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.
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