India Journal recapping first 10 days

Today is a day of rest for us. Our friends, David and Shirley have left to return to the US. Bob and I will stay for another week continuing the work we have started last week.

In this last week, we have traveled to a city about 5 hours out of Hyderabad. There, we held a women’s conference, a pastor’s conference, we visited a village in the interior jungle and we were guests and spoke at a betrothal ceremony. Here in India, marriages are still arranged. This couple hasn’t even spoken to each other except for a few words and now they are engaged for 3 weeks. They will be married in December. I had the opportunity to speak about covenant and how a couple must work together.

We returned to Hyderabad where we visited Joyland again and experienced their Christmas program. It was very early for them, but Lata our Host, wanted us to see them get their presents. The children were very excited to see the clothes they were receiving, but they had to give them back until the REAL Christmas party that will be celebrated at the Christmas season. They gave us a great party, though.

While we were busy with many activities here, we forgot that Bob had a birthday, so we celebrated his birthday with a cake at the Christmas party. The children got a big kick out of that!

Bob and David also had a chance to study the carpentry needs at Joyland. We saw that there was thick plywood for seats and desktops on a metal frame. They were very sturdy, but some of the woods pieces had come off. There were many desks that needed repair, so the boys made a list of tools and materials. Shopping here is not like in the USA. It is quite an adventure! But after two days, they had all the supplies they needed to start the class. It was 3 p.m. when they got started which was just when school let out, so they had too much help, but allowed the children to experience hammering, sanding, and screwing. Bob will have to whittle down the interest from 50 to 4 students!!!!

We also traveled 80 kilometers to the future sight of Joyland which will then be called Promise Land. Lata has secured 4 acres where she has already built a beautiful home for widows. It isn’t ready to receive people until a security wall is built around the 4 acres. To do that, we have suggested that Lata purchase a block-making machine where she can get some folks to make the block on the grounds and also sell block for profit. They are seriously considering that, but need money to do that. Once they have the block machine, they will be able to build not only the wall but all the buildings that will make up the campus of Promise Land. We love the atmosphere and the country feel of this property. It is quiet, peaceful, and with the 4 acres they will be a wonderful opportunity to grow their own vegetables and raise some livestock. I’m really excited about their future!

We also had an opportunity to speak to a group of young people (early 20's) who are children's evangelists. They are in training, and are excited about their future as ambassadors of God. So, we all encouraged them in their future influence over young people. They are an awesome group of folks.

Today, is a Muslim holiday. I don’t quite understand, but it has to do with Abraham and a goat. The way the Muslim’s Koran reads, it wasn’t Isaac that was taken to the mountain to be sacrificed, but Ishmael. So for the last several days, there have been thousands of goats corralled along the streets of Hyderabad for Muslim families to buy. Today, they will sacrifice the goat (which was found in the bush to take the place of Ishmael) and slaughter it. Then the families will enjoy a banquet of goat! . . . What a country!

Although it is a “rest day” for us, hopefully Bob will be able to hold workshop class with a couple boys that showed interest and promise for the carpentry work on the desks. So we’ll head over to Joyland this afternoon.

With our friends gone, Bob and I will continue to travel to another city this next week. There we will host another Pastor’s conference then visit villages to give encouragement and inspiration. Continue to pray for us as, once again, we will be on the roads of India.

Arrived in Hyderabad

We arrived in Hyderabad after traveling 27 hours. After a wonderful flight on British Air with no problems with connections we were waiting to receive our luggage in Hyderabad. We waited for 1-1/2 hours. For some reason, the plane baggage door would not open and it took a long while to work through that. Then we had to wait for all our luggage to appear in front of us. Lata and Abraham had been waiting, standing for 4 hours!

We were taken to the home of one of Lata's daughters where they have allowed us to stay while they moved in with Lata. What a wonderful gesture!!! There are us two couples and we each have a bedroom with a bath; a kitchen with microwave. See, it's not all archaic:)

After getting rest, Lata and Abraham came for us to take us out to dinner and shopping. We ate Chinese and it was wonderful since we hadn't eaten for 12 hours! (Sleeping) Then we went shopping for Shirley who needed to get clothing to wear (punjabe). Punjabi's are the pant with the tunic over and come in so many beautiful fabrics, prints or beaded. It was fun for us but the boys suffered just waiting for us to pick the perfect outfits!

Next morning, we were taken to Joyland where the children were waiting with great excitement. They had an assembly with skits, dancing and singing prepared. They honored us with not only garlands, but a gift from the area. They then allowed us to share with the children and the children asked us many questions about our lives and life in America.

Lata's daughter had a wonderful lunch prepared for us to eat there at Joyland while the children ate their lunches in typical Indian style...seated on the floor with big plates eating rice with a vegetable gravy. Meat is a very rare and special occasion, like Christmas.

We hated to leave, but Lata had a schedule. We needed to get back to the house, finish packing for a trip to nearby city (only 3 hours away) where we will host a Women's Conference on Saturday, speak in churches on Sunday, and host a Pastor's Conference on Monday.

Please continue to pray for us. I am now sitting in our hotel ready to start the Women's meeting. It will be blessed time and we're excited to see what God will do in these meetings.

Journey to India

TOMORROW Bob and I will leave for Hyderabad, India. With the home front cared for by friends and family, we will have the freedom to minister to a people whose culture and lives are totally different from ours.

This is Bob's first trip to an Asian country and no matter how much preparation or pictures we look at, it is still a culture shock. This will be my 7th trip and I still consider this nation to be incredibly different from our American lifestyle.

The traffic is unimaginable - people... thousands of people around us all the time, the noise of honking horns and traffic fill our senses. The poor, poor people, many begging. . . children begging. . . . and yet there are the wealthy. Shop after shop that look like sheds line the streat. Animals roaming freely on the main thoroughfares and gods, millions of gods and their shrines everywhere you look.

With that in mind, I would appreciate your prayers and thoughts. We will be there two weeks with a very distinct purpose in mind.

We will be working with Joyland, a children's home of 125 children and school for 350 students. Bob and the husband of a couple traveling with us, Dave, will be evaluating and launching a woodworking shop where the older students or residents of Joyland can learn how to use power tools that we will buy with money collected in America. The goal is for the new carpenters to learn a skill that will enable them to make useful products to sell. With that money, they can help provide economic assistance to Joyland's expenses.

Shirley and I will be visiting women, speaking to groups helping them to see their value as people. We will attempt to help them see that they have a destiny and that they are important to God. There will be a lot of travel involved.

Thank you for your prayers. Keep watching this blog as I will post as often as I can. I will also have video that I will post via YouTube so you can see snippits of our journey. God Bless You All, Debbie