I'm sitting in a hotel in Hyderabad trying to decide if it is worth going to bed tonight as I have to get up at 3.15am to catch the bus to the airport to be there for 4am. So, during my time of indecision, here are some final thoughts about this wild and whacky country, a small corner of which has been the focus of my attention for the past 12 days or so.
Since Sunday afternoon, having waved goodbye to the team at the airport, I have been staying with Janaki, at the home she shares with her parents. Her parents are so lovely and welcoming and generous, despite having relatively little, and not a word of English between them. But its a beautiful insight into real life staying with them, rather than being shut away in a hotel room, and I love being able to join in the cooking (a dab hand at rolling out chapattis now!), as well as waking to the sound of thwack thwack as all around are ladies doing the washing which involves not only scrubbing the clothes, but whacking them time and again against a washing rock (and that's at 6 in the morning - no chance of a lie in!)
One of the other special things about staying with Janaki was that it meant I was staying in the town of Nallajerla where St Joseph's school is, and where many of the children live. As a result, when I went out for a walk around and about, I would inevitably be greeted by children calling out my name and saying hello, or doing actions from one of the songs they've learnt, or telling me with delight about the names of team members, and what activities they enjoyed last week. Very special moments, and amusing to see the looks on the adults faces as the various children chatted away with a strange white person!
However, it was on an early morning walk that I really understood the long-term impact that the trips can have on the children at the school. I was walking along the side of a massive pond, which was covered with lily pads, with the sun rising - all very beautiful; and then a teenage girl ran up to me calling my name! She was too old to be at St Josephs school so I knew she didn't know me from last week, but on chatting to her it turns out she was there last year and remembered me from that trip, even my name! I was blown away - my role on teams is to do all the background logistics and so I tend to be relatively invisible, or so I had always thought - but maybe not after all! Anyway, I was invited to her home to meet her parents, and drink milk with them - and felt very humbled by their warmth and generosity, given that the home was mud walls and palm leaf roof.
A true reminder just what these trips mean to the young people we work with - and how significant they are as windows shining a different light in the lives that are otherwise so similar day after day.
Last night I met with the trustees of FIAM, and heard from them their passions about the ministry, and what they love about it. Although it took a while for them to open up and start talking, once they got going the depth of their desire to see positive changes for the downtrodden and hurting was very evident, even when they were talking in Telugu and I couldn't understand a word!
Until then I had only heard from Janaki about FIAM, and it was good to hear the trustees giving their thoughts, which totally reinforced all that Janaki had been saying. The focus for them is about showing God's love through faith as much as through words, and showing to the downtrodden across society, and not just to one particular age group. So the projects with the young are as important as those with the elderly as those with the lepers as those with the tribal villages. As all groups are equally deserving of respect, love, and having their basic needs being met. Definitely what Jesus would be thinking!
One area that they would like to expand in particular is providing training opportunities for middle-age widows. Apparently this group of ladies are particularly vulnerable to abuse by others in the community as the people are always suspicious of why a husband should die when in his prime of life, and make up rumours to slander the woman. As a result, the widows don't go out except when absolutely necessary, and thus can't work, or have an income. I was fascinated and appalled in equal measure by this, and encouraged to hear the plans the trustees have for developing training programmes for the ladies so that they can do home-based work and earn money, and a status in the community again, and start to go out. Beautiful, if they can just raise the funds to help with setting it up.
The evening with the trustees ended with us chatting about the various facets of CRED's partnership with FIAM, and rejoicing in what has been achieved already, as well as looking forward with delight to the future. The prayer that followed was wonderful; even the quiet trustees got very vocal as they raised their voices heavenwards, and it was one of those moments when language barriers are totally transcended as we all praised God together, knowing that He understood us all equally.
So, now its time to leave the warmth of India and return to the UK which I understand is a lot damper, windier and colder than when I left it 3 weeks ago. But I can't finish my blogs from India without mentioning the driving and the cricket.
I reckon this is one of the few corners of the globe where the kids are more interested in playing cricket than football, and where they are more likely to know about Alistair Cook, Stuart Broad, Kevin Pieterson and Graeme Swann than David Beckham or Wayne Rooney!
And the driving, and the roads - well, they have to be seen to be believed! The horn is a significant part of the armoury of a vehicle over here; and the first part of any manoeuvre, be it braking, turning, swerving, accelerating, going forwards, backwards or sideways is to sound the horn several times. It is also used to persuade cows to get out of the way, to warn bikes that they are in the way, and to try and win in the games of chicken they seem to play with oncoming vehicles! The potholes just add an extra dimension of 'fun' to the whole thing, and I have to confess that the orderliness, and quietness, of the English roads does have an appeal!
Time to sign off, and try to get a bit of sleep. Thanks for all your support and prayers over the past few weeks especially, and if anyone wants to meet up for a coffee and catch up let me know and I'll make time for it!
Blessings to you
Since Sunday afternoon, having waved goodbye to the team at the airport, I have been staying with Janaki, at the home she shares with her parents. Her parents are so lovely and welcoming and generous, despite having relatively little, and not a word of English between them. But its a beautiful insight into real life staying with them, rather than being shut away in a hotel room, and I love being able to join in the cooking (a dab hand at rolling out chapattis now!), as well as waking to the sound of thwack thwack as all around are ladies doing the washing which involves not only scrubbing the clothes, but whacking them time and again against a washing rock (and that's at 6 in the morning - no chance of a lie in!)
One of the other special things about staying with Janaki was that it meant I was staying in the town of Nallajerla where St Joseph's school is, and where many of the children live. As a result, when I went out for a walk around and about, I would inevitably be greeted by children calling out my name and saying hello, or doing actions from one of the songs they've learnt, or telling me with delight about the names of team members, and what activities they enjoyed last week. Very special moments, and amusing to see the looks on the adults faces as the various children chatted away with a strange white person!
However, it was on an early morning walk that I really understood the long-term impact that the trips can have on the children at the school. I was walking along the side of a massive pond, which was covered with lily pads, with the sun rising - all very beautiful; and then a teenage girl ran up to me calling my name! She was too old to be at St Josephs school so I knew she didn't know me from last week, but on chatting to her it turns out she was there last year and remembered me from that trip, even my name! I was blown away - my role on teams is to do all the background logistics and so I tend to be relatively invisible, or so I had always thought - but maybe not after all! Anyway, I was invited to her home to meet her parents, and drink milk with them - and felt very humbled by their warmth and generosity, given that the home was mud walls and palm leaf roof.
A true reminder just what these trips mean to the young people we work with - and how significant they are as windows shining a different light in the lives that are otherwise so similar day after day.
Last night I met with the trustees of FIAM, and heard from them their passions about the ministry, and what they love about it. Although it took a while for them to open up and start talking, once they got going the depth of their desire to see positive changes for the downtrodden and hurting was very evident, even when they were talking in Telugu and I couldn't understand a word!
Until then I had only heard from Janaki about FIAM, and it was good to hear the trustees giving their thoughts, which totally reinforced all that Janaki had been saying. The focus for them is about showing God's love through faith as much as through words, and showing to the downtrodden across society, and not just to one particular age group. So the projects with the young are as important as those with the elderly as those with the lepers as those with the tribal villages. As all groups are equally deserving of respect, love, and having their basic needs being met. Definitely what Jesus would be thinking!
One area that they would like to expand in particular is providing training opportunities for middle-age widows. Apparently this group of ladies are particularly vulnerable to abuse by others in the community as the people are always suspicious of why a husband should die when in his prime of life, and make up rumours to slander the woman. As a result, the widows don't go out except when absolutely necessary, and thus can't work, or have an income. I was fascinated and appalled in equal measure by this, and encouraged to hear the plans the trustees have for developing training programmes for the ladies so that they can do home-based work and earn money, and a status in the community again, and start to go out. Beautiful, if they can just raise the funds to help with setting it up.
The evening with the trustees ended with us chatting about the various facets of CRED's partnership with FIAM, and rejoicing in what has been achieved already, as well as looking forward with delight to the future. The prayer that followed was wonderful; even the quiet trustees got very vocal as they raised their voices heavenwards, and it was one of those moments when language barriers are totally transcended as we all praised God together, knowing that He understood us all equally.
So, now its time to leave the warmth of India and return to the UK which I understand is a lot damper, windier and colder than when I left it 3 weeks ago. But I can't finish my blogs from India without mentioning the driving and the cricket.
I reckon this is one of the few corners of the globe where the kids are more interested in playing cricket than football, and where they are more likely to know about Alistair Cook, Stuart Broad, Kevin Pieterson and Graeme Swann than David Beckham or Wayne Rooney!
And the driving, and the roads - well, they have to be seen to be believed! The horn is a significant part of the armoury of a vehicle over here; and the first part of any manoeuvre, be it braking, turning, swerving, accelerating, going forwards, backwards or sideways is to sound the horn several times. It is also used to persuade cows to get out of the way, to warn bikes that they are in the way, and to try and win in the games of chicken they seem to play with oncoming vehicles! The potholes just add an extra dimension of 'fun' to the whole thing, and I have to confess that the orderliness, and quietness, of the English roads does have an appeal!
Time to sign off, and try to get a bit of sleep. Thanks for all your support and prayers over the past few weeks especially, and if anyone wants to meet up for a coffee and catch up let me know and I'll make time for it!
Blessings to you
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