Leaving Today

Hello to all,
Sorry it has been a couple of days since our last post. We have been up early and back to the motel late & have not been able to write.

We finished up teaching the Bible School students this week. They were so sweet. All of them are very eager to learn. They sing & worship like a choir of 200 and there are only 13 of them. They so blessed us. Teaching them was one of the many highlights of our trip. I shared with them on Friday about a special friend of ours in the U.S. who made me a special gift before we left home. I passed the gift around for all of them to see. They then prayed for my friend, Dayton. They are so passionate in their prayers. They told us they would pray for Dayton daily. It was such a special moment for all of us. And, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt- they will pray daily as they promised!!! They arise every morning at 5:30 for prayer and devotions. They fast once or twice a week and pray. They are a very special group of Godly young men.

We had several evening worship services in churches all over most of them were at least an hour away from where we were staying. Each service had at least 175 people in them. Every building that we preached in was packed and people were standing outside around the doorways and windows to listen in and participate. They carried on with worship just as if they were sitting inside with us. Chad & Brenda C. preached and did an awesome job! Abraham preached as well. After most every service we would have people come forward for prayer. We had some amazing moments during this time. One evening there was a young girl who was disformed. She was so beautiful yet one leg was way to small and her arm & shoulder was bent all out of shape. She couldn't walk. We prayed for her. What was so sad was knowing in the US she could get help.

Saturday we got to go to a tiger reserve for a boat ride. We saw elephants, birds, deer and wild boar. It was a fun time. All the Bible School boys went with us and it was the first time they had ever gone. Stephen, the Dean of the School, told us they have been asking for along time to go- he said he told them to keep praying- and they did! And, their prayers were answered. It was a great day!

After the boat ride Valsa took us shopping near the hotel to finish up a few gift items for our families.

Sunday we had another church dedication service. We were met at the end of the road where the church was by the congregation. They had garlands & bouquets of flowers for each of us. They played music and sang as we all walked together up a long hill to the church. What a wonderful time we had! Brenda Allen dedicated the church. It was a building donated by her home church, Fly Branch Christian. They have about 80 members there & have built several church buildings & parsonages over the years here.

Sunday afternoon was also fun. Abraham and Valsa took us on an elephant ride. I was personally the big chicken in the group! They put me in the middle of Chad & Brenda C. We talked about how we would have never imagined in a million years that we would travel to India in our lifetime to preach, teach and ride an elephant! God is so good! We enjoyed the ride so much.

Valsa cooked dinner for us 2 nights in a row and it was AWESOME! We have fell in love with Indian bread! So she made some special for us both times.

This morning we went to the Center to tell the Bible School students goodbye. It was a sweet but sad time. They had many wonderful things to say to us and we had many to say to them. We took pictures together and said our goodbyes.

Now we are finishing up checking out of the motel, having lunch and will be picked up by Abraham soon. We will drive 4 hours to the airport where we will leave at 9 pm Indian time and fly to Chennai. From there we leave at 2 am Indian time for Paris. We will be back Tuesday evening in the US. Please pray for our safe travel.

We love and miss you all!
Lori

Thursday

Good afternoon to all! Or should I say- Happy Sleeping? It is 4:15 a.m. in the U.S. but its 3:45 p.m. here in India ( or at least I think it is! I've had a hard time figuring out what time it is!!!)

Our India team is doing well! We just had our 300th serving of rice for lunch. No joke- we've had rice about every day for every meal except breakfast and that has been toast & eggs everyday! Needless to say we all want a salad, or a hamburger-- anything but rice!! But, God be Praised!! I shouldn't complain about what we are eating- many people here are lucky to get a serving of rice a day. We are so humbled. Being here makes you realize how petty your complaints and problems are. I've realized my own selfishness and pettiness. I have a profound new perspective on what is really important. I wish each of you were here with me. There are things we have seen and done that just drives you to your knees in thanks to our Almighty God. He has been so good to us- and not just me- you too. Take some time today to sit in Awe of all the many blessings he has given you. God is good- all the time- and all the time- God is good!!

Our team is all well and safe. We feel your prayers and know that we have had an amazing hedge of protection around us this whole trip! Yesterday, Valsa took us shopping. We drove about 2 hours or so into another town and went to a particular store then we had a nice lunch and headed back over the mountains- through the tea, rubber, sugarcane, and coconut plantations. What a view! The word 'beautiful' doese'nt even come close! We were so high up in the mountains- It was scary at times. The roads here are very narrow and you go over switchback after switchback....or one curve after another. Indian roads give 'S' a new name. Dramamine has become Tracy & Daisy's new best friend! No joke! They have eaten it like candy! And, Praise God- it has worked & they haven't gotten car sick! The rest of us haven't experienced any naseau from the driving. Fear- but not naseau.

We enjoyed the day with Valsa very much. We went to dinner last night- with just our team. We've had so much fun together. Everyone has been great! They all have been such a blessing.

This morning we spent several hours teaching the Bible school students- all 13 of them and their teachers. They are an amazing group of young men. Today they told us of some of the obstacles they had already faced in the churches they have served in. This blew our minds!! Many of them had already faced beatings and persecution from Hindu Extremists. They have faced things you and I could never imagine. They have seen many miracles too. They told us of a Hindu temple that was beside their church. When they would have services the Hindu temple would start playing music on loud speakers so they could not conduct their worship services. So they decided to fast and pray. After this they went to the homes of those who worshipped in the temple and prayed for them. One family had a daughter who was blind. They began to pray for her and over time & as they kept coming and praying- God healed her. Now, many of those families have converted to Christianity because of the miracle God did for this little girl.

Tonight we will be preaching at a church an hour or so away from where we are. So, please pray for us tonight. Brenda Colonnell is preaching. Please pray for her energy level. She hasn't slept well in several days--- there is way too much noise at night here & it is hard to sleep. Other than that she is great! She has been the courageous one where food has been concerned. She has tried things that you couldn't pay me to eat!! Again, our team has been so great! We have gotten along so wonderfully together!

We can't thank you enough for your prayers! We have a lot of work to finish in the next few days before we leave-- so keep praying!

We love and miss you all,

Lori

Update

Hello to all!
I hope by now you have figured out that I don't have time to spell check or recheck what I am posting- so forgive me but that is just the way it goes!

We are all well here in India and are in AWE of God and HIS work! Let me breifly catch you up on the past few days:

1. We had a Women's Conference on Saturday with over 400 ladies present! God be Praised! We all taught and the ladies seemed to soak in every word! We had a bit of a fiasco when we handed out the lotions after the meeting. We will have to explain everything once we get home. But it all worked out fine. The fiasco taught us what can happen when people have nothing. And, most of the people we have ministered too have very little or nothing at all in life but Jesus himself.
2. We traveled all day Sunday to 2 different churches and dedicated them in the Name of the Lord Jesus Chirst for His Glory and work. For those of you who attend Harrison Christian Church there is no way to explain what these builidings meant to the pople here. I can't express in words the gratitiude offered to us because of your hard work and giving. This was a treasured moment for all of us here. We can't wait to show you the pictures and tell the stories of these dedications. We had many come to us for prayer after the services. It was overwhelming- the needs that they each have. We laid hands on them and blessed them & lifted up what needs we could determine they had. One in paticular was a 15 year old girl whose mother had died and her father had ran off and left her. She was all alone in the world. I wept over her as I prayed. I can't tell you how often the needs of the people have been so great that our hearts have felt as if they were going to break into. Such pain yet such happiness in Jesus.
3. Monday we spent the whole day teaching the Bible School Students. 13 Boys ages 16 and up who are training to be pastors. It was a wonderful day. The boys are so sweet and egar to learn. That evening we drove to one of Abraham's first churches where we had a preaching service. The church was in the middle of a tea plantation. It was a beautiful setting. It was a great service & Chad and Abraham preached their hearts out!
4. Today we spent the day with over 100 pastors (I think that is a good number). We taught on Jesus model of Servant-Leadership! It was a wonderful meeting. The men sang so loud and with such passion It made our hair stand up!
5. Tonight we are taking Valsa out to eat & we have a free evening to rest. Our minds can use a break!

I haven't told you much about our time with David Raju and the orphans. I will have to wait until we have more time. There is so much to tell & so little time! But I promise we will write as we can!

Thank you all for your prayers! We can feel them!

Love to all,

Lori

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