Camels on the Street!

This is just too good not to tell! Recently I heard the quiet sound of bells...little, jingly bells...that I had never heard before. So I ran to the window and discovered two men leading camels past the house. I grabbed the camera and a little bit of $ and ran for the door for a good photo opportunity. After giving my rupees to one of the men, I stepped back to take some pictures and he began urging me to get on for a ride. I told him I was a bit nervous about that, but he continued to urge me and I felt my resistance weakening. Before I knew, I was climbing on (just to sit) and then he told me to hang on tight and despite my protests he made the camel stand. What an amazing journey from ground level to camel height!

As the camel stood (hind legs first) I found myself suddenly facing the dirt below and hanging on for dear life. With a bit of terror edging my voice and at the same time experiencing the fun of the moment, I asked the man to take me one way (away from the people so I wouldn't be such a spectacle) and he proceeded to turn the camel and start me down the street past all the houses so everyone could see the silly lady who had gotten on his camel. We s-l-o-w-l-y walked two full blocks while everyone came running out of their houses to watch and laugh as I came by.

It was embarrassing but fun and I can now say that I have had a camel ride...right on the street in front of my house. One of those fun moments in India!

Craft Day At The Seminary

A great time was had by all one day as we got together and worked on flannelgraph backgrounds. The students had recently attended a weekend workshop where they learned to use flannelgraph figures. Then the challenge was helping them learn to make the backgrounds. We are able to purchase flannel and oil pastels here in India, so they had the supplies they needed but lacked the know how. During their Christmas break, everyone who was able gathered together and spent a fund day working. The dining hall looked like an art classroom and the front door looked rather strange with the pattern taped to it. But it made for a fun day with lots of smiles, chattering, and laughter.

Tracing and coloring

Enjoying the finished product!

Our Christmas in India

We have just completed our first Christmas in India and much is the same except the stores in India don't start selling Christmas items before Halloween (which they don't celebrate) and the weather is balmy with blue skies. The sun is shining brilliantly and the temperature is absolutely perfect. December is quickly becoming our favorite time of the year here. If anyone wants to visit us in India, December is definitely the month to do so. We'd love to have you come for Christmas!

We have had many Christmas experiences and are posting a few photos so you can see some of the events of our lives during these past few days. So here goes...

We enjoyed time at Divya Christian Fellowship on the Sunday before Christmas and again on Christmas morning. . The day after Christmas we had special company from friends we had met in the States , Sathish & Helen Divakar and their son Jessie and friend Anderson. We had a wonderful day catching up on all the news of the years that had happened since we had been together. We laughed, ate (believe it or not we discovered that people here love fruit cake - plum cake as they call it [pictured below]...a traditional Christmas treat), laughed, played games, laughed some more and thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Old friends are precious and we are thankful for the ones God has given us here in India.

Than came the New Year. We spent New Years Eve with our Divya Christian Fellowship family playing games, singing songs, and watching a video about John Huss (a 15th century martyr) and sharing a meal together. Everyone got home before midnight, and we were thankful to be safely ensconced in our cozy home before all the revelry broke out into the streets.

The morning of January 1st was spent with the seminary guys. We intended to show a video and then have lunch, but the power went out for several hours, so we played games while we waited for the power to come back on (hopefully) and when it finally did the fellows sat down and watched the video while they ate lunch. It was a fun morning that worked out perfectly despite the challenges.

So you see, we have had a wonderful Christmas in India. No matter where we go, our Father gives us friends who are family to us and with them we had great times of fellowship.

Our Trip to Bangkok, Thailand

We've just returned from Bangkok, Thailand, a trip we took out of India which is required by the type of Indian visa we hold. A great time was had by all as we traveled with friends Nathan and Rachel Waldock and their daughter Rebekah . Posted below are a few pictures of the events of our five days.

The Bangkok Christian Guesthouse was a great place to stay and we enjoyed meeting people from all over the world...England, South Africa, India, Finland, Australia and even Michigan...very close to Marie's home state of Wisconsin! To see pictures of the hotel, you can go to their web site at www.bcgh.org and view pictures of the interior and exterior of the building. It's a great place to stay if you're ever in Bangkok and is close to the Sky Train which will quickly take you to many interesting places around the city. That was the preferred mode of transportation while we were there and found it to be a wonderful alternative to walking in the heat. Marie said several times that Seattle should get to work on such a mass transit system. Bangkok seems to be several light years ahead of many American cities in their mass transit plans.

Our first impression of Bangkok was that it was HOT & humid, neat and orderly. There were no cows on the roads, no dogs running around, and the vehicles all stayed in their proper places on the streets. It was definitely culture shock to be suddenly transported (in a 3 1/2 hour flight) to such neatness and order. We learned that if anyone is caught throwing trash on the ground, they will be fined 2,500 baht (the equivalent of $75.00 U.S.). Needless to say, we hung on to our trash as if it were gold!

One of the first things we heard when we where on the ground for a very short while was that we had just missed HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand's, 80th birthday event. His birthday was December 5th and indications were that they were still showing their great respect (like everyone wearing yellow shirts on the same day and then blue shirts on other days to show their deep loyalty and respect for the man who has lovingly led them for 60 years of his life). Pictures of him were everywhere...in the malls, on the street as seen here, and even posted on the exteriors of big buildings. Not knowing much about Thailand or its history, we didn't understand the feelings of the people. Then on the plane back to India we discovered a book that spoke of all the work he has done for his country which is a constitutional monarchy. His crowning achievement seems to be that, through much personal effort, he has led his people out of their dependence on the opium trade and into organic gardening of food as an alternative . That accomplishment alone certainly helped us understand their deep regard for this man who truly seems to love his people. He is apparently a noble man with deep respect for the position he holds...a good example for many rulers in the world these days.

We checked into our rooms at the Christian Guesthouse, took a quick nap and then went out to meet a young lady from the States who is in Bangkok working for a year as a teacher/nanny for some MK's whose parents are attending language school. Bethany Johnson hails from Colville, Washington, and we enjoyed our visit with her as we munched Subway sandwiches. Subway was our restaurant of choice as we drove those many miles while we were on deputation and this was the first time we've had one since coming to Asia. It was a nice treat and it was great to see and chat with Bethany. Thanks Bethany for taking that 40 minute trip just to visit with us.

For two days while Nathan and Rachel traveled to see friends from school days, we napped, wandered around a mall across the street from the hotel, ate and napped again. It was a wonderfully restful two days and much needed after our busy first two quarters. We attended church at a newly started International Christian Fellowship meeting within the guesthouse on Sunday evening and met several people from Thailand and the manager and his wife, David and Joy Hsu. He is Chinese American and she is from mainland China. So there's another country that was represented at the guesthouse...China!

On Monday, we awakened to another hot and sunny day. Our plan was to travel to the river via Sky Train and then take a river taxi to The Grand Palace where we would (and did) spend the morning walking and oohing and aahing over the amazing architecture of the various kingdoms throughout the centuries in Thailand.

The water taxi's shown above are just two of many types available to ride. Some were city operated; many were private businesses. We took the speedboat type which is shown above traveling under the SkyTrain rails, and we had fun as it cut through the choppy water. Lots of spray that was impossible to dodge added to the fun of the moment.

The following three pictures of buildings are just a SMALL sampling of the various styles of architecture that are represented in the 60 acre Grand Palace grounds. Various kings throughout the centuries built their own magnificent edifices during their rule to make up this amazing grouping of buildings.

(Please double click on the pictures for an enlarged view)

Not only were the buildings spectacular, but there were also amazing murals depicting mythological history and statuary of mythological figures and some real creatures. Everything was beautifully done and we didn't have to have much artistic ability of our own to be amazed at the skill that it took to accomplish the works.

We spent many hours touring the palace grounds and came away with a profound amazement at the size and wonder of the architectural accomplishments of the past.

Finally we were tired and ready to make our way to some air conditioned comfort. So, we headed for the Sky Train and a western-style shopping center where we could wander the aisles to our hearts content.

After our hours of immersion in Thailand's past, we walked the streets of Bangkok later, and realized that the present day people are the great heritage of Bangkok and the love of God's heart. Today the majority are Buddhist and don't know their Creator. We thank Him for those who have been called to that great land to share the truth about their Creator and Savior. Pray that they will understand their need!

A friendly watchman who smiled at us each time we walked by. We hope he never meets a bad guy...he looks altogether too friendly!

A street vendor who was selling wobbly headed dogs. We had to get one...they reminded us of the wobbly heads in India. (Are they saying yes or are they saying 'no'? We never quite know).

A gardener at the Grand Palace

Miss Thailand, the winner of a tri-city beauty pagent and a popular male model in Thailand all rushed Marie when she showed up at Silom Mall in Bangkok and asked to have their pictures taken with her...Yeah right! Would you believe that the designer of these amazing costumes volunteered to take the picture for me and then shared the above information? All I did was ask if I could take their picture and was rather embarrassed to be included in the photo with them. But it was fun and they were sincerely friendly.

Our Trip to Mussoorie

During the month of September we were privileged to take a train trip to Mussoorie (located in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains). It was a two week trip with a total of four nights and about five days, traveling on the train. The rest of the time we enjoyed being out in India. Some of the pictures we are posting were taken through the train window as we quickly passed by. Please forgive the quality of some of the shots, but we thought you would be interested to see some of the things we saw along the way.

We traveled in style with the Waldock family. We had a 3 tier sleeper compartment in an air-conditioned car. When we boarded the train and found our compartment, we were surprised to discover that there were no curtains to separate us from others who were traveling. So at night, we all just climbed in our bunks and slept, trusting that we would find nothing missing in the morning. Praise the Lord, everything reached our destination with us except one water bottle which we weren't upset about losing.

Food is cooked on the trains and we ordered each meal from a man who came through taking orders. When the food was served, the men were very organized and knew exactly what we had ordered. It was tasty, and with all the sitting we did, we're surprised that we didn't gain tons of weight. Lots of white rice and beans are eaten here in India and if we're not careful, we puff up quite nicely. All day long men were walking through the train cars selling coffee, chai, water and soda plus snacks. We quite literally felt like we were eating our way across India. These pictures were taken at a station where people got off the train to purchase food similar to what we ate (perhaps cheaper but less safe).

We passed through some beautiful countryside and had to satisfy ourselves with pictures taken through train windows. Perhaps someday we will be able to wander through some of the countryside, but not on this trip.

Some of the faces we saw were beautiful, some sad, some tired. We wonder what is the story behind each one. We know for sure that God loves each one and knows everything about them. Will they ever know Him?

Shashi & Maria's Wedding

We had the great blessing of attending the wedding reception held for Shashi & Marie after their late afternoon wedding in mid July. It was quite an affair and a real celebration of how God blessed Shashi for standing firm in his faith. His father had originally threatened that he would be cast out of the family if he did not return to Hinduism, but soon realized that his son (Shashi) was serious about his faith and acquiesed to him marrying a Christian girl. His parents did attend the wedding and reception and it was a lovely evening and a great testimony to God's kindness to Shashi as he stood strong for the Lord despite the pressures to leave Christianity. Praise the Lord!

Presenting the bride and groom.














The extravagant meal eaten under the stars
(after the monsoon downpour)!

Cooking behind the scenes
(imagine this in the U.S.)!

Our Home in India

We thought you might like to see our home.

The first picture is of the exterior of the building. We live on the ground floor, the landlord occupies the next two floors and their second floor also includes a flat where two single fellows live. On the very top they have built what we would call an efficiency apartment.

Before we made it to India, we felt like we were giving everything away and it was quite a stretching experience. When we got to India, God led us immediately to the home that we feel He picked for us. We have worked hard at getting simple things that look nice for very reasonable prices. For those of you who think of missions as giving up, we thought you would like to see just how the Lord has provided for us for minimal cost. God is gracious and kind we thank Him for the provision He has made for us through you.

Living Room

Dining Room













Bedroom













Kitchen

Laundry area