I'm here!

Dear Ones,

After a 21-hour trip, I arrived safely in Delhi, India! I was greeted at the airport by my new friends, Brejun (Sheila's assistant) and Simu (Sheila's adopted son). Since I arrived at 6:15 in the morning (to early to check into the YWCA, where I am staying for 4 days) they took me on a walking tour of the block and showed me the YMCA book store down the street. We hit the ground running, with Brejun heading up us sharing the gospel with a man we met there. Brejun just LOVES talking about the Lord; he gets giddy about it. His joy had an infectious impact on Bruno, the French man we were sharing with, and Brejun will be following up with him again. The rest of the day was spent sleeping off my jet lag and sleeping through the night (yay!).

I have felt fine all day, no touch of jet lag at all and have taken no naps... I will sleep well tonight, though! After a leisurely morning in my room, reading and journaling and overlooking the city (I have a small balcony overlooking a busy street), two co-workers of Sheila's, Christopher and Solomon came to show me more of India. So for the past three hours I've been puttering around in an autorickshaw (they describe it as a gasoline trike... I'll have pictures soon), stopping at the local indoor and outdoor markets to get a feel for Delhi and the culture. One thing I will surely have to get used to is being stared at. Everything about me is odd, from my white skin to my red hair. It makes wandering through the marketplace even more interesting, to say the least.

This afternoon's experience confirmed my fist impression of India... "whoa". Everyone and everything is so unique, busy, different, poor, beautiful, colorful, cacophonous... I hope to be able to give you more specific descriptions soon, but I think I need to process it a bit more. What a combination of life there is here; it's so incongruent, I both appreciate it and am confounded by it.

I am anxious to end my time here at the YWCA (relaxing as it has been) and be with Sheila. I have not seen her yet, as her home is quite a distance from this part of Delhi, and she is not feeling well and has been ordered to rest as much as possible. I will be with her soon, probably on Sunday.

Please continue to pray for me as I settle in here. I've had moments of being overwhelmed, confused, and lonely, but also wonderful times of rest, adventure, and peace. Please pray for my time in God's Word, as today I started a plan to read through the Bible in my 10 months here. Please pray for Aunty (Sheila), as she needs to be resting. Please pray that I would know my place and what it looks like for me to live here and serve here. Please pray that I would love this place and these dear people, and that I would long for God to be glorified more than I would long for the comfort of home or friends and family.

I love you all!

In case you wondered, India is 13 hours ahead of California time. So, if it's 2PM on a Wednesday for you, it's 3AM on Thursday for me. Hope that helps!