Background: The Indus Valley civilization, one of the world’s oldest, flourished during the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. and extended into northwestern India. Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto the Indian subcontinent about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. The Maurya Empire of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. – which reached its zenith under ASHOKA – united much of South Asia. The Golden Age ushered in by the Gupta dynasty (4th to 6th centuries A.D.) saw a flowering of Indian science, art, and culture. Islam spread across the subcontinent over a period of 700 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established the Delhi Sultanate. In the early 16th century, the Emperor BABUR established the Mughal Dynasty which ruled India for more than three centuries. European explorers began establishing footholds in India during the 16th century. By the 19th century, Great Britain had become the dominant political power on the subcontinent. The British Indian Army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British rule, led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU, eventually brought about independence in 1947. Communal violence led to the subcontinent’s bloody partition, which resulted in the creation of two separate states, India and Pakistan. The two countries have fought three wars since independence, the last of which in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. India’s nuclear weapons tests in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. In November 2008, terrorists allegedly originating from Pakistan conducted a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai, India’s financial capital. Despite pressing problems such as significant overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and widespread corruption, rapid economic development is fueling India’s rise on the world stage.

Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north

Population: 1,156,897,766 (July 2010 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 30.5% (male 187,197,389/female 165,285,592)
15-64 years: 64.3% (male 384,131,994/female 359,795,835)
65 years and over: 5.2% (male 28,816,115/female 31,670,841) (2010 est.)

Religions: Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)

Languages: Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%

Note: English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the most widely spoken language and primary tongue of 41% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2001 census)

From: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html

Challenges for Prayer: India has more (and larger) people groups with no Christians, churches or workers than any other part of the world. Pray that the Church world-wide might rise to complete this task.
Hinduism is the world’s third largest religious system. At its widest, a Hindu is one who lives in or identifies with India and its culture. As a religion, it is a pluralistic network of religious beliefs and systems ranging from the philosophical (self-realization), to Vedic (rituals and good works) to village Hinduism (idolatry, occultism, animism). It absorbs elements of any religion it encounters, and is widely perceived as a religion of tolerance and peace. Its global influence is significant through such movements as Hare Krishna, New Age, etc. Many concepts of Hinduism have become part of 21st century post-modern culture – yoga, gurus, karma, reincarnation and transcendental meditation. Pray the people caught in Hinduism see that life is not about pleasing God through rituals, and they clearly understand the message of the Gospel.

From: http://www.operationworld.org/indi

*Due to the sensitive nature of this mission trip and for the safety of our Ministry Partners, we are unable to list them on the website.*

Basic Phrases ‐ Tamil
English – Tamil
Hello – Vanakam
My name is – En pairu
What is your name? - Unga Pairu Enathu?
Pleased to meet you – Ungalai paarpathu santhosham
Good Bye – Vanakam
Thank you – Nandri
Excuse me – Manikavum
Good Morning – Kalai Vanakam
Good evening – Malai Vanakam
Yes – Aama
No – Illai
How old are you? – Unga Vayasu Ethanai
I am __ years old – Enaku _____ vayasu
I’m sorry – Manikavum
Where is the bathroom? – Bathroom enga irruku
Jesus loves you – Yesu ungalai nesikirar
God Bless you – Yesu Ungalai Aasirvathipaaraha
Do you go to church? ‐ neenga koviliku povingala?
Come see our drama in __ minutes – Naadakathai ____nimidathil vanthu paarungal
Do you want to follow Christ today? – Yesusvukku Pin sella viruppama?
Can I pray for you? – Naan ungalukaga jebam seyalaama
Your country is beautiful – Ungal Naadu mighavum alagai irikurathu
I am enjoying my visit here – Inga vanthathil yengaluku santhosham
How are you? – Neega yepadi irikinga?
I am well – Naa nalla irkiaen
Do you have children? – Ungalukku pillaigal irukutha
Mother – Amma
Father ‐ Appa
Elder brother – Annan
Younger brother – Thambi
Elder sister ‐ Akka,
Younger sister – thangachi
Friend – nanban (just friend)
Sir – Aiya
Madam – amma
See You Tomorrow – Naalaikku paakalam
What is that called? - athu enathu
What is this called - Ithu ennathu
Say it again – Marupadi sollun‐gal
Do you speak English? – English paesuvingala?
How much is this? – Ithu evvala‐vu
How much is that? – Athu evvala‐vu

NUMBERS
One – Ondru
Two ‐ Rendu
Three – moondru
Four‐ naal
Five ‐ anju
Six ‐ aaru
Seven ‐ yelu
Eight ‐ yetu
Nine ‐ onnbadu
Ten ‐ pathu

Schedule:
• July 7 – Arrive in Garden Valley, TX and meet your team
• July 8-9 – Train for your mission trip to India
• July 10 – Depart for India
• July 11-29 – Minister in India
• July 30 – Spend the day touring
• July 31 – Head back to Garden Valley, TX
• Aug 1 – Spend one last day with your team as you prepare to go home
• Aug 2 – Depart for home and change the world

Travel:

All participants will be responsible to make their own travel arrangements to the trip’s starting point: Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

Once you are accepted for this trip, a representative will work with you to let you know when you are expected to arrive at DFW and suggest options. We have a travel partner that we work with that will allow participants to have their domestic flights added to the cost of their trip, so that they can include that cost in fundraising!  If you are arriving by airline you must book with our partner Skypass Travel.

Once you have registered for your project, the round-trip flight to India and all other travel will be secured by Global Expeditions.

The flight itinerary to India is password protected for security purposes and only students confirmed on this project will be given the code to view this flight. Click here if you have the code and would like to view this information.

Basics
• One carry-on (generally a backpack)
• One sleeping bag and sheet
• One duffle bag/suitcase (airline regulation says it must be less than 50 lbs.)

Clothing for Garden Valley
• 4-5 shirts- must have at least 3 finger width straps for sleeveless
• 3-4 pairs of pants/Capri’s (jeans, lightweight hiking pants, or khakis)
• Pajamas, undergarments, and socks (enough for whole trip)
• Hat to protect from the sun
• Swimsuit (one piece for girls)
• Supportive tennis shoes
• Flip-flops to be worn in the showers
Clothing for In Country
• Guys: Nice pants every day with a nice shirt; Polo collared shirts are recommended. Sleeveless shirts not allowed for ministry or church.
• Girls’ clothing is very specific because it’s very important to their village culture. Wear traditional Indian outfits. Check out Salwar-kameez on Google images to see what they look like. You can purchase these online or go to an Indian shop. Though there is an opportunity to buy these in India upon arriving, it will be much easier and save your team a lot of time to already have your outfits. If you purchase in India, the outfits could range around $15-25 depending on fabric and design. The more fabric needed the more expensive. If you purchase make sure you have at least 2 outfits to rotate if not more.
• Note: All the women you see in the villages will have traditional dress on so your outfits are just one way to breakdown the cultural wall.
• At the lodging complex girls can wear loose capris or pants. No tight clothes.
• Laundry can be sent out often; estimate 10 rupees per piece of clothing. Bring some laundry detergent to wash your own undergarments.
• TEVAs or other outdoor sandals that have closed toed shoes to wear to ministry or tennis shoes. Shoes may get muddy.

Toiletries
• 2 Towels and washcloths
• 2 Handkerchiefs for sweat
• Insect repellent (with DEET)
• Sunscreen (at least SPF 30) – extremely important as it is very hot
• Baby Wipes and Antibacterial Hand Sanitizer or Hand Wipes
• Personal Items, Chap Stick with sunscreen, Vitamins
• 2-3 packages of anti-bacterial hand wipes and antibacterial hand sanitizer
• Travel Soap (bathrooms do not usually have soap)
• Travel Kleenex packs

Miscellaneous Required Items
•Bible, notebook, and pen
•Nalgene or wide-mouthed water bottle
•Spending money (suggest $50 US per week)
•Camera and film
•Ipod or discman with batteries (Absolutely NO secular music!)
•Books for travel time (books for secular authors are NOT permitted)
•Flashlight and batteries
•Plastic garbage bag for dirty clothes
•Battery operated alarm clock
•Raincoat or Poncho
•Band aids, stomach medicine, cold medicine, Aspirin/Tylenol
•Air Mattress
•Recommended: Baby Powder for sweat
•Hat or bandana
•Hand held fan (battery or non battery operated)
•Bring pictures of family or other things to represent your life in America – this may open up opportunities to share your testimony)

Food
•Plastic jar of Peanut Butter (28 oz)
•A squeeze bottle of Jelly (22 oz).
* Due to airline regulations, your PB & J must be packed in your checked baggage, but make sure it’s easily accessible because it will be collected upon registration.

Miscellaneous Optional Items
• Anti-diarrhea medicine (preferably tablets), Kaopectate or pill equivalent
•$10(CASH) to purchase a professionally taken project specific photo
•Earplugs especially if you are a light sleeper
•Powdered Drink Mix (Gatorade), candy, gum, granola bars, etc.
•Tide to Go/Laundry detergent (recommended for some hand washing)
•Dictionary for language of destination country
•Bring a toy, bracelets, hard candy, stickers, toothbrush, or other items for kids

**Theft is always a possibility when you travel abroad. Please don’t bring anything that you can’t afford to lose. We recommend that you label items with your full name.
**Make sure that all your luggage meets standard flight check in codes (No more than 50 lbs.) and that it can be easily carried by yourself!
To view your country’s electrical voltage: go to www.kropla.com/electric2.htm
Additional Weather Information: go to www.myforecast.com for specific weather information.

Carry-on Regulations
• Do not pack any liquid items (water, lotion, lip gloss, hand sanitizer, etc.)
• For necessary items such as toothpaste, contact solution, and deodorant, all items must be in a clear, quart- size ziplock bag and any liquid items must be under 4oz
• Do not bring finger nail clippers, tweezers, pocket knives or glass items

India B: Bee Daniels
Bee Daniels is an English teacher who graduated from the University of South Florida and she loves learning how to help other people and encourage them in their education as well as their relationships with the Lord. She is actively involved in ministry and has been for many years now. She is the Missions Coordinator at her church and has been to Mexico, Jamaica, Russia, England, India, Thailand, Romania, Dallas, New York, Zambia, Uganda, and China with Global Expeditions. Bee has a huge heart for giving God glory and making His name known throughout the nations. During this trip she is excited to minister to the lost people and see the hope of God fill their hearts.