Hey everyone, Ben here! Well it's our last day in Chennai and I've got some guest bloggers. We invited a bunch of the brothers and sisters back to the hotel for lunch and had quite a presence. We were told to quiet down and we humbly apologized but it was a great time! We went to St. Thomas Mount this morning and got a great view of Chennai. From the top of the hill we took a group photo and are getting 300 copies to give to all the families/households in the Chennai Church. Here are some of the brothers!!!! hi [View Full Entry]

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Hey everyone, Ben here. I got up early this morning to come down and upload some more pics but I wanted to tell everyone what a great job all the team members are doing. Phil is the oldest person we have ever brought to India but his spirit is probably the purest and most full of life. He inspires everyone he talks to and his stories are amazing. His sermon yesterday was a huge encouragement to the marrieds and especially the fathers. When Mitch laughs, everyone smiles. All the younger guys want to grow out their hair now! He is super [View Full Entry]

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Laurel Here, Just wanted to thank everyone for all of your prayers for safe travels. The prayers are definietly working. Especially as we travel by Auto Rickshaw . . . or should I say "wreck-shaw" :) God has already interviened in very obvious ways. POhil and Mitch met a man from Caledonia, MI on Friday night and he has been living here for 1 1/2 years and praying that God would give him a way in with the local people. He then studied the Bible last night!! Amazing things happening. Love and miss you all. PS - Phil to Pat - [View Full Entry]

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Hey fam - Things here are great, it's been an amazing few days. I'm totally lost as to what day it is or how long we've been here, but I'll sum up our adventures in a few short sentances. We've arrived safely, visited a HOPE worldwide school, visited a local bible talk for a baptisim, witnessed to a guy from Michigan (yes, we were in the slums of India and we ran into a guy from Phil's neck of the woods!). We visited another HOPE school/home & had an outstanding service. The brothers and sisters here are amazingly encouraging and graceful [View Full Entry]

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Ben here, I've got to write fast because we wrote for an hour yesterday only to find that none of it was saved or posted since the internet went down. Everything is great and church was awesome today. The team members are doing fantastic! Phil and Mitch reached out to a guy they found in a neighborhood from Caldonia, MI! He's been living here for a year and a half and trying to build relationships but everyone just calls him "the foreigner" I preached at the 9am service to the singles, Phil preached to the marrieds at the 10am service, and [View Full Entry]

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Okay, it looks like that last one posted ok so we'll try a lengthy one. Phil is doing okay he's trying to rest and be on the safe side. We're going to see a movie soon and Phil will stay back. Tomorrow we want to have all the brothers/sisters who have been helping us in Chennai for lunch. It's a nice tradition we started in 2007. A little bit of good news to share with the past missionaries: Victor (who delayed his wedding in 2005 to be our guide) has a beautiful baby boy and named him Eric after Ericka from [View Full Entry]

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Two years later and it's off to India again! Like the last two trips we'll try to get on here at least every other day and let everyone know what's going on. Sometimes the internet connection where we are is slow-to-none so be patient if it takes a few days. This trip is even more difficult for me because of my son, EV. Last time he was just a baby and now he's my little man. He doesn't like it when I go to work! Mitch, Laurel, Debbie, Phil, and I will be visiting most of the same places we went [View Full Entry]

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