Working as unto the Lord (Journal Entry)

Mommy said that at times in the project, Robin and I don't necessarily need to contribute equal amounts to the work. She said that it didn't matter if we weren't doing exactly 50% each, if one of us was doing 70%, that was okay - it's all God's work anyway. She said that I needed to see my contribution as working for the Lord, not to serve my partner, not even to serve the Kahani people. Duh! Why didn’t I think of that?

I want to do work for you Jesus! I want to do MY BEST for you- and GIVE YOU EVERYTHING I have. Please help me to do as much as I can to the best of my ability becuase it's all for you!

Village Impressions... (Email Update)

Village Impressions…Taken from my journal...

1) “If they give us food, we don’t eat it” [Learning about the caste system from a 7 year old]
2) This work will take a miracle!!! [Lessons from Job!]
3) “Tum kaas cha?” (“How are you?”) [Language Sessions)
4) Little Language Helpers [The kids are my best language helpers!!!]
5) P & P

1) “If they give us food, we won’t eat it”
While they were on vacation from school, two of my regular companions in the village were fifteen-year-old “Joy” and seven-year-old “Bea.” While we were walking back from the field one day, I noticed some girls watching us and stopped to practice talking Kahani with them. We had only gotten as far as exchanging names when Joy called me away.

As I walked away I told the girls from the lower caste, “See you again!” I then turned and asked Bea ‘Are those your friends?’ She said, “No. They are harijaans. She continued, ‘If they make food, we won’t eat it, if they make chai or give us water, we won’t drink it…” I realized quickly that these kids were from the lower caste part of the village and the people we live with don’t associate much with them. I wondered what the people of the higher caste would think if I visited with these girls again and what I would communicate to the girls by not visiting them? I came away from this experience with the question of, how can stories bridge this barrier?

A few days after this trip, I was able to go again to the field and this time, I was able to talk with and take pictures with some of the kids from the lower caste. At first Bea made comments to the lower caste girls such as, “Get away from me” and “You’re dirty,” but she ended up smiling and enjoying the pictures along with those girls. While I don’t know what more will come of this caste situation, Bea’s change of attitude was an encouragement to me.
Some of the girls from the lower caste village- Bea is in the middle in the front!


2) This work will take a miracle!!!
I knew before arriving here that this work will take a miracle, but now that seems even more real! ‘God, it seems you have put me here to show me that You are more amazing than I ever thought. I’m trusting that You will provide me with the faith to trust You throughout this process! …I’m glad that you, Lord, know the future- and no matter what, You are in charge of the outcome and You are with me in this journey.’

I was encouraged as I read Job chapter 12 today…
“…For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of all humanity…But true wisdom and power are with God; counsel and understanding are his. What he destroys cannot be rebuilt. When he closes in on someone, there is no escape. If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert. If he releases the waters, the flood the earth. Yes, strength and wisdom are with him…He floods the darkness with light; he brings light to the deepest gloom. He raises up nations, and he destroys them. He makes nations expand, and he abandons them…

This reminded of who God is and if He is capable of all these things, then He is surely able to tackle the caste system and reveal Himself to these people.


3) “Tum kaas cha?” (“How are you?”)
Looking back on my first language session with Dee, I remember that 40 of the 45 minutes were frustrating. Since then, she has been patient, I’ve tried to communicate in the trade language, and things have gotten better. My language sessions are different every day and so are the noises that are included in our recordings. Later, when we listen to our recordings, we hear conversations of others who stopped to add their ideas, the flies landing on the microphone, Grandmother singing(?) to Ronny (Dee’s 9 month old son), and other sounds such as neighbors calling to their friends from several houses away. I’m thankful Dee seems eager to help us learn the language in any way she can.
My language helper (Dee)


4) Little Language Helpers
I’ve read about other M’s who have received a lot of language help from children, and it really is true! The kids in the village have become some of my greatest language helpers! They love going through my pictures and testing me to see if I have learned anything!


P & P
* Praise for a great two weeks in the village.
* Praise for a language helper who has patience and that we have learned to have patience with our language sessions.
* Praise for good health while in the village, for the most part!
* Praise for my back starting to feel better - thanks to some of you who offered some good back exercises that I do every night!
* Praise for only having to eat grass once!
* Pray that we would have a good time with our supervisors who are here now!
* Pray that we would not get too ‘comfortable’ in Kahan before going back to the village next week, Feb. 1st!

Thank you partnering with me!!!

~ Elizabeth
(or Lizzie- as has become my name in the village. Actually, when they say it, it sounds like “Lijjie” since they don’t really have a “z” sound in their language!!)

Growing Spiritually... (Journal Entry)

In spite of being in this place where no one follows Him, I feel like I’m gaining more spiritually here than I ever have before because I’m spending an hour a day or so in the Word- which was more than ever before in my life, and I think I’m learning more from that time than I ever did in Church too!!! Something about having to rely on Him, becuase there isn't the crutch of the church, home group, etc, etc. Thank you Lord!

Conversation with Robin, and Ephesians

Robin and I had a good conversation the other day about our strengths. I’m not sure how it started, but went something like this…
I said, “I’m glad that we both enjoy different aspects of this project…”
She said, “I was thinking about that the other day, and I’m glad that you are better at languages than me because then I just won’t stress about it as much. I mean, for the project we’ll be working together, so it’s okay if I don’t know as much…
I said, “And, I’m glad you like the storying stuff and Bible research, because while I’ll do it and it’s okay, I won’t love it like you do probably.
Later I added, “Since we both have different strengths, it’s difficult sometimes because we don’t understand each other, but if we can figure out how to maximize them, then I think it will be really good for the project.
She agreed.

----------------------------------------------------
Thoughts on Ephesians 2:1-10 (For church time with Robin)
How much lower can you get than “dead” (vs. 1). We were nothing, we ARE nothing without Christ. We aren’t just nothing, we’re doomed, we’re dead.
Objects of wrath (God’s anger)- these people we live among? How can that be…? Oh, how much more motivation we must have to get the word to them…not that we can do anything to speed their trusting in God, but that what we can do, we should do…
God knew we would be here, God knows we’re here, God knows what will come of us being here. And because it’s all in his plan, it’s okay. We can trust Him for the outcome.

Remember, “we can do nothing to save ourselves…” Thank God!
He saved us FIRST to “point us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness.” (Ilumina)
SECOND: “so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” He didn’t save us for our own benefit. He saved us because there is work to do, and while he doesn’t need us to do it, he wants us to be a part of it and enjoy the blessing of sharing in that work…Our “new life” cannot help but express itself in good works

Language struggles, and return of the monkeys (Journal Entry)

Today, I went to Deepa’s, and there were some guests there- a youg girl, about 12 grade, and her mother I think. They were from Kahan, (i.e., the city) and acted like it. They had proud attitudes, and I felt very uncomfortable while I was there. The girl was noisy and asked about the computer we had. The Aunty asked me where I was from and how great Becca was and mentioned about pictures, etc. She then asked if I was going to pay Deepa for teaching me. I pretended not to understand. Deepa seemed uncomfortable too. I finally said, “we’ll see…” Later, she asked Deepa how much I would pay her, Deepa said, “ask her, yourself.” So she did. I again said, “We’ll see.” A few minutes after that, I said, “Okay, I’m going now…” They all acted very surprised and said, “Where are you going?” I said, “home.” They thought I was mad, but I explained it was because today was Saturday, and so I only had half a lesson. I also said to Deepa- you have guests, so I’ll just go, it’s okay. She realized they were disrupting things and probably being a little pushy too and said, “They can go sit over there…it’s okay.” But I didn’t want to stay there any more.

Plus, the lesson I had planned for that day didn’t go well either and I found that out after coming back home. The kids and Jyoti and Bicky helped me translate a story faster and more accurately than Deepa did. The could hardly even understand her story. Granted we tried to take the story (a few sentences) in English and put it into Kahani. When I was with the kids, we took it from Hindi into Kahani. It was more of a direct translation, where as I was trying to go for the “Story” effect with the other one. Both attempts came out with different results, but both weren’t very good, and not what I was hoping for. This story-crafting business is going to be difficult!

In the afternoon, the monkeys returned for the second time. This time, I went with the kids and chased them all over the field!!! It was a lot of fun, but also tiring. We took sticks and stones and ran all around- jumping from terrace to terrace. It was funny because the monkeys were about as big as the kids. The kids would run after them and most of the time the monkeys would run away, but sometimes the big ones would turn towards the kids and then the kids would turn around and start running away!!! It was quite a sight! It was fun to be a part of it this time, though probably not the most appropriate thing for a young pahardi (mountain) girl to do!!! All well!

Story characters and love langauges (Journal Entry)

I tried to learn words for “Story characters” today. I didn’t attempt it with Deepa, I started with the kids first. They knew “king,” “queen,” “fairy,” and “ghost.” I asked Jyoti what “Spirit” was and she didn’t know. Bicky came out and he also couldn't understand my description in Hindi. We came up with the word “invisible” and “blind” but not spirit. Bicky said he would look in the English-Hindi dictionary tonight when he went up to the dukan (shop) tonight. He sleeps up there most nights and comes back during the day.

Today, I asked Jyoti if I could make parathas, because I was hungry. We technically aren’t supposed to be in their cooking area or even make food (because we aren't from their caste), but Jyoti and Bicky said Bicky could. Bicky said he would make it, but I insisted saying I wanted to learn, etc. So, I kneaded the flour and water together for about 15 minutes. After that I made little balls of dough and rolled them out into flat circles. I started the gas stove, and got the pan out (called a “tow”). I didn’t really know what to do after that! Bicky came in and showed me what to do. His looked a lot better than mine, but after about 10, mine looked just like his!!

While we were making them, Jyoti kept telling us to be quiet, she didn’t want her mom to know that we were in the kitchen and had made them. After we made them, we ate them outside- they really tasted pretty good- I was impressed with our initial attempt at a paratha!!! Bicky came out and I told him to try one. He said no…and he eventually said, “I’m Brahmin, so I can’t eat it…don’t be mad or anything…but…they other people can’t see that I would eat with you, or eat food that you eat. It's okay for Jyoti because she’s younger, but not for me.”

Again, interesting. If they don’t eat the food we make, will they listen to the stories we tell? Hmm. How can we gain the status needed for a good reputation? I don’t know if it’s possible...Again, I’m not sure I have that much faith!!!

-----LATER-----
Robin is reading “The 5 Love Languages” and told me that hers is “quality time.” I realize that is really true. She told me that when we don’t spent some time together during the day, she feels something is missing. She realizes that some days that just doesn’t happen for whatever reason, and that’s okay… I told her my love language is primarily words of affirmation.

We had actually had this conversation two days ago and today she said, “Ever since you told me that your love language is words of affirmation, I’ve been trying to figure out how to affirm you- and can’t seem to do it!!!” I told her that if you’re love language isn’t the one of the other person, it’s hard to do!!! I told her that I could really care less about “quality time.” We laughed about it, and I think realized that we have opposite love languages – and thus it’s not natural for us to show love to each other since we don’t really appreciate what the other one values. Yet, we’ve made it thus far! We'll keep working on it!

6 months of being in India (Journal Entry)

Today is Robin’s and my 6 month anniversary of being in this great country! Wow! In a way when we think of all that we’ve done, it seems that it must have been that long or longer. But then when I think of what we have to show for it, I feel we’ve only been here a few weeks.

How will we celebrate? By burning our trash! Haha! We’ve actually had some trash building up for a little while (A small bag full) and Jyoti said she would take us today to show us where to burn it. Great anniversary celebration, huh? Maybe we’ll dance around it. Oh, but that may be considered demon worship or something.

In addition to today being our anniversary, the monkeys also decided to raid the village. They were all over the place, perhaps 50 of them or so, all through the fields and in people’s gardens. Bicky chased them around the fields for about 20 minutes, then came back to the house. We watched as the monkeys came into the fields again. They didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that people were throwing rocks at them and chasing them. It continued most of the day- people would be yelling and shouting from one house, as the monkeys left their house and went to another one, those people at that house would start yelling and shouting. The monkeys went around and around- people kept running around and around…It was quite a sight!

I also decided to begin fasting on Thursday- which is typically a day when Hindus fast. Since today is Thursday, I am fasting. This morning I continued my regular Bible readings and am now in Job. Chapter 12 seemed to be very fitting for me, one who was/is having doubts about this work…I was reminded who my God is…Below is the New Living Translation..

Taken from verses 7-23
“…Ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish of the sea speak to you. They all know that the Lord has done this. For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of all humanity….(vs 13)- But true wisdom and power are with God; counsel and understanding are his. What he destroys cannot be rebuilt. When he closes in on someone, there is no escape. If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert. If he releases the waters, they flood the earth. Yes, strength and wisdom are with him; deceivers and deceived are both in his power. He leads the counselors away stripped of good judgment; he drives judges to madness. He removes the royal robe of kings. With ropes around their waist, they are led away. He leads priest away stripped of status; he overthrows the mighty. He silences the trusted adviser, and he removes the insight of the elders. He pours disgrace upon princes and confiscates weapons from the strong. He floods the darkness with light; he brings light to the deepest gloom. He raises up nations, and he destroys them. He makes nations expand, and he abandons them…

I’d like to add a short verse:
“He breaks down the barriers of the caste system and draws those following other gods to Himself.”
He has done that, he does do that, he can do it- He’s God! I pray and hope that He will do that here, and that we might be witness of it!!!

In addition to Job, I also read chapter 19 in Psalms and Proverbs. Again I was truly blessed…
Psalm 19:1-4 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day the pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

Proverbs 19:21- “Many are the plans of a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

While I sit beneath a calendar with a picture of Ganesh on it (one of their gods), God has made his glory known even here…these people haven't seen it and instead are following what has been passed down generation after generation.

Day 9 - Sick?

Today, I woke up around 3am, a little sick, but didn’t want to get up. I wasn’t sure if I just had to go the bathroom or if it was something else. By the time I got up around 7:30, it was something else. I went to the bathroom and got sick. I felt better afterwards, but still a little uneasy. I studied with Bicky and two other little boys for about an hour- they completed my list of opposites for me. It was interesting because as Bicky was trying to write out the Kumaoni for some of the words, he said, “Talking in Kumaoni is easy, but writing is hard- I don’t know how!” He knows how to write Hindi and he wrote the Kumaoni words in Hindi script which is what I do- but he had never written Kumaoni before, since there is no need for it in an oral community! It was a little inspiration that the oral stories, rather than written stories will be welcomed in this community. At least the form would be welcomed- who knows about the content!!!

After studying, we had lunch. It was good- kicherdi (mix of rice and daal). I nearly finished it, but my stomach was feeling a little sick, so I didn’t eat the last little bit. After that we went to Deepa’s for our language session.

I got sick three times so far today, I’m not sure what it’s from. Robin got sick this morning, so at first I thought perhaps it was just the meal we had the night before that both of our stomach’s didn’t like. But since I’m still sick, I’m not sure. I feel a little warm now, in spite of the cold air- perhaps I have a temperature. It’s at times like this that I wonder how those first M’s did it- in the backwoods, in the jungles with those crazy diseases!!! True, we are prone to some of those same diseases, but have more precautions and medications than they had then. I’m really feeling fine- even jumped rope a few times with Jyoti this afternoon, but now am again not feeling so wonderful.

I told Robin this morning I feel about 93% okay. Then I said, “That is, if you can ever feel 100% in India! I guess at any given time, the most you could feel is about 70%, so given that, I probably feel about 65%.

New story-crafters? (Journal Entry)

I talked to the girls who help us with back-translation (taking the Kahani stories and putting them into English) today about doing a story themselves. The one doesn’t really speak Kahani. But the other one does. I played the David and Bathsheba story twice for her and she retold just about every detail back in Kahani. It wasn’t in Kumaoni style or fashion…and was more memorized than telling a story. But, I think it’s something we can work with- plus, like in the beginning with Anita, it was AWESOME that she had such a great memory. It’s a strength in this work…

My plan is to go to the village tomorrow—I need to re-work Beginning with Ganga…I then want to try and start the David and Goliath story- including when Samual anoints David. It’s actually a lot longer and more involved than I thought it would be. Anyway, it will be Ganga’s first time crafting a NEW story- so that will tell a lot how she will do in the future. I then hope to MAYBE try the same story with the lady who lives next door sometime this weekend- Saturday maybe when I get back from the village (if I end up staying overnight). I’ll have all the words in my mind, so it won’t be as difficult. I’m not sure if she’ll even want to attempt it…but I can try.

Then, the Hema and Geetu (Heather and Gina) girls might come on Sunday- I will try and do it with them. Of course, ideally, we would talk about the story, discuss various things, then the next day maybe tell it and record it. But, I might try to get Ganga, the lady next door, and Heather to go ahead and tell it – and see what comes out in each retelling…and then ask just a few people how they like each one, who tells the best story- etc…

It is a lot of work up front- but might help me see with whom it will be easies to craft a story. I’m saying all this, but don’t know if any of it will happen.

Anyway, I need to go- Robin has some stuff for me to look at and I need to prepare for working with Ganga tomorrow- I really hope that happens. Her engagement is on Tuesday. I’ll be going back for that occasion. I pray that You, Lord will help me accomplish all you want me to tomorrow. I also pray that Ganga learns something through this process and whatever stories we end up working on. I pray that she sees you in me, I pray that you would help me see if it’s too much work to craft stories with her, or if that’s what you want me to do- please help my attitude be one of “Whatever you want”

Lord…You know how tired I’m feeling of this work, and even of these people…and trying to communicate complicated ideas in another language…yet- I don’t want to “take the easy way out” by crafting with girls who can speak English. I also don’t want the money factor to be an issue…please give me wisdom in all these things.

Day 8 - Job complains...

Today was an interesting and tiring day! I woke up and realized that for the third day in a row, the sun was not out- how depressing! So, I stayed in bed and read 4 days worth of Bible reading. I finished Joseph’s life and started Job’s. It is interesting that Job does not curse God even though he does complain about his boils and the “misfortunes” that come to him. He wishes he was never born and says he hates life. I’m wondering how this is considering “blameless” in God’s sight…? Does this give us the right to complain and wish we were never born at certain times? I have never wished that myself, but felt that such thoughts were sins! I guess generally from man we can learn what “not” to do and how “not” to behave, while when we look at Christ, we learn how we should behave and what we should do. He is the perfect example…not Job.

After studying Job, I went outside and soon, the kids in the village came over. We looked at my language learning pictures and they told me sentences about them. Granted I don’t think I retained anything from that ‘language session’- it was fun, nonetheless and perhaps that’s just one more time I can hear the sounds and the words and getting me closer to producing them!

Afterwards, Joyti, Robin and I ate daal batt (beans and rice), and then we went to Deepa’s for our more formal language session. Although, it has never been a ‘formal language session’ by normal standards of a language session! Today, I asked Deepa to review what Anju had taught as “on top of” and “under.” I recording the differences in Deepa’s Kahani versus Anju’s- as there were differences. I think this week I’ll be checking everything that Anju did- for review, but also to check and see how Deepa says it and how’s it the same or different.

Later in the session, Deepa was able to understand what I wanted with the little people I’ve been using to illustrate various pronouns. She went through all of them telling me the various verb endings for “to sit” in the present continuous tense. I was so proud of her- I made a big deal about it when we finished the recording. She also seemed happy, and asked, “Did you understand?” I said, “Yes! And you did too! Yeah!”

During my session, two kids (Joyti and Gauruf), were sitting there talking some of the time, and saying things. During the recording they also were saying things. I finally said, “You should be quiet during the recording, because…listen…” I had Joyti listen to herself in the recording. She said, “who is that?” I said, “you!” She realized that she needed to be quiet and both kids were better in the rest of the recordings.

After my recording I started to go back home (while Robin had her language session). I met Diksha (6 years old) and Latta (5 years old) on the path. I asked them, “Did you go to school?” The said, “yes.” I said, “how was it?” Diksha (I think my favorite little girl in the village!), said, “Good!” I tried to ask them what they learned, and Diksha motioned to her school bag and said, “Should I show you?” I went with them to Latta’s house- I was planning to go to Diksha’s home, but Latta’s was on the way, and there was no way I could go through Latta’s house without staying, having chai and talking to whoever was there. I realized that I might not get to Diksha’s house today- she seemed to understand.

I sat for about 45 minutes and tried to communicate. I took some pictures, and they asked me various questions such as, “Are you married?” “Do you like it here?” “Can you come to my village?” “When you go back to America, take me with you…” I was mainly surrounded by old women and little kids, but two young mothers were also there.

We finally did go back home; when we got there, Joyti asked us if we wanted to go with her to the field. So we did…We picked “flowers”- that are used for oil and other grass type stuff, that we think is for the cow- but we’re not sure. After a short time, Joyti continued picking grass and flower stuff and Robin, Bhavana (a 5 year old little girl who was with us), and I went to watch some little boys from another village play cricket up on the side of the mountain. We had to climb up the mountain to get there. It was fun!

We came back and continued picking. We filled an entire basket and carried it a short distance on our heads! It was heavy! Joyti carried it the rest of the way back.

Day 7- 1 week of being in the village!

Today, I woke up to another gloomy day. No rain, but lots of clouds and a general dismal feeling. I went outside and pretended it wasn’t so gloomy! I took my chair outside as I do on sunny days, set it up and read two days worth from God’s word. I am going through the One-Year Bible- the Chronological Bible in the New Living Translation. Anyway…in spite of my positive attitude and efforts to ignore the greyness of the day, it was still cold and eventually I had to give up and go inside.

Robin and I had some green slimy stuff for breakfast, or lunch rather. (We eat our first meal of the day around 12 noon). We figured the chunks were probably potatoes, but how they got green we weren’t sure. Robin couldn’t finish hers. I did, but didn’t enjoy it very much. I mainly ate it because I knew it would be another 10 hours before we would eat again! After eating we went to Deepa’s house for our language session.

Today’s language session was…okay. Deepa has a hard time with teaching us pronouns. Mainly today, I was trying to take a verb I already knew the way Anju had taught me and figure out the differences in her Kahani and Deepa’s. I figured out one difference, but there were others that I’m not 100% sure if they were different or if Deepa just didn’t understand. Ahh!! She also seems to be impatient with us- not waiting very long for us to say the answer to a picture she points to. From being a teacher, it is hard to not just give the answer, but so much more joy comes to both the teacher and the student when the student is the one who has learned it and can produce it. When she sees that in us, I think she’ll give us more time and chances to figure it out on our own…hopefully.

While Robin was having her language session, I hung out with the kids. We had a good time taking pictures and talking- about what, I don’t know! Haha! One little girl, Dicksha- is sooo cute! She and I have had a few conversations. She’s 6 years old and speaks fairly clearly and doesn’t seem to mind repeating things or saying them slowly so I can understand. So far, she has mainly spoken in Hindi, however, so I’m not sure if she is more comfortable in Hindi, or just figures I don’t know Kahani (which I don’t), or what. Anyway, she has become a good little friend! (Golu, and Diksha - this might be my favorite picture!)

When Robin was finished, she to came and joined us – sitting on the ledge. An “aam” (old woman) came by and said something to the kids and then sat down right next to me- so close she was touchin me in fact. We took some pictures with her too- she seemed to enjoy it. She talked to us, but I didn’t really understand anything she said!!!

A little while after that, we were back at home and Joyti served us chai. This is normal, but I have forgot to mention how the flies in our room also like chai! Most of the time after we’ve taken a few sips, a fly manages to get stuck in our chai cup. We have nick-named our chai, “fly-traps!” and are thankful for them! Today, I had not even taken one sip before one flew in- and, what’s more, I even had the cup in my hand the whole time- trying to not allow flies to go in, but still…he got in! Ugh!

Day 6 - Sunday!

Today is Sunday- your day Jesus!!! May what we do bring honor and glory to you and may we set an example that this day is special to those around us!

Yesterday, I didn’t write because I was tired after going to Bardachina- but the trip went well. It’s a long trip, but it went well, and now I think we pretty much know the way- through the fields, over the wall and through the river…

Yesterday as we were walking back, we had to go through some people’s yards- and we stopped and talked with them some. Part of me, okay, most of me wanted to stop and sit with them- even though we were hot and sweaty and dirty and tired from hiking back. That didn’t seem to matter at all- I just wanted to be with them.

When we got back, I spent a lot of time- a few hours with Joyti and Bicky and thouroughly enjoyed their company. For the first time I think since I’ve been in Kahan/Village, I felt like I had friends. I want to cry just typing that because how can people I just met 6 days ago, who don’t even speak my language or worship the same God, and who look different than me, and are different from me- how can we be friends? Only God can make that happen. Wow. Anyway, I felt so happy to be here- sitting there in the mud kitchen, smoke from the fire burning my eyes, trying to understand what they were saying, communicating whatever I could, and just enjoying being there. And today, in spite of the gloomy rain, I feel so happy to be here- with these people. I’m not sure why or how, but I’m thankful for that blessing from the Lord!!!

Day 4 - "There is One God..."

Today, I woke up a little later- around 9am. I actually woke up at 6:30, but was sleeping off and on until 9. The sunshine doesn’t arrive on the house until about 9:30, so when I got up, the sunshine was just hitting the house. I gathered my dirty clothes, the bar of soap and the plastic brush and headed outside to wash my clothes. It took me a while because I was trying to wash my underwear, but having to hide it under other clothes anytime the father or brother would come to that side of that house! Finally the clothes got washed, and then I took a bath- for the first time in over a week! I decided to take one after I felt like there was some kind of rash on my back from not bathing. Probably time to get washed huh?

Even though I just had a bucket of water, it felt really good! (Below is a picture of another time, washing same idea - squatting and washing hair - this little girl was helping me :) )

Afterwards, Robin and I ate parathas, some of our favorite food. Then Anju came in and we talked about rent payment and payment for language stuff for Deepa. Anju first said, no one remembered what Becca paid last time…I had heard a previous conversation between Anju and Chachi and Chachi said Rs. 400/week, but she wasn’t sure. Neither of them realized I understood their conversation, since I was in the middle of eating and pretended not to be listening. I told Anju that Becca had said Rs. 400/week, which was what she thought she had paid. Anju then said, “Maybe 1000/week for both of you?” Robin and I both thought that was kind-of a lot, since we paid only 700 back in "Kahan" for our room there… We suggested 800. Anju went out and asked her aunt and uncle and came back and said, “Whatever you think is okay.” I said, “We want to do what’s right, what did they say…” She said, “I don’t know, 1000?” We said, “okay, that’s fine.” The reason being there is two of us and also a little inflation from two years ago when Becca was here. 1000 rupees is about $25.00, for both of us, per week. It is a little much for India, but since we're foreigners, and don't want to hurt the relationship, that will be okay with us. We think that instead of “per room” rent, here it must be “per person” – since us using the room doesn’t really cost them anything, it’s more the food, I guess.

We then went to Deepa’s and had our language sessions. It was still different from the two previous lessons. There were more people there this time, all interested in what we were doing and the mother and sister watched both Robin’s and mine entire language session. Deepa did a good job today- we all were confused at times, but I think she’s getting the hang of how we’re trying to learn. We’re learning that her Kahani is different from Anju’s (who we’ve learned from before), but we told her that we want to learn her Kahani. I think she’s happy about that…

When we got back, we watched Bicky and Chacha build a ‘closeline’ that Bicky had started on this morning. It’s two logs with little crevices in them, and a long, thick pipe that rests on them. Pretty ingenious! I keep thinking how much Mark would love life here- finding little things here and there to do and make. Pretty much everything is of natural stuff- from the materials they use to cut, chop and hammer, to the final outcome of whatever they’re making. Just fyi, previously, we use the wood pile or the mud roof to lay our clothes on to dry- because that’s not dirty or anything!!! Haha…
(Here is a picture of one of the village girls and her animals!)

Then I had a conversation with Chacha in Hindi. Robin was also sitting there. We talked about the town above us and his school he works at, and the temples nearby. He asked us about our work, what we’re doing and after we study language and culture, then what? I told him that part of that is learning Kahani stories…he seemed to like that idea…but still asked, “after that, then what?” The way he was asking was merely out of curiosity, he wasn’t trying to get anything out of us, just curious- as any normal person would be! (why in the world would you come out to a village to live and learn language anyway!?!?)

After our conversation we went inside to eat rice and daal. Chacha said something about how since we are guests we can’t eat with them, or they can’t eat with us (Although we have all eaten together before). He also said something about changing clothes to eat…which we have observed- he always puts on a doti- a white linin cloth thing around his waist when he eats- as part of his religion. Along with the religion topic, he said,
“God is one; there is one God…We, Hindus call him Krisha- Mohammad/Muslims call him…--what do they call him Bicky?—
Bicky said, “Allah.”
“Yes, Muslims call him Allah, and you call him Jesus.”

I explained to Robin what he said and told her it was similar to the conversation I had with Uncle before…and never really came up with a good answer. The conversation kind-of trailed off as we were eating and he was on his way outside. But either way, I think it’s interesting that he feels a need to explain that to us. After this, he did observe Robin and I as we prayed for our food.

Day 3 - In the field...(Journal Entry)

Today, I woke up around 3am and then again at 6am. Robin was up- she had been feeling sick during the night and hadn’t slept until 5am. She ended up being in bed all day, though she is feeling better now.

I spent about an hour or so studying as well as time reading God’s word. I watched life happen around me, including the sun rise over the mountains. The gas cylinder ran out today, and so this morning Anju, Joyti and I tried to call Bicky with Robin’s and my cell phones. He was at the shop on the road on the mountain- which we can see from the village, but it takes an hour to get there walking. They wanted to call and see if he could bring another gas cylinder. The phones weren’t working at first, but then they did. In the process, I nearly fell off the roof! I stepped on what looked like part of the roof, but apparently it wasn’t and it gave way. I caught myself fortunately and quickly got to a more stable part of the roof. Chachi (aunty) later told me, “if you don’t know where is a good place to step and don't know what will happen if you go there, ask.” I wouldn’t have fallen very far, there is a wood pile down below- it would have hurt, but I would have been okay, most likely!

Anyway, after sitting around for most of the morning, studying, checking on Robin and trying to converse with whoever walked by, I ate lunch (one of two meals during the day), and then went to Deepa’s for a language session. It was…okay. For a first language session, it was probably wonderful, but I’ll say about 40 out of about 45 minutes were frustrating, but the 5 minutes that were good were a good start. She seems patient enough, so should be okay. She talked a lot more and I couldn’t understood most of it, but I think once she realizes we can’t respond and just don’t know much, she’ll talk less, perhaps. One good thing is that her first response to explain something is in Kahani rather than Hindi, like Anju- so that’s good. Even though we can’t understand it, at least we’ll have less interference with Hindi- hopefully.

After coming back ‘home’ – I sat with Anju and Deepa for a while, trying to share what I had learned. Then Joyti had to take something to the ‘ket’ (pronounced ‘kate’ and means ‘field’) and she asked if I wanted to go with her. I did- wow, it was an interesting rasta (path) to get there! Once there, we watched Chachi and Chacha plant onions. As we were there, more and more woman came down to plant them- all sitting in a row, planting. I think I got a few good pictures. While there still wasn’t a whole lot to do down in the ket, it was a nice change of scenery. There was a lot more wind down there too for some reason. On our way back, we saw Bicky caring something on his head! I took a video of that!

I came back and played with the kids while listening to Deepa talk with Anju and while Anju ground up some white stuff for pujas- for rangoli. Then I washed my feet from being in the fields with all the miti (dirt/dust). Robin came out of her room and we talked for a while and ate some apples. She’s feeling better, her head hurts and she’s tired, but her stomach is okay, which is good.

Then I went upstairs and watched Anju put some white paste stuff in lines on the mandir (temple). She said it was for a festival two days from now. I watched in silence for a while, and looked around at the pictures of various gods and things used in their pujas. It didn’t seem as if the rangoli was an actual part of the puja- it seemed more of a fun thing to do. Even Joyti came in and I asked her what the stone was in the mandir- she said it was a coconut that they use in pujas, but she laughed because I thought it was a stone.

Anyway, I’m sitting here now- Robin and I are typing on our computers, waiting for nightfall when we can sleep again! The past few days have honestly been pretty boring. I’m not sure how to fill the time. I can only take so much language at once, yet I do feel I could be doing more. I did more today, and will try and continue to do more, even when I just don’t feel like it. I want to go around and visit people and try to speak with them- I think that will help a lot, though it will take a little more courage on my part! (the picture below is of the smoke filled mud kitchen!)

I pray that we both persevere and not give up in living here- I pray that we continue to laugh about things that normally might make us cry. I pray that we continue to encourage each other and not encourage a negative attitude in each other.

I did get to talk to Mommy today- what a special treat! The phone worked, and we got to talk for a long time! It was nice mainly to know that our phones work. Of course, just because my phone worked then doesn’t mean it will work in the future- but either way, at least it worked once! Mommy was also very encouraging about our work here and to press on and keep looking for opportunities…While she doesn’t know a whole lot about our lives here, it was good to talk to her and hear her thoughts on things…I’m thankful for that phone call!!!

Day 2 - I got a bed! (table) (Journal Entry)

It was much the same as yesterday…except I got a bed, ahem, I mean ‘table,’ to sleep on! Bicky (the son) and his friend brought it down from the store they own near the road. It is a table, but no worries, I can use it to sleep on- just throw a few blankets on it, and "bas" (enough), it’s good to go! We’ll see…I don’t think it will be much different from the floor, except it’s a foot higher…

While it may not be the most comfortable to sleep on, it does make me feel like I have my own space which I didn’t realize how nice it would be to have until I didn’t have it. It would have been fine to continue folding up my bed, but I must say, having this little space that’s “mine” is nice…I hope my back feels the same when it’s time to sleep…

Robin and I also went to Deepa’s house today for a “language session” – haha, it was pretty interesting. First of all, we ate lunch late, and thus we were late going to her house and so she didn’t really have much time. Robin attempted to review some pictures with her and it ended up that four women stood around all saying what they thought Robin was trying to learn. She was confused and frustrated, but we decided it was a good first step.

I shared that part of me wants to have a language session just like we’ve been having, and wants things to go smoothly…but language sessions and people aren’t going to just line themselves up for us or fall in our laps. I mean, this might not even be the best village for us to be in! Basically, language learning, and culture learning isn’t just going to happen by itself. Since Anju is here with us, I feel dependent on her and as if she will introduce us to people and arrange our language stuff for us. And she has to some extent, but I’m convinced, we need to take more initiative. Of course, the other thing is that there is always a go-between-person in this culture. So how will that work out when Anju leaves (Tomorrow!). Hmm…we shall see.

The sun was out today, it was nice to sit outside- I even got hot! I had to eat the lemon stuff again today- Robin was there, but didn’t try it…I took three bites today, as opposed to my one bite yesterday. The best description I can give to this stuff they consider a special treat is ‘dog food.’

Anyway, I’m tired now and my head hurts. I continue to wonder how language and culture learning is going to happen. Goodness, if we’re having trouble with that, how will stories ever be told? I’m convinced it will take a miracle. There is no other way.

God, you have put me here in this work either to show me that you are more awesome than I ever thought, or to show me that I’ve made a mistake in how I’ve decided to spend these two years. Only time will tell what is to come. I’m glad that you, Lord, know the future- and no matter what, you are with me, with us, in this journey and work.

Day 1 - in the Village (Journal Entry)

We arrived yesterday afternoon. We met some of the people here, ate lunch [sitting on the floor], and eventually night came- when we had a fire! It was great, just like camping. In fact, this life here is just like camping, except we forgot the marshmallows! There was one bed in our room. While it would be customary for both Robin and I to share a bed, and while Robin and I do have a somewhat close friendship, we both knew that sleeping together was not an option. I ended up on the floor- which was okay until about 4am.

I woke up this morning at 4am, and stayed in bed (my sleeping bag), trying to sleep until about 6am when I gave up. I still stayed in bed since Robin wasn’t awake and since I didn’t hear much action going on outside. Finally around 8:15, I decided to get up. It was a struggle to know what to wear- my pajamas with a nightgown type thing on the outside, or get changed, or just wear my pj’s or what, since I didn’t know what was appropriate. I finally decided to keep my pj’s on, put on a jacket overtop and go out. Well, that was a nice thought- but didn’t get me very far, since I couldn’t get the door unlocked to go out! I tried several times and finally gave up and sat in a chair in my room for about a half hour until Robin sat up in bed.

“Good morning” I said.
“Good morning,” she said.
“I can’t get out.” I said.
She just laughed, got up and unlocked it without too much of a struggle! (It’s funny because most of the time when we have a door that’s locked and we can’t open it- I’m the one who is able to open it!)

We sat outside for a while with Anju- she washed dishes using tied up grass as a dishrag. I think it made the dishes dirtier! It was funny how she rinsed out the grass when she was done! The sun wasn’t shining, there were clouds everywhere- it was pretty gloomy and cold- though it didn’t seem as cold as our home in "Kahan." Someone had boiled some water, so we used that to wash our faces, brushed our teeth and then had chai. I observed Chachi (aunty in Hindi), take a ‘barten’ (A bowel) filled with some stuff, including water over to a tree. She pulled a leaf from it and added it to the mixture. Then she went and stood up on the ledge that surrounds the porch. She lifted it up to the sky and then slowly poured some of it out- making sure it fell on the ledge and the ground beneath it. Then she turned around once- and poured some more out. She then sprinkled it around the porch area where she was standing. I’m not sure what that was for, maybe one day I can ask her.

Seeing this, I wondered what the day would hold- our first day in the village.

The day was very much uneventful, and in fact somewhat depressing. We learned that there aren’t really any women or girls our age to learn from and work with. Bicky- the son (a few years younger than us), seems to be the only one around who doesn’t have anything to do. We both feel that while he can help us with language, he can’t and shouldn’t be our sole teacher- for everyone’s sakes, that’s just not a good idea. We talked to Anju and there is another woman who she had mentioned before and mentioned again today. We had met her the last time and she did come over today for a while. We are supposed to go to her home tomorrow to do language. She has a 1 ½ year old (named Rahul!), however and he’s pretty demanding, so I’m not sure how much learning will actually happen. If she didn’t have a kid, she would be working in the fields- as are the other women in this village. Though all the other women seem to be 50 years old or older! It seems the village has old woman and young boys- where are all the men and the young girls?

Also, Joyti, the girl (15 years old, who will go back to school in Feb), said something in Kahani and Anju said, “That’s different from how we say it…we say it like this…the Kahani people here say it like that….” Oh brother- even before we’ve hardly learned anything, there are differences in the language we’ve learned and the language of this village. And then Anju said, “all villages have a little different language….” Great.

Thoughts we had throughout the day:
“Is this really the best village to work in?”
“If there aren’t any women here our age, I’m not sure that it is…”
“Does everyone work in the field?” - Yes.
“When do they come back from the field?” – 5pm or so…
“I guess we’re going to be spending some time in the field”
“We could go to another village…”
“How did this seem like a perfect fit, and everything was laid out for us?” (Elizabeth)
“I never thought that, just for the record.” (Robin)
“Who can be our story-crafters?”
“We are just here to learn language, so I guess we should focus on that…”
“Yeah, but if the village where we end up has a slightly different language than this one, we should start learning that rather than getting confused with this one, PLUS we are supposed to be making contacts and looking for a potential story-crafter too… “
“Ugh.”

The rest of the day was spent writing letters, watching woman with grass on their head walk by- some of them had so much grass you couldn’t even see their faces- I don’t know how they could see where they were walking! We played with the dog, had chai, I tried to sleep, but to no avail, we tried to catch flies in our room (we counted more than 35 of them at one time), I was forced to have some really slimy, lemon, yogurt stuff- ugh.

While there seems to be a lot of negative things here, including the spider looking at me from the wall next to me, there is a lot to be thankful for too. Things like, “woman with grass on their heads, men working in the field, kids running and playing with the dog, and mainly, the incredible peaceful feeling of being here”

I did observe Chachi worshiping or doing some kind of puja (prayer) this morning and then heard Bicky (the son) blowing a horn and was told that was he was doing his puja in the temple in their home. My thoughts are: “How can what we bring to these people make any difference at all?” And, “There lives are fine- they don’t need and don’t want to know anything different than the life they are leading- honestly, they have more of a perfect life than a lot of Christians that I know!” Robin once told me that while things on the surface may appear fine, there may be things underneath that they are really trying to escape.

True, I guess. And perhaps, they don’t know that they want to escape that because they haven’t heard of anything else? I don’t know. Somehow being here, seeing things makes what we’re trying to do seem so much more impossible. I knew it was impossible before I got here, but now I really feel that way! One thing I guess to help is that while it’s good to keep the end goal in mind, living life day-by-day, hour by hour is what is going to get the work done in the end. And humor will probably help too!!!

-----------written later that night--------------

We just finished eating alu gobi- which is potato and cauliflower with spices mixed in. While it doesn’t taste bad, we’ve had it for the past three meals so far…I wonder how long we’ll be having it…

But, this afternoon/evening something exciting happened! Robin and I played cricket!!! It was SO MUCH FUN!!! We had been sitting around kind-of unsure of what to do all day. Some kids had seen us and sort-of talked to us, though not much. Later in the evening, the sky looked really pretty, so I went out to take a picture of it. As I was taking it, one boy came over and asked what I was doing- I showed him the picture, and about 2 minutes later, I was surrounded by kids all wanting to see the pictures on my camera. They wanted to know where their picture was, so I told them I had to take a picture of them first, then they could see. They laughed when they saw the pictures of themselves!

I then asked if they were playing cricket- they said yes and “come play.” I said, I don’t know how, they didn’t seem to care. I also didn’t care, and was thankful for something to do, so I called to Robin, “hey, you wanna come play cricket?” She said, “I don’t know how.” I said, “I don’t either, come on!” She came and we both played…

At one point, I pitched the ball to one boy and he hit it so far it went out of the field and down the mountain somewhere. They said, “The ball’s gone”- I felt bad about being the one who pitched it, so I said, “No, it’s not, come on, let’s find it.” They kids kept saying, “scorpion, scorpion”- as I climbed down the terraces trying to find the ball. I tried to ignore the “Scorpion” warnings, hoping that that it might mean something different in their language! Anyway, after the kids saw I was serious about finding the ball, they all climbed down and started searching with me- I asked one about the scorpion and he said they were joking. I’m not sure, but either way, I never saw any scorpions and, I found the ball! Both the kids and I were excited!

Anyway, I’m not sure how playing cricket helps our storying work, but it made me feel a lot happier about being here. For now, I think that’s a good thing.

Day before Moving to the Village (Journal Entry)

I feel…
Excited: Finally getting to the people we will be working with (most likely)
Scared: Spiders, strange food [grass], a bed or maybe not- we won’t know til we get there.
Lonely: Already.
Empowered: God is going with us and He is already there!
Nervous: What if we do something wrong, say something inappropriate…I guess I can relax about that, because I know we will!
Cold: enough said.
Thankful: our language helper is going with us- God does provide!
Incompetent: with all the language I’ve been studying, I still don’t feel sure that I could even have a basic conversation.
Amazed: that God would bring me here to do this work among these people- some of whom may be in Heaven one day!
Pointless: “why can’t they all just learn English!” How long is this going to take?
In Pain: my back constantly hurts…I used to look forward to going to bed, now I can’t wait to wake up because of the pain!
Encouraged: by the number of emails I’ve received in response to my update- so many people are praying!
Far away: Now it would take nearly 50 hours to get home, and that would only be if I didn’t fall hiking up the mountain, if the jeep was not full when I got to the top, if the bus didn’t break down, if the train was on time, if the rickshaw to the airport took me directly there, and if the plane got through the fog and was able to leave the ground. Hmmm.

Is it possible to have all these feelings at one time? I feel depressed, but also refreshed. I feel weak, but also strong. I feel unsure, but also certain about what is to come.

Why am I not jumping up and down with excitement? Isn’t this what I wanted? Isn’t this my dream come true? Yes…yes, Elizabeth. It is what you thought you wanted at least. Now you have it- satisfied? It’s not that I was looking for satisfaction, and it’s not that I don’t realize this is my dream come true/coming true…it is, for sure. It’s just that I don’t think I can believe I’m in it- and this is what I dreamed of. What was I thinking? Haha…

I do love it here, I do love these people. Really, I do. So why do I feel this way. What way do I feel? I’m not sure how to explain it. Again, so many feelings at one time. Perhaps it’s a bit of a spiritual battle I’m experiencing- we are getting ready to get into more of the work we’re called to do, why wouldn’t Satan try and stop us, or at least give us a negative attitude. We must fight against that!

Some encouragement to me tonight- from this song….(Being in the mountains I can relate to this song...)

You bring me up here on the mountain. For me to rest, learn and grow.
I see the truth up on the mountain. And I carry it to the world far below
So as I go down to the valleys, knowing that you will go with me
This is my prayer, Lord help me to remember what you’ve shown me
Up on the mountain.

Ephesians 1:17-18

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you..."

Bon Jovi Inspiration! (Email to Parents)

Hey…

We arrived safely back in Kahan today. Greeting by the cold, gray, rain…

Anyway, Mumabi was nice, the day in Delhi was good with Robin- it was nice to be back together. I’m basically drained…don’t feel like doing a single thing…pray for strength and time to rest. Robin said I should take some time off this week to rest up. I think I will…I won’t take time off, but I’ll focus on some other things, like journaling, and the wedding report I want to write on the weddings I’ve been to. We will be getting ready for the village and doing some language stuff too, but maybe I won’t do too much lang. stuff and get this other stuff done- plus take care of myself! Haha…

Neither Robin and I really wanted to come back to Alm. We kind-of stated it, and then didn’t talk about it again. We don’t want to be an encouragement to each other in the wrong way! We both stated how we knew it was good and right…but still…

I was flipping through channels on the TV in Robin’s hotel room in Delhi while she got a shower and a music video came on by Bon Jovi…haha…it was actually a pretty neat and timely song…

Went something like this:
“Welcome to wherever you are…this is your life, you made it this far. If you’re here right now, you’re right where you’re supposed to be…welcome to wherever you are”

Funny how God can use Bon Jovi to provide inspiration!

Anyway, just wanted to let you know we made it back.

~ Elizabeth

Email Update - "Are you a foreigner or Indian?"

December 19, 2005

Short Version:
1) “How can I not do this for Him!” (Village Visit Thoughts)
2) “Are you a foreigner or an Indian?” (My friend’s wedding went very well!!!)
3) “How did we get here?” – and other things we’ve said/experienced over the past five months!
4) P & P (including trips for the end of Dec)
5) “Is my response half as excited as the Shepherds?” (Advent stories…)

Longer Version
1) “How can I not do this for Him!” (Village Visit Thoughts)
Robin and I took a day trip (hike!) to the village this past Friday. It was good to make additional contacts with the family we hope to live with as well as another family who may be able to help us with language learning. Although I didn’t particularly like the certain kind of daal and rice that was given to us for lunch, I sat there and thought: “I can learn to like this…and if this small thing is something else that will help us connect with these people so that in the long run they might hear stories and eventually know Him, how can I not learn to like it?”

We plan to move to the village the first week in January for more concentrated language and culture learning.

2) “Are you a foreigner or an Indian?”
I was asked this question by one of Trisha’s family members the wedding last week. I replied, “I’m a foreigner, but thank you for the compliment!” :) It was great to be able to see my friends, Rahul and Trisha again and celebrate their marriage with them. Being able to actually spend 24 hours with the bride over the course of the wedding week gave me additional insight into Indian weddings that I’m still processing. As one of her only friends to be able to attend the wedding, I’m glad that I was able to be there for Trisha.

3) “How did we get here?”
As we're getting ready for Christmas on the opposite side of the world from our families, we often laugh at the differences between this year and past Christmas seasons. Here are some things we've said/experienced in the last month:
· “I’m not sure if I can drink this water, there is more dirt in it than normal”
· Wearing 3, 4, 5, layers of clothing, and it’s only December!
· “Do we have water?”
· “Why would we have water?”
· Sleeping with hot water bottles
· Sitting outside to get warm (i.e. the sunshine verses the cold cement rooms).
· “Where are we?” “How did we get here?”
· Learning (from our supervisor) to say the phrase “If we live through this it’ll make a great story, if not, heaven’s better.”
· “It’s the weather” (the weather takes the blame the electricity going out, the phone not working, Aunty feeling sick, the shops being closed, kids staying home from school, etc, etc).
· Here are some things we’ve gotten excited about:
putting on clean PJs on a day that you’re actually clean.
having electricity on bath day (that comes about once every 4 days or so.
Not having grass for a meal.
Being able to see the reaction on people’s faces when we try to speak to them in their mother tongue.
Having a rug on the floor.
Getting a new plastic cup to use to pour water over yourself during a bath.

4) P & P
Praises:
* Health- minus a cold here and there (because of the cold weather!), we have been fairly healthy
* Language learning has been going well.
* We received Gas this week for our burner! I initially typed this update with this as a prayer request, but God answered it before I even sent it out!!!)

Prayer:
* Safety while traveling.
* Good time and conversations with Gajju, Asmita, Keyur and Neeta!
* Pray for all of us as we miss home, especially over Christmas!
* Trips for the end of December: Please pray as I take took two trips at the end of December. One for my birthday (Dec. 21), to visit Gajju and Asmita (two more Indian friends that many of you know!). The other trip (over New Years) is to attend another friend’s wedding (Keyur). Neeta, another Indian friend, will be in that same city at the same time, so I’m hoping to stay with her.

5) “Is my response half as excited as the Shepherds?” (Advent stories…)
We’ve been taking turns crafting and telling stories each week related to Advent…Last week I told the story of the Shepherds and was challenged by this verse…Reflect on these thoughts with me…
Luke 2:15: The shepherds went as fast as they could to see for themselves what the angels had told them.
Luke 2:17: After seeing Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, the shepherds went and told everyone what they had heard and seen. All who heard the shepherds story were amazed.
Luke 2:20: The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for what they had seen.
I was challenged by their response and wondered if my response to our Lord is half as excited as the Shepherds was!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Til All Have Heard,

~ Elizabeth

"Pour Out All" by Amy Charmichael

“Pour Out All” by Amy Charmichael’s book: “Candles in the Dark”

A word in Deuteronomy that brought you to me when I read it some days ago is this: ‘The Lord is their Inheritance as He hath said unto them’ (Deut. 18:2). I thought then, as I think now, of the lovely inheritance you might have had. But He is your Inheritance instead of that lovely earthly joy. Throughout all eternity that word will be opening up its treasures. You will never regret your choice. It is wonderful to be free to pour out all, every drop of one’s life; and that is what you have done and are doing. No, you will never regret it, never.”

Thank you Lord, for this confirmation this morning. Thank you for leading me here- I suppose it was “my choice” in a way- but really, ‘how could I not come?’ While I may not always be thrilled about being here, I came because you led me here. No other direction even compared to the glory this would bring you as well as the blessing that I might receive! Did I do it just for the blessing I would receive, thus did I do it selfishly? I think part of me desires adventure, and yes, for that part of me, I selfishly came. Yet, there are many other ways to have adventure, “comfortably.” :)

How could I forget? God WAS/IS Faithful! (Journal Entry)

I just read part of my journal and an email to Mommy and Daddy that was during a time of homesickness after about 2 months of being here. I had forgotten that I had even gone through that!!! How could I? God brought me through that- how quick I am to forget his faithfulness and care for me! Wow!

Right now, I pray for the K. people. I pray for the contacts we’ll make in the village and the city here. I pray for good communication even tomorrow as we go to the village. I pray that they would be receptive to the idea of stories and would not only like the stories, but believe the Truth in the stories. And that Truth would change their lives.

Email resonse to Janna

Janna,

Thank you for your email. Reading it makes me re-evaluate what I signed up for!! Haha…But then also makes me realize how short our life really is and for me to desire to have a comfortable life and friends and family and ignore the nations around me is indeed a sin! We are serving our Lord, and what could be more fulfilling and satisfying than that!? Yet, those homesick and missing friends feelings are still there…hmm…

I’m doing better the past few days- the devotions I’ve been reading seem to be pinpointing my homesick issues…don’t you hate it/love it when God knows exactly what you need and gives it to you? Part of me is thanking Him for comforting me and showing me that He does care for me and is in control- the other part of me says, “Let me pity myself a little longer!!!” Haha…

Anyway, thank you for your friendship...Thank you for being there, for listening and sharing your insight and wisdom with me.

Have a wonderful Christmas and time back “home.”

~ Elizabeth

Missing family - thoughts (Journal Entry)

“Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” ~ Gal. 5:24

Thoughts from Oswald Chambers:
“…It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence and self-assertiveness, and this is where the battle has to be fought. It is the things that are right and noble and good from the natural standpoint that keep us back from God’s best."

“…Very few of us debate with the sordid and evil and wrong, but we do debate with the good. It is the good that hates the best, and the higher up you get in the scale of the natural virtues, the more intense is the opposition to Jesus Christ…”

“… ‘Those who belong to Jesus have crucified the sinful nature’ – it is going to cost the natural in you everything, not something. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself,” i.e. his right to himself, and a man has to realize Who Jesus Christ is before he will do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence."

I think about missing my friends and home, and while I’m not sure it’s a sin, I do realize that these “good” things can keep me back from God’s best. Right now, I’m somehow allowing those feelings to distract me from what God has planned for me. Not that He didn’t know I would miss my friends and family, not that He didn’t plan for that or isn’t in control now, but just that He has a goal and purpose in mind for me...

Below is an email reply from Janna- another Epic member in response to an email I sent to her about missing home/family.

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Hi friend,
....I do believe Gd has called you here. I don't know what experiences He needs you to have for your future and what you'll be doing. Maybe he needs you away from the states for two years to cement things in your life. Maybe you need the quietness. Maybe it's to pull you away from where you're so independent and to teach you to rely on him. Maybe it's to take you out of your comfort zone and break some things in your life.

Regardless, these two years have a purpose for your heart, even though you might look at it as though there is no point. Maybe it's to teach you to work with others who are so different from you.

I know the heartache of missing friends. Missing people you really connect with, you know? We have had plenty of friends overseas but none whom i have connected with like my friends from college. And maybe i'll never have that again. That was a hard realization for me. It took me about a year to work through. I am not Thai or Chinese or Bangladeshi. Therefore, i will never know how they think the way I do with Americans. I will never be able to speak their language as well (that's frustrating!). What did i do to get over it? I'm not so sure. I guess it took time and some good talks over skype (which i can't do from here and i know you can't from where you live). But it just took time and a grieving process to go through and realize it all.

Ok, i need to go to the airport. Miss you too and i promise more later!!!

Email to Herd, my Indian friends.

Hello Herdies!!!!!

I realized it’s been a while since I sent out an update and a lot has happened!!!!

Trisha’s aur Rahul ki Shaddi:
I took two trains and a rickshaw to their town this past week and had a wonderful time with Trisha and Rahul at their wedding! A few memories:
* Dancing at the sangeet (“koi ee ka hai”- what does that mean?)
* The entire Kesar family coming in to wake Trisha, her sister and me up, the morning of the wedding
* Eating wonderful paneer dishes at each event
* Dancing at the bajhun (spelling?)
* Watching Trisha and Rahul eat ludoo after ludoo
* Dancing with Trish and Rahul
* Sitting with Trisha while she got her makeup and hair done
* Wearing a sari one night, and a lengha the next- dancing in both!
* Watching Rahul ride a horse!
* Dancing at the wedding with Rahul’s family
* Staying up ALL night for the shadi ceremony
* Crying as they left- tears of joy because they are now married, tears of sorrow realizing I won’t see them again for a while….
* Talking in my broken Hindi with Trisha’s family as they tried to get me to stay another day
*Oh yeah, did I mention dancing yet?

Life Here
My life here is going well- we’ve started learning the language that we’ll be working in- Kahani. We are going to move to a village in January most likely. Where we are right now isn’t much different from the village in that last week we didn’t have water for 5 days, today our gas cylinder ran out and apparently there isn’t much gas in the city- or something…we may be building a fire soon! Bucket baths- which are few and far between because it’s so cold and our bathroom is outside our house. I will say that I’ve been using the sleeping bag you all gave me- it’s been keeping me quite warm, and I’m so thankful for it!!!- And of course think of you every night when I crawl in it!! For the next two months we are language learning and studying the culture in preparation for telling Bible stories later on.

I hope you are all doing well. I would love to hear from you…and appreciate those who have kept in touch!!! You are my best friends, and I do miss you lots. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Years.

Aapka dost, (your friend)
~ Liz

Packages (Email to Parents)

Guess what- I think that one of your packages you sent is in Kahan somewhere!!! YEAH!

I went to the post office today and said, “Do you have my package?”
They talked a little bit to themselves and told me to go around to another area where I’ve looked for my packages before…
I went back there and asked again- they talked to themselves again and weren’t sure and then I heard: “blah blah, Elizabeth, blah, blah…”
I said, “Wait- Elizabeth? That’s MY name!”
“Your name?”
“Yes, I’m Elizabeth”
“Oh”
Then, they showed me my name written down in some book and also showed me the slip from the package that you wrote on the address and the contents of the package…I don’t know why it was separated from the package. They had the paper, but not the package. They said, “Oh, the package is with the postman- it should arrive today.” I wasn’t about to believe them- what a coincidence that the day I come to the post office, the postman would deliver it. Hmm….I said, “if not, then what?” They said, “Come back tomorrow at 9 or 10am.

So, I’ll do that….and ‘hum dekaingai” (we’ll see). :) I figure they just said that so they’d have time to repackage it, whatever’s left of it!

How can I not go? How can I stay? (Journal Entry)

Some thoughts today….

I would be fine with going home. Right now would be good.
How can you think that?
Why not, I don’t need to be here, I don’t want to be here…I’m allowed to go home if I want to.
So many people think that India is a dream come true for you, how can you let them down?
True…but all well. I’ve let people down before…they’ll get over it.
So many people are praying for you…how can you ignore that?
True…they’ll just have to start praying for someone else, I guess.
Just like many years ago when reflecting on the unreached peoples, you said, “How can I not go?” Now, you need to think and say to yourself, “How can I leave?”
More than anything else, this has to be the reason I stay…not for the people back home, not for myself; but for the people here, and ultimately to bring glory to God.

Water Issues (Email to Parents)

Good morning/evening,

So, I might have to break out the “no water needed” shampoo today. And even the soap.

It’s been a week since I bathed, and three days since I’ve washed my hair- and today, our landlord came up and said, “We have little water, don’t use much…I don’t know when we’ll get it again.”

Ugh. UGH, UGH, UGH. What to do? Kya karoon? (that means, "what to do"- in Hindi).

And last night, while pouring boiling water into my water bottle (it's so cold here, we use hot water bottles to sleep with), the boiling water came bubbled back up over the water bottle and all over my hand. I put cold water on it for a while and Vivian had some burn cream and while it was throbbing last night, it seems okay now- sore, but okay.

Anyway, you must know my life isn’t all joys and happiness!!!! I know you know that. And yet….would I want to be anywhere else right now? No, honestly, no. Would it be nice to take a trip to somewhere and have a warm shower for as long as I want, and not be freezing cold at night, and be able to speak the language perfectly, and etc, etc, etc….? Sure, that’d be nice.

But, at least now, that won’t happen. I might as well accept that, and realize that…and adjust my expectations.

Pray for patience, strength and “humor” in the midst of it all!!!

~ Elizabeth

Weddings! (Email Update)

Update: December 1st, 2005

Short Version:
* Wedding update:
* “She’s speaking MY language!” (Highlight from this week of language learning)
* Next week- Wedding of one of my best friends!!!

Longer Version:
Wedding update:
The wedding I attended in the village over American Thanksgiving weekend went very well. Thank you for your prayers!

We arrived after three hours in a crowded jeep (a jeep made for about 10 people, but we had 17 fitting inside and three more on top!!!). Once we got there, we had to cross a little river and climb up part of a mountain to get to the wedding. The ladys' “sangeet’ was taking place, which is when the women do dances and prayers for the bride. They asked me to dance
too- and I did.

After this, it was already evening and Aunty and I climbed up the mountain some more- about a half hour to her mother’s home. We spent the night there- which including eating dinner in a mud kitchen around a fire, brushing my teeth while watching the goat eat leaves from the tree next to me, and watching Aunty say prayers to the sun when I woke up in the morning…

After the ladies painted typical designs on my hands, we hiked back down and spent the day at the wedding. The groom arrived, with the band. Yes, “band”- including two drums, a trumpet, a clarinet, and some maracas. They played and many of the men danced.

The rest of the day included the bride’s “pastor” called a “pundit” performing rituals and chants from an old beat up book, and the groom’s pundit making exchanges for gifts from the bride’s side and the groom’s side. Near the end, the groom and the bride were tied together with a long strip of cloth and walked seven times around a fire while the pundits said prayers. The people stood around and watched.

I’m actually still trying to process it all- but I hope that gave you a little bit of an idea what took place! Here is a picture of some of the women and girls and me at the wedding…

Highlight from this week of language learning:
Since we have started learning Kahani, we have had positive responses from the people when we tell them we are learning their language. One encouraging moment I had was when I was sitting on the porch with my language helper and a lady named Panna, who comes to our home every day to cook for us. Panna is from a nearby village and her mother tongue is Kahani. I was trying to speak the few words I’ve learned so far with her, and after a minute she turned to my language helper and exclaimed: “She’s speaking MY language!”

It was so encouraging to hear that and to see her face and the faces of others when they find out we’re learning their mother tongue or when they hear us speak it! I’m motivated to study more and excited about how learning their mother tongue may help us connect even more with the people.

Next week- Wedding of one of my best friends!!!
I leave tomorrow (Saturday) and take two trains to get to another city where my friend Trisha (who many of you know) and her fiancé (Rahul) will get married. I am thrilled not only to be able to see my good friends, but also able to celebrate this special day with them. My prayer is that during the celebrations, including religious rituals, that I would be able to be an ancouragement to Trisha and her family, and support for Trisha and Rahul.

Thank you for your prayers!

Till All Have Heard,

~ Elizabeth

Thanksgiving Note

(To be read at Thanksgiving Dinner)

A few verses from Psalm 16 -
Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
You guard all that is mine. The land you have given me is a pleasant land.
What a wonderful inheritance!
I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.
I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is filled with joy and my mouth shouts his praises!
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I’m thankful for the verse that talks about the Lord being our inheritance. Wow, that's something I’m thankful for. Thinking about how much more there is waiting for us in Heaven is overwhelming. Especially since we have very little here right now, it's too much to even think about!

But, even so, a few verses down gives an idea of my attitude about it (At least right now).
The other verse that says, “…I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. No wonder my heart is filled with joy…” It just seems to be a verse that is very fitting to my life right now. My heart truly is filled with joy. Just being here, among these people is really like a dream come true for me, and it’s so exciting to think of eventually being able to share stories with them that I pray will really impact them and even change their lives. I’m thankful for the joy that I have- only because the Lord is with me, He has given joy to me and because He has planned this for me for this part of my life right now.

Lastly, I’m thankful for all of you back home and your encouragement to me and my family! I could not be here without all of you supporting me from back home! It’s been a blessing to hear from you and to pray for you from over here.

I hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving!!! I love you and miss you!