Two things.
1. Enchanted is the most cheese-filled cheesy film in the world. Don't go to see it.
2. The one bag that I have now packed (impressive, huh?) is probably heavier than me. So may I add to my prayer requests that I become super-humanly strong in the next few days. Either that or I find a willing volunteer to carry my bag on holiday for me. Please send your job application and CV by speed post to India. You need to be here by Friday.
Sunday 24 February 2008
Saturday 23 February 2008
1 week to go...
Guten Morgen!
Well, I have less than a week left in Chennai and it still hasn't quite sunk in that I am leaving yet. I guess it probably will once I start packing! Five months seems like such a long time at the start, but now it feels like nothing.
This week has been as busy and exhausting as ever. Last weekend we went to see December Boys at the cinema (we figure that as it costs a pound to see a film here, we will make the most of it as we will never be able to afford it once we get home!) It is the most rubbish film EVER, to the point that it is hilarious because of its rubbishness. There is a fish-eating horse, the virgin Mary appears at random times and you get to see nuns cartwheeling on the beach. I don't understand how Daniel Radcliffe signed up for such a BAD film! Today we are going to see some cheese called Enchanted with our church friends. Anything will be better than December Boys!
We have done some more restaurant exploration. We went somewhere really good on Saturday evening, cost us about 10 pounds for all three of us to eat there and the food was amazing. I will miss being able to eat out for so cheaply. We have a Chinese place scheduled for today, although we keep being invited around to people's houses as they find out we are leaving soon. There just isn't enough time! Oh and we also went out for lunch with Becky (our overseer) on Tuesday. It was so nice to be able to chat to her, review our time here, hear what she has to say about what we have done. I really hope to be able to keep in touch with her- she has been a fantastic leader for us and has really helped us to feel part of the work we have been doing here. In fact, all of the staff have been amazing. I will miss them!
Church on Sunday was really good, too. We had a real assortment of people from around the world. At least eight different countries were represented as well as numerous Indian states. It is just so good to be able to worship with Christians from so many different countries. It reminds me that we are a part of something much bigger than us. There were three Chinese girls visiting, too, who are friends of Vijay who works for Oasis. They came in to the office on Wednesday to meet everyone and see the work, and we had the opportunity to hear a little about each of them and the situation in China. All three of them are the first Christians in their families. Two of them became Christians while at University. There is a huge movement in Chinese Universities atm, where missionaries befriend students and build up relationships with them until they are comfortable to discuss their faith and what they believe. The students who become Christians are them empowered to witness to their friends. They were all from secret churches that meet in homes. Apparently the government know about these churches but choose to turn a blind eye to save any more trouble for themselves. So long as they don't disturb the neighbours and continue to split if numbers rise about 20 people, there are no problems. There is still oppression and Christianity is very much viewed as a 'bad' religion, especially by the older generation. But things are changing rapidly there and God is definitely doing something. There are registered Public Churches where hundreds of people can attend, but the government do still have some sway in who preaches there and what is taught. It was interesting that one of the main problems the Chinese girls identified with these churches was the fact that there are so many people who meet on a Sunday, but there is no close fellowship on a personal level like they have in their very small house churches. Interesting- I think many of our churches in the UK have a similar problem.
I had my first experience of the Indian health care system this week. All week I have had a very swollen gland in my neck that was giving me a lot of trouble- not even sure why as I was fine otherwise. So I went to see a doctor who sees patients in a little converted flat at the end of our road. When i arrived, there were a number of people from the slum waiting with children and babies outside, but I was still seen first. Made me feel so bad! And it is strange having to pay your doctor, even if it does only cost 50p. I got some antibiotics from a little pharmacy kiosk on our road and they seem to have helped a lot as I feel fine now.
Balwadi has been good fun this week. SO MANY children have been coming! Still getting those hints about the tape player. The teacher keeps telling us that they will be very sad when they leave. I can't help but add 'unless we give you a tape player'! No, it really has been wonderful to be able to play with the kids, sing songs (they love 'Give me Oil in my Lamp' and all join in with the Hosanna chorus!), read stories, get filthy, be peed on, etc. Only two Balwadis left now. I wonder how the lives of these children will develop. Will they continue to live in poverty like their parents? Will they be able to attend school and get a job? Will they all make it to adulthood?
At Fun Station this week we had a big programme for both the boys and the girls. Over 30 kids turned up to see a fantastic puppet show done by one of the social work students who is on work experience with Oasis and then we gave them all a delicious meal of Byriani! They all turned up in their best clothes, and for one of the boys this meant a PVC black body suit with sunglasses. It was so funny! I had to stop myself from bursting out with laughter when he walked in. There was also a time for them to give feedback on Fun Station and what they have learnt. There were lots of comments about learning games, enjoying painting and the Bible verses we teach them. One boy said that we had taught him to be disciplined! That comment was probably a product of the stick incident. The kids actually misunderstood us that evening and thought that we were threatening to go home the next day if they didn't behave properly! One boy said that the Bible stories and verses had encouraged him to read his Bible more. The kids there are a real mix of religions- mostly Christian and Hindu- but they all join in with the Christian content. I think that sometimes when we ask them to pray at the end, we get a few prayers to Hindu gods, too. There have been lots of new children coming: recently we have had about 25 boys alone, plus 12 or 13 girls. Controlling them is a real job! Sometimes a neighbour will poke their head in and tell us to keep them quiet. Just try keeping 25 boys quiet! It is not possible. They have been very well behaved this week, though. We taught them "There's No One Like Jesus" and they are pretty good at it. We can sing it in Tamil, too, now! Bit of a mouthful.
The Vyasarpadi Fun Club has been rather variable in numbers, but still over 20 kids coming each week. We calculated that we had worked with well over 100 children and young people in one day this week: 45 Balwadi kids, 35 Fun Station kids, 25 Vyasarpadi kids and 10 Jacob's Well girls. No wonder we are exhausted by the end of the day! The Vyasarpadi project is going really well, with a great response to the Job Skills Programme that Oasis is running. They have even had to start a second group to accommodate all of the people who want to do the course. It helps that Oasis now have their own fluorescent green building to work in, so people of any faith feel comfortable to come there rather than a Christian church. One of the guys who translates for us was telling us that the church used to get a lot of complaints from neighbours for being too noisy, so the police would be called to come and sort it out. One Sunday morning the police turned up and came into the church to find a guy playing the drums who had previously been in prison for killing three people! Apparently he was 'surprised'- major understatement! The police now visit the church when they have complaints just to keep the locals happy, but come in for tea and a chat rather than telling the leaders to keep the noise down. I guess they recognise the change that is taking place in people's lives! The church want us to come to speak at a youth event on Sunday, but sadly we just don't have the time.
Jacob's Well is going well. I do find myself getting quite impatient and frustrated when I have to keep going over things again and again. Helen said I looked like I was going to explode when I asked them to find the area of a triangle and they all looked at me blankly! Don't think I am cut out to be a teacher. The girls keep bringing up that we are leaving soon and saying they are very sad and I tell them to shut up because otherwise I will cry! Saying goodbye to them will be so hard. We had an fun ice-cream eating lesson (!) for one of their Birthdays this week. And on Monday we are going on a trip to a theme park with them all. They are so excited! So am I to be honest.
Helen and I went to get our flip-flops fixed this week. At home, if my flip flops broke I would chuck them and buy a new pair. Here, you go to see one of the men sitting on the side of the road who will sew up the shoes for a few rupees. It shows so clearly the totally different attitude people have here. Nothing is wasted, everything is fixed for as long as possible and after that is recycled for a different use.
I had fun at the office yesterday. There wasn't much work going on as a very prominent Christian leader in the city died earlier this week, and so some people had gone home to watch the funeral on TV. Someone was even showing us photos of the dead body in the coffin that they had taken on their phone! In funerals here, the body is paraded through the streets for all to see. Takes some getting used to! Those of us who were left ended up having a water fight and I was trying to stick a kick-me sign on everyone's back. I think all three of us are beginning to embrace the Indian sense of humour which is definitely not a good thing!
There has been some bad news from the Bangalore team this week. Two of the girls have been unwell, one of them in hospital, and so they have decided to go home on Tuesday. It is so sad as they are very near the end and will miss out on the holiday which is all booked up. But nothing can be done. Alannah is still coming, so the four of us will go together. I realised how lucky we have been here in Chennai to have had so little illness. I have not needed to miss a single day off work because of sickness. Although still a few weeks in India to go!
Well that's it for now. I have so much packing to do! I don't think it will ever fit into one bag. I may post some more while I am holidaying, or maybe not. We'll see. Thank you for all the emails, post and support you have given me while I have been away!
And thank you also for praying for me and the others here.
- Please pray for the Bangalore team, that they will have a safe journey home and will recover their health. Pray for Alannah too, that she stays well and enjoys herself even though she is not with her team members.
- Pray that our holiday goes safely and smoothly and that we have a good time. Especially pray that we get confirmed seats on the trains we are still waiting for.
- Pray for the situation in China and for the Christians there, that there will be great unity among the house churches, that God will raise up new leaders and that the movement in Universities will continue to explode. Especially pray for the young Christians who have unbelieving families, that they will be a good witness.
- Pray for us as we finish everything off, that goodbyes are not too painful and that we get everything sorted that we need to.
- Thank God that my neck is doing better.
- Thank God for the work that is happening here and the people who are involved in the communities day in and day out. Pray that God will strengthen them and provide for all of their needs.
I feel like I have written a lot but said very little in this post. I expect I will post again at some point to write about my holidaying, last week in Chennai, etc etc. But if you don't hear from me before- see you soon!
Kan xxx
"I wonder why you care, God—
why do you bother with us at all?
All we are is a puff of air;
we're like shadows in a campfire."
Psalm 144:3-4
"Step down out of heaven, God;
ignite volcanoes in the hearts of the mountains.
Hurl your lightnings in every direction;
shoot your arrows this way and that.
Reach all the way from sky to sea."
Psalm 144:5-7
Well, I have less than a week left in Chennai and it still hasn't quite sunk in that I am leaving yet. I guess it probably will once I start packing! Five months seems like such a long time at the start, but now it feels like nothing.
This week has been as busy and exhausting as ever. Last weekend we went to see December Boys at the cinema (we figure that as it costs a pound to see a film here, we will make the most of it as we will never be able to afford it once we get home!) It is the most rubbish film EVER, to the point that it is hilarious because of its rubbishness. There is a fish-eating horse, the virgin Mary appears at random times and you get to see nuns cartwheeling on the beach. I don't understand how Daniel Radcliffe signed up for such a BAD film! Today we are going to see some cheese called Enchanted with our church friends. Anything will be better than December Boys!
We have done some more restaurant exploration. We went somewhere really good on Saturday evening, cost us about 10 pounds for all three of us to eat there and the food was amazing. I will miss being able to eat out for so cheaply. We have a Chinese place scheduled for today, although we keep being invited around to people's houses as they find out we are leaving soon. There just isn't enough time! Oh and we also went out for lunch with Becky (our overseer) on Tuesday. It was so nice to be able to chat to her, review our time here, hear what she has to say about what we have done. I really hope to be able to keep in touch with her- she has been a fantastic leader for us and has really helped us to feel part of the work we have been doing here. In fact, all of the staff have been amazing. I will miss them!
Church on Sunday was really good, too. We had a real assortment of people from around the world. At least eight different countries were represented as well as numerous Indian states. It is just so good to be able to worship with Christians from so many different countries. It reminds me that we are a part of something much bigger than us. There were three Chinese girls visiting, too, who are friends of Vijay who works for Oasis. They came in to the office on Wednesday to meet everyone and see the work, and we had the opportunity to hear a little about each of them and the situation in China. All three of them are the first Christians in their families. Two of them became Christians while at University. There is a huge movement in Chinese Universities atm, where missionaries befriend students and build up relationships with them until they are comfortable to discuss their faith and what they believe. The students who become Christians are them empowered to witness to their friends. They were all from secret churches that meet in homes. Apparently the government know about these churches but choose to turn a blind eye to save any more trouble for themselves. So long as they don't disturb the neighbours and continue to split if numbers rise about 20 people, there are no problems. There is still oppression and Christianity is very much viewed as a 'bad' religion, especially by the older generation. But things are changing rapidly there and God is definitely doing something. There are registered Public Churches where hundreds of people can attend, but the government do still have some sway in who preaches there and what is taught. It was interesting that one of the main problems the Chinese girls identified with these churches was the fact that there are so many people who meet on a Sunday, but there is no close fellowship on a personal level like they have in their very small house churches. Interesting- I think many of our churches in the UK have a similar problem.
I had my first experience of the Indian health care system this week. All week I have had a very swollen gland in my neck that was giving me a lot of trouble- not even sure why as I was fine otherwise. So I went to see a doctor who sees patients in a little converted flat at the end of our road. When i arrived, there were a number of people from the slum waiting with children and babies outside, but I was still seen first. Made me feel so bad! And it is strange having to pay your doctor, even if it does only cost 50p. I got some antibiotics from a little pharmacy kiosk on our road and they seem to have helped a lot as I feel fine now.
Balwadi has been good fun this week. SO MANY children have been coming! Still getting those hints about the tape player. The teacher keeps telling us that they will be very sad when they leave. I can't help but add 'unless we give you a tape player'! No, it really has been wonderful to be able to play with the kids, sing songs (they love 'Give me Oil in my Lamp' and all join in with the Hosanna chorus!), read stories, get filthy, be peed on, etc. Only two Balwadis left now. I wonder how the lives of these children will develop. Will they continue to live in poverty like their parents? Will they be able to attend school and get a job? Will they all make it to adulthood?
At Fun Station this week we had a big programme for both the boys and the girls. Over 30 kids turned up to see a fantastic puppet show done by one of the social work students who is on work experience with Oasis and then we gave them all a delicious meal of Byriani! They all turned up in their best clothes, and for one of the boys this meant a PVC black body suit with sunglasses. It was so funny! I had to stop myself from bursting out with laughter when he walked in. There was also a time for them to give feedback on Fun Station and what they have learnt. There were lots of comments about learning games, enjoying painting and the Bible verses we teach them. One boy said that we had taught him to be disciplined! That comment was probably a product of the stick incident. The kids actually misunderstood us that evening and thought that we were threatening to go home the next day if they didn't behave properly! One boy said that the Bible stories and verses had encouraged him to read his Bible more. The kids there are a real mix of religions- mostly Christian and Hindu- but they all join in with the Christian content. I think that sometimes when we ask them to pray at the end, we get a few prayers to Hindu gods, too. There have been lots of new children coming: recently we have had about 25 boys alone, plus 12 or 13 girls. Controlling them is a real job! Sometimes a neighbour will poke their head in and tell us to keep them quiet. Just try keeping 25 boys quiet! It is not possible. They have been very well behaved this week, though. We taught them "There's No One Like Jesus" and they are pretty good at it. We can sing it in Tamil, too, now! Bit of a mouthful.
The Vyasarpadi Fun Club has been rather variable in numbers, but still over 20 kids coming each week. We calculated that we had worked with well over 100 children and young people in one day this week: 45 Balwadi kids, 35 Fun Station kids, 25 Vyasarpadi kids and 10 Jacob's Well girls. No wonder we are exhausted by the end of the day! The Vyasarpadi project is going really well, with a great response to the Job Skills Programme that Oasis is running. They have even had to start a second group to accommodate all of the people who want to do the course. It helps that Oasis now have their own fluorescent green building to work in, so people of any faith feel comfortable to come there rather than a Christian church. One of the guys who translates for us was telling us that the church used to get a lot of complaints from neighbours for being too noisy, so the police would be called to come and sort it out. One Sunday morning the police turned up and came into the church to find a guy playing the drums who had previously been in prison for killing three people! Apparently he was 'surprised'- major understatement! The police now visit the church when they have complaints just to keep the locals happy, but come in for tea and a chat rather than telling the leaders to keep the noise down. I guess they recognise the change that is taking place in people's lives! The church want us to come to speak at a youth event on Sunday, but sadly we just don't have the time.
Jacob's Well is going well. I do find myself getting quite impatient and frustrated when I have to keep going over things again and again. Helen said I looked like I was going to explode when I asked them to find the area of a triangle and they all looked at me blankly! Don't think I am cut out to be a teacher. The girls keep bringing up that we are leaving soon and saying they are very sad and I tell them to shut up because otherwise I will cry! Saying goodbye to them will be so hard. We had an fun ice-cream eating lesson (!) for one of their Birthdays this week. And on Monday we are going on a trip to a theme park with them all. They are so excited! So am I to be honest.
Helen and I went to get our flip-flops fixed this week. At home, if my flip flops broke I would chuck them and buy a new pair. Here, you go to see one of the men sitting on the side of the road who will sew up the shoes for a few rupees. It shows so clearly the totally different attitude people have here. Nothing is wasted, everything is fixed for as long as possible and after that is recycled for a different use.
I had fun at the office yesterday. There wasn't much work going on as a very prominent Christian leader in the city died earlier this week, and so some people had gone home to watch the funeral on TV. Someone was even showing us photos of the dead body in the coffin that they had taken on their phone! In funerals here, the body is paraded through the streets for all to see. Takes some getting used to! Those of us who were left ended up having a water fight and I was trying to stick a kick-me sign on everyone's back. I think all three of us are beginning to embrace the Indian sense of humour which is definitely not a good thing!
There has been some bad news from the Bangalore team this week. Two of the girls have been unwell, one of them in hospital, and so they have decided to go home on Tuesday. It is so sad as they are very near the end and will miss out on the holiday which is all booked up. But nothing can be done. Alannah is still coming, so the four of us will go together. I realised how lucky we have been here in Chennai to have had so little illness. I have not needed to miss a single day off work because of sickness. Although still a few weeks in India to go!
Well that's it for now. I have so much packing to do! I don't think it will ever fit into one bag. I may post some more while I am holidaying, or maybe not. We'll see. Thank you for all the emails, post and support you have given me while I have been away!
And thank you also for praying for me and the others here.
- Please pray for the Bangalore team, that they will have a safe journey home and will recover their health. Pray for Alannah too, that she stays well and enjoys herself even though she is not with her team members.
- Pray that our holiday goes safely and smoothly and that we have a good time. Especially pray that we get confirmed seats on the trains we are still waiting for.
- Pray for the situation in China and for the Christians there, that there will be great unity among the house churches, that God will raise up new leaders and that the movement in Universities will continue to explode. Especially pray for the young Christians who have unbelieving families, that they will be a good witness.
- Pray for us as we finish everything off, that goodbyes are not too painful and that we get everything sorted that we need to.
- Thank God that my neck is doing better.
- Thank God for the work that is happening here and the people who are involved in the communities day in and day out. Pray that God will strengthen them and provide for all of their needs.
I feel like I have written a lot but said very little in this post. I expect I will post again at some point to write about my holidaying, last week in Chennai, etc etc. But if you don't hear from me before- see you soon!
Kan xxx
"I wonder why you care, God—
why do you bother with us at all?
All we are is a puff of air;
we're like shadows in a campfire."
Psalm 144:3-4
"Step down out of heaven, God;
ignite volcanoes in the hearts of the mountains.
Hurl your lightnings in every direction;
shoot your arrows this way and that.
Reach all the way from sky to sea."
Psalm 144:5-7
Saturday 16 February 2008
Lovers Day!
Good Morning!
Well it is 8am on Saturday and I am in the Oasis office with the intention of getting some of my masses of typing done. I fugured that I would warm up with the slightly more pleasureable task of blog writing, though. Not that I am not warm enough already. The weather is definitely getting hotter again here. Last weekend we had a bit of rain and the humidity combined with the heat made it feel like we were living in a rainforest. I am glad we are out of here before the really hot weather gets going in April!
Last week at church we had a guy called Andre de Villiers (http://www.andredevilliers.com/) visiting Powerhouse. The church seems to have friends all over the world! He is a pretty amazing muscician (sounds vaguely like Jack Johnson to my untrained ear) who spent most of the morning service sharing his testimony with us and playing the songs that he had written during the different stages of his life. He was so honest, unassuming and talented as he performed. I think all three of us really enjoyed it.
After church we decided to try out a new restaurant someone had recommended to us. We discovered that Chennai does actually have a whole host of really nice restaurants that we never knew about in an area called Nungambakkam. How typical- right at the end of our stay we discover them! So we are going to be eating out quite frequently in the next couple of weeks, just so we can try a few more out. Having said that, Marjory has been making us some delicious fish curry over the past week which would rival any good restaurant, so maybe we should just hang around Jacob's Well and hope she invites us in for more.
Our working week has flown by in a blurr of naughty children, English lessons and craft activities (which are officially my worst enemy). Balwadi has been quite controlled lately, actually. We did hand painting on Monday and I left Balwadi absolutely covered in green and blue paint. But it was fun! The teacher found out we are leaving in two weeks and started making a real effort to be extra nice to us. However, we soon discovered there was another motive for the niceness- she suggested on Monday in her rather broken English that we might want to give the class a tape player as a parting gift so she can play her Nursery Rhyme tapes. We checked that this was OK with Oasis and then decided that we would be happy to do that. Since then, we have been invited to sit with the teachers for tea, given bangles and even invited back for lunch on Friday. (Yum, veg Byriani! It was so hot - temp - that I am sure I have permanently damaged my finger tips with burns. And I managed to put a whole chilli in my mouth resulting in me smiling at the teacher, eyes and nose running, assuring her that it wasn't too spicy for me at all!) And just in case we forget, she sometimes reminds us to contribute a tape player when we leave. It makes me angry! Still, they are genuinely sad to see us leaving and the teacher seems really keen to get involved in some spoken English classes run by Oasis which is great.
Jacob's Well classes are going fairly well. Half of my class are doing really well on the reading front, but half seem to be seriously struggling. I think a couple of them might be slightly dyslexic which can't be helpful. I would really like to have the time to sit with each one individually and help them with the things they struggle with, but it just isn't possible. I do get annoyed with them when they just don't try at all. Some of them are so bright and could do so well if only they applied themselves! Our fun afternoon lessons have definitely been a success this week. We had a hilarious 'rubbish' fashion show where the girls dressed each other up in all kinds of junk. They were all very excited on Thursday because it was both 'Lovers' Day and Devika's Birthday. Lovers Day is almost as commercialised here as it is in the UK, and the cards in the shops are horrendously filled with cheese. It is quite entertaining to read them!
We are settling in to a routine with Vyasarpadi now. There are about 30 kids attending which is good. They love the dramas we do with them! And the feedback we have had from the church leaders is good, so despite the language barrier the kids must be enjoying it. We were invited back to have tea at the Pastor's house on Tuesday and had a chance to hear some more about the church. It has such an inspiring story! The Pastor used to be a Catholic Priest, but Catholicism here is a bit different and incorporates quite a lot of Hindu rituals. Most people do not class Catholics as Christians. His wife was saved and prayed fervently for her husband and 5 children, with the outcome that the whole family are now Christians and are doing amazing work in the community. It is only because of the Catholic background that they are allowed to stay in the community. Most other churches have been kicked out. And the kids coming to the Fun Club are all new children who have not previously had any contact with the church, so we are praying that they will draw their parents in, too. Oh yes, and the wife of the Pastor is apparently totally illiterate (she only finished Year 1 at school) and yet somehow can read the Bible! I think we may be going back over for dinner one evening, so hopefully some more amazing stories then!
Fun Station at SD Puram is going OK, although we have had some behaviour issues recently. I feel like I am forever telling off badly behaved children! On Wednesday the boys got completely out of control: locking themselves in the toilet, overflowing the sink, fighting with each other. There were about 18 of them, and because of the activity we were doing a few got bored and started making mischief. Finally we got them all sitting on the floor ready to listen to us, and I gave them a fairly severe telling off. One kid had come in with a stick, so I had confiscated that at the start and still happened to be holding it. So just imagine- I am standing in front of 18 boys, shouting at them in English which they barely understand, waving my arms around and brandishing a stick! I think the Tuition Master who was sitting in the other room thought I had gone mad. He told me at the end I was 'very emotional tonight'. I think he would be too if they behaved as badly with him! We cancelled Fun Station on Thursday for them as a punishment, and they were excellent yesterday, so hopefully it has taught them a lesson.
Prayer points (will be brief as I have just seen the time!):
- For energy to finish everything off before we leave.
- Safety on holiday.
- Vyasarpadi kids' parents to get involved in the programmes running there.
- Behaviour of SD Puram.
Right I have procrastinated for long enough now- really need to write these reports!
See you all soon! X
"Our imagination so powerfully magnifies time, by continual reflections upon it, and so diminishes eternity...for want of reflection, that we make a nothing of eternity and an eternity of nothing." Pascal
"Christianity has come to the point where we believe that there is no higher aspiration for the soul than to be nice. And we are producing a generation of men and women whose greatest virtue is that they don't offend anyone. Then we wonder why there is not more passion for Christ. How can we hunger and thirst after righteousness if we have ceased hungering and thirsting altogether?" The Journey of Desire
Well it is 8am on Saturday and I am in the Oasis office with the intention of getting some of my masses of typing done. I fugured that I would warm up with the slightly more pleasureable task of blog writing, though. Not that I am not warm enough already. The weather is definitely getting hotter again here. Last weekend we had a bit of rain and the humidity combined with the heat made it feel like we were living in a rainforest. I am glad we are out of here before the really hot weather gets going in April!
Last week at church we had a guy called Andre de Villiers (http://www.andredevilliers.com/) visiting Powerhouse. The church seems to have friends all over the world! He is a pretty amazing muscician (sounds vaguely like Jack Johnson to my untrained ear) who spent most of the morning service sharing his testimony with us and playing the songs that he had written during the different stages of his life. He was so honest, unassuming and talented as he performed. I think all three of us really enjoyed it.
After church we decided to try out a new restaurant someone had recommended to us. We discovered that Chennai does actually have a whole host of really nice restaurants that we never knew about in an area called Nungambakkam. How typical- right at the end of our stay we discover them! So we are going to be eating out quite frequently in the next couple of weeks, just so we can try a few more out. Having said that, Marjory has been making us some delicious fish curry over the past week which would rival any good restaurant, so maybe we should just hang around Jacob's Well and hope she invites us in for more.
Our working week has flown by in a blurr of naughty children, English lessons and craft activities (which are officially my worst enemy). Balwadi has been quite controlled lately, actually. We did hand painting on Monday and I left Balwadi absolutely covered in green and blue paint. But it was fun! The teacher found out we are leaving in two weeks and started making a real effort to be extra nice to us. However, we soon discovered there was another motive for the niceness- she suggested on Monday in her rather broken English that we might want to give the class a tape player as a parting gift so she can play her Nursery Rhyme tapes. We checked that this was OK with Oasis and then decided that we would be happy to do that. Since then, we have been invited to sit with the teachers for tea, given bangles and even invited back for lunch on Friday. (Yum, veg Byriani! It was so hot - temp - that I am sure I have permanently damaged my finger tips with burns. And I managed to put a whole chilli in my mouth resulting in me smiling at the teacher, eyes and nose running, assuring her that it wasn't too spicy for me at all!) And just in case we forget, she sometimes reminds us to contribute a tape player when we leave. It makes me angry! Still, they are genuinely sad to see us leaving and the teacher seems really keen to get involved in some spoken English classes run by Oasis which is great.
Jacob's Well classes are going fairly well. Half of my class are doing really well on the reading front, but half seem to be seriously struggling. I think a couple of them might be slightly dyslexic which can't be helpful. I would really like to have the time to sit with each one individually and help them with the things they struggle with, but it just isn't possible. I do get annoyed with them when they just don't try at all. Some of them are so bright and could do so well if only they applied themselves! Our fun afternoon lessons have definitely been a success this week. We had a hilarious 'rubbish' fashion show where the girls dressed each other up in all kinds of junk. They were all very excited on Thursday because it was both 'Lovers' Day and Devika's Birthday. Lovers Day is almost as commercialised here as it is in the UK, and the cards in the shops are horrendously filled with cheese. It is quite entertaining to read them!
We are settling in to a routine with Vyasarpadi now. There are about 30 kids attending which is good. They love the dramas we do with them! And the feedback we have had from the church leaders is good, so despite the language barrier the kids must be enjoying it. We were invited back to have tea at the Pastor's house on Tuesday and had a chance to hear some more about the church. It has such an inspiring story! The Pastor used to be a Catholic Priest, but Catholicism here is a bit different and incorporates quite a lot of Hindu rituals. Most people do not class Catholics as Christians. His wife was saved and prayed fervently for her husband and 5 children, with the outcome that the whole family are now Christians and are doing amazing work in the community. It is only because of the Catholic background that they are allowed to stay in the community. Most other churches have been kicked out. And the kids coming to the Fun Club are all new children who have not previously had any contact with the church, so we are praying that they will draw their parents in, too. Oh yes, and the wife of the Pastor is apparently totally illiterate (she only finished Year 1 at school) and yet somehow can read the Bible! I think we may be going back over for dinner one evening, so hopefully some more amazing stories then!
Fun Station at SD Puram is going OK, although we have had some behaviour issues recently. I feel like I am forever telling off badly behaved children! On Wednesday the boys got completely out of control: locking themselves in the toilet, overflowing the sink, fighting with each other. There were about 18 of them, and because of the activity we were doing a few got bored and started making mischief. Finally we got them all sitting on the floor ready to listen to us, and I gave them a fairly severe telling off. One kid had come in with a stick, so I had confiscated that at the start and still happened to be holding it. So just imagine- I am standing in front of 18 boys, shouting at them in English which they barely understand, waving my arms around and brandishing a stick! I think the Tuition Master who was sitting in the other room thought I had gone mad. He told me at the end I was 'very emotional tonight'. I think he would be too if they behaved as badly with him! We cancelled Fun Station on Thursday for them as a punishment, and they were excellent yesterday, so hopefully it has taught them a lesson.
Prayer points (will be brief as I have just seen the time!):
- For energy to finish everything off before we leave.
- Safety on holiday.
- Vyasarpadi kids' parents to get involved in the programmes running there.
- Behaviour of SD Puram.
Right I have procrastinated for long enough now- really need to write these reports!
See you all soon! X
"Our imagination so powerfully magnifies time, by continual reflections upon it, and so diminishes eternity...for want of reflection, that we make a nothing of eternity and an eternity of nothing." Pascal
"Christianity has come to the point where we believe that there is no higher aspiration for the soul than to be nice. And we are producing a generation of men and women whose greatest virtue is that they don't offend anyone. Then we wonder why there is not more passion for Christ. How can we hunger and thirst after righteousness if we have ceased hungering and thirsting altogether?" The Journey of Desire
Friday 15 February 2008
Photos
Devika after being dressed up fashionably by her peers!
The Jacob's Well girls enjoying birthday cake.
Group photo from two angles!
Vyasarpadi fun club- David and Goliath drama.
My rat-eaten chocolates!
Sunday 10 February 2008
Monthly Report
A bonus post this week- aren't you lucky?! Even more to read now!
Basically, every month we are supposed to write a team report on a number of different areas which we email back to our Oasis overseers in the UK, Mumbai and Chennai. I guess just so they can keep track of what we are doing and how we are getting on.
We were in a particularly creative mood when we wrote our report last night, and the result is so good that I feel it would be a shame not to publish it somewhere!
So, enjoy! Probably it is only us who find it hilariously funny, but never mind.
Seeing as this is our last monthly report we thought that we would make it a good one. Enjoy!
Living Arrangements - An Ode
Ode to Winfreds
O faithful old flat,
How wonderful thou art,
No longer termite infested,
You are close to my heart.
Together four months,
We've come a long way,
You are our home now,
But we've not long to stay.
Pest control came
And stank out the place,
But ekkballoed* the termites,
Left a large mess to face.
Beautiful on the inside,
And on the outside too.
With our new pot plants
We dearly love you.
The food is delicious
With our new menu,
The cleaner comes daily.
"Helen's underwear's on view!"
Through many a hard time,
Fires, fishnaps and all,
We've had cockroaches, cats,
And strange neighbours who call.
So we'll wish you farewell
In just twenty short days.
Will we ever again
On your soft pink walls gaze?
*Greek for to drive out with force.
Work Activites - A rap
The GAT Rap
Yo, yo, yo, it's time to go!
Get up at 8, and you're gonna be late,
Yeah.
Helen makes the toast, but we ain't got no post,
Sab reads the paper, makes us even later.
We walk and we sweat, get there drippin' wet.
"Yo, office crew, whatz up wid you?"
Big up the big G, there's no great'r than thee.
To love is my goal, yeah, it's bubblin' in ma soul.
Teachin' English to da staff, man, we 'ave a laugh!
Down a cuppa coffee, grab an auto to Balwadi.
Whoa, 50 little fellas, them screamin' loud yellers!
Head 'n' shoulders ovadose; sing it betta dan most.
Standin' in da wee while ya teachin' A-Z*.
Time for Jacob's Well, innit, we ain't got a spare minute.
English dey will speak, who's da star of da week?*
Who's dat new girl? Give us a twirl!
Yenna sapitinga?* Ate samba wid ma finga.
Back to da Well, 'cos it's so swell.
Droppin' chutes for an egg, watch out for ya head!*
Yo, wots next? Do we eva get a rest?
Hip-hop to da street, it's da office we seek.
No time in da future, gotta get on a 'puter.*
Auto brova 'ere for us 3*, yo, yo ,yo, Vyasarpadi!
We ain't got no Tamil, but get by we will,
"What's da time Mr Wolf?" dat bridges the gulf,
Yeah.
Ain't no time, mate, through da Fun Station gate,
All da gals and da boys, man, dey make a lotta noise!
At first dere were 10*, now dere's 30 of 'em.
Master's runnin' late, we're eatin' dinn'r at 8.
So much plannin' to do, but the hours are few, yeah.
Get in ya bed, it's 1am, soon we'll do it all agen!
Man we thought we could rap,
But when we read it, it was crap.*
*"It's bubbling" is a song we sometimes sing in the devotion.
*We have been doing body parts so far this month and every Wednesday we do a session on the alphabet.
*Every week we award certificates to two girls for their hardwork, neatness, attendance and general good behaviour.
*What did you eat? in Tamil.
*This week we made egg parachutes with the girls and dropped them off the roof.
*Computer.
*We have an auto driver who takes us to and from Vyasarpadi everyday.
*There were actually 6.
*Apologies for any offence caused.
Relationships with Overseers - An acrostic
B usy all the time, she always makes time for us.
E ndless questions for her that are always answered.
C atches up with us in our weekly meetings.
K indly helps us with our holiday planning.
Y ear began well with a wonderful retreat.
Wellbeing of the Team - A Limerick
There once was a girl, Helenetta,
She let all the mosquitoes get her.
Got three sores on her arm, but the doctors stayed calm,
And now she is feeling much better.
Finance - A Song
(To the tune of "1,2,3,4,5, once I caught a fish alive.")
1,2,3,4,5, this month our budget took a dive.
6,7,8,9,10, because we spent too much again.
Why did you spend it all? 'Cos we went to the shopping mall.
Why did you not save some? Because we wanted chewing gum!
The song is not true in the slightest but we couldn't think of another way to get a poem into the finance section!
Problems and Issues - A Haiku
Termites came and went,
Fruit shop is not close enough,
Black bugs in the rice.
Pets - A Shakespearean Sonnet (we added this section ourselves)
We have one tragic story here to tell,
Our dearest Archiebald has vanished now.
But there is a new kitten, all is well,
He is so cute despite his loud meow.
The bathroom now is home to a small frog,
It hides behind the toilet and is shy.
Around the corner we have found a dog,
So small and weak, we think she just might die.
The cockroaches are banished from the flat,
We pray that they will not be coming back.
The fish are doing well and growing fat
And Spurtank cleans the glass so it's not black.
So generally the pets are feeling fine
And we are proud we made this poem rhyme.
Prayer Points - A Hymn
(To the tune of "Amazing Grace.")
Our prayer points are as follows now;
We ask for energy.
Please pray that we would have good health
Throughout these last few weeks.
Thank God we had a good retreat
And trip to Bangalore.
Please pray for our vacation plans,
As they become more sure.
As we have only three weeks left,
Please pray we'll use them well.
That we will settle back at home
And of our time here tell.
We hope you enjoyed our anthology and are all well.
God bless,
Sabrina, Kandace and Helen.
Basically, every month we are supposed to write a team report on a number of different areas which we email back to our Oasis overseers in the UK, Mumbai and Chennai. I guess just so they can keep track of what we are doing and how we are getting on.
We were in a particularly creative mood when we wrote our report last night, and the result is so good that I feel it would be a shame not to publish it somewhere!
So, enjoy! Probably it is only us who find it hilariously funny, but never mind.
Seeing as this is our last monthly report we thought that we would make it a good one. Enjoy!
Living Arrangements - An Ode
Ode to Winfreds
O faithful old flat,
How wonderful thou art,
No longer termite infested,
You are close to my heart.
Together four months,
We've come a long way,
You are our home now,
But we've not long to stay.
Pest control came
And stank out the place,
But ekkballoed* the termites,
Left a large mess to face.
Beautiful on the inside,
And on the outside too.
With our new pot plants
We dearly love you.
The food is delicious
With our new menu,
The cleaner comes daily.
"Helen's underwear's on view!"
Through many a hard time,
Fires, fishnaps and all,
We've had cockroaches, cats,
And strange neighbours who call.
So we'll wish you farewell
In just twenty short days.
Will we ever again
On your soft pink walls gaze?
*Greek for to drive out with force.
Work Activites - A rap
The GAT Rap
Yo, yo, yo, it's time to go!
Get up at 8, and you're gonna be late,
Yeah.
Helen makes the toast, but we ain't got no post,
Sab reads the paper, makes us even later.
We walk and we sweat, get there drippin' wet.
"Yo, office crew, whatz up wid you?"
Big up the big G, there's no great'r than thee.
To love is my goal, yeah, it's bubblin' in ma soul.
Teachin' English to da staff, man, we 'ave a laugh!
Down a cuppa coffee, grab an auto to Balwadi.
Whoa, 50 little fellas, them screamin' loud yellers!
Head 'n' shoulders ovadose; sing it betta dan most.
Standin' in da wee while ya teachin' A-Z*.
Time for Jacob's Well, innit, we ain't got a spare minute.
English dey will speak, who's da star of da week?*
Who's dat new girl? Give us a twirl!
Yenna sapitinga?* Ate samba wid ma finga.
Back to da Well, 'cos it's so swell.
Droppin' chutes for an egg, watch out for ya head!*
Yo, wots next? Do we eva get a rest?
Hip-hop to da street, it's da office we seek.
No time in da future, gotta get on a 'puter.*
Auto brova 'ere for us 3*, yo, yo ,yo, Vyasarpadi!
We ain't got no Tamil, but get by we will,
"What's da time Mr Wolf?" dat bridges the gulf,
Yeah.
Ain't no time, mate, through da Fun Station gate,
All da gals and da boys, man, dey make a lotta noise!
At first dere were 10*, now dere's 30 of 'em.
Master's runnin' late, we're eatin' dinn'r at 8.
So much plannin' to do, but the hours are few, yeah.
Get in ya bed, it's 1am, soon we'll do it all agen!
Man we thought we could rap,
But when we read it, it was crap.*
*"It's bubbling" is a song we sometimes sing in the devotion.
*We have been doing body parts so far this month and every Wednesday we do a session on the alphabet.
*Every week we award certificates to two girls for their hardwork, neatness, attendance and general good behaviour.
*What did you eat? in Tamil.
*This week we made egg parachutes with the girls and dropped them off the roof.
*Computer.
*We have an auto driver who takes us to and from Vyasarpadi everyday.
*There were actually 6.
*Apologies for any offence caused.
Relationships with Overseers - An acrostic
B usy all the time, she always makes time for us.
E ndless questions for her that are always answered.
C atches up with us in our weekly meetings.
K indly helps us with our holiday planning.
Y ear began well with a wonderful retreat.
Wellbeing of the Team - A Limerick
There once was a girl, Helenetta,
She let all the mosquitoes get her.
Got three sores on her arm, but the doctors stayed calm,
And now she is feeling much better.
Finance - A Song
(To the tune of "1,2,3,4,5, once I caught a fish alive.")
1,2,3,4,5, this month our budget took a dive.
6,7,8,9,10, because we spent too much again.
Why did you spend it all? 'Cos we went to the shopping mall.
Why did you not save some? Because we wanted chewing gum!
The song is not true in the slightest but we couldn't think of another way to get a poem into the finance section!
Problems and Issues - A Haiku
Termites came and went,
Fruit shop is not close enough,
Black bugs in the rice.
Pets - A Shakespearean Sonnet (we added this section ourselves)
We have one tragic story here to tell,
Our dearest Archiebald has vanished now.
But there is a new kitten, all is well,
He is so cute despite his loud meow.
The bathroom now is home to a small frog,
It hides behind the toilet and is shy.
Around the corner we have found a dog,
So small and weak, we think she just might die.
The cockroaches are banished from the flat,
We pray that they will not be coming back.
The fish are doing well and growing fat
And Spurtank cleans the glass so it's not black.
So generally the pets are feeling fine
And we are proud we made this poem rhyme.
Prayer Points - A Hymn
(To the tune of "Amazing Grace.")
Our prayer points are as follows now;
We ask for energy.
Please pray that we would have good health
Throughout these last few weeks.
Thank God we had a good retreat
And trip to Bangalore.
Please pray for our vacation plans,
As they become more sure.
As we have only three weeks left,
Please pray we'll use them well.
That we will settle back at home
And of our time here tell.
We hope you enjoyed our anthology and are all well.
God bless,
Sabrina, Kandace and Helen.
Saturday 9 February 2008
Puppets, Pancakes and Parachutes
Greetings!
Another week has flown by. Unbelievable. I just don't know where the time goes! It has certainly been an exhausting week.
First, just to let everyone know, I lost my phone a couple of weeks ago and have concluded that it is not likely to be returning, so please don't text my old UK number.
Balwadi has gone really well this week, although we have a massive number of kids there. Whenever we are doing colouring with them, we hand out a load of wax crayons, but then when it is time to collect them in there are a significant amount missing. So then we have our little crayon body searches, going around all the kids and patting their pockets and fishing out fist-fulls of crayons that they have stowed away. It was a nightmare this week when one kid came in wearing cargo pants! We had a chat to the teacher this week and told her when we are leaving. She was asking us about our time at Balwadi, if we would be sad to leave, if we have enjoyed it, etc. She looked so surprised when we told her that yes, we really do like the children! It was encouraging to know that she does appreciate what we do there.
Jacob's Well has seen the addition of two more new girls, Deevia and Jayalakshmi. Apparently they will join the new group which is FINALLY starting next week. Indian timing! English reading has been going quite well. Two of the girls in particular have picked it up really quickly and seem to have much more enthusiasm now than they did before. I also taught a science lesson this week, about the human heart, and brought in a 1 litre bottle of red water that I tried to convince them was Sabrina's blood (it did have a purpose other than that, though!) We have had some fun afternoon lessons: made egg parachutes which we dropped off the roof of the block of flats (Devika and I were the winners with our amazing parachute!) and we also brought in some henna for the girls to do designs on their palms. I now have one very orange hand.
The Vyasarpadi Fun Club is going fairly well. Numbers have been a bit more variable this week, but still generally high (20-30 kids). We have had a few new Hindu girls start coming which is fantastic, and a lot of the kids have been going to the Sunday School held by the church we run the Fun Club in. Because the kids are getting to know us more now, they are getting quite noisy and often we don't have a translator which is interesting. The older ones are very helpful whith controlling the younger ones, though, and shouting in any language still seems to have the desired effect of shutting them up. "What's the Time Mr Wolf?" has become their favourite game (pronounced, "What's dee time meesta olf?") and I am always required to be the wolf, so I get my fair share of exercise while I am there.
The SD Puram Fun Station is still growing in numbers. We arrived to find about 10 billion (well, 17) boys there on Thursday and had to go back to get more colouring materials. The room we hold the club in is so small that it is getting harder to play games with so many kids. We were learning about how God provides for us this week and so asked them to draw a picture of things their family needs. Most of these kids are from the slum, but the things featuring on the drawings were still things like bicycles, ice creams, pet dogs, cake, etc. Yesterday we were doing painting which was total chaos. I left with blue paint all over my face and was going straight to have dinner at someone's house- embarrassing! One of the girls advised me to shave my arm hair this week, and another girl insisted on correcting my English (which was correct in the first place, may I add.) Sabrina and I had some fun winding them up, too: Helen has infected mosquito bites on her arm and had to go to the doctor to get some cream, so we told the kids that Helen Aunty was having her arm chopped off. They were so worried and believed us completely until yesterday when they saw Helen, intact with both arms. Man, were we in trouble then!
We stared teaching the Oasis staff English grammar this week and it has been really good fun, despite being another thing to prepare for. I am learning things, too- I never knew that we had a present perfect tense in the English language! It is all so complicated and illogical. I'm glad I'm not learning it!
Although we have finished Tamil lessons now, our mornings at the office seem to be equally busy and filled with typing and report writing and stuff like that. We have also been using every spare minute to try to plan this holiday (well, Sabrina has!) which is finally coming together! I think we are nearly there, although I still think it is going to be more expensive than I would have liked.
Thursday was a really crazy day. As well as all our usual work, we had Marjory (a neighbour) over for English tea and biscuits (everyone here LOVES Hobnobs) after Fun Station. She insisted on bringing some fish curry with her (delicious) but we had nothing to eat it with so said we would cook some rice. Believe it or not, this was the first time we have cooked rice since we have been here because we try to avoid it at the weekends (Sabrina says she is giving it up for lent!). So Helen and I trotted off into the kitchen and scooped some rice out of our bag, only to find it was crawling with little black bugs! We weren't sure what to do, so ended up spending forever washing the bugs off and checking through to make sure they were all gone. What a wonderful situation- cooking bug infested rice for an Indian who is an expert on the stuff (rice, not the bugs). When we emerged from the kitchen half an hour later, Marjory wanted to know what kind of rice we were cooking that made us take so long! We left her to think that our cooking skills were really bad rather than admit that the rice we were going to eat was infested! That evening I was up until the early hours preparing a finger puppet craft for Balwadi (at the teacher's request) and stomping around the flat moaning about the ridiculousness of cutting out 100 finger puppets for the kids to colour. Still, I was a little less resentful about my late night when I saw how much the kids loved them the next day!
Last weekend we went to see The Golden Compass with some friends. Apparently a lot of it had been cut out because the censoring is much stricter here, so all of the anti-religion stuff was omitted. Made the film a bit jumpy but it was still good.
At church on Sunday we had John Bilborough and his wife visiting (Dave Bilborough's son, apparently, if you know who he is... I didn't.) He spoke about the Kingdom of God and about how the early church is a real model for living in community. It was a good message, even though he told us that his gift is in music and not speaking.
Oh, and the other notable event this week was Pancake Day! I have never eaten so many pancakes in one day. We had pancakes for breakfast and made pancakes to bring to the office and share with the staff and then had late night pancakes that evening (about 10:30!) to use up our milk and eggs (milk doesn't keep long here). The flat was smoky for most of the day!
Well, I think at last my blogs are getting shorter, mainly because I don't have time to keep track of everything I do during the week anymore, so it comes to Saturday and I have totally forgotten.
Prayer Points:
- Holiday plans!
- New Jacob's Well group.
- All of the things we have to do before winding up and leaving.
- The Balwadi group- Oasis has had some more contact with the people in charge, so pray that opens the door for them to make changes to the way ti is run.
- Vyasarpadi, that the work there continues to develop well and that we get to know the kids more and have more control over them!
- Energy!
I can't wait to see everyone again. It is going to be bitter-sweet leaving here, saying goodbye to new friends but knowing that I will see old ones again. Anyway, still three weeks left so won't be thinking about that for the time being!
Ta ta!
Kandace x
Jeremiah 17:5
Cursed is the strong one
who depends on mere humans,
Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone
and sets God aside as dead weight.
He's like a tumbleweed on the prairie,
out of touch with the good earth.
He lives rootless and aimless
in a land where nothing grows.
My Utmost for His Highest
"You have no right to complain, "O Lord, I am so exhausted." He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. "All my springs are in you" ( Psalm 87:7 )."
"Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer— to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, "I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ’Well done.’ "
It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a "doormat" under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, "I know how to be abased . . ." ( Philippians 4:12 ). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket-to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted— not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity."
Another week has flown by. Unbelievable. I just don't know where the time goes! It has certainly been an exhausting week.
First, just to let everyone know, I lost my phone a couple of weeks ago and have concluded that it is not likely to be returning, so please don't text my old UK number.
Balwadi has gone really well this week, although we have a massive number of kids there. Whenever we are doing colouring with them, we hand out a load of wax crayons, but then when it is time to collect them in there are a significant amount missing. So then we have our little crayon body searches, going around all the kids and patting their pockets and fishing out fist-fulls of crayons that they have stowed away. It was a nightmare this week when one kid came in wearing cargo pants! We had a chat to the teacher this week and told her when we are leaving. She was asking us about our time at Balwadi, if we would be sad to leave, if we have enjoyed it, etc. She looked so surprised when we told her that yes, we really do like the children! It was encouraging to know that she does appreciate what we do there.
Jacob's Well has seen the addition of two more new girls, Deevia and Jayalakshmi. Apparently they will join the new group which is FINALLY starting next week. Indian timing! English reading has been going quite well. Two of the girls in particular have picked it up really quickly and seem to have much more enthusiasm now than they did before. I also taught a science lesson this week, about the human heart, and brought in a 1 litre bottle of red water that I tried to convince them was Sabrina's blood (it did have a purpose other than that, though!) We have had some fun afternoon lessons: made egg parachutes which we dropped off the roof of the block of flats (Devika and I were the winners with our amazing parachute!) and we also brought in some henna for the girls to do designs on their palms. I now have one very orange hand.
The Vyasarpadi Fun Club is going fairly well. Numbers have been a bit more variable this week, but still generally high (20-30 kids). We have had a few new Hindu girls start coming which is fantastic, and a lot of the kids have been going to the Sunday School held by the church we run the Fun Club in. Because the kids are getting to know us more now, they are getting quite noisy and often we don't have a translator which is interesting. The older ones are very helpful whith controlling the younger ones, though, and shouting in any language still seems to have the desired effect of shutting them up. "What's the Time Mr Wolf?" has become their favourite game (pronounced, "What's dee time meesta olf?") and I am always required to be the wolf, so I get my fair share of exercise while I am there.
The SD Puram Fun Station is still growing in numbers. We arrived to find about 10 billion (well, 17) boys there on Thursday and had to go back to get more colouring materials. The room we hold the club in is so small that it is getting harder to play games with so many kids. We were learning about how God provides for us this week and so asked them to draw a picture of things their family needs. Most of these kids are from the slum, but the things featuring on the drawings were still things like bicycles, ice creams, pet dogs, cake, etc. Yesterday we were doing painting which was total chaos. I left with blue paint all over my face and was going straight to have dinner at someone's house- embarrassing! One of the girls advised me to shave my arm hair this week, and another girl insisted on correcting my English (which was correct in the first place, may I add.) Sabrina and I had some fun winding them up, too: Helen has infected mosquito bites on her arm and had to go to the doctor to get some cream, so we told the kids that Helen Aunty was having her arm chopped off. They were so worried and believed us completely until yesterday when they saw Helen, intact with both arms. Man, were we in trouble then!
We stared teaching the Oasis staff English grammar this week and it has been really good fun, despite being another thing to prepare for. I am learning things, too- I never knew that we had a present perfect tense in the English language! It is all so complicated and illogical. I'm glad I'm not learning it!
Although we have finished Tamil lessons now, our mornings at the office seem to be equally busy and filled with typing and report writing and stuff like that. We have also been using every spare minute to try to plan this holiday (well, Sabrina has!) which is finally coming together! I think we are nearly there, although I still think it is going to be more expensive than I would have liked.
Thursday was a really crazy day. As well as all our usual work, we had Marjory (a neighbour) over for English tea and biscuits (everyone here LOVES Hobnobs) after Fun Station. She insisted on bringing some fish curry with her (delicious) but we had nothing to eat it with so said we would cook some rice. Believe it or not, this was the first time we have cooked rice since we have been here because we try to avoid it at the weekends (Sabrina says she is giving it up for lent!). So Helen and I trotted off into the kitchen and scooped some rice out of our bag, only to find it was crawling with little black bugs! We weren't sure what to do, so ended up spending forever washing the bugs off and checking through to make sure they were all gone. What a wonderful situation- cooking bug infested rice for an Indian who is an expert on the stuff (rice, not the bugs). When we emerged from the kitchen half an hour later, Marjory wanted to know what kind of rice we were cooking that made us take so long! We left her to think that our cooking skills were really bad rather than admit that the rice we were going to eat was infested! That evening I was up until the early hours preparing a finger puppet craft for Balwadi (at the teacher's request) and stomping around the flat moaning about the ridiculousness of cutting out 100 finger puppets for the kids to colour. Still, I was a little less resentful about my late night when I saw how much the kids loved them the next day!
Last weekend we went to see The Golden Compass with some friends. Apparently a lot of it had been cut out because the censoring is much stricter here, so all of the anti-religion stuff was omitted. Made the film a bit jumpy but it was still good.
At church on Sunday we had John Bilborough and his wife visiting (Dave Bilborough's son, apparently, if you know who he is... I didn't.) He spoke about the Kingdom of God and about how the early church is a real model for living in community. It was a good message, even though he told us that his gift is in music and not speaking.
Oh, and the other notable event this week was Pancake Day! I have never eaten so many pancakes in one day. We had pancakes for breakfast and made pancakes to bring to the office and share with the staff and then had late night pancakes that evening (about 10:30!) to use up our milk and eggs (milk doesn't keep long here). The flat was smoky for most of the day!
Well, I think at last my blogs are getting shorter, mainly because I don't have time to keep track of everything I do during the week anymore, so it comes to Saturday and I have totally forgotten.
Prayer Points:
- Holiday plans!
- New Jacob's Well group.
- All of the things we have to do before winding up and leaving.
- The Balwadi group- Oasis has had some more contact with the people in charge, so pray that opens the door for them to make changes to the way ti is run.
- Vyasarpadi, that the work there continues to develop well and that we get to know the kids more and have more control over them!
- Energy!
I can't wait to see everyone again. It is going to be bitter-sweet leaving here, saying goodbye to new friends but knowing that I will see old ones again. Anyway, still three weeks left so won't be thinking about that for the time being!
Ta ta!
Kandace x
Jeremiah 17:5
Cursed is the strong one
who depends on mere humans,
Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone
and sets God aside as dead weight.
He's like a tumbleweed on the prairie,
out of touch with the good earth.
He lives rootless and aimless
in a land where nothing grows.
My Utmost for His Highest
"You have no right to complain, "O Lord, I am so exhausted." He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. "All my springs are in you" ( Psalm 87:7 )."
"Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer— to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, "I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ’Well done.’ "
It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a "doormat" under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, "I know how to be abased . . ." ( Philippians 4:12 ). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket-to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted— not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity."
Saturday 2 February 2008
Exhaustion!
Saturday again! How quickly it comes around. The past week is a bit of a blurr- I was trying to think of what I had to write about this morning and couldn't really remember anything that has happened this week. It has just been so busy! A typical day goes something like this: we leave to walk to the office at 8:30am, spend half an hour there for the morning devotion, then go for our hour long Tamil lesson, then on to Balwadi for an hour, then to Jacob's Well to teach for an hour and finally we have our 45min lunch break. Then it is another hour of teaching at Jacob's Well, followed by a quick tea break and visit to the office, and then we have fun clubs from 4:15 until 7:30pm. And after that there is the planning for the next day still to be done! I don't think I have been in bed before midnight once this week. Despite the busy schedule, though, I do like to feel as though I am using my time here well! Actually, things should quiet down a bit next week as we have finished Tamil lessons (although we will be teaching English to the Oasis staff 5 days a week from Monday).
Balwadi is still full of children- we have had to up our photocopying to 50 sheets now! Their behaviour is generally pretty good now, though, which makes it easier to handle them all. Quite often we find that the teacher wanders off when we arrive- I suppose taking a well-earned break! We are just introducing a new topic for this month: body parts. We plan Balwadi at the start of every month, so it was strange last night to find ourselves planning our very last Balwadi here. Believe it or not, I think I may actually miss the screaming children! We did speak to Becky about some of the changes we wanted to see in Balwadi and we decided that there were a few things we could do, like providing mops and disinfectant and making a display board of some kind there. But there are a lot of limitations on what we can do as we are only there for an hour each day and Oasis haven't been working there for very long. It is government run and really Oasis need to build up more of a rapport with the teachers before they can march in and change how things are done. Regardless, we are still trying to make the best of the rather dire facilities and conditions.
Jacob's Well is still a very enjoyable part of our work. I gave my class an English test this week and was pleased with how much they have taken in. For the next few weeks we are here, I am going to be doing some intensive reading lessons as I have several girls who still can't read any English and it is becoming more and more of a problem for them. We did a lesson this week all about England which the girls thoroughly enjoyed! Made them English tea (they were disgusted at how bitter it is compared to their super-sweet Indian chai!) and fed them Hobnobs and Digestives which they loved. We also told them a few facts about England, including the percentages of different religions followed. They were so surprised when we explained that such a huge percentage of people do not believe that there is a God. For them that is unthinkable- the matter is what god you follow, not if there is one or not. We spent a while showing them photos from home, too, and they were shocked that I would wear shorts at home that are above my knees! Disgraceful.
Fun Station has also seen a lot of kids attending- a total of about 30 on a busy night. They even attend if there is a function going on in the slum, which surprised the Oasis staff. Usually the kids wouldn't miss the functions for anything. Eunice, who oversees the Oasis education projets, also told us that the kids all seem to be doing better in school which is a real encouragement. You will be pleased to hear that one girl spent the evening checking my hair for nits and has informed me I am nit free! Last night I was doing a craft with them. I am sure I should have learnt this lesson by now- doing anything more ambitious than colouring is guaranteed to stress you out!
We started running the daily 45-minute Vyasarpadi Fun Club this week, too. There are about 25 kids attending, ranging in age from 3 to 15! They are great kids and we are looking forward to getting to know them as well as we know the SD Puram lot now. Vyasarpadi is one of those places that I have been itching to work in since I first visited, so to finally be there each day is fantastic! I only wish I was around for longer to see how the work develops there.
Aside from work, not that much has happened this week. It was Eunice's birthday this week, so we all had a delicious (!) lunch of Byriani together on Monday. Danny, a hilarious character who does the most fantastic impersonations, asked us if we could teach him how to use a fork in case he ever needs to visit the UK.
The termites had not been seen since pest control came in again on Tuesday- I really hope this is the last of them! We do have a new addition to the wildlife centre living in our flat, though- a little green and orange frog who lives in the toilet. Yes, sometimes he is actually IN the toilet! And there is a tiny black puppy that lives on the rubbish heap outside our flat which I would love to take home, but having looked at the quarantine laws I think it is probably a pretty stupid idea. So sad.
The holiday planning is still stressing us out. If it was left up to me, I really would just spend two weeks in one place because I couldn't deal with all the flights and trains and travelling logistics. Sabrina is doing a grand job with it all, though. Only four weeks and we will be headed off. How strange! We were even praying for the next GAT time at the office this week which was a peculiar feeling. How can our months here have gone so fast?
Prayer points:
- That we cope with the busy schedule!
- For fresh ideas, especially this weekend as we are planning a lot of what we will be doing this month.
- That we quickly get to know the kids at Vyasarpadi and can somehow learn all the names!
- For the dreaded holiday plans.
- For the staff Eglish lessons.
Anything else that was there last week and has disappeared is probably a 'thanks' now!
Take care everyone,
Kan x
P.S. Rosie Burnhams, I hope you've used paragraphs this week in your email!
Exodus 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Balwadi is still full of children- we have had to up our photocopying to 50 sheets now! Their behaviour is generally pretty good now, though, which makes it easier to handle them all. Quite often we find that the teacher wanders off when we arrive- I suppose taking a well-earned break! We are just introducing a new topic for this month: body parts. We plan Balwadi at the start of every month, so it was strange last night to find ourselves planning our very last Balwadi here. Believe it or not, I think I may actually miss the screaming children! We did speak to Becky about some of the changes we wanted to see in Balwadi and we decided that there were a few things we could do, like providing mops and disinfectant and making a display board of some kind there. But there are a lot of limitations on what we can do as we are only there for an hour each day and Oasis haven't been working there for very long. It is government run and really Oasis need to build up more of a rapport with the teachers before they can march in and change how things are done. Regardless, we are still trying to make the best of the rather dire facilities and conditions.
Jacob's Well is still a very enjoyable part of our work. I gave my class an English test this week and was pleased with how much they have taken in. For the next few weeks we are here, I am going to be doing some intensive reading lessons as I have several girls who still can't read any English and it is becoming more and more of a problem for them. We did a lesson this week all about England which the girls thoroughly enjoyed! Made them English tea (they were disgusted at how bitter it is compared to their super-sweet Indian chai!) and fed them Hobnobs and Digestives which they loved. We also told them a few facts about England, including the percentages of different religions followed. They were so surprised when we explained that such a huge percentage of people do not believe that there is a God. For them that is unthinkable- the matter is what god you follow, not if there is one or not. We spent a while showing them photos from home, too, and they were shocked that I would wear shorts at home that are above my knees! Disgraceful.
Fun Station has also seen a lot of kids attending- a total of about 30 on a busy night. They even attend if there is a function going on in the slum, which surprised the Oasis staff. Usually the kids wouldn't miss the functions for anything. Eunice, who oversees the Oasis education projets, also told us that the kids all seem to be doing better in school which is a real encouragement. You will be pleased to hear that one girl spent the evening checking my hair for nits and has informed me I am nit free! Last night I was doing a craft with them. I am sure I should have learnt this lesson by now- doing anything more ambitious than colouring is guaranteed to stress you out!
We started running the daily 45-minute Vyasarpadi Fun Club this week, too. There are about 25 kids attending, ranging in age from 3 to 15! They are great kids and we are looking forward to getting to know them as well as we know the SD Puram lot now. Vyasarpadi is one of those places that I have been itching to work in since I first visited, so to finally be there each day is fantastic! I only wish I was around for longer to see how the work develops there.
Aside from work, not that much has happened this week. It was Eunice's birthday this week, so we all had a delicious (!) lunch of Byriani together on Monday. Danny, a hilarious character who does the most fantastic impersonations, asked us if we could teach him how to use a fork in case he ever needs to visit the UK.
The termites had not been seen since pest control came in again on Tuesday- I really hope this is the last of them! We do have a new addition to the wildlife centre living in our flat, though- a little green and orange frog who lives in the toilet. Yes, sometimes he is actually IN the toilet! And there is a tiny black puppy that lives on the rubbish heap outside our flat which I would love to take home, but having looked at the quarantine laws I think it is probably a pretty stupid idea. So sad.
The holiday planning is still stressing us out. If it was left up to me, I really would just spend two weeks in one place because I couldn't deal with all the flights and trains and travelling logistics. Sabrina is doing a grand job with it all, though. Only four weeks and we will be headed off. How strange! We were even praying for the next GAT time at the office this week which was a peculiar feeling. How can our months here have gone so fast?
Prayer points:
- That we cope with the busy schedule!
- For fresh ideas, especially this weekend as we are planning a lot of what we will be doing this month.
- That we quickly get to know the kids at Vyasarpadi and can somehow learn all the names!
- For the dreaded holiday plans.
- For the staff Eglish lessons.
Anything else that was there last week and has disappeared is probably a 'thanks' now!
Take care everyone,
Kan x
P.S. Rosie Burnhams, I hope you've used paragraphs this week in your email!
Exodus 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)