Hi again everyone,
It has been really nice to hear some news from you all back in the UK this week! Thanks for that. I am still alive and doing well, although the dreaded mozzie bites continue...
So- the news from this week:
The weather has changed here lately. We are finally having some monsoon weather, but everything has apparently been a bit upside down since the tsunami. After quite a few deluges and thunder storms, the streets are looking rather muddy and my feet have turned a permanent brown. Not a pretty sight! We have also had a few power cuts lately, including one in the middle of the church service at the 'Powerhouse' church- ironic!
We have also made a couple of friends here (hard to believe, I know) including some people from church and one of the guys at Oasis who has been really helpful to us. It has been really encouraging to hear his testimony and about his goals for the future. Literally, his life has turned around since he became a Christian, and now there is no stopping him. It was also interesting that he was asking a lot of questions about the UK and Christians there, because he views England as somewhere equally in need of missionaries as over here- and I would agree with him totally. So all of you in England, take note!
We are getting practiced at riding around in rickshaws now. On the way to work one morning this week, we were surprised to find our rick about 2cm behind a bicycle with half a dead cow hanging off it. All dragging though the mud. Nice. We ate beef that day. There is also a little 'dairy' near our flat, consisting of 3 - 8 cows. The number varies due to the number of cows that are wandering around the streets at any one time. There have been many near-misses with cars and cows involved!
Work-wise, we are settling in to a routine now. The Balwadi Nursery has been the greatest challenge! I am not good at working with small children anyways, so it is even harder when they are crazy and dirty and want to climb all over you. We had rather a discouraging session on Monday: never, ever try to do craft with 3 year olds! We had kids eating crayons, ripping each others work, screaming, etc. You get the picture. Because they have so little, bringing anything at all with us can cause huge problems! And they really are desperate for individual attention, which is hard to give with only three of us. So we were not really looking forward to Wednesdays session there. No idea what to plan or do, etc. BUT while we were there, I was playing with a couple of the kids and the part in the Bible where Jesus tells his disciples to let the children come to him came to mind. Now before I had always thought of clean, quiet, shy kids. But it struck me that actually these kids at Balwadi were probably precisely the kind of children he was referring to! If I am going to be Jesus' hands and feet, I need to just go there and love them and have time for them. So I have enjoyed it more since then. I am still filthy when I leave and they have a fascination with trying to pull my arm hair out, but it is good all the same. It is so rewarding to give time to a kid who never normally gets any attention. Oh yeah, and Sabrina is teaching them a dance for children's day at the teacher's request- good luck to her!
The Jacob's Well class is going well. I love the girls there! They are more confident around us now, and are settling in to the lessons. Sabrina and Helen are both great at the teaching which is fantastic, and we are getting by with our limited language skills. We have one girl who is particularly helpful as she is very bright and has reasonable English skills, so helps to communicate to the others what we are trying to do. There are also several more frustrating cases who don't want to work, but already this week we have seen an improvement. They all call me either 'teacher' or 'sister' which is quite funny. Soon I won't respond to Kandace anymore! I do look forward to our lessons there. As well as trying to bump up the English and Maths skills of the group, we have decided that increasing the self-confidence of the girls is a major aim. Most of them have no belief in themselves, even thought their abilities are good. We have made a few arty things with them in the Hobbies lessons, and they were so pleased to be able to take them home. They really are grateful for everything!
Other than that, we have done a LOT of Christmas card making with the girls this week. I never want to see another one in my life! It was fun to hang around Jacob's Well for most of the day and just be with the girls, drinking lots of chai. We have also been doing the Fun Club for the local slum children which is great fun. Had a bit of a sheep theme going on this week! One of the sessions did involve a rather messy after-sun lotion fight. Next week we should be doing the Kids Clubs at the other two slums. More on that next time I hope.
We joined the gym this week! It is so nice to run again. I was amazed to see women there in their full Salwar suits (the long tops, baggy trousers and scarves) running on the treadmill, using the exercise bike, etc! It looks so strange. Even in the gym you have to cover up. We have also come to the conclusion that Indian people just don't sweat. Seriously. We were the ONLY sweaty people in the gym. I was worried they might throw us out for being too sweaty and disgusting!
We are still having a few plumbing problems in our flat. Apparently the plumber they did have has been sacked as he has a tendency to turn up to work drunk. When we hear strange noises in the night, the old joke of it being the 'Crazy axe murdered' has turned into the 'Drunk plumber'. The other minor problem is that our SIM card has been cut off. It appears the last team who used the same one failed to pay their bill. So we will hopefully sort that out on Monday! I can still receive texts, just not send them.
I am still perfectly healthy, probably more so than I would be at home now that I have joined the gym! The food is good, apart from the beef which we have removed from the menu. With all the cows we see here, it is hard to stomach chewy, hairy beef. Veg is good for me! We do have an increasing number of sugar cravings and I am ashamed to say we have nearly worked our way thorugh all of the chocolate and sweets we brought from home. We did try some Indian sweets today which were good!
We also had Pizza Hut food today! We ventured into the richer area, Anna Salai, today, to do some shopping. It felt strange because I am used to living next door to a slum, and I wasn't expecting the western-ness of the richer area. There really are so many contrasts here! Our Pizza Hut lunch cost us about as much as it would in the UK, but then earlier in the week we ate out at an Indian place down our road for 50p a head!
There have been so many festivals here- every week it seems. I guess it is the huge mish-mash of religions. Last weekend there was a festival that entailed the worship of machines- all the cars were decorated. And there is loads of Diwali stuff in the shops. It is interesting that here everyone seems to be one religion or another, whereas in the UK the majority do not even believe in a god.
So I think that is about it. It has been an exhausting week! I felt so tired last night. I have realised how little I have to offer and how I am not quite as strong and invincible as I thought I was. Alone I can do nothing- it is very humbling to realise that. So I just have to depend on God. I have been challenged on not trying to do things on my own strength, but out of the strength of the One who sent me here. "Not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit of God.".
Thanks to all who have been praying for me! Prayer / praise points:
- Our team is getting on well and we have started to make an effort to pray together every day. May it continue!
- I have started to teach myself Tamil- please continue to pray that I pick it up quickly!
- An answer to prayer: the homesickness has decreased dramatically now.
- For the provision of a translator for key skills.
- That the flat's plumbing will get sorted out!
- For energy and strength to do the work we have to do. I want to give it my best effort, but there is only so much you can fit into a day. Please pray for good ideas and creativity.
- For the Balwadi nursery, that we know what to do with them during our time there.
- For India as a whole country. There is so much need!
Thanks everyone! I hope you are all doing well. Impact guys- let me know how Slum Survivor went! Takes lots of photos. Uni guys- do you actually do any work?! I get a lot of emails that have nothing whatsoever about doing work in them! Enjoy your British weather. I actually miss the cold! Take care and see you in a few months...
"It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God- but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people- and this is not learned in 5 minutes."
"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10
