Amanda and I Have Airline Tickets

Good news!

My parents were able to use frequent-flyer miles to get Amanda and me round-trip airline tickets from Mobile to New Delhi. This is a bit of a miracle because it is such short notice. Dad even called the airline on Monday, with no success.

From New Delhi to Kathmandu, we'll take a one-way ticket which after taxes is about $123 for each of us. We'll arrange other travel once we arrive. Thank you for your prayers!

Prayer Requests,

• May David and Anna get tickets. (they were not as rushed to get tickets than us because they leave late May)
• The details of preparation would be clear in our mind. May God remind us of items we need to take.
• May we be healthy and rested.

Also, any insight you have on seat reservations for two people would be appreciated. On all flights the exit row is taken. There are two of us and any given row has three seats. Should we reserve A and C and hope no one take B? If we do that then if someone does take B, they will likely gladly exchange it for C (the aisle). Any thoughts?

Destination: Kolkata

There is a rescue mission in Calcutta, which saves children from brothels there. Most of these children are from Nepal. It's horrifying as some of them are less than 5 years old. We hope to be helping at this mission May 28 -June 1. More details are coming soon.

Facts about India and Nepal

India
● Second-most populous country (over 1.1 billion)
● Area is slightly larger than one-third the size of the US
● Religion: 80.5% Hindu, 13.4% Muslim, 2.3% Christian,
● 23 official languages

Hyderabad
● 6.5 million people
● Emerging IT and biotech hub
● Has nearly equal number of Muslims and Hindus
● Telugu is the official language

Kolkata
● Name changed from Calcutta in 2001
● Located in the Ganges River Delta
● Population of 13.2 million in metropolitan area

Nepal
● Population 27.6 million
● World’s only Hindu state (80.6% Hindu)
● Area slightly larger than Arkansas
● Capital is Kathmandu (Pop 500,000)
● Contains eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including Everest
● Though generally safe for visitors, Nepal is in the midst of a 10 year-long civil war between comunist Maoists and the Royal Nepalise Army

Ben's Support Letter

Dear Family and Friends

I hope this note finds you and your family well. I am quite well and enjoying post-college life. Since graduating from University of Mobile in 2004, I have been designing websites for a local computer support firm.

For almost a year I have been dating a wonderful woman named Amanda Hardy. She shares many of my interests and is incredibly compassionate, intelligent and creative.

I have also been volunteering with Friends of Internationals (FOI) a Christian organization that assists international students at the local state school, University of South Alabama. For years I have had an increasing desire to participate in international missions, and FOI has given me the opportunity to do so without leaving Mobile. My current job has given me the flexibility to devote a good amount of time to the ministry.

Last autumn, Jim Mather, FOI's director, expressed to me his desire to have a team travel to cities from where students are coming. Building relationships and ministering in those countries would allow for ministry growth in Mobile. The two countries that are sending the most students are India and Nepal. So with the help of David Chavali, a Hyderabad, India native, we set about plans to travel to those countries. You can read more about about the trip in the attached letter. I am very excited about building relationships with family members of current students as well as orphans and potential new students. I see this trip as a spring board to immerse myself deeper into international missions.

Please pray for us as we plan and travel. If possible, would you consider partnering with us by making a contribution to make the trip a reality? Please know that any funds we raise above what is needed for travel expenses will be invested into the various ministries with which we will be working.

Thank you in advance for all your prayers and support.


Ben Brenner


P.S. If you do give financially, please let me know so that I can track your giving and be accountable to you for how God uses your gifts. All gifts are tax deductible.

Amanda's Support Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Since I have not had contact with many of you in a while, you may wonder what I've been doing lately. I am in my third year at the University of Mobile, and I will graduate in December, 2006, with a Bachelor's of Arts in Humanities. I will be the first graduate of the newly-developed Honors Program. After I graduate, I hope to go to graduate school in the fall of 2007 to work toward my Masters Degree in philosophy or world religions. I also hope to one day be involved in international missions. Although the fields of humanities and philosophy do not seem to be related to mission work, I am and will be learning about the variety of ways humans have thought throughout history and cultures and how philosophy affects different societies. This knowledge will equip me to better communicate and provide assistance for peoples of many nations.

My life, of course, does not only consist of my studies. I have also been seeing a wonderful young man named Ben Brenner for almost a year, and he has become an integral part of my life. He volunteers with an organization called Friends of Internationals that assists and ministers to the international student population of the University of South Alabama, which is more than one thousand students. I also help out with the ministry as my schedule permits. I will be accompanying Ben on a mission trip to Nepal and India which is commissioned by this organization, and you can read about the details of our trip in the enclosed pamphlet. I am very excited about the things God will do through this opportunity, and I thank you ahead of time for your prayers and support. Hopefully, I will return with many stories of God's grace and mercy that is not only active in the United States, but is equally active in Nepal, India, and every other nation of the world.

God's blessings and peace,

Amanda Hardy

Map and Itinerary

Itinerary

(tentative)
May 9 - Ben and Amanda fly from Mobile to New Delhi and fly to Kathmandu the next day
May 28 - Team flies from Kathmandu to Kolkata
June 1- Team flies from Kolkata to Hyderabad
July 2 - Team flies back to Mobile