Here is a description of two big smiles seen in the last couple of days:
Dog Gone
Our German friend, U, who’s house we used for the Christmas feast, has been living in constant fear for the last few years of a black dog. This rabid dog has a dislike for foreigners and caused much distress to her in her goings in and out of her house. Even Mick and Evan were heard to have clung to each other as they tried to sneak past the rascist canine.
Evan, the great caretaker of things, decided to speak to his guest-house owner about the dog. He explained that this dog was going to cost his business by scaring off its money-laden tourists – good point Ev. A couple of days later he was informed by the owner that 450 rupees later, the dog had been taken care of.
When U was informed of this, a beaming smile formed on her face that I’m sure stayed for the next 30 minutes.
May your rides home ever be bad-dog-free U. Sorry we couldn’t deliver its head to you on a platter.
McHappy Mick
Our first trip out in Luck after dropping off our bags at A & S’s was to the Sahara Gunj Mall – a new modern western-style shopping mall celebrating its third year anniversary.
When Mick entered its holy gates and found himself surrounded by McDonalds, KFC and Dominos Pizza, a grin that stretched from ear to ear appeared that only vanished when the last french fry disappeared.
Tonight we are getting McDonalds home delivered as a little New Years Eve treat – hip hip hooray!
Sim
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
What Christmas in this city really looks like and other things.
Looks like its Christine, Queen of Details to the rescue. The previous posts have done no justice in describing our past week in this crazy city, although admittedly, 10,000 words probably still couldn't paint an adequate picture. When we first came out of the train station almost 12 days ago my first thought was: O, help me God. Now, I am not ready to leave. Even if this place did take some getting used to.
Let me try and explain this to you.
Start with a dusty, uneven road. Every now and then along this road are giant holes where pipes are being dug up. On the sides of these roads are small market stalls perhaps selling vegetables and hot food, or there are simple store fronts. The air is smokey and dusty. People are lining the streets, milling around the stalls. The narrow road starts to feel claustrophobic as rickshaw wallahs impatiently ring their bells and autos beep their horns at you. A motorcycle narrowly misses you as it whips past. A range rover, completely out of place, joins the mix, and all cringe out of the way, but even the range rover must stop while a cow slowly moves out of the way of traffic. While keeping your eye on the traffic and ignoring the pleas of beggars, you're also trying not to step in the many piles of animal waste that litter the road. While avoiding stepping in poop, you narrowly miss stepping on the tail of one of the many dogs that line the streets, all curled up. As if all of this wasn't enough, everyone is staring at you like you're an alien, and the colour of your skin, or the style of your dress, screams that you don't belong.
And yet all 7 of us can now navigate these roads confidently, ignoring stares and jeers and hollering transport and haggling over prices like nobody's business. Kate and Von many a time simply left their rickshaw fare on the bicycle seat and later learnt they were actually ripping people off...
Transportation in India is something else. There are no road rules. This is the order of things: pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle, rickshaw (cart connected to a man on a bike), auto (carriage built aound a motorcycle), car, bus, truck, cow. You'd better believe that traffic will stop for a cow. You'd better believe that cows are everywhere. I have an insane photo of a chaotic roundabout in which a cow is the centre of it all. These scenes are now normal to us. Suicidal auto drivers however, I am still struggling to get used to.
Interesting transport experiences aside, the people we have met is what has made this city bearable. Well, that, and fantastic little cafe's that have good food, free wireless and sell beautiful fair trade goods. God is at work in this, the most darkly spiritual city in all of India, and it has been an amazing privilege to see. The opportunity to actually participate in work with travellers has been by far the most rewarding part of this trip - we can safely say that the CHAI team has made itself useful and this really has been perfect for a short term visit. Christmas was the crux of our time here - it took days of preparation, buying food for 80 people is no small task in India. Christmas Eve was spent peeling, grating, chopping and cooking and Christmas morning was spent doing quite a bit more of the same. I admit -the 'Christmassy' feeling wasn't there. It felt like any other day, but we were all excited about how the feast would go and were praying earnestly for success - this was one of the main events for B & L for the whole year.
It was an amazing day and thankfully, all went smoothly. We started by singing together and I loved that even though many there weren't Christian, all these voices were being lifted to God. B's talk faithfully presented the gospel and after the formalities, we got into our feast!
And now we get to the interesting part. The conversations. This is what it was all about. But chatting to New Agers about Jesus in India is no small feat. I spent quite a bit of time trying to talk some sense into a group of people who were convinced that they had more than five senses and Jesus lived in India. The resounding idea was: all roads lead to God. Unless this God condemns you to hell for not believing in him, in which case, that's wrong and your path is wrong. Which therefore totally invalidates the argument for pluralism but I couldn't expect my audience to follow that kind of logic. I was told that I reminded this group of some of their other Christian friends who have the same 'problem' - not looking outside the box. But according to them - all roads lead to God and once you find the truth you're looking for you'll just know it. Well I can say safely I've found the truth and this way works for me but if theyre saying I need to get out of the box - well then theyre saying Christianity is wrong and the pluralistic argument falls apart again. I never knew how much I appreciated a good, logical argument until I came to India. Don't get me wrong, I love talking to all these travellers and hearing all their crazy ideas. They're so fantastically easy to smash to pieces. Which is really only satisfying if the one being shot down listens and understands the refutation but New Age spirituality is so convenient in being able to just pull from any religion to overcome the obstacles put in place by common sense. No matter, I've found that I could spend hours trying to convince a single person that the 'absolute truth' is so simple and so beautiful and it's staring them in the face.
This trip has been very interesting in that we're experiencing New Age hippy culture amongst traditional Hindu Indian culture. Its pretty trippy but we've all taken it in our stride. I think. We've gone to celebrations for the winter solstice, been roped into three hours of Shiva worship on the scitar, seen burning bodies on the ghats of the Ganga. Every moment here feels surreal.
Sickness however, feels very real. Continued prayer for the health of others would be very much appreciated, particularly as the next week will pass in a blur of train trips and perhaps a shared bathroom between 7. I'm trying to push it out of my mind at present.
Please, please, please continue to pray for B & L. They have not been feeling 100% since we got here and they have soldiered on and are now exhausted. They are truly amazing, godly people who are doing fantastic work here. It's hard to understand until you're in the thick of the city and have had several unfruitful discussions but this is their everyday reality - and they wouldn't want it any other way. Please continue to pray!
In only 12 days, I'm going to be so bold as to say I think we've made our mark on this city. With the travellers, with our hosts, on the traveller hangouts, at our places of voluntary work, through the relationships we've made. Everybody in India is interesting, they have a story to tell, or they're looking for something and life is more than just 9-5. I will be so sad to leave and get nothing but superficial email updates about how the Christians here are holding up, or how the 'spiritual quests' of the travellers are going. It's a busy, crazy city, but there is a tight-knit community here that I will really miss. There is so much still that I want to see, more people that I need to question, more to understand about myself and about God.
I don't care how corny it sounds, when I get on the train tomorrow at 4.55am, a part of me will forever remain here.
Let me try and explain this to you.
Start with a dusty, uneven road. Every now and then along this road are giant holes where pipes are being dug up. On the sides of these roads are small market stalls perhaps selling vegetables and hot food, or there are simple store fronts. The air is smokey and dusty. People are lining the streets, milling around the stalls. The narrow road starts to feel claustrophobic as rickshaw wallahs impatiently ring their bells and autos beep their horns at you. A motorcycle narrowly misses you as it whips past. A range rover, completely out of place, joins the mix, and all cringe out of the way, but even the range rover must stop while a cow slowly moves out of the way of traffic. While keeping your eye on the traffic and ignoring the pleas of beggars, you're also trying not to step in the many piles of animal waste that litter the road. While avoiding stepping in poop, you narrowly miss stepping on the tail of one of the many dogs that line the streets, all curled up. As if all of this wasn't enough, everyone is staring at you like you're an alien, and the colour of your skin, or the style of your dress, screams that you don't belong.
And yet all 7 of us can now navigate these roads confidently, ignoring stares and jeers and hollering transport and haggling over prices like nobody's business. Kate and Von many a time simply left their rickshaw fare on the bicycle seat and later learnt they were actually ripping people off...
Transportation in India is something else. There are no road rules. This is the order of things: pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle, rickshaw (cart connected to a man on a bike), auto (carriage built aound a motorcycle), car, bus, truck, cow. You'd better believe that traffic will stop for a cow. You'd better believe that cows are everywhere. I have an insane photo of a chaotic roundabout in which a cow is the centre of it all. These scenes are now normal to us. Suicidal auto drivers however, I am still struggling to get used to.
Interesting transport experiences aside, the people we have met is what has made this city bearable. Well, that, and fantastic little cafe's that have good food, free wireless and sell beautiful fair trade goods. God is at work in this, the most darkly spiritual city in all of India, and it has been an amazing privilege to see. The opportunity to actually participate in work with travellers has been by far the most rewarding part of this trip - we can safely say that the CHAI team has made itself useful and this really has been perfect for a short term visit. Christmas was the crux of our time here - it took days of preparation, buying food for 80 people is no small task in India. Christmas Eve was spent peeling, grating, chopping and cooking and Christmas morning was spent doing quite a bit more of the same. I admit -the 'Christmassy' feeling wasn't there. It felt like any other day, but we were all excited about how the feast would go and were praying earnestly for success - this was one of the main events for B & L for the whole year.
It was an amazing day and thankfully, all went smoothly. We started by singing together and I loved that even though many there weren't Christian, all these voices were being lifted to God. B's talk faithfully presented the gospel and after the formalities, we got into our feast!
And now we get to the interesting part. The conversations. This is what it was all about. But chatting to New Agers about Jesus in India is no small feat. I spent quite a bit of time trying to talk some sense into a group of people who were convinced that they had more than five senses and Jesus lived in India. The resounding idea was: all roads lead to God. Unless this God condemns you to hell for not believing in him, in which case, that's wrong and your path is wrong. Which therefore totally invalidates the argument for pluralism but I couldn't expect my audience to follow that kind of logic. I was told that I reminded this group of some of their other Christian friends who have the same 'problem' - not looking outside the box. But according to them - all roads lead to God and once you find the truth you're looking for you'll just know it. Well I can say safely I've found the truth and this way works for me but if theyre saying I need to get out of the box - well then theyre saying Christianity is wrong and the pluralistic argument falls apart again. I never knew how much I appreciated a good, logical argument until I came to India. Don't get me wrong, I love talking to all these travellers and hearing all their crazy ideas. They're so fantastically easy to smash to pieces. Which is really only satisfying if the one being shot down listens and understands the refutation but New Age spirituality is so convenient in being able to just pull from any religion to overcome the obstacles put in place by common sense. No matter, I've found that I could spend hours trying to convince a single person that the 'absolute truth' is so simple and so beautiful and it's staring them in the face.
This trip has been very interesting in that we're experiencing New Age hippy culture amongst traditional Hindu Indian culture. Its pretty trippy but we've all taken it in our stride. I think. We've gone to celebrations for the winter solstice, been roped into three hours of Shiva worship on the scitar, seen burning bodies on the ghats of the Ganga. Every moment here feels surreal.
Sickness however, feels very real. Continued prayer for the health of others would be very much appreciated, particularly as the next week will pass in a blur of train trips and perhaps a shared bathroom between 7. I'm trying to push it out of my mind at present.
Please, please, please continue to pray for B & L. They have not been feeling 100% since we got here and they have soldiered on and are now exhausted. They are truly amazing, godly people who are doing fantastic work here. It's hard to understand until you're in the thick of the city and have had several unfruitful discussions but this is their everyday reality - and they wouldn't want it any other way. Please continue to pray!
In only 12 days, I'm going to be so bold as to say I think we've made our mark on this city. With the travellers, with our hosts, on the traveller hangouts, at our places of voluntary work, through the relationships we've made. Everybody in India is interesting, they have a story to tell, or they're looking for something and life is more than just 9-5. I will be so sad to leave and get nothing but superficial email updates about how the Christians here are holding up, or how the 'spiritual quests' of the travellers are going. It's a busy, crazy city, but there is a tight-knit community here that I will really miss. There is so much still that I want to see, more people that I need to question, more to understand about myself and about God.
I don't care how corny it sounds, when I get on the train tomorrow at 4.55am, a part of me will forever remain here.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Some highlights from the day:
Ev: I think definitely the amount of non followers to ratio of followers was one of the real exciting things for me which provided opportunities for fruitful discussion about Jesus.
Von: Being able to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a very different way (praise God for his creativity in making his nations unique!) - we sat outside under shade, in a circle on cushions and mats, with an Indian floral/candle decoration in the middle spelling out 'Jesus', sang a mixture of carols and bajans (?? traditional Indian-style songs composed by Christians), prayed, heard a talk... and then feasted with people from all over the world!
Mic: Good conversations... good food... great company (so much more to say but we are in public and Von is scribing for Mic).
Ev: I think definitely the amount of non followers to ratio of followers was one of the real exciting things for me which provided opportunities for fruitful discussion about Jesus.
Von: Being able to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a very different way (praise God for his creativity in making his nations unique!) - we sat outside under shade, in a circle on cushions and mats, with an Indian floral/candle decoration in the middle spelling out 'Jesus', sang a mixture of carols and bajans (?? traditional Indian-style songs composed by Christians), prayed, heard a talk... and then feasted with people from all over the world!
Mic: Good conversations... good food... great company (so much more to say but we are in public and Von is scribing for Mic).
Thursday, December 25, 2008
The Splendid Seven
Hi, this is L....
I'm writing to say Thank you for all your support and prayers for the CHAI team...and for letting them come. Thanks for the food and books that the money that some of you gave helped to buy.
Happy Christmas!!
We had an amazing Christmas day! Eighty people from about 20 different countries came and heard the good news and were fed and offered hospitality and love. Travelers who were far away from home and thankful for this kindness.
And all of this was enabled by these 7 capable, kind, helpful, mature, beautiful people that make up CHAI 2008! I can't tell you the amount of times that I've heard the words "How can I help you L....?". My heart is so full of thanks to God for His grace that we as a family (and beyond....church family, travellers etc) have experienced through the hands of these amazing brothers and sisters.
There's so much more I could say...but I think it's time for bed.
Tomorrow we will go to a nice restaurant and have a bit of our own Christmas celebrations- which will be a well earned rest for all of us.
God bless you...
I'm writing to say Thank you for all your support and prayers for the CHAI team...and for letting them come. Thanks for the food and books that the money that some of you gave helped to buy.
Happy Christmas!!
We had an amazing Christmas day! Eighty people from about 20 different countries came and heard the good news and were fed and offered hospitality and love. Travelers who were far away from home and thankful for this kindness.
And all of this was enabled by these 7 capable, kind, helpful, mature, beautiful people that make up CHAI 2008! I can't tell you the amount of times that I've heard the words "How can I help you L....?". My heart is so full of thanks to God for His grace that we as a family (and beyond....church family, travellers etc) have experienced through the hands of these amazing brothers and sisters.
There's so much more I could say...but I think it's time for bed.
Tomorrow we will go to a nice restaurant and have a bit of our own Christmas celebrations- which will be a well earned rest for all of us.
God bless you...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
As I write this the rest of the team are chopping veggies (and entertaining T). The shopping is done. We have baked 1000's of cookies and cakes. We have handed out so so many invites. And B is in the local Japanese (yes Japanese, random hey?) cafe preparing to share Jesus with the travelers of Var. We are getting ready for our Vegetarian feast tomorrow!
Please pray for B as he prepares and gives the message (he is still unwell which makes things harder).
Please pray that heaps would come. We are catering for 80 but really have no idea. Its all in God's hands! Pray that we would have just the right amount of food.
Pray that many who are generally searching would come.
Pray for grace and wisdom in our conversations following the talk.
Pray for those who have heard the gospel many times through L&B. Pray that tomorrow they would give their lives to Christ. Particularly for GB and A. Also for those who the Chai team have been chatting to. Particularly C, R & T.
Pray that those who want to case trouble would stay away.
Pray that God would be glorified as we celebrate Jesus coming into the world!
We are really excited about the opportunity it is to be part of this. Such a privilege to be able to spend Christmas sharing Jesus with those who are seeking peace, love, fulfillment, light, truth.
Merry Christmas from us all!
And we thank you so much for your prayers.
Kate
Please pray for B as he prepares and gives the message (he is still unwell which makes things harder).
Please pray that heaps would come. We are catering for 80 but really have no idea. Its all in God's hands! Pray that we would have just the right amount of food.
Pray that many who are generally searching would come.
Pray for grace and wisdom in our conversations following the talk.
Pray for those who have heard the gospel many times through L&B. Pray that tomorrow they would give their lives to Christ. Particularly for GB and A. Also for those who the Chai team have been chatting to. Particularly C, R & T.
Pray that those who want to case trouble would stay away.
Pray that God would be glorified as we celebrate Jesus coming into the world!
We are really excited about the opportunity it is to be part of this. Such a privilege to be able to spend Christmas sharing Jesus with those who are seeking peace, love, fulfillment, light, truth.
Merry Christmas from us all!
And we thank you so much for your prayers.
Kate
Monday, December 22, 2008
Noise
This place is so noisy! Of course there are the horns and cows and people yelling and wedding music etc etc etc... But I'm really getting sad every time I hear the bells (and its very often). Apparently when people approach a god in a temple they ring bells to wake him up! It's so sad that there are so many people desperately trying to wake up some piece of wood or plaster or stone while the Living God loves to hear from us!
As well as being sad and annoying it has been an amazing reminder of the privilege of prayer.
Let us then approach the throne of God with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Heb 4:16
Kate
As well as being sad and annoying it has been an amazing reminder of the privilege of prayer.
Let us then approach the throne of God with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Heb 4:16
Kate
Interesting expeirences in and around Var
It is now our sixth day in Var and our eighth overall in India with many new, challenging and wonderful experiences already happening. We are all glad to have settled in to our guest houses and start to settle in to the one place.
Since our last blog, we have had many new and wonderful relationships with some travelers and locals alike. The daily routine of Var has a more familiar feel, now it is second nature to haggle for the price of local transport, whether it be auto rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. We are also getting much better at avoiding the local cows and buffalos!
But more importantly we have had several opportunities to speak about King J to travelers and foreigners. We had an interesting discussion over Sunday lunch with a couple who came for the first time. We have seen interesting takes on New Age philosophy/religions, well different forms of it anyhow. Reading the gospel each day and having team devotions encourages us to press into King J and bring clarity in a culture that it is not seeing the light that is King J.
Today has seen us reflect on our experiences during the previous day and seeing our faith in deeds of volunteer work for all of us.
Please continue to pray for opportunities to share King J with others and for health for B,L & T as well for some of the team who are feeling tired and some signs of illness and for the city of Var as a whole to be guided towards King J.
We humbly thank you all for your continued pray and support.
Ev.
Since our last blog, we have had many new and wonderful relationships with some travelers and locals alike. The daily routine of Var has a more familiar feel, now it is second nature to haggle for the price of local transport, whether it be auto rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. We are also getting much better at avoiding the local cows and buffalos!
But more importantly we have had several opportunities to speak about King J to travelers and foreigners. We had an interesting discussion over Sunday lunch with a couple who came for the first time. We have seen interesting takes on New Age philosophy/religions, well different forms of it anyhow. Reading the gospel each day and having team devotions encourages us to press into King J and bring clarity in a culture that it is not seeing the light that is King J.
Today has seen us reflect on our experiences during the previous day and seeing our faith in deeds of volunteer work for all of us.
Please continue to pray for opportunities to share King J with others and for health for B,L & T as well for some of the team who are feeling tired and some signs of illness and for the city of Var as a whole to be guided towards King J.
We humbly thank you all for your continued pray and support.
Ev.
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