Quick update… I’m alive and fine. In Northern India somewhere, and really excited to see what God will be doing with out group this week. Please pray for safety and protection from spiritual attacks/darkness. Update more later! Thanks, and God bless! Elissa

Hello bloggers,
Today we split into our new groups and took off on a new adventure. New sights, new sounds and new people to hear the gospel! Our group, joel, shoshanna, elissa, tirza, elly, liz k, josh l, and I are getting used to our new surroundings.There is a lot of Buddhism being practiced here. I saw a few monks walk by on the road (Sidenote: I also saw some monkeys on the 8 hour car ride today) and our cab driver told us that the Dalai Lama is in town. Strangely enough, in spite of the religious focus, the atmosphere is very much like the other Israeli tourist destinations we’ve visited–lot’s of drugs, cafes, hikes, guitar music, etc. Oh and of course I shouldn’t forget “Hello to the Queen”, the must have dessert among Israeli travelers in India. Hot chocolate chip cookies, and chopped bananas, covered in vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Yummm
I’m looking forward to our time here. I’ve heard that there is a heavy spiritual presence here, along with opposition from Chabad. Acknowledging these things, I think we’re all excited to be here and to see what the Lord has in store for us and the people we’ll soon meet and speak to. Our God is at work here in India and it is such a privilege to be a part of it!!!
Thank you for all of your prayers and support

After a week in Leh our team made the long trip down south over the second highest pass in the world (5600m). The trip was obstacle after the other but everytime our driver got us through. Just to mention some of them: a flipped over truck or two, closed road blockade, a truck stuck in the waterfall that the road goes through and so many more.

We spent 2 days together with the whole team and have now split up again and went to different areas for our last week of evangelism.

There have been many great oppertunities of evangelism and altogether we’ve talked to over a hundred Israelis about Yeshua.

Yesterday Isaac prayed with 2 Indian men to recurve the Lord!
God has been protecting us and watching over the group.

Please pray that God will fill everyone with Boldness and anoint the interactions we have this week. Please pray for his protection and that we will stay focused on Him.

We have completed week one here in India, and I have to say that in many cases the conditions here are better than I originally thought they would be.  We’ve had some great food, good living conditions, a chance to enjoy our surroundings (unlike while in Delhi).

Overall, our time in Dharmsala was enjoyable but challenging at the same time.  The number one thing that stands out the most there is that the travelers are looking for something.  What that is, many do not know, but they seek it out, mostly in the forms of the many classes which are available there.  We spent time in a number of different cafes, trying to interact with people and trying to find out what they thought about Jesus.  It was somewhat difficult to stay in that environment at first because left and right people are lighting up, and I am morally against such an act.  But you look past that in order to see the person instead.  None of the people that I personally spoke to were open, and instead held their own opinions very strongly.  It was definitely a struggle, and a very draining experience.

Our group has now come together again for several days, and it’s very uplifting to hear their stories, to be able to share struggles, and just be a whole group again.  For the previous seven weeks, we have acted together almost as a singular body, each person with his/her strengths, and now as we put our talents to work here in India, it’s amazing to see how God is using those talents.  We’ll be heading out to a new location soon, with new teams, so just pray that God would do a good work in us and that we are able to reach many people.

Well we’re not in Israel anymore. We arrived in Delhi last week. I keep hearing that delhi was a bad experience and it smelt and it was gross. BUT I LOVED IT. it was such a blast to walk through an area that was so third world ish, and i see the smiles on peoples faces, the level of contentment. it really puts my two story house with a/c into perspective. We are a spoiled nation, even when we don’t have the plushy lifestyle we always seem to complain about any situation that seems to distance us from our idea of home. anyways we left delhi and split off into our groups. my team just spent the last 8 days in Manali (I’m pretty sure i can tell you where i stayed… but i may be wrong, if i don’t write again assume the worst). and it was so beautiful there. the community of people we met and talked with was great. unfortunately for my entire team every time we attempted to write on the blog at every internet cafe, the site was blocked. so now i type with joy as i familiarize my fingers to the keyboard once again. the first few days were fantastic (other than three of our group staying in bed sick) it was fresh, it was new, and we had hundreds of people to meet and talk to. but as the fourth and fifth days rolled by we slowed down quite a bit. it was very interesting to see God work in us when we had little to no energy or urge to let Him. Spiritually this time has been trying. it is hard to always want to pick of the bible instead of the ipod, or pray instead of eat . but now i am with the entire group, reunited at last. and life is good. its good to see familiar faces again. i am a little hesitant towards the idea of splitting up again and going out, but at the same time i am so excited to see how God will use our group. please pray for us and our journey (or as jhan would say “quest). we need your prayers and support as we try to bring the gospel to these lost people.

…learning that the most water-efficient way to shower is not to shower.

…learning from new Israeli friends which poker hands are worth betting on.

…learning to always take Joel with me when fighting Tibetan ninja gangs. (I would elaborate, but I’m still working through some psychological trauma.)

…learning that when Daniel asks, “What’s your problem, Liz?” he isn’t actually interested in hearing about my problems… :/

…learning, most especially, how honored I am to have Jesus in my life. He’s more than someone to pray to when I’m afraid, more than someone to talk to when I can’t fall asleep. He is someone who has loved me enough to ask me to help him, who blesses my life with purpse. Truly, sharing the gospel with others has been such a blessing to ME. Does this make sense? They say you learn something the best when you explain it to others.

I’m learning. Hallelujah.

So,we have been for a couple of days in India and my team is about to leave Leh. By now we know a little bit the routine, basically we hang out at little coffee shops all day trying to come up with strategies to start conversations with whoever leaves its guard down. One of the most creative strategies, implemented by Liz S, was writting on paper napkins to comunicate with the person sitting next to her but separated by a window in a cafe. Thanks to the happy face drawn in the napkin and an inviting “how are you doing?” we got to start a conversation with a really cool girl from California that had spent the last 6 months in Israel. We had the chance to talk about many things and answer some questions she had, ended up being quite a deep conversation. Also we learned she was traveling by herself and was taking a bus at midnight. We didnt want her to go by herself since it is a bit dangerous to walk alone at night, so we decided to walk her down and Joel had to come with us because our leaders didnt want us to walk back by ourselves either. Im soooo glad we walked with her, it was indeed scary!! we had to wait by the musk here for almost 30 minutes with scary pot smoker Indian men around us. The bus finally arrived and we said our goodbyes gave our new friend a new testament with a little note and prayed that she made it back safely. Please pray that she reads her new testament and find more than she thought she would when she started her trip!

Oh India, you are nothing of what I expected. Delhi was worse then I expected and Dharamsala is better then I expected. Delhi smells so bad it tastes bad. I was wondering how I could be in this smell, dirt, mud, and what ever else that stuff was, for a month? Luckly we were not in Delhi long, but traveled quickly to Dharamsala. Dharamsala is up in the mountains and is very lovely. The forest and Mountains are amazing. It reminds me a lot of the California Mountains that I have been missing. It even adds a bit of Washington rain and Fresno fog (I am at home-ish).
We have been here for a number of days.  We have talked to a lot of people, and have given out 5 New Testaments. Some people are more open then other, but God can use anything. I would like to ask for prayer for the seeds that have been planted, especially the ones receiving books. Also since we are spending a lot of time in coffee shops, the people around us are often smoking (cigarettes and other stuff), so if you could pray for our groups discernment on who is really open and who is not. Also this is a spiritually dark place with a lot of idolatry and unusual spiritual practices, so if you can pray for God’s protection. Thanks for all of your support. I know that we would be unable to do what we are doing with out this prayer support back home. Thanks, and my God’s grace and peace go with you all.

Well, we’ve been here for a few days now, and besides an expected case of “Delhi Belly”, we’re all going strong. The high altitude really hasn’t really bothered anybody here (though if you break into a run or climb a long flight of stairs, you may feel like you’re in outer space).

The town that we are staying in is very quaint, with little cafes and guest houses all along the streets. The relaxed atmosphere is only broken when the ever present traveler on a motorcycle attempts to run you down in the street.

The locale reminds me of a “country-club” version of Afghanistan, though the scenery here is much better. The weather has been great too; sunny during the day and a little chilly at night.

Everyone has been mostly friendly, if a little standoffish. I think now that people have seen us around for a few days, they may be a little more open to talk more seriously. One has to keep in mind that many o these travelers have been in India for months.

That isn’t to say that we haven’t been talking to people though. In fact, Liz and Shoshanna have been connecting with a lot of the European travelers and Josh gave a New Testament to a guy we were talking to last night.

So anyway, keep us in your prayers that we will continue to be able to share with people here. Until next time!

I think I am in a much better place today than I was a mere 48 hours ago. Which feels like an eternity ago, btw.

I’ll try to paint a better picture of Delhi, because I don’t think that I was really doing it justice. Delhi is dirty. Delhi is crazy. Delhi has flies everywhere. Delhi is smelly. I actually have clothes and a sleeping sack that still smells of Delhi. Delhi has chewed us up and spit us out and I am so thankful. I think that coming off of 24 hours of traveling and then watching two team members get a bad case of something nasty from ICE CUBES (who are much better now. don’t fret), the eminent goodbyes to our friends, and the fact that we had a 16 hour bus ride ahead of us put me into a less than optimistic mood.

Now though, the air is sweet. And I did some shopping. So, life rocks.

Dharamsala is incredible. We’re situated in the Himachal Pradesh region of India, almost to the foothills of the Himilayas…but don’t let the “almost” fool you. Our guest house has the most exquisite view. We’re tucked into a mountain and look out over several thousand feet at small villages below. There’s a waterfall in the distance, and the snowline is a five hour hike north. This place is incredible.

I will say this about dharamsala though. There’s a darkness here. I imagine that it’s all over India, but it’s this palpable yearning that the people seem to have. Like, they light up but are already looking for the next high. I can see that some feel full of life after some super spiritual experience, but they seem to droop within hours, wanting more.

So, prayer requests? For boldness. For wisdom. For joy. For delighting ourselves in the Lord and trusting that He’s at work even if we can’t see much beyond the smoke from the backpackers’ temporary high.