A looooong update

(Stacie post)  It's 10:30 at night.  Angel is sitting next to me studying her work for beauty school.  The crickets are chirping, a tiny orange frog just hopped in front of me, and Kandy is quiet.  It's an unusual thing for this city.  It seems that construction noise, honking cars and unexpected loud banging sounds are just an accepted part of life.  We got a taste of that life even more today as we ventured on foot through the main streets of downtown Kandy.  It was quite a site to behold, and definitely like nothing I have ever experienced.  On one block alone, you will see everything from a bucket of dead fish, to a family of crows dining on a pile of garbage, to a traffic jam of tuk-tuk's to shops selling spices, clothes and used tools (well, I assume they're used - but here, even many of the new items look used).  We went downtown to go on a fabric hunt.  Our church is very passionate about fair trade and when I talked to Angel about the idea of making and selling items at a fair price, she got very enthusiastic about what this might mean for the women in her church.  We're exploring the idea of making some fun, modern aprons - so we went to shop for fabric and a new sewing machine. 

The trip also gave us the opportunity to do a little souvenir shopping.  We were both surprised to discover that there really aren't any shops or areas of Kandy that are designated as tourist shopping areas.  We asked Angel if we should instead wait to shop when we go to Colombo on Thursday.  But she said there is nothing good in Colombo ... that this is what Kandy is known for.  She then proceeded to take us to their local store (a three story building that had food on the main floor, and then various household items and gifts on the 2nd and 3rd floors).  It's probably the third-world equivalent of a Target or Wal-Mart.  Anyway, we had a lot of fun buying gifts and various local candies to bring home. 

Oh - but backing up ... this morning we had a very powerful time of prayer.  Every Tuesday morning, Bandu's church has "fasting and prayers".  It begins at 7:30 AM and goes until around 11:00.  They spend a lot of time praying.  Then they sing some worship songs followed by a message from Bandu.  This morning he preached a continuation of his Sunday message out of Isaiah - saying that we are appointed watchmen over our families and our church.  So we had the opportunity to pray very powerful prayers of protection over those areas of our lives.  Bandu then asked Tiffany to pray for a woman who had come to church for the first time that morning.  She needed healing prayers after her recent mastectomy - and we are trusting God for a full recovery.  After that, we prayed over the women and men of the church - that they would take the reigns and pray for each other in order to grow this ministry.  Tiffany and I are amazed at what is happening in this church - and we believe that God will do even greater things through these humble servants of the Lord. 

Yesterday was one of my favorites thus far.  We took a very long drive up the windy hills of Kandy to the highest point in all of Sri Lanka called Nuwara Eliya.  It's hard to explain the beauty that we experienced on this drive.  So you may just need to look at the pictures (once I can get them uploaded - I'm playing catch-up in that department).  But let me just say the entire drive was filled with lush green mountains, waterfalls, monkeys, tea plantations and fascinating local life.  At the top, we went to the Grand Hotel.  It is very reminiscent of Britian - due to the colonization that took place here (Sri Lanka got its independence in 1948).  The hotel is surrounded by lush gardens, a beautiful fountain, horse stables, and a golf course.  It was a mighty fancy day for us - and quite a privilege to experience.  We enjoyed a wonderful buffet lunch at the hotel that included lots of Sri Lankan food - yummy!  We also got to stop for tea as we were coming and going.  This is some of the best tea you will ever taste - so I bought a lot to bring back home!

Last night was very tough.  We had to say our goodbyes to the boys in the orphanage.  We have had a wonderful time getting to know the sweet little soldiers of God.  Each one has a very painful yet powerful testimony (I can't even write more about it because it's too much to think about sometimes), and their spirits shine strong with the joy of the Lord.  They have been a great encouragement to us.  Last night we had fun teaching them how to play "Letter Roll" - a game similar to Boggle.  I also gave them a lesson flossing their teeth (something none of the kids here know anything about - but now do thanks to the donation of dental floss from our friends the Kvinslands).  We put batteries in their new walkie talkies.  And then we gathered together for a time of prayer and worship.  I got to teach them the song "I Love You Lord" - one of my favorites.  The boys then presented us with the most heartfelt and beautiful thank-you cards ever.  If you think about it, please pray for these boys.  One immediate prayer request is for new beds.  They are outgrowing the tiny cots that they received when they first entered the orphanage.  But the cost of $180 per bed is very steep for this church to provide.  We bonded very deeply with these boys, and our hearts desire only the best for their lives. 

Tomorrow we are headed to the local botanical gardens.  Last night, we were driving home and Angel said "Oh, there are the bats from the botanical gardens!"  And as we looked into the sky, it was covered with a sea of flying bats.  I mean, there were thousands - and they were everywhere.  It was very breathtaking and somewhat creepy all at once.  Oh - and speaking of creepy - Tiffany and I won a serious battle with 2 enormous cockroaches that thought they had rented space in our room.  There was so much screaming that we woke up everyone in the house because they thought there was either a brawl in the street or the return of some "mad woman" who used to hang out behind their home.