One Week Left...

Can you believe it? It is now Tuesday night here and we will be flying out of Chennai, India next Tuesday around midnight. It seems unreal that 6 weeks have already passed by and I only have one week left. I'm definitely having mixed emotions. Here is an update on the last few days:
All of my teammates were sick Thursday and Friday which got lonely by Friday morning. I tried to play the mother and nurse role as much as I could Thursday and then Friday I painted more of the CDC room. I also had an incredible experience that night. I filled in my my teammate, Tamra, on preaching since she wasn't feeling well and I rode by motorcycle with Kingsley about 30 minutes to a cottage prayer. I wish there was a way to capture the scenery here, it is beautiful! That night I sat next to a women who later told me her name was Jennifer as well! The entire service and experience that evening was so refreshing and made me realize that I'm really going to miss being here: the smiles, touches, and gestures all to try to communicate our love and appreciation for one another. Funny story: I asked a couple girls to lead me to a bathroom before we left the church to come home and so they took me to a place that was pitch black and I couldn't see the room very well. They told me it was the bathroom. Now, there are a variety of toilet-types here: western, India (holes in the floor), and just using the floor. I couldn't see if there was a hole in the bathroom or not so I decided that it must be a room that you just pee on the floor. Well, today we went back to the church to paint it as a team and come to find out they led me to the washroom and the toilet (Indian toilet) was in the stall area next to it! Oops! Haha...Back to Friday: after using the bathroom I walked outside and kissed one of the teen girls on the cheek to say goodbye and then about 15 kids lined up because they wanted kisses to. At first, I thought "I better get going, Kingsley is waiting on me..." and then I realized that I'm not going to get this chance to kiss this beautiful children again and I'm going to take the time! :) It was quite a site and I love each of them very much!
Saturday my teammates were feeling a little better but not incredible again. We woke up and began celebrating my birthday by having cake for breakfast with Kingsley's family. They were all so good to me. Thank you Meg, Phil, Bob, and Rachel for the present in the mail, it meant a LOT to get it! Kingsley had actually set it aside so that I'd be surprised that I got something the day of my birthday-it was wonderful! After breakfast we packed up and headed to another place of ministry about 5 hours away. Once we got to the city we went out to see a site for my birthday...don't get too jealous: a crocodile farm! Haha! Boy am I telling you, it was quite an unforgettable birthday. Sunday we had 2 worship services in that town and then drove another 5 hours up the mountain again to where we were about 2 weeks ago. There we held a service Sunday night in celebration of one of the church's being around for 15 years. We had previously helped paint the church and so we also got to see the completion as well and it looked great! It was wonderful to see familiar faces and reunite with them but it was also hard at the same time to be saying goodbye. One of the girls, Esther, was so sweet and I can't wait to tell you about her in person. There was also a guy named Soundar that was 20 and he wanted to exchange watches with me! haha...I made sure he knew that my watch was pink but he was sure he thought it was a great idea. So, we did! Haha...I realized the next monring that I have my alarm set daily at 7:11am, poor guy. I hope he figures out how to unset it!
Monday morning my teammates and I woke up a little early to walk around the mountain and on our walk we saw a white guy walking out of a house! We were so shocked, I'm pretty sure our jaws dropped to the ground. We got to meet a team of 18 people for the United States and Canada that were on a mission trip-it was so nice to talk with people and have no communication barrier. A good taste of what's to come in a week!
Today, we painted and had another cottage prayer with the church I went to Friday. It was great to see them again. Thank you for your prayers. I can't wait to see you soon! I can't believe the time is approaching. Please pray that we live in the moment and continue to deepen our relationships with one another, the people here, and God even as the end is coming. I can't wait to see all of you!
Blessings!