Help! I need somebody.

I love seeing the falling leaves, feeling the cool breeze, and sharing my heart for India with familiar faces and strangers. 

This last time I was in India a handsome Indian man proposed to me after 2 years of ups and downs but never ending love. I said “yes” and am so looking forward to not just our wedding day, but the life together after that. Our life together as one big heart for India. Being from two different nations it is incredibly difficult and time-consuming to get married whether here in the U.S. or in India. You all reading this who have gotten married to someone from the U.S. are so lucky. The next year-and-a-half of our life is going to be full of stress and worry, which we all know by now I’m really good at. I am a planner and so it is hard to give up this marriage, visa stuff, green card, and citizenship process up to God. It’s something I have to do every single day.

I love India. I love teaching these college-age students how to study the Bible for themselves. I love seeing the light in their eyes when something just clicks and that revelation that comes straight from the Spirit! I love hearing from my past students who are leading churches and pioneering new ministries among unwanted children or untouchable people. I love riding the local train and smiling at all the women who are trying to figure out whether or not my tattoo is real. I love sitting with my neighbors who are Jehovah’s Witnesses and talking about our favorite books of the Old Testament. I love studying the Bible in the local coffee shop so often that people are beginning to get curious and ask about Jesus. India is where I was always meant to be. India is where Romel and I are called to work together and serve each other and others around us through our music and teaching and just living our lives as an example of Love.

Maybe you can’t come and see exactly what is happening in God’s kingdom in India, but you can still be a part of it.

Maybe you can’t come and meet my Indian friends, family, and fellow co-workers, but you can give them hope and encouragement.

Maybe you can’t understand or know how corrupt all spheres of India’s society are right now, but you can be a part of changing it. You can be a big part of God’s movement and kingdom in India.

I know God has called Romel and myself to physically be a part of His big picture plan for India, and maybe God is calling you to also be a part of it too in a different and equally important way. 

You can help by praying for us; praying for the School of Biblical Studies; praying for the music and arts ministry to reach out and touch people’s hearts; praying for money to fall from the sky and grow on trees around us. We want to be able to not only live there without worry, but we want to be able to bless others around us who are constantly struggling with finances.

The wedding is set for March. The exact date is not fixed yet, but will be soon. It will be in Lonavala and it is going to be simple and fun. We are not even thinking about the cost of the wedding right now, but it will be as simple and inexpensive as possible.

What we are thinking about is the process and preparation of getting married there. Here is our plan:

1. Hire an Immigration Lawyer to help us file all the paperwork and make sure we do everything the correct way. We have found a wonderful man to do this who is charging us only 50% of his normal fees, but we need to pay him ASAP so we can get started on future preparation. We need to pay him $1,600 before I go back to India at the end of November.

2. After we get married we plan to apply for a Spousal Visa which will take about 8-10 months to get, but once Romel gets the visa he can come to the U.S. and immediately gets permanent residence here! This is what we’re hiring the lawyer for.

3. Once he arrives in the U.S. we will immediately start the US Citizenship process for Romel which can be expedited for our situation as long as we go back to India for at least one year after he gets citizenship.

How you can help us is by praying. If God is nudging you to give financially please do not hesitate to contact me. Now that I am home it is easier to give directly to me or you can still send checks or use your credit card/debit card via YWAM in Tyler, TX. There are so many options available it’s ridiculous! Just e-mail me for the list of options or else there's a paypal button to the right of this post you can choose to use.

sarahmccollor@gmail.com

As always, click on the pictures for a larger view!

Thanks so much for your support and encouragement. 

Birthdays and Stress.

On the first of this month it was my Mother's birthday and my nephew's 1st birthday. It was fun celebrating both lives and simply spending some time as a family for once.

This is how my brother wrapped his present. In one of his Cosby sweaters.

Peaches the Dog does not seem too thrilled at the idea of a cat clock.

He would not get messy! Come on little baby, have fun with cake!

My mom got three cakes because she was complaining that she always bakes cake for everyone else's birthday but no one ever makes any for hers.

Finally, he got a little messy, still not as epic as it could have been.

I love birthdays. I love how different the celebrations are in India than here. In India it's more like a wedding I guess. If it's your birthday you get a cake (Indian cakes do NOT taste good in my opinion) and you blow out your candles and sing happy birthday, BUT when you're done singing and blowing out candles the birthday person cuts the first piece of the cake and then someone else takes that piece and feeds it to the birthday person. Then the birthday person feeds the person who fed them. So, quite similar to the wedding ritual we have here.

Then, suddenly the next day, I let the dog outside and saw something floating in the pool. Upon closer examination I found this squirrel who had drowned. Poor little guy or girl.

I dyed my hair yet again, darker. I plan to keep it quite dark when I go back to India so that it keeps the staring to a minimum, although even if I wear their clothes and have black hair like them, they still know I'm not Indian for some reason. Must be because I have the whitest skin known to mankind.

Lastly, I recently found this picture online and it just makes me squeal with happiness every time I look at it, so I thought I'd share it with you to brighten your day!

Now I wish to present to you with the best news ever (and the source of all my stress lately)! Romel and I have discussed and prayed about when and where to get married and have finally decided vague destinations and dates!

 Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrummmmmmmmmm rollllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.....

We will be getting married in March in India! Then we hope to get a Spousal visa which could take up to 10 months after our wedding to get, but once we get it he'll come to the US with me and start the citizenship process! We're not doing this so that we can both live in the US, we're doing this so that it's easier actually for both of us to live in India and always be able to come to the US on short notice or for as long or as little as we like. Plus this way we'll never have to be stuck away from each other because of immigration stuff or visa stuff or anything.

On that topic, we need $1,600 dollars almost immediately to hire a lawyer to help us get this visa with the greatest of ease. It certainly is much easier having someone who knows all the laws and how to get things done quickly. If you would like to know in more detail the cost and process which spreads out over the next year or longer just e-mail me and I will tell you all you want to know!

In the spirit of our love and finally a wedding on the horizon, here is one of my favorite love songs from a great Bollywood movie called "ISHQ" which means "love" I just love it so so so much! Please enjoy! It has my favorite Bollywood actor Aamir Khan. Ahhhhh.