Hi everyone,
I am running a day late with my blogging because yesterday we went on our church 'PicTreat'- i.e. a picnic and retreat. We went over to Mahaballapuram (about 1.5 hours drive from Chennai, near where we had our retreat) and had a good day eating lots of food, playing silly games and learning some stuff about spiritual gifts. They were really keen to get people to commit to participating more in church, using the gifts they have and getting involved. But it is really difficult for us as we know we are leaving so soon. It is a great church and we have made good friends, but I still don't feel like it is my home church. On the bus on the way back I was talking to a student who asked me if my freckles were a disease, and did I have them before I came to India! I tried my best to explain, but not sure if he understood me. They really do have a problem with freckles over here! And for most of the day I was followed around by 'Astro-boy', a 7-year-old who is convinced he is an astronaut and enjoys punching me. Just like being at Harvest Church! Another weird thing I have noticed about a lot of Christians here, even from when we first arrived, is that a lot of them use the expression, 'Oh my God!' quite frequently. When you ask them about it, they don't seem to understand why we have a problem with it. Strange.
Church has been good, though. Last week a guy from America who was introduced as a clinical psychologist spoke. We were expecting some really serious bloke, but he reminded me of Kermit the frog! Today we had a fairly famous Indian model visiting who gave an amazing testimony and then our pastor, Jake, was speaking about being missionaries in whatever context we are in, be it 'secular' work or full-time ministry. I thought it was interesting that the word Jesus uses when he descirbes 'casting out' demons (ekkballo) is the same word that is used when we are told to pray that more workers will be 'sent out' (ekkballo) to bring in the harvest. Literally a violent kicking out of our comfort zones.
We had the Bangalore team with us last weekend and for Monday and Tuesday. Visited all the best places in Chennai with them: Sparky's, the Fruit Shop, Spencers Plaza, etc. Suddenly everyone is thinking about buying gifts to bring home, but it feels a bit ridiculous to go spending loads of money on little elephant ornaments when they are not at all what I associate with my time in India. So I may look for some more original things to bring back...maybe a few termites?! We also went to see 'I am Legend' with them. It was TERRIFYING! We walked into the cinema to find that about 80% of the audience were men and then Sabrina and I spent most of the film hiding behind her scarf.
The Bangalore girls came to work with us on Monday. I don't think they were quite prepared for our Balwadi, despite our warnings! Theirs is quite different. It was a particularly bad morning, with a kid being sick and total chaos. I counted 45 kids there and we only had 35 colouring sheets. We visited the Bangalore team's Balwadi while we were there, and it was really good for us to get ideas and have something to aspire to. Nice clean children, separated into age groups with full-time teachers for every class, beautiful displays, and all of them speaking a fair bit of English. Apparently it started a bit like ours but over the years they have put a lot of effort into educating the community and teaching parents how to look after their kids which makes a big difference. We came back with lots of ideas on ways to improve what we are doing- try to teach more basic English and Maths skills to the kids, improving hygiene, separating out the ages. Unfortunately, unlike the Bangalore Balwadi, ours is not run by Oasis and we are really the only point of contact that Oasis has with them. Hopefully in the future that will change. We had all the Balwadi children marching around waving their Indian flags and with painted faces for Republic Day (yesterday). Was one of the funniest things I have seen!
We roped the Bangalore team into acting out the second part of the Joseph story for Fun Station- I played the very convincing role of Potiphar! The kids enjoyed it. We also got to visit Vyasarpadi and SM Nagar with them. At Vyasarpadi we met the group of women who have just started doing the embroidery course. They are all housewives and a bit older than the girls we teach at Jacob's Well, but they seemed lovely. We may be going over there to do a hobby class or similar with them once or twice a week. The Fun Station there is starting tomorrow, too, so hopefully we will be spending a fair bit of time there over our last few weeks. SM Nagar was, as always, filled with children desperate to play and have their photos taken. Oasis is still working there but we are not really involved, so it was nice to get an update.
Before we left on the overnight train to go to Bangalore, we had to clear EVERYTHING from EVERY shelf in our flat because pest control were coming in (at last!). We found several new termite colonies, so it wasn't a day too soon. Arriving back from Bangalore we found our flat still in ruins and absolutely stinking, but it looks like pest control did a pretty thorough job. There were apparently yet more termite infestations that we never knew about! But then this morning I woke up and found a note from Sabrina on the table saying, 'They're back!'. The fear that filled my heart when I read that...! Turns out they are all crawling out of the skirting and shelves in the bathroom and kitchen and then are dying, presumably because of the chemicals that were injected into the walls. I just hope this is the end of them!
We removed our fish to the Oasis office whilst pest control were in, to the amusement of the staff! I'll make sure they sign the visitors book. And the other good animal-related news is that although Archibald is still missing, there is a new Archibald! The tiniest, cutest little ginger kitten. Even Sabrina likes him!
Our visit to Bangalore went fairly well, although it was very brief. We all got on the overnight train to find that out carriage we infested with cockroaches! First we had everyone trying to swat every single mosquito in the carriage, and then the flip-flops were off to whack all the cockroaches crawling around. It was funny to watch! I'm not too bothered by the roaches, but there was something nibbling the train by my head all night, so I didn't get too much sleep.
Bangalore is quite different to Chennai- cooler, much more Western and with far less clutter on the roads. The Oasis office there is also much bigger which gives working there a different atmoshpere (made me realise how much I like being part of a small team). We stayed with a family for a night which was nice. They made us feel very at home and fed us lots of dosa and idli for breakfast. We even had a hot shower and TV- luxury! We visited the various different projects there. Like Chennai, they have a Jacob's Well (although it is much bigger) and are running the Balwadi. There is also a lot of anti-trafficking work going on and a new project working with people who are affected by HIV/AIDS. Another thing I noticed about Bangalore is that it has a very high Muslim population with mosques on every corner and so many women who are totally covered except for the small eye-slit. Watching all the men rushing over to the mosque for the call to prayer made me feel sad. There is something about Islam that gets to me more than Hinduism. Maybe it is the devotion of the people and the lengths they will go to for what they believe, but in the end, what will it achieve? It seems so futile that they are pouring themselves into something that is not the truth.
Oh yes, and while we were in Bangalore we watched...THE CHRISTMAS DOCTOR WHO SPECIAL! Made my day- Helen and Alannah are fellow fans, so we watched a recording Alannah had been sent on their DVD player.
We said goodbye to the Bangalore girls until Macrh- a very strange feeling! I find it hard to imagine coming home. We are still trying to organise our holiday for Macrh. It is all a bit of a nightmare. We thought we could do all our flights for 50 quid and then realised we had been looking at just the ticket price and tax is like 5 times that price on top! Sabrina is doing a grand job organising it all and I am moaning about not wanting to be too busy and not wanting to spend too much money (I know, so helpful!) I think it will be a good holiday, though.
The train back to Chennai was fun- it was an evening train and we got fed CONSTANTLY all the way home: sandwiches, samosas, chocolate bars, soup, juice and then a main meal with pudding!
Next week is back to normal. We only have 5 working weeks left- I can hardly believe it! We are getting busier over the next few weeks, tho, what with new work starting and needing to tie up everything we have been doing.
- Please pray that we handle our new work and busy schedule well- Vyasarpadi Fun Club starts tomorrow and we start teaching the Oasis staff English in a week.
- Please pray for the Bangalore team who have had a bt of a rough week with illness, bad news from home and now needing to move flats.
- Please pray for Balwadi and all the changes we would like to make, that we have wisdom in it all.
- Please pray for these holiday plans!
- Please pray for SD Puram Fun Station, that we have no problems getting a translator while Vijay is away.
- Please pray that I sort out where I want to go next with my Jacob's Well lessons as we reach the end of our current topics.
- Thank God for our safe travel to Bangalore and back.
- Thank God that the termite issue is being sorted and pray that we have no further problems!
- Thank God that I am feeling back to normal again and my cold is on the way out.
That's all for now. Perhaps next week's blog will have a bit more work-related rambling!
Take care,
Kandace x
"It is better to burn quickly and melt many souls than to burn slowly and melt none." Sadhu Sundar Singh
"My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
"But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Psalm 131
