Even more pics

More pics

Ram, the manager of the St. Mark's Hotel, had this cake sent to the room.

Hope slept on the way to the hotel. That's a good thing; she would have had nightmares about the drive home.

Hope's foster family. Her brother is 12 and her sister is 16.

Hope's friends at the child care center.

Hope at lunch.

Mommy and Hope; Dad's two favorite girls.

Gotcha Day

It took Dad many kisses to get to hold his new daughter.

Well, it has been an incredible day. We were driven to the Vathsalya Charitable Trust at 10:30. The journey took about forty-five minutes. Well, Hope is more beautiful than we imagined. We met Hope with her foster mother and sister, and Dad tried to get to know Hope while the women visited, for some time. After the introduction and visit, we went upstairs and met all of Hope's friends. We played with all of the children and sang songs to Jesus. Dad continued sneaking kisses from Hope, and she finally allowed him to hold her. Hope was most comfortable with Dad, first (because of the kisses). While upstairs, Hope's foster dad and brother came and held her. Hope's foster mother held her one last time and cried; It was a heavy experience. When Hope's foster family left, Hope became emotional and mourned her foster family, with whom she had been with for a year and a half. Later, we ate lunch with the children and workers, and Hope calmed down. Dad was taking photos outside, when Hope stepped out and posed for Dad , who took some photographs of her. Dad is her huge fan. Hope became sleepy and directed Mom and Dad to the nap room, where she soon fell asleep. Hope napped about thirty minutes. Once Hope awoke, we left the orphange. Hope mourned until she fell asleep in Kathy's lap. Once we returned safely (praise the LORD) to the hotel, the staff had to look at Hope since they heard about her and her big brother from their proud parents. Hope continued to mourn, so we took a walk. She calmed during the walk but became upset, again, once we returned to the hotel room. Dad plugged in the DVD player and blew a fuse in the room, so we lost all electricity. It has been hard, but Holy Spirit has given us His fruit and shown us that Hope is in mourning at the present. We are doing good. Please continue to pray for wisdom from above and the filling by Holy Spirit. Hope seems to be very sensitive and is warming to us. Pray for Hope to not be anxious or fearful but have peace.

Pics to follow shortly.

Scott

Another day in the city

Touring Bangalore's Botanical Garden

Scott is thinking of selling Kathy's Yukon and purchasing something more economical like this for our family to ride together; It apparently seats up to four. Wait a second, I bet we could make room for one more on top of the gas tank.

Touring the Maharaja of Mysore's summer palace

Shopping for a saree and kurtas. Scott wants to know which of these beautiful women is from Bangalore? Scott was impressed with Kathy's shrewd business deal; She talked the nice lady in the green saree down to less than half of the original asking price.

Eating pizza and pasta in Bangalore's UB City outside and on top of Bangalore's "galleria." This area reminded us of the Sugar Land Town Center. The dress, which was very casual and western, was not something we had seen in India, for most women wear sarees.

Scott found his "Starbucks" and it's much cheaper. We love the name Mom.

This is a picture taken of the city from the Botanical Gardens.

Today was a fun day again touring the city. We saw many interesting sights and met many friendly people.

Tomorrow will be the big day we've waited a year for. VCT (the orphan care center) will pick us up at 10:30 our time which is around midnight your time. We will probably arrive around 11:30am at the center. We ask you to pray for Hope as she first meets us and please pray for the foster family as well. They will be losing a very special little girl. We appreciate so much your prayers already and we can see God's presence everywhere with us. We know He prepared tomorrow and has already gone before us. We will look forward to sharing with you our day and new pictures of Hope Anjali in our arms.

We thank you too for all the emails and blog posts. We are loving reading them!

Just fyi, West is having a blast with his cousins in Keller. Now, he and my mom are headed to Louisiana and will see the rest of the Evans' clan. It's been a blessing to be able to email him and send pictures too. We are very thankful for the communication we have with all of you. We thank God for how you have been and are on this journey with us through prayer.

We love you guys,

Scott and Kathy

Scott helped write the blog tonight. He is well rested.

A special day in Bangalore

Hello all,

I have caught up on rest and Scott is still trying to catch up. Last night he couldn't sleep b/c he was still on Houston time. It is late here so he is getting ready for bed. We are so thankful to be feeling well and adjusting to the the time difference and food. Our hotel food is very good and the staff continues to treat us like royalty. They all anxiously await to meet Hope Anjali just as we do on Monday.

Today we were able to see some of the city of Bangalore. It is quite a sight to see. The streets are very crowded and busy with people everywhere. The traffic is crazy and they have no lanes, so you can imagine how many close calls there were. We just laughed and told our driver what a good one he was. He stays with us the whole time we are here.

We started off our day meeting a guy from Waco who serves here in Bangalore with college students to plant churches across the city. It was great to hear what he and his team are doing and also hear places for us to visit and eat. We then met two Indian men who are part of the mission india team in Bangalore that our church is supporting. They picked us up and took us to two parts of the city. The first place was where adults learn to read and hear testimonies of Jesus Christ. All of the people welcomed us with kindness, smiles, and handshakes. We felt so honored. Scott was able to share a little of his testimony and then prayed over the people. It was very special for us to be there. Many of the adults do not know Christ but still come everyday to learn how to read and to listen. Pray that God will move in their hearts to want to accept who He is.

We then went to the "slums" and into a room where many children greeted us with smiles and waves. They gather together everyday for sports activites and then have time for learning verses and hearing about Jesus. They sang for us a praise song and then several children recited verses from the bible. We then heard a few share their testimonies. It was pretty amazing to see what God is doing in their lives. One little girl about 11 shared how God cured her of stomach cancer. It was pretty cool to hear.( Kathy shared her testimony and prayed over the children. She told the children that if they know Christ we will all meet together, again, in heaven.) (Scott woke up read and added this.) All day Scott and I were overcome with emotion we had to fight back while with all of them. They are beautiful people who have the same needs and wants of us but who live in extremely difficult circumstances. Christianity is not really accepted in Bangalore and if not in a four room walled place, nothing can be said of Christ.We learned there are also several Christians persecuted for their belief. One of the men with us had been in jail and mistreated a few months ago. We were amazed though how the leaders all continue to be obedient to God even with such opposition.

It was a wonderful time meeting new friends and hearing of how God has been working in India. It was also a blessing for us to learn more first hand and see Hope's culture in reality. We are so grateful for God's timing and protection in bringing us here to experience his greatness.

Tomorrow we will tour the city gardens and places of interest and get some shopping in before meeting Hope Anjali.
Better get some rest. Scott is already alseep.

We made it to Bangalore

Hi everyone,
We made it to Bangalore. The flights were really long and we got in last night around midnight. Today we have been trying to catch up on our rest. Our hotel is small but nice and clean and the service is great. We cannot believe we are finally here after so many months of waiting. Last night when we arrived from the air on the ground, we saw a beautiful moon outside our window. We believe God was reminding us of his presence with us as we are on the other side of the world. Thanks again for all your prayers and emails.
We will check our computer regularly so email us anytime. Right now it is 6:20pm. Tomorrow we will go with friends from a ministry team our church is connected with to see where God is working with believers. We look forward to that time.
Love to yall,
Scott and Kathy

Our schedule in India

Here is what our schedule will look like in India. We'll keep you posted throughout the weekend and week.

Wednesday - Leave at 12:00 from airport
Thursday - Flying all day and arrive in Bangalore at 11:45p.m.
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Sight see in Bangalore, the Garden Place, and go to visit Indian Christian ministry children's bible clubs and see God at work. We also hope to visit another ministry team on this morning or on Sunday.
Sunday - Sight see and shop
Monday - Go to VCT and pick up Hope Anjali!
Tuesday - Get to know Hope
Wednesday - Fly out to New Delhi early that morning. We will then have Hope's medical exam done this day.
Thursday - Go to U.S. embassy for final paperwork and to file for Hope's visa.
Friday - Sight see with Hope and pick up visa later in the day.
Friday night - leave for home
We hope to arrive home on Saturday at the airport around 2:00.

We will be checking emails and sending out updates on the blog with hopefully some pictures for yall to enjoy.