Settling in Tbilisi

Hi friends! Today is Independence Day in Georgia- 26 years! Its a big celebration. I hope that we will see the nation continue to progress even in the time we are here.

Well we have been here a month now! Sorry for the delay in an update. We will try to be better now that we are getting more settled. At first we stayed with friends in a village on the outskirts of Tbilisi until we moved into our apartment in the city. Its really nice with a good location and we are so thankful for God's provision for it! And now we are waiting for our visa decision. It should take 30 days and will be a big relief to have it! So we have just been busy adjusting and getting settled and now we are looking forward to seeing what is next for us in this stage of our lives. Our focus is looking like worship & intercessory prayer, community building & encouraging believers. I will also continue my (Alicia) childbirth educator & doula training. We will then start language study when we find an instructor. I will try to explain in more depth in our next post as I know this is a lot to digest!

There is a prayer & worship training conference happening in Armenia this week with Mike Bickle & Misty Edwards from International House of Prayer: KC speaking. We heard about it a few days ago and our friends helped us make arrangements so we will leave tomorrow morning and go to Armenia by taxi for a few days and attend! As worship and intercession are big parts of what we view as our primary purposes in life, it will be a joy to be able to glean from some of the great leaders in these fields of faith. Evan will celebrate his birthday there on Friday! We are looking forward to seeing friends there and seeing what God wants to do at the conference! Its a big blessing for this region.

Looking back: March & April was a whirlwind of movement and travel. Our time with friends in Charleston was great, especially the amazing Bluegrass & BBQ event! We were so encouraged and blessed!!! Then we traveled to see family & friends in Columbia, Asheville, Indiana, and attended a revival conference in Chicago with Carol Arnott, Beni Johnson, Heidi Baker and the likes! We celebrated mine & Judah's birthdays, and our 4th wedding anniversary was last week. I'm really so thankful for my family, you friends and God's goodness & faithfulness!

I have already been missing Charleston, but we are really happy to be here. It is good. Thank you each for all your support and prayers! We want to hear from you still so please drop us a note how you're doing and stay in touch! Please keep the prayers coming!!

Much love,
Alicia, Evan & Judah

Bluegrass & BBQ for Missions!

Wow time is flying by! I can't believe we are leaving Charleston in less than 2 weeks! Evan is done working now and is really thankful for the time he had there. We have been busy preparing things for Georgia with appointments, paper work, figuring out visas, packing, and more packing. And of course we want to spend as much time as we can with our friends here. We are really going to miss our community here! But we have great hope that relationships will stay strong and hopefully people will come visit us! If you want to hang out before we leave or would still like to hear more about what we are doing let us know! And if that doesn't work, please join us for this fun event right before we leave...

Bluegrass & BBQ for Missions
Sunday, March 29, Noon-3:00

17 South will be playing for your dancing pleasure and delicious southern BBQ will be served up at Palmetto Brewery, so grab a brew too! Huger St, downtown Charleston. This will be fun for the whole family!

*Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Kids 5 & under eat free. Tickets are being sold after the Sunday service at Holy Cross or contact us for tickets in advance!
*All proceeds go towards our work in Georgia.

We really hope to see you there. Please keep us in your prayers as we pack, plan, and travel over the next month. The plan is to leave the States late April. If you would like to stay more up to date with our monthly newsletter you can click "Connect" above to sign up. If you are interested in giving financially click the "Partner" tab at the top of the page.

Prayer requests:
-Discernment for travel plans & tickets
-Focus & organization as we pack and prepare to leave
-Daily revelation of the love of Christ
-Favor & divine appointments as we transition to Georgia including new relationships, ministry, housing, vehicle, and visas
If you feel led to partner with us more intentionally in prayer please let us know!

Love,
The Adams Family

Isaiah 61 Tshirts For Sale!

UPDATED 2/5/15 & 2/24: 

We are taking orders until Sunday, March 1 and we do need payment by then, either here through PayPal on our donate button, or in person by cash or check. We will place the order Monday and should receive them mid March. 

We are SOO excited to offer these specially designed Tshirts to help support our move to Republic of Georgia! As we prayed we had some ideas and got Isaiah 61:11, "...the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all nations." We sent our ideas to www.fundthenations.com and they quickly came up with this design! They are so talented and highly recommended!

I know its a little hard to tell but you can choose to order Slate (gray) OR Navy (the 2nd picture)! You can order a Tshirt by sending $20 to us on Paypal or in person and include what size and color you need. These are nice SOFT tees so they might cling a little more than a normal tshirt so go a size up if you're unsure. Adult XS-3XL is available and Youth size M-XL is also available as a regular tshirt, not the soft kind and are the same cost. If you are outside of Charleston/need it shipped we suggest an extra $2 to help cover shipping. We are very excited to get these ordered and see you all wearing them as you join in our mission!! Thank you so much!

Go Midwife Weekend Intensive Training

In the beginning of January I was just kind of dreaming and spoke out loud my desire to have some midwifery training to be able to offer to women wherever in the world we are. Well let me assure you, spoken word is powerful! Its how God created everything after all! After that I checked out this Midwife training program I was acquainted with from Kona and found that they can even come to Charleston to do a weekend intensive. It has been neat to see how God quickly opened the doors so I'm excited to see what he does! Totally trusting Him, but I want to invite you to join me!

We need 8 students to hold a Childbirth Educator weekend intensive. We are looking at possibly February 20-22 or March 6-8 depending on people's availability. The course would cover all kinds of topics on mother and infant care and equip you to teach Childbirth classes. The vision of Go Midwife is to train people to take this knowledge and impart it to the nations to change communities and improve the health of mothers and infants. Check out their site and the course description here http://gomidwife.com/certification/ Please share this if you know anyone who might be interested. And if you are interested or have any questions please let me know! You can email me at alicia.adams511@gmail.com

Thank you!
Alicia

The Lord's Goodness

We are so blessed by our amazingly talented friend Jordan Tate. She has designed a print for sale on her Etsy with all proceeds going towards our move to the Republic of Georgia for missions! She also sells other customized stationary and she is a photographer so be sure to check out her work! Her blog is www.tatesatsea.blogspot.com and you can view and purchase the print HERE. Thanks for taking the time to check it out!

Now is the time to prepare for our big move. Please pray with us for the Lord's direction and open doors with ideas for raising support and for ministry there. In the mean time we are just hungry for more of God as we see more and more of Him in our lives. We had a great time in Greenville last weekend building relationship with a church plant there who is so raw and organic, full of broken people, yet so free and full of the Spirit! Evan is doing some encouraging and training with their young worship team and will continue to go and work with them before we leave. I just love being with people and encouraging them with God's love and kindness through me. Its amazing how he shows Himself through us ordinary people when we say yes. And we say yes Jesus, whatever you have for us, we want it all! 

Lessons & Faithfulness in 2014

Wow its been a long time since we updated here! But the blog is making a come back in 2015! I want to start it off with a little recap of 2014 and share our hearts for whats ahead.
We are full of thankfulness for the past year in Mt. Pleasant. God blessed us with wonderful housing where we have been for over a year now! This is the longest we have been settled in our marriage, and the longest I've gone without moving in 10 years! We are so grateful for Tim & Jennifer and their family in opening their home to us. It has been a bigger blessing than we could have imagined! Its a beautiful, quiet neighborhood where we welcomed our sweet Judah at the end of April. He was a gift to us as we returned from Israel. And by God's grace my desire was fulfilled to birth him all naturally in the water. Judah is so cute and sweet; always smiling, laughing, and on the move! He has a strong personality and carries the joy of the Lord! We are so thankful for his life. Evan and I are so thankful for the Lord's faithfulness and continued provision.
The beginning of 2014 we were motivated to step forward and dream with God again. We pursued several ideas in prayer, but Tbilisi, Georgia is the one that continued coming up since before Judah was born. Evan has enjoyed his work in a wood shop and lots of time leading worship and growing in that gift. 2014 was a year of seeing an increase in God bringing physical healing to MANY people through Evan's ministry. It has been such a delight to see God grow that area of faith and reveal His kindness and love through healing. He is just really good and really loves people and that is why He desires wholeness and life. Its why Jesus came! Wow its good and so exciting!
In December Evan and three other guys went on a faith journey for 7 days. They walked by faith, meaning they had no plans, not even knowing where they were going or where they would stay at times. Just listening to God lead them and showing God's love to as many as they could. There are countless incredible testimonies from that week of salvation, healing, and God encountering people with His perfect love! They came back fired up and continue to walk out God's command to shine His love and to bring healing to the sick. God is on the move! The stories kept me encouraged as Judah and I spent that week in Indiana with my mom as she recovered from surgery. It was a great time with family! I also started a business from home that can continue wherever we go! Its all about inspiring healthy living and I would love to share more with you!
We spent Christmas with Evan's parents and rushed back to Charleston the next day so I could stand with our dear friends Chris & Jordan Tate as she labored with their daughter Elsie. Elsie had been given a fatal diagnosis as her sister Ellie had last year, but we had stood in faith asking for life and healing. It was such a blessing and honor to be a part of their special day as we witnessed sweet Elsie's moments of life before going to live with Jesus in eternity. There are no words to express the grief and sorrow of the situation, but we are thankful for the hope and comfort we have in Jesus. You can read more about their story here. Jordan is full of wisdom and their faith is sure to be a blessing and inspiration. You can even be a part of their story by contributing to their adoption fund linked on their blog!
Now we look forward to this new year of TRUST. The doors seem to be wide open for ministry in the Republic of Georgia. Our hearts are really to encourage and equip believers around the world, and start fires wherever we go. Evan's annointed worship carries healing for the nations. We hope to impart what we have been given with believers locally and around the region through teachings, seminars, discipleship, etc. We are preparing to go in April and are in the process of planning and raising support. You may think we are crazy again and wonder why we are going back to Georgia. Well, God began putting it on our hearts clearly last April. It is not just our wild idea, but a vision and desire He placed in us. We tried to pursue several other directions/ministry areas in the States but never getting far or having much peace. As we finally decided to obey and take a step toward Georgia we were full of peace and believe God said April 2015. Now that time is quickly approaching and we walk by faith trusting in the one who has called us to fulfill it.
We invite you to join us in the vision God has given us for His kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven! You, me, us, we are the body of Christ. Will you consider joining us in taking His love, salvation, freedom, and healing to every nation? Please let us know if you would like to be a part of our prayer team, or if you would like to partner financially, or if you want to visit us there we would really love that too! We need the Body. We need your prayers, encouragement, and relationship. We are ever grateful and value you highly in our lives. Stay connected by subscribing to our blog and subscribing to our newsletter under connect!
We hope to see each of you soon and we wish you and your family a very blessed and exciting 2015! Love, The Adams Family

Outreach Need

Dear friends, our time here has just been flying by! We are leaving for outreach in 4 days!!! We are so excited and totally trusting God to provide for what He has called us to. With that we still have a substantial, urgent need. We still need about $3000 for the next 10 weeks for the 2 of us to lead our team to the nations! This covers all housing, food, travel, etc. We need this by the time we leave on SATURDAY. Would you please pray about partnering with us for this mission? We have made a short video with more information. If you would like to give please click on the Partner tab above or contact us. Thank you so much for your prayers, support, and love! We look forward to hearing from you and reporting back God's faithfulness.

Hawaii Pictures

We only have 3 weeks of DTS left in Hawaii! There is SO much to do/see on the Big Island and we have done just a little exploring. We have visited the North Shore in Oahu, beaches on the Big Island, celebrated my birthday & Evan's and our 2 year anniversary with different hikes and snorkeling, watched many beautiful sunsets, hiked the fresh lava rock to see where the lava is hitting the ocean and growing this island, and climbing rocks at our favorite local beach Queen's Bath. Here are a few photos.

Half Way

Aloha! So much has been happening here in Kona, Hawaii! We are going into week 6 of the Discipleship Training School we are staffing, half way through lecture phase. We have been blessed with amazing speakers and leaders coming through here. The atmosphere here is passionate, loving, and crying out for revival in the nations and especially America! And it is coming, be encouraged! As staff we get to soak in all the teaching along with the students but we stay super busy (12+ hour days) with many meetings, planning for our summer outreach in Middle East, taking care of everyday life details, and we get to spend 10+ hours in worship & prayer every week. Its really all about Jesus and we're learning how to keep our eyes focused on Him through it all. I'll try to give you a little update on several things. Sorry its long due to my lack of updates. Honestly its been difficult to handle our schedule and find time.

OUTREACH: We are planning to go to the Middle East at the end of June with a group of 12 for 10 weeks. I can't give many details here, but we are super excited and it is going to be an amazing time of spreading love, joy, and hope! Logistical details are coming together slowly but surely. If you'd like to hear more please email us! Our school is also currently serving every week at a public beach park in the local community, showing love in simple ways.

TEACHING: WOW. We have learned a lot and our hearts and minds have been opened in new ways. Week 1 we had staff testimonies and saw God move in love and grace among the students. Week 2 was Pure Heart Inner Healing with Tom & Donna Cole. It was so powerful. There was confession, forgiveness, healing, and freedom. Jesus ministered to students broken hearts and brought healing. We saw men and women sobbing as they were embraced and encountered God's amazing love. Week 3 we had Trent from Boston teaching us about the historical man Jesus. It brought Scripture to life as we learned more about the culture of the time and imagined Jesus' emotions and actions in different stories and from His childhood. He is fully man and truly experienced everything we do and can understand us! So good! Week 4 our school leader Dan Baumann taught about simple love of Jesus and intimacy with Him. He lived in Afghanistan for 10 years and spent time in prison in Iran. His is a testimony of simply walking with Jesus in all areas of life and letting Him love us in new ways. Last week we had Christian Gonzalez join us. He is a Yale/Harvard student who has combined his strong faith with his studies and knowledge of many ways of thinking. It was so encouraging and we learned so many new things, especially about loving God with our minds!

TESTIMONY: Personally God has been speaking to us and drawing us closer to Him during this time. We have been super filled up and encouraged. We have seen many physical healings on campus, not to mention all the inner healing. Last Monday night I and some others prayed for a woman who had a lot of pain in her ankle. It kept her from worshiping in fulness and being active. After we prayed all her pain was gone! One of our students was healed from years of chronic back pain, another woman had chronic stomach pain/problem and was healed, and MANY others! Teams that are out on outreach now from here are sending in stories of supernatural signs, healing, and breakthrough all over the world. One team in DC met President Obama and saw a huge breakthrough among students at the University for the blind. In Amsterdam after much time in worship and intercession a whole row on the Red Light District was shut down!!! God's Kingdom is coming in the nations! Praise Him. Leaders in every sphere of society are coming from all over the world to collaborate here. Recently research scientists and professors gathered to discuss seeking God's answers for the worlds problems through science! Fascinating stuff.

US: We have been loving our time here and feel so honored to have this opportunity. It is a beautiful picture of God's creation and faithfulness. Thank you to everyone who encourages us with your love! We really love hearing from you so please email us and you can check out our pictures of Facebook. We have both struggled with sickness the past 4 weeks. We got sick and then 2 weeks later it came back. The doctor told us this week we both have bronchitis. There is no medicine so we need a lot of rest, which is difficult. Please pray that our symptoms would be gone!

Needs: Your prayers are so valuable! We need more prayer and financial partners. We are confident in God's call on our lives for us to be serving Him full time with YWAM. That means we don't have any income. Expenses are higher living in the US and we need extra funds for outreach travel and a large medical bill. Please pray about these things. If you would like to partner with us in some way click on the 'Partner' tab and contact us! Thank you so much! God uses individuals like you to enable us to reach many people with His love. Much love ohana (family)

Christian Gonzales - Mark 5 Demon Possessed Man Drama

Here is last week's speaker, Christian Gonzalez acting out a Bible story. Pretty amazing! Enjoy :)

The Awakening Begins!

Over 40 students are here from all over the world to do the Awaken Discipleship Training School. We are so blessed and honored to be a part of this community to disciple & train students and build new relationships and see God in new ways! This is day 1 orientation and its so exciting! I think God is going to blow us all away! Amazing things are happening through this campus. I will try to update again after the first week.

We have some really exciting news about where we will be spending outreach this summer, but due to sensitive information about the location we won't be posting about it here or on Facebook. If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter please subscribe on the Connect page here on our blog or send us your email address. We want to keep you involved because you are such a part of this journey. We can't be doing what we are without prayers and encouragement. So thank you for how you have been a part of that! I will continue to update here especially for the next few months in Kona but it won't be about outreach or details. I hope you will stay in touch. Blessings!

Aloha!

Dear friends, we are writing from Kona, Hawaii, our home for the next 4 months! We are at the YWAM University of the Nations to staff the Awaken DTS in April. You can still sign up if you're interested and there is another school happening in July! Evan and I greatly enjoyed our time in Charleston. Our fundraisers last weekend with the yard sale and concert were a success and it wouldn't have happened without y'all! We are happy to report that we made it to Kona on Saturday ad we are adjusting and settling in. Yes it is beautiful and we are greatly enjoying being here. It has been so awesome to walk this journey and see God's word to us 5 months ago to come here fulfilled. We give praise to Him for His faithfulness, bringing us here for this time, and for how so many of you have supported and encourage us by joining in with this mission! The Lord is building a team for us and it is an answer to prayer. We are so humbled and grateful for how you have come around us! This morning we went to campus worship with close to 1,000 people on fire for Jesus with the same heart as us to seek Him and take Good News to the lost! It kind of feels like we are at a big conference or camp, but it happens every day and never ends! I think God is going to teach us so much while we are here! We have been meeting the other staff for our April DTS and catching the excitement and vision for what we are doing. We're expecting 40+ students in April and our staff of 17 will start training and preparing next week for the school. Thanks for your prayers along the way and as we continue! You can join us in prayer for our students who have been accepted and who are yet to be, for unity and vision or our team, and discernment as we decide on outreach locations over the next few weeks. We're also praying that we can move onto campus asap as our current place is only for 2 weeks and we are looking for a moped for our time here. Please stay in touch. We love hearing from you!

I'll leave you with one big praise- we saw God's favor once again as we flew out of Charleston. We had 3 bags to check which should have definitely been at least $80. Somehow the lady made a phone call and with a confused look gave us our bag tags and said we were done. We checked 3 bags for free! God is so awesome!!!

Miracle in the airport

Writing from Mt. Pleasant, SC. So good to be back for a few weeks. I (Alicia) am slowly adjusting to the 10.5 hour time difference and my body is taking it hard. Evan is well and happy to eat without fear of what will happen afterward! We have some re-entry culture shock- it seems soo quiet and uninhabited compared to India! But there is something so sweet and peaceful about being in Charleston. We are staying with dear friends that we are very thankful for. I just wanted to do a quick update and share about the miracle in the airport as we left India. :)

We had a lot of baggage because we had been completely living abroad for almost a year. We planned very carefully and checked airline policy to be sure we could bring all of our baggage without paying the $100 fee for each extra bag (we had no money)! According to the airline website we could each check 2 bags from India to US. So we had 4 bags to check including Evan's guitar and we each had a big hiking backpack as carry ons plus 2 small backpacks as a personal item; this is how we normally travel everywhere. In all we had 8 bags. At check in we were told we could each only check 1 bag. On top of that they were VERY strict with their carry on policy and weighed our backpacks and said they were too big and too heavy for carry on. So basically they were saying we had 4 extra bags. We began praying intensely and explaining the situation and what the website says. He brought over a manager and he made phone calls, etc as this went on for about 30 minutes. They were both insistent that we could only check 1 bag each and our carry ons were too big. Evan remembered he had seen earlier on my Facebook a quote "When you are waiting for God to open a door, praise Him in the hallway." So we began to praise God. A couple of minutes later the manager said okay you can check the 4 bags. Then he came and looked at our carry ons and said this is still a problem. And then just said, "Ok you can check those too." Evan asked, "For free?" He said yes for free. WHAT! JUST HAPPENED? WHOA! He completely changed and did everything to help us! We were able to check SIX bags for FREE. That has never come close to happening to us or anyone we know! That left us with just 2 small backpacks to carry, our lightest load ever. Evan and I walked away so amazed at God's presence and favor with us. It was an impossible situation and God came through once again with His faithfulness and power! There was nothing else that could have changed that situation or the man's attitude towards us. Everything arrived on time and our travels were so smooth. We are still praising Him for this 3 days later. Thanks you for your prayers as we traveled!

Saying Goodbye India, for now

Wow! Here is an India recap/debrief: I (Alicia) can’t believe our 2 months in India is finished and we are heading back to the States for some time. God taught each of us a lot during this time. It would be a lie to say that it was an easy time. I came with expectations and plans that didn’t happen (constantly learning not to have my own expectations). But I had some lessons to learn about giving up all my rights to the Lord of my life and living day by day in total trust. I got to do ministry with hula hoops a lot and received more clarity for how that will look in my future. We both got to teach in the church and in cell groups and spend time with local believers. Evan got to teach in the Bible College several time and really enjoyed working with the students. They had a lot of great things to say about him and his teachings. With so many speaking opportunities his preaching style has been developing and God has really strengthened this gift. He is full of wisdom. We prayed for many people and saw God move people with His love. Evan prayed for 4 people at the hospital one night, they were very sick and had been in the hospital for an extended time; 3 of them were released from the hospital the next day!

We also saw God’s continued faithfulness in providing in awesome ways for our time and travel here. Just being here for 2 months is such a miracle and testimony of His faithfulness and provision when we are following Him. About $1500 was provided in unexpected ways within a week to purchase our plane tickets home! We already miss our friends in Ranchi and look forward to the time we can return to invest in the people there.

There are many needs in India and more workers are needed. One of the biggest needs is training for believers and leaders. They need teaching and discipleship. Then the locals can reach many more than we can as foreigners.

We got to have some fun too enjoying the local field hockey team games, Evan went to an India/England cricket match (and now loves cricket), and went to a waterfall. We took an overnight train back to New Delhi and enjoyed seeing some sites including the India Gate, Hindu, and Sikh temples. You can check out more photos on Facebook but I’ll put a few here. Mixed emotions as we prepare to leave this crazy, beautiful nation and the wonderful people here; but looking forward to some comfort and friends in South Carolina and what we expect to be an amazing time in Kona. Thank you always for all your support and prayers!

Packed and ready for culture shock, Idk if our culture could be more opposite than here. Can you pray for us as we travel from New Delhi to Charleston? We leave India at 2:25 am Feb 5 (Mon 4:00 pm Eastern time) on an 8 hour flight to Austria. Then we have a 10.5 hour flight to DC before our short flight to Charleston where we should arrive Tue evening after nearly 30 hours of travel! How can we pray for you!? Write to us!

Evan, Jesus, and Pawan preaching at Impact City Church

Evan with the Bible College students he taught

Hindu temple, New Delhi

Our group adventure to a waterfall, yes I guess people worship that

Girls cell group

India Gate

Spinning around India

Hi dear friends! Just a quick update from India. Our New Year is off to a good start. We had a week of rest for the holidays and last week was back to "work." Evan visited some english classes partnered with World Vision. We spoke almost everyday at different home groups in mostly slum neighborhoods. It is so sweet to visit the humble, hungry, believers in their homes. And we really saw God show up and touch people's lives with His love. We were all blessed. This week we will continue to visit home groups. Pray that the light of Christ would shine through us and that God's message for His children would be in our hearts. The people live in very difficult situations and India as a nation is having a lot of struggles so they really need the light & hope that comes from the Living God.

I also stayed busy with a lot of hula hooping! I am having daily classes with some girls here that we are training up to lead the hoop ministry once we are gone. They are learning so fast and are so good with the kids! There is big vision and opportunity for hula hoop ministry here! We also took hoops to Kids outreach in different locations. Most kids here have never seen a hula hoop! They LOVE it and then I get to share the Gospel through the 5 colored hoops :) We will continue that this week, as well as teach some workshops at dance schools in the city. Please pray that our last few weeks here would be the best yet! I want to give & take everything God has for me during this time. I know there is more to come. More joy & love & Spirit. You can keep us in your prayers for finances as well as we hope to fly home at the end of this month before going on to Kona to staff a DTS. It is an honor to partner with y'all in this mission to reach the nations with the name of Jesus.

ps. I just finished reading Bill Johnson's book Face to Face with God It is seriously the best book I have read in a VERY long time. It challenged me so many times to stop, think, and pray. So good. I leave you with one of the many great quotes. "That is the nature of the Christian life. We give away what we have, and as we do, the world around us conforms. It is a superior kingdom." True, and something we can all do wherever we are.

Living Shampoo Free

Yes that’s right, 9 months shampoo and hair product free. No I don’t have dreads and I have nice, clean hair! Missionaries and world travelers rejoice! Evan has also been shampoo free for about 2 years. I don’t usually post this kind of stuff but I have people ask me about it so thought I would share. I read several blogs and tried several ways but this is the routine I have found to be the best, even in a variety of climates and cultures. I use a mixture of baking soda and water to clean my hair and an apple cider vinegar rinse to condition about twice a week. At first I used a small amount of baking soda mixed with water in a small cup. It would be almost paste like and apply it to the top and crown of my head. Some people do this once a week or less, some people completely stop using this. I started using this recipe to make a batch that I keep in a bottle and find that my hair is great doing this twice a week. I’m much happier with the texture and look of my hair with this routine. I don't remember now which site I got my recipes on but here is the baking soda mix: www.inashoe.com/2009/10/shampoo-update-7-months-counting/ Here are a couple of other blogs that I found really helpful and informative in the decision and process.

www.fulfilledhomemaking.com/no-poo-shampoo

www.thehairpin.com/2011/04/how-to-quit-shampoo-without-becoming-disgusting

www.naturemoms.com/no-shampoo-alternative Here is the recipe I use for Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse: 3/4 cup water 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 2 T. aloe vera gel (I have never included this) 1 T. honey 8 drops peppermint oil 8 drops tea tree oil. Combine all ingredients and shake well. After cleansing, pour all over scalp and hair. Allow it to sit for a few minutes.

It does take a while for your hair to adjust, but don’t let it stop you. It took about 5 or 6 weeks for me; just plan on a lot of ponytails, braids, and headbands for a while. You have a lot of extra oil when you use products because shampoo strips your hair of natural oils. It over compensates. Expect a lot of oil as your hair adjusts to its natural production. In the mean time, use the baking soda to cleanse the oil. When I came back to the States to summer heat and humidity of South Carolina it had to adjust again. But I was using less than twice a week and didn’t use the vinegar rinse. When I went back to the vinegar rinse it makes a big difference. I am convinced the apple cider vinegar rinse is the key to having good hair with this routine. Feel free to ask questions but these blogs have a lot of answers to a lot of specific questions! Good luck!

Christmas in a Foreign Land

What does Christmas look like in an eastern, non christian land? VERY different. Just TRY to imagine: no presents, no Santa, no decorations, no parties; just some church Christmas programs & believers coming together to celebrate the birth of Christ. This year we had a very new experience of Christmas in one of the most non Christian places in the world in northern India. 99% of the millions of residents in this state have never heard of Jesus or rejected the Good News. We were blessed to go to a small, remote village for church on Christmas morning. We traveled through beautiful, tropical farm land down a long dirt road to a village of straw huts with no vehicles, electricity, running water, heat, or toilets. It was a picture of the humble beginning of Jesus life, born in a cave on a cold night, with no bed. The believers warmly welcomed us with a parade of dancing, music, and flowers; and Evan was able to preach. These people have a hard life, carrying water from the pump, women & children working in the fields with their bare hands. 2 men have started this church/school/hostel recently. These pastors & their family are supported for just $40 per month! The buildings they are working on made of straw and mud are incredibly cheap to build, yet they lack the finances. A roof can be put on the building for less than $300. There are 16 of the village congregations that our host's organization oversees, The Good News Center. If you are interested in partnering with them, please contact me.

Then we traveled to another town, and back to the village we stayed in for a couple of days. Also a village of straw huts and no modern day conveniences as mentioned. New experience. We stayed with our host's family. His family threw a big party on Christmas and invited the Hindu village to come over for dinner and the Word was preached. Christmas really is a great opportunity to share our faith in India!!! We stayed with a Hindu family and they happily and warmly received us. Yes we greatly missed our family this Christmas, along with all of its pleasures and traditions, but the Lord greatly blessed us in a new way.

Aside from that we are still doing well and enjoying our time in India. Please continue to pray for our health, especially Evan's digestive system, and energy. God bless you in the New Year!! Merry Christmas from India!

The welcome procession

The village church

Joy in New Delhi!

We have been in New Delhi, India since Saturday! Thank you so much for all your words of encouragement and prayers during this time!!! We reached here good but exhausted after traveling 24 hours. It has been great so far, an overwhelming and amazing experience! It is far from any culture or city I have ever seen! The culture is so complex and interesting. You must see it to understand, no matter how much you study it in the books. The poverty is like nothing I could have imagined. The mass of people (17 million) and traffic with no organization is crazy. We are staying in a nice place with a missionary family here. They are living in a middle class neighborhood, yet the conditions from the outside is the poorest I have ever seen. We have driven around what seems like a large part of the city, but I know there is so much more, and I have not seen any nice or clean place. The dust is constant.

In the past 2 days we had the opportunity to visit 2 new churches in totally unreached areas and visit and speak in 3 home cell groups. Each is located in a different slum or poor area that is totally unreached. The meet in family homes about 8x8 ft. We visited one of the worst slums in India twice where a small group of women are meeting. I can't begin to describe the conditions here, ask me if you're curious. Before our friend went in to share the Gospel no Christians had gone there before. These groups are gathering together everyday for fellowship, prayer, worship, and study. A light in the darkness. They were so happy we were there and very hospitable. We have been so full of joy and gratitude to meet with our brothers and sisters here, give and receive love, see a glimpse of their lives, and hopefully bring encouragement.

We are seeing the huge needs here and trying hard to understand their spiritual needs and how we can show them the love of Christ. It is a process to understand. But we are thankful for the unique ministry our friend has going here that is in line with our vision and what we have been learning about. Many small home churches built on relationships and discipleship. And wow what an immense need for workers here, the opportunity is great. You are surrounded everywhere by people who have never heard about Jesus.

It is amazing to be here as we have seen God's faithfulness in bringing us here and fulfilling the desire in my heart to come. We are praying it will work for us to take a train later this week to Ranchi where we will join Hoola For Happiness. They are already there and we were excited to see them at a kids Christmas program this weekend. I'm confident we will have a wonderful time together there, but for now we are happy to fulfill God's purposes for us here now. Please continue to pray for our protection, for the hearts of the people we are meeting, and that God would use us to bring His Word and love to them. :) :) God bless you!

With girls in the slum who gifted me bracelets & earrings.

New teen group in another slum learning to read, write, and live for Christ.

With the teen group.

Countdown to India!

Hey friends! Hopefully you have received our newsletter and know by now that we are heading to India in less than 2 weeks! (If you don't get our newsletter click on the Connect page above to sing up) God gave me a desire to go to India 4 years ago and I can't believe its really happening! I was actually trying to go to India when I met Evan (he said he would never go there), thankfully it didn't work out. But God is saying now is the time, and we have some great opportunities! He has given us a unique vision for creative ministry including hula hoops, music, and yo-yos to start with! These can all be used to spread joy & the love of Christ that many people have never experienced. In a way that only the Lord could arrange we connected with Carissa from Hoola 4 Happiness & a woman who happened to have a ton of yo yos waiting to be used for ministry! We are excited to put this into action as we partner with Hoola For Happiness and the Good News Center. We also have opportunity to travel with the founder of Khusi Hona, supporting orphanages, and to visit some friends :) We hope to stop in Charleston for a couple of weeks in Feb. before we head to Kona to staff a DTS there. Please join us in prayer for this step of faith. They will be extremely important for us during this time. Please pray that God would prepare us with His heart and dreams for this nation. Also for guidance with every step and protection spiritually & physically (especially Evan's health). We have a large financial need to cover the costs of travel. God loves India and He is calling us now to glorify Him there. If you are interested in giving toward this mission check out the Partner page above. Otherwise things in Armenia are wrapping up nicely. Thanksgiving was spent with American friends here, complete with turkey, pumpkin pie, and stuffing shipped from the States, and even a Trader Joe's pumpkin bread! It was really nice, but we definitely missed being with family. We are in our final week of class now and it is great to be done with so much work. This has been a blessed time of preparation and we are looking forward to what's next in our journey! Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement, and love! www.hoolaforhappiness.org www.gncranchi.com www.khusihona.org

With friends at Indian Cultural Night in Yerevan.

Hoola For Happiness!!

I'm so happy to be a Hoola For Happiness Joy Spreader! This is an amazing ministry with a huge vision to reach the nations through hula hoops! God is so fun and creative :) I love it. From the time I started hoop dancing I wondered how I could use it to bring glory to God. I had some ideas but never had a picture of what it would be in reality. This ministry is doing it! The founder, Carissa Caricato, loves Jesus, loves to love others, and has given her life to this mission. I am excited and honored to be a part of it! I haven't had too much direct involvement yet, but I'm excited to see how we are able to partner together in the future. Our paths crossed in a divine way and I know He has a purpose for it! We hope to meet up with Hoola For Happiness in India soon! Check out the website www.hoolaforhappiness.org

www.hoolaforlife.org Here with your purchase of a hula hoop (great gifts)one gets sent around the world to spread joy :) Travel Gospel hoops are also available for mission trips!