Curry anyone?

So this week has been really good as we continue plugging away at staff training. We've been covering everything from how to do proper one-on-one's and small groups to what it means to lead out of influence not authority to whose going to make sure the speaker has their coffee. As many of you know, Kelly and I have just finished an entire lecture phase (3 months) and are beginning a new one. If we were playing by the rules we'd been in some foreign country eating rice and curry before heading out to run an evening youth program for street kids...yes I admit outreach is my favorite part of the DTS program so we are extremely excited to be heading out to India and Bangladesh for 2+ months in December!!

We have had the advantage of being around and planning outreach before the DTS even began and are stoked to say that all of our contacts are already in place. Now its just a matter of waiting on God to put together a sweet team; then begin training and praying like crazy before we step onto that machine that flies us across the ocean to spread the Good News to our fellow humans in South Asia.

For Kelly and I this is more than just another DTS outreach. It's the first step into a vision God has been speaking to us for a few years now. To put it simply we just feel God is calling us to go and stand in solidarity with the oppressed and enslaved of South Asia for a season; to see how we can be a part of creating a world Jesus describes as the "kingdom of heaven." The Word calls us to "walk as Jesus did," and I can't help but find as I read through the Gospels Jesus continually walking with, spending time with, and advocating for the outcasts, the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed. Our hope is to discover how we can be a part of bringing the good news of the kingdom to the peoples of South Asia.....SO with that said, we will actually be staying in South Asia for approximately 6-8 weeks AFTER the DTS outreach is officially over. More details to come on what "the dream" actually looks like (or at least what I hope for it to look like), but most of our time will be spent scouting out and visiting dozens of ministries within the India/Nepal region, specifically those focusing on human trafficking and slavery as well as holistic and sustainable community development and lots of Fair Trade stuff. So yeah...thats it for now. peace.

*see Is. 1:17, Micah 6:8, and Jeremiah 22:11-17, Amos 5:21-24 if you feel like being challenged by God's heart for justice.