All About India

9:14 AM, Wednesday, July 18 

Fundraising update: One week left to raise $750! If you are thinking or praying about it and might be able to help out in any way, please let me know soon! The remaining $750 needed for the trip is due next Wednesday.

A big thank you again to those that have already helped. Praise the Lord, He is always faithful!

All About India

I did some research on India and the area we will be traveling to, and I thought y'all might enjoy some links.

The city we will call home, Nandyal, is well known for it's lentil crops (yummy!). It is surrounded by nine temples of lord Shiva (or Nava Nandi), one of which has a mysterious, continuous stream of superbly pure water. (More from Wikipedia.)

It's hard to say exactly what people groups we will be working with, but one with a large population in the area is Adi Andhri people. There are more than one million Adi Andhri people, most of whom live in Andhra Pradesh province. They are 96% Hindu and only 4% Christian. (More from Joshua Project.) Another group in the area that is much bigger and much less reached are the Ansari.

More unreached people groups in Andhra Pradesh :

 And now the best part! A clickable, interactive map of the entire region! Check it out.

More links, questions or suggestions, please let me know.

Thank you again for your prayers and support! May the Lord do great things...


 28 Days Left!!

Wow, in 28 days our team will be leaving for India. It still seems crazy. I can't wait.

In the last few weeks, I've had the opportunity to build some great relationships with several people on the team. One of the guys, David, was in the army for several years so he's going to keep us all in line. (Special note for Teen Mania people--I told him about ESOAL and he wants to set up an ESOAL weekend for the youth group!) Candace, my co-MA, went to India last year and is real pumped about what God's going to do this time around.

This Sunday, we're meeting to pray, talk about packing lists, and go biking! Good times. This will be our first time really praying together so I'm looking forward to it a lot.

Fundraising Update
Thank you so much to everyone that helped us get by the half-way point! We have $1600 now in my account and just under $1000 left to raise. If you are still thinking and praying about sending support, please do so soon because I only have a few weeks until all of the money needs to be in.

The Lord is so good. I feel like the apostle Paul, privileged to be the one chosen to spread His Gospel. God has called us to tell every tribe tongue and nation--I pray that this trip would play a crucial role in reaching this part of India.
 

Update: Please Help!

The time has come. I must ask you to seriously think and pray about financially supporting this missions trip to India. Please help!

I joined the team late (only about a month ago) and have less than 3 months to raise the $2640 required for the trip. Now the team is depending on me, along with everyone else, to do their part because all of the costs are spread out among all 12 team members. We are about to purchase the airfare and so I need to reach the half way point by this Friday (I've already been given an extension!).

I must raise $820 more by the end of this week. ($500 has been raised so far.)

Please let me know in the next couple of days if you can help, and please send money soon!

Mailing Instructions
Make checks out to Church in the Word, write "Nate Dame" in the check MEMO line and mail to:
Church in the Word, Attn: Tim Krauss
430 Airport Rd.
Elgin, IL 60123

Christa and I have just finished going through our own budget and will be deciding soon just how much more we can give. But we can't do it alone!

Thank you so much to all of those that have already sent support! I can't tell you how much it is appreciated.


This just in! Prayer points & links

5:52 PM, Tuesday, June 12, 2007

I've just added prayer points and links. Check it out -->

Please continue to pray for the trip!

Fund raising - Our team is now selling Domino's Pizza "by one get one free x 20" cards, and it's a great deal. If you or someone you know is in the Crystal Lake, Cary, Algonquin, or East Dundee area, send them my way. Here's how it works:

With the card, you can buy any pizza and get another free, up to 20 times! And the card only costs $10, so you get your money back the first time you use it. How many do you want to buy? It's a great deal. Plus, $9.75 of that money goes right to the India trip.

Love you guys!!


Sunday, June 3, 2007 -- Nate Finally Meets the Team!!

I actually joined this whole India team pretty late in the game. Christa and I only started going to Church in the Word a couple of months ago. After finding out that the church was planning a trip to India, I mentioned to the youth pastor, Tim Krauss, that I was very interested in missions work in India. It has been a country both Christa and I have been studying and praying about for a few years.

Well, a few weeks later he told me a spot had opened up in the trip and I had one week to decide! Christa immediately looked at me and said, "You should go." And there you have it!

So today, I finally got to meet the rest of the team at a team meeting after church. It was short and I'm still learning names, but they seem like a great group of believers. (I had to leave ASAP to take care of my sick wife!)

We also learned a bit more about where we will be going while in India. We will be flying into Hyderabad and driving about 10 hours south to Nandyal, which is where our hotel will be. From there, we will spend 8-9 days going to villages that have had little contact with the Gospel. We will be working with local pastors, going door-to-door meeting people, and holding evangelistic meetings in the evening. Unfortunately, we won't be able to do a VBS program because most of the kids will be in school already during the day! (School in early August? That's still summer in my book...)

A big thank you to everyone who has sent financial support. A few checks have come in, and we are trusting that the Lord will provide all that is needed.

Oh yeah! Next week, Tim (who is also leading the trip) and I will head to the Indian embassy in downtown Chicago to get visas for everyone. It should be a fun trip.

The Lord is doing so many great things around the world--it's exciting to be just a small part of His work! Thank you for your prayers. More to come!

Sunday, May 19, 2007 -- Support Letters Sent

Christa and I finally got the support letters out the door! We had to rush it because I joined the trip so late, but I think we made pretty good time getting them done. It sure was a lot of work, though!

If you want to see it, you can view a PDF version here.