in her words...: budget airlines, airport floors, late nights, little sleep, bus ride, flat tires, train ride and.... eventually we'll get there

YEP- I'm definitely back on Outreach.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
But after a 3 day trip to India all I can say is thank God there is a destination!

Our Destination: India.

Purpose: Bring God’s kingdom. Be His hands and feet. Deliver some babies. Love some mamas. Get His heart for this incredibly diverse culture.

We left Perth at a decent hour. 9:50pm. 16 single girls. A married couple. And two of the greatest kids on the planet.

Budget airlines.

Being a missionary doesn’t always mean that you have to rough it, but in this case we did. A tight squeeze on the airplane but we did our best to rest during our over night flight. We arrived to Singapore in the middle of the night. Our airline did not provide any food or water so the team was ready to eat.

Greasy noodles and naps on the floor. That’s what our layover looked like.

We arrived in India in the morning. We were greeted by a pastor from Chennai. We stuffed the heaps of luggage we brought with us into two different vehicles and made our way to our accommodation. Someone was supposed to be preparing rooms for us. Once we arrived, though, we realized that the “room” was actually going to be a mat on the concrete floor of this dusty church. It was humid, hot, and there were a lot of church members still around but the team was incredibly gracious. We pulled out some borrowed mats and did our best to sleep with the mosquitoes and stray cats that came and went throughout the night.

Some luggage to arrive with

Floor sleeps- Take 2

sleeping on the floor/sleeping with some bug friends

Day 2: Travel to new location in order to get to the train in order to get to our destination city. We hopped on a bus that was supposed to take 3 hours. It took 6 and it just so happens that we had a flat tire along the way. There was no air condition on the bus so patience was tested but we had the children with us to help test our attitudes. They were incredible. Never once complaining. And if the 2 year olds not crying then surely I cant be either. Even when we are stopped on the side of a road with a flat tire- in the middle of nowhere, sweating profusely and wondering why we haven’t arrived yet after 5 hours of driving- I still cant cry. I haven’t slept much the night before. My arms are covered with bug bites. But the kids aren't crying and I better not be either.


finding big rocks to help get the bus up to change the tire. And somehow still being playful along the way.

A husband to one of the students. Thank God for husbands.

Day 3: We finally made it to the train. It was an over night ride, which was to our advantage because we had some sort of 3 story bunk beds that didn’t allow for sitting up, only laying flat. Sleep it is.

I’ll take it.

The train ride was well over 13 hours BUT lo' and behold we finally arrived to the city we would be calling home.

The journey was bumpy. And sweaty and hot…. and yet totally worth it.
Thanks for the warm welcome back, India. No pun intended.