I don't have much time to write at the present, but I just wanted to let you all know that we got home safe and sound! Our trip went very smoothly and without incident (all our luggage came through!). Thank you so much for all your prayers!!
I know all of us are looking forward to spending some time with our families and friends back home.
Please keep us in your prayers as we transition back into Canadian life and start getting ready for our spring tour here in North America.
Blessings,
Cara

Bible Studies, Prayer Times, Sarees, Training, and Last But Not Least.... a Youth Program!

Greetings to all our faithful readers! :)

I'll just give you a brief overview of this last week from my perspective (which I should have done for you on Sunday... oops). Most of the days were pretty open, with people working on individual assignments and personal evangelism. Here goes...

Monday - We have been having daily team Bible Studies on the book of Ephesians, which have been very interesting and enlightening. However, Bible study was canceled on Monday, and so we as girls got together and listened to a sermon on living graciously - with thankfulness. It was a very good reminder, as sometimes it's easy to complain when things around you aren't quite as comfortable or convenient as they are back home. A thankful heart is definitely a more joyful heart, and much more focused on the Lord and His goodness. :)

Tuesday - The girls had a very needed prayer time together, just praying for the last two weeks in India, the team, the illnesses people have been enduring, etc. We've been feeling some spiritual warfare lately, and we decided to dedicate it up to the Lord. He knows what to do, and He has the power to do it!!

Wednesday - Day off! We all did what we needed in order to refresh ourselves and just relax a little.

Thursday - I had the blessed opportunity to share the gospel with one of my Indian friend's friend! The Lord gave me the words to speak and the boldness to share, so I praise Him for that! It's my prayer that His Spirit continues to speak to her throughout her life so that she can come to truly know all that Christ has done for her.

Friday - The girls got to go saree shopping with A.J. (RJ's wife). It was quite the experience trying to find some colourful fabric to fit all of our different personalities, but we did it! God definitely blesses us in large and small ways. He is such a great God.

Saturday - We invited and taught seven local Indian youths about many different things in order to prepare them to take over the ministries we are doing here. We taught them about assurance of salvation, evangelism, testimonies, walking in the Spirit, balloon animals, drama, etc. It was a great time of laughter and learning, and we're praying that God uses the youth that were present for His purpose here in India

Sunday - At 4:00pm we performed our last program in India. It was a youth program at a local church, and we invited all our local friends to come and see what we've been trained to do. For my part, it was one of the best youth programs we have ever done! Technically it was average to good, but spiritually it was heartfelt and enthusiastic. I think we were all excited to finally show our friends what we came here to do, and to share with them creatively presented truths. It was definitely a good end to our programs here.

Though it's been difficult, India has been a blessing. I'm already thinking about what I'll miss when I leave, as are many others. It's hard to focus on India when we can smell home just around the corner, but thinking about all the wonderful things about India has helped me to keep my focus here. There are so many people and so many aspects of the local culture that I'll miss terribly, but God knows what He's doing. We are leaving when we are supposed to leave - to pass on the baton of ministry to the locals, and to move on in His plans for our team.

God has been so faithful as we've been here in India. He's provided for all our needs, grown our love for the local people, worked through us in mighty ways, and basically just rocked this joint. If there's one thing I've learned out here, it's that God does not require talented people to do great things - He requires weak people who are just willing to be used by Him so that He can move His power through them. And that is what we are.

Signing out from India for the last time, in Christ,
Cayla Renae :)

Praise the Lord!

Over the past few days God has been doing amazing things!!

We had the chance to practice, plan, party and Praise the Lord!

Thursday and Friday were full of Personal Evangelism, Perspectives and Music Practice and Drama Practice.

Saturday, the bible study crew, Jake, Ryan, Kimmie, Alena and Gillian, went out again while the rest of us prepared for Cara's birthday party and worked on our project for our perspectives course! Cayla and I had the chance to meet with a local friend and Believer and interview her about how she came to know Christ and how God used different things in her life to lead her closer to Him. Her and her husband have a beautiful little girl who is their pride and joy and is she ever joyful! She is now 4 and was not supposed to live more than a few hours after birth. She was the main reason why they became so close to God and why they are not afraid to share their faith in their work places and in their communities. It was a really encouraging experience and by the end of the interview Cayla and I were both in tears! (girls and their crying.. :] )

Today, we had church in the morning praising God through music, fellowship and prayer, followed by Youth Group in the evening. Tonight we talked about how we can encourage others around us to keep growing and following Christ with all we are. The main points covered were, going to church, praying, reading God's word, telling others about Him and spending time with other Believers. Amazing things for myself to keep in mind as well!

Overall this week has just flew by, but God has been so at work everywhere we go and it has been so awesome to see the changes in the close friends we have here. God is drawing all of them closer to himself and they are getting to the point that when we leave they will have no problem carrying on what we started!

Some Praise Items:

-First we planned a big party for Cara which happened last night, we invited all of our friends and got together to celebrate the amazing young woman she is! Cara was able to share her testimony and the rest of the team was able to have great conversations in little groups around RJ's flat, and some of us had the opportunity to share God's love with those who attended the party!

-Secondly, this coming Saturday, we were able to set up a time to take the friends we have met to a beach that is very close to where we are staying. We will be able to either disciple those who we have led to Christ or have the opportunity to share God's love with those who have yet to hear.

-Thirdly, God opened doors here in the area and we will be able to do a full Youth Program at one of the nearby churches next Sunday! Until this time we have done mainly school and college programs and the friends that we have made in and around our area have not had the opportunity to see what we do on team.

So what if we only have 2 1/2 weeks left in India.. God is bigger than any time factor and all we can do is put all we've got into these next few weeks. God is our provider, our strength, our refuge and He will be all we need these last few days here in India!!

Some Prayer Requests:

-Well for one just that we will be sensitive to the spirit while going to the beach on Saturday and doing our Youth Program for our friends, that we will have the boldness to share what God has put on our hearts with the friends He has provided for us.

-For more opportunities this week to show God's love to the people in our area!

-Also for the entire team as a whole. Lots of us are still feeling a bit under the weather, and here in the heat it is so true! Everyday it is getting hotter and hotter, and as much as we love the heat sometimes we get really over heated. So prayer for health and energy, as the heat can be a bit draining at times. (Sorry to all you who still have Snow.. you may call me crazy but I truly did miss snow this year myself!!)

-Lastly, to be completely honest with you, we are all very excited to go home but we are not done here in India. As much as we can't wait to give you all hugs, wrestle with siblings, eat something other than rice everyday and share with you in person what God has done in our lives these past 4 months, we still have work to do. So prayer mainly for focus and that our hearts will stay here in India until the time our plane leaves for North America.

Thank you once again for your prayers! We deeply appreciate you becoming prayer warriors for F&F 66!

We love you all and can't wait to hear what God has been doing in and through you this time we have spent in India!

May God continue to give you boldness as you step out and share your faith with others as well!

Take Care and God Bless!!

Carmen :]

Oh how time flies!

It is amazing to think that our team has been here in India for over 3 months! Time is a crazy thing...at the beginning of our stay here in India we all could not stop talking about going back to North America and seeing family and friends again, but now that we have 3 weeks left we are all thinking about how much we still want to do in India! There is so much to learn about the culture, the languages and the food but most importantly the people we have began to know and love, teaching them as much as we can in what seems to be a very small amount of time but in God's eyes time is not an issue at all!

God has granted us with numerous opportunities to share our faith with a number of teenagers in the area. We have told them about how much God truly loves them and that just being a good person is not good enough. We have to believe in him with all our heart and accept him to be the Lord of our lives. Some of the youth that have accepted Christ are just so anxious to learn more. A handful of people on the team have started Bible Studies with many of the youth we have led to the Lord. They love hearing stories from His word and learning about how much Christ has worked in our lives and how much they can do for Him even after we leave. A major factor in keeping them connected has been a youth group that we started at the beginning of our stay here in India. Every Sunday night we have new teens coming in and hearing about Christ's love for them. It has been really encouraging! We play games, play music, sing, laugh and learn, all things I am a huge fan of myself! This makes it really easy for us to interact with the teens and get them connected with RJ as well! RJ and his family have so graciously opened their home to a bunch of loud crazy teens for one reason and that is to bring Glory to Christ's name by leading the youth in our area to the Lord! They have put so much time and effort into our lives here on team that once we leave we all know they will be a huge encouragement to the youth in the area as well!

We have met a lot of amazing people during our stay here in in India, so many people that have amazing passion for God! Our host family, Alex, Kyle, Cara, Cayla, Tanya and I had the privilege of going to a young ladies birthday party on Saturday night. We met her and her family back at the beginning of our stay in India and it was exciting to meet up with them and have a great time connecting with her friends and just having a fun time eating food and being big kids! Meanwhile the other half of the team, Jake, Ryan, Gillian, Alena and Kimmie were back at home leading a bible study, meeting new people and sharing the gospel along with leading a fellow friend to the Lord. It was amazing how God had everything planned out! We were all in the right place at the right time!

The past few days have been filled with personal evangelism along with time to get assignments done, and also equipping ourselves for ministry in North America with preparing music, drama and having time to work on P/T/CA (or the long version; Preaching/ Teaching and Chalk Art).

Yesterday was Cara's 20th birthday so a big Happy Birthday goes out to her! We are planning on having a big get together with all our our friends in a few days but in the meantime to celebrate we had cake, told Cara how much we all love her and watched a movie! Never a dull moment on F&F66!

But once again thank you all for keeping up with us here online and for all you prayers and support! A few prayer requests for our remaining time here; health, right now we have a few sickos that are toughing it out for the team, so prayer for them and just that we will not hold anything back our last 3 weeks, that we will live each day as if it was our last day here and not leave India regretting anything. That we follow the Holy Spirits guiding and just stay on fire for His sake!!

Thanks :) Until the next time!

Carmen

Greetings to all!!

It is hard to believe that there is only 1 more month left of our stay here in India. I must admit that it is both exciting and sad at the same time. As excited as I am to see my family and friends, we have come to know many of the locals and have build good friendships with many of the youth, which will make leaving difficult. But that sadness, just reminds us how much God has accomplished in our time here.

Like Alex was mentioning, it was wonderful to see a familiar face from home. Mark was here for a couple of weeks, and it was both encouraging and challenging to meet with him.
With our time quickly slipping by, it is vital for us to keep our focus on our heavenly father and what He is doing here in India. He has done so much already... First of all He has provided us with a wonderful host family with a passion for the Lord and His ministry, provided us with accommodations nearby, given us opportunities to do programs and to openly share the gospel in many different schools, opened homes for us to fellowship and share with people, who are from other religious and cultural beliefs, allowed us to build friendships with the locals, and shown us how He works in people’s hearts! Please continue to pray for the people, who have heard and accepted, the free gift of salvation that Christ offers. Pray that this new faith would not die after we leave, but that RJ would be able to continue to encourage and challenge them, and that there would be a spiritual awakening here in Mumbai!

With board exams going on for most students and especially for both 10th and 12th standards, we haven’t had as many opportunities to get together with our friends lately. But at the same time it has provided us with more time to work on our studies and homework, as well as prepare and practice some of our programs. Students’ exams will be ending around the middle to end of March, and then we will most likely have no shortage of things to do or people to meet! So for now we will do our best to get as much done ahead of time as we can. Pray that we will have the energy and endurance to get through the craziness to come, especially as the weather is continually getting hotter. Also pray that each of us would continually seek to grow in our personal walks with the Lord.

Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement! We deeply appreciate it!!
Blessings!
Cara

Hey there everyone!!!

Hey there everyone!!!

Well I suppose its about time I wrote on this blog, the last one of the group. India has been an amazing experience. The last couple weeks have been really good. Last week we were in Goa which is a city about 12 hours south of Mumbai by train. Its known to be the kind of vacation spot of India. Right on the coast of the Indian ocean. We spent the week on the beach and it was a great time of rest and refocus as we prepare for our final month of ministry in India. Mark met us down there and it has been very nice seeing him again. Hearing some of his wisdom as he has been leading the team in devotions has been really refreshing. We spent a lot of time in good fellowship around the dinner table. This last week has been great, full of a lot of personal evangelism. We have kind of switched focus from program ministry to one on one ministry. Yesterday Jake and I went for a walk and ended up playing Cricket with a bunch of kids. It was so much fun trying to combine our baseball skills with how they play cricket. It was almost like a “sandlot” type experience seeing all these kids come from every direction to play cricket together. It was really cool seeing how they all had there local rules and everything. Its been amazing seeing how God provides ways for all the team members to meet new people. Its easy to see how God is working in India and in the lives of the young people here. Today we had a very good team church with Mark giving a message from Isaiah 41. He talked about how we have nothing to fear because of how big our God is that we serve. He holds us up with his righteous right hand and walks beside us and helps us. It was good for everyone on team to hear those words as we work on making new disciples in this last month. God has been stretching everyone on team and it has been easy to see everyone growing in boldness and confidence in sharing their faith. Some Prayer Requests: Pray that everyone would stay focus as we start to think about what God has planned for all of us next year. Pray that we would be strengthened with God power as we share with people in this last month. Pray that we would be Unified as a team and join together with God’s joy as we see God work through one another.

This is Alex Lundberg signing off.
May God go before you as you serve him where you are!

P.S. A funny story to add regarding the picture of Jake and the huge Dosa!!...He had no idea what he was ordering, so when it arrived at the table it made for quite an exciting and comical seen! I'll leave the rest to your imagination! lol :P

From Birthday Parties to Late Night Worship, God Uses Them All

1 Timothy 1:12 says, "I Thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service."

This verse has been the backbone for me this last week, and what a week it was! Sunday was a more laid back day for me. I spent a lot of time in prayer, getting ready for the week ahead of me. As usual, we had our youth group at 5 pm. It was a huge blessing to see the faces of those we are pouring our lives into. There are a few youth in particular who have been coming every week, and it's amazing to see how God is working in their lives. He has been teaching them many things and revealing Himself to these youth in such amazing ways, but I have been learning almost as much as them. The biggest thing that God has shown me through these youth is pure joy. I see how joyful and thankful they are now that they have found Christ, and it's contagious! There always seems to be laughter and a reason for praising God when we are with them.

Monday was the highlight of my week by far. Monday night we had a joined birthday party for Tanya, Cayla and Alena. We were planning on playing games, having some snacks and sharing testimonies, but I felt that we should have more of a hangout night with the youth, so I mentioned it to the team, and they agreed. We had music, some snacks and refreshments, and some of the team members (specifically the birthday girls) shared their testimonies. I was on the turntables for the majority of the night, so I had the opportunity to talk to some of the youth while showing them how to use the turntables. I was talking with one boy when Gillian approached me to tell me to pray, because there were four people sharing the gospel in different parts of the apartment, all at once! When I asked who was all sharing, I was blown away. Three of the people were from team, but the fourth was a young man, whom I will call DJ, that has recently accepted Christ. He was leading one of his friends to Christ! This was by far the biggest highlight for me so far this entire time here in India.

The rest of the week was spent doing personal evangelism, and two programs. Unfortunately, I haven't been feeling very well for a few days, so I missed the programs, but I was eager to go out and disciple people, so I saved all my energy for that. Most of my time was spent with Jake discipling DJ. We have been sharing stories from the bible with him, doing small bible studies with him (which are lead by Jake, I'm mostly moral support), and just encouraging him to keep his desire to serve God.

Saturday evening was also another highlight of the week for me. A few people from team (Kimmie, Alena, Gillian, Jake and myself) have started a youth group in a friend's house nearby. We get youth from a church in the area and play games, sing songs, laugh, joke, and praise God. Then we split boys and girls, and we talk about God, what we have been learning, and what we would like God to teach us. It's a huge blessing to see all these youth serving God in the ways that they know how.

Praise Items: For DJ and how God is already using him; the youth groups that are being started; that God is using our team in amazing ways.

Prayer Requests: For health on our team. A few people are feeling a bit under the weather; for more contacts for our team; for boldness in our faith and readiness to serve our God with our lives

"..Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord."

1 Timothy 1:2

-Posted by Ryan Martin