Namaste!

Dear friends and family, I miss you all so much today! I was out running a few errands after school and I just felt incredibly conscious of the stares from everyone. Sometimes it's hard to be the only white person! And sometimes when I'm in the city in the middle of a large crowd, I stop and realize that (in that moment) I am alone. Okay, you can count God always being with me, but you know what I mean. Alone. So even though I love India and everything about it, I miss you all!

Sorry for not writing for so long. It's been a busy week! On Sunday morning I stayed home and watched the kids so John could go to church and give the message. They were no trouble at all, and I like noticing the differences between them and the kids at school. Also, playing and talking with Harley makes me miss Jay a lot. But in a good, appreciative way. He's a very perceptive and empathetic kid. Also, he told me that he likes the Disney Princesses who are brave, which was heart-warming to hear. Don't ask me why I was talking about Disney Princesses with a 9 year old boy. Laura and Jana came over in the afternoon to hang out and do some laundry at the apartment. They were also cleaning out some of their things, which was really sad.

In the afternoon we went to "the farm", aka Sunita's parents' house and school/orphanage, Bensons International Academy. I LOVE spending time at the farm. It's 20 minutes from our apartments, and adjacent to the plot of land where BGSS hopes to relocate within the next two years. The farm is the very tangible result of Mr. Peter's (aka Sunita's Dad) 30 years of hard work. He has now passed on most of the responsibility to Sunita's brother Steve, but his presence in the school and with the orphans is a really comforting constant for everyone. Bensons houses over 30 orphans who take classes and live there for free. These kids are the BEST, and I love being with them. They are respectful, joyful, incredibly hard-working, and really in love with Jesus. Some of the older girls are house help for Sunita's parents, and they are so kind and like I said, very hard-working. We ate dinner there and basically just hung out for the night. It was good to get Harley, Hayden, Rachel, and Joshua out of the apartment and around some other kids with the fresh air and open spaces. John and I sat with Hayden on the front wrap-around porch of the main house for a while drinking coffee and talking about the school's creation and evolution, and plans for the future. The entire Peters family has done SO much to advance the kingdom of God here in India, and I love hearing about it.

Every morning of this week I was over with John and the kids helping to get them fed, dressed, clean, and ready for school. Even though Laura and Jana hadn't left India yet, they didn't come to school on Monday or Tuesday, and the children asked about them. That was pretty sad. They understand, but also don't. And you should have seen the look of horror on Sujay's face when he realized that I have to leave on Thursday. He was very unsure about who would teach the language class. Being back in school without Laura teaching the language class with me also made me realize how blessed we were to be able to tag team the teaching. Especially in language, the children really need constant help and attention. If you turn one loose to copy while the other one reads to you, things can end badly. But I managed, so it's okay!

On Tuesday after school Laura and Jana came over for the last time! We exchanged gifts and goodbyes, and I did really fancy henna for them on both sides of both hands. It took a really long time and a lot of patience, but it was so worth it! In my humble opinion, it came out very nicely. But really, I am so thankful that our paths crossed here in Mysore. They gave me the confidence I needed to explore the city and enjoy my time to the fullest. The foundation they laid in the school made my transition so much easier. And while they may have feared that I would just be the American they'd have to babysit, we ended up being genuine friends. I'm praying for a spiritual awakening for both of them, because I want to do some more exploring together on the new earth in eternity!

The rest of the week was normal (if you could call my life right now "normal") and I don't have much to report. Tomorrow I am going with one of Sunita's friends to Bylakuppe, which is the second largest settlement of Tibetians in India. It's like 80km from here, and she and he husband go there frequently to do ministry with the Buddhist people. They even learned the language fluently! I'm excited to spend time with Asen and see Bylakuppe from the perspective of someone who knows it well!

SO MUCH LOVE