"Easiest Train Ride so far...well, maybe not" (Email Update)

Email Update September 21, 2005

Short Version
* “Easiest Train Ride so far…Well…maybe not”
* “The best place for stories is in a village”
* Picture of our backyard

Medium Version (I have a longer version of this story- ask me if you’re interested)
“Easiest Train Ride so far…Well…maybe not”
Our trip to our new town included the following "bonding opportunities"
- Settling happily on our train with the other two girls who will be working in the same people group
- Discovering that our train did not go to the city we wanted to go to.
***(Excerpt from longer version of this part of the story:)
“The ticket wala (man) came along and checked our tickets. We asked him what time our train would arrive in the city we were going to. It took him a few minutes to understand when we said the name of the city…Finally, his response was, “This train doesn’t go there.” And he walked away.”
- Getting off the train at 2 AM in a town none of us had ever been to
- Swerving around dogs while moving our mounds of luggage from the platform to a waiting room
- Doing most of this in the dark when the power went out
***(Excerpt from longer version of this part of the story:)
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, about half way through moving the luggage, the electricity went out. Let me say that it was darker than dark- and of course South Asian faces are dark naturally, but when the lights are out- you really can’t see them! And it didn’t help that there were random dogs laying in the middle of the platform- in the middle of our luggage path. I was amazed at how quickly we found flashlights- we were the only people at the station who had light!
- Trying to rest curled up in two chairs while listening to the frequent announcements over the loud speaker
- Waiting for morning light
- Hiking in the rain to track down a taxi
- Getting coolies to take our stuff from the waiting room to the taxi
***(Excerpt from longer version of this part of the story:)
One interjection here- when you’re the only foreigner, or one of a few, word spreads fast about what you’re doing. The coolies were waiting near the door to our room, knowing we needed help with our luggage. They started to gather it up and walked away- no worries, they knew where our taxi was and where the luggage needed to go. Our stuff got wet, but it all got packed – we too felt like luggage packed into the jeep!
- Proving to the taxi driver that we could get all of our luggage in his taxi
- Sitting packed together for 5 hours on winding mountain roads
- Arriving safely

“The best place for stories is a village”
We had a meeting with Karsten (the director of the country we’re in and with whose family we are currently living with) about possible living situations and best place for stories. It turns out that while many of you could consider where we are currently living a village, we will most probably be going to a more “real” village- (2 hour jeep ride from here, then an hour walk to the village). 'Village' means that there is minimal or no electricity, no phone or internet connection, as opposed to towns, which usually have at least one phone and electricity for part of the day.

We will spend the month here in this town learning the national language and possibly start on the village language, living with an Indian family where we can practice our language and maybe even learn to cook! After our training in Thailand we’ll be spending 2-3 weeks at a time in the village working on stories. That is the tentative plan for right now. Both Robin and I are excited about this plan, although there are many unknowns that await us- such has been our life the past several months. Please continue to pray for transition- as it looks like transition might be the only stable thing in our life here!

Our Backyard
Below is a picture of our backyard- a beautiful view of the foothills of a mountain range. Think of this picture as 180 degrees around you- that’s our home! The view makes the inconveniences of life here durable and inspiring! (Notice the bird flying in the upper left corner!)

Praises:
* Safety arriving here- in spite of our dilemmas…good bonding time with each other!
* Health- so far, so good!
* Beautiful weather!!! The first two days were very cold and gloomy- although that has been the case for Robin and I the past month- but yesterday and today have been the most beautiful days one can imagine!!!

Prayers:
* Continued language learning- and possibly start to learn the village language…
* Good relationships with our new landlord and family
* Friday- we will go with our leader here to a Bib. college to do a brief presentation on storying – it should be interesting since we haven’t received our formal storying training yet, we’re not sure exactly what to do! Pray for wisdom and clarity in explaining how stories can be used in this culture.

I can’t express to you my excitement about being here and beginning to really experience South Asia. My dream is coming true, and it’s all because of God’s grace and your support- what a blessing.

I look forward to writing again!

~ Elizabeth
“I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:1-2