Called To Serve - The Rest of the Story

There's something to be said about being content while waiting on God to put you where He wants you.  Just when you least expect something to happen, when you take the focus off of your own plan and ask Him to put you in his perfect will for your life, He sneaks up on you and gives you the desires of your heart!

After Ashlee's letter to us about feeling like God was calling her to serve in India, we prayed, and we researched, and we prayed some more, and we researched some more.   It had already been determined that Ashlee wasn't going to India alone, so if she was to go, I would be going with her.  Over the past 2 1/2 weeks, I had pursued a few different opportunities, all of which ended in closed doors.  Our biggest fear was getting involved with a group that was a scam.  All I could think about was sending all that money to go on a mission trip and the group running off with the money, which would destroy Ashlee.  So I was researching everything I could get my hands on looking for info on mission trip scams, etc. 

Then one evening, during one of my many "google" searches, I actually went to the second page of my search, which I don't remember ever doing before.  It was there that I came across an organization based in Dallas, Texas called Live in Love.  Their website listed a few different mission trip opportunities, one of which was to India, and it looked like the dates would work, so I filled out the inquiry form asking for more details... and then we waited... and we prayed together as a family.  This was on Monday evening.

 

I was out all day the next day, but when I got home that night, I had received an email from Live in Love with a very detailed packet of info attached.  I also had a voicemail message from the team leader, Ben Stokes.  I emailed him back, and we set up a time to talk on Wednesday afternoon, at which time he filled me in on the trip.  He told me to find him on FB and that he would add me to the India mission trip group that he had started there.  He mentioned that the group would actually be staying in an orphanage that is run by Daniel Gupta and his wife, Viji, who had taken 15 girls off the streets and had taken them in as their own.  Ben said they were having the first informational conference call about the trip the next evening and that I could find the call info on the group's FB page. 

 

When I got home from picking Emilee up from school, I filled Scott in on the information from the call with Ben and how the team would be staying in an orphanage with a family by the name of Gupta.  I also mentioned that there was a teacher named Mr. Gupta at Emilee's school.  Scott said, "Gupta is like the most common name in India, like Smith is in the U.S., so do me a favor and please don't go ask the man if he's related to them. You'll embarrass yourself!"  So I said, "I would never do that [cough, cough]!"  :-)

Later on that night I jumped on FB to find the India mission group page.  I found the team leader's FB page, and I saw the orphanage leader's name, Daniel Gupta, so I clicked on his FB page.  Across the top of Daniel's home page was a picture of him and his wife standing beside a bride and groom.  I turned the computer around to show Emilee, and she said, "Hey, that's Mr. Gupta and his wife, Wendy!"   The teacher at Emilee's school was the groom, and the groom was standing beside Daniel and Viji Gupta and their daughter, Madhu.  At this point I ran through the house with my computer to find Scott and shoved the computer in his face and yelled, "This is Daniel Gupa, the man who runs the orphanage, and this is the teacher at Emilee's school, the school we just moved Emilee to in August!  No stinkin' way!" Scott just looked at it and said, "Looks like you guys are going to India."  Again, no stinkin' way!
 

The wedding photo from Daniel's FB page
(Wendy, Prabu, Daniel, Viji and Madhu)

I had to know more information, had to find out the connection, so I called the team leader back and asked him if the man who ran the orphanage was related to Prabu Gupta, and he said, "Prabu is Daniel's son; I've known Prabu for years."  Seriously?  What are the chances?  Unbelievable... details that only our God could put into place.

 

We didn't want to put the cart before the horse, so we decided we'd wait until the conference call before we made any definite decisions.  So the next night we dialed in, introduced ourselves along with a few others, and we listened to the details of the trip.  Part of what the team will be doing is they have been given approval from some of the schools there to go in and present a program to share the gospel with the students.  By the time the team is done, they will have shared the gospel with over 30,000 students.  The team will also do some medical care and some evangelizing in the neighborhoods.  Another part of the trip includes going into orphanages, aside from the home they're staying in, and just loving on and playing with the kids.

 

Ashlee's eyes lit up more and more as the call went on, but I could tell she was still guarded, not wanting to get her hopes up too high just yet.  After the call, we talked about it, and daddy gave Ashlee the official "yes, you can go," although we think at that point God had already given his seal of approval.  Having the security of knowing that we were not getting involved with a scam made it all so much easier, so we started the paperwork process the very next morning.  One more fun part of the story... the day's verse on my phone's Bible app was Psalm 37:4 - "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."  One more teachable moment to share with my girl!

 

The next morning, I emailed Prabu Gupta to see if I could chat with him after school.  I told him it looked like Ashlee and I would be going to India this summer and would be staying with his family."  I had not actually met Prabu before, had just seen him in passing when helping with things at the school, so I'm sure he was a bit surprised when some stranger emailed him with that information.  He emailed me back and said he'd love to talk to us and could meet us that afternoon.  Unfortunately, Ashlee had drama practice and wasn't able to meet him with us.  When I picked Emilee up from school we went to his classroom and officially met him. I think he was almost more excited than I was that we were going to India to stay with his family.  He filled us in on a ton of information, told us about all of his sisters, told us how great his dad was at what he did and how he took care of the missionaries that came to them, talked about what a great cook his mom was and how well fed we'd be.  I think he got a bit choked up at this point, said he really missed his family as he hadn't seen them since his wedding last year.  We finished chatting, and Emilee and I headed home to share the information with Ashlee and daddy. 

 

It is unbelievable to me how God cares so much about our desires.  He took the desire in Ashlee's heart to serve Him in India, a desire that began five years ago, a fire that was sparked once again through a game show less than three weeks ago, and He put the details together in such a way that would leave no doubt in our little human minds that this is what we are supposed to do, where we are supposed to go.  Although I began this journey as a tagalong because we weren't about to let Ashlee travel to India alone, I am realizing that this has become a journey for me as well... an opportunity to share my Jesus with others, an opportunity to do whatever I can to serve others, to be His hands and feet.  And in the process, I can't wait to see what God has in store for us, what He will teach us along the way.  So stay tuned... this is just the beginning of this next journey.

Called To Serve - Part I

On January 12th, Ashlee gave her dad and me a letter ... the gist of it went something like this:

"...I have an amazing family, awesome friends, I go to a Christian school, and I live in a country where (for now) I can publicly proclaim my faith in Christ without being persecuted. Honestly, I am incredibly lucky! Right now, I am sitting in a chair, watching football on a TV, typing this email on my MacBook Pro, all warm and cozy in my pajamas and sweatshirt. And these kids have absolutely nothing. Nothing!"

What prompted this?  I could say it started with an episode of a game show called "Minute To Win It" that our family was watching one evening a couple of nights ago.  It's a game show in which contestants have to complete a task (for example, bounce 10 pencils into a cup) within 60 seconds to win a specific amount of money.  With each task you complete, you make it to the next level of money.  On this particular episode, there was a team of two girls.  One of them had founded an organization after she had gone on a mission trip to India, an organization that builds homes for children to keep them from having to live/survive on the streets of India.  She was on the show to win money for her organization to be able to build more homes for children in India.  I could see Ashlee's eyes light up every time they showed a snippet about the organization during the game show.

In reality, what really prompted this letter all began with a book report Ashlee had to do in 5th grade.  The assignment: choose a country, read a book about it, and write a report on the country's culture.  Ashlee chose India.  The report detailed the country's caste system, how each person belonged in a different social class.  And for their entire life, their chance of making it to the next level of society (in their "next life") was all dependent on how well they performed at their job or how good they were during their current life.  This book report sparked a little fire in Ashlee for the people of India, a fire for them to know her God. 

Fast forward a few years.  My in-laws were part of a mission team that traveled to India.  Seeing their pictures and hearing their stories about the incredible poverty they witnessed there just added more kindling to Ashlee's little fire.  Her desire to go on a mission trip was getting stronger... but not just any mission trip would do.  She wanted to serve in India, and she wanted to work with orphans there. 

Fast forward a couple more years and a possible opportunity to go to Haiti presented itself.  However, after much research, phone calls to people who had gone to Haiti, and a meeting with our mission's pastor, we decided that this wasn't the trip.  The mission's pastor felt like her first mission trip should be a good experience, one that would make her want to go on another one.  While I agreed, Ashlee just wanted to work, to serve.  He told us he'd put us on his list and would contact us when a good opportunity came up.  Time went by, and we never heard back from him.  However, Ashlee would hear story after story from other teens who were going on mission trips to other countries through the church and just couldn't understand why she wasn't getting the same opportunity.  A closed door?  Maybe at that time.  Nonetheless, she became discouraged.

Fast forward to January of 2013 and her letter to us expressing how she felt God was calling her to go to India.  She ended her letter with, "I will trust God's plan, His will, and His timing."  How do you argue with a 16-year-old who tells you she feels that God is calling her to serve Him?  What more could a parent want?  Well, as her mommy, I would love to have a 16-year-old who tells you she feels that God is calling her to serve Him a little closer to home than India... like maybe in our community, in our city, someplace where it's safe, someplace that's not on the other side of the world!  That's what my heart was saying.  But God was saying something different.

More information from Ashlee's letter detailed the organization the game show contestant had founded.  Seems like Ashlee had done some research of her own and discovered that this organization was planning a trip to India in May, and they were inviting teenagers to go along to work and serve with them, and she wanted to go.  She asked us to pray about it and keep an open mind.  We promised her we would pray about it.  As far as keeping an open mind, mine was open... well, maybe barely cracked.  However, daddy and I decided to do some research as well.  We realized that we needed to embrace Ashlee's heart to serve.  Besides, I feel very strongly that if God calls you to do something, He would remove any obstacle that stands in the way of that calling, and I did not want to be removed! 

So I emailed the organization for more information about the May mission trip.  Unfortunately, two weeks passed with no response.  Another closed door.  During this time I pursued two other opportunities, both of which also turned into closed doors.  Another organization I looked into had several mission trips on the horizon... one of which was to India; however, the dates overlapped Ashlee's youth choir's summer mission trip, so this wasn't an option.  There was another option with this organization... a trip to Guatemala.  The dates worked well, and the cost was less than going to India.

We talked about this option, but she just didn't get the same spark in her eyes as when she talked about India.  So she decided we would just keep researching, just keep praying.  She was content to wait on His perfect timing, and she was content to pray for God's perfect plan.  So that's what we all did... we waited and we prayed.

Day 8 - Touring NYC - Part VIII (Coney Island)

This was our last day in New York City and, as hard as it is to believe, I had no agenda.  We had done everything we had planned to do while we had been there, and so on our last day Scott thought it would be fun to take the subway to Coney Island.  We were scheduled on an afternoon Amtrak train back to Philly, so we checked out of our hotel with our backpacks and hit the subway. 

Master of the Subway!

On the subway on our way to Coney Island

Our subway ride to Coney Island took quite a while.  At one point we were the only ones on the train... which was a bit creepy as far as I was concerned.  But the girls thought it was pretty cool and decided to take advantage of it  by running up and down the aisle!

 

We made it to Coney Island and decided we'd eat lunch at Nathan's Hotdogs.  I had a chili dog, which was so good, but it was so messy that I had to eat it with a fork. 

Chili cheese fries - I can feel my arteries clogging!

On the coast

On the boardwalk

 

We strolled around Coney Island for a bit before we had to head back to the city to catch the train back to Philly. 

Grand Central Station from the balcony.
Can you spot Scott, Ashlee & Emilee?
It's like "Where's Waldo?"

Can you find them?
Look for the red backpack!

We said goodbye to New York City and headed back to Philly.  Once we got there, we decided we'd drive as far as we could toward Richmond, Virginia before staying the night.  Scott had a business trip and had planned to fly out of Richmond, and then the girls and I would head home from there.

Goodbye New York City!

Our summer 2012 road trip was amazing, and we feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to travel to the places we did over these past 8 days.  Don't know where we'll end up next year, but I can't wait to find out! 

Day 7 - Touring NYC - Part VII (Central Park)

I was so excited for today's adventure.  When researching things to do in New York, one of the top things to do was to rent bikes and ride around Central Park.  We had a reservation for bike rentals for this morning, so we jumped on a subway, which we were pros at now, and headed toward Central Park. 

Let this be a lesson in picture-taking... ALWAYS look at
your background before you snap the pic!

Down in the subway station we spotted
these tables with Christian pamphlets in all kinds
of different languages..

We finally arrived at the bike rental shop, picked up our bikes, and started off toward Central Park.  I was ready to hop on mine and ride, but evidently that wasn't allowed until we got to the park, so we had to walk our bikes to the park... and the park was about 3 blocks away. By the time we got there, we were already hot and sweaty and were ready for some water.  Fortunately, my bike included a cute little basket to hold my purse, and then Scott grabbed us all a cold water bottle from a street vendor, and we tucked those into my basket too. 

Then we hopped on our bikes and took off.  Yes, this is me below snapping pictures with one hand while trying to pedal and steer with the other while watching for "serious" bicyclists all around me.

Hopped off our bikes for a photo opp.

 

 

 

Ashlee had to have her picture taken on the bridge
in Central Park from the movie "Enchanted."
Emilee was too tired to walk with us to get to it,
so she stayed with Daddy.

Riding bikes in Central Park was one of my favorite activities during the trip!  It was so hot, so so so hot, but it was so much fun!  We rode around the whole park, returned our bikes back to the shop, and went to grab some lunch at Subway. 

After lunch, we jumped back on the subway to go back to our hotel to get cleaned up.  As we rounded the corner to our hotel, we noticed vendors lining the street... lined up for blocks and blocks and blocks and blocks... as far as we could see.  YES!  So off we went to find some goodies.  And, fortunately, we were able to find the tote bag Ashlee had been looking for at the price she wanted to pay!  We were also able to pick up some fun NYC tshirts for us and for the nieces/nephew! 

Daddy found a deal on men's dress socks!

Street fair!

Photo opp with a taxi!

As we were walking back to the hotel, we spotted
what appeared to be a photo shoot with a
Marilyn Monroe look-alike.

Emilee found a M.A.C. store!

The view from our hotel room.
Taxis lined up outside of Grand Central Station.

 

After we cleaned up and rested up a bit, we hit the streets again to find some dinner.  We were all still really hot so we decided to "check out" one of the hotels we passed.  We walked into their lobby, and the cool air-conditioning was too amazing to resist.  So we found a seating area by the window and took a load off... for about an hour!

Loved the hefty mosaic woman artwork!

We made it back to our hotel just before dark and started hearing some thunder.  We looked out the window and saw these ominous clouds blowing in.  It was pretty fun to watch.

This was the view from our room as a big
thunderstorm was blowing in.

Then it was time for a good night's sleep before our last day in The Big Apple!

Day 6 - Touring NYC - Part IV (Top of the Rock)

We wanted to see New York City from the top... way up top!  I had done a lot of research on which building had the best view of the city - the Empire State Building or Rockefeller Center.  The reviews were almost equally split but leaned a bit more toward Rockefeller Center.  Scott had been up on the Empire State Building, so we opted for Top of the Rock!  I wanted to see the city during the day but also wanted to be up there at sunset, and we timed it just perfectly.  We arrived at Rockefeller Center and strolled around a bit outside before heading up.

Looking up from the bottom of Rockefeller Center

Scott and the girls under the flags from across the plaza.

Inside Rockefeller Center looking up at an icicle chandelier

We got our tickets, got in line at the elevator, and took our ride up, up, up and up.  The doors opened and we stepped out to see the city from the inside of the building, which was quite an amazing site!  Then we stepped outside onto the roof.  UNBELIEVABLE!  Buildings as far as I could see! 

From inside the building.

 

Looking at the Empire State Building

View of Central Park from Top of the Rock

Empire State Building again... I couldn't
stop taking pictures!

Times Square from Top of the Rock!

The sun beginning to go down on the west side of the building.

Check out the crane dangling from the top of
that skyscraper being built!

 

Can you imagine being in that crane?
Not enough money in the world to get me in that thing!

Central Park from Top of the Rock!

Sunset from Top of the Rock!

I wish my camera could have captured the
incredible colors from this sunset!

From the Top of the Rock with
the Empire State Building in the background.

My new favorite saying... "You rock like the Top of the Rock."  It was an absolutely amazing way to see the city and was one of my favorite parts of the trip!  We reluctantly finished up at Rockefeller Center and headed back down to start the trek back to our hotel for the night.  We were too tired to even think about what to eat for dinner, so I suggested we see what we could find in the food court at Grand Central Station.  After all, eating at Grand Central Station was on my list of things to do, so that was pretty convenient.  It was getting late and some of the places were getting close to closing up for the night.  Daddy spotted a pizza place and, since we all really enjoyed the first NY pizza so much, we were all for getting another one.  We ordered it to go and took it back to our room so we could relax and settle in for the night.  It did not disappoint.  It was yummy, and we ended up having some leftovers to put in the fridge for breakfast.  :-)