Women' Meeting

Hello to all,

Today has been a wonderful day in the Lord.  We spent the day with over 400 Indian Women and several pastors & Bible School students.  We had an awesome worship service!  The singing was so loud it made our hair stand up!  We are praising the Lord for such a successful event.  We all spoke today (Chad too!)  We taught the women on Biblical characteristics of being Godly Women.  Each person of our team did an amazing job with God's help!  The women were very thankful for our offering and many came to us afterward begging for prayer.  One lady brought her son to me- he was about 2 or 3 and he had no use of his hands or arms.  She placed his hands in mine and begged for prayer.  I don't know if you could possibly imagine how very small we feel at these moments but I know our God is not!  

We just got doing helping Brenda C. purchase 40 postcards & stamps to mail home to friends.  It has been a real trip just walking down the street without getting run over.  Brenda & a bicycle had a small crash but all is well!

We have a big day tomorrow with 2 church dedication services & lots of travel to get to the churches.  Please pray for travel mercies.  The roads are very narrow & windey.  

We have much to share with each of you when we get home!  God has blessed us beyond what we could have ever hoped or imagined!  We have had the opportunity to do so much more than we expected and we have been brought to tears more times than we can count!  All of us!  Not one of us has been left untouched or unchanged thus far!

We thank you so much for your prayer support!  We would be lost without it!  We have done so well with the food and travel- thus far nobody has gotten sick!  PRAISE THE LORD!  We have had the energy we needed to get through when we needed it!

We love you all!  We will write again soon!

Lori 

we are here

Greetings in the Precious Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
The greeting I just gave you is a typical greeting we receive from our Christian friends in India. Let me say a big Tennessee Howdy to you all as well!

Our team arrived after a long journey in Chirala. I can't tell you exactly what day it was but I do know we went over 48 hours without sleep! Praise the Lord for the safe travel! We are all very well. Nobody has been sick & the food has been great! The only problems we have had are just from being overly tired from the journey.

We spent the last several days with David & Jemimma Raju and their children Pardeep, Glory and Shanti. They are an amazing family. They went over and above to take care of us. We were treated like Kings and Queens while we were with them. We spent 1 1/2 days at the orphanage with the children. We wept openly at the warm greet they gave us when we arrived. We will tell you more about this later. We preached at 2 church services, gave new clothes to the children, gave out all the wonderful gifts you all sent them- they LOVED them. I so wish you could have seen their happy faces! They were chewing gum like I've never seen! Our time with them was so very precious! Chad baptized one lady in the Bay of Bengal. We also got the privilege of giving her a new name, Anna, after the prophetess Anna in the Bible. She told us after we announced her new name that she was hoping it would be Anna. We were so blessed. We had many women and children come to us and beg for prayer. One mother came with her son who had cancer. We have felt in many ways so small and helpless. But we have done what we could. Prayer is the BEST gift we could give them. We were given coconut trees to plant at the orphanage in our honor. This was a very special event! And, we were all given new names as well-- Auntie Lori, Uncle Chad, Auntie Tracy, Auntie Brenda, and Auntie Daisy.

There aren't enough words in the English Language to describe how we felt about our visit with David, his family, and the orphans. There is so much more to tell but I must go for now.

We are in Thekkady with Abraham Thomas now. We arrived very late last night. I will try my best to write again tomorrow!

We have felt your prayers! Please continue to pray!
We love you all,
Lori

Preparing to Leave....

Hello out there!


Well, I'm down to the wire on packing and preparing for India. Our group leaves this Sunday at 2:15 from the Tri-Cities Airport. There is no explaining in words the feelings I'm experiencing as we prepare to leave. Just this week Chad and I met with an attorney who prepared documents for our power of attorney in order for our children to be taken care of while we are away. What a very sobering moment! Next, I received an email from David Raju expressing the excitement the Raju family is experiencing because we are coming to visit them. Just knowing what an encouragement our visit to them will be is so humbling! Then I received an email from Tracy Bennett with the lessons she has prepared to teach while we are there. And you know what I did next--I just had to do a praise dance to Jesus over them!


As you can tell my emotions are all over the place. How can you experience so many feelings all at the same time??? Well, you know how! You just can! If there is one thing us gals know- it's emotions! ha! We can experience every feeling and emotion Webster's dictionary can describe or try to define all in a day's work! Bless us- we can be a complicated bunch!

As I have been working towards packing and finishing last minute details- more than anything I pray God prepares my heart for this journey with Him. I could cry just thinking of the opportunity to serve Jesus in such a special capacity- not to mention that I will be sharing this journey with the man I love, Chad. When I visited India two years ago, the trip was amazing. I have to say, it would have been so much better had Chad been there with me! This time a husband and wife team will get to serve Jesus in India side by side! I can't wait to see Chad's face and hear his thoughts as we travel about. Not only his, but those of our team! I believe one of the real treats of this trip will simply be sharing it with Chad and friends (Tracy, Daisy, Brenda C. and Brenda Allen) from the U.S.! I write to you today knowing how very blessed I am!

I ask that each of you keep our team in your prayers not to mention the families we leave behind! Our families are making great sacrifices in order for this mission trip to take place and we don't take their sacrifice lightly! Our appreciation and love overflow for each one of them!

Our India team has adopted the motto for this trip of 'WHATEVER'! We truly want to do 'WHATEVER' is needed to encourage and disciple those who are believers and witness and share the Gospel message to those who are not! We want to do 'WHATEVER' we can to bring Glory to Jesus, the One and Only! Please pray that with His help we will do just that- 'WHATEVER' the cost!

Please be sure to keep an eye on the blog. It is my plan to blog while we are in India. It maybe more towards Thursday or Friday before we have computer access- but it is very possible that it will be earlier in the week! So, just keep a check back and I will try to keep you posted on our trip!

Our team knows this trip would not have been possible without the support of our families and church family. We appreciate your support and prayers more than you know! We head to India as representatives of our Great God and Harrison Christian Church!

Love to all,
Lori Drain

Swinging With Our Eyes Closed

Hello to all,
I came across this picture today and just cracked up! This is Gabe in the early stages of T-Ball life! I couldn't help but look at the picture and think about how often I feel like this picture looks! Sometimes it just feels like I'm taking a swing at life with my eyes closed and only one hand on the bat! Anyone relate? Instead of articulating exactly what I mean I would rather give you some time to think it over for yourself and maybe later I'll slide back in and post further comment! Or- if you are a blog reader---post your own idea of how this picture might describe life for you!

Blessings,
Lori