Camel

Happy New Year!!

The teaching of the doctrines has been so well received.  Yesterday the pastors and teachers were so hungry and eager to listen and learn about the Word of God.  Today, The women will have a conference for the native ladies in the area we have been working in.  Please be in prayer for them today (tonight for you), that God would speak bodly and clearly through our ladies and that He would do a mighty work in them. 

Nick

Great experiences!

God is moving in a mighty way while we are on mission in this city.  It is so encouraging to see men and women of God who have traveled as far away as 500 kilometers to hear teachings about the the doctrines that define us as Baptists.  I look forward to what God has is store for us for the remaining time we have here.  Please continue to be in prayer for our ministry to the believers and non-believers alike.  We know that your continued prayers for us and them alike make it possible for us to do God's work here!

James
  

Happy New Year!

For New Year's Eve, Shelby and I rode on an elephant and a camel! We had so much fun. The camel was a little more difficult. We thank God for all the fun and encouragement that he is providing.

With love to all,
Nancy and Shelby


Namaste and Happy New Year!

This morning the guys will be taking it easy as the ladies teach a ladies conference at the training center. I guess we will hang out, shop, and drink chai. Looking forward to a "down day" after three long days of teaching and ministry.

Pastor Scott

Happy New Year! We're doing fine.  Ministry work going well. Having a good time.  Very life changing event for me.  Got you (Teresa) a surprise.

Love Dan

I thought you banners ladies would think it is pretty special that Shelby is going to talk to the ladies today about using their sewing skills to glorify Jesus through banners.  :)  Love and miss you all at TBC and our my awesome family.  I am still floating from the news of our grant!

Kelly

Happy New Year!

 We celebrated the New Year at a local festival in town that all kinds of cultural experiences... several of the team members rode A CAMEL... hopefully some pics can be posted of that soon!

 But almost everyone rode the elephant!!!

 We had a cultural meal and the server put a turban on Jame's head.  :)

 A pic of our plate

 This was a gentleman cooking at one of our teaching events.  Looks like Wednesday night suppers to me, right?

I went up on a roof top and got this picture below.  

Keep on praying for us.  Dan did get sick yesterday, but has fully recovered and everyone else has done fairly well with everything.  But your prayers are needed to keep us going!

Tomorrow the women are speaking to women and I don't know what the men are going to do... then we do some more teaching as a group at a house church.  

Hope you all have a Happy New Year and a great day in church! 

Surreal... To God be the Glory!

It is so surreal to be sitting here in India on New Years Eve... India drums blaring in the back ground because there is a wedding party going on out side your window.

I check my email and receive some incredible news... while this trip has nothing to do with the adoption of our daughter from India, it is crazy to open an email and read some of the most exciting news!!!

We received a $13,000.00 grant for our adoption.  This completes the rest of any monies due and even helps with our travel to get her when the time comes.

Scott and I immediately jumped up and started dancing down the hall of our hotel to the Indian music... and of course had to share it with the team.  

I just want to say that we serve an awesome God who deserves all praise!  When He calls you to do something He takes care of you!  We have seen this over and over again in our adoption process and once again He took it a step further by even providing travel expenses.  

I mean wow!!!  We are still kind of in shock and keep rereading the email to make sure we read it right.  

To God be the glory great things He has done!!!

Kelly

Working hard and having fun!

FROM NICK AND JANET

Our last two days:
~We have worshipped and led bible study with the local believers.  They are hungry to learn the Word!  It is exciting and humbling.  When they sing and play the drums in their native way, lots of us get goose bumps and teary eyed.  It is a beautfiul sound!
~We have "church" together like this for several hours - interrupted by multiple chai and snack breaks.  They are being SO hospitable that they feed us constantly.....and 90% of their diet seems to be carbs and sugar.
~After our times of worship, we have presented our Christmas cantata in the street. Yes, in the street.  That's where everybody of every age gathers all day long. Each evening over 50 people have gathered to hear our Christmas story in their language (which we've we've written to be the entire salavation message).  The cantata is complete with Indian actors/actresses dressed-up in costumes we brought from Trinity.  It is quite a site :).
~ Last night, right through the middle of the cantata, two motorscooters drove through.  As if that wasn't hilarious enough, right at the end as we were telling about the resurection and Jesus was standing with His arms lifted to heaven, a large cow decided to mosy through.  That's how they roll in India - cars, tractors, camels, elephants, cows, dogs, bikes, trash, and people all share the streets together in harmony.

FROM NANCY AND SHELBY


Hi Everyone!
I am having the time of my life. We are having fun riding in rickshaws and the traffic is crazy! No one
looks behind them when they are driving-only ahead-no need for rear view mirrors. The food is good and
spicey. Hope everyone at home is fine. Can't believe that tommorow is New Years Eve.

Love to all,
Nancy

Hi to everyone,

Ditto!    Janet said it all thankgoodness cause  I am tired and want to go to bed.  I am having a great time and doing good works for the Lord.  Love to all and to all goodnight  Shelby

By the way

We love all the encouraging notes and letters you all sent us.  It has meant a lot!!!

Some random pics for your entertainment...

Here is Dan's new Korta (Not sure I am spelling that right)  But you have not seen the best part of his out fit yet... i promise pics to come!

This is our group doing the Christmas Cantata

Shelby teaching today

A glance of a small portion of the city from the top of a fort

Today as  we were teaching, a monkey came right by the door

Janet shopping for her new outfits to be worn while in town

All of us ladies got a Henna tattoo.  The local Indians were so proud to do it for us. It is not permanent,  it just stains your hands for a while

Just a cute little face that followed us around today

This morning...

This morning which is the 29th for us... we just finished breakfast in the hotel.  It is actually pretty good!

We are getting ready to head to a new training center that the "S" family put together to encourage and teach pastors about the importance of good doctrine.  Then we do our Christmas Cantada for the crowds in the streets.  Please pray for us!

Hopefully we can post some pics tonight!

Last night in the courtyard of our hotel... there were drummers and ladies that danced with pots of fire on their head, pretty cool!

You all should see Dan's outfit he bought yesterday.  I def will get pictures of that!

Kelly 

It is Christmas in India

The "S" Family is so appreciative of their items collected from TBC. They all say thank you.  I hope to post video soon from them opening all the trunks

Today is a catch up day for us on our sleep.  I think we discovered that we traveled a total of 30 hours.  Today we are shopping for native clothes, getting to know the whole team and talking about the rest of the schedule and fellowshipping... and i am sure some napping too!  I think we are also headed to the Red Fort later that overlooks the city of Jaipur.  Tomorrow we hit the road with our work.

The team from TBC has been great sports as we woke up this morning with out any hot water...which would be all of our first showers... not one complaint.  I am proud!

We also awoke about 5:30am this morning to the Muslim Call to prayer which echos through out the city.  A great reminder of why we are here!!!

Thanks for your prayers, and if my family (Kelly) is reading this... please love on the boys and tell them we love them.  I am buying a prize for them today!!!

We mad it!

It has been a very long day, but we just wanted to let everyone know that we made it here.  More updates to come tomorrow...

Dan's first flight

Some of you may not know this, but Dan Darden has never been out of the Southeast...and has NEVER been on an airplane before. We were all looking forward to Dan's first flight. This video is an interview with Dan about his first flight. Of course...he did awesome. He is a WILD MAN. We love you Dan!

India Team 2011

we are at the airport

We have begun the journey that we have been looking forward to all year
snacks and starbucks coffee before we get on the plane. Continue to pray for us. Shelby

From Janet

To our church family -

It's Sunday night - 10:30 p.m.
Today has been an.............interesting day.  Lots of different emotions. I'm so excited by the hope of what God will do through and in us, stilled by the spiritual warfare circling around us, happy to be sharing the experience with my husband, happy for the work of the Holy Spirit that has convicted us to go, sad to be leaving the people (and doggie) I love, convicted by the realization that I am overly attached to these earthly things, and on and on and on.

Mostly though, I just wanted to tell you all how much our Christmas worship service meant to me this morning.  The many, genuine well wishes and commitments to pray for our team were so touching.  I really feel like we're all doing this together as a church. Some of us are going, some of us have given money to help those who are going, some are staying behind to pray, some gave items that we'll be taking to those in need half way across the world, etc, etc, etc.  The commissioning prayer that we all shared together was encouraging and empowering.   Thank you for loving us.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  PLEASE remember to continue in them. Our efforts will be utterly empty and powerless if not touched by the power of God.

I am anxious to come home and tell you all about what God did. I pray this will be the beginning of missionary zeal within our church. I know I need it in my own life.

Pray for our team

James Cortner

Dan Darden

Janet Galyen

Nick Galyen

Kelly Parkison

Scott Parkison

Shelby Trout

Nancy Walker

South Asia Facts

South Asia Fast Facts

"The greatest concentration of lostness on Earth…"

Population
South Asia Region 1.385 billion

India 1.05 billion
Pakistan 150 million
Bangladesh 140 million
Nepal 25 million
Sri Lanka 19 million
Bhutan 900,000
Maldives 300,000

Religion
How many Hindus? 800 million
How many of these Hindus are Dalits (Untouchables)? 150 million
How many Muslims? 398 million
How many Tribals/Animists? 94 million
How many Buddhists? 28 million
How many Sikhs? 20 million
How many Jains? 4 million

How many Evangelical Christians? 21 million
How many lost? 1.364 billion

Predominant religion in each country
India Hinduism (79.8%)
Pakistan Islam (96.1%)
Bangladesh Islam (85.6%)
Nepal Hinduism (74.8%)
Sri Lanka Buddhism (71.9%)
Bhutan Buddhism (72.0%)
Maldives Islam (99.4%)

Cultural Tips for South Asia

Cultural Tips

• South Asians are generally hospitable to foreigners and are forgiving of their cultural and language blunders. As their guests, it is important to try to be sensitive to their customs. By becoming aware of cultural differences, you can avoid being offensive to nationals.

• Greetings - Most South Asians greet one another with the palms of their hands pressed together in a praying position and held about chest high, accompanied with a slight bow forward. Then they smile and say "Na-ma-ste". In Tamil Nadu, they will more commonly say "Vanakam."

• When handing money, passing food, or passing any other articles to anyone use your right hand; eat with the right hand, and point with the right hand. The left hand is considered unclean.

• When you wish to point, use your chin, the full hand, or maybe the thumb, but not a single finger. Pointing with a single finger is used only with inferiors. The chin is not used to point to people who are considered superiors. The best way to signal attention toward something or someone is with the full hand.

• The standard way of beckoning another person is with the arm extended, palm down, and with a scratching motion inward with the fingers.

• Men and women should not spend time alone together even if it is in a public place unless they are married. People will assume that you are either married or involved in an intimate relationship. So make sure when you go out that you are in mixed groups of 3 or more. If you ever find yourself with a hotel staff in your room insist that the door remain wide open.

• A western woman should not initiate a handshake with a man.

• Men customarily do not touch women in either formal or informal situations.

• In the Asian culture the following behavior will be seen as a "come on" to a person of the opposite sex:
- making eye contact
- making any type of physical contact
- smiling at the person
- being overly friendly
- spending time alone with them

• Here, as in many places in Asia, public displays of affection are neither common nor considered proper, even among married couples. Friends of the same sex can often be seen holding hands, sitting very close or placing their arms around each other. When you make South Asian friends don't be offended if they want to hold your hands. This means you are considered a friend.

• Do not be offended by nationals asking personal questions (how much money you have, your weight, your job). If you don't want to answer, give vague answers and try to change the subject or turn the focus back to them.

• The South Asian concept of privacy is also different. If you see a person bathing or using the toilet, you should not look at or speak to the person. By you not looking, they have privacy.

• Shoes and feet are considered unclean. When entering a national home, church or temple it is customary to remove one's shoes. Never use your foot to point to something or to close a door. Also make sure when you are sitting on the floor that the bottom of your feet are not exposed to a national.

• The head is considered a sacred part of the body. Therefore, don't pat youngsters on the head or touch an older person's head.

• Bargaining for goods is expected. Don't bargain with a merchant unless you are really interested in buying. A good rule of thumb is to cut his initial asking price in half and work up from there. If your price is accepted buy the product. Don't feel bad about bargaining. Merchants will not sell you things if it causes them to lose money!

• South Asians are an "event-oriented" culture instead of our western "time-oriented culture". People and events are considered more important than time and punctuality. A national may show up 30 minutes or an hour late for an appointment. As a foreigner, they will generally expect you to be punctual and show up at the set time.

• Beggars - This is a tough one! Near temples, holy places, and tourist sites, street salespeople and beggars will approach you, hand outstretched. Often you will see dirty children dressed in rags begging or a woman with a baby begging. Please do not give them money because if you give to one, all of them will crowd you expecting the same gift.

• Whistling in public is considered very impolite.

• Women may need to cover their heads when entering a mosque or church.

Excerpt from the book Radical, by David Platt

Here is a portion of the RADICAL excerpt that Nick Galyen shared with our church during his testimony:

I wonder if we have erected lines of defense against the 

global purpose God has for our lives.

Where in the Bible is missions ever identified as an optional 

program in the church? 

Jesus himself has not merely called us to go to all nations; 

he has commanded us to go to all nations. We have taken 

this command, though, and reduced it to a calling - 

something that only a few people receive.

I find it interesting that we don't do this with other words from

Jesus. We take Jesus' command in Matthew 28 to make 

disciples of all nations, and we say, "That means other people.

" But we look at Jesus' command in Matthew 11:28 - 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and

 I will give you rest" - and we say, "Now, that means me." 

We take Jesus' promise in Acts 1:8 that the Spirit will lead 

us to the ends of the earth, and we say, "That means some 

people." But we take Jesus' promise in John 10:10 that we 

will have abundant life, and we say, "That means me."

We have unbiblically drawn a line of distinction, assigning the obligations of Christianity to a few while keeping the privileges 

of Christianity for us all.

In Romans 1:14-15, Paul talks about being a debtor to the 

nations. He literally says, "I am in debt to Jews and Gentiles." 

Paul is saying that he owes a debt to every lost person on the face of the planet. 

Because he is owned by Christ, he owes Christ to the world.

We are in debt to the nations. In our contemporary approach 

to missions, though, we have subtly taken ourselves out from 

under the weight of a lost and dying world, wrung our hands in pious concern, and said, "I'm sorry, I'm just not called to that."

Why I am going to India

Why I am going to India

Nancy Walker, Nov 21, 2011

Many years ago Heather Florence was going on medical mission trips while she was enrolled in medical school. I was very interested in going and learning about her missions. I just did not feel the time was right. Benjamin was small and I did not feel called to go at that time.

After Katrina, Terry was going on numerous trips to Mobile and Benjamin and I went twice. We helped with clean up, VBS, and encouragement for the church there. I came back from Mobile feeling blessed and equipped for a difficult task that the Lord had for me.

This year when learning of the mission opportunities, I was interested in going to Costa Rica, but thought I would just go to the information meeting about India to see what it was all about. At the meeting I remember Scott saying that this mission trip is not one that you come away from knowing that you’ve accomplished tangible things like painting, cleaning or building. This trip will be about evangelism, sharing the gospel, and changing lives! I love helping people by making them feel better physically-but I realized that what is more important than going half way around the world to tell people about Jesus? At that moment I realized that I was supposed to go to India.

Everything concerning the trip has been made easy for me. I am so excited about going! My family is 100% behind me. Everyone at work is excited about my trip. I am so thankful for the opportunity. Like I said-I know I am supposed to be going to India, but I also know that if I were not going, that someone else would be getting the blessing, and if our church was not going, another church would be accomplishing God’s will. I’m just glad it’s us!

Missions Terms...

My husband and I (Scott and Kelly Parkison) had the privilege of attending a conference hosted by the IMB (International Mission Board) almost 4 years ago. We already had hearts for missions, but this conference just set us on fire! We also learned a lot about how churches could adopt a an UUPG (Unengaged Unreached People Group) in the World. Since that time, this is a burden that has not left our hearts.




... Definitions ...


UUPG: Unengaged Unreached People Group


People groups refer to groups of individuals, families and clans who share a common language and ethnic identity.
Unengaged unreached people groups have no coordinated evangelical Christian missionary presence among them. Unengaged unreached people groups have never heard the gospel, or they may have been exposed to the gospel in the past, but have been forgotten.


Ok, did you catch that... never heard the gospel...I know hard to imagine. We in America who have a church on every corner and can flip the TV and see evangelists on the screen, see articles from pastors in news papers, hear sermons or talks on radios....can you imagine having never had heard the name of Jesus? Never hearing bible stories you heard as a child? Even if you aren't a practicing Christ follower in America...you more than likely have at least heard the name of Christ.




These UUPG's have never heard and there are a ton of them....millions and millions and millions of them. It seems like there are a larger number of these UUPG's in the Asia Region, so our church has decided to focus our attention there...hence we are headed to India.




But I think the Lord knew we were headed there way before we knew! More to come!

We are all missionaries!

At Trinity Baptist Church, we do not believe that mission work is just to be done by those called by God to be missionaries, but it is a commandment from God to be done by ALL BELIEVERS!




Matthew 28: 19-20 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."




It is our desire to see all of our members participate in missions on a yearly basis, whether it's a local, domestic or international focus.