One Week Down

It is now the end of our first full week here. We have spent most of our days playing with the kids, and they are blessing us like crazy. They are all so full of joy, and even though we can't communicate with words, our love is being shared through our interactions with them. It has been incredible to see how God is working in this place.

On Saturday we got a lot of time to play with the kids because they weren't in school. We helped clean the boys home with all the boys, then had time with all of the kids together, and finished off the day with prayer time at the girls home. On Sunday we went to a church close to the farm. It was so awesome to see how the people worshipped and how genuine their community was. It was clear that this church was a body of believers who shared the same passion for Christ not only on Sunday, but on a daily basis. After church we were treated to lunch with all the elders at one of the elders' homes, which was delicious. We are all really enjoying the food so far, and that meal was one of the best.

Monday we had a normal schedule as the kids went back to school, so we spent the morning painting one of the buildings on the farm. We finished as the kids were getting back from school and went straight to playing after that. That night we went to the boys home after their prayer time to spend a little time with them before we left for Colombo the next day.

Now we are in a church near Colombo, and we will spend the next few days away from the farm traveling and visiting sites where the tsunami hit a few years ago. Today we joined in on a conference that is gathering to pray for the country and the bondage that many of the people live under. It was incredible to sense the presence of God in this place as we worshipped and lifted up this nation. We are excited for the next few days of travel and to continue to see God work in this country! He is moving. So keep praying for our team and this country and the kids at the farm.

PRAYER


Pray for church leaders around the nation, that they would be bold before their congregations.

Pray for unity amongst the Christians in Sri Lanka.

Continue to pray for our team's health and that God would be with us as we continue learn and process things we are encountering.

Pray for the kids! They are all wonderful, but there is still so much brokenness that needs to be overcome. And only the power of Christ can fully heal them.

Pray for the workers at the farm that God would bless their constant service and hospitality.

WE MADE IT!

We have now been in Sri Lanka for three days, though our trip started five days ago. Our flights went really well, and everyone adjusted to the time difference fairly quickly. The day we arrived we were greeted at the airport by Thilini and friends. We took a bus to the orphanage where we were welcomed by all the children waiting for us who had formed two lines, one of boys and the other of girls. As we got off the bus they gave each one of our team members a lei to welcome us. All the children are beautiful, and we have already been extremely blessed by them.

We spent the rest of that day resting from our long trip, then later we got a tour of the farm. To give you guys an idea of what it is like, the main part of the farm is the orphanage, which is home to about 75 kids. The orphans come from either abusive and broken homes or were abandoned by their parents, and there is a lot of brokenness in their lives, which is why this place is so incredible and it has been great loving them and playing with them the last couple of days. The farm is incredible and the ministry here is very holistic from the orphans, to widow ministry, agriculture, and community. They focus on meeting not only physical and spiritual needs but also the mental and emotional needs.

The second day we woke up, and after breakfast we sat down with Uncle Adrian and he explained to us his vision for the farm and other ministries he is involved with and the theology behind why they do what they do. We have learned so much from him already. Later that day we got to play with the kids for a couple of hours and tried our best to learn names. The guys were learning cricket, and the girls were all holding hands and running around. All the kids are adorable and so easy to love because they themselves are so full of love. That night, we joined in on the girls’ prayer meeting. They come together every night for a prayer meeting in which they all pray for specific things together and sing songs. They taught us a couple songs and a dance to go with them.

Today, we SWEAT. That’s pretty much all there is to it. After breakfast we were put straight to work carrying mattresses and mats from the soon to be dorms. Then we went to the girls’ home while they were away at school and cleaned the floors and the walls and the beds. This took the whole afternoon to finish and after we were all so tired, but our tiredness did not take away from how excited we were to play with the kids after they got home from school. We played with the kids until they had to leave for dinner, and again were so blessed by them.

Now we are resting until dinner. The food has been delicious, and we are so grateful for everything they have done for us so far. We simply want to come alongside them for whatever they need, and we have been learning so much from them as well. We won’t be able to update you guys every day, but we will do our best to keep you up to date.

PRAYER

Please pray that everyone stays healthy.

Pray that Christ’s love will shine through us, and that Christ will be the center of our team keeping us united.

Pray for the farm and for God to provide for the projects they want to do.

It's Almost Here!

Nine days until our team flies out to Sri Lanka!

We are extremely excited and have been preparing for a couple months now. God has been growing each of us a lot since we have been a team both individually and as a whole. We have already seen God overcome obstacles for this trip, and we can't wait to see what He does while we are there!

Right now we are all at home trying to rest up after a crazy semester! Pray for us during this time of preparation that our hearts would be prepared and that God would strengthen us. Our team verse (at the top of the page) talks about finding rest in Jesus, and that is exactly what we want to do right now! So pray that he would be the source of our rest because that's what we want to take to Sri Lanka. There are men, women, and children that are hurting, living in poverty, and in bondage with other religions that need the truth of Jesus to find rest for their souls.

Our team is also still in need of money! Although we are all definitely going on the trip, we still need lots of money.

If everyone could donate even $5, it would help so much! The easiest way to donate is through this link:
https://connect.biola.edu/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=530

Make sure to select 'Team Sri Lanka' under the Designation drop box!

Thank you all so much for your support! We can't wait until we actually get to update you from Sri Lanka! Please check out our 'Prayer' tab for specific prayer needs.

Blessings.