On Our Way Home

Hey all,
So our journey has come to an end. All we have left is 20 hours of flying. Just wanted to say good-bye to all of you that have stayed up to date with our trip, and thank you again for all the prayers and comments. See you back in the states.

Love,
Us

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey all,
It's our last full day here. we leave tonight, at midnight india, for the airport and get ready for our long flight(s) ahead. I just wanted to let all of you know that despite what you are hearing on the news, we are ALL ok. thank you again just for your continuous prayers and support of jason, paul, kim and I while we are here. we miss you all and cannot wait to share all the amazing things that have gone on here. God is Great! Take care and have a great Thanksgiving.

Love
Roger & crew

Roger Update

Well.....I'm not married yet. That's a good thing. God has been doing some amazing things out here. Words can't even describe the foot-washing experience yesterday. I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for all of your continued prayers and for everyone who's following us via our blog. i hope you are enjoying the pics and everything. take care.

Roger

Update from Kim

Hiiiii everyone. These past few days have been insane. We've done so much, it's hard to keep track of everything. Luckily, I have been able to experience it all with full energy. The three of us didn't have much of a jet lag problem. Each day has been a new adventure. Yesterday was the first footwashing rally, and I have never been a part of something so powerful. I am thankful to all of you that helped me get here. I feel entirely blessed to be a part of God's work in India. My perspective on life is changing. Just being near the people brings me such joy and I feel so much love for them. I can hardly wait for today's rally. I love and miss all of you. Mom & Dad- I love you so much, and thank you for allowing me this opportunity to come to India and love on these people. The two of you have raised me to be a loving person, and I thank you. I'll try and be more consistent about keeping in touch with you. If you read this post please leave your e-mail. Without that I have no other way of informing you on what's going on. All my love.

Tuesday Morning

I know a lot of you may be getting a bit restless waiting to hear more and see some more pictures. For the last 2 days, we have returned to the YMCA later than expected with the internet cafe closed for the evening.

Sunday, we took a tour of Agra. During the tour we started with the Red Fort, which was amazing as I am sure you will be able to see in the pictures. Jason was extra adventurous and tried to go everywhere, even where it was locked. Unfortunately, none of the workers were willing to open the locks. He tried!

We then took a tour of many of the local merchants and got suckered into buying many gifts for you back home. We stopped at quite a few places waiting for the Taj Mahal to open, as it was closed for a private tour for the Prime Minister of Turkey.

Eventually, we were able to get in and it was beautiful. I will let each person later describe to you what they thought.

Monday, we woke to our first footwashing. When we arrived we were all placed on a stage at the front of the crowd and the adorned with leis and ribbons. It was so weird to know that we were there to serve them and yet they wanted to lift us up. There was true excitement for us and them to see each other. After some singing and stories, the footwashing began. Kim was the first to wash someone's feet, an older lady who had come forward with her face completely veiled. Tears quickly came to my eyes seeing this amazing act of humility.

After Kimmy, we all jumped in and had the honor of washing feet. They would sit down and then we would pour water over their feet and then clean them with our hands and then dry them off. The powerful time though is what would follow after the washing, when we would take time to pray for our new Indian friend and then embrace them with God's love. Wow!

After the event we went to a late lunch and then 5 hours later, we returned to Delhi to have a late dinner at Sunil's neighbor's house. Shortly after midnight, we returned to the YMCA.

Today, we have the morning off to do some shopping and then we leave at 1:15pm for our next footwashing event.

Hope you enjoy the new pictures.

Love, Jason, Roger and Kimmy!

Friday and Saturday Update

Sorry, that we have not yet been able to update you on our travels, but all is doing well. We arrived in India on Friday morning at about 4:00am which was 2 hours behind schedule. The airport was covered in so much fog that the pilot was unable to land the plane and had to circle for a couple of hours. The silver lining is that we were one of the first planes to land and we were able to get through customs very quickly.

We were greeted at the airport by 2 gentlemen that work with Truthseekers and then took us to the YMCA where we are staying. The traffic and the driving were crazy. I can only wonder how much crazier it is later in the day and not 5:00 in the morning. Think “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” without the track and with cows roaming the roads.

After checking in, we took a short nap and then got up at around 8:30am for breakfast and to check out the city. Breakfast was simple: eggs, toast, and cereal. Then the adventure began. Without a map or a clue, we began our walking tour of Delhi. Our tour included: a guided tour of a Sikh temple, the local shopping area, McDonalds, and an introduction to life in Delhi.

Many times, we had to step around people sleeping on the sidewalk, ignore the beggars who would follow for what seemed like a mile, avoid foul smelling areas and try not to notice the children and adults using the restroom where ever they needed.

Toward late afternoon, we returned to our rooms, played some card games, ate dinner at the YMCA (again this is where we are staying and our meals here are included at the YMCA restaurant – which isn’t bad), and then settled in for a good night’s sleep.

Saturday morning we went to breakfast and met many of the other participants on the trip (we were the only ones to arrive early on Friday – all others came Friday night or early Saturday morning). Saturday has been our orientation day as we learned a lot more about the footwashing project and our role in this specific Kingdom work. Tonight (Saturday) we loaded up on a bus with the other participants to go shopping for local clothing. The girls in general were required to buy culturally acceptable clothing to wear at the footwashing events and most of the guys chose to buy Indian shirts, but were not required to as most of the Indian men wear “western” type clothing.

During our orientation, we spent some time taking a journey of prayer for the people we will meet and also for the way that God will speak to us. During our time of prayer, we journeyed and read through Psalm 40. If you have the time, please read the Psalm and join us in praying for this event.

You can learn more about the footwashing event by reading the blog entitled “Footwashing and Caste Reconciliation.” This is the letter that we will be giving the people at the footwashing events.

Thanks for all of the emails. They help to brighten our days and keep us connected to our families and friends that are still at home. Please keep them coming!

“I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard me cry. He lifted me out of the pit of destruction, out of the sticky mud. He stood me on a rock and made my feet steady. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to my God. Many people will see this and worship Him, than they will trust the Lord.” Psalm 40:1-3

Footwashing and Caste Reconciliation

You’ve been told that there are some people on earth who just aren’t as important as you are. They are inferior to you, you’ve been told. You have also been told that there are some people on earth more important than you are. They are superior to you, you’ve been told. You have also heard that men are better than women, and that you are more important than the young. These are all lies. In fact, they are all part of the same lie. The lie is called the caste system. It is Brahmanism. This lie, this Brahmanism, has fractured India into more than 6,000 castes, each caste despising the other. What has this caste system brought us? Fragmentation, disunity, hatred, oppression, violence and sometimes even murder. Is this what God intends for India?

To challenge this lie, we came to wash your feet today. We’ve traveled across the seas, leaving behind our homes, our families, our jobs, to serve you. We’ve come to show you the truth. What is the truth? That God created all of humankind equal. All of us – men and women, young and old, people of every language, culture and race – are made in His image, and so we are all equal in His eyes. No one is higher than another. No one is lower. Not only that, but God loves you personally and we came to express that to you today not just in words, but with action. This is what He intends for India. Not hatred, violence and oppression, but reconciliation. He longs for us to be reconciled to each other. He longs for us to be reconciliation to Himself.

How is reconciliation possible? The secret lies in service. The lie of the caste system says that servitude is imposed upon you from the outside. The caste system says that you are born into servitude. You have no choice in the matter. Your fate is your fate. However, the True God, the God of love, justice and mercy, this God expressed in the incarnation of Jesus, tells us the truth. The truth is that you have the freedom to choose service. You can choose service in order to reconcile the castes and the genders, In fact, by making this choice, you’ll be following His example.

We came to wash your feet today to show you what the Supreme God of heaven and earth truly values. He is holy. He is loving. He created you, and He calls you His child. He loves both justice and mercy. By making us in His image, He bestowed equality, freedom and dignity to all the people on earth. Jesus came to earth over 2000 years ago, not just to tell us what the Supreme God is like, but to show us:

Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved His dear companions, He continued to love the, right to the end. It was suppertime…Jesus knew that the Father had put Him in complete charge of everything, that He came from God and was on His way back to God. So He got up from the supper table, set aside His robes, and put on an apron. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with His apron…

After He finished washing their feet, [Jesus] took his robe, put it back on, and went back to His place at the table. Then He said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address Me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do.”

-The Bible

The Bible goes on to say that Jesus…

…Gave up His divine privileges;

He took the humble position of a slave

And was born as a human being.

When He appeared in human form,

He humbled Himself…

And died a criminal’s death on a cross.

This same Jesus rose from the dead three days later. This is the same God who washed the feet of His disciples. Today, we washed your feet in His name. We ask you to also follow Him in His example of humility and loving service. Pursuing reconciliation in this manner will destroy the barriers of caste and gender, and will result in a new India, a better India.