India Mission Trip 2011

Well we are sitting at the gate preparing for our 15 + hour flight to Dubai, then after a 5 hour lay over we will fly on to Kolkata where we will arrive in the early morning.

This team is a very solid group that has been preparing for some time for this journey and I know god is going to work very powerfully in and through them.

As we begin our journey please be praying for everyone even as we travel that God would protect our health, travel and be preparing our hearts for what lies ahead in India.

Here are specific requests from everyone as we get started. Thanks again for all your support!!

Georgie Schwarz- She would like for you to pray that as we travel we become even closer as a team and learn to function like a healthy family

Christine Brown – For Grace and Patience for us all as we spend all this time together and experience a new culture.

Trudy Williams – Pray that God would use her even more than on her previous journeys to India

Steve Cooper – Pray for our family and friends while we are away and that they would be encouraged in our trip and what we are up to.

Marty Whitecotten – That there would be a real heart change experience take place for he and the team

Mike Gordon – Pray that God will use him to do His will as we engage with our partners in Katihar and Raxaul

Tony Craig – Safety in our travel, no only the plane rides but also the trains and cars.

Ian Stevenson – Pray for there to be a great spirit of unity emerge between our partners as they meet in Katihar

I am praying for you Go India Team! :)

After a 15 + hour plane ride we are now in Dubai on a 7 hour lay over. As we were landing they did this little video presentation on Dubai. It is one of the wealthiest places on earth. Once we landed and were all in the airport, there was an Indian guy traveling with us who is a caregiver for an elderly woman in our church. He is going home to nurse his widowed mom back to health and bring back with him to the U.S.. He is on a different flight than us into India, so before we parted ways we stopped and prayed for him and his mom. As you can imagine in the Dubai airport this was a bit conspicuous but we actually had a few people comment to us, “were you praying?”. Once we got to our gate we huddled up and took a look at our journals and talked about the agenda for the next couple of days, just trying to get everyone focused and in the right mindset as we begin engaging in India.

Everyone is looking forward to meeting Moni tomorrow, who is Christine Brown’s sponsored child. She has been sponsoring her for 3 -4 years and she a translator and one of her parents are traveling up from south India to meet us in Kolkata before we head north to Bihar.

Pray for our time in Kolkata with Moni, at the Compassion East India Office and even as we visit Mother Teresa’s ministry & memorial with the sisters of mercy, that God would use this time for us to be an encouragement to the Compassion staff & to prepare the team for being with our partners in Bihar.

After about 14 more hour of travel we finally landed in Kolkata. The trip went well and the whole team has high spirits and are taking in the sights and sounds of Kolkata. We are very excited for what God has in store for us here in India. Keep praying for our continued success as we travel through India for our Lord.

We are now in Kolkata and all team members are doing well even though we had little sleep after being up for close to 38 hours straight. We are meeting with the coordinators for the Compassion Network in India today as well as traveling to see Mother Theresa home. The team is very excited to meet with these people and to see the home of Mother Theresa. Keep praying for us in our adventures.

Cool Story from Georgie: “As I sat on the bus I noticed some children on the side of the road. As I looked at them I felt sorry for the fact that they had very little and seemed as though they had nothing going for them. As I looked one child caught my eye and he looked at me. I was not sure what to do as he approached the bus but what I did know is that he was the happiest little child, with the biggest smile and seemed like he didn’t have a care in the world except to enjoy life. His surroundings and the fact that he lacked material things really didn’t matter.

Today we started meeting up with 2 other churches for breakfast. One from Wisconsin and another from Minnesota who are also here with Compassion and are visiting their church partners as well. One of the pastors, Tim and I met when we were here last March. It was great catching up with him and hearing about how God is working.



Together we all went to the East India Compassion Office and were all extremely impressed not only with the staff but the thorough systems, accountability and follow through that Compassion walks out. Provashish, who hosted Tim and I when we were here last year has been our guide and took us all around the offices introducing us to the team. The team got a full explanation of ALL that Compassion does for children from working with the moms before the children are born in the Child Survival Program, to the cream of the crop that end up in the Leadership Development Program they run for those who go on to University. Every question that the group could think of or ask was answered with such thoroughness, humility and direction.



After lunch, we all went to visit where Mother Teresa’s ministry continues to live on and her tomb and a tribute to her life are. I am going to let Tony Craig summarize his observations there:



As we walked down a simple alley way we came across a doorway marked 54-A Mother Theresa M.C.. As we walked through the doorway there was a simple courtyard that was well kept. To the right there was a room where they kept her tomb. It’s a place of worship, prayer, and we even had a chance to participate in a church service while we were there. It was an amazing experience. After walking around a bit (Which doesn’t take very long) I came upon Mother Theresa’s Room. It was no more than 10 feet by 6 feet at the very most. The sign said that she spent every day there answering letters from varies people. It was an amazing feeling to stand at the doorway where so much love was sent out. While I was there I read a quote that she said near the end of her death. It went something like this “Death is simple our next step in the journey on the way to meeting God.” I kept feeling overcome with that question over and over again…. What would I do for God if I knew I couldn’t fail?



Ian Stevenson

When I last sent a message we were just getting ready to head to the train station to take an over night 12 hour train right from Kolkata to Katihar. As walked into the Kolkata train station, one of the busiest in the world, dragging our bags I could see the “where in the world are we look on the faces of our team”. You know what it looks like when you stir up an ant hill and there are a million ants running in all directions? Well imagine being a wingless flee walking around in the middle of that. This is a fair description of the station for a group of white folks in a sea of humanity that although the same on the inside looks and functions very differently that we do. As we found our “place to stand” in the middle of what seems to be chaos but is really very organized to all who know it, you can’t help but notice the elderly woman obviously in pain on the ground next to her adult daughter who is holding her and comforting her as she had just urinated all over the ground just a few feet away from us. Then there were the two little street boys in a tussle over who knows what, and the countless other children running around by themselves in this mass.

Once our train came and we got on board with our 16 pieces of luggage, we finally figured out where each of us would be sleeping for the night. Provashish, our guide from Compassion had ordered some take out food that we brought onto the train, so we sat around as the train started, eating talking laughing and then made our way into our little bunks for the night.

Everyone seemed to get a pretty good rest and was doing well in the morning. The team has had a great attitude and worked together well. We were met at the station Katihar by Raja, the son of our Partner Pastor Samuel and the Compassion Project Director, Amerik. We had the haul our bags up and down A lot of steps which was a huge teamwork effort and I think a bit like watching the circus for the locals. They just don’t see many white folks in this part of India. The curiosity level is high but our host tell us it is not a bad thing at all and the locals would not be very judgmental just wondering what we are doing here. Once they learn we are here to serve the children through Compassion and visit sponsored children they will understand.

Ian Stevenson

Let me have one of our team share with you about her visit yesterday with her sponsored child. In a few hours 3 more of us will be spending time with their sponsored child, so let Christine Browns experience give you and idea of what’s to come.

We all got to meet her! The whole team had the privilege of meeting Moni Chintaman, the young girl I’ve sponsored since 2008. She and her mother and representatives of her project traveled 12+ hours by train from their village near Nagpur to Kolkata to be with us. Moni and her mom had never been outside their village of 3,000 people, had never been on a train, had never eaten in a restaurant, had never experienced anything like Kolkata – all things they were able to do because of Compassion International. Needless to say, they were overwhelmed! It took a little while before the shock wore off, but by the end of our visit they were laughing and smiling with us and talking to us through the translator.

When I saw Moni (her name means “jewel) for the first time, I was blown away. Here in real life was the girl I’ve written letters to, prayed for, hoped to see. There she was, small and shy and beautiful. I wanted to scoop her up in a big hug, but I could tell she wasn’t ready for that yet. So I took her hands and looked her in the eyes and told her how glad I was to finally meet her. I was so excited I couldn’t stop smiling, and we were surrounded by the team snapping pictures. We were celebrities for the moment!

We ate lunch together (she’s a vegetarian), visited a museum and sat by a lake in the park to talk. How I wish I could speak her language! Our day was over much too soon, but it was a day I will never forget. The project director said that this trip was a special event not just for Moni and her family, but for Moni’s whole village. Everyone at home would be waiting for a report when they returned.

I’m grateful that through Compassion Moni has learned to love Jesus, and has an opportunity for a bright future. She wants to be a nurse and work in her village – a dream that is not beyond her grasp. Would you add Moni to your prayer list? Thank you for your interest us and your prayer for the whole team.

Christine Brown

So awesome! I will continue to pray for all of you...and Moni! :)