GCC India Team Dec-Jan '08/'09

Videos...

2009-01-08T05:47:00.001-08:00

Hey, guys! We're back! However, i have a bunch of fun little videos that i'm going to upload that i couldn't (due to Internet speed) while i was on the field. Hope to conclude the blog with a couple of other postst that i couldn't post while we were in transit. Enjoy, and thanks for your interaction, comments and prayers while we were on the field! -jack

Jimminy Cricket!

2009-01-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

We were introduced to the Indian game of Cricket (sort of like baseball… but…uh… not really), and they graciously tolerated our awkwardness as we tried to figure out the various rules. Basically, as nearly as any of us can tell, you “bowl” the ball toward the batter, deliberately intending to bounce it before they hit it. The batter more “bunts” the ball than swings it baseball style, and can bat it in any direction (even behind him). You score “runs” by running back and forth between “wickets” (kind of like bases), and you carry the bat with you as you run rather than tossing it aside. Finally, you can score as many runs as you can rather than just being able to score one per bat. As it turns out, Marty and Ben both had mean bowls, and Ben even struck one of the Indian teens “out”.

Justice Team… Assemble!!!

2009-01-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

I wanted to sort of apologize that I don’t have more to report on the Justice Team. They’ve been hard at work for the past two days in Vellavedu with our Super Pastor Anbuannan, and have been working with bonded slave laborers in that area. Most of the slaves work in brick factories, and the team has been going over a Justice-oriented Bible Study with them, as well as curriculum from International Justice Mission. I don’t have photos because we haven’t been proximal enough to them to get any, but to my knowledge, they are doing well. We will come back together with them tonight in Chennai as we begin our long trek home, and I will hope to have a couple of posts about them before we leave if I can manage it.

301

2009-01-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege of teaching the 301 Core Class to our next batch of 50 church planters over two days, and am really enjoying this current wave. I taught 201 in July/August, and really connected with the group, and it was fun to get back together with them again, laugh, tell more stories, and enjoy what they’ve been learning as they have both implemented 201 successfully as well as start in on 301.

301 is always just a little bit tricky because of the massive diversity of opinion on the issue of Spiritual Gifts (particularly gifts such as Tongues, Interpretation and Prophecy), but this group enjoyed the back and forth from each other as members from all camps (cessationists (those who believe that those gifts ceased with the apostolic age), “conventional” charismatics, and even some Word-Faithers).

All in all, however, it was a fun class, Anandraj (one of our Life Mission International staff members, a great interpreter, and a good friend) and I actually finished on time and according to schedule, and everyone seemed to enjoy the time. This batch will now go back to their villages and implement CORE class 301 training in their churches. It’s awesome to help train these kinds of “leadership multipliers” for ministry!

Primal...

2009-01-02T01:16:00.000-08:00

After working all day on New Year's Eve Day, the teams converged (minus the Justice Team, who were still farther away in Ranipet) at the Construction Team site for a bonfire to celebrate the coming of the new year. It was absolutely awesome (and hilarious) to watch as Raj gradually coaxed more and more of us to join him in various dances and songs around the campfire.

As soon as the air began to split with laughs and shouts, some of the villagers came to join us. Some of the younger girls especially twirled and spun to the tunes of old Tamil traditional songs hammered out by deft fingers on goat-skin drums or overturned aluminum pots. In addition to the pulsing blaze of the fire, the effect was both timeless and mesmerizing. Staring up at the crystal-clear sky at a blackness that was dotted with an unbelievable view of what must have been literally thousands upon thousands of visible stars, i was suddenly struck with the notion that we could have been doing this in 2008... or 2008 BC without much difference in overall effect or feeling. It was amazing!

Finally, one of the things that Americans learn very quickly when visiting here is that Indian culture has a massive and rich tradition of history and lore that is kept and "bottled" (if you will) through the medium of song and dance. Some of the songs that i've heard sung in these types of performances date back hundreds of years (or farther), and have a weight and "flavor" of the passage of time that contemporary pop will just never touch. I mean... can you picture Americans singing Katie Perry songs in two thousand years? I can't.

Construction Team: Villa De La Constructcione

2009-01-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

This is the Construction and Media Team “tent village”. Because Dan Blacketor is leading them, and a good many of the team members are seasoned India Team veterans, they planned ahead well (notice the portable pooper stand behind the second tent from the right), and have been relatively comfortable sleeping in their little vinyl shelters each night. Except for the fact that the Hindu worship music starts loud at about 3 am, Muslim call to prayer starts at about 5 am, and the teams have been working HARD till just up to dusk, making each of them pretty battle-weary, though still in great spirits. They have been real troopers, have navigated some interesting challenges, and have done a fantastic job throughout. Way to go!!!

Water Team: Don “Journey to the Center of the Earth” Wolfram and Cleaning the Well…(Contributed by Jen Price)

2009-01-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

Hello, from the Padu Colony in Kalavia, Tamil Nadu India! The water team officially began our work! Yesterday we cleared brush, grass, and weeds from around the village well. This is much more difficult without the assistance of lawn mowers and weed eaters! However, this team is ready for anything, so with shovel trowels in hand, we cleared a 3-5 foot border around the well. Our plan is to clean the well, inside and out, hopefully teaching the community to take care of it after we are gone. While the well will not be completely clean by safe drinking water standards, we will then install Hydraid Biosand Water Filters in their homes to purify the water.

Without this well, the people have very little access to water. This contaminated well supplies water to the “untouchables,” the members of the lowest caste called the dalits. Because these people are in this caste, no one else will help them. The government only provides 2 buckets of water per family, once every 5 days. The water is turned on from a small pipe at 3am! The villagers wait anxiously, and call for everyone when the water starts pumping.

We had the opportunity to meet many of the villagers. While we heard many stories of struggles and pain, we also were blessed by the smiles and joy within the people. They were so excited to see us! We offered prayer and a promise to return!

The remaining water in the well was pumped out during the night by using a motor and tapping in to the local electricity supply. We returned today to discover that the well was much deeper than expected. But in true GCC “can do” spirit, a few locals and a water team member, Don Wolfram, were lowered into the well to remove trash and the settled slime and grime from the surface of the water. While Don was busy at the bottom of the well, the rest of us met more of the villagers. While we hope to improve their health through safe drinking water, we also hope to relay to them that they matter to us, and most importantly, they matter to God. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have your entire country tell you that not only do you not matter, but that you are the lowest of the low, and that you do not even deserve the basic needs of life. We’re here to change that!

Our next steps will include installing the filters and providing health and hygiene education during a village meeting. Go team! We’ll keep you posted!

Media Team: Shooters!

2009-01-01T15:18:00.001-08:00

Marty Friend and Ben Sanders have been rockin’ it all week! They have been sleeping in tents, gathering footage, interviewing team members, interviewing villagers, moving from team to team, seeing everything and missing nothing. They’re amazing. The difference between my amateur efforts on the last trip and their world-class “A-game” are simply not possible to overstate. I suspect that once the trip is over, we will be able to really cast vision for what we do here in India (both to the people of GCC as well as other churches and organizations) at a level that will simply not be possible without their careful dedication on this trip. In conjunction with the skills and abilities of Gene Ort and the GCC Tech and Creative Arts teams, giving India “skin and voice” is becoming all the more easier as we do this kind of thing more and more over time. Special thanks to all of you guys!

Construction Team: The Sky is Falling!

2009-01-01T15:17:00.000-08:00

I left before Tech got to work this morning and bee-bopped over to visit the Construction Team to see what they were up to and how things went the night before. Aside from just enjoying seeing everyone and getting caught up on how they did with their first night of sleeping in tents in a remote village, Dan Blacketor walked me through the village and told me what they would be “up against” as they sought to work on some of the houses in the community. Here’s what I found out:

Most of the houses in the village (about 20-30 families) are in terrible shape. See, this community is comprised of very low cast people whose primary jobs are to hunt rats and snakes that plague villages. In return, they are allowed to sell the skins and do whatever they like with the carcasses (Barbeque, anyone?), and the government recently relocated many of these people to this little village (about 3 years ago). The government promised to build houses for each family, but the contractor to whom the government gave the money only used 1/3 of the necessary cement to build the homes. Result? The houses are less than 5 years old and already look like the pictures here. Because of their poverty, the families can’t fix their homes, so that’s where Pastor Sam and his trained planters are stepping in.
Currently, there is only one Christ-follower in the village (a radiant, delightful lady named Lilly), and as GCC teams engage building and renovating as many of the houses in the village as they can, they are showing the community that the God that we serve cares just as much about their “here and now” as He does about their “then and there”.

Update Note: Last night, one of the men from the village specifically came out to our little gathering and asked if he might speak with us. He said, “you know, my whole life I have never followed a god. I have never thought that they could help me. I have wanted my whole life to have a home. When I got this home and it fell in, it just confirmed to me that there must not be a god who cares for me. But now I see that you are here, and you are telling me about this Jesus. If this is what the people who follow Him do, then I will decide to serve Him. Thank you for helping me… I was start following Jesus today.”

Not Faking…

2009-01-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

This is Mike Ryan. He’s one of the coolest and most compassionate people I have grown to know this trip, and he and his wife Elaine are having a blast being here. But see this? This isn’t Mike just dozing off. Seriously. This is the combined result of 80 hours of travel time, awkward sleeping conditions, early mornings, late nights, later nights, fantastic (but unusual) food, new sounds, new sights, language barriers, seeing out of control poverty, and 10 hour days full of manual labor with little climate control and sometimes scarce resources (like water). Result? It’s really not uncommon to just simply fall asleep in the middle of… erm… well… anything. I actually fell asleep with my eyes open last night. I have no idea how it happened. I was actually set to speak to a church full of people, was looking at Raj, remember what I was looking at, and then a little girl sitting at my feet nudged my foot and handed my Bible back to me with sort of a sheepish grin on her face. Apparently, I had actually fallen asleep with my eyes open, dropped my Bible without realizing it, and actually startled “awake” (or whatever it was) when she gave it back to me. It’s why we train our teams so hard before we come here… India teams are open to many, but are tough. No way around it.

Tech Team: Agape Service Station

2009-01-01T15:15:00.000-08:00

One of our more “out there” objectives this trip is to try to see if we can help to start up a micro-business with appropriate technical training and expertise. We had a number of opportunities, but we also have some unique skills within the people who applied. Namely, we have Steve Holt. For those of you don’t know Steve (he’s Becky Callendar’s brother), he’s a professional motorcycle mechanic with Hoosier Harley Davidson in Elkhart, and said about a year ago, “hey, what would you think about seeing if we can help someone start up a motorcycle repair shop?” I ran the idea by Raj, and he said it was a great thought! Result?

You’re now looking at the Agape Service Center! It’s a rented store front where we are training 4 – 6 people the basics on motorcycle repair and maintenance. We’re not going “deep”, per se, into the technical specifics of cracking cases and grinding pistons, but we HAVE developed a “10 Point Checklist” (similar to a 14-point Jiffy Lube) for our new owners to use as they service motorcycles that come in off the street. We also brought about $300 worth of parts and technical gear that will start them on their way, and Life Mission International is providing them with an air compressor and a generator to help with electrical service and spray-washing.

Upon arrival, Steve, Mike, Katie Holt (yes, Steve and Becky’s sister… I tell you, those Holts… they’re adventurous people!) and myself set about the necessary technical training for the 6 new owners, breaking down inspection and basic repair into “chewable” categories. They were all quick studies, and we are now looking at a sort of “soft open” for this Saturday to allow the people of the community to meet, greet and get some free service by the new owners. Want to know what’s funny? Having 4 Americans huddled and involved around the shop has already been better advertising than a flock of billboards. Over the past 2 days, we’ve probably had 200 – 250 villagers wander by and stop to watch the training and interaction between the white skinned freaks and the new business owners. We’re excited about the prospects of this little venture, and have enjoyed being part of its opening and launch.

Record Breaker!

2009-01-01T15:13:00.000-08:00

How many GCC team members can you fit in an auto-rickshaw? We found out. Check this… when the water team was ready to go to their field, a single lonely rickshaw pulled up outside Pastor Sam’s house, ready to take the team. We all sort of looked at each other quizzically, and then inquired if there were additional rickshaws on their way. Raj just chuckled and said that he was sure we would all fit. So, without further complaint, every one of the Water Team members, plus driver, Raj, Naveen and Princy, piled into the rickshaw. Photo attached.

New Friends: Naveen and Princy

2009-01-01T15:12:00.002-08:00

Through our new friend Roger Schmigdal at EV Free in Illinois (Rog is collaborating with us on clean water initiatives through Hydraid), we met two amazing young people: Naveen and his wife Princy. Both are wonderful, beautiful people with amazing passion for Christ and a desire to see churches empowered to reach communities holistically in their given environments, and we have learned much with and from them as they have been hanging out with us. While they have been spending the bulk of their time with the Water Team, they have also observed our Construction and Technical Teams in action, asking questions and also providing insight when we have sought it. Their primary purpose in hanging with us has been to observe how other U.S. churches are partnering with Indian organizations to provide holistic community development initiatives in conjunction with Indian churches.

Pastor Sam & Family…

2009-01-01T15:12:00.001-08:00

Aside from the Justice Team (which is working in Ranipet with Pastor Nermil) and the Construction Team (which is sleeping in tents in a remote village outside of the town of Kalavai), most of the rest of us are staying with another of our Super-Pastors named Sam. For those of us who have had the privilege to come to India often over the past 6 plus years, Pastor Sam and his entire family have been staples and pillars of strength for the church planting movement in Tamilnadu. In addition, they graciously offered to host us in their home, and have treated us like royalty throughout our time here. Shown here in this picture are Pastor Sam (tall guy in the middle), his wife Jayanthi (yellow sari to the left), their two daughters Rosie (left of Jayanthi) and Suganya (right of Sam), and their son Sarat (right of Suganya). Also pictured, of course, are Raj, and one of our other Life Mission staff.

You’ll notice that Pastor Sam is wearing Life Mission Department “colors” (i.e. a solid black T-shirt), so… you know… we’re tight.

Someone Should Tell Dean’s Dairy Producers…

2009-01-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

This is one of those, “wow… you really don’t see this every day in the US” kinds of posts. See this tree? It’s a banyan tree. It’s remarkable. It grows tall and strong, then it drops a sort of vine and root from its branches down to the ground. Each of these vines forms a new tree of its own, but is still attached to the original, thus supporting each other and forming a gigantic mass of connected trees. That part is way cool.

But do you see the little burlap and plastic bags that are dangling from the vines and branches? Want to know what’s in them? Cow placentas. Yup. See, here’s how the belief works here in India. If you have a cow, and that cow gives birth, you have to tie the placenta up into a bag and hang it from a tree like this. If you do that, your cow will give healthy milk for its new calf, and will produce many more healthy calves. If you do not, however, and dogs eat the placenta, then your cow’s utter will dry up, the calf will die, and will be barren. So… in terms of rural Indian dairy farming, when your entire life depends on your cow continuing to give milk… you tie up the placenta and don’t take the risk.

Justice Team Send Off!

2009-01-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

We knew that the Justice Team was going to be working in a village (Ranipet) first, and that it would be slightly farther away from where the rest of us were going to be working (in sort of a loose smattering of relatively proximal villages). As a result, about an hour before the rest of us, the bus pulled over to the side of the road, and like a group of Marines descending from a landed V-22 Osprey onto a “hot” Landing Zone, the Justice Team piled out, grabbed their gear, and were ready to rock! Pastor Nermil (one of our GCC “Super Pastors” and the pastor who is training church planters in the area of Ranipet) met the team and shook hands, and then motioned to a fleet of waiting auto-rickshaws (think stripped down riding lawnmower with a covered “pickup truck” cab) who were to whisk the team away. After the team loaded all their gear, the rickshaws peeled away and putted off down the street.

Now THAT’s Fresh!

2009-01-01T15:08:00.001-08:00

En route, Raj suddenly asked the bus driver to pull over. When the bus stopped, he asked all of us to follow him off the bus, where we quickly surrounded a little man standing next to a bicycle that was laden with fresh coconuts. As Raj approached, the little man took a bladed tool (looks kind of like a scythe) and hacked off the end of one of the fresh, green, skull-sized fruits, plopped a straw into the little hole he had created, and then handed it to Raj. Raj removed the straw, then downed the entire contents of the coconut in about 5 seconds amidst cheers of “Chug! Chug! Chug!” from us (too many fraternity movies in the mid-80’s, I guess). Then, each of us received a coconut and had a refreshing little treat. Manda Harris pictured here with hers.

Sing Along with “The Raj”!

2009-01-01T15:04:00.000-08:00

On our way out to our respective fields, we took a little time to “sing along with Raj”. See, in India, despite the influence of television and media from the West, traditional songs and dances are still very important to Indian culture. This has amazed me elsewhere. Short of “the chicken dance”, we Americans don’t really have any distinctly cultural dances that celebrate our history, or really, any songs that tell about our mythologies or oral tradition. It’s interesting to me, then, to see what happens when we collide with a culture that does have such a rich history, and still knows its roots and traditions as they are so jealously guarded in their singing and dancing. Anyway, because of the above, it’s very important for GCC India teams to be able to do at least a modicum of singing (and dancing… oooooh, what I wouldn’t give sometimes to be Baptist and be able to play the “we’re not supposed to dance” card… but more on that later), so we practiced with Raj for a few minutes as we were en route. As it turns out, we weren’t half bad, actually, especially after having Don Reynolds coach us with his superb voice skills, and had even managed to master one “of our own” (Dan Vukmirovich actually wrote a song for us to sing that translates very easily into Tamil with minimum turbulence for our English tongues… you rock, Dan!). Ted Bryant was singled out as the best and most enthusiastic of all of us, and so was coaxed to join Raj at the front of the bus to help the rest of us with our head banging (yeah, literally… you are supposed to create a personal mosh-pit of sorts when you sing) and hand-clapping.

St. Thomas: Apostle to India!

2008-12-30T18:54:00.000-08:00

After lunch, we spent a good bit of the day being introduced to one of India’s national treasures: St. Thomas, the Apostle. You remember St. Thomas… he was the guy who is often called “Doubting Thomas” for his “lack of faith”, but who also was among the first after Jesus’ resurrection to proclaim “My Lord and my God” upon meeting the risen Savior. Based on what most people can piece together, Thomas left Jerusalem after Pentacost and made his way to what is now present day India in about 52 AD. For the better part of 2 decades, he proclaimed Jesus as Lord in this country, and was eventually killed by local rulers for that proclamation in about 72 – 75 AD.

There are 3 spots in Chennai that are significant to where the apostle functioned, and we got to see all three of them. They are outlined as follows:

St. Thomas Mount: There is a small Catholic church and convent built on the spot where Thomas was finally killed at the point of a spear on top of a small mountain that overlooks the city of Chennai (and now is remarkably close to the international airport). Pictures here include the inside of the chapel erected over the site of the murder, and feature an icon supposedly given to Thomas by the apostle Luke, a relic of Thomas (a vacuum sealed cross that contains a bone fragment of Thomas), and a cross carved by Thomas.

St. Thomas “Little” Mount: While being hunted, Thomas took refuge in a small cave for several days. There is now also a large church built over the cave, as well as a well that has given water for the better part of two thousand years. According to legend, when Thomas needed water, he struck the rocks of the cave with his staff and, the rest is hydro-history.

Santhome Cathedral: One of three of the world's cathedrals built over the bones of an apostle is in Chennai, India. Santhome Cathedral is about 5 miles from both the Mount and the Little Mount, and is a beautiful structure constructed largely out of white marble.

Like a Sleuth of Hungry Bears!!!

2008-12-29T21:38:00.000-08:00

So we made it to the hotel, and were quickly (after being introduced to our rooms) treated to a fun "multi-cultural" meal for lunch. I say "multi-cultural" because it was both Indian and also Chinese (great noodles!!!), and most of us were really hungry, so set to it with the ferocity of a sleuth of starved bears.

Featured here are a few of the tasty entrees. There was Mushroom Curry, "Lollipop Chicken" (think General Tso's or a spicy version of Orange Chicken), mixed noodles, fried rice, and, of course, "Chicken 65"!

Touchdown!!!

2008-12-28T22:02:00.000-08:00

We finally landed in Chennai airport at about 7:30 am, grabbed our bags, and exited the terminal to the bright and smiling familiar faces of some of my favorite people on the planet! Standing and greeting us were Raj and Prema (Raj's wife), their two kids (Bruce and Clarinda), Anandraj (another Life Mission staff member), Pastor Anbuannan (a "SuperPastor" from Vellavedu), Diako and Stephen (additional friends and volunteers), and a handfull of others who were new to us. We snapped this picture before piling all our gear onto a huge bus and heading to the hotel for some refreshment time.

And in case you're wondering what those gigantic flower garlands are that are hanging around our necks? Well, that's a traditional Indian greeting, and the hospitality-driven nature of our Indian brothers and sisters does not disappoint. Each team member is greeted with a fresh "lai" (erm... or at least that's what they call them in Hawaii, right?) that weighs about 2 - 3 pounds, and the flowers are so fragrant that they fill up your room with the scent of fresh flowers!

Snoozin'...

2008-12-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

This is what happens to you when you travel for 40 straight hour and still aren't finished yet. Steve Holt (Technical Team) shown here racking out (for the better part of 2 hours) on hard marble, and, when he woke up, said, "wow... never knew marble slabs could feel so soft!"

Alternately is Amanda Harris (Justice Team) sprawling across a couple of seats and doing a very good job looking, for all practical purposes, as though she's genuinely resting. When i snapped this photo, she cracked an eyelid for an instance, gave me that "what ARE you doing?" look that i see often (she IS my sister-in-law, after all), and then promptly slipped back into unconsciousness.

Cutting Through Customs...

2008-12-28T13:21:00.000-08:00

Video posted by Ben Sanders

Here's a quickshot of us exiting Customs. Surprisingly, we were able to get our "1,000 pounds of love" through without too much hassle. The big issue was that they just wanted to make sure that we weren't going to resell anything, or that it didn't require any tax/duty. It was kind of funny, actually, and they had a hard time understanding why 26 Americans would fly 9,000 miles with a bunch of sand and gravel for rural Indian villager from whom they were not going to profit or benefit.

"When I Start Levitating, You'll Know I'm Done..."

2008-12-28T13:13:00.000-08:00

Ted Bryant demonstrates Yoga relaxation techniques on the airport floor.

Posted by Ben Sanders

Digital Postcard: Greg Schermeir

2008-12-28T12:48:00.000-08:00

Posted by Ben Sanders

In Country!

2008-12-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

The teams have landed in Bangalore, India! They are hanging out at the airport, awaiting their last short bit of the journey, a 40 minute flight to Chennai. Everyone is doing well and in good spirits! They will start blogging again once they get a good internet connection!

Digital Postcard: Ben and Vanessa Sanders

2008-12-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

Through Security...

2008-12-27T06:58:00.000-08:00

So... we got to O'Hare in plenty of time, which is great! And i'm now sitting here at a gate waiting to board, using Internet Wi-Fi through Boingo to blog for a few minutes as we wait. Here's how the last 5 hours have worked out:

* We made it to O'Hare in record time! Our driver (Lyle) did a great time, the roads were fine on the Toll-Road, and we cruised into United's terminal (1) at just about 7 am (Indiana time... from here forward in this post, i'll use Chicago time).

* O'Hare was PACKED!!! There must have been 2,000 or more people milling through lines to try to get to a check in counter. We finally negotiated a Disney maze (you know... like the labyrinthine mazes they make you stand in to get on rides at Disney?) to find a TSA employee who told us that we'd have to go downstairs to check in through the Group Desk.

* So we did... negotiating the 2,000 people with all of our 1,000 pounds of love and gear, we traversed the milling masses and made it to the Group Desk.

* No Agent at the Group Desk.

* Waiting.

* More Waiting, with repeated assurances that there WOULD be an agent shortly.

* Agents finally arrive and are great! They bypassed 10 of our bags (which were each 2 lbs overweight) and didn't even charge us.

* Except that they mis-directed one of my bags. They didn't know which one. I checked a bag for Raj and also my suit bag which contains all of my clothes. So... either Raj will be happy (in which case i will SERIOUSLY stink by the time i come home) or i will be. Time will tell.

* We start the process through security.

* More Disney mazes.

* To get to the next round of Disney mazes.

* Culminating in a final round of Disney mazes.

* Ted Bryant, while looking around, chuckled and said, "And...tell me again why the 'airlines are hurting for customers'?" You wouldn't know it by looking around this morning.

* Everyone through security just fine. TSA employees are actually pleasant and helpful! Only John Negri stopped for a thorough frisking, but they couldn't find what was setting off the machines, so he was allowed to leave without anyone breaking out the latex gloves.

* 1/2 mile jaunt through terminal and concourses to now arrive at our gate, sitting it out for about an hour before we start boarding.

Initially i thought we'd not have enough time. Then, when the roads were clear, i worried that we'd have too much. As it turns out, however, just call me Goldilocks because everything turned out "just right".

Ready to Rock!

2008-12-27T06:45:00.000-08:00

It was 4 a.m. And yes, everyone showed up, had their passports, and was ready to go! Here's how the morning worked:

* Showed up at 4 (most people carrying coffee).

* Team gear all prepped, tagged and distributed to team members. In general, each team member picked up a 50 pound "team bag" that contained sand, filters, tools, or team gear.

* Jeanna distributed team binders, shirts (every India team member gets a red GCC polo for "emergency" purposes if we need to ID everyone quickly or travel as an easily identifiable group).

* Quick prayer as a team with family and friends who joined us to send us off.

* Final address to team regarding passports, security, information in binders, and final details.

* Everyone got in the "India Team Congo Line" (i.e. everyone with all their gear in a single file line, ready to march out to the Royal Excursion coach waiting for us in the parking lot) - see video.

* Met with team leaders for final check and prep.

* Off we went!!!

1,000 Pounds of Love...

2008-12-23T14:40:00.001-08:00

So how much does 5 complete bio-sand water filter kits, 2 complete "Indian Jiffy Lube" micro-enterprise sets, 1 portable ONE Prayer multi-media kit, and 1 duffel bag full of supplies for our Indian ground staff weigh? About 700 pounds! Add to that 3 hard-side "pelican" cases for our Media team, and about 4 "team" check bags, and you get about 1,000 pounds worth of checked gear spread across 7 large Army-green duffels, 10 blue "sport bags" (each carrying 50 lbs of sand), and an assortment of other bags.

Plus all our carry ons. Holy cow!

So Dan Blacketor (who is leading our Construction Team) and i set out this morning to individually mark, package and pack everything that we currently have into their appropriate bags, and i thought you might like to see how we turned the GCC Atrium into a "staging area" for the better part of the afternoon.

The tall blue cylinders you see are the container units for the bio-sand water filters we'll be installing. These are "tester" units and we will use them for demonstration set-up. Later in January, 75 filters that we're shipping via boat will arrive for them to install village-wide.

The clear bags are varying diameters of sand, gravel and rock. Each water filter contains about 120 lbs of sand and various filtered forms of gravel and rock, and the answer to the most commonly asked question ("can't you just use sand, gravel and rock that you can find in India? I mean... do they not HAVE sand and rock in India? C'mon!") is "yes, but we didn't have time to set up the appropriate filter operations to ensure sand and gravel diameter. We'll do that in round #2 for next year.

As for the Tech Team, we are taking 2 complete sets of wrenches, socket-kits, screw-drivers, battery-testers, spark-plug/ignitor testers, pliers, multi-tools, flashlights and a host of other things. The idea is that we will train a small number of families how to open a secondary enterprise venture that looks a lot like what we're calling an "Indian Jiffy Lube". It's not a full-fledged mechanic or repair shop, but if you just need an oil change for your motorcycle or to have it spiffied up before you head to Chennai for the weekend, they'll be all set to help.

Media Team is taking everything they need to fully shoot and capture footage for 3 complete "GCC quality" media, plus "B-roll" for training and other materials later.

It's a good thing that the Justice Team is planning to travel so light. With this much gear, i'm not sure how we would get it all there otherwise!

After we finished packing our "1,000 pounds of love", Dan Blacketor and i passed out on the ground. Lugging it 9,000 miles to India is going to be a different story!

Say Hello to Your New Friends... Team Gear!

2008-12-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

Crew! I was going to draft you a massive e-mail to explain the following. Then i just figured that [hopefully] my little vid presentation from yesterday was easier to watch, so here's something else i figured that you should probably be aware of. Let me know if you have questions. Arrigato! -sj

India Update

2008-12-09T06:56:00.000-08:00

Update on India/Bombay Attacks...

2008-11-27T12:06:00.001-08:00

Dear December India Team Members and Friends!

By now, no doubt, you've heard about the tragic attacks and bombings going on in Bombay (Mumbai), India, pursuant to apparent Islamic terrorists targetting innocent Indian citizens and foreigners (if you haven't, please click http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,458270,00.html for update). As a result, i'm guessing that you probably have a variety of questions about the impact of this event on both a) our overall ministry in India, and b) our upcoming teams in December. While we are still gathering data and watching how events unfold along with the rest of the world, i wanted to drop you a quick line to give you some basic information that i hope will be helpful to you and to your support teams, families and friends as you field questions and attempt to direct your own prayers.

1) First of all, please let me state plainly and simply that we will never willingly drop a team of GCC members into a situation that is known to be overtly dangerous or hostile. While there is always a certain amount of risk associated with international travel of any kind, of course, we will monitor the situation in India closely for resolution, and will be paying attention to the US State Department for analysis about the relative safety of contiuing to travel to/from or operation within the country. If there is a genuine threat, if the US State Dept feels that travel to/from India is unadvisable, or we just don't have a good "feel" for our ability to maintain safety and security, we will simply cancel and/or reschedule our time there, and will keep everyone appraised of all necessary data along the way.

2) Also, be advised that the epicenter of this kind of terror is actually "far away" from where our teams typically operate. Think of what might happen if you saw terrorists attempting similar activities in New York, but you were planning on travelling to South Bend (the distance between the two is about the same as between Bombay and Chennai in Tamilnadu). While Bombay is a highly important city within India, and is a focal point for international attention, business, tourism and banking, it is some 700 miles from Tamilnadu, where we concentrate all of our work. In addition, Tamilnadu is nearly 100% Hindu, so there is a considerably higher degree of peace and tranquility than in much of the rest of the country where Hindu/Muslim conflicts occur regularly. Again, all of this to say not that we will ignore genuine international threats or concerns, but rather that what you are seeing on CNN is not necessarily indicative of what is going on in the rest of the country.

3) Next, our current airline tickets have us routing nowhere close to Bombay for any component of our travel to/from India. Most likely, we will either fly directly to Chennai (on the Southeast coast of the country), or to Chennai via Bangalore (in the South-Central part of the country) from our stop-over in Europe.

4) Finally, despite the above, please continue to pray diligently for India. As you have heard me say in your training DVD's, India is a country currently "in flux", trying to find its point of balance between the old ways and the new. In the last 10 years, it has attempted to bring itself out of the Stone Ages and into the light as a global super-power (economically, militarily, socially and governmentally), and the tension that occurs with that kind of seismic upheaval is always difficult, and sometimes (as in this case), violent and tragic. As you pray, please ask God that this horrific evil will result in a greater openness for those of us who are attempting to bring the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior into such Darkness, and that his Light and Love will triumph over the spirit of oppression and violence that is pervading India now.

I'm sure that what is above has most likely not answered all your questions, but hopefully, it has at least answered a few. Please feel free to contact your team leader first, or me directly for additional information if it would be helpful for you (cell: 574.339.4125). Thanks, and we'll continue to give you more information as we have it.

All for One!

Jack Magruder
Director of Life Mission
Granger Community Church

Sleep & Luggage Simulation - October 11th

2008-10-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

So you want to go to India with a GCC ministry team? Excellent! But before you go, we're going to make sure that we do everything we can to equip you not only for service, but for what you're going to experience physically while you're there. One of the ways we do that is through a combined Sleep and Luggage "simulation" beforehand. Here's what it looks like:

Friday Night - Sleep on your floor. No fair dragging your mattress onto the ground, but it doesn't matter whether you have carpet, hard wood or linoleum. The idea is that you will most likely be sleeping on the floor in India, so just changing your sleeping position and normal level of comfort will help you get a feel for what that will be like.

Saturday Morning - Wake up early and head to GCC to participate in 2nd Saturday. The idea is that you are dong something "active".

Saturday Afternoon/Evening - After finishing 2nd Saturday, we meet back at GCC, grab a quick bite to eat together, and then head to Potato Creek State Park with everyone's gear packed the way they're going to be taking it to India. At Potato Creek, the teams will hike (with their luggage) through Trail I for a distance over mud and trails of about 2.2 miles. It's not that big of a deal, but if you get tired of carrying your 26 lb makeup kit during that time, better to find out this side of the travel timeline than in India and having to toss it on the field. When finished, team members are dismissed to run home, get a quick shower, and head back to church, where we meet to sit together at the 5 pm worship service at GCC.

Saturday Night - Sleep on your floor...again. By this point, you should be a little sore from Friday night, plus good and tired from the day.

Sunday Morning - Wake up and see how you feel. Whether good or bad, it's probably a airly decent indicator as to how you're going to feel on an average day in India. Once you figure out how you're doing, send Jack an e-mail telling him such. If you're grouchy and sore, then you'll probably want to increase your physical fitness regimen before you go. If you're "just fine", don't get cocky, but be glad that you're on the right track.

The simulations are "required" and are not optional, and we are offering them for the December India Team window on three separate dates (each revolving around the Second Saturdays in October, November and December). For the October option, the following people participated (see picture above - left to right): Ron Twedt (Justice), Mike Ryan (Tech), Elaine Ryan (Construction), Ted Bryant (Justice), Jennifer Kukla (Water), Nancy Leist (Construction), Greg Schermier (Construction).

Dates to Remember...

2008-09-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

INDIA TEAM…DATES TO REMEMBER…

Little India for a Day & Meal Simulation

*Individuals must choose one of the two options. Team Leaders will need to let me know which date the people on their teams plan to attend by Friday, September 12^th.

*Saturday, September 27^th, 8a.m.- 6p.m (Option 1)

*Saturday, November 15^th, 8a.m.-6p.m. (Option 2)

Immunization Clinic #1/GCC -Wednesday, October 1^st, 5p.m.-6:30p.m.

Sleep & Luggage Simulation

**Everyone must choose one of the three options for the Sleep & Luggage Simulation. Team Leaders will need to let Jeanna know which Simulation their team members plan to attend by Friday, September 12^th.

*Friday, October 10^th -Sunday, October 12^th (Option 1)

· Friday, October 10^th-sleep on the floor

· Saturday, October 11^th-meet at GCC at 8:30a.m. for 2^nd Saturday. After serving at 2^nd Saturday go to lunch as a team and then go to Potato Creek for the Luggage Simulation (will end between 3p.m.-4p.m.). Meet back at GCC for the 7p.m. service. Sleep on the floor Saturday night.

*Friday, November 7-Sunday, November 9^th (Option 2)

· Friday, November 7^th-sleep on the floor

· Saturday, November 8^th -meet at GCC at 8:30a.m. for 2^nd Saturday. After serving at 2^nd Saturday go to lunch as a team and then go to Potato Creek for the Luggage Simulation (will end between 3p.m.-4p.m.). Meet back at GCC for the 7p.m. service. Sleep on the floor Saturday night.

*Friday, December 12-Sunday, December 14^th (Option 3)

· Friday, December 12^th-sleep on the floor

· Saturday, December 13^th-meet at GCC at 8:30a.m. for 2^nd Saturday. After serving at 2^nd Saturday go to lunch as a team and then go to Potato Creek for the Luggage Simulation (will end between 3p.m.-4p.m.). Meet back at GCC for the 7p.m. service. Sleep on the floor Saturday night.

Passports & Visa Applications Due to Jeanna Tripp; as well as GCC Polo shirt sizes for your team-Monday, October 20^th

Partial Support Due ($2000)-Monday, November 3^rd

Immunization Clinic #2/GCC -Wednesday, November 5^th, 5p.m.-6:30p.m. #2/GCC

Full Support Due ($3000 + cost of any immunizations)-Monday, December 1^st

Financial Updates (Team Members can expect to receive financial updates on the following dates (I will copy the Team Leaders on each of these e-mails):

Tuesday, October 7
Tuesday, October 21
Tuesday, November 4
Tuesday, November 11
Tuesday, November 18
Tuesday, November 25
Monday, December 1

Water Team Recon...

2008-09-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are going on the December Water Team, you will be able to see a brief glimpse of what one of the villages where you will be working looks like. This village is called Kallavai, and it currently has between 65 - 75 families (300+) people in it.

Online Giving!!!

2008-09-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

Crew! Wanted to let you know that we will be adding a great new feature to this team's blog! It will be the ability to direct supporters to this site so that they can give on-line through the following link: http://www.gccwired.com/missiontrips , or by just clicking here when they come to this post. You can also send that link to your supporters or friends via e-mail (how cool is that!?!?)

Once they get to the link, they will be able to specify you as the person they want to give to, and our internal systems will track their contribution from there, as well as automatically ascribe it to you. Later, you will see this show up in your support report, and can know exactly how much you have raised and where you are in the giving process. Our hope is that this will simplify things considerably as well as it will minimize the paperwork, stamps, return address labels, etc. that you may currently be using. We hope that this will help everyone (you, your supporters, our Accounting Teams, etc), and make things WAY easier, and all you have to do is direct people to this blog address to get started.

It will also help them to start thinking about coming here for information about you and the teams as we will be blogging everything from training to prep, travel and on-field activity. If you have questions about this process, or need help with it, please let us know through comments here on this post.

Welcome to the GCC India (Dec '08 - Jan '09) Team Blog!

2008-04-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hi there! This blog will track the training and mission of people traveling from Granger Community Church to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ in Tamilnadu, Southern India, during our July - August '08 operational "window". In this window, three teams will be mobilized to aid church planters in a number of Southern Indian villages to do the following:

* Justice - Justice issues have become a pervasive issue in at least two of the villages where we will be working in '08. In one instance, there is a significant population of bonded child labor surrounding a brick factory, and in another, there is a prevalent "sex for work" scheme where young women are only able to acquire jobs to support their families if they are willing to sleep with the factory foremen. GCC teams mobilized in these fields will partner with International Justice Mission to provide "after care" for adults and children who have been liberated from the kinds of scenarios described above.

* Water - Clean water or issues related to water availability are major concerns. In these contexts, the teams will be able to follow up with contracted preparatory field work to significantly help the villages. Examples of this might include contracting to have a well drilled, but then building the taps and servers from the well when they get to the field, as well as train the people how to repair the taps themselves.

* Construction - In many villages, there is a complete lack of understanding for how to do basic home repair and maintenance (hey, i can relate... i can't even fix the handle on my kitchen drawer! I'm definitely NOT "Tool Time Tim"). This team will bundle with Indian families to both teach about ongoing repair and maintenance as well as partner with the families and church members to do the rehab as well.

* Technical - There are several “basic engineering” issues that have surfaced in many of the villages. For example, many people have gas stoves that are very simple in construction, but that when they break or malfunction, have no idea how to repair or maintain. They ran a “test” 2nd Saturday project for this issue and that people in the villages lined up in droves to have church members fix their stoves free of charge. It was a phenomenal opportunity to increase the church’s exposure as well as serve the community, and that they had a phenomenal opportunity to share the love of Jesus with people as they asked, “why are you doing this?” Similar kinds of issues could involve basic electrical work or plumbing. Most of these issues could be “learned on the field”, particularly with people who are already engineering or mechanically inclined, and would be hugely beneficial in a variety of contexts.

We hope that you will stick with us as we travel and engage the training process along the way!

All for One!
-"Samurai" Jack Magruder