6.11.2010
Life
Kelly and i had the honor of going to the centers that Dr. Praibha started. there are two of them about 45 minuets apart and they are about 5 hours away from Tezpur. this place was the saddest place i have been to. i enjoyed playing with the kids and working with the for a bit but when i went to physical therapy i almost cried. one of the girls named Devi has a lot of problems. i do not remember them all but she cannot function at all. she has a hard time moving her arms and they tried to stretch them. she cried so much to the point she was not even making a noise it was so bad. i sat there and i was tearing up and the lady asked me what i think would be best to help her and i told her i had no idea. it was hard. we also had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Menio who is the principle of Lotus school. she has little money and gives so much up for the kids. about 50% are poor and do not pay to go to school and the other ones do pay. there about 150 students and maybe 10 teachers. She is a wonderful person to say the least.
An Indian education
Not much happened the past two days other than washing cloths, eating mangos and dinner at Confucius both of which may have given me the tummy troubles. I went to the bathroom five times from 3:00 in the morning until about 6:00. Lesson learned: Spicy food + diarrhea = very bad mornings. We finally made it to Tezpur. The bus ride here was a joy ride. Thankfully it was cool because of the rains. Downside was the driver used the horn constantly (for about 5 hours straight) to the point I was about to walk up and rip the horn out and shove it down his esophagus. Needless to say diarrhea, stress, and bus horns do not make for great travel. ( i had my burbons and sprite to keep me at ease) We made it to Tezpur safely and we toured the hospital and learned how it works and all that jazz. Tuesday Kelly and I were able to meet with the Headmaster at Emmanuel Christian School (which is near the hospital). We met with him and asked him a lot of questions. He was a wonderful guy. We enjoyed him a lot. We learned a lot about the school and some common problems or happenings in government schools. We were unable to sit in on a class but we met with the assistant headmistress and three teachers. We asked them all many questions. It was interesting. The Headmaster worked for 13 years in a tea plantation then started a tribal school and is now working with ECS. He is about to complete his one year with ECS (oky side note as I am writing this Connor and I just heard about 20 gun shots that sounded very close to us. I heard no one screaming so hopefully it was target practice at 10:00 at night? This is not a comforting bedtime noise). Anyways, the school was good and bad. We learned a lot and they were very nice but working here in the future would not be possible. We had to get special permission to see the students. But it was interesting to say the least.
Not much happened the past two days other than washing cloths, eating mangos and dinner at Confucius both of which may have given me the tummy troubles. I went to the bathroom five times from 3:00 in the morning until about 6:00. Lesson learned: Spicy food + diarrhea = very bad mornings. We finally made it to Tezpur. The bus ride here was a joy ride. Thankfully it was cool because of the rains. Downside was the driver used the horn constantly (for about 5 hours straight) to the point I was about to walk up and rip the horn out and shove it down his esophagus. Needless to say diarrhea, stress, and bus horns do not make for great travel. ( i had my burbons and sprite to keep me at ease) We made it to Tezpur safely and we toured the hospital and learned how it works and all that jazz. Tuesday Kelly and I were able to meet with the Headmaster at Emmanuel Christian School (which is near the hospital). We met with him and asked him a lot of questions. He was a wonderful guy. We enjoyed him a lot. We learned a lot about the school and some common problems or happenings in government schools. We were unable to sit in on a class but we met with the assistant headmistress and three teachers. We asked them all many questions. It was interesting. The Headmaster worked for 13 years in a tea plantation then started a tribal school and is now working with ECS. He is about to complete his one year with ECS (oky side note as I am writing this Connor and I just heard about 20 gun shots that sounded very close to us. I heard no one screaming so hopefully it was target practice at 10:00 at night? This is not a comforting bedtime noise). Anyways, the school was good and bad. We learned a lot and they were very nice but working here in the future would not be possible. We had to get special permission to see the students. But it was interesting to say the least.
The Worms are coming to get me!
Friday: today is the day of training. Because brian had nowhere for me to go he was going to take me to training. So I wake up and Connor tells me that the yare not going to the Cousins village because it is too wet. So he came along with us. We get to the training center and we immediately find out that the “training” is in Assamese and Hindi. None of which Connor and I understand. In a nut shell we learned about Hindu people turning to Christ and taking the faith of Christianity but for government and cultural purposes they are Hindu Christians. Here in India if you are a “Christian” that means you wear western cloths, usually rich, and you abandon your culture and you are really not a “Christian” in our American term. I also found out that in India they have special laws for
Muslims, Hindus and Christians. I do not know the specifics or how it works yet. I will learn it soon I hope. We took part in worship that has to do with an Hindu ceremony that they replace the meaning to work towards the bible. In a way it is sort of like communion. You have a vase that has mango leaves and a coconut on the top of it. this stands for completeness with Christ the coconut represents us for we are rough and dirty, brown and not very good looking. The base of the vase is surrounded by the strings of orange flowers that I think are marigolds. Then there are a few different types of flowers that represent how we are fragile and fade quickly. Then there is incense that represents our fragrant prayers and lives toward God. Then there is a Conch that is a trumpet for call to worship and a lamp that symbolizes Christ’s light. The coconut is taken during the ceremony and crake open to reveal the white clean inside that is represented of Christ making us clean us clean and the water from the coconut symbolizes the blood he shed for us. Towards the end of the ceremony you take the dish of sandalwood paste and you take your ring finger and dip it in the paste and make a mark on the person next to you. This symbolizes our union with Christ in each other and the bond the blood has made for us. It also lets others know that you have taken Puja (the word for Worship). With this in the center of the eyes one also looks from with in or the inner eye focusing on the spiritual aspect of life not just the material.
Saturday: today we were able to attend a class that Brian Petterson and Swami taught (in English) over reaching Hindu people without telling them to get ride of their culture. It was very enlightening. I learned so much to the point that all my past mission trips seem pointless. He told us a Hindi woman fell in love with Jesus and wanted to commit to him fully but could not because she did not want the worms to come after her. Many Christians teach that one must be buried in a coffin here and Hindu people always cremate for that is their custom. Because she was told that she would have to be buried in a coffin when she dies she would not commit to Jesus. This was so horrible. I wanna just hit that person in the face and be like “READ YOUR FREAKING BIBLE THAT IS NOT BIBLICAL” I personally want to believe that because this woman seemed to have really wanted to know Jesus maybe she accepted him in her heart and did not tell the stupid guy who wanted her to get eaten by worms. Just to kind of help get the point a long they told us another story of a Christian woman who was working in India wanted a baby really bad but had troubles. She finally had a baby after a lot of prayer and trying. When she went to the hospital the woman working asked her if she wanted an abortion. Of course the Christian woman was taken back and said no and did not question as to why she would dare ask that. So eventually she had two more children and the same woman asked her if she wanted an abortion both times and on the third time the woman asked “why do you ask if I want to abort my children” and the Woman doctor explained “all of you western women are having all of these illegitimate children. None of you are married and you just sleep around with random men” the woman did not know that American women wear rings on their finger as a symbol for marriage for in India women have a red mark on the line of their hair in the middle of the forehead to show they are married and wear the dot in the middle. Wearing a ring to symbolize marriage and wearing a red line and dot are both not biblical. I had a Civ moment. I was thinking how the Europeans went to Africa and even India and they colonized the countries, used up their resources, and stole their culture from them. I was thinking how as Christian Missionaries we are just doing the same thing. Well some. The main goal of ours has been to reach them in a culturally relative way. To not often them but share the good news and help them to use it in their lives. So why do we seem to think that people must lose their culture in order to follow God?
Muslims, Hindus and Christians. I do not know the specifics or how it works yet. I will learn it soon I hope. We took part in worship that has to do with an Hindu ceremony that they replace the meaning to work towards the bible. In a way it is sort of like communion. You have a vase that has mango leaves and a coconut on the top of it. this stands for completeness with Christ the coconut represents us for we are rough and dirty, brown and not very good looking. The base of the vase is surrounded by the strings of orange flowers that I think are marigolds. Then there are a few different types of flowers that represent how we are fragile and fade quickly. Then there is incense that represents our fragrant prayers and lives toward God. Then there is a Conch that is a trumpet for call to worship and a lamp that symbolizes Christ’s light. The coconut is taken during the ceremony and crake open to reveal the white clean inside that is represented of Christ making us clean us clean and the water from the coconut symbolizes the blood he shed for us. Towards the end of the ceremony you take the dish of sandalwood paste and you take your ring finger and dip it in the paste and make a mark on the person next to you. This symbolizes our union with Christ in each other and the bond the blood has made for us. It also lets others know that you have taken Puja (the word for Worship). With this in the center of the eyes one also looks from with in or the inner eye focusing on the spiritual aspect of life not just the material.
Saturday: today we were able to attend a class that Brian Petterson and Swami taught (in English) over reaching Hindu people without telling them to get ride of their culture. It was very enlightening. I learned so much to the point that all my past mission trips seem pointless. He told us a Hindi woman fell in love with Jesus and wanted to commit to him fully but could not because she did not want the worms to come after her. Many Christians teach that one must be buried in a coffin here and Hindu people always cremate for that is their custom. Because she was told that she would have to be buried in a coffin when she dies she would not commit to Jesus. This was so horrible. I wanna just hit that person in the face and be like “READ YOUR FREAKING BIBLE THAT IS NOT BIBLICAL” I personally want to believe that because this woman seemed to have really wanted to know Jesus maybe she accepted him in her heart and did not tell the stupid guy who wanted her to get eaten by worms. Just to kind of help get the point a long they told us another story of a Christian woman who was working in India wanted a baby really bad but had troubles. She finally had a baby after a lot of prayer and trying. When she went to the hospital the woman working asked her if she wanted an abortion. Of course the Christian woman was taken back and said no and did not question as to why she would dare ask that. So eventually she had two more children and the same woman asked her if she wanted an abortion both times and on the third time the woman asked “why do you ask if I want to abort my children” and the Woman doctor explained “all of you western women are having all of these illegitimate children. None of you are married and you just sleep around with random men” the woman did not know that American women wear rings on their finger as a symbol for marriage for in India women have a red mark on the line of their hair in the middle of the forehead to show they are married and wear the dot in the middle. Wearing a ring to symbolize marriage and wearing a red line and dot are both not biblical. I had a Civ moment. I was thinking how the Europeans went to Africa and even India and they colonized the countries, used up their resources, and stole their culture from them. I was thinking how as Christian Missionaries we are just doing the same thing. Well some. The main goal of ours has been to reach them in a culturally relative way. To not often them but share the good news and help them to use it in their lives. So why do we seem to think that people must lose their culture in order to follow God?
6.05.2010
Bury my heart at Shillong
Bury my heart at Shillong
Sunday: not much happened it was a day of rest for us. We did however go to the Indian version of KFC and it was oky then we went to the theater to see The Prince of Persia. First of all jake Gyllenhall does not make a good Persian. Secondly the writing of this movie was so bad it was funny.
Monday: Today Dr. Rudobock and I were to meet Jessica to go to some place and talk about mirco loans the next morning. The plan was to go the day before stay the night get up the next morning to meet with some guy. I was kinda along for the trip because I had nothing better to do and Brian had nothing form me to do. So we wake up and find out from Brian that we are to meet the driver outside CBCNEI (the place we are staying at) at exactly 12:30. Knowing nationals and their way of keeping time I did not expect them to be one time. So Rich and I go eat lunch and we go back and get everything ready and we are waiting outside CBCNEI. Lets just say I love nationals don’t get me wrong. But exactly an hour and thirty minuets later our driver arrives. So we get in and head to pick up a girl that works for the company who is in charge of this trip. What should have taken about twenty minuets to her enclave was about forty-five minuets including the turning around he had to do because he passed her place. Not only is our national driver good at being late he has a bit of a speeding issue. We are driving in the hill that is so curvy that you go on one curve you hit another then another and another. Imagine driving through the mountain passes of Colorado at breakneck speed dodging truck, animals, small children and what ever happened to be one the road. Needless to say I was ready to get out of the vehicle. BUT it was well worth it because I have found the place I want to live for the rest of my life. Shillong, . This place is called the Scotland of the east. Apparently the British used to inhabit this area with offices and stuff. But here it is beautiful. The streets do not have trash all over them, you cannot see the sewage, the air is clean and the best part is IT IS COLD! This is the first in India where I wanted to wear a jacket. Needless to say I will bury my heart here.
Tuesday: I woke up expecting to have hot water to take a shower like our hotel people said we would. Unfortunately it was another cold shower for us. We got up and had breakfast and went to our meeting. We met our driver outside our hotel and he was the coolest guy ever. He was about 5 foot 6 inches and has the voice of a elf. But he is from Nepal and can speak 7 different languages. We met with Mr. Decruz the founder/owner of SoFMEAD a micro-loan lending place. The meeting started at 10:30 and did not end until about 1:30. But they fed us so I was good! We then, sadly, had to leave Shillong… I decided my future wife and I will be living there. So I will be back. The drive back took 3 hours when really it should only be about 2 hours.
Wednesday: Today Connor and I planned to meet our friend from the village who goes to school in Guwahati. So Connor called him and made plans to meet him exactly at Guwahati Baptist church at one. So we are sitting on the side of the road under a tree getting wet from the rain waiting. Connor and I decided we would give him thirty minuets to get there. So we waited, waited, and waited and he was a no show. But we were the a feast for all the eyes of nationals walking by. One old guy with a silly yellow umbrella stood and stared at us for at lest 5 minuets and we stared at him back and he finally left. We then decided to just go and hang out in the city. We went to Dona Planet 9 a shopping mall) with Diane and Ginny and we ate at Pizza Hut (our favorite place to eat at.) so after we ate Connor and I went shopping and every store we went into the guys working would stand maybe a foot away and watch us talk and shop. So we did not stay long. One of the stores we went into the guy stood really close to connor and I and connor started talking to him. one of the questions he asked him was “ what size shirt do you wear” I was embarrassed and awked out. So we left. We went into this store that had tons of odd t-shirts and I was looking through them for a Beatles shirt and I found this shirt that said “I survived india” and I said “Connor this shirt is just for you “ as I turned around saying this I realized Connor left the store and I was by myself with a bunch of nationals. They all stared at me laughing. Connor and I then went to Big Bazzar (Walmart of india) and got some traditional Indian shirts. While we were looking one of the guys working decided to help me out. So he brought me several shirts that are long and huge. The first one was maroon striped and could fit myself and about 7 of my friends inside comfortably. I tried to explain to him I was not that big and I did not like the color red. He still brought me about 5 different ones where the bottom of the shirt hit my knees and they were to big and the colors were odd. So we left and sat outside waiting for Diane and Ginny to come by and we met our friend Jitu. As Connor and I were sitting in front of big Bazaar he just started talking to us. So we took him to Café Coffee day and got him a drink and tried talking to him. his English was oky we had the hardest time figuring out what he was saying. But it was a good surprise. One thing I noticed was that he had a bunch of burn marks on his hands and his foot. So I was really worried about him. as much as I could gather was that he wants to learn English and go to the states (a common goal of all Indians) and he is in school and his class are at night I think. He was real nice and informative but his English was so hard to understand. So pray from him. we are planning to met with him this Saturday and I hope that we get to so we can find out more about him.
Thursday: Today was the day the Newspaper said we would have a monsoon. It rained quite a lot. Rich and I went and had a day together because we had to go to a meeting with some guys from CBCNEI. Sadly I got so sick I was projectile vomiting to the point I could not even hold water. I have been in pain I just wanna cry I think I mentioned my mother a few times. I have no idea if I got a bug or if I got food poisoning. Just kidding I was not sick but this is how I felt during the meeting. I sat for two straight hours listening to a guy with a very thick Assamese accent and I could hardly understand him or the intentions of this meeting. I was intimidated and sick out of my mind from boredom. Thankfully God knew how to keep me entertained because there were two lizards in the room hanging out by the window so I watched them the entire time praying and cheering them on to get the flies. We then ate a Silk Route, which is the best Tai place I have ever eaten at! It was wonderful and spicy and so good! There was not enough to fill me up but I had Ice cream from New Zealand, which made me happy. I also found that my reverse culture shock has hit me early. I ended up sitting outside for quite some time watching the rain pour. I feel so useless here because there are so many people in need and I have to sit in a air conditioned room eating cookies and drinking chi while they are out there huddling in the rain on the streets with nothing to keep them warm. I know I cannot solve India’s problems but I have had such a hard time dealing with the poverty here. I have always felt a need to help people who are not able to enjoy the comforts of life. When we are on the streets and a kid comes up looking so ragged and poor and they touch me asking for money I have to look away and avoid looking at them in the eyes because I know that if I just give them ten rupees it wont do much and they could be working for someone and they wont even get the money to be feed and it makes me want to start crying my heart out that there is nothing I can do. Most of them will not take anything but money so that means they are hired to beg. then while connor and I went out walking I saw something I will never forget. I saw a man who was laying on the road with no arms and no legs. Someone left him there laying on the street with something that resembled shorts and no shirt on the dirty, muddy ground with a silver bowl in front of him left to beg for money. When I saw this man my heart dropped like a thousand pounds of solid rock into the bottom of the sea. I could not talk because I was so heart broken that someone has to resort to this. I know that someone is using him to gain money but this is still horrible for any human being to resort to this
Sunday: not much happened it was a day of rest for us. We did however go to the Indian version of KFC and it was oky then we went to the theater to see The Prince of Persia. First of all jake Gyllenhall does not make a good Persian. Secondly the writing of this movie was so bad it was funny.
Monday: Today Dr. Rudobock and I were to meet Jessica to go to some place and talk about mirco loans the next morning. The plan was to go the day before stay the night get up the next morning to meet with some guy. I was kinda along for the trip because I had nothing better to do and Brian had nothing form me to do. So we wake up and find out from Brian that we are to meet the driver outside CBCNEI (the place we are staying at) at exactly 12:30. Knowing nationals and their way of keeping time I did not expect them to be one time. So Rich and I go eat lunch and we go back and get everything ready and we are waiting outside CBCNEI. Lets just say I love nationals don’t get me wrong. But exactly an hour and thirty minuets later our driver arrives. So we get in and head to pick up a girl that works for the company who is in charge of this trip. What should have taken about twenty minuets to her enclave was about forty-five minuets including the turning around he had to do because he passed her place. Not only is our national driver good at being late he has a bit of a speeding issue. We are driving in the hill that is so curvy that you go on one curve you hit another then another and another. Imagine driving through the mountain passes of Colorado at breakneck speed dodging truck, animals, small children and what ever happened to be one the road. Needless to say I was ready to get out of the vehicle. BUT it was well worth it because I have found the place I want to live for the rest of my life. Shillong, . This place is called the Scotland of the east. Apparently the British used to inhabit this area with offices and stuff. But here it is beautiful. The streets do not have trash all over them, you cannot see the sewage, the air is clean and the best part is IT IS COLD! This is the first in India where I wanted to wear a jacket. Needless to say I will bury my heart here.
Tuesday: I woke up expecting to have hot water to take a shower like our hotel people said we would. Unfortunately it was another cold shower for us. We got up and had breakfast and went to our meeting. We met our driver outside our hotel and he was the coolest guy ever. He was about 5 foot 6 inches and has the voice of a elf. But he is from Nepal and can speak 7 different languages. We met with Mr. Decruz the founder/owner of SoFMEAD a micro-loan lending place. The meeting started at 10:30 and did not end until about 1:30. But they fed us so I was good! We then, sadly, had to leave Shillong… I decided my future wife and I will be living there. So I will be back. The drive back took 3 hours when really it should only be about 2 hours.
Wednesday: Today Connor and I planned to meet our friend from the village who goes to school in Guwahati. So Connor called him and made plans to meet him exactly at Guwahati Baptist church at one. So we are sitting on the side of the road under a tree getting wet from the rain waiting. Connor and I decided we would give him thirty minuets to get there. So we waited, waited, and waited and he was a no show. But we were the a feast for all the eyes of nationals walking by. One old guy with a silly yellow umbrella stood and stared at us for at lest 5 minuets and we stared at him back and he finally left. We then decided to just go and hang out in the city. We went to Dona Planet 9 a shopping mall) with Diane and Ginny and we ate at Pizza Hut (our favorite place to eat at.) so after we ate Connor and I went shopping and every store we went into the guys working would stand maybe a foot away and watch us talk and shop. So we did not stay long. One of the stores we went into the guy stood really close to connor and I and connor started talking to him. one of the questions he asked him was “ what size shirt do you wear” I was embarrassed and awked out. So we left. We went into this store that had tons of odd t-shirts and I was looking through them for a Beatles shirt and I found this shirt that said “I survived india” and I said “Connor this shirt is just for you “ as I turned around saying this I realized Connor left the store and I was by myself with a bunch of nationals. They all stared at me laughing. Connor and I then went to Big Bazzar (Walmart of india) and got some traditional Indian shirts. While we were looking one of the guys working decided to help me out. So he brought me several shirts that are long and huge. The first one was maroon striped and could fit myself and about 7 of my friends inside comfortably. I tried to explain to him I was not that big and I did not like the color red. He still brought me about 5 different ones where the bottom of the shirt hit my knees and they were to big and the colors were odd. So we left and sat outside waiting for Diane and Ginny to come by and we met our friend Jitu. As Connor and I were sitting in front of big Bazaar he just started talking to us. So we took him to Café Coffee day and got him a drink and tried talking to him. his English was oky we had the hardest time figuring out what he was saying. But it was a good surprise. One thing I noticed was that he had a bunch of burn marks on his hands and his foot. So I was really worried about him. as much as I could gather was that he wants to learn English and go to the states (a common goal of all Indians) and he is in school and his class are at night I think. He was real nice and informative but his English was so hard to understand. So pray from him. we are planning to met with him this Saturday and I hope that we get to so we can find out more about him.
Thursday: Today was the day the Newspaper said we would have a monsoon. It rained quite a lot. Rich and I went and had a day together because we had to go to a meeting with some guys from CBCNEI. Sadly I got so sick I was projectile vomiting to the point I could not even hold water. I have been in pain I just wanna cry I think I mentioned my mother a few times. I have no idea if I got a bug or if I got food poisoning. Just kidding I was not sick but this is how I felt during the meeting. I sat for two straight hours listening to a guy with a very thick Assamese accent and I could hardly understand him or the intentions of this meeting. I was intimidated and sick out of my mind from boredom. Thankfully God knew how to keep me entertained because there were two lizards in the room hanging out by the window so I watched them the entire time praying and cheering them on to get the flies. We then ate a Silk Route, which is the best Tai place I have ever eaten at! It was wonderful and spicy and so good! There was not enough to fill me up but I had Ice cream from New Zealand, which made me happy. I also found that my reverse culture shock has hit me early. I ended up sitting outside for quite some time watching the rain pour. I feel so useless here because there are so many people in need and I have to sit in a air conditioned room eating cookies and drinking chi while they are out there huddling in the rain on the streets with nothing to keep them warm. I know I cannot solve India’s problems but I have had such a hard time dealing with the poverty here. I have always felt a need to help people who are not able to enjoy the comforts of life. When we are on the streets and a kid comes up looking so ragged and poor and they touch me asking for money I have to look away and avoid looking at them in the eyes because I know that if I just give them ten rupees it wont do much and they could be working for someone and they wont even get the money to be feed and it makes me want to start crying my heart out that there is nothing I can do. Most of them will not take anything but money so that means they are hired to beg. then while connor and I went out walking I saw something I will never forget. I saw a man who was laying on the road with no arms and no legs. Someone left him there laying on the street with something that resembled shorts and no shirt on the dirty, muddy ground with a silver bowl in front of him left to beg for money. When I saw this man my heart dropped like a thousand pounds of solid rock into the bottom of the sea. I could not talk because I was so heart broken that someone has to resort to this. I know that someone is using him to gain money but this is still horrible for any human being to resort to this
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)