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
