After 36 hours of travel, Jason and I returned safely to Puyallup and the warm greetings of Grandma Carole and the kids! Planes, trains and automobiles takes on a whole new meaning to us.......
On Sunday morning (Delhi time), we left for our 11 am church service, at Delhi Bible Fellowship. It was an amazing time of worship, praising God with Indian believers and guests of Delhi. After church, we were able to go to the market to shop for souvenirs. During our shopping, we received a HUGE downpour of rain, at which time Uma called our drivers for the week to pick us up at the market. After getting back to the hotel, we dried off, changed and went to a wonderful farewell dinner planned for us. We then returned back to the hotel to change for our long journey home, and left for the airport. We drove to the airport, arriving at 9:30 pm (9 am SATURDAY, on the west coast). We checked our luggage and waited for 2 hours before our flight left. At 12:30 am we began our 15 hour flight to Chicago O'Hare airport. Many of us were quite tired and were able to sleep, while others had a LONG 15 hours, without rest. Needless to say, I was sound asleep before takeoff, and managed to get about 9 hours during our first flight. We landed in Chicago at 4:45 am (Monday) and had to wait until 5am before the plane doors were opened, since customs didn't open until 5 am. Our entire team made it quickly through customs, and we then began our 5+ hour wait for our flight to Portland. Unexpectedly, our flight was delayed an additional 2 hours, not leaving Chicago until 12:45 pm. We then had another 4 hour flight to Portland, where everyone was greeted with signs, smiles, and hugs by family members and the Westport Pastors. It was such a warm welcome...BUT, Jason and I had a train to catch to Tacoma, so we could see our family. We were driven to the Amtrak station, caught our 4:15 train (which was only delayed by 15 minutes). We had our children in our arms and home safely by 8:30 pm (9 am TUESDAY in Delhi) - (Grandma got a little lost trying to find the train station...HA!) It is amazing to be home again!
India was such an amazing time for both Jason and I, that I continue to be reminded of God's unending love for His Children, His grace and mercy, and His perfect timing. Though we may not have completed everything WE wanted to do in India, HE completed everything that was supposed to get done.
On our last day in India, I was able to share a morning devotional during breakfast, and I wanted to share that with everyone....
"I remember in June 2008 when our youngest daughter, Rebecca, asked us to remove her training wheels from her bike...she wanted to ride a "big girl" bike. As a mother, I immediately said "no" that she was too young, and thought of all the horrible things that could happen if she fell. Jason, however, said "okay, let's learn". I remember him running around our cul-de-sac holding onto Rebecca's bike, letting go only for a brief moment, at first, catching her when she lost her balance. After a few days, Rebecca was scared and asked for the training wheels back on. Jason immediately put them on, only to have to remove them (yet again) a week later, when she insisted on "being a big girl". After another week of Jason running behind her on her bike, h0lding on, letting go for longer periods of time, Rebecca was "A BIG GIRL" and could ride a 2-wheeler without help. This reminds me of what God does with us. He is always with us, holding onto us until we're comfortable with our challenge, letting us go for longer periods of time, until we're able to be "big". This brought me comfort to know that as much as we fell in love with the kids of Shah Abad and Muneer, after only a week, that God loves them MUCH MORE than we ever could! HE will be right beside them until they accept Him as their Lord and Savior, holding them, guiding them, letting go for brief periods of time. HE will send those who are called to bring the people of India the Gospel Message, holding us as we train, until He releases us into his mission!"
Thank you for not only following our journey, but also for praying for the team, the children of India, the people of India, and the leadership of India and Westport! We love and thank each one of you....
Delilah
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Day 5 - God's Plan not Ours
Friday, Day 5. We planned a party to say goodbye to all the kids at Shah Abad. This was an opportunity to give hugs, tell everyone again how much they are loved by Jesus, encourage the teachers to continue with this ministry, basically bring closure to the week. We also planned to bring the entire team to Muneer, the Muslim Community visited by 5 of us the day prior. There was more work to be done, more flooded roads to repair, relationships to build, Christ’s love to share.
That was OUR plan. God had something else in mind however and delivered many, many, many inches of rain throughout the greater Delhi area. The roads into Shah Abad were impassible. The Christian School in the Muslim community was knee deep in water. At 8:30pm Thursday, the decision was made by our leaders to not return to the schools.
As disappointed as we all were to miss saying good bye and continue working on projects that had only just started, we were reminded, again, that we were not going to accomplish everything in one visit. Fighting the American mentality to just “get ‘er done”, we submit to God’s will and accept that the work we have started will be continued by the faithful servants already in place and the other teams from various countries who follow. God is alive and moving in India and He has a plan that we are watching unfold, fortunate to have been used for a short while for His purpose.
As we were reminded at Delhi Bible Fellowship this morning, Jesus commanded us in John 13:34-35 “…Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” May the love we showed the kids of Shah Abad and Muneer and to the many people of India be a reflection of the love Christ has shown for us. To God be the glory.
That was OUR plan. God had something else in mind however and delivered many, many, many inches of rain throughout the greater Delhi area. The roads into Shah Abad were impassible. The Christian School in the Muslim community was knee deep in water. At 8:30pm Thursday, the decision was made by our leaders to not return to the schools.
As disappointed as we all were to miss saying good bye and continue working on projects that had only just started, we were reminded, again, that we were not going to accomplish everything in one visit. Fighting the American mentality to just “get ‘er done”, we submit to God’s will and accept that the work we have started will be continued by the faithful servants already in place and the other teams from various countries who follow. God is alive and moving in India and He has a plan that we are watching unfold, fortunate to have been used for a short while for His purpose.
As we were reminded at Delhi Bible Fellowship this morning, Jesus commanded us in John 13:34-35 “…Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” May the love we showed the kids of Shah Abad and Muneer and to the many people of India be a reflection of the love Christ has shown for us. To God be the glory.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Taj Mahal
Not many people can say that in one day they shook hands with a monkey, rode an elephant, rode a camel AND visited the Taj Mahal! Saturday was such an awesome day.
Our day began at 6am when we boarded a bus for Agra. Half way into our 5 hour journey we stopped and saw a trained monkey doing various tricks and stunts. The monkey then jumped on my back, onto my head, and finally after "freaking out", was removed from my head! BUT, after that, I was able to shake the monkey's hand, and he made the rounds to our team! He was a polite little monkey.
Next, we stopped to ride a camel and/or elephant. Jason and I chose to ride the elephant and it was so much fun. It was amazing to see such an enormous animal up close.
We then continued our journey to Agra, for the Taj Mahal, one of the 7 wonders of the world. The beautiful white marble, and the intricate details are stunning...something I don't believe my pictures will do justice to.
After the Taj Mahal, we made a stop at the Fort where the King lived, and was also imprisoned - by his own son -something that Jason hopes Alex won't do! :) This was followed by a trip to visit how marble is inlayed with precious stones - as in the Taj Mahal. It is amazing to see such work being done, BY HAND!
Today, Sunday, is our last full day in India. We will leave for church in approximately 1 hour, then spend the day buying souvenirs to bring home, we'll have a farewell dinner, and then leave for the airport. Our plane leaves Delhi at 12:00 midnight, where we'll spent 15 hours flying to Chicago O'Hare airport.
This trip has been an amazing experience! God has opened our hearts to the Indian people, and we look forward to our next trip back!
Delilah
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Day 4 - Into the Muslim Community of Maneer
Today, our team went in two separate directions, with the majority of the people returning to the Shah Abad school while 4 of us and Uma set out to visit another Christian school recently opened within a Muslim community. I didn’t think it was possible but the ride to the area was the most harrowing driving experience to date. The sign to the left is no less a statement of the obvious than if it read simply “This is a sign”.After driving through a security check point 3 times (we turned around and then back around), leaving the city of Delhi, and driving past a mosque, we arrived at our destination. Similar to all our other stops, we quickly became the focus of an ever growing group of curious onlookers. A 5 minute walk took us to the school, where we were greeted by lots of smiling faces. There were so many kids crammed into this school, in classrooms the size of a large closet and in the open courtyard of the building, sharing space with a Honda generator. The children were very polite and quite a few spoke broken English.
After taking a brief tour and making introductions with most of the older students, we began the chore of moving a pile of crushed bricks into areas of standing water that were impeding the children’s access to the school. Initially, the kids and parents observed as strangers helped perform the labor, shoveling rock and debris into round dishes, serving as salad bowl sized wheel barrows, minus the wheel. Slowly these same people began to help, young and old chipped in to move several yards of this material. The walkway directly in front of the school has a new sidewalk thanks to the hard work of many. Today, we were not just the hands and feet of Christ, but also the legs, arms, backs and who knows how many other body parts. As an aside, we had a brief encounter with a scorpion who emerged from the pile of bricks and evaded the swinging spade of one of the hired hands. I was slightly more accurate with one of the bricks and successfully flattened the 2” bright green scorpion, where he is currently dead.
Eventually, the heat became too unbearable and we left with additional work needing some attention. We were given a new appreciation for a Muslim community and a warmed heart for the kids in the school. If it’s in God’s will, may we return to continue the work that has just started. To God be the glory.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
In the Slums
In our second full day in the slums, we were greeted with even more kids, brought in from another nearby school. Lack of a uniform kept them from coming the first day but that false requirement was addressed and on Tuesday, the number of kids more than doubled.
As on Monday, we started the day with worship. A couple of guitars and lots of praiseful voices made for an awesome experience as we sang Kushi Kushi Manao, Hallelu Hallelu, and the kids’ favorite so far Tutti Ta. The kids were then treated to a skit about the importance of courage.
After the skit, we divided the kids into 4 groups and rotated them through games, snacks, story and craft rooms. They spent about 30 minutes in each area. The game for the day was supposed to be a sponge toss relay and for the most part that’s how it started. However, the youngest group ended up turning the relay race into an all out water fight, flinging water from the sponges at the nearest person and laughing hysterically. We worked in a game of Simon Says after awhile but even that turned into a water fight.
We left for lunch and returned to the same mall that had provided us lunch (McDonald’s) the previous day. This time we dined at Ruby Tuesday. After lunch we drove to the section of the slums that had been inaccessible the previous day because of the heavy rains. When we arrived, we were greeted by the same smiling faces of the kids at the school as they welcomed us to their homes.
I’m not even going to try to describe the conditions but instead will let the pictures speak for themselves. Please continue to pray that more and more children living in this area will be able to receive an education and be given an opportunity to improve the conditions in which they live. More importantly, pray that they will place their trust in Christ as they learn about Him in this same school.
As on Monday, we started the day with worship. A couple of guitars and lots of praiseful voices made for an awesome experience as we sang Kushi Kushi Manao, Hallelu Hallelu, and the kids’ favorite so far Tutti Ta. The kids were then treated to a skit about the importance of courage.
After the skit, we divided the kids into 4 groups and rotated them through games, snacks, story and craft rooms. They spent about 30 minutes in each area. The game for the day was supposed to be a sponge toss relay and for the most part that’s how it started. However, the youngest group ended up turning the relay race into an all out water fight, flinging water from the sponges at the nearest person and laughing hysterically. We worked in a game of Simon Says after awhile but even that turned into a water fight.
We left for lunch and returned to the same mall that had provided us lunch (McDonald’s) the previous day. This time we dined at Ruby Tuesday. After lunch we drove to the section of the slums that had been inaccessible the previous day because of the heavy rains. When we arrived, we were greeted by the same smiling faces of the kids at the school as they welcomed us to their homes.
I’m not even going to try to describe the conditions but instead will let the pictures speak for themselves. Please continue to pray that more and more children living in this area will be able to receive an education and be given an opportunity to improve the conditions in which they live. More importantly, pray that they will place their trust in Christ as they learn about Him in this same school.
Our amazing God!
Our God is an awesome God! He continues to show us His mighty power, so many times during each day! Today began a little tougher than the previous few....with a few team members having stomach pains and feeling nauseaous (incluidng myself!)! While driving to the slums, there were 3 of us in one car not feeling well, with one of the team members on the verge of vomitting during the drive. We immediately prayed for God's healing hands to come over us, and any other team members not feeling well, so that we could continue to do His work in the slums. An hour later, we were ALL feeling much better - God healed!
Jason went to the local pharmacy to buy some supplies, but they had a limited number of supplies. Jason was concerned because he knew it would not be enough! Well, at the end of the day, we still had extra left over! It has been amazing!
Yesterday we were able to visit the part of the slums where "our kids" (those from the school we are working at) lived, and where the water pumps were instsalled. It was amazing to see where they live, and the conditions of their living. It made the previous day seem like "The Ritz". These home were made of thatch, not concrete. With the rain we've had, their area was a huge mud pit, filled with mosquitos and garbage. YET, the children and families were happy. We were greeted with many smiles, and laughter. In fact, the kids were running into their homes to put on their school uniforms so that we would recognize them (even though we already had recognized them). I even met a mom who had twins, and they were so beautiful! I then had to imagine her going through her pregnancy with twins, with no medical care, giving birth in her small thatch house, with no medical attention for the twins or her. No epidural. No pain killers.
Today was a great day, though the most emotional for me. A mom brought in her 11 month of daughter to the medical clinic and the baby was not doing well. She looked like a newborn, weighing no more than 6-7 pounds. She couldn not support her neck. Her legs were as thick (or should I say "as thin") as my thumb. When we lifted her shirt, you could see each rib! She was extremely malnourished and developmentally behind that my heart broke for her, almost losing my breath at the thought of her dying in the near future due to her malnutrition.
Through all of the emotions, I keep my eyes on Jesus! I KNOW that all I can do is continue to love the children, families, workers and people of India! God will take care of everything else!
Tomorrow, Thursday, is our last full day with the children of Shah Abad. I will be presenting the Gospel message to them during their story time, and ask for your prayers. I pray that the words of my mouth are those of God, not of me! I look forward to sharing tomorrow night, and posting more pictures then!
Delilah
Monday, August 11, 2008
Visions of another reality
Imagine waking up each day to temperatures in the upper 90's, not knowing if you will have food, or if the water truck will arrive with fresh drinking water! This is what we experienced today, as we visited the slums of Shah Abad. As we entered the slums, we had to park on the side of the highway, and walk in, since the road has been broken (we assume that it will be fixed, allowing for automobile access). I first noticed the pigs and dogs roaming, and a truck. It turns out to be a water truck carrying fresh water to the village. Unfortunately, not everyone will get the freshwater, only the fastest, and those with the largest buckets. I pray that each family would get at least SOME fresh water, but I do not know if that happened.
As we entered further, we were greeted with many stares, most never having seen a westerner before...especially a group of 20! The people warmed up to us, and were very willing to show us their homes and village.
Most of the homes in this section of the slums are brick structures. The homes had only a thin mat serving as a bed, and a line of rope to hang the family clothes, no other furnishings.
The children, especially, loved having their photos taken, and being show the preview on the digital cameras. I found a group of women that were very happy to have their photos taken, and one ran into her house to bring out a 15 day old baby...she just became a grandma! Even in the deepest of poverty, with little to no food, very little fresh drinking water, unbelievably hot temperatures, the joy of a grandmother's love was seen!
As we walked further, I was struck by a large water hole filled with trash, human and animal feces, and covered with swarms of bugs! As a mother, I wanted to move all of those children away from pending illness!
Overall, my heart was breaking for the people of Shah Abad. God has allowed my heart to break, reminding me that He has called me to come here to share His love, and that He will take care of them, I am here only to serve!
Reality of half a world away hits...
As we spent our first day out in the city of New Delhi, we struggled through extreme heat as we worshipped, played games and did crafts with the kids. They were so happy to see us, they had already come up with songs to sing us with smiles and hugs, it was right then that I knew God had sent us to the right place.In the afternoon, we visited the slums outside of New Delhi, this is a site I could never imagine has a place on our earth, until you see it upfront and personnel. In the photo you'll see that a water truck pulled up to the slum area and as the locals heard the sound of the truck, they all came running. In a matter of 5 minutes, there were about 175-200 men, women, children trying to get as much fresh water for there family as they could. I thought to myself, I cannot believe this is happening on our planet in the 21st century. A feeling of taking things for granted overwhelmed me like no other. I pray that our trip here can complete the tasks of bringing Jesus to all that will hear us and fresh drinking water to the incredibally wunderful and greatful poeple of the Slums.
8.11.2008 - Billy Z.
God's Speed!!!
Guitar Broken and Infected Eye
Visited a Christian school today. I was tuning up my guitar to co-lead worship with my team and my one of my guitar gears broke! So I could not tighten a guitar string. We are going to try and find a shop to fix it tonight.
Also, while we were at the Christian school my right eye got infected and turned very red. Thankfully we have a doctor on our team, and Jason fixed me right up. Put some ointment in my eye and it cleared right up.
Saw many poor people in the city and the slums. There were so many beautiful kids! They are very precious. Could not believe the living conditions. No clean drinking water, and no proper disposal of sewage. It was hot and humid probably over 85 degrees, so there were a lot of awful smells.
Please pray how we can really make a difference for these people who the LORD Jesus Christ loves and cares about so much.
Edwin
Also, while we were at the Christian school my right eye got infected and turned very red. Thankfully we have a doctor on our team, and Jason fixed me right up. Put some ointment in my eye and it cleared right up.
Saw many poor people in the city and the slums. There were so many beautiful kids! They are very precious. Could not believe the living conditions. No clean drinking water, and no proper disposal of sewage. It was hot and humid probably over 85 degrees, so there were a lot of awful smells.
Please pray how we can really make a difference for these people who the LORD Jesus Christ loves and cares about so much.
Edwin
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Our first full day in India
After nearly 30+ hours of travel, we arrived in Delhi. The sights and sounds reminded me of New York City! We were greeted by Uma, our trip guide, who had arranged for all of our transportation. After arriving at the hotel, we got to our rooms, and had a traditional Indian dinner at the hotel. The food was DELICIOUS! We had lamb, black bean lentil, squash with corn, chicken, flat bread (called namm -which is absolutely delicious), steamed rice, and many other foods, I can't remember the name of. The foods are rich in flavor, with curry, cumin, coriander and various other spices! After eating, we went to bed, and at nearly 1am, it was easy to fall asleep. The jet lag is a little tough today, our first full day, but we pray that everyone is on India time by tomorrow. Today, Sunday, we went to the Delhi Bible Fellowship, a small Christian church, about 5 minutes from our hotel. It was absolutely amazing to worship with fellow Christians, in a country that has only a 2% Christian population. There were about 50 other people in the service, and they welcomed us immediately! Much of the afternoon was spent preparing our supplies for bringing to Shah Abad tomorrow, as well as resting and shopping. This evening we met 3 of our translators, and were able to share dinner with them, while getting to know them better.
Tomorrow is our first day at Shah Abad, and everyone is excited to get there, though we are trying to prepare ourselves for what we will see. It will be a stark contrast to what we are used to seeing, and how people live. I expect to be reminded of our generous, gracious and abundant God has been in our lives!
Please continue to pray for our team's health and safety, for the hearts of those we come in contact with, and for us to be obedient to what God has planned for us to do.
On the funnier side of this day, I would like to add that our team has already share much laughter together! 3 other team members are putting together one-liners....read them, and enjoy!
Jason and Delilah
Tomorrow is our first day at Shah Abad, and everyone is excited to get there, though we are trying to prepare ourselves for what we will see. It will be a stark contrast to what we are used to seeing, and how people live. I expect to be reminded of our generous, gracious and abundant God has been in our lives!
Please continue to pray for our team's health and safety, for the hearts of those we come in contact with, and for us to be obedient to what God has planned for us to do.
On the funnier side of this day, I would like to add that our team has already share much laughter together! 3 other team members are putting together one-liners....read them, and enjoy!
Jason and Delilah
Experiences
Delhi is an interesting city, I love it! The food has been great, the people have been very friendly for the most part, and it is HOT! The driving though unnerves me. CRAZY driving.
-Quimby
-Quimby
One liners
Meal time:
"No thank you, no thank you....okay just a little."
"We have a go on the mango!" when deciding if the mango in the ice-cream was okay to eat, after watching to see if Renae was eating a piece.
Airplane etiquette:
2 Tylenol PM + 1 Ambien = 1 comatose teammate.
Watching her tongue hang out while sleeping....priceless.
Middle seat on 15 hour international flight stuck in between sleeping friends, not fun.
" Dr. Jason I need happy pills." Jason handing out "happy pills" for a restful flight.
"If I don't have a pill to make you feel better, I have pills to make you feel like you don't care." Jason informing us of his medication inventory.
"Are you a wrestler?" A bangle purveyor to Lisa O'Reilly as he was fitting her for a bracelet.
"Somebody stole it." Whenever one of us couldn't find something, which of course, eventually showed up.
"There's never a lack of an odor in India."
"No thank you, no thank you....okay just a little."
"We have a go on the mango!" when deciding if the mango in the ice-cream was okay to eat, after watching to see if Renae was eating a piece.
Airplane etiquette:
2 Tylenol PM + 1 Ambien = 1 comatose teammate.
Watching her tongue hang out while sleeping....priceless.
Middle seat on 15 hour international flight stuck in between sleeping friends, not fun.
" Dr. Jason I need happy pills." Jason handing out "happy pills" for a restful flight.
"If I don't have a pill to make you feel better, I have pills to make you feel like you don't care." Jason informing us of his medication inventory.
"Are you a wrestler?" A bangle purveyor to Lisa O'Reilly as he was fitting her for a bracelet.
"Somebody stole it." Whenever one of us couldn't find something, which of course, eventually showed up.
"There's never a lack of an odor in India."
Saturday, August 9, 2008
We've Arrived!
After 30+ hours of travel, including a 6 hour layover in Chicago, we finally arrived in India. Flights were on time, no luggage was lost, customs went smoothly... thanks for your prayers. We did have an interesting 30 minute drive to the Hotel Palace Heights (www.hotelpalaceheights.com). Drivers in India honk incessantly and pay absolutely no attention to the white lines dividing the roads into traffic lanes.
Uma, our guide from Orphan Outreach who will be helping us minister in the slums this week, met us at the airport, shuttled us to our hotel and treated us to some authentic Indian cuisine. Everything was delicious: lentl, lamb, spinach, chicken, flat bread, and some fried dairy type donut thing for dessert.
We're going to church in the morning and spend the afternoon around the hotel shopping for supplies. It's 1:15am India time as I'm writing this and breakfast is at 9 so I'm going to try to ignore the fact that it's really 12:15pm back at home and try to get some sleep. We'll share more tomorrow after some daytime hours have been spent here.
Uma, our guide from Orphan Outreach who will be helping us minister in the slums this week, met us at the airport, shuttled us to our hotel and treated us to some authentic Indian cuisine. Everything was delicious: lentl, lamb, spinach, chicken, flat bread, and some fried dairy type donut thing for dessert.
We're going to church in the morning and spend the afternoon around the hotel shopping for supplies. It's 1:15am India time as I'm writing this and breakfast is at 9 so I'm going to try to ignore the fact that it's really 12:15pm back at home and try to get some sleep. We'll share more tomorrow after some daytime hours have been spent here.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
PRAY for India Team 2008
Thank you for checking in on the status of the India Team 2008. Our departure date is fast approaching and now more than ever, we covet your prayers and words of encouragement. Let us know that you'll be praying for us, our families and the people of India who need to know our Lord and Savior.
We will be posting daily updates to this blog once we arrive in India... this coming SATURDAY!!! Visit often and let us know you were here and are praying for us.
We will be posting daily updates to this blog once we arrive in India... this coming SATURDAY!!! Visit often and let us know you were here and are praying for us.
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