Monday 2 February 2009

Greetings from INDIA Monday 2 February 2009

It’s been a wonderful but sad day!!!

Joy & I couldn’t figure out to get hot water for showers this morning, so we didn’t dawdle around! We met Sue, Vilma & Kotesh for breakfast in the outdoor patio restaurant just after 8:30 am. Since I’m not very fond of Indian food, I ordered plain dosa & ate it without dipping it in the chutney & sauce served with it.

One of our big projects for today was to find one of the FIVE Staples office supply stores Mel had located on the internet for us before we left the school & purchase some plastic file boxes for the medical charts at the school & also some legal-size hanging file folders for Maranatha’s office at the school. We found Staples quickly, but we had to take a circuitous route to get to it because of all the one-way streets. It seemed so strange to see a Staples store in an Indian context. We went inside & started to search. It was fun exploring the store but…they didn’t have any legal size file folders OR file boxes! I had been positive we’d find them there—what a disappointment!!!

Nearby we’d seen a store called Big Bazaar & Sue wanted to get some things there, so we headed there. It was an unusual experience. There were signs outside saying something to the effect that anyone entering this store was accepting their policy of frisking people for security purposes! This store had had three floors & probably is the Indian version of K-Mart. As only God could have arranged things, we had only been inside the store a few seconds when I caught sight of plastic file boxes. Needless to say we were thrilled…and we bought all they had in stock for the school!!! It was a lot of fun exploring this store & checking out all the interesting merchandise for sale. It had a small grocery section with all the ingredients to make Indian food. Sue was delighted to find some canned peaches—a rare treat! In the refrigerated section I even found some small containers of chocolate Silk soymilk!!!

Next on our to-do list for today was to visit Lowry Adventist College. Founded in 1915 & located in the outskirts of Bangalore, the college stretches out over 50 acres of land & offers several Bachelor & Masters programs of study. Lowry Adventist College serves 2000 students. We ran into Sunny (the Head Master at Cuddapah School’s son) who is studying Computer Technology at Lowry. Kotesh took us to the office of the Vice President, Dr. T. Christian Raj, who gave us some refreshments & a tour of the campus. I really enjoyed visiting this institution that has had such an influence promoting Christianity in India.

When we left Lowry, it was time to head for the airport for Joy to catch her flight to Delhi. Before bidding her goodbye, we gathered around her & had prayer together for the last time.

We had been searching for a hardware store so we could buy some parts for the bunk beds & a stove at the school, but we had no success. As we were all watching the frontage roads for hardware stores, Sue saw an Italian Restaurant & A Chinese Restaurant. We hadn’t had much to eat since breakfast at the hotel, so we decided it was time to eat. Kotesh & the driver dropped us off & continued the hardware store search. The sun was going down behind some palm trees making a beautiful site.

After some discussion, we decided to check out the Italian Restaurant. It was located on the 2nd floor above the Chinese Restaurant. The tables were set with tablecloths & stemmed glassware. We looked at the menu to check prices & then decided to eat there. We happened to be the only customers, so we had wonderful service & the food was fantastic! I ordered vegetable lasagna, garlic bread with cheese, & soda at a cost of 490 rupees—about $10 US.

As we were eating, Kotesh called & I told him we were almost finished eating at the Italian restaurant above the Chinese one. He said he’d meet us there in about 15 minutes. We decided to wait in the comfort of the restaurant. Time passed & I tried to call Kotesh & couldn’t get him—his phone battery was dead. Finally we decided to go downstairs & stand outside while we waited for him to come & get us. In about 5 minutes or so, he appeared, asking us where we had been! It seems that he misunderstood what I had told him & thought I said something about “Italian furniture,” so he’d gone into all the nearby furniture stores asking them if they had seen three Caucasian ladies!!! We all had a good laugh about the miscommunication!!!

We were supposed to checkout of our hotel by 9 pm, but we got tangled up in a huge traffic jam—bumper-to-bumper stop & go travel for miles. Apparently there was some kind of special event going on that created major traffic congestion. Sue & Vilma had wanted to get some food supplies from a store called Nilgiris, located just a few blocks from our hotel, but it was closed when they got there. We didn’t get back to the hotel until about 10 pm & I still had to repack for the trip home! I wanted to pack my carryon suitcase inside a larger one so I’d have fewer pieces of luggage to deal with on the trip home & I needed to get my purchases from Bangalore in, too. I went straight to my room & started to pack feverishly. After the traffic problems getting back to the hotel, I was afraid that it might take more than two hours to drive to the airport.

The Lord really blessed me & I was able to consolidate my bags & still get everything in. Vilma & Sue only had small bags to pack since they’d only come for one night & were leaving directly for the school after dropping me off at the airport. Kotesh used my phone charger to charge his cell phone while he went to pay the hotel bill & as soon as Sue was out of her room she came to mine & pulled bags out to the car as soon as they were full. The driver & Kotesh really had an adventure packing the car, since the back door was jammed shut & wouldn’t open, & the car was already full of plastic file boxes for the school!!! Their persistence paid off, & we headed for the airport by 10:30 pm.

The driver took a different route to the airport, so the traffic wasn’t quite as bad & we arrived there about midnight. I said goodbye to everyone at the curb, so they wouldn’t have to find a place to park & could get on their way back to the school. It was very hard to say goodbye to such precious friends!!!

The Lord really blessed me again because I didn’t have to pay for overweight luggage, I didn’t have any problems going through security, & I found my gate without any difficulty. Kotesh called me to be sure everything went alright & I assured him that I had sailed through the process.

Sitting at the gate, waiting to board my flight to Paris, I reflected on all the blessings of this trip. Although I didn’t spend as much time visiting people in the villages & leading mini VBS programs during the medical clinics as I had anticipated, I had the privilege of presenting messages from Scripture in several churches—especially the AWESOME opportunity of worshipping with my brothers & sisters in the Chelekompalli Church—and also to leave a legacy of a medical record system for the school as well as a computer listing of all the students alphabetically & by standards (grade levels). I was given another glimpse of the great challenge of presenting the good news of Jesus’ love to people who live in superstition & darkness. One afternoon as I was working alone at the clinic, Mr. Principal (that is the polite way to address him) told me that a blind man had come with his twin sons, wanting to enroll them in the school & asked me to sponsor them. Mr. Principal sent me home with the request to try to find people to sponsor seven needy children at the school--$30/month or $360/year provides room, board & education for a student who would not have that opportunity otherwise. I had expected it to be easier to leave India & come home this time—especially because of my little grandson, Kayden—but in some ways it’s harder than ever to leave! This trip I’ve had a chance to see a little more what a commitment to stay overseas as a missionary costs on a personal level, but also what an incredible difference one person, completely committed to follow God’s leading, can make in the lives of others for eternity.

I pray the lessons I’ve learned will not be lost in the hustle & bustle of life back in the US, the vision will not dim, & my commitment to the Lord & willingness to follow His leading in my life will never waver. He is coming soon—MARANATHA!!!

Blessings from INDIA…where the people are beautiful, the children are irresistible, & the GOD of Heaven is changing lives for eternity—including mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!