Samurai Woman: The Wife-Mother Named Samantha

Men and women can be many things. But whether male or female, perhaps the highest callings of either are that of Spouse and Parent. Warriors may win battles or wars, but Spouses win the absolute surrender of hearts. Queens may change governments and cultures, but Parents change the entire course of the future when they commit themselves to their children. Servants serve God and others, but Spouses must live in service to one another at a nearly mystical level if their marriages are to survive and thrive. Saints give us a window to faith for the masses, but Mothers and Fathers root faith into entire generations. As a result, no Framing Story would be complete for Peri without highlighting the sacred of roles of Wife and Mother as a critical component to what it means to be a "Woman of Both Hands".

This photograph is of my wife, Samantha (she's trying to demonstrate a couple of Tai Chi moves she learned from a friend while posing in front of the temple gates at the Shaolin Monastery in China). Many simply know her as "Sami". She is the most incredible woman i have ever met, and, even after nearly 15 years of marriage, I can honestly say that i live in awe of her. She is strong but sensitive, fierce but tender, funny but serious, smart but whimsical, a pillar of faith and faithfulness and yet still "in motion" and ever in-process, and possessing a commitment to her family that is only rivaled by her commitment to her Lord and Savior. In short, she is all things that i could have hoped for in a wife and mother for my children. Peri already sees her as a central figure in her world, and while the women in the other posts are amazing, Sami is certainly the most accessible to Peri in terms of how their qualities all look day to day in the life of a real woman. It is my privilege to call this amazing woman my wife, and a joy to present her to my daughter as both symbol and tutor for what a young woman should aspire to be on the way to becoming a Samurai and a "Woman of Both Hands".

Samurai Woman: The Queen Named Esther

In the Bible, in the book of Esther, we read about a young woman of uncommon beauty called to an uncommon task of saving her people. Unlike Tomoe Gozen, Esther was no warrior (at least not in the conventional sense of the word), and unlike Mary, she was neither lowly nor a servant. Rather, Esther was a Queen, and she used her political, social and positional power to stand alone between the unrighteous decree of an unrighteous man and the wholesale genocidal slaughter of her people.

For Peri, we will seek to help her understand Esther's bravery first of all in her willingness to be used by God in her position of wealth and authority, for at the time that she lived, no other power would have swayed the hand of the Persian king who was her husband. However, in the process of her actions, Esther also exhibited an extreme measure of intelligence, gentleness and cunning in doing so to gain his favor and willingness to operate on the behalf of her people.

We believe that our daughter, like Esther, has been born "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14): to champion the cause of the Lost, the Broken and the Hurting in our world. Sometimes, as followers of Jesus, we must draw a physical line in the sand and charge like Tomoe Gozen into battle. Sometimes, like Mary, we must simply bow before God as His servants. But sometimes, God calls upon us to use every ounce of our wit, our resource and our favor on behalf of those who cannot help themselves. Esther was a Queen, a Stateswoman, and more than "just a pretty face", and because of her humility balanced with courage, God used her to spare the entire nation of Israel.

Samurai Woman: The Saint Named Theresa

Born Agnes Bojaxhiu of Albanian descent in 1910, the world simply better knew this amazing woman as "Mother Theresa". After founding the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, Mother Theresa spent the vast bulk of her life amidst the absolute most desolate and forgotten people on the planet in the streets and gutters of Calcutta, India. Even today in India (as i have the privilege of travelling there often) and around the world, Theresa is revered as one of the greatest humanitarians the world has ever known, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1979 for her work among the lost and the dying, including those suffering with HIV/AIDS. Whether in a very technically Roman Catholic sense, or just in the more reverentially generic framework, this woman was a "Saint", a person who drew others to faith and faithfulness because of her own indomitable passion to care for those most in need of it, and to use whatever influence and power she had as it grew on their behalf.

In Feudal Japan, Samurai were knights responsible for the care and maintenance of people under their title and their land. When the people suffered, it was up to the Samurai to champion their causes. When there was the threat of invasion, the Samurai were the ones who rallied to draw their blades and defend those who could not defend themselves. Only the Samurai were permitted to carry, use and learn to use arms, but it was always understood that such was a privilege intended not for the abuse of the people, but in service to them. For Peri, then, we have begun talking about how in whatever she does, she should take whatever her gifts and talents may be and use them not for her own benefit, but for the benefit of others in service to our Lord and Savior. To defend those who cannot defend themselves, to care for those who cannot care for themselves, to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and to champion those who cannot advocate for themselves is the heart of what it means to be both Servant and Warrior.

Samurai Woman: The Servant Named Mary

Most Westerners are unaware of the fact that the word "Samurai" actually means "Servant", not "Warrior". To be sure, the people we call Samurai (who would have called themselves by the term "Bushi") were among the most sophisticated and efficient warriors on the planet from about 600 - 1700 AD. But even beyond the images of sword-drawing and armor-wearing, martial practice and battlefield effectiveness, Japanese knights have left their place in our collective psyches for their absolute commitment and dedication to their Feudal Lord. They regarded their lives first and foremost an extension of the one that they served and not belonging to themselves, and, as a result, were able to respond with unflinching courage and obedience to any task, even if it required their lives.

When i read the Gospels, i find early accounts of the Heart of a Samurai in the mother of Jesus, a young Jewish girl named Mary. According to Luke 1, Mary is told of the birth of the Messiah through her as follows:

"The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. - Luke 1:35-38

Most of us have heard extensively about what a massive atomic bomb this proclamation would have been to a young, unmarried Jewish girl in 1st century Palestine, but what i love about Mary's response is the absolute and unflinching Servant's Heart that beats within her breast. By modern standards, the notion of an enigmatic teen pregnancy kept under wraps would be, at least, a colossal inconvenience if not a total wrecking ball to their worlds and everyone in their families (trust me... we worked with abandoned pregnant teenagers for two years... i kind of know what i'm talking about), but to Mary, she simply responds with the heart of a Samurai... a Servant. "I am the Lord's servant," she says, "May your word to me be fulfilled."

Samurai Woman: The Warrior Named Tomoe Gozen

As we set up for Sunday, we have begun telling stories to Peri from a variety of contexts. Some of these are Biblical, some of these are from Japanese culture, some are from our own lives. I wanted to tell you one of the stories from Japanese culture for starters.

Perhaps the most legendary Bushi (i.e. "Samurai) Woman was Tomoe Gozen. I read Peri the story of Tomoe Gozen this morning as we have begun to set the stage for Sunday, and have been quick to point out the range of qualities that were expressed by someone who exhibited balanced skill with "both hands" through her life.

According to legend and as outlined by the Heike (a literary account of the famed Genpei War in the 12th Century), Tomoe was described as:

"...especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and, as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot. She handled unbroken horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed down perilous descents. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with strong armor, an oversized sword, and a mighty bow; and she performed more deeds of valor than any of his other warriors."

Expressing both prowess on the battlefield as well as in court during her time as the wife of Wada Yoshimori, Tomoe Gozen distinguished herself in Japanese history and has even today consistently served as the subject of novels, movies and additional legends about the balanced skill of a Bushi woman who could not only hold her sword, but her place as the apex of refinement in her culture.

7 Year Rite of Passage: Peri Magruder

My daughter, Peri, turned 7 years old in January (Wow, she's growing up fast)! In our house, the 7th birthday is kind of a big deal. You see, after reading Robert Lewis' Raising a Modern Day Knight, we decided to try to mark our kids' growth and development at three critical birthdays: 7, 12, 18. This roughly parallels the pattern of European Medieval Knights (i.e. at 7, a boy was taken from his home to be a Paige, at 12, he became a Squire, and at 18, he became a Knight), and so we have adapted it for our own use as well. I'll be blogging, tweeting (you can follow #7yearsamurai on Twitter) and talking about this a lot over the next couple of days as we get ready with Peri, so wanted to outline why this is such a critical marker point in her life and how we're approaching its celebration.

Key Metaphors and Intentional Vision-casting – For each child, we select a “critical metaphor” for their journey toward adulthood in our family. For Elijah, we selected the Medieval European Knight for his metaphor, and so have referred constantly to a mixture of chivalric codes, stories, anecdotes, legends and training as we have given him a scaffolding for his faith, ethics, behavior and interaction in the world. We regularly analyze decisions, actions and expectations in terms of what is “knightly”, and have found it to be an effective method of parenting to give him a consistent picture of “what he’s shooting for” in terms of growing up. For his 7th birthday, we took him to Medieval Times in Chicago and spent the day behind the scenes with the "knights", learning about their training and having them walk us through the parallels between what they do "for fun" and what a real knight in Medieval Spain would have been expected to do as a normal part of his everyday life.

Peri's Metaphor: The Bushi Class Woman - Interestingly, the Medieval Knight is not a good metaphor for Peri, however. This is primarily because in most instances (read Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror), Medieval women were not expected to engage in knightly activities, were often put on pedestals where rather misogynistic and chauvinistic ideals trumped their individuality, and relegated them solely to activities such as needlework, food preparation and childbirth rather than the active championing of their culture’s best ideals. This will never do for our daughter, who already possesses an intensity and strength that warrants something “stronger” in terms of the vision we want to set for her. As the Japanese concept of the Bushi (i.e. "Samurai class") included both men and women, however, it fits perfectly. I have read Stephen Turnbull’s (see Samurai Women:1184-1877) accounts of how in the absence of their husbands, Bushi women not only embodied the softest, most refined and gentile qualities of their culture, but if you attempted to maraud their villages when their men were absent, they were quite skilled in drawing the Naginata from the lentils of their doors and cutting down the invaders with ruthless efficiency and skill.

"A Woman of Both Hands" - As a result of the above, we have begun to craft a core metaphor for Peri that incorporates the Bushi ideals for women into what we are calling “A Woman of Both Hands”. On the one hand (the metaphorical Right Hand), Bushi women were supposed to embody the apex of beauty, humility, decorum, politeness and elegance. However, more than any other culture we could find (with the exception of Southern Ukraine where the real life Amazon Warriors lived, or Northern Iberian Celts who trained their women to be as bloodthirsty as their men), Bushi women could also use the “other hand” (i.e. the metaphorical Left Hand), and were capable of a martial prowess that seems to be largely unrivaled anywhere else in the world, and to do so with unflinching courage, strength and efficiency. The trick, then, is not only to equip our daughter with the ability to “use both hands”, but to know which instance is appropriate for which. We have already begun to use this language with her in instruction.

Sunday, April 3rd - On Sunday, April 3rd, we will again journey to Chicago to spend the day with our friends at the Japanese Cultural Center near downtown. They have been exceptionally accommodating, and we have made some fun friends in the process of designing Peri's special day. To cement the metaphor of the Bushi class woman, Peri will have the privilege of spending the day with several masters in various Japanese arts across both Right and Left Hands. To start, she'll spend some time with a first generation Japanese lady who will explain to her both some Cultural Basics (appropriate bowing, standing, walking, eye contact, etc) as well as the rudiments of Japanese language and writing (Kanji). After that, she will learn about the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony and how it is performed from a Tea Master. Then, after lunch, she will spend time with two Japanese sword-arts (Iado and Kenjutsu), and finish the day with some unarmed Budo (primarily Jujutsu). We will finish off the day with dinner at Big Bowl, an Asian restaurant downtown where Sami and I fell in love when we were students at Moody Bible Institute.

I hope you'll join us here on the blog and through Tweets as we map out the day!

Missional Moves: Are You Coming?

If you've been around GCC very much, you know that we're not afraid of change. In my last nearly 8 years of being on staff here, I have been able to witness change on both a micro and macro level, whether in how we engineer our weekend services and teaching environments or the way that we engage the world "outside the walls". But every now and then, a change happens at the seismic level. The foundational level. The kind of level that leaves ripple-effects across everything else that we do and the way that we do it. Like a tsunami that starts with an earthquake deep under the ocean's floor and results in massive waves that literally wipe the earth clean, so sometimes things begin to change in a fashion that absolutely re-arranges the architecture of the landscape of our whole world.

For several years now, Rob Wegner and i have been taking note of some significant changes that are at work under the surface of not only our culture here in the US, but also the entire world. These changes will literally affect the way that we, as the People of God, either die away or change the very landscape of the entire world around us for the 21st century and beyond. We call these changes "Missional Moves".

These Missional Moves are the basis for a series of materials that we are generating in a variety of formats over the next few months, one of which is actually a series of videos for production for our EnterMission Coaching Network. Starting next week (Thursday, January 27th), we'll begin filming the first of these moves here at the GCC Granger campus, and would love to invite as many people as would like to come to be part of the audience. Ideally, we'll have 30-50 people so that the environment feels "real", and would love for you to join us if you are able. We'll be doing the moves in sessions, so you can come for one, all or as many in between as you can if you will look at the schedule below:

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

• 9 am - 11 am
• 11 am - 1 pm
• 2 pm - 4 pm

If you can come, go to this link and let us know which session(s) so that we can plan for you. We'll be bringing in pizza (bribe) for after the 11 am - 1 pm session finishes if you're able to come.

We'll also film on Thursday, March 3rd and Tuesday, April 19th, with different content offered each time until we cross all 15 of key Moves, so if you can come to those as well, we'd love to have you. You can use the same link above to schedule attendance for those as well. Hope to see you there!

Update on Kalavai Irula Colony!!!

Check THIS out!!!

"The Web" - A Look at GCC's Part in Holistic Church Planting in Southern India

ONE Prayer Field Report: China

One Prayer China Update from Gene Ort on Vimeo.

Hey, friends! We'll be loading this field report to the ONE Prayer site pretty quickly, but i wanted to go ahead and put it up here as well. Enjoy!

ONE Prayer Field Report: India (Part 3)

One Prayer India Update Segment 3 from BXFilms on Vimeo.

ONE Prayer Field Report: India (Part 2)

One Prayer India Update Segment 2 from BXFilms on Vimeo.

ONE Prayer Field Report: India (Part 1)

One Prayer India Update Segment 1 from BXFilms on Vimeo.

Water and Light...

Last week, i had the privilege to baptizing a gentleman named Kassi. Kassi is the village elder for the small community of Irula with whom we have the great opportunity to partner near the town of Kalavai in Southern India. This was not only a tremendous event in Kassi's life, but for the life of the village as a whole since Kassi holds so much influence within it.

To illustrate, Kassi is the gentleman who, on one of my last trips to his village, said with great passion to me as we prepared to leave, "You know... the word 'Irula' actually means 'People of Darkness'. And for many hundreds of years, we have been People of Darkness. We have had no Hope. But now, that is no longer the case. Rather, since Pastor Sam (the indigenous church planter with whom we work), the teams from Life Mission, and GCC have begun to come and to help us... well... NOW, we are the People of Light! The Darkness is fading away, and the Light is coming!"

Indeed, the Light is coming... and Kassi is a part of it as it illuminates this small community of the truly "least of the least" in Indian culture. We are privileged to be part of that transformation with him, and look forward to seeing how we can continue to partner with them to bring Up There Down Here!

ONE Prayer Field Report: India (Opener)

While in India this past week, we had the chance to do another Field Report for the ONE Prayer network in addition to accompanying 30 people from Granger Community Church. Like the series of videos from Cambodia in previous posts, the video above serves as an "opener" for the India series. I'll post those as soon as they are up.

Upcoming India Team: Commissioning Service

GCC March 2010 India Team Trip Commissioning from Gene Ort on Vimeo.

Last week, we had the opportunity to commission our current India Team in a fun and unique way. As this round of teams from GCC will feature a Creative Arts element, we had both a celebratory concert for families and supporters that also served as a sort of "dress rehearsal" for the team. The service was attended by about 100 friends and family, and we enjoyed a time of worship, Communion and fun! See the video excerpt above for a quick glimpse.

ONE Prayer Field Report: India (Rock Fort)

One Prayer India Update - ROCK FORT from Gene Ort on Vimeo.

One of the significant privileges of both my life and my job is getting to hang out regularly with D. Rajendran (or "The Raj", as we affectionately refer to him). He runs all the field ops, church planter training programs and administrative infrastructure for Life Mission International in Southern India, and i consider him to be one of my greatest friends as well. As you watch the video above, i hope you're struck (as i am regularly) at the aggressiveness and fruitfulness of our Indian brothers and sisters as they go to the quite literal "ends of the earth" to not only engage people through planting local churches, but their everyday lives as well through real world needs on the ground in the communities in which they operate.

2nd Saturday: Books!

2nd Saturday Books for India from Gene Ort on Vimeo.

In addition to the Crocs packed at Feed the Children during this past 2nd Saturday, GCC teams also had the opportunity to prepare and sort loads of children's books that we will also be hand-carrying to India. These books are provided through partnership with Better World Books (a company that sells used books online, is based here in Michiana, and is an exceptionally socially transparent organization), and will help significantly with our Conversational English teams in India.

"But why English language books, Jack? I mean...don't these kids speak Tamil?", you might ask. Well, yes, they speak Tamil, but in India, in order to have a shot at a better life, engage in commerce or trade, or attend good schools, you need to be able to speak English. Why? Well, in the case of the latter, all the classes at top universities are offered in English. You see, although the national language in India is Hindi, the language for all practical, technical and commercial transactions is English. Want to succeed in the emerging Indian global powerhouse? Gotta speak English. These books will help.

2nd Saturday: Crocs!

2nd Saturday Crocks from Gene Ort on Vimeo.

Hey! At 2nd Saturday this past weekend, we had the opportunity to add to our normal activities of packing food and personal care boxes a chance to pack pairs of Crocs shoes at Feed the Children. These Crocs will be hand-carried by GCC India teams in a couple of weeks to the places where we are working on the ground, and will be integrated into the Health and Hygiene curriculum deployed during that time-frame.

ONE Prayer Field Report: Episode IV

Here is the next installment of our ONE Prayer field reports from Cambodia. Pretty exciting stuff!

The Greatest Invention in the History of EVER!

See this tiny black box? Want to know what it is? It's a new "Proclaimer" and is supplied by our new friends at Faith Comes by Hearing. What does it do? Why, it plays dramatized (depending on the language and region) the Bible in audio-book format in hundreds of languages around the world. And it's completely self-contained! It has a combined solar-cell on the back plus a hand-crank on the side to supply solar/manual power for the unit almost indefinitely, and a series of very simple buttons (power, play/pause, book, chapter, volume) for operation.

Why am i so geeked about this? I mean... you can buy the Bible on MP3 for your iPod right? What's with all the "self contained solar" stuff? Well, many of us can purchase the Bible for our iPods, but most of the rest of the world still cannot. In fact, most of the rest of the world (particularly the places where GCC and the ONE Prayer network are focusing) not only do not have iPods, but even if they did, they couldn't power, charge or use them. In addition, even with print Bibles, the bulk of the populations couldn't read them because the literacy rate is so low. The only solution for places like those is a self-contained, self-powered audio version of the Scripture that can be played even when the local church planter and pastor are not there to read the text to/for them. And THIS is IT!!!

We'll be field-testing these little beauties over the next three months to see how they roll in some of the rural and remote communities where we are working, and i'll relay feedback as we see how they do!

Haiti: "Jesus is Here"

If you've been breathing and conscious at all in the last two weeks, you've probably been glued to the television and Internet News about the horror that is happening in Haiti and is the result of a 7.5 earthquake off its coast that has left the already beleaguered nation in even more of a state of crisis.

So have we.

As a result, more than $20,000 from GCC families has been collected over the last two weeks, and will be going to supply direct aid, rescue and relief to Haitian families through our dear friends and valued partners at World Relief. Why World Relief? Well, many know that our typical MO is to resource networks of indigenous churches whenever we do anything anywhere in the world, and that the center for our focus as a local church is in Southern India. However, we resource those networks often through coordination with well-defined partner agencies, often who have global networks of their own and are capable of specializing in particular areas or geographies. In relation to disaster relief, World Relief is among the world's top agencies, and they understand the call and design to resource indigenous local churches the same way that we do. In Haiti in particular, they have been working for the better part of 18 years to build relationships with hundreds of national churches, and so, now that there is a need for immediate action and infrastructure, are strategically positioned to deliver aid through grass-roots networks of Haitian pastors and partners on the ground.

You can hear what our Senior Pastor, Mark Beeson, has to say about this by clicking here, but i wanted to tell you a quick story from our field partners operating in the region. It's about the picture that you see here.

"On yesterday’s conference call, Stephan shared a story about a pregnant woman named Thamar whose legs were crushed when a building fell on her during the quake. She survived, found her way to a hospital where her leg was casted, and gave birth to a baby boy in the aftermath of the earthquake. She named him Jesula, 'Jesus is here'"

Indeed, Jesus is here. Even in Haiti. Even right now. In fact, from my perspective, "Jesus is here" most when the People of God show up and do what they are called to do in the places of greatest need and greatest darkness. "Jesus is here" when Thamar and Jesula receive food, water, shelter and medical attention because people like World Relief reach into the darkness of tragedy to be Light and Healing. In short, i guess, "Jesus is here" when we, as His people, "are here"... or "there", wherever "there" may be.

I'm pleased to join you in answering that call to "be" wherever "there" may be, wherever you may serve and in whatever capacity it may be in the Kingdom.

Pink Isn't Really My Color, But...

If you walked through our area here at the Life Mission Department at Granger Community Church, you'd see stacks upon stacks of backpacks (like the one featured here) sitting throughout it. Now, as much as i'd like to tell you that "there's something i've been meaning to tell you... i'm REALLY a closet Hello Kitty fan!", that's really just not the case.

Rather, for the last several months, the All Stars (children's) ministry and families from Granger Community Church have been bringing in a stockpile of backpacks and school supplies for our teams travelling to India in March of 2010 to take with them.

Each one of these backpacks contains the following:

* 4 sheets of construction paper

* 1 spiral notebook

* 1 folder

* 1 chalk

* 4 colored pencils

* 1 package of M&M's

* 1 package of crayons

* 1 glue

* 1 ruler

* 1 scissors

* 1 package of markers

* 40 pencils

* 2 large (hand held) erasers + pencil top erasers

* 2 pens

* 1 small chalk board

* 1 coloring book

* 1 Beanie Baby stuffed animal

* 1 pencil sharpener

* 3 glue sticks

These packs will be distributed to children in the Kalavai Irula Community in India who are now attending school for the first time EVER in the life of their village and community, and we are thrilled at the opportunity to provide a link for the children in our community to serve and partner with the children of our Indian brothers and sisters overseas! We'll also be taking more things along with us, and i'll post more about that in subsequent posts.

ONE Payer Field Report: Episode III

Tale of Two Kingdoms Part 2 from Gene Ort on Vimeo.

Here is the next episode from our Field Report to India and Cambodia for the ONE Prayer network. Stay tuned for the next episode, where we begin to unfold the tremendous work that is going on through ONE Prayer planters and church networks in this nation!

Me and My Friend, Rajasuri!

I had the privilege to meet my friend Rajasuri several months ago when visiting our partnerships in the Kalavai Irula Colony. She's my daughter's age, and i connected with her quickly because i saw Peri when i looked into Rajasuri's eyes! I'm so pleased to be able to tell her story here! Enjoy!

ONE Payer Field Report: Episode II

Tale of Two Kingdoms - Part 1 from Gene Ort on Vimeo.

Here's the second of our ONE Prayer Field Reports from India and Cambodia last month. Once again, Gene Ort has done a fantastic job blending fantastic footage that he took of Angkor Wat with great music to form the first of a two part story that we wanted to tell of "A Tale of Two Kingdoms".

ONE Prayer Field Report: Opener

One Prayer Update Episode 1 from Gene Ort on Vimeo.

I had the privilege of travelling with Mr. Gene Ort for two weeks as we visited India and Cambodia to put together the field reports for the ONE Prayer network for both of those countries, and what is above is the "opener" for the series of video shorts that he has put together since returning. In addition to being a world class friend, you will notice quickly that Gene is also a world class videographer and photographer as everything that you see here is original footage from our trip. I'm telling you that because you'll probably wonder if we sniped the footage from National Geographic or something... but nope... all from Gene's hand and handiwork. He even sourced the score from music he tapped through his business (GMP Productions). I'll be posting additional video shorts as we get them, but wanted to put the first one here!

Not In Kansas Anymore, Toto!

Okay, we woke up this morning with steel grey skies and a light drizzle. No biggie... no danger, but apparently, there has been a cyclone brewing just off the coast of Chennai that was spewing tropical air toward us that might prevent our shooting outdoor video footage if it didn't let up. But we set out anyway toward a series of three villages near the city of Vellavedu in the hopes of doing some ground survey and recon for community development initiatives, and figured we would take our chances with the weather.

We got to the first village (which i will talk about more after this post) and did just fine for about the first 3 hours, but then the rain started coming.... and coming... and coming. We managed to finish up there, and moved to dryer spots for lunch, and then decided to wait till the rain let up before we tried village #2. It's now 7 pm, and still coming down forcefully at intermittent junctures, so we're going to change plans tomorrow and head to Kalavai a day earlier, with a goal of stopping back by Vellavedu on the way back to Chennai before we head to Cambodia. You can pray that we don't get rained out there too, particularly as filming in muddy slush is no more fun for Gene Ort than it is for me to talk in it. More later!

BACK... in India...

So... Gene Ort and i set out on a 3 year mission to explore strange new life and new civilizations... to boldly go where no one has gone before! Cue the silly 70's theme music.

Okay, so we're not going to be gone for 3 years (whoof, thank goodness! I'd die from Wife-withdrawal), and considering how often we come to India, it's not exactly a "new" civilization (especially when you consider that Indian culture itself has been around for about 6 millenia), but we're here to do some pretty fantastic stuff, and so i'll be blogging about it over the next couple of days as we go. Here's the quick itinerary:

India
* We're going to be doing field and survey work for the March, 2010, India teams, and also spending some time doing preliminary recon on another village where we might start community development initiatives in 2011 or 2012. We'll start just outside of Chennai, work our way down to Kalavai, then back up to Trichy, and finally back to Chennai, where we'll stage for our next leg of the trip.

Cambodia
* That's right! On the back end of India, Gene and i will be popping over to Cambodia to do our field visit for our friends at the ONE Prayer network. We'll join Bob Craft (coordinated through our associates at Bible League Canada), Vibol Uong and Setha Say (with the National Cambodian Church Planters Network) in the north end of the country (with a walk through the Angkor Wat temple complex), and then on to the South to visit the Killing Fields and see mature churches planted through the first cycle of the ONE Prayer planter training process.

AND... the most excellent Michelle Wegner will be uploading our Cambodia stuff (because it has to do with ONE Prayer) to oneprayer.com if you'd like to follow along there starting on Dec 10th.

Assessment Thus Far...

This is Elijah's quick assessment of India before collapsing into bed for the evening.