Friday 30 November 2007
Goodbye Sparky!
No, it's not Saturday yet- don't worry! I am a day early this week because tomorrow Oasis are running a program in the SM Nagar community for World Aids Day. I am really looking forward to going back there again- it has been about a month since we last visited! But I'll write more about that next weekend.
We did indeed buy some pet fish last Saturday: two small sharks and a sucker catfish! And we bought EVERYTHING for 2 pounds 50 pence: tank, food, stones, net...bargain! But sadly the story does not end there. We moved our fish into their new home and christened the sharks Isaiah and Ezekiel and the catfish Sparky (in honour of our favourite restaurant). They were all doing great until Monday when we got home from work to find Sparky GONE and the net wet and filled with stones. Our fish had been fish-napped! The only person who had been there while we were out was our cook, so we checked to see if dinner was fish. It wasn't. We looked in the bin, we looked down the toilet- nowhere! Since then we have made numerous inquiries but to no avail. Our conclusion is that while the cook was cooking dinner, someone fish-napped Sparky. A sad tale to tell. And Ezekiel and Isaiah seem to have contracted a strange disease so we are anticipating two further losses. Perhaps getting fish was not such a good idea after all...
Anyway, things are going pretty well here. We do seem to be perpetually busy! On Sunday we went to watch Vijay play football and (I am ashamed to say) weren't even sure of the score at the end of the match! That is how carefully I watched. We also went to watch the production put on by the Sunday School of our supervisor (Becky's) church. It was really good, but also really long! In fact, things are getting quite Christmas-y here. We have started singing carols at the office in the mornings. It can be quite hilarious- singing about the winter weather in the blazing sun! And one of the staff has considerable trouble with the Fa la la s in Deck the Halls, and to the amusement of everyone else he insists on singing "Fluff fluff fluff." We now have a total of 9 advent calendars between the three of us and are considering getting up an hour earlier in the morning to make time to open them all! Not that I am complaining... And we have received a record number of parcels this week which adds to the Christmas feel! On Tuesday we had 4 in one day. It was great! And plenty of good tea now.
Monday was our second outing with the Balwadi. It was once again quite an experience! We were singled out as always and made to feel like royalty, being sat right at the front on the stage. I hate that kind of treatment, but I am learning to just enjoy the experience despite it. The girls who we brought to perform their dance looked stunning in their dresses! I will try to put up a photo. In fact, they did very little dancing, but they looked so cute that everyone loved them anyway. We were mortified to find that all the photos taken of us at the last event had been printed and put up on a display board! Embarrassing. But even worse, Sabrina and Helen were both wearing the same tops again. And in India, that is especially bad- appearance is important! It was fun, though. The girls who were dancing were amazing, so talented, and there were ENDLESS prizes to be awarded at the end. They just kept bringing more stuff out! Even the chairs there were prizes for someone or the other. I wondered if they might give away the stage they were standing on. On the way home we observed a new record for the number of people in one auto: 11 plus driver! Amazing. It is interesting that although Balwadi was the project we struggled with the most at the start, the Oasis staff reckon it has really improved since we have been here. So thank you for all of the prayers for it!
Jacob's Well teaching is going really well as usual. Maths is going more smoothly now, too. We did have a few problems with teaching estimating angles this week: I kept telling one girl to estimate a smaller number, but every time she would misunderstand me and write her current answer a little bit smaller on the page. It ended up that you could barely read her answers they were so small! Today we taught them Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer- good fun!
And Fun Station is also going pretty well. We are taking the boys and girls separately now to eliminate fighting, and it seems to be working well. They are such great kids. One girl, maybe 12 years old, always has to bring her baby sister with her, presumably because it is her job to look after her. She does such a great job, never complaining about it. Some of them really are old beyond their years. It is nice to be able to have some fun with them!
And our timetable is only going to be getting busier: next week we have language training starting for an hour every morning. I'm not quite sure how we will fit it in! We have also been sent out to try to sell more of the Oasis Christmas cards to the local shops- something I'd never imagined I'd be doing over here! It is good to be busy, though. I like to feel like we are being as useful as possible while we are here.
On the flat front, the termites have been sprayed, but we found they were all in the spare room, too, so that also had to be done. The flat still smells a bit weird, but hopefully that is the end of the termites! Becky did say that they were having some trouble with the landlord and were considering moving us to a different flat- I think she is keeping her eyes open in case anything becomes available.
Today was the monthly day of prayer and fasting and we spent the morning with the staff at the office. I am so impressed by all of the people who we work with. The focus really is always on God and working for His kingdom. I hope I will learn much from them!
So I reckon that is about it for this week. A few prayer points:
- Please pray that we will be able to sort out our timetable so that we can fit everything in. And also for energy and enough time to relax! Sunday is officially our planning-free day now.
- Thank God for how much Balwadi has improved and that he really is making His strength perfect in our weakness there. Please continue to pray for enthusiasm and ideas.
- Thank God for Jacob's Well lessons and the good relationship we have with the girls, and please pray that our teaching will be really effective. I really want them to learn!
- Please pray that the number of children at Fun Station will continue to increase and that we will get to know all of the new kids.
- Please pray for the World Aids Day program at SM Nagar tomorrow (if you read this before then!)
- That we will get on speedily with the Tamil lessons.
- That there will be sufficient funds to get the Vyasarpadi project up and running in the new year.
- For the whole flat situation, that God will guide us in what we should do.
- For our team as a whole, that we will continue to be willing to serve each other and that there will be no strain of constantly being together.
- Finally, for me as I am leading our team of three. I thought this would be a pretty easy task, but actually it can be quite draining having to always be the one to organise things and make phone calls and barter with the auto drivers etc etc. I sometimes just want a day off being in charge!
Thank you so much everyone, for praying for me and supporting me and to those who have sent letters and parcels this week. They are such an encouragement! I love to hear your news- keep on letting me know!
With love and prayers,
Kandace
"All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name." Psalm 86:9
"It's all about you, Jesus,
And all this is for you,
For your glory and your fame.
It's not about me
As if you should do things my way.
You alone are God
And I surrender to your ways."
"He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again." Psalm 78:39
We did indeed buy some pet fish last Saturday: two small sharks and a sucker catfish! And we bought EVERYTHING for 2 pounds 50 pence: tank, food, stones, net...bargain! But sadly the story does not end there. We moved our fish into their new home and christened the sharks Isaiah and Ezekiel and the catfish Sparky (in honour of our favourite restaurant). They were all doing great until Monday when we got home from work to find Sparky GONE and the net wet and filled with stones. Our fish had been fish-napped! The only person who had been there while we were out was our cook, so we checked to see if dinner was fish. It wasn't. We looked in the bin, we looked down the toilet- nowhere! Since then we have made numerous inquiries but to no avail. Our conclusion is that while the cook was cooking dinner, someone fish-napped Sparky. A sad tale to tell. And Ezekiel and Isaiah seem to have contracted a strange disease so we are anticipating two further losses. Perhaps getting fish was not such a good idea after all...
Anyway, things are going pretty well here. We do seem to be perpetually busy! On Sunday we went to watch Vijay play football and (I am ashamed to say) weren't even sure of the score at the end of the match! That is how carefully I watched. We also went to watch the production put on by the Sunday School of our supervisor (Becky's) church. It was really good, but also really long! In fact, things are getting quite Christmas-y here. We have started singing carols at the office in the mornings. It can be quite hilarious- singing about the winter weather in the blazing sun! And one of the staff has considerable trouble with the Fa la la s in Deck the Halls, and to the amusement of everyone else he insists on singing "Fluff fluff fluff." We now have a total of 9 advent calendars between the three of us and are considering getting up an hour earlier in the morning to make time to open them all! Not that I am complaining... And we have received a record number of parcels this week which adds to the Christmas feel! On Tuesday we had 4 in one day. It was great! And plenty of good tea now.
Monday was our second outing with the Balwadi. It was once again quite an experience! We were singled out as always and made to feel like royalty, being sat right at the front on the stage. I hate that kind of treatment, but I am learning to just enjoy the experience despite it. The girls who we brought to perform their dance looked stunning in their dresses! I will try to put up a photo. In fact, they did very little dancing, but they looked so cute that everyone loved them anyway. We were mortified to find that all the photos taken of us at the last event had been printed and put up on a display board! Embarrassing. But even worse, Sabrina and Helen were both wearing the same tops again. And in India, that is especially bad- appearance is important! It was fun, though. The girls who were dancing were amazing, so talented, and there were ENDLESS prizes to be awarded at the end. They just kept bringing more stuff out! Even the chairs there were prizes for someone or the other. I wondered if they might give away the stage they were standing on. On the way home we observed a new record for the number of people in one auto: 11 plus driver! Amazing. It is interesting that although Balwadi was the project we struggled with the most at the start, the Oasis staff reckon it has really improved since we have been here. So thank you for all of the prayers for it!
Jacob's Well teaching is going really well as usual. Maths is going more smoothly now, too. We did have a few problems with teaching estimating angles this week: I kept telling one girl to estimate a smaller number, but every time she would misunderstand me and write her current answer a little bit smaller on the page. It ended up that you could barely read her answers they were so small! Today we taught them Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer- good fun!
And Fun Station is also going pretty well. We are taking the boys and girls separately now to eliminate fighting, and it seems to be working well. They are such great kids. One girl, maybe 12 years old, always has to bring her baby sister with her, presumably because it is her job to look after her. She does such a great job, never complaining about it. Some of them really are old beyond their years. It is nice to be able to have some fun with them!
And our timetable is only going to be getting busier: next week we have language training starting for an hour every morning. I'm not quite sure how we will fit it in! We have also been sent out to try to sell more of the Oasis Christmas cards to the local shops- something I'd never imagined I'd be doing over here! It is good to be busy, though. I like to feel like we are being as useful as possible while we are here.
On the flat front, the termites have been sprayed, but we found they were all in the spare room, too, so that also had to be done. The flat still smells a bit weird, but hopefully that is the end of the termites! Becky did say that they were having some trouble with the landlord and were considering moving us to a different flat- I think she is keeping her eyes open in case anything becomes available.
Today was the monthly day of prayer and fasting and we spent the morning with the staff at the office. I am so impressed by all of the people who we work with. The focus really is always on God and working for His kingdom. I hope I will learn much from them!
So I reckon that is about it for this week. A few prayer points:
- Please pray that we will be able to sort out our timetable so that we can fit everything in. And also for energy and enough time to relax! Sunday is officially our planning-free day now.
- Thank God for how much Balwadi has improved and that he really is making His strength perfect in our weakness there. Please continue to pray for enthusiasm and ideas.
- Thank God for Jacob's Well lessons and the good relationship we have with the girls, and please pray that our teaching will be really effective. I really want them to learn!
- Please pray that the number of children at Fun Station will continue to increase and that we will get to know all of the new kids.
- Please pray for the World Aids Day program at SM Nagar tomorrow (if you read this before then!)
- That we will get on speedily with the Tamil lessons.
- That there will be sufficient funds to get the Vyasarpadi project up and running in the new year.
- For the whole flat situation, that God will guide us in what we should do.
- For our team as a whole, that we will continue to be willing to serve each other and that there will be no strain of constantly being together.
- Finally, for me as I am leading our team of three. I thought this would be a pretty easy task, but actually it can be quite draining having to always be the one to organise things and make phone calls and barter with the auto drivers etc etc. I sometimes just want a day off being in charge!
Thank you so much everyone, for praying for me and supporting me and to those who have sent letters and parcels this week. They are such an encouragement! I love to hear your news- keep on letting me know!
With love and prayers,
Kandace
"All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name." Psalm 86:9
"It's all about you, Jesus,
And all this is for you,
For your glory and your fame.
It's not about me
As if you should do things my way.
You alone are God
And I surrender to your ways."
"He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again." Psalm 78:39
Saturday 24 November 2007
Termites and Goldfish
My front door!And I forgot to mention the most important news of all- we are getting pet goldfish!
A drop in the bucket...
Hi everyone!
I hope you are all well and are enjoying the nice cold weather! It is still pretty hot here, but I have somehow managed to contract a cold anyway. Most likely from being sneezed over by various children this week...
It has been a VERY busy week for us: several nights we were up until the early hours of the morning planning lessons and fun clubs. But the work we are doing is going well.
Balwadi seems to be improving every time we go there. The kids are getting more used to us now and aren't so hyper when we come! On Wednesday we had our Balwadi trip which was 'interesting'! We took about 7 of the older children from our group along to a late Children's Day celebration hosted by another nursery in the area. We went by auto and somehow managed to fit 7 people plus the driver in (autos are only supposed to seat 3!) And the nursery we went to was in the middle of a community that required driving across a field to reach it. At points I thought the auto was going to tip over because it was at such an acute angle to the ground! There were about 50 kids at the event and we were definitely the centre of attention, being the only white people there. They wanted us to sit on three chairs at the front of the room but we managed to persuade them that we would be fine on the floor like the rest of the people there. It was really nice to talk (or perhaps sign!) to some of the women there with the children. They are so friendly and open. I was just incredibly frustrated that I know so little Tamil. To speak their own language to them would be fantastic! There was much fascination over my pale hair and skin, and then my freckles. The kids participated in various competitions (counting, clay work, singing, races) and we were asked to judge one of them. The kids we brought did really well- Helen said she felt like a proud mother! There was also a photographer there who managed to get us into almost every shot he took. We are just waiting to find our photos on the front page of the local paper this week! It was very enjoyable, though, and one of the teachers of another group was VERY keen for us to visit her nursery, too- if only we had time! Oh yes, and we have seen an increase in numbers this week: we now have a maximum of about 40 kids. Fun!
The fun club we run every night has been going well. We have about 20 children coming now, thanks to the home visiting that was carried out in the slum community this week, but the increase in numbers has made it a lot more rowdy! We acted out David and Goliath with costumes this week and the kids loved it. I only wish I had taken photos! Yesterday we were on our own with the kids (no translator) which always makes for hard work, but it went surprisingly well. We do struggle with the discipline (the boys are often fighting each other) and the group are so noisy! We got into trouble yesterday with the neighbours because of the noise. It is good fun, though, and we are still hoping to see more children attending, although I'm not sure how many more we can fit into the tiny room we run it in!
Jacob's Well has gone really well this week. My English set are doing really well! It is quite slow progress, but I can definitely see the improvement at the end of every week which is an encouragement. One particular girl who normally seems very withdrawn and unwilling to participate in lessons has finally come out of her shell and seems to be enjoying the lessons. And there have been no more disagreements between the girls. Yesterday I was trying to teach them the difference between Kandace and Candles, but the result seems to be that they now think that Kandace is the plural of candle. I think I might just be Candles forever! Maths lessons are more of a struggle as the less able girls just aren't picking up what we are trying to teach, so we need to review where we are going with that. The best aspect of all, though, has just been getting to know them more and more and feeling increasingly accepted by them. I am already sad when I think of leaving! There are two girls (Gowri and Deepika) who have been pulled out of the course by their parents. Gowri told us that the reason for this is that she is engaged to be married to her cousin (she is 18). We asked her if she was happy about it and she replied that she was because her father was happy. Deepika we are not sure about, but I think her parents want her to work. Please pray that God makes a way for them to come back and changes the hearts and minds of their parents. It is such a shame for them to drop out now!
We have been asked to take over the English lessons that the Oasis staff receive as the previous teacher had to resign recently. We are not quite sure how we will have time for this but are trying to rearrange our timetable! As well as this I have been asked to design and paint some Christmas cards by the guy in charge of Jacob's Well, so that will keep me busy tonight.
We have spent a bit more time with the Oasis staff this week which was nice. One lady who we work with, Bensi, invited us to her daughter's 1st Birthday party this week. 1st Birthdays here are a VERY big thing- even more so than our 18th Birthdays. There were so many relatives there, friends, a huge cake, masses of food. It was fun! Very 'Indian'. We did find out that we made the mistake of eating the sweet pudding mixed with our rice (they put all the food on the same plate) but it tasted good anyway! We fitted squished 7 ADULTS into the auto on the way home and one of the teachers at Jacob's Well spent the night at our flat as her home was too far away to travel back to. It was really nice to talk to her, show her photos, find out about the previous teams and all that kind of thing. We were also showing photos to another Indian friend this week and he was fascinated with the picture of snow. People here have never seen it before! We also went out to dinner with all the staff plus some visitors from the UK and Zimbabwe. It was a good evening and we had a great time, helped by the fact we went to Sparky's!
Church last Sunday was a family service and guess what- we watched Veggie Tales! It was really well done, actually. After the video, a lady was speaking about being a living sacrifice and it was a challenge to me. God gave His only Son for me. If I just consider what Jesus has done for me, how can I complain about having to do the washing up for someone else or go to bed a bit later in order to help someone else finish off their work? "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." And "If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet."
As I am here for longer I am seeing and realising more and more of the reality of the poverty that some people live in. It seems like such a hopeless situation and it is easy to feel totally overwhelmed. On Wednesday I was feeling a bit inadequate and unable to make any difference. In the words of Delirious, "I have nothing to give- just a life to live. This mountain's high, too high for us." How do I fit into what God has planned for this city? How should my story intertwine with His? How can I be doing more to impact the lives of the people who I work with? And yet God doesn't NEED us to do anything for Him. He is quite capable to do all that He desires without me! All that he has called me to do right now is what I will pour my efforts into, even if some of the things seem small and insignificant to me. Little things can make a big impact. "Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
I really want to do more work in KK Pettai, SM Nagar and Vyasapardi, but right now it just isn't possible. We have had severe rains and the houses at KK Pettai have been demolished. Oasis are struggling with how they should help. There is still opposition and funding problems, so please continue to pray for those areas. I am especially excited about Vyasapardi. I spoke to one of the leaders of the church there yesterday and he says they are hoping to start work in January.
Anyway, prayer points:
- Wisdom and ideas for the Maths lessons at JW.
- For Gowri and Deepika to be able to return and finish the course.
- Thank God that the Balwadi trip went so well and that that area of our work has improved so much!
- Pray for the work in the slum communities, for funding and less opposition.
- Thank God for the increase in numbers at the fun station.
- The people at KK Pettai who have lost their homes.
- The planning sessions that Oasis are having at the beginning of next week- for ideas and inspiration, especially regarding Christmas plans.
- Please pray for Sabrina and her family as her Grandma died this week.
Thank you all!
Kandace
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
I hope you are all well and are enjoying the nice cold weather! It is still pretty hot here, but I have somehow managed to contract a cold anyway. Most likely from being sneezed over by various children this week...
It has been a VERY busy week for us: several nights we were up until the early hours of the morning planning lessons and fun clubs. But the work we are doing is going well.
Balwadi seems to be improving every time we go there. The kids are getting more used to us now and aren't so hyper when we come! On Wednesday we had our Balwadi trip which was 'interesting'! We took about 7 of the older children from our group along to a late Children's Day celebration hosted by another nursery in the area. We went by auto and somehow managed to fit 7 people plus the driver in (autos are only supposed to seat 3!) And the nursery we went to was in the middle of a community that required driving across a field to reach it. At points I thought the auto was going to tip over because it was at such an acute angle to the ground! There were about 50 kids at the event and we were definitely the centre of attention, being the only white people there. They wanted us to sit on three chairs at the front of the room but we managed to persuade them that we would be fine on the floor like the rest of the people there. It was really nice to talk (or perhaps sign!) to some of the women there with the children. They are so friendly and open. I was just incredibly frustrated that I know so little Tamil. To speak their own language to them would be fantastic! There was much fascination over my pale hair and skin, and then my freckles. The kids participated in various competitions (counting, clay work, singing, races) and we were asked to judge one of them. The kids we brought did really well- Helen said she felt like a proud mother! There was also a photographer there who managed to get us into almost every shot he took. We are just waiting to find our photos on the front page of the local paper this week! It was very enjoyable, though, and one of the teachers of another group was VERY keen for us to visit her nursery, too- if only we had time! Oh yes, and we have seen an increase in numbers this week: we now have a maximum of about 40 kids. Fun!
The fun club we run every night has been going well. We have about 20 children coming now, thanks to the home visiting that was carried out in the slum community this week, but the increase in numbers has made it a lot more rowdy! We acted out David and Goliath with costumes this week and the kids loved it. I only wish I had taken photos! Yesterday we were on our own with the kids (no translator) which always makes for hard work, but it went surprisingly well. We do struggle with the discipline (the boys are often fighting each other) and the group are so noisy! We got into trouble yesterday with the neighbours because of the noise. It is good fun, though, and we are still hoping to see more children attending, although I'm not sure how many more we can fit into the tiny room we run it in!
Jacob's Well has gone really well this week. My English set are doing really well! It is quite slow progress, but I can definitely see the improvement at the end of every week which is an encouragement. One particular girl who normally seems very withdrawn and unwilling to participate in lessons has finally come out of her shell and seems to be enjoying the lessons. And there have been no more disagreements between the girls. Yesterday I was trying to teach them the difference between Kandace and Candles, but the result seems to be that they now think that Kandace is the plural of candle. I think I might just be Candles forever! Maths lessons are more of a struggle as the less able girls just aren't picking up what we are trying to teach, so we need to review where we are going with that. The best aspect of all, though, has just been getting to know them more and more and feeling increasingly accepted by them. I am already sad when I think of leaving! There are two girls (Gowri and Deepika) who have been pulled out of the course by their parents. Gowri told us that the reason for this is that she is engaged to be married to her cousin (she is 18). We asked her if she was happy about it and she replied that she was because her father was happy. Deepika we are not sure about, but I think her parents want her to work. Please pray that God makes a way for them to come back and changes the hearts and minds of their parents. It is such a shame for them to drop out now!
We have been asked to take over the English lessons that the Oasis staff receive as the previous teacher had to resign recently. We are not quite sure how we will have time for this but are trying to rearrange our timetable! As well as this I have been asked to design and paint some Christmas cards by the guy in charge of Jacob's Well, so that will keep me busy tonight.
We have spent a bit more time with the Oasis staff this week which was nice. One lady who we work with, Bensi, invited us to her daughter's 1st Birthday party this week. 1st Birthdays here are a VERY big thing- even more so than our 18th Birthdays. There were so many relatives there, friends, a huge cake, masses of food. It was fun! Very 'Indian'. We did find out that we made the mistake of eating the sweet pudding mixed with our rice (they put all the food on the same plate) but it tasted good anyway! We fitted squished 7 ADULTS into the auto on the way home and one of the teachers at Jacob's Well spent the night at our flat as her home was too far away to travel back to. It was really nice to talk to her, show her photos, find out about the previous teams and all that kind of thing. We were also showing photos to another Indian friend this week and he was fascinated with the picture of snow. People here have never seen it before! We also went out to dinner with all the staff plus some visitors from the UK and Zimbabwe. It was a good evening and we had a great time, helped by the fact we went to Sparky's!
Church last Sunday was a family service and guess what- we watched Veggie Tales! It was really well done, actually. After the video, a lady was speaking about being a living sacrifice and it was a challenge to me. God gave His only Son for me. If I just consider what Jesus has done for me, how can I complain about having to do the washing up for someone else or go to bed a bit later in order to help someone else finish off their work? "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." And "If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet."
As I am here for longer I am seeing and realising more and more of the reality of the poverty that some people live in. It seems like such a hopeless situation and it is easy to feel totally overwhelmed. On Wednesday I was feeling a bit inadequate and unable to make any difference. In the words of Delirious, "I have nothing to give- just a life to live. This mountain's high, too high for us." How do I fit into what God has planned for this city? How should my story intertwine with His? How can I be doing more to impact the lives of the people who I work with? And yet God doesn't NEED us to do anything for Him. He is quite capable to do all that He desires without me! All that he has called me to do right now is what I will pour my efforts into, even if some of the things seem small and insignificant to me. Little things can make a big impact. "Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
I really want to do more work in KK Pettai, SM Nagar and Vyasapardi, but right now it just isn't possible. We have had severe rains and the houses at KK Pettai have been demolished. Oasis are struggling with how they should help. There is still opposition and funding problems, so please continue to pray for those areas. I am especially excited about Vyasapardi. I spoke to one of the leaders of the church there yesterday and he says they are hoping to start work in January.
Anyway, prayer points:
- Wisdom and ideas for the Maths lessons at JW.
- For Gowri and Deepika to be able to return and finish the course.
- Thank God that the Balwadi trip went so well and that that area of our work has improved so much!
- Pray for the work in the slum communities, for funding and less opposition.
- Thank God for the increase in numbers at the fun station.
- The people at KK Pettai who have lost their homes.
- The planning sessions that Oasis are having at the beginning of next week- for ideas and inspiration, especially regarding Christmas plans.
- Please pray for Sabrina and her family as her Grandma died this week.
Thank you all!
Kandace
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
Saturday 17 November 2007
An update from Candles the Masterchef
Howdy everyone,
I have just looked in my inbox and discovered I have more emails to reply to than I thought was possible, so I am sorry if you don't hear from me personally for a couple of weeks. I always read them all, it's the replying that takes a while!
This week has been such a busy week. There is so much to say! First I will tell you a little story: in our bedroom we have a large wardrobe in which we keep all of our clothes, valuables, electrical things - everything really! When we go out we always lock it and put the key in a safe place. Last Saturday we had just moved back in to our newly painted flat and put our belongings back in the wardrobe. On this particular day we put the key on the top of the wardrobe. When we came back, the shortest resident of our flat (Helen) tried to rescue the key from the great height it was at. Unknown to her whilst she was groping for it, there is a small crack in the top of the wardrobe. You guessed it- the key fell inside of the locked wardrobe! We spent about an hour trying to pick the lock, with no luck (I have no career as a criminal ahead of me) and then had to phone one of the Oasis staff for help. Trying to talk on the phone to an Indian is always difficult because of the accent, but try explaining that you have locked your wardrobe key inside of the wardrobe. It was not easy! Anyway, we has to survive for a couple of days until the locksmith could come but it is sorted now.
We feel quite bad about all of our flat problems. There seems to be one after the other! The plumber came this week and sorted out the various problems, and the painting has progressed further. But now we have discovered that there are termites in the front door! They fall on our heads when we come in or go out. And last night we came home to find there was no power in our flat (we have a lot of power cuts but this was just our flat). We have no idea why (I reckon a rat chewed through a cable or something!), so are waiting for an electrician to come today. It was a very hot night last night with no fans! The most frustrating thing is being so dependant on other people to help us. At home I would sort stuff out myself, but here we can't just call a plumber or locksmith or whatever. We feel like we are always asking for help! It is a good lessons for me though.
We also visited Marina beach on Saturday, the second longest beach in the world. It was nice but not what I expected. It was FULL of people and there were market stalls going right down the the shoreline. We also stuck out like a sore thumb there and drew a lot of attention to ourselves which was a bit uncomfortable. The number of times I got asked if I would let someone take a photo with me! I have decided that next time instead of saying no, I will charge Rs.100 per snap. We also walked past a man who had no legs and was dragging himself face down through the sand. It was an image not easily forgotten. How desperate must he be to do that? What kind of life must he lead? What should my response be? That kind of suffering is all too common here. Everyday I see people who are so much in need, and it is so hard to know how I should respond.
Church was very good this week. We watched the 'Indescribable' DVD which I think some of you have seen. How hard it is to stretch your mind around the fact that the God of the universe cares about and knows each of us tiny people individually. We also went to a Bible study group on Tuesday evening which is looking at the role of women in the church and what the Bible has to say about that issue. It was VERY interesting and I am looking forward to the rest of it! I did discover that we have a rather nice church bookshelf which I will be raiding shortly. AND I found a shop selling English books not far from us. I just need to find some more time to read!
Time is always in short supply. In particular it is very difficult to find time alone, as I am almost always with at least one other person. That is the culture here: people live constantly with each other. Just outside our flat there are some slum houses where a family with 7 or 8 kids all live in one small room. I usually have 2 precious hours to myself in the mornings before Sabrina and Helen are awake, but that is about it! We are still getting on very well as a team, though.
Work is going really well. Thank you for all who prayed for the Jacob's Well classes this week. We have split the girls into two ability groups for both English and Maths after much deliberation. I am teaching the both of the lower ability groups, and Helen is assisting me in Maths. It is quite a challenge but I am looking forward to it. I discovered that several of the girls in my group have no idea how to read English, even though they have been copying down notes from the board, so I have been working on teaching basic letter sounds this week. Please continue to pray for real wisdom in all of the teaching that goes on. I do have two girls in my group who don't get along particularly well and we had a few tears yesterday, so it would also be great if you could pray that my group will get along well and smoothly.
We have had so much encouragement from the girls this week. We were reviewing what we have taught so far and it was nice for all of us to see how they can now do questions which they had no idea about when we arrived. Usha was telling me how she is 'very happy' when she is learning English and Devika would now class us as her 'close friends'. Several of the girls wanted to take home their folders to show their families because they are so proud of what they have done. We are hoping that this will help to build up their confidence in themselves. Oh, and someone asked me how old they are: the ages range from 14 to 20.
A final prayer request for the girls is that I would have opportunities to share what I believe with them. I love to teach them and I know it is so important that they lean, but it is so much more important that they hear who Jesus is. It is difficult with the language barrier, but not impossible.
Balwadi is going well. We did come in yesterday morning to the pleasant sight of a floor covered in cockroaches. We are teaching the children fruit names, having fruit tasting sessions, playing games, singing, screaming... We have had good feedback from there, though. Apparently from Monday we may have up to 20 ore children added to the current 30- yikes! And no increase in the one or two teachers normally there. I don't know how they cope. We are going on an outing with the kids on Wednesday, but I'm not quite sure what it is so will let you know next time!
This Wednesday was Children's Day over here, so we had a special 2-hour fun station session. It was really good! The kids put on a few little dances for us and did their own versions of some of the dramas we have performed for them over the last few weeks. We found out that the lack of numbers there has been due to complaints from parents about the club being mixed (some of the kids are young teenagers) so from Monday we may be running two clubs, one for boys and one for girls. Hopefully this will encourage attendance!
So that is about it on the work front. We are really busy but loving what we are doing here. It is nice now to feel part of the work and to actually know the women, children and young people we are working with. The work in two of the slum communities is still suspended, mainly due to opposition from some of the people in the slums (they have different ideas to Oasis about what they need) and lack of funding. Please pray for both of these areas. There is such great need in these areas and it would be a real waste to stop the work now.
Now, I must explain why I am now a Masterchef. This week we have cooked, on our own: gulab jamun (a sweet pudding thing), chapattis and chutney and stewed apples (not so Indian!). The chapattis weren't great, but we are hoping they will improve with practice! For lunch today we are making dosas, a very traditional Southern Indian dish. I am amazed at how quickly and easily our cook can do the meals. It takes me hours and I make a huge mess in the kitchen.
Archibald is becoming progressively tamer. He now waits meowing outside of out flat for the leftover rice and we did catch him trying to come into the flat. Helen and Sabrina are not too pleased about his friendliness, though, and persist in calling him a mangy fleabag. They have their own little obsession with making an advent calendar, though, and want to spend hours sewing little stockings out of green and red material to put sweets in. I recommended just buying a big bag of sweets and eating one per day, but they say that isn't the same. And they were very jealous that I had a card this week which is also an advent calendar! It doesn't feel like it is coming up to Christmas because it is so hot!
We have paid multiple visits to the Fruit Shop this week which is officially my favourite place in Chennai. I love it! We even took our lessons planning there to do on Tuesday.
I have just finished reading a book about two missionaries to Albania (whilst it was still a closed country) and their experiences there were amazing! It did make me think a lot about prayer and what an important weapon it is. Do we really believe the words of that kids' song, that 'every prayer is a powerful weapon'? And if we do, do we use it like that? I don't! But prayer DOES change things. If I really believed that, I think I would spend a lot more time praying and a lot less time doing. It is quite a challenge.
So in view of that, thank you so much to all who are praying for me and the work over here! Your prayers have more impact than you can imagine.
- Keep praying for wisdom with the teaching at JW, for good relationships within the group, and good attendance and health of the girls and for opportunities to share the gospel with them.
- Please pray for the Balwadi outing and also for discipline in that group. There is a lot of hitting and kicking that goes on among the children! Please pray also that we cope with the extra kids.
- Pray for the work in the slum communities, for funding and less opposition.
- Pray for the fun station attendance, that the new groups will work well and more kids will come.
- Praise God for his protection and strength and for all of the encouragement we have had this week. I am generally just overwhelmed by the privilege of being able to be doing what I am over here!
I am a bit concerned about the split personality I met this week, Lyzzia. I think you girls need to get psychological help!
Take care everyone, I will be praying for you all the more this week!
With love from Candles.
"One afternoon in eternity is nothing to lose!" Lydia Burnhams
"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us,"
WHY?
"that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among ALL NATIONS."
Psalm 67:1-2
I have just looked in my inbox and discovered I have more emails to reply to than I thought was possible, so I am sorry if you don't hear from me personally for a couple of weeks. I always read them all, it's the replying that takes a while!
This week has been such a busy week. There is so much to say! First I will tell you a little story: in our bedroom we have a large wardrobe in which we keep all of our clothes, valuables, electrical things - everything really! When we go out we always lock it and put the key in a safe place. Last Saturday we had just moved back in to our newly painted flat and put our belongings back in the wardrobe. On this particular day we put the key on the top of the wardrobe. When we came back, the shortest resident of our flat (Helen) tried to rescue the key from the great height it was at. Unknown to her whilst she was groping for it, there is a small crack in the top of the wardrobe. You guessed it- the key fell inside of the locked wardrobe! We spent about an hour trying to pick the lock, with no luck (I have no career as a criminal ahead of me) and then had to phone one of the Oasis staff for help. Trying to talk on the phone to an Indian is always difficult because of the accent, but try explaining that you have locked your wardrobe key inside of the wardrobe. It was not easy! Anyway, we has to survive for a couple of days until the locksmith could come but it is sorted now.
We feel quite bad about all of our flat problems. There seems to be one after the other! The plumber came this week and sorted out the various problems, and the painting has progressed further. But now we have discovered that there are termites in the front door! They fall on our heads when we come in or go out. And last night we came home to find there was no power in our flat (we have a lot of power cuts but this was just our flat). We have no idea why (I reckon a rat chewed through a cable or something!), so are waiting for an electrician to come today. It was a very hot night last night with no fans! The most frustrating thing is being so dependant on other people to help us. At home I would sort stuff out myself, but here we can't just call a plumber or locksmith or whatever. We feel like we are always asking for help! It is a good lessons for me though.
We also visited Marina beach on Saturday, the second longest beach in the world. It was nice but not what I expected. It was FULL of people and there were market stalls going right down the the shoreline. We also stuck out like a sore thumb there and drew a lot of attention to ourselves which was a bit uncomfortable. The number of times I got asked if I would let someone take a photo with me! I have decided that next time instead of saying no, I will charge Rs.100 per snap. We also walked past a man who had no legs and was dragging himself face down through the sand. It was an image not easily forgotten. How desperate must he be to do that? What kind of life must he lead? What should my response be? That kind of suffering is all too common here. Everyday I see people who are so much in need, and it is so hard to know how I should respond.
Church was very good this week. We watched the 'Indescribable' DVD which I think some of you have seen. How hard it is to stretch your mind around the fact that the God of the universe cares about and knows each of us tiny people individually. We also went to a Bible study group on Tuesday evening which is looking at the role of women in the church and what the Bible has to say about that issue. It was VERY interesting and I am looking forward to the rest of it! I did discover that we have a rather nice church bookshelf which I will be raiding shortly. AND I found a shop selling English books not far from us. I just need to find some more time to read!
Time is always in short supply. In particular it is very difficult to find time alone, as I am almost always with at least one other person. That is the culture here: people live constantly with each other. Just outside our flat there are some slum houses where a family with 7 or 8 kids all live in one small room. I usually have 2 precious hours to myself in the mornings before Sabrina and Helen are awake, but that is about it! We are still getting on very well as a team, though.
Work is going really well. Thank you for all who prayed for the Jacob's Well classes this week. We have split the girls into two ability groups for both English and Maths after much deliberation. I am teaching the both of the lower ability groups, and Helen is assisting me in Maths. It is quite a challenge but I am looking forward to it. I discovered that several of the girls in my group have no idea how to read English, even though they have been copying down notes from the board, so I have been working on teaching basic letter sounds this week. Please continue to pray for real wisdom in all of the teaching that goes on. I do have two girls in my group who don't get along particularly well and we had a few tears yesterday, so it would also be great if you could pray that my group will get along well and smoothly.
We have had so much encouragement from the girls this week. We were reviewing what we have taught so far and it was nice for all of us to see how they can now do questions which they had no idea about when we arrived. Usha was telling me how she is 'very happy' when she is learning English and Devika would now class us as her 'close friends'. Several of the girls wanted to take home their folders to show their families because they are so proud of what they have done. We are hoping that this will help to build up their confidence in themselves. Oh, and someone asked me how old they are: the ages range from 14 to 20.
A final prayer request for the girls is that I would have opportunities to share what I believe with them. I love to teach them and I know it is so important that they lean, but it is so much more important that they hear who Jesus is. It is difficult with the language barrier, but not impossible.
Balwadi is going well. We did come in yesterday morning to the pleasant sight of a floor covered in cockroaches. We are teaching the children fruit names, having fruit tasting sessions, playing games, singing, screaming... We have had good feedback from there, though. Apparently from Monday we may have up to 20 ore children added to the current 30- yikes! And no increase in the one or two teachers normally there. I don't know how they cope. We are going on an outing with the kids on Wednesday, but I'm not quite sure what it is so will let you know next time!
This Wednesday was Children's Day over here, so we had a special 2-hour fun station session. It was really good! The kids put on a few little dances for us and did their own versions of some of the dramas we have performed for them over the last few weeks. We found out that the lack of numbers there has been due to complaints from parents about the club being mixed (some of the kids are young teenagers) so from Monday we may be running two clubs, one for boys and one for girls. Hopefully this will encourage attendance!
So that is about it on the work front. We are really busy but loving what we are doing here. It is nice now to feel part of the work and to actually know the women, children and young people we are working with. The work in two of the slum communities is still suspended, mainly due to opposition from some of the people in the slums (they have different ideas to Oasis about what they need) and lack of funding. Please pray for both of these areas. There is such great need in these areas and it would be a real waste to stop the work now.
Now, I must explain why I am now a Masterchef. This week we have cooked, on our own: gulab jamun (a sweet pudding thing), chapattis and chutney and stewed apples (not so Indian!). The chapattis weren't great, but we are hoping they will improve with practice! For lunch today we are making dosas, a very traditional Southern Indian dish. I am amazed at how quickly and easily our cook can do the meals. It takes me hours and I make a huge mess in the kitchen.
Archibald is becoming progressively tamer. He now waits meowing outside of out flat for the leftover rice and we did catch him trying to come into the flat. Helen and Sabrina are not too pleased about his friendliness, though, and persist in calling him a mangy fleabag. They have their own little obsession with making an advent calendar, though, and want to spend hours sewing little stockings out of green and red material to put sweets in. I recommended just buying a big bag of sweets and eating one per day, but they say that isn't the same. And they were very jealous that I had a card this week which is also an advent calendar! It doesn't feel like it is coming up to Christmas because it is so hot!
We have paid multiple visits to the Fruit Shop this week which is officially my favourite place in Chennai. I love it! We even took our lessons planning there to do on Tuesday.
I have just finished reading a book about two missionaries to Albania (whilst it was still a closed country) and their experiences there were amazing! It did make me think a lot about prayer and what an important weapon it is. Do we really believe the words of that kids' song, that 'every prayer is a powerful weapon'? And if we do, do we use it like that? I don't! But prayer DOES change things. If I really believed that, I think I would spend a lot more time praying and a lot less time doing. It is quite a challenge.
So in view of that, thank you so much to all who are praying for me and the work over here! Your prayers have more impact than you can imagine.
- Keep praying for wisdom with the teaching at JW, for good relationships within the group, and good attendance and health of the girls and for opportunities to share the gospel with them.
- Please pray for the Balwadi outing and also for discipline in that group. There is a lot of hitting and kicking that goes on among the children! Please pray also that we cope with the extra kids.
- Pray for the work in the slum communities, for funding and less opposition.
- Pray for the fun station attendance, that the new groups will work well and more kids will come.
- Praise God for his protection and strength and for all of the encouragement we have had this week. I am generally just overwhelmed by the privilege of being able to be doing what I am over here!
I am a bit concerned about the split personality I met this week, Lyzzia. I think you girls need to get psychological help!
Take care everyone, I will be praying for you all the more this week!
With love from Candles.
"One afternoon in eternity is nothing to lose!" Lydia Burnhams
"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us,"
WHY?
"that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among ALL NATIONS."
Psalm 67:1-2
Saturday 10 November 2007
Deepawali
Vaanakam! (the general Tamil greeting)
Have you had your breakfast/lunch/dinner? (The other question everyone sems to ask us here.) I don't really want to know the answer, btw.
Another week has passed- and how it has flown by! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting here writing my blog. After I had written my blog last Saturday, we went to see Ratattouile or whatever it is called. There is a big-ish cinema about 20 mins away from out flat, so we went there to watch it in English. I'm not sure whether the film or the strange Indian sense of humour was more funny- they laughed hysterically in the most strange places! We also discovered the Fruit Shop (a bit like Jamba Juice if you know it). They sell the most delicious smoothies and there is a branch just around the corner from our flat. We will definitely be spending some more time there!
Now, Sunday morning. Imagine: you are lying in bed (or on the floor). It is 5:15am and you are blissfully asleep. You anticipate at least another hour in bed before the horn honking starts to wake you up. And then: BOOM! Yes, there are fireworks going of outside of your window! This week has been Diwali, a 5 day Hindu holiday. As far as I know, the only major form of celebration is to let off incessant fireworks and 'crocs', basically fireworks without any of the pretty colours to look at- just the bang. On Thursday, the main day of celebration, there were fireworks ALL DAY LONG. We decided that we could record the soundtrack for a war film whilst sitting in our flat. The kids set off their own fireworks on the streets, often lighting rockets from their hands. There is rubbish EVERYWHERE from spent fireworks. It is crazy! We did go up to the roof (it is flat and you can walk on it) to watch fireworks and have our rather tame sparklers. It was quite nice to have about 10 free fireworks displays going on around you. Nevertheless, I am still not a fan of Diwali. Far too noisy for my liking! Although we did have Thursday off work to make pancakes and fish fingers and chips (all fried as no oven- healthy!)
Sunday we had a couple from the Delirious? home church (Arun) visiting Powerhouse. And after the service we went to the welcome lunch for new people. It was really nice to have a chance to talk to some more people and find out more about the church. They were curious about our home churches, and all were familiar with New Frontiers. I am told there are nfi churches in Bangalore and Mumbai which several of the church leaders have been to. They are keen for us to be involved in kids' work, but we aren't sure- that is what we are doing all week! We are hoping to attend the women's Bible Study group on a Tuesday evening, if we finish work on time.
It is striking how different our weekends are to weekdays. At the weekends, we do very affluent and western things in general- shopping, visiting places, etc. And most of the people we know at church are from pretty rich backgroungs (by Indian standards) and speak good English, drive, have nice houses, etc. But then during the week, we are almost always around the very poorest people who live in the slums, and we also live quite simply. It is strange, but both sides are equally part of India. The very rich and the very poor, side by side.
Work wise, things are going well. Balwadi is still challenging but fun. I still find it hilarious that we usually sing "If you're happy and you know it..." to the backing of several children bawling their eyes out. I have been doing quite a lot of art and drawing this week, unusally for teaching aids and work sheets and things like that. I have certainly enjoyed doing that! At the Kids' Fun Club, we had some Bonfire night celebrations (we told them the story and made a guy) and also did some pumpkin carving!
Have you had your breakfast/lunch/dinner? (The other question everyone sems to ask us here.) I don't really want to know the answer, btw.
Another week has passed- and how it has flown by! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting here writing my blog. After I had written my blog last Saturday, we went to see Ratattouile or whatever it is called. There is a big-ish cinema about 20 mins away from out flat, so we went there to watch it in English. I'm not sure whether the film or the strange Indian sense of humour was more funny- they laughed hysterically in the most strange places! We also discovered the Fruit Shop (a bit like Jamba Juice if you know it). They sell the most delicious smoothies and there is a branch just around the corner from our flat. We will definitely be spending some more time there!
Now, Sunday morning. Imagine: you are lying in bed (or on the floor). It is 5:15am and you are blissfully asleep. You anticipate at least another hour in bed before the horn honking starts to wake you up. And then: BOOM! Yes, there are fireworks going of outside of your window! This week has been Diwali, a 5 day Hindu holiday. As far as I know, the only major form of celebration is to let off incessant fireworks and 'crocs', basically fireworks without any of the pretty colours to look at- just the bang. On Thursday, the main day of celebration, there were fireworks ALL DAY LONG. We decided that we could record the soundtrack for a war film whilst sitting in our flat. The kids set off their own fireworks on the streets, often lighting rockets from their hands. There is rubbish EVERYWHERE from spent fireworks. It is crazy! We did go up to the roof (it is flat and you can walk on it) to watch fireworks and have our rather tame sparklers. It was quite nice to have about 10 free fireworks displays going on around you. Nevertheless, I am still not a fan of Diwali. Far too noisy for my liking! Although we did have Thursday off work to make pancakes and fish fingers and chips (all fried as no oven- healthy!)
Sunday we had a couple from the Delirious? home church (Arun) visiting Powerhouse. And after the service we went to the welcome lunch for new people. It was really nice to have a chance to talk to some more people and find out more about the church. They were curious about our home churches, and all were familiar with New Frontiers. I am told there are nfi churches in Bangalore and Mumbai which several of the church leaders have been to. They are keen for us to be involved in kids' work, but we aren't sure- that is what we are doing all week! We are hoping to attend the women's Bible Study group on a Tuesday evening, if we finish work on time.
It is striking how different our weekends are to weekdays. At the weekends, we do very affluent and western things in general- shopping, visiting places, etc. And most of the people we know at church are from pretty rich backgroungs (by Indian standards) and speak good English, drive, have nice houses, etc. But then during the week, we are almost always around the very poorest people who live in the slums, and we also live quite simply. It is strange, but both sides are equally part of India. The very rich and the very poor, side by side.
Work wise, things are going well. Balwadi is still challenging but fun. I still find it hilarious that we usually sing "If you're happy and you know it..." to the backing of several children bawling their eyes out. I have been doing quite a lot of art and drawing this week, unusally for teaching aids and work sheets and things like that. I have certainly enjoyed doing that! At the Kids' Fun Club, we had some Bonfire night celebrations (we told them the story and made a guy) and also did some pumpkin carving!
It was also one of the boys birthdays on Wednesday, so we had a little party and some cake. Musical bumps was a VERY popular and VERY painful game!
We have also made friends with a couple of the neighbour kids, and so spent one afternoon playing 40/40 in with them. Dorothy, who lives next door to us, has also been to visit. She is a Christian lady who seems to have memorised the entire Bible and always seems to want to talk about curses. Quite a character! We had some lively debate with her for a couple of hours, and if anything it certainly challenged me to learn more of the Bible by heart. I expect we will be seeing more of her.
Jacob's Well teaching is going really well. I absolutely love it! Please continue to pray for wisdom with the teaching. We have been teaching them as a whole class, but I think we need to split them up because the standard ranges so much. This means a lot more work for us, but I think it will be worth it. I would particularly like to spend more time one-to-one with the girls who struggle more. Teaching long division this week has been a challenge, for us and them! We are also continuing to teach the fun classes. This week we made puppets (the photo is of me with Devika, one of the younger girls. She had a huge smile for the rest of the afternoon after we had made the puppets!) 
I have also been able to get to know the two teachers a bit more this week as they have been over in our flat to supervise the painting going on.
So, the flat: it is looking much better! We move back in today. The bedroom is painted and we have new mattresses, recycled from the old ones. Still waiting for the burnt AC to be removed and the window to be repaired, but that should happen soon. And we are very pleased that they have decide to paint our main room as well!
There is still a bit of a smell, but it is getting beter. We are all feeling ready to move back now! I think the fire has made us very thankful for what we have. Before, there was a fair bit of moaning going on about little things like a broken toilet seat or dirty wall. Not anymore! A comfy bed and clean clothes is enough for me. And soon we will be able to eat off a table again. The excitement! This is Helen and Sabrina getting ready to eat their Hot Breads sandwiches on the floor of the new flat.
We also got to meet Becky this week- she is the one who has been on holiday but is our official co-ordinator. She is fantastic! Already she has been really helpful to us. The kind of person who gets things done, which is of particular value in India... You get the impression that she would do anything for you when talking to her. And she brought us chocolate from the UK (where she was on holiday for a while). We have actually had a rather chocolate-filled week, as I had a wonderful parcel from my family containing some declicious Lindt chocolate. Sabrina and Helen are busy emailing their families to let them know they are being out-done in the sending of chocolate supplies!
I did spend one evening while we were on the roof looking out over the slum by our flat. Even after being here for over a month, the poverty still gets to me. It is hard to accept. I often try to imagine what it would be like had I been born into a slum. Would l be like the kids playing on the side of the road? Like the girls busy washing and cleaning in the dirt? Like the old women bent over from years of hard labour? And all of them living in the same room, eating, sleeping, coooking in one place. The problem is so vast! There are millions who live like this. And the needs are so basic- toilet facilities (kids just use the side of the road), clean water, a space to cook, shelter. I see this all every day, but there is no way to know what to do. I am really glad that I am here with an organisation who makes it their aim to work with the very poorest people.
What a contrast between that last paragraph and the one before! My chocolate supplies followed by the slums. It is difficult to keep a balanced view of it all.
The photo below is of our road, Kuttiappan 2nd Street.
And this is Archibald.
He is my adopted pet who gets the leftover rice from our lunch. Sabrina and Helen don't like him, but I am working on it.
So that is all that is new here. Please do continue to let me know what is going on for all of you! I love to hear the news.
Some points for prayer:
- Thank God that our flat is being sorted out swiftly and that we are moving back in! Please pray that the work is finished well and at minimal cost.
- Thank God for the friendships we have been making and the fact that we are all feeling far more at home here now. Pray it continues.
- Please pray for the lessons we teach, that we have wisdom in the best way to do them and that the girls enjoy them.
- Continue to pray for good health- I saw an ambulance on the way here and I don't fancy having to ride in one!
- Pray that as a team we will continue to keep our focus on God and spend time together in prayer.
Thanks so much everyone!
As they say here, ta ta!
Take care,
With love and prayers from Kandace
"Trust in Him at all times, O people, pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." Pslam 62:8
"If riches increase, set not your heart on them." Psalm 62:10
Saturday 3 November 2007
Scroll down!
I put some photos up but they have appeared for a different day, so scroll down to see them!
God is good, all the time!
Hi all,
I am informed that my blogs get longer every week. Sorry about that! I was going to give you a break from reading and put some photos up this week, but as it turns out I have way too much to say. So sorry! Feel free to skip to the good bits...
"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:11-12
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
Well, this week hasn't been a particularly easy week! On Monday night, at about 3am, we had a fire in our flat. It was due to the air conditioning unit which for some reason had malfunctioned and caught alight inside. It is right by our beds, so we woke up pretty quick and got out. Now most of our neighbours were still unknown to us at this point and we cannot speak Tamil and we are trying to convey to the night watchman what the problem is. I don't think they understood the urgency until they saw the flames! Our phone was still not working at this point so we were incredibly glad that one of the Oasis staff lived just around the corner. We gathered quite a crowd and managed to persuade them that water was NOT the right thing to put on an electrical fire. There was still no sign of the fire service, but our neighbours managed to put out most of the flames with sand. Unfortunately, in the bedroom there was a wardrobe where we kept all of our things and we had to keep reminding ourselves that posessions count for nothing. I now have an accurate answer to those questions of "What three things would you save if your house was burning down?".
The fire service did eventually arrive after the fire had been put out and they checked it over. Obviously not very well as a mattress started burning again in the early hours of the morning! I am so thankful that there was very little damage to our possessions. It would have been such a hassle to replace them all! In the end, the bedroom was totally black, as were areas of the rest of the flat, and our bedding and mosquito nets got burned. I also lost my photos, but they can be printed again so it is nothing major. And, of course, EVERYTHING smells like smoke.
We are also so thankful to be able to stay in the spare flat of one of our neighbours, a really nice couple. They are fairly well known muscicians and we have been hearing a lot of piano playing this week! Mer: I met a 15-year-old guy who is a professional pianist! It is nice to have somewhere clean to sleep at night, and to dry our clothes, etc. There is only one bed, so it feels like camping atm, but it is a million times better than our burnt flat. We even have a TV!The whole of the Oasis staff were in on Tuesday morning cleaning out the burnt flat, washing walls, scrubbing the ceiling. It is a do-it-yourself job here! We have had some painters in this week, too, who are working on the room. Sabrina always said the walls needed painting! We are hoping they will do the whole flat.
It has been a bit overwhelming and unsettling- the flat was just beginning to feel like home! The reality of a burnt flat started sinking in on Tuesday: trying to live between two flats, wearing smelly clothes, cooking in the dark and burnt flat, sleeping on the hard floor. We all felt a bit down. But there is a promise in the Bible that has come up repeatedly during this week: "I will not leave you comfortless!" And God certainly hasn't. We have had cake 4 times this week! Romans 8:28- how God works all things together for good- has been another promise we are holding on to. We have been able to get to know people better and we are now famous as the English girls who burnt down their flat! I think we are moving back in in a couple of days, but it is going to be a long time before everything is back to normal. Some photos of our flat post fire!
I am informed that my blogs get longer every week. Sorry about that! I was going to give you a break from reading and put some photos up this week, but as it turns out I have way too much to say. So sorry! Feel free to skip to the good bits...
"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:11-12
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
Well, this week hasn't been a particularly easy week! On Monday night, at about 3am, we had a fire in our flat. It was due to the air conditioning unit which for some reason had malfunctioned and caught alight inside. It is right by our beds, so we woke up pretty quick and got out. Now most of our neighbours were still unknown to us at this point and we cannot speak Tamil and we are trying to convey to the night watchman what the problem is. I don't think they understood the urgency until they saw the flames! Our phone was still not working at this point so we were incredibly glad that one of the Oasis staff lived just around the corner. We gathered quite a crowd and managed to persuade them that water was NOT the right thing to put on an electrical fire. There was still no sign of the fire service, but our neighbours managed to put out most of the flames with sand. Unfortunately, in the bedroom there was a wardrobe where we kept all of our things and we had to keep reminding ourselves that posessions count for nothing. I now have an accurate answer to those questions of "What three things would you save if your house was burning down?".
The fire service did eventually arrive after the fire had been put out and they checked it over. Obviously not very well as a mattress started burning again in the early hours of the morning! I am so thankful that there was very little damage to our possessions. It would have been such a hassle to replace them all! In the end, the bedroom was totally black, as were areas of the rest of the flat, and our bedding and mosquito nets got burned. I also lost my photos, but they can be printed again so it is nothing major. And, of course, EVERYTHING smells like smoke.
We are also so thankful to be able to stay in the spare flat of one of our neighbours, a really nice couple. They are fairly well known muscicians and we have been hearing a lot of piano playing this week! Mer: I met a 15-year-old guy who is a professional pianist! It is nice to have somewhere clean to sleep at night, and to dry our clothes, etc. There is only one bed, so it feels like camping atm, but it is a million times better than our burnt flat. We even have a TV!The whole of the Oasis staff were in on Tuesday morning cleaning out the burnt flat, washing walls, scrubbing the ceiling. It is a do-it-yourself job here! We have had some painters in this week, too, who are working on the room. Sabrina always said the walls needed painting! We are hoping they will do the whole flat.
It has been a bit overwhelming and unsettling- the flat was just beginning to feel like home! The reality of a burnt flat started sinking in on Tuesday: trying to live between two flats, wearing smelly clothes, cooking in the dark and burnt flat, sleeping on the hard floor. We all felt a bit down. But there is a promise in the Bible that has come up repeatedly during this week: "I will not leave you comfortless!" And God certainly hasn't. We have had cake 4 times this week! Romans 8:28- how God works all things together for good- has been another promise we are holding on to. We have been able to get to know people better and we are now famous as the English girls who burnt down their flat! I think we are moving back in in a couple of days, but it is going to be a long time before everything is back to normal. Some photos of our flat post fire!
On Tuesday evening there was ANOTHER fire in an area of the slum a few hundred meters from our flat. It was all quite surreal- apparently there hasn't been a fire in the area for a long time. Again, we were reminded how priviledged we were to have somewhere safe and dry and clean to go, to have food, to have our possessions still. The people in the slums would lose everything.
We have also had flooding in Chennai this week! On Monday (during the day), there was a lot of flooding in the area (the monsoon season has come!) and so the government declared it a holiday. Everything was closed! We were riding through feet of water in the autos. It reminded me of the water rides at the theme parks! The rains have obviously hindered our work in the slums as running kids clubs when the houses are falling down in not the best idea. There has also been quite a lot of opposition from some members of the community, so please pray that Oasis will be able to resume work in the slum areas soon.
Church on Sunday was not very well attended due to the rain (there is very poor drainage here and everything basically stops when it rains). But it was a good service. A lady from YWAM who is working over here spoke about heaven. It was especially poignant as she lost her husband last year. She spoke a lot about having an eternal perspective which was appropriate for this week! How often do we think about heaven? This world is not our home if we are Christians.
"He is no fool who loses what he has, to gain what cannot be lost."
We also met two English guys who are working with the church for their year out. It was nice to hear an English accent again! There have already been plenty of jokes made by other members of the church about setting us up. They obviously think we are desperate!
On the work front, things have been going well! We do usually turn up a bit sooty looking... I am loving Jacob's Well and the girls there. They are so lovely! It is hard to actually 'get to know' them with the language barrier, but it is amazing how a relationship can develop despite that. The teaching is getting easier as we settle into a routine and they seem to be warming up to our method of teaching. We have been looking at the question, "Who is this?", in English this week and it was touching to know that they would now call us their friends- no longer am I merely 'teacher'!
Balwadi has gone better. We attempted craft again and it worked well- pasta necklaces. The kids are getting more and more used to us and the little ones will sit on my lap without crying their eyes out. They were even sad to see us go on Friday! A vast improvement to bursting into tears every time they saw us. The little girls have also decided I need a Hindu spot, so every time I come they try to draw one on or stick their one to me.
The kids work in the slums has been limited, but we are enjoying what we can do! Lots of crazy games and crafts. They all like to offer you food from their pockets (it is a nice gesture) and it can be quite forceful. Usually I refuse (I want to stay healthy!) but yesterday I did give in and try some crisp thing. I am still alive today...so far so good. They also persist in calling me 'Candles'. Grrr!
It was one of the staff member's Birthday this week and we discovered the way that Indians celebrate for this occasion! There was a lot of cake and messy faces involved. I am a bit concerned about my own birthday, given the talk of tomatoes and rotten eggs! And you thought Kids Klub was bad... foam pie is nothing!
I have also named one of our stray kittens Archibald and am trying to tame him, to the despair of Sabrina and Helen. He sits by our door now.
Oh, and this week is Diwali so I am anticipating lots of fireworks! It will feel just like home with bonfire night.
I feel that is quite long enough! Sorry. I start writing and just can't stop.
Prayer pointers:
- Prasie God that we are all safe after the fire and that He has provided for us.
- Praise God that we are all helathy still and pray that it continues.
- Pray for the work in the flat, that it progresses swiftly and is completed well.
- Pray for the Oasis staff here in general. It is proving to be quite a difficult season in their work.
- Pray for the slum communities, especially during this time of year, and also that the work we do there will be able to begin again soon.
- Pray for the Jacob's Well girls, that they continue to learn well and that we find ways to share what we believe with them.
- Pray for continued patience and fresh ideas for Balwadi!
Thanks to you all. I have had an overwhelming number of emails this week and also a few cards and letters which has been great- just what was needed. Thanks Mummy! I am thinking of and praying for you all, or at least as much as I remember to!
Take care, enjoy the 5th Novermeber!
With love from Kandace
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