Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Making our way home
The City of Kalimpong
Pastor Rai and Family
Team USA with the girls
GNI Kalimpong Girls
Train Ride to Calcutta
Bug Phobia
Pastor Rai and Family
Team USA with the girls
GNI Kalimpong Girls
Train Ride to Calcutta
Bug Phobia
It took a little while to get there but Kalimpong was well worth the trip. The children were absolutely beautiful and the city itself was like something out of the Ming Dynasty. Located in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, it has a population of almost 43,000 people. Pastor Rai and his wife started a ministry six years ago to rescue high-risk girls from traffickers targeting poor village girls for the sex trade. They have partnered with GNI and are in the process of moving into a facility that will be able to house many more girls.
We boarded the train last night at around 7:30 p.m. and arrived in Calcutta 6:30 a.m. this morning. We had a sleeping car and the team agreed that it was better than sleeping in the car for 12 hours, but not what you might consider a restful night sleep.
It's hard to believe that we are winding up our time here in India. We might be physically leaving but I think all of our hearts have been deeply touched by the ministry that we've been privileged to be a part of and our hearts will remain here with these kids.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Happy Reunions
Rene assisting our local dentist.
Lodha children at Medical Camp
Great bedside manner
Time at the Christopher House
Christopher House under construction.
Lodha children at Medical Camp
Great bedside manner
Time at the Christopher House
Christopher House under construction.
We have great news! Allene will be reunited with her luggage tomorrow morning. At this point we are about 500 miles or more from Calcutta (where her luggage is) but in just a couple hours we will be boarding an all-night train from Gangam (in south Orissa) to Calcutta.
It has been non-stop but the time with the children has been priceless. We've visited three Dream Centers since our last blog entry and the reception that we've received has been nothing less than a royal one. Each time we are garnered with flowers, sung to and just about hugged and kissed to pieces. It's been pretty amazing.
Yesterday we had a pic-nic on the piece of property in Gajapatti that will be the future site of the next Dream Center. It was almost breathtaking. The whole community came together to sing, dance, pray and give thanks for the amazing blessing of this beautiful site. It's located just a hundred yards or so from a very nice lake and is surrounded by picturesque mountains. Larry's invocation was a comparison of the Children of Israel going into the promised land and from where these kids are and where they will be going to - it was very appropriate.
Tomorrow we fly up to Kalimpong, at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains. Please keep us in your prayers as travel northward in what has been quite a tiring and amazing adventure. Blessings and love...
It has been non-stop but the time with the children has been priceless. We've visited three Dream Centers since our last blog entry and the reception that we've received has been nothing less than a royal one. Each time we are garnered with flowers, sung to and just about hugged and kissed to pieces. It's been pretty amazing.
Yesterday we had a pic-nic on the piece of property in Gajapatti that will be the future site of the next Dream Center. It was almost breathtaking. The whole community came together to sing, dance, pray and give thanks for the amazing blessing of this beautiful site. It's located just a hundred yards or so from a very nice lake and is surrounded by picturesque mountains. Larry's invocation was a comparison of the Children of Israel going into the promised land and from where these kids are and where they will be going to - it was very appropriate.
Tomorrow we fly up to Kalimpong, at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains. Please keep us in your prayers as travel northward in what has been quite a tiring and amazing adventure. Blessings and love...
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
We've got luggage!
It's hard to believe that it's been a week since our humble little missions team left for India. We've experienced so much is such a short period of time. One of our more formidable challenges has been living without our luggage for almost a week. It's all been quite the epic saga but thanks to all of Larry's phone calls, Dr. Rhaman persistence, a 10 hour van ride, 6 hours in the airport and a lot of fanagling, we all have our luggage save 1, poor Allene.
Thanks to the help of some very generous medical professionals from Mercy Hospital in Calcutta, we have pulled off two very successful medical campaigns in some of the most rural parts of West Bengal offering services to the poorest of the poor; people with very little access to health care. We saw patients with every kind of skin disease, including leprosy, bumps, aches, pains and contusions. It was quite the experience.
We've also made our way to four of the 18 Dream centers throughout Orissa and West Bengal. The children have been amazing, full of joy and life and above all, hope. The are so loving and have tons of energy, much more than most of us can handle. It's been such a great privilege getting a little peek into their lives and having them share their gifts of song and dance. Yesterday the power of God was so strong during our time of worship I don't think there was a dry eye on our team. Tears of joy were streaming down the cheeks of more than one child and some of the smaller boys actually got down on their hands and knees to worship. It was amazing.
Please keep us in your prayer as we continue at break neck speed traveling throughout Eastern India visiting Dream Centers and seeing what God is doing in the lives of these precious children. I'll send pictures when I get a chance. Blessings
Thanks to the help of some very generous medical professionals from Mercy Hospital in Calcutta, we have pulled off two very successful medical campaigns in some of the most rural parts of West Bengal offering services to the poorest of the poor; people with very little access to health care. We saw patients with every kind of skin disease, including leprosy, bumps, aches, pains and contusions. It was quite the experience.
We've also made our way to four of the 18 Dream centers throughout Orissa and West Bengal. The children have been amazing, full of joy and life and above all, hope. The are so loving and have tons of energy, much more than most of us can handle. It's been such a great privilege getting a little peek into their lives and having them share their gifts of song and dance. Yesterday the power of God was so strong during our time of worship I don't think there was a dry eye on our team. Tears of joy were streaming down the cheeks of more than one child and some of the smaller boys actually got down on their hands and knees to worship. It was amazing.
Please keep us in your prayer as we continue at break neck speed traveling throughout Eastern India visiting Dream Centers and seeing what God is doing in the lives of these precious children. I'll send pictures when I get a chance. Blessings
Friday, January 4, 2008
The Indian Engagement Party
Engagement Ceremony
The Party Venue
The dinner line
The special guests
The first in line!
We just returned from the most delightful engagement party. It was in almost every way like a wedding with the exchanging of vows and even rings. It was beautiful and the food was wonderful. It was held outdoors at a local seminary in downtown Kolcata. The people here never cease to amaze us. They are so polite and hospitable. The seemed overjoyed to have had us celebrating this time with them. It's occasions like these that really challenge us to think about how hospitable we really are....
Enjoying the Journey
Rolling through the Airports
Streets of Kolkata
View from hotel rooftop
We have arrived in Kolkata (Calcutta) India and it's been quite an adventure. We left Tampa around 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday and arrived at our hotel at 9:30 a.m. on Friday. What a trip! Everyone is in great spirits but a little travel weary. We have plans to leave go to Balasore at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning but we've run into a little snag, none of our 16 bags have arrived and no one knows a thing about them, so please say a little prayer for us. Communication tends to be a challenge but we're trusting that everything will work out fine. Here are a couple pictures from our journey thus far... Blessings to you - Day 1 in Kolkata
Rolling through the Airports
Streets of Kolkata
View from hotel rooftop
We have arrived in Kolkata (Calcutta) India and it's been quite an adventure. We left Tampa around 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday and arrived at our hotel at 9:30 a.m. on Friday. What a trip! Everyone is in great spirits but a little travel weary. We have plans to leave go to Balasore at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning but we've run into a little snag, none of our 16 bags have arrived and no one knows a thing about them, so please say a little prayer for us. Communication tends to be a challenge but we're trusting that everything will work out fine. Here are a couple pictures from our journey thus far... Blessings to you - Day 1 in Kolkata
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Team Flight Change
and the adventure begins... the teams flight from Tampa was delayed due to weather causing them to miss their connecting flight in Newark, NJ. They managed to get tickets on an 8:10 pm Continental flight from Newark to New Delhi India. They arrive in New Delhi at 9:00 pm and will spend the night at the airport. Then they will leave New Delhi at 6:15 am tomorrow for Calcutta India where they will meet up with their contacts.
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