India at a Glance!

INDIA!!! 

We arrived in Delhi on Friday evening, went to the orphanage where we were to stay and Roy and I were given a “honeymoon suite”!!! A room to ourselves! we were so privileged!!! the mats on the floor were our beds. This room was our introduction to life in India!

Saturday morning we woke up and being to awake too sleep late we got up and started to get a good look around where we were and how things worked there! 

The cows, as you have heard, are holy and may not be killed or eaten, although rumor has it that when cows get killed either on the road or they die some other unknown way the whole thing is disappeared by the time morning has dawned and delicious meat is served but “No, we don’t eat beef”! I wouldn’t really care to much for beef either! knowing that their main diet is found in trash heaps! :) 

We were trying to get used to not only the country and its wonders! But also to the smells and the insects! Dengue fever was on the prowl while we were there so we had to be careful to use sprays and sprays and some of us had to use even more sprays!!! In this picture you see C. C, Brother Bobby, Craig, Roy, and David of the team... talking and visiting while they waited for breakfast! 

The vehicles were very interesting! auto-rickshaws! Closest thing I ever saw to vehicles my brothers and I used to imagine and build in our imaginations while traveling on the road late at night! They have three wheels, one in the front and two in the back and are all over the city, driving almost everywhere imaginable!!! 

We went to meet our two interpreters, Max and Della’s family. One of the young men on the team was to get betrothed to one of Max’s sisters at the end of our tour so we went and met the family and enjoyed some Indian hospitality!  You can see Max with the 3:16 on his shirt and Della in orange!

As we sat around getting to know each other and since we were tired, getting used to the new time zone, there were some pretty funny things said and done, I can assure you!!!  

Sunday morning, our first Sunday in India we divided up into a few groups and went to about three or four different churches. This is the church Roy preached at. It was amazing to see how many people there want to mix the Hindu traditions with Christianity and most think that is perfectly alright. How do you explain to them that it isn't?

Brother Jim was a busy man! Everywhere, always serving! He was such a servant that he put us younger ones to shame! We were very grateful for his leadership and all the help he gave us for that culture! 

Our first hotel room!!! We stayed here two nights before we "hit the road" again!

There was a pastor nearby, Nathaniel, he met us the two days we were there and took us to the villages that he goes to weekly or once every two weeks! In this picture you see us waiting while the people in the area gather for the meeting and we have tea while we wait.

Translator Della (and a wonderful Language teacher as well!) and Maxwell George!

After the people had gathered we began the meeting! They were a very enthusiastic group! :)

We left that village and went to another about 30 minutes or more drive away. At this place the people were not as responsive. They mostly wanted healing! As we looked around the the room there was a picture of Jesus on one wall and nearby, on another wall were pictures of Hindu gods. The people's faces were dark and most of them didn't seem to be able to comprehend what was shared. They listened politely but didn't respond to the message at all! I pray that someone will remember what was said there and come to Christ. Fully broken and ready to serve Him and Him alone!

When we left that meeting we needed to be getting to the next town but pastor Nathaniel said there was one more place to go. So we were hurrying along and on our way this big much overloaded truck was coming up a hill coming onto our road but our driver somehow thought the truck was not going very fast so we could get by before he takes up the whole road. But what is the saying? haste makes waste! by the time we got up to the poor thing, we couldn't fit by and he had to stop and he was so overloaded that it took them hours to dig him out of the road and get him going again! It was much too far and too hard for them to just back down the road and get the speed they needed to climb the hill again!

We got to the next meeting and had a good service there and then went on to the next town. Having started rather late we had to be on the road after dark and that was very dangerous! Roads in the day were dangerous and you had to keep very alert so that you don't hit people or any sort of vehicle. But at night when it is dark there is still just as much to avoid but there is only more added to the danger by the lights coming at you and blinding you while people are still everywhere! It is far too dangerous! So we stopped to look for lodging.

While we were looking for lodging these two boys came over to where Roy was standing and they started talking! Roy using what Hindi he had learned and the two boys using what English they could! They were very happy to have their picture taken with a South African!  

The next morning we wanted to make good time and be able to stop and preach along the road as well so just as we got on the road and were hurrying along in the crowded streets something came apart in the front of the car and there was a leak somewhere. We stopped to see what the problem was and a crowd gathered around us!

The problem was in the radiator hose. The clamps had come apart! So as brother Jim went to find clamps of some sort and a hose to connect the two ends the crowd wandered over to C. C! We handed out tracts and tried to talk to them but the only interpreter that was available at the time had gone to help find a clamp! We met a young man there from Germany who could speak English but he couldn't speak Hindi! The men had a wonderful time witnessing to him and they are planning on staying in touch with him! It turned out to be a wonderful opportunity! 

I loved this sign every time I saw it! In the mountains you had to "blow your horn" every time you were fixin' to go around a corner. If you don't use your horn you might get plowed off the road by some truck or taxi! 

We made a few contacts with the traffic police there! 

 We were now well into the mountains! The foothills of the Himalayas! They were breathtaking in more ways than one! lol!!! (remember the horn sign! ;) This was our honeymoon suite! It was as lovely as it looks!

When we walked out of the house in the morning this was the sight that greeted us! the clothesline there (very practical) and the village below, and the beautiful mountains! 

After breakfast and morning devotions we got our packs ready, our emergency supplies, our first aid medical kit  

and we looked once more over the place some of us were going to walk! Half of the group went toward the village you see here 

and the other part went the opposite way! We had two translators so we had two teams! 

We had to go down through the gardens and fruit trees and up the next mountain!

Conrad, Aquilla, and Della climbing up, up, up!

We finally reached the place where the people gathered and brother Bobby gave them the gospel! 

Then we asked for the ones that needed medical aid to come one by one and in an orderly fashion! Doctor Roy did a very good job treating each patient with tender care!

We treated many women who had burning eyes from cooking over smoking fires all day, every day. And we also treated many ear infections! 

We saw some pretty terrifying wounds that we couldn't do anything about except pray for them and tell them to go to a doctor for better treatment!

That evening we had a pastor's conference where we spoke to some pastors and evangelists in the area about how to teach the people about their need of a Saviour!

After that conference we went inside and had some supper and after the meal we had a time of fellowship just getting to know a little about the pastor that had so kindly opened his home to us and his family!

The next morning, our second Sunday, we packed everything into the vehicles and then went to the church.

We sang as a team, 'More Love To Thee'

Saying goodbye to the pastor and family

Back on the winding, turning, almost churning roads!

Roy looking at oranges at a fruit stand in the market!

See the mountains?!?!?! Don't you hear them calling? :) The white tips are the Himalayas! 

We got to the next stop just before dark, we were hoping to hold a meeting at a church there but we arrived too late! So instead some of the men went down to a group of boys playing soccer and joined in for a game and then had the chance to witness to them and give them tracts!

We ate supper there after the soccer game and then went to a house that was opened for us about thirty minutes drive from there. The next morning the team went out leaving only me in the house. The cold and freezing night had somehow taken every bit of strength from me and I was told to stay in bed that day because we could not afford any serious problems. So I stayed and the rest went and had a wonderful time.

Here is Mahesh, the pastor that led us two days in the mountains.

typical sight on the mountain trails!

I found the room I was resting in too cold and the out doors warmed by the sun, so I went out and sat on top of the roof and looked out over this scene below. 

"The heavens declare the glory of God" "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings..." two lovely passages went through my mind as I sat there gazing on the beauty of creation and thinking of how wonderful our Saviour is!

This dear couple were the ones that owned the house and let us use it while we were there! Such lovely people!  

We left from there and went about 6 hours drive to a place where a young pastor had just been assigned by the Methodist church. 

You can see the women carrying hay of some sort on their heads! C.C wanted to take a try! but they didn't pay any attention! 

We went to find a group of people to preach and witness to.

We were talking to people along the way and handing out tracts at each house we saw people at!

At this place we met an old retired methodist minister. He was sooo happy to see us! We gathered the people together and held a short service!

We were by now starting on our "homeward trail" It took us a few days but we didn't mind because we still had tracts to give out and found people everywhere to give them to! 

Here we were working with another man, whose name I can't imagine how to spell! He had a young man from his church come along and show us where to go the first day since he was so busy he had to be somewhere else. We had to decide who goes with who!

Catching our breath on the long uphill climb!

When we finally got to where people actually lived and once we had greeted them we learned that they didn't understand Hindi, only a son that was out working in the fields (it was harvest time) knew Hindi! So they called him to come and when he came he said he could show us a school where we could speak. And they understood Hindi there! So we gave him the gospel and then let him tell his family what we had said, then we followed him to the school.

On our way we met a few people sitting on their porch watching us come all the way up to pass by their house, so we stopped and gave them the good news as well!

There were some people that needed medicine so we did what we could to help!

Then we got to the school and preached and gave them tracts then we went on to the upper grade school and when we arrived we found that the other half of our team had already gone there! On one of the black boards was written in English, "My name is ______" "How are you?" "We want to walk in America" so, even though the other group had already been there we talked to the teachers and they said sure!!! we could talk to the students. And because they loved america so much we used that as a door to hold their attention!

As we were leaving that day there was a beautiful double rainbow! Unfortunately I was only able to get one of the two from where I was and with the little battery I had left!

The next day we went to another place and this time the pastor came with us! This was a nice little footbridge, don't you agree?!

                                      

Walking, walking, walking! It was very nice to be able to do so much walking in the mountains!

David gave the gospel message to these ladies!

There was a beautiful bridge that we thought ought to belong to a castle!

These people listened intently to the gospel message and asked for New Testaments to read further!

C.C, Mickey (the young man the pastor sent along to help guide us the first day there, he also came the second day!) and Dave

Here is the church! It stands high up on top of a mountain. At the highest point on that particular hill! Right next to this church was a Hindu temple. People would come to church and go to the temple so they could have "the best of both worlds" so to speak... 

From the church we could see the whole area we had walked that day!

Going from right to left, the way we walked, this is picture 1

picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

 Here is where we were sitting overlooking all the area we had walked that day!

And again!

That night, there was a small trouble in the confines of some digesting machines and so it was asked if a "take away" meal might be possible and that the owner of the digesting machine could stay and fix the troubles. That  particular owner asked for noodles without any spices or anything! perhaps only butter but nothing else! This is the style the "take away" came in! FIRST CLASS! 

That Sunday, our third and last Sunday we traveled the "last mile of the way". On the way we saw traces of several weddings!!!

This is the decorated car that the newly weds rode in!

As we got near the great Ganges River there were hordes of people! Everywhere you turned there were people! Selling wares! Walking by! Riding bikes! In cars! In trucks! In horse drawn carts! In ox drawn carts! Just people everywhere!!! You see, they were all going to or coming from the river for a "holy bath!"

As we weaved our way through the crowds we had our windows down (not minding the dust in the wind) we handed out tracts to everyone we could reach!

We arrived in Delhi safe and sound, packed our bags and at midnight Roy and I said "God speed" to all the team and our interpreters and got in a taxi and rode off to the airport and started on our deliciously comfortable homeward flight!

May the Lord bless the dear souls in India and draw them to Himself!!!