Some things God is teaching me

Just a quick blog to let you all know I'm alive and safe in India. Had a wonderful 26th birthday with the kids and a cake. I ordered food from a local restaurant for everyone and we had a wonderful feast!

Some things God is teaching me:

John 8:36 and Glacians 5:1. No longer slave to sin and the law: “If the son sets you free, you will be free indeed!” “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (trying to save yourself by total obedience and good works). “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love….You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth (that the law cannot save you)? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you…I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.” So often, Satan, our peers, or our own doubts and fears constantly throw us into confusion. We need to stop listening to this negativity.

"Shalom" is more than just "peace" as it is often translated. It also means "well being" and "blessing." When the Jewish people greet each other “shalom,” they’re really talking about all of God’s blessings on their life: family, work, faith, etc. Even though Jesus spoke Aramaic, this "shalom" was what he would have meant when he said, “Peace be with you” and "my peace I give to you."

Perfect love casts out fear, because fear expects judgment. Love expects God’s peace and blessing. Through Christ, I can expect this in all areas of my life, not just salvation! Praise God!

Prayer Requests: George and Manju are interviewing for more staff to expand their Beyond Barriers Ministry. Pray that they find the right people for the job. Also, for my health, which has been ailing lately. Please pray that God will heal my whole body! Thanks for all your warm thoughts, kind words, and sincere prayers.

Lots of Love from India!
L.J. Popp

Bannerghatta National Park

Today on my day off, I went to Bannerghatta National Park with my friends Ruth and Barani!



We rented a car and driver, a 2000 rupees ($40) package for ten hours. We left around 8:30, and it took about one and a half hours to get there. We went on a bumpy bus safari, (where we literally saw lions, tigers, and bears) walked around a butterfly sanctuary, and visited the zoo. Here are some pictures:

White tiger on the safari:


Bear on the Road:


African hornbill:



We saw a stray cat in the crocodile cage. Either that's a very brave or very stupid cat!



There were lots of wild monkeys running around loose, including some babies!


A man told us we could could go inside the special breeding center where we saw the cocoons and dead butterflies.



I kept asking him, "Baiya (older brother), how much is it?" but he wouldn't answer my question. He was acting like it was free, then he charged us! He asked for 150 rupees, but we only gave him 50. It's easy for foreigners to get cheated here, but I won't let that happen.

For more, you can visit my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/laura.popp.503/photos.

Had dinner at McDonalds and came back around 6:30pm. A very nice day!

Hectic, but fun

Life's been a little hectic here in India, so I'm taking it easy on the blog posts. Each day is filled with lessons, Bible study, prayer and fellowship. Rainy seaon's started too, so I'm a bit tired. Here's a picture of Sudeep, Punith, and Ashish. Each morning I teach Sudeep and Punith from 9:00 to 1:00 math, reading, music, and English while the other children are at school.



Last Friday on my day off, I went into the city with some girls volunteering at the orphanage across the street. I bought some souvenirs for my family at a little shop on Commercial Street (with good discounts because the girls knew the owner). I got all my Christmas shopping done!

Saturday evening George took me, Manju, Jedi, and our friends Sam and Mildred who are expecting a baby to a local mall. We had a wonderful Western dinner (I can't believe how much I missed beef) and enjoyed looking around.

Monday we had a going away party for Deepdi, a former volunteer who'll be in New York to study medical journalism. She promised I'll get to visit her sometime, and of course I invited her to Oklahoma!

Sometimes in the morning I go for a walk. I took this picture outside a pet shop. It sold all the usual pets and accessories, but didn't look anything like a pet store back home!



Tomorrow on my day off I'm going with some friends to Bannerghatta National Park to see a tiger safari, the zoo, and for hiking. I'm really excited!

Prayer Requests: For health and strength and God's grace to get through each day. Also, the house mom, Sudha, is praying that God will heal her of diabetes.

Until next time, keep praying and loving,
L.J. Popp

The Perfect Schedule

Finally, more pictures!

SS home kids!



Here are the directors of SS home and Beyond Barriers, George and Manju. I live in their apartment in the guest room.



These are the house parents I work with, Charles and Suddha:


Here are the two Hindu ladies who cook and clean for the children. I don't get to talk to them much because they don't speak English.



Here are the children hiking through the misty mountains (back two weeks ago when we went on that jungle outing).



The kids at the annual SS home spelling B:


Puniht, one of the two boys I homeschool in the mornings, all wrapped up against the night chill in the jungle during the jeep safari:



The fish George caught:


Well, now that the outing and decipleship training is over, I've been homeschooling two boys for the past week and have gotten into a kind of "regular schedule." Here's a sample of what my weekly schedule looks like:

7:00am I get up. I pray and study my Bible, have breakfast with George and Manju, and get ready for the day.

9:00am I fetch Sudeep (7) and Punith (9) from their room where they're usually playing, and home school them in preparation for entering school in June 2013, hopefully in the 2nd and 4th grades.

Every morning we start with the felt/Velcro calender. They paste on the month, date, day of the week, weather, and season. We sing a song about the weather and the days of the week. Then I set them up with some sort of craft, such as stitching with their stitching kits, tracing, drawing, or coloring. During this time they're also supposed to practice the piano; Punith and Sudeep alternate practice days.

From 9:30 to 10:00 they're working on their craft or practicing while I go to morning staff devotion. We sing 3-4 songs from a book and then talk about what God has been speaking to us and doing in our lives.

From 10:00-10:15, I teach Punith and Sudeep action songs to get their blood flowing again. From 10:15-10:45 we have reading. They both know their alphabet but Sudeep is still struggling with phonetics. He knows the sounds the letters make, but has a hard time sounding out the words, even easy 3-letter words. Mostly he just tries to guess, but I think he's slowly getting it! While I'm helping Sudeep, I usually have Punith read an easy book and copy the words to help him with spelling and penmanship. When he finishes that, he reads the book to me and shows me his work. Even though he reads better than Sudeep, he definitely needs help with handwriting, and I often have him go back and rewrite words he slopped over. When he focuses and writes slowly, his writing becomes much more legible.

From 10:45-11:15 is math time. Last week we worked on simple addition and subtraction and how to tell time. They're really struggling with time, because it's counter intuitive. Logically, they think, if the little hand is on the 3 and the big hand is on the 6, then is should be "3:6 o'clock." I've used lots of repetition and tried explaining that the short hand stands for hour and the long hand minutes, and that there are sixty minutes in an hour, but this is beyond their language skills and experience. They have no concept of "hours" and "minutes." Their idea of time is "snack time" "play time" and "lesson time." I've decided to drop the issue and come back to it a little later.

11:15-11:30 is snack time. Sometimes we watch an educational or Bible video too. Then music time is 11:30-12:00. I either give one of them a piano lesson while the other practices recorder, or I give them both a recorder lesson. We also sing songs, dance, and run around a bit.

12:00-12:30 is language time. Last week we did animals. I had a set of flashcards. If they got the animal right, they kept the card. At the end, they counted up the cards and the boy with the most cards got a sticker.

Ah, yes, the stickers. While I was teaching in Japan, I came up with a "passport" system. I got images of the flags of 15 different English-speaking countries and copied them to a single sheet of paper. Whenever one of my students does something well, they get a sticker. When they get 15 stickers, they get a small prize, like a plastic superman ring or a bracelet or candy. Both Punith and Sudeep, along with a few of the other children, have already filled up their 1st sticker sheets and are working on their 2nd.

From 12:30-1:00 we have lunch. Then Punith and Sudeep take a nap, and I plan for the next day. At 3:00 the other children come home and I help them with their homework until 4:00. They each have a designated twenty-minute piano practice time somewhere between 4:15 and 6:55, but most of them aren't interested in practicing, so I don't make them. I play with them until 6:00, when we sometimes have a recorder lesson. I usually take batches of 3 kids at a time for twenty to thirty minutes each. So far they've leaned hot crossed buns, the days of the week song, Seek Ye First, and Amazing Grace. At 7:00 we have devotions which I sometimes lead. They sings 2-3 songs and then I teach them something from the Bible. Often I tell a story and they have to tell me the moral. That's one of my favorite times!

Fridays are usually my day off, but this Friday I spent with the kids because Suddha, the house mother, was doing a discipleship training class. On Saturdays the kids either have off from school or they have a half day. On half days I teach Punith and Sudeep like every other day, but when the other kids have off, we all watch a movie together.

Sundays we go to church and rest. Thank God! By the end of the week, I need to recharge.

Prayer Requests for this week: George and Manju have both been sick off and on (due to the change from dry to rainy season, I suspect). Please pray for a full restoration of their health and that no one else will get sick. They're also beginning a big project of expansion in Beyond Barriers and SS home, and are trusting God to provide all the funds, resources, and time they need. Please pray for the two Hindu ladies who work for SS home. George and Manju have been talking and praying with them, but as of yet they have not accepted Jesus. (Evangelism is a touchy issue in this area. In all other states in India there is a secular government, but the government in Kanartika is Hindu and sharing faith in Jesus is even more illegal and punishable. So please pray too that the government will change!)

Personally, I'm struggling with a lot of anxiety and fear about the future and what to do (which I really shouldn't be thinking about right now anyway), and I just need to feel the peace of God and His love in and upon my life.

Until next time, keep loving and praying,
L.J. Popp

Small World Providence

You'll never guess what I did last week! It was such a coincidence. George and Manju wanted me to go for some discipleship training at the church, and the leaders were from nowhere other than Tulsa, Oklahoma, my hometown! God brought me halfway around the world to attend a session I would have never otherwise went to right on the other side of town.

Here's the team. The leader, Pastor Chene Tucker, is in the middle in orange.



I never would have gone to it otherwise because it was super charismatic. Dr. Chene Tucker, a professor at Oral Robert's University, spent the entire morning 9:30-1:00, sometimes later, leading very loud, boisterous worship, praying over people in tongues, and casting out demons, before launching into the afternoon teaching session of another 4-5 hours on such topics as inner healing, soul ties, prophesy and life purpose. (This was an all day affair Tuesday through Sunday.)

Whoa! At first I was very put off. I thought these people must be insane, or at least delusion and messed up in their theology. But then Pastor Chene sat down with me and showed me places in scripture where things like this happened, and also described various revivals throughout history that were very legitimate and resulted in entire tribes or cities coming to Christ. Manju confirmed what she said.

"Laura, if you want to plant churches in places that have never heard of Jesus, this is the sort of thing you're going to see a lot. The power of the Holy Spirit has to break through various demonic strongholds inherent in idolatrous cultures. You should not just expect to see this, you should hope to see it."

Still skeptical, I agreed to at least stay until the end. God really stretched me. I realized that I don't always have to understand something or feel it myself in order for it to be true and genuine. Everything they did was strongly backed up in scripture. Did I end up speaking in tongues or manifesting prophesy or some other "gift of the spirit?" No. But I did discover and strengthen some of my "motivational" spirit gifts which are also mentioned in scripture, such as teaching, encouraging, apostleship, and evangelism. Through the personality test, I learned that I'm a "melancholy" temperament, which explains why I'm so analytical.

At the graduation ceremony on Sunday, we all read the meaning of our name and our life mission statement. "Laura" means "victorious," and "Jane" means "God is gracious, so I say, "God is gracious to give me the victory." My life mission statement is to, "Victorious proclaim the graciousness and love of God in Jesus through my writing and teaching, especially in places where Christ is not well known." Three prophecies were spoken over me: 1.) That God has set me free to use my talents and what I enjoy doing to bring honor and glory to Him. 2.) There is a great "epistle" inside me waiting to be written (unbeknownst to them I've saved all the Christian letters and advice I've written over the years and am slowly compiling it) and 3.) That I would not always write "sitting in a chair" all the time, but through my amazing experiences and the lives that I touch.

Here we are processing:


Graduating class:



God also told me independently that my "secret" name is Petra, the female form of Peter. When Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter, Simon meant "wavering reed," but Peter meant "rock." God told me I should be a rock, firm in my decisions, not always waffling and wavering in the winds of doubt and fear. Just as a man who begins to plow a field should not constantly look over his shoulder, so I should not always second guess myself.

Here's a symbol of the conference, a sparrow's nest we found in the backyard of SS home:



So was it a interesting coincidence or God's providence that I ended up in that seminar? You can think what you want. I've already made up my mind.

Prayer Requests: We spent a lot of time (at least 2 hours a day) praying for revival in Bangalore and India at large. Please add your own voice to this petition. Sometimes God does not give simply because we do not ask. He loves to give good things to His children!

Until next time, keep praying and loving,
L.J. Popp

Jungle Safari!

I've been two weeks in India now! It feels like so much longer, and so much less at the same time.

My first week brought a mixture of delight and shock. Bangalore in Kanartika state is the third largest city in India, with a population of about 5,310,318! Cars, bullock carts, and auto-rickshaws zig-zag down narrow dirt roads. Random cows, chickens, and pigs wander along highways and country lanes. Here's a calf nursing from its mother on the go:


Now that's what I call fast food!

That's only the beginning. Women in colorful saris and trailing scarves or black Muslim burkas showing nothing but their eyes cling two or three to the backs of sputtering motorbikes. The smell of mangoes, gas, garbage, and open sewage all mix together, and the spicy curry leaves my mouth burning after a meal.

With the kids I wanted to shout, “What was I thinking?” My attempts to teach eleven children ages 4 to 10 recorder and poetry and Bible stories involved a lot of screaming (from the children) a lot of headaches (for the house parents) and much exhaustion (for me). Add to this that two of the children didn’t speak English yet, and the rest had such a thick accent I couldn’t understand a word they said! Need I mention the developing world inconveniences of cold showers, dysentery, mosquitoes, and no air conditioning? One day I had severe stomach pain, and my fingers, toes, and eyelids are all swelling up from the heat.

“Just love the kids,” George the director encouraged me. “More than anything, we just want to show the love of God to them.”

I tried to take his advice to heart as we went for a three day/two night outing the following week into the jungle, a rare treat for the children. For eight hours we drove sixteen people in two five passenger cars, no AC and no seatbelts. Children bounced on laps as we jostled down the pot-holed highway, past Mysore, toward Utiya in Tamil Nardu state. A sixty-pound kid isn't hard to hold for the first five hours, but once you've past six, I've discovered, they start feeling mighty heavy.

An hour into the drive, little Punith vomited all over my dress. Fortunately he hadn't had breakfast yet, so it was mostly just water. I repeated to myself, Just love the kids as I asked Punith if he was all right. He turned and smiled at me, totally oblivious to the fact that you’re “supposed” to feel miserable when you throw up. We washed soon after a local restaurant, and it was like it never happened.

We reached the jungle camp at around 2:00 in the afternoon where we enjoyed a buffet lunch of many delicious curries. In the evening we played Bible games and watched the cricket semi-finals. My favorite part was dancing to Indian songs around the campfire. I shared a small cabin the three girls: Susannah, Hemulatha (Hemu for short) and Sardangeli (Angeli for short). They loved listening to stories I had written: Dargon the Human Slayer and Treasure Traitor. Two girls had to share a bed and one slept on the floor, but they kept exclaiming how nice everything was. To them it was a luxury hotel.

In the morning we enjoyed an early trek through the subtropical forest. The clouds reached down to touch the mountains as mist, and the sunlight danced through the thick canopy of leaves.

Here we are, crossing a stream:

Later in the day our guide took us to a river where the children could play. The water flowed so swiftly we had to cross it by linking hands. But we found a place with some nice falls, and the children loved splashing and fishing alongside with the wandering cows.

There was cactus there, in the middle of the jungle!

In the evening, a jeep safari revealed wild peacocks, deer, bison, golden monkeys, black-faced Indian langurs (a type of large monkey) and elephants (all tamed ones, used in the local logging business). A red squirrel as long as my arm enjoyed watching us in the afternoon after lunch each day, and on the second day, I even got it to eat a leaf from my hand!

On the way home, we stopped by the Mysore zoo. It was a bit hot for me, but the kids loved it!

I came back from the jungle feeling much closer to the kids, more ready and willing to love them, just love them, and let whatever teaching and help they need flow from that.

Prayer Requests: Health, and a good school year that starts for some of the kids this Friday. Also, I'll be attending a discipleship camp for five days this coming week. I hope to learn a lot and be able to pass it on!

First Week in India!

Wow, it’s hard to believe I left for India a week ago! Here finally are some pictures.

Abu Dhabi International Airport. The central structural support looks like something out of a sci-fi movie:

This is the apartment where George lives, on the third floor:

This is my bedroom. There’s a map of India on the left wall. My small desk is on the right, but you can’t quite see it. The left door across leads to the bathroom, the right door my balcony.

My bathroom. (Yes, I have my own personal shower and toilet. I wasn’t expecting that!) Though I had a bit of a surprise Wednesday morning when the water suddenly shut off when I was covered in soap. Apparently that happens in India! The city water shuts off at certain times, but then the tank water came on half an hour later. It wasn’t cold, so at least I didn’t have to stand there freezing! It was actually kind of funny.

This is the view from my balcony. You can see we’re a little ways outside the city; it takes about half an hour drive.

I wish I could show a video of one of the flag dances at the church service on Sunday, but it's not posting properly. Like I said before, the service had very American feel to it, though they said the Tamil service is different, more in tune with local culture.

It was mother’s day, so we had a special prayer and blessing time for all the mothers. There was also a team visiting from Canada to start a partnership; that’s why you see some blonds. One lady was all alone up there, so I went up to pray for her. I’m the girl in the white shirt; George took the picture. Her name was Margaret, but she was from India. The boy with the white shirt and the boy with the superhero shirt facing front wards are Deeraj and Eso, two children from the children's home.

I like to go for walks in the morning before it gets hot, around 6:30am. Here are some pictures I took.

A very nice house and car. See, not all Indians are poor!

This name plate struck me as funny. Providence #21.

Lots of Christians in India have last names like that. Actually, the way the last name works, is that the children and wife take the father’s first name as their last name. So Manju is Manju George and Jedi is Jedadiah George. So this house the father’s first name is Providence. Very interesting.

This is a house under construction. A little girl, her dog, and someone else lives under that blue tarp too, but I haven’t met them personally. I’m not sure they speak English.

This is the guard house at the entrance/exit of the gated community where George and Manju live. I’m not allowed to go outside those gates by myself because it’s not safe. But I made friends with the people volunteering and working at the orphanage across the street, and they go out on Fridays, so I can go with them, since Friday is also my day off.

This is a small jungle/woods area nearby, but I’m not allowed to go in there. Next week we’ll go for an outing with the children into a real jungle, so I’m very excited about that!

Here are some beautiful flowers that grow in the neighborhood:

Buganbelia:

Crown Flower:

And I don’t know the names of these:

I know you really want to see pictures of the children, but I don’t feel comfortable taking them yet. George says I should get to know them well, and then take pictures in the context of our relationship. A lot of Indians see foreigners snapping photos of orphan kids and immediately think the orphanage is getting millions of US dollars in donations. We want to avoid this image as much as possible (mostly because it isn’t true) and prevent the children from getting this stereotype, so I’m being very careful. But don’t worry; when we go on vacation next week, that will be the perfect time for me to take pictures and you will get to see their lovely faces!

A little about the kids. My first and second days were a little exhausting. I was all by myself with them! Several misbehaved by hurting each other and not listening, but I got to see how well George patiently and Biblically corrected them that evening. He had them recite Bible verses about wisdom and obedience, then asked them how they had disobeyed, and how they should change. He told me he is not concerned about changing their behavior; he wants to change their heart. Once their heart is changed, then their behavior will follow. Doing the opposite, changing the behavior without changing the heart, results in hypocrites. 1.) Fear the Lord. 2.) Obey. Most people get that backwards.

The following day the children behaved much better, and I knew how to handle them, in groups, with other groups doing something else, instead of trying to teach them all together. Especially with recorders, they all want to play and have my attention at once. “Watch this, Akka, watch me!” They are wonderful, very bright, energetic children, but I’ll be very glad with the house parents come to help me! The children are already eager for “mommy and daddy” to return.

Here’s what my schedule looks like for the summer until the kids go to school in the first week of June. The bold stuff is stuff I’m in charge of or have to do each day. The other things are optional

My day off: Friday. Charles and Suddha’s day off: Thursday.

7:00-7:25: Jogging

7:30-7:45: kid’s devotion

7:45: Breakfast

8:15: bath and ready for the day (kids too)

9:00-9:30: Read.

9:30-10:00: Adult devotion.

10:00-11:00, writing practice. Topics: 1.) Letter to God, 2.) letter to a friend who doesn’t know Jesus, 3.) diary entry about the trip, (plus draw a picture) poetry, (4.) rhyming every line, 5.) rhyming every other line 6.) not rhyming like Psalms, something about God) short story (7.) nonfiction, what God has done in your life/8.) tell a Bible story in your own words), 9.) how to do something, fiction: 10.) make up a story that teaches something about God.

11:00-11:15: Break and snacks

11:15-12:45: Music time with recorders.

12:45: Lunch

1:15-3:45 Kids rest time.

3:15-3:45: I have personal devotion time with one child.

3:45: Break and snacks

4:00-5:00: Cycling and Games

5:00-6:00: Piano lesson. Monday: Pudit, Sudeep. Tuesday: Deeraj and Eso. Wednesday: Chichang and Matang, Thursday: Hemu and Angeli.

6:00-7:00: Activity or group game: Blind man’s bluff, Bible quiz, spoons, peek, hide n seek scavenger hunt, musical chairs, Red Rover, London Bridge, a dance, freeze tag, story time.

7:00-7:30: Devotion

7:30: Dinner

8:30 bedtime.

I’m also learning a lot about Indian culture and issues. Right not the government is very strict Hindu. Christian evangelism is forbidden, and those who do it, sometimes entire churches are shut down and the leaders thrown in prison. George has to be very careful with what he can and cannot do, and he’s had his share of trials. Though this doesn’t have to do with the Christian issue exactly, just yesterday, the bank wouldn’t give him the funds I sent. Manju needed it to pay the children’s school fees! George had to get on the phone with the bank president for over an hour, but thankfully, the issue was finally resolved.

The Christian persecution started back in the 90s after a terrible massacre of Christians. It’s hard to believe what some of the children have been through. Some come from refugee camps, others from physical and sexual abuse. But you would never know from spending time with them. They are so joyous and trusting, even the two new ones who came extremely malnourished. They are still struggling with English, but full of smiles and laughter.

Prayer requests for this week:

1.) My health has much improved, but George has been sick with fever. Please pray for him and his family to stay healthy, especially with the upcoming outing with the children!

2.) We’ll be going to a national forest in another state. Please pray for safety, especially from snakes and insects and accidents.