So I’m back in Manali now, and I am slowly getting settled into what will be my routine for the remaining months I’m here. Yesterday I started teaching English grammar (hilarious..) at the orphanage school. I’ve never really aspired to be a school teacher or to attempt to corral a room full of 5th graders, but I’m thankful for the opportunity to be building a relationship with the children’s home. I started with three 40-minute classes. Forty minutes is a long time to talk about English, and I may very well end up learning more than the children do from the whole experience. Either way, most of our youth kids live there, and it’s a pretty big deal that they are letting me have that kind of access.

My other main area of involvement is the youth program we do on Sunday afternoons. There is a pretty big leadership void in most everything here, so I am doing my best to direct that ministry. It’s quite challenging given all the cultural differences and the simple fact that it seems to take two days to accomplish an hours worth of work here. I have continued to lead worship there, and starting in October I will take over some of the teaching as well. We have created a team of student leaders that we are trying to disciple and pour into, but that baton will have to be passed slowly.

Apart from my involvement with the children’s home and the youth, I’m doing my best to build relationships with several of the older boys. Most of these kids have a real void for any sort of male leader in their lives…much less a spiritual father. They are all searching for who they are. My prayer for them is not just that they will see their need for God, but that they will realize He is also their greatest desire…what they are all truly longing for deep down. That can seem like an overwhelming task sometimes. But honestly, it’s not hard work that needs a lot of striving–it’s impossible work that only God can do. Believe it or not, that is so comforting. I just want to be a vessel. He is able, amen?

Personally, I am doing pretty well. God has answered so many prayers. I’m healthy, sleeping well, and quite aware the Lord is with me (most days!). It’s still uncomfortable, and I’m still a foreigner–those things won’t change. But I am getting a little more used to it.

Thank you all for the emails and other efforts to stay in touch. That encourages me so much. By far the hardest part of what I’m doing here is just the absence of the friends and community I have at home. We should all skype soon.

Besides, fall is a terrible time to miss the Upstate…

Oh, and I hear gas is cheap right now…someone can go fill up my car?