New Year!

Happy New Year from India! I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve and day. At Christian Fellowship Centre (CFC) the last three days of 2008 were set aside for prayer and fasting. Each individual chose how many meals he or she wanted to fast. There was prayer at CFC pretty much all day during those three days. The last morning, our team was asked to share, so we each shared for a few minutes. Someone was there translating what we said into Hindi. New Year's Eve we went to the service at CFC. It was several hours long! The evening started with a meal then there was worship, testimonies, communion, a candle lighting, and several messages. It was over around one-thirty in the morning. Towards the beginning of the evening, one of the pastors was translating to Istvan who would tell Kristina what he said, who would tell Jess, who would then tell me. We quickly gave up however, because we couldn't stop laughing (we were very tired), and by the time it got to me it was no longer the complete message, but just bits and pieces. So, translating in a way similar to playing the game telephone doesn't work out too well! It was a long night, everyone was tired and eyelids were growing heavy. After the service cake and coffee were served. It felt strange to me to think that while here in India it was now 2009, back home it was still 2008 and that we would be in a different year from everyone at home for ten and a half hours.

Sunday evening was the launching of the youth service. The night was a success! Over 100 people came (people also came who weren't youths), and 18 young people came who do not attend any church. There was worship, Blessan and Alex each talked for a little while giving an introduction to the youth service. The chief of police gave the message. At the end there was a time of fellowship. Normally there would also be games and a testimony from one of the youth, but we ran out of time that night. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the service, especially the worship. A few of the songs were action songs and two of the guys on the worship team did some dancing and motions and people had fun following along. The youth service will continue every Sunday night. I am looking forward to the next one!

Thursday we went to Amos and Rowena Stoltzfus' house. We will be at their home until Saturday. They have blessed us so much!! It has been nice just spending time together, and having fun and experiencing alittle different part of India. We also had some American food that tasted amazing!! I am very thankful for the time we have been having at their home.

Praises:
For all the blessings our Father gave us this past year.
The youth service went well.
We were able to come to Amos and Rowena's house.
Except for a few colds, we are all healthy right now.

Requests:
For continued enthusiasm and good attendence for the youth service
Continued good health
That we would continue to build relationships with the people of India

-Natasha