Interesting Facts about India

• India is the largest democracy in the world, the 7th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.
• Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world 
• India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
• The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
• Chess was invented in India.
• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies which originated in India.
• The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.
• The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.
• The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
• India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
• The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.
• Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.
• The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.
• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India. Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).

• Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
• 2.5% of Indians claim Christianity 
• GDP per capita is $1,630 (as a point of reference in the US it is $54,600)

Source = www.KnowIndia.gov.In

How to Train for Long-Term Missions

How do you prepare to move long-term to India?  Well, it's Sunday afternoon, it is pouring rain, and I find myself sitting in the only hip coffee shop in downtown Gainesville Georgia with two empty cappuccino mugs sitting on the table in front of me.  I have been here all morning sending emails, typing specific combinations of words into my google search bar, calling various people, and now writing this blog.  Does that answer your question?  Yes.  Surprisingly, it does.

And just how does that answer your question?  Well, it tells you that I didn't attend church this morning.  Not because "not attending church" is part of my training to prepare for a place where there is no church to attend, but because I already attended church every day this week.  I worked there 9 to 5 each day, I slept there every night, worshipped with them Monday morning, and played ultimate frisbee with them on Wednesday.  Possibly the biggest part of my training is to take part in the community, or church, here at AIM headquarters.  It is important to understand the sending agencies' vision, expectations, and culture and to build relationships within the organization before I run off to India.  The way that AIM represents the diverse body of Christ as the church is exactly what I want to replicate in Hyderabad with my own team.

It also tells you that I don't have time during the work week to write a blog or research the "top ten reasons missionaries leave the field" or call my friend at EastWest Ministries to ask what kind of language training her team leader is putting her through before she leaves.  That is because my time during the work week is taken up by classes on cultural lenses and conflict resolution, discipleship meetings, and following around the CEO of AIM to get an understanding of how he runs things.  Life stays very busy here in Georgia. 

This little snippet of my life this Sunday afternoon also communicates one of my top priorities: research.  I am continually interviewing and reading about how to train a team, how to lead, how to be a missionary, what my Indian contacts' expectations are, how to be useful overseas, how to plant a church and feed hungry children and not file for bankruptcy in the process, and a myriad of other things.  There are a lot of things to think about when you are starting up a new ministry. 

So how do you prepare for long term missions?  Well let me just say it takes lots of cappuccinos. 

Church? 

PS. Thank you so much everyone who has begun to support me monthly!  I now have about $180 per month coming in, so I am beginning to build up to my goal of $1000 monthly.  I am going to automatically add my supporters to a prayer-request email but if anyone else would also like to partner though prayer just send me a message. Dios le bendiga!