I Don't Know What to Say...

...I really don't.

Today the teams went down to the island congregations located by the Indian Ocean. It's a three hour trip to get to these congregations as well as another 30-45 min to load up the cars and cross the Krishna River by boat.  It's a long journey to say the least.

When we finally arrived, we split up into two teams.  One team would stay in the village close by and visit with the people there.  The other team would hop on another boat, cross another tributary of the Krishna River and visit the other village near by.  It's quite the experience just in the travel alone.  But as great as the travel experience was, it doesn't come close to the amazing experience of being in these villages for both teams.

And this is where I really don't know what to say...

We didn't do anything different than the other congregations.  We greeted them.  We prayed with them.  We ate with them.  We went into their homes.  Nothing really changed and yet it was different.

I could see it on the faces of our team members as we rejoined before making the 3+ hour trip home.  I could hear it in the way they talked about their experiences from todays visits.  Today was definitely different in a completely exhausted, fullfilled, and good sort of way.

And maybe it was because this was the last of our congregation visits for our trip (don't worry, our trip isn't over as we'll be spending our day tomorrow at the school with the children).  Maybe it was because of the location.  Maybe it was because of the people.  I really don't know.

But what I do know is this: it was an amazing experience today and for that I know what I can say:

                                                                  Praise God!

Pastor Joe Behnke