a children's home with 120 children and a pastors school...It is so beautiful. Mountains surrounding, streams and a small village of about 100 people. There are also wild elephants there, and a natural waterslide that we had lots of fun on. Hopefully we will be learning how to cook Indian food on fires out there.

Jacob and Blessi are our friends here, (photo:pBlessi with Christy) and they have the cutest daughter, Sarah. (photo with Joseph). We have been drinking lots of chai, catching up with people here and trying to learn names and some language. We have been praying for Abba's will to happen here...

Please pray with us..

Love,

Joseph and Christy

Kenya pictures

1 and 2...Visiting Kings Hill Christian School in Kabernet...we taught them how to say Thank you in 10 languages...they taught us alot!
3. The land
4. Village boy
5.Pastor Chepsat and Brother Mulwo at lake Begoria...these guys are awesome hosts!
6. Joseph's first time milking a cow, a dream come true..: ) with the help of our friend Chepchang...
7. Bro. Mulwo with son Victor and friend at Great Rift Valley
8. Christy cutting hay for the cows
19.Lake Begoria Geyser...a good place to rest
10.Lake Nakuru, thousands of Flamingos. The sound was incredible, like mighty winds
11-13 feather. Animals we got up close and personal with
Then here is our family in Nairobi, It was great to see them. JuliaAnne is Marty's cousin, and we got to see her daughter Katie win the basketball finals. The McCord family rocks!
.And last but not least, crossing the equator.
Blessings!

Indescribable India!

Great to be here and see our friends. Blessi met us at the airport with flowers. Her and Jr hosts in India! They have a darling daughter Sara. Our friend Bill is here from Montana for one more day which rocks!
We went to church today with him and had a good time people.

We are also glad that we brought toilet paper with us...haha.
27 hours of travel, but we feel good!

Lots of love,
Joseph and Christy

Last Day in Kenya

Hi!
We just tried four times to put photos of Kenya on here, but to no avail....sorry! (we will try again soon)
We are flying to India today, will be in Dubai in the middle of the night tonight.
We are really blessed to have been in Kenya...Our time in Kabernet was also very wonderful. Brother Mulwo and his family are such gracious hosts, and Pastor Chepsat welcomed us with open arms...We also met lots of people in the town and villages and church...Really lovely!
The children were so fun and the brothers and sisters in Christ, so welcoming. The landscape of the Great Rift Valley is breathtaking...
Tasting the delicious foods cooked on traditional fire and charcoal stoves was wonderful! We had our bucket showers, our fair share of animal watching, lots of playing with village children, some who had never seen muzungu (white folks) before...We also got to visit the Christian school that our friends started...and they taught us alot! We taught them how to say Thankyou in Tlingit and Haida, and we also taught the song, "The Blood of Jesus shall never lose its Power.." which we sang in Swahili and English!
Jesus is so good! We met with people from many tribes and had times of singing and prayer...we are so blessed!
We stayed last night with our family and will head out today. There is so much to tell...we will say more with photos.
Please pray for Kenya as it is election season and the politics are very heated!
May blessings to you all.
Love,
Joseph and Christy

Beautiful Kenya!

We are having a wonderful time with family and going on wondeful walks...dirt roads with raining purple petals from Jackaranda trees!
We are meeting some lovely people through Mike and Julia Anne.
Tomorrow we go to Katie's basketball game (Christy's 'cousin')...

God willing here are our plans for the next few days:

On Thursday we plan to explore more of downtown Nairobi and market.
We hope to take a matatu, crazy little van, into town. An experience.

Friday we will be going to a Wycliffe international day of prayer and meal, which will be really neat.

Saturday we are going to Nakuru by bus, where we will meet with a kind Kenyan who is going to show us around Nakuru national park. Then we plan to go to the village of Kabernet for 6 days, (where our friend's Dave, Steve and John were last year), and visit the friends there...
Please pray for us that God will give us wisdom, that we will be a blessing, that we will continue to learn learn learn, for our travels on the roads etc...and that we will have good health and joy.

Many Blessings,
Joseph and Christy

Happy in Africa

It is great to be here.
Staying with Christy's family is so neat and we are catching up alot. We have had good converstions and shared an Ethiopian meal last night.
The plants and flowers are glorious.
The birds are extraordinary.
We are very glad to be here!
More soon!
Joseph and Christy

Kenya, tomorrow!

We are on our way out of London tomorrow.
Please pray for us for good health...and strength and energy and lots of JOY!
Tonight we are going to see a play for free, Shadowlands, about C.S. Lewis and his wife.
God's blessings to you!
Lots of love and Thanks for being so lovely,
Joseph and Christy

Flip-flop Video

Here is Joseph playing the innovative flip-flop instrument at a Museum we went to in London....Then below is a new post for you! Have a good smile! Love, J & C

Turning the Page

Hi there!

We have been seeing a few old friends here in England, enjoying the end of the fall season. We have been spending good time with the family we are staying with and their lovely four kids...reading, playing Jenga, dancing and being silly.

We are getting ready to leave for Kenya on Friday, so there are logistics to be sorted. Thanks to my brother John, our plane tickets will get to us in time... Also, our visas are sorted! In Kenya, we will be staying with some of Christy's family there who are Bible translators. (Marty's cousin, Julia Anne). Then, there is the possibility of going to visit some Kenyan brothers and sisters in the village of Kabernet. Our friends Dave and Steve were there last year, so there is an open invite. We are planning to be in Kenya for 2 weeks and then fly to India for 2 months, where we will be staying with Jacob and Blessi, an awesome Indian couple. Please pray for us for wisdom, safe travels, and that we will be more and more filled with the love of Christ.

We have been in Europe for about 6 months, traveling from place to place, learning little bits of languages, seeing new beauties, tasting new flavors, meeting a diversity of people. We have slept on floors, air matresses, in a garage, tents, hostels, B and B's for our Anniversary, and at the homes of incredibly welcoming people, including strangers who have become friends.
We have run to catch many-a-train or bus, ridden in taxis, hitched rides with people who had all sorts of accents, ridden bikes, gliders, winds, and walked loads in the hot sun and pouring rain.

Jesus and the Martin Backpacker guitar have been our faithful companions on the journey. A few more days here of praying and getting ready for the next step.
Lots of love,
Joseph and Christy

Thanks be to God!

Hi!
We arrived safely in London last night and are SO glad to see the Coates family who we stayed with and became great friends with at the start of our trip. It is a nice foggy drizzly day in London...
We are in the process of trying to get visas to go to India, and today we stood outside with LOTS of people trying to get visas...there was "no way" for us to get our applications in, but somehow, after talking to 4 or 5 different employees, they let us in and we got the ball rolling! Thank you God! So please pray that we will get our visas!
Also, that we will get everything worked out with our continuing tickets for the trip!

Blessings,
Joseph and Christy