Talking to Anne about testing stories... (Email to Mommy)

So, today went really well. I went by myself and had a great time with Anne. We discussed the Fall story and talked about testing (telling) the stories with other people, her friends and family. She seemed to be excited about it and even thought of one or two questions on her own. I’m going to work this afternoon on getting some questions ready- that are specific to the story. Then I can do testing without Anne too (using her recording of the story), with our neighbors and Aunty and Uncle for example…even Gaitree, and Anju. Of course, it’s better with the actual story-teller there. We’ll start with that with Anne, but since she most likely won’t be coming to this side of the mountain, I’ll be able to test the stories on my own over here…It’s so exciting!!!

I told Anne that the best test of a story is after telling it see if the person can re-tell it. She got a funny look on her face when I told her that, but seemed to really understand. I said, probably they’ll be able to remember some…probably not all…but those parts they can’t remember, we will need to try and find out why they couldn’t or didn’t remember them…."Are they not important? Were they too hard to remember? Was it not clear in the first telling of the story? Do they not understand the words or the transition?"

I told her that I’m really excited for her to see if people can remember, or not remember her stories…and then be able to work on them to make them better- I think she is really excited too. And when I mentioned to her about telling the stories to her family (on her own) and asking them questions and reporting back to me how it went, she seemed fine with that idea. I told her we would do it together tomorrow and then tomorrow night, she could do it with her family. She seemed so excited about it. I wonder if she’ll go ahead and tell her family tonight! Nah…probably not. But still…my excitement might have rubbed off on her, because I was really excited sharing with her!!

As I was coming home, I saw Precious and the other neighbors- they gave me a hard time for not visiting them in the past few days. I said I would go tonight. I hope Precious can help me with some of the questions for testing. We’ll see…

Love ya!

~ Elizabeth

A sense of "Welcome Anytime"

Hey! How was your trip back? Everything and everyone okay? I hope so!

....All is well here- had a great day yesterday, hung out with the neighbors and practice lots of language. I had learned some stuff the previous day with sports (football (i.e. soccer), chess, cricket)…and there were two boys at the neighbors house (perhaps 12, 13 yrs old)….so I asked them my questions (do you like football? Do you know how to play football? How do you play football?). They loved trying to figure out how to say the answers back in Kahani. Their mothers were both there (one was knitting, one was sewing a blouse for a sari). I got some more sentences about sports and how to play them!!! It was fun!

I then went to Aunty and Uncle’s and hung out there, just for about 30 minutes because it was getting late. You know, I always wished that I had neighbors or a place where it was like that- I could just go and hang out, come and go pretty much whenever I wanted to, and feel totally “At home” there. I really feel that way at Aunty and Uncle’s- I can ask for food, or deny food…(for the most part)…I can sit wherever, sit however….it’s like home for me. I love interacting with them- telling them about my day, about the jokes I learned, etc…and it’s great because I can mix all the Kahani I know, with all the Hindi I know, and they can understand it! Haha…

Anyway, that is one thing that is sad about our culture- there isn’t a sense of “welcome anytime” at all. I hope that if I were to live in America for an extended period of time, I would try and incorporate that more. I'm not sure how, but would want to try to. Perhaps that is something that just wouldn’t be possible and I shouldn't try to bring this culture’s traditions into my own…but still…hmm….

We go to a retreat this weekend...

Have a great day!

~ Elizabeth

How will I be different? (Journal Entry)

I really wonder what kind of person I am going to be after two years of living here, learning to live with someone else, working in a culture and people not my own.

I wonder if in a year, I’ll be more “tough” and less sensitive because I’m tired of people complaining so much? I wonder if I’ll be more sensitive because after so much, I’ll just give in because it hurts so much. I wonder if our project will be completed.

Working with someone unlike you is pretty hard. Robin and I have talked openly about it, and we've joked how, "if this is any preparation for marriage, then we do not want to get married!" I wonder if I will ever want to work with anyone else ever again and commit myself to singleness? I wonder if I will better understand how to get along with people and be the best partner ever. Haha...I wonder if I’ll become more like Robin, and she more like me. I wonder if my fear of rejection and disapproval will grow or shrink. I know I will be changed after all this. Changed from the ministry, changed from the people, changed also from my partner. Which changes will be good, which will not be…it’s a little scary to think about. I look forward to finding out!

Teaching English, and good Storying Session (Journal Entry)

Yesterday I was at the neighbors house and kind-of half agree to teach the two girls who live there English. Whoops…The mother of the family suggested it and then said, “you know, I’ll teach you Kahani, you teach them English- then it’s equal.” I said I would try for a few days until we leave, to see how they like it and if it works out.

First of all, it is something I would love to do- (that is my background, after all)- though I don’t want it to take away from the work. The girls do not really speak much Kahani, but they do understand. My plan is to have my language session with the mother first, then whatever I learned that day, teach that to the girls in English. Hopefully, for their English sessions, I would only use Kahani and English- skipping Hindi, thus it would be a practice for my Kahani…though I’m not sure if I know enough Kahani to do that…but I will try.

Today’s session with Anne was perhaps the best ever. It was the best in every way. We had fun, we laughed a lot, we fixed half of the creation story, she remembered it…it was just overall a great session. She did a great job of helping us figure out what would be important, and how to change it to make it more clear for people. At one point we had changed a part, and we asked her which way of telling it was better. She said, “both are good.” We asked again, and she still wouldn’t say one was better than another. Then we asked, “Which one would that shopkeeper like better?” She then said “the one with the names in it…” We asked, which one would your family like better?” She again said, “The one with the names in it.” We then said, “So, should we use that one? She said yes.

I think she is really comfortable with us- and she does “stick” to some things that she feels are important, while other times, we can persuade her, at least to really think about why something is in the story, or if we can take it out. I’m glad she doesn’t just accept everything we say, but also has an opinion. Another thing was that she was able to remember the story pretty well- which was amazing since we hadn’t worked on it or talked about it for about 2 weeks. She is amazing!

We will finish discussing Creation tomorrow, and then get it recorded again. We will probably then do the same thing with the Fall story, and perhaps get her to “test” the story with her sewing class…not sure how that will work out, but we’ll see.

Dialect issues... (Journal Entry)

So, I have begun the quest to figure out at least a few different dialects and which dialect is spoken by the people I know who live around me. I found one family today who speaks the same as Aunty and Uncle. And it seems that Panna also speaks the same as they do.

I asked Gaitree to listen to a recording of Anne's to see if she could tell me if she speaks the exact same dialect as her, or a little different…Gaitree understood what she said, and said there was only little differences. I tried to ask her what they were, and she gave me two examples, but they didn’t really help me. I am going to ask Anne tomorrow how she says, “I am going” – because the way Gaitree says it, and the way Uncle says it, and the way it is said in the village are all different. I am curious to see if the way Anne says it matches with any one of those or something entirely different.

I'll try and learn Anne's dialect, but that kind-of all depends on which dialect she speaks and if I can find others who speak the same as her. And, I’m guessing that it is NOT the same as our neighbor or Aunty or Uncle, or Anju or Gaitree. That wouldn’t be a surprise.

Hmm.

Another thing- in some ways, we have been here about 9 months, and we have about 15 months- and we are JUST getting started on the work….would it really only take 15 months to do all the storying work? Goodness…wow….there is a lot to do!

Saturday, and meeting "Precious'" family... (Email to Parents)

My Saturday went fairly well. I spent a good amount of time with the Lord in the morning, which was refreshing. I also was able to study for about 2 hours- and that felt really good. In the afternoon, I watched a movie with Robin while I wrote a few notes to people, and crocheted some.

In the evening, I went to Precious' house (our neighbor the one who speaks Kahani and English). I met her whole family this time, and really enjoyed ‘hanging out’ at her house. She invited me any time, and I too told her to come to our house. Her father came home and I said something in Hindi and he was impressed (I think he too speaks some English). He pointed to Pooja and said, “She can be your teacher- Hindi and Kahani.” Pooja said to me, “say, you are my friend.” So I said that.

On the one hand it was really nice that Precoius- someone whom I’ve only met a few times, considers me her friend. But that is just the Indian culture. BUT, I’m wondering if her father might have a good idea---why can’t Precious be my language teacher?? Perhaps her Kahani isn’t the BEST because she speaks English, but, I think it would be more straightforward than Uncle’s. THEN AGAIN, I won’t know til I try. But, did Precioussay that statement about being my friend because she doesn’t want to be considered my teacher? Shanna (another girl in another OneStory project) does her back-translations with her language teacher…I’m wonder if I could do the same with Precious….

Anyway, if I see her again, I may mention it to her….I have no idea what dialect she speaks….but am not really worried about that at this point.

Love ya!

~ Elizabeth

Wedding pictures (Email to parents)

(picture - Robin and I dressed nicely for the wedding, but heading for a hike to the village!)

So, we made it back from the wedding. What a quick trip! All went well- Robin got sick while we were there (due to water, probably). She also got sick on the way home and is still not feeling well now. Most likely from some dehydration and the water from the village.

Physically, I’m doing great. No problems there, on the way or way back. Mentally, emotionally, I didn’t realize how much I really do miss the village. I really do…I wanted to stay for Bicky’s wedding, not for the wedding so much- as just to be in the village with the people...

Anyway, here are some pictures from the wedding!

Some of the women waiting for the festivities to begin!

Women enjoying the food!!

Things not working out (Email to Parents)

(Pictures - bazaar pictures)

We drove through some rain and lots of mud today on the way to meet Anne for our storying session. We one point, half way there we were blocked by a MONSTER truck, and one behind us…and then one trying to squeeze by in the opposite direction. I could have reached my hand in any direction and touched the tires that are as tall as our bike. Anyway, we looked around and hanging from the back of one of the trucks was an old tennis shoe. For a second I felt very out of place- remembering the tennis shoes hanging from the phone wires in Newark, but unsure how the shoe got to be hanging from the back of this truck---and very muddy too, I might add.

We found out later from Anju that it is to keep bad things from happening or keep evil away. I said, “Isn’t that kind-of strange…or even silly?” She said “No” somewhat firmly…as if she really believes it. When I asked why cars don’t have them, Anju told us, “where would you hang it from a car?” I said, “So, do only bad things happen to trucks and that's why they need one?” She was silent for a minute realizing that the logic didn’t make sense.

Anyway, we finally got to our storying session, but guess what- Anne never came. We waited a half hour for her- we were already about 10 minutes later...but she never came. And since she lives in the village, there is no way to contact her. Ugh…

We came back, studied language some…ate lunch and waited for Precious to come for the back-translation, but she also never came becuase she forgot to tell us she was going out of town.

I was starting to wonder what exactly would be accomplished today as 2 out of 2 things “Failed” already…

We had our language sessions. That was interesting. I realized Uncle was teaching me two different dialects. Great. Okay at least I know why some things are different on different days- he switches dialects….ahh!!

We (Robin and I) went to Mr. and Mrs. Masih’s house to do the back-translation….they did speak SOME English…not much…but it was okay…I still think we need someone else….but all in all, it was more than I expected to come away with…so that’s good.

All in all, it was an okay day in spite of the cancellations that happened, and the adventurous drive to work….

I'm getting ready to go to the village tomorrow…the sky is getting grey- it will probably rain…

Hope you have a great few days- talk to you later!

~ Elizabeth

Re: Moon and Clouds (Email from Daddy)

Elizabeth,

This story is very cool. There is a verse that says "God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine". Your story reminds me of Daniel interpreting the dreams!

I am very sorry your back is hurting you.

Love, Dad.

Moon and Clouds... (Email to Parents)

Mommy and Daddy,

How was the fair? I had a semi rough night last night…

First, I went to the store to get eggs and butter. It was dark outside. There was no problem with the store or the goods, but walking there I just felt this immense burden for the Kahani people. I felt like how will they ever realize and accept the truth? Bells were ringing in several houses nearby as people participated in their pujas (prayers), and I just felt really burdened for them. I believe I had tears in my eyes while I was at the store.

Then I looked up and saw the bright light of the moon behind the clouds- I could not see the moon, but the brightness of it shining behind the clouds. I felt like it was a picture of Kahan. The light from the cloud was God- and the realization that God is real. The clouds were the deep darkness that these people are in, but, God is there, but behind the darkness waiting to shine forth. Then I was thinking, I bet things might get worse before they get better. And about ½ hour later, I looked up again, and the clouds had completely covered the moon. There was a dim light shining from behind them, but it was fully covered. Then about 20 minutes later, the clouds were completely gone, the moon was shining brightly, nothing was hindering it….

Now, you know me, I don’t normally believe in special stuff like that. But I don’t’ think it was necessarily a coincidence either. I wouldn’t be one to go and say, “Oh, God made the clouds and moon do something to show us something last night!” It’s more like, I learned something from that. I learned that God IS here. He is in this region. But there is a darkness that is also here and blocking Him from shining. Not because He doesn’t have power to shine through, but because that’s just the way it is and it's in His plan like that right now for purposes only He knows.

And, things for the people here, or things for us, I’m not sure,- may get worse before it gets better. Whether we come up against more opposition, or people just don’t respond to the stories, or Robin and I get upset with each other, or whatever….things may get worse before they get better. And while I shouldn't expect the worse, I should be prepared for it, knowing that Evil is also there. But…no matter what, and who knows when (maybe this is only in Heaven)- at some point - God WILL shine forth, there will be no more distractions, no more darkness, no more clouds. Nothing to stand in the way….Yeah, I guess that will be Heaven- but I do hope we maybe get a glance of that here too….we shall see….

Anyway, it was an encouragement to me…..

On another note, my back is killing me these days, I have not done exercises for a long time, and so realized that I need to start doing them again- but it really hurts, I can’t sleep past maybe 5 or 6 in the morning, for a number of reasons. But the main one being because I’m in intense pain from my back, there is no comfortable position laying down….

Okay, talk to you later.

~ Elizabeth

Guess I'm still supposed to be here (Almost an email to Mommy)

Mommy,

So, I don’t think I’ll send this because it would be too hard for me to write and tell you, and too hard for you to receive…but I'll pretend to write it, at least write until you call…hopefully you will call soon…

I feel tonight like I want to come home. I just want to be back, with Trisha, Rahul- on the couch, eating Taco Bell, hanging out. Gajju fdgiting with some new gadget…
I want to come home and eat taco salad out on the porch. I want to come cut the grass in the hot sun. I want to jump in the pool, I want to let Natalie sleep over in my room. I want to drive my car. I want to stare out my window and wonder what in the world I’m doing at home. No, I don’t want to do that, but after all the fun and enjoyment, I could see myself doing that…Just sitting or standing, looking out the window, wondering what I’m doing there…

Guess, I’m still supposed to be here, huh? I mean, I know I am. But…even more so when I have longings of home and then come to a point where I realize that even those desires would wear out after some time…

Then I look out the window here- the people, the mountains…how could I leave? At least, right now- in the middle of the Cain and Abel story? How could I just leave? Of course, I couldn’t, and won’t…another 18 months…and then…actually who knows what will come after that? Home for a while, or not…or…what? Home for some time, for sure…but then…?

And yet, my Father will take care of me- as He has…He is awesome, and knows my needs and desires. He is in control over everything.

Here is a song that I’ve really enjoyed the past few days.

For you are Awesome, God of the nations
Light of Judah, Rock of the Ages
Alpha, Omega
Worthy of all praise
For that, these hands are raised

Cultural Notes from Storying Session (Journal Entry)

(picture - Aunty and Uncle's temple in their house)

Cultural Notes from This Morning Session: (quotes from Anne)

Me: Do you give things to your god?
Anne: Yes…
Me: What do you give?
Anne: rice, milk, flowers
Me: Why do you give things?
Anne: To keep bad things from happening.
Me: Does it happen sometimes that God likes what you give and doesn’t like what you give?
Anne: Yes…sometimes he is happy with it, sometimes he is not.
Me: How do you know?
Anne: If he is happy, then everyone will be okay, if he is mad or doesn’t like it then someone in the family may get sick, and maybe the doctor and even medicine won’t make him better- then we know that God is mad or doesn’t like the gift.
Me: If I have two jugs of milk- one is okay, but one is really good…does it matter which one you give to your god?
Anne: No, not at all- you’re just going to offer it and then take it back- he isn’t going to drink it because he’s not really there.

Hmm… “he’s not really there” – does she realize what she just said?
I feel a renewed burden for these people we live among. I feel even more today than before a real urgency to get these people these stories. I feel like how can they think these things and believe this? And then realize, they don’t know anything else…why wouldn’t they believe and follow what has been set before them for so many generations?

Oh, how hard it would be to live in a state of mind that bad things happen because God is angry, or that my offerings can make God happy…and yet- I do live like that most of the time. I do have the same mentality that if I bring good things to God, he will bless me. If I do not do good things or what He wants of me, then he may be upset. Yet, because of Jesus- God’s “happiness” doesn’t depend on me. He is happy with me and what I do- good or bad. Well, I mean, he doesn’t want me to sin and of course, I think he is “happy” when I please Him…but He sees us through Jesus and therefore sees us a perfect…

But you know what- I just realized their thinking of things doesn’t make sense to me. For example, if they give their god some milk (not the best milk, but just some milk). They said it doesn’t matter if it’s the best or not because you would just take it back anyway. So, say they give bad milk- then take it back…their god probably wouldn't like that offering since it was bad milk? Or, suppose they gave the best milk, but then something bad happened…what could they have done to avoid that? Is it just dependent on….say, the weather? I mean, is there any way to know what is pleasing to their god and what’s not?

Anne did say that you give different gifts to different gods…But, what if you were meaning to do the right thing, but accidentally gave Shiv some flowers, when he was really expecting rice? Oh man…to live having no idea if God would be pleased with me or not…to live not knowing which gift to give to which god, or if that god would only look at the gift- and not the motive of my heart. Even if I had right and pure motives, but unknowingly gave the wrong gift, or in someway displeased the god. I don’t think I could live like that- how can these people?
I guess, they just accept it…It’s something I noticed even working in the school for my student teaching- the way of education here is to accept everything you’re taught. Do not question your teacher- that would be disrespectful. Do not think for yourself, you obviously don’t know any better than these people who have gone before you and know more than you do.

I think that these barriers can only be broken if there is some major reason that causes them to wonder or really question what they believe- as long as life is going along as it should be…there would be no reason to change…Perhaps this is obvious; in any culture- if your life is “perfect” then why change it by trusting in something you don’t know much about…

Something needs to happen here- whether it is just individually, people realizing that there is no real peace in the gods they follow. Or if their lives need to have some harm come to them in spite of all the offerings they give…They need to realize what they believe in isn’t working, and will never work…and hasn’t work for those previous generations… What has to happen for them to realize that?

Wow…Father, please do your work- whatever that might be, however that might be. Through personal relationships with people, through these stories, through some dramatic intervention or some hardship, or some blessing that comes and is something beyond what their gods are capable of. Something that would show them there is something more- even if they don’t understand it all the way at first, but just something that will break them from their bondage of accepting the traditions. Something that will cause them to question what they believe, and really wonder about it- perhaps they will have to research it more to find out that it’s false. Perhaps they will start immediately looking for other ways…I’m sure it will be different for different people- but please, hurry and bring these people to you, however you desire for that to happen…

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Our session went well this morning. Our session went well- we finished the Fall, and started Cain and Abel- talked about half of it. We hope to finish talking about it next Tuesday and record it- thus we’ll have three stories….That doesn’t mean we have 3 stories completed. We still have to work on back-translations, sending them to be consultant checked, re-recording, testing them with groups of people, re-recording them if there is anything confusing in them or that needs to be changed. So there is still a lot of work to do before we can really say “we have 3 stories”- but still, it would feel good to have that done- especially since we leave on Wednesday for the village for a week and no storying stuff will really happen during that time.

Devotional thoughts... (Journal Entry)

So, I pulled out some of my devotional books and my Bible this morning to see if God might reveal to me more thoughts on the moving situation (maybe moving to Aunty/Uncle's to help with language stuff). I read Psalm 91…and found that God wants me to dwell in His presence…I am not sure where He wants me to “dwell” on earth, but know that He wants me to dwell in His shelter…

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust…

If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the Lord, who is my refuge – then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways, they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

The whole Psalm is about God’s protection and love for me, and how he will not let “pestilence” or “plagues” destroy me. He does care for me, and He wants me to focus on Him…

This was again confirmed in the devotion for today, May 11- from My Utmost for His Highest.

The title was first: “You Won’t Reach It On Tiptoe.” I thought I wonder if this is showing me I am “tip-toing” around situations and thus not reaching the goal of language, and stories, etc…But I was challenged, because the devotion was about love. It said, "God says, 'I will bring any number of people about you whom you cannot respect, and you must exhibit my love to them as I have exhibited it to you, You won’t reach it on tiptoe. Some of us have tried to, but we are soon tired…'

“Growth in grace stops the moment I get huffed. I get huffed beuase I have a peculiar person to live with. Just think how disagreeable I have been to God! Am I prepared to be so identified with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness are being poured out all the time? Neither love nor Divine love will remain unless it is cultivated. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained by discipline.”

So…hmm…a challenge to show love this morning. While I’m still trying to figure this out, I will accept your challenge this morning, Lord, and work at showing more love…I pray that our session this morning would be a good time of sharing together- that Anne would also feel “loved” by us, and that we would show love to each other in our communication.

Thoughts/Prayers for Partner... (Journal Entry)

So, we have no phone, no internet, and til yesterday we didn’t have water. Or well, we had water, but it had not completely filled up the tanks for the past few days. I have felt like I have no communication with the outside world…it’s strange because I don’t remember feeling this disconnected when we were in the village. I’m not happy or sad about it, it’s just a feeling I have. I have gotten over the initial shock of no internet. For the first few days, I check about 3 times a day to see if it would work. Now especially since we don’t have a phone line, there is no chance of it happening, so no point in checking!

Besides, I have a ton of work to do!!! Lord- I’m so glad you do know my heart. You know my desire for companionship- and a companion that longs to share struggles of serving you. A companion who can’t wait to get hot and sweaty, or freeze, for you!!! Someone who hardly complains, not because they are hesitant to share their true feelings, but because they truly don’t mind the negative circumstances. Or rather, they have such a positive attitude; they don’t see the circumstances as negative. A companion who is not blind to the world around him…someone who sees people as they are and can connect with them where they are…Someone who would be excited for me making a new friend or learning something new in a language. Someone who would encourage me when I don’t know what to do. Someone who would know when to give me advice and when to listen. Someone who is committed to you even more than he would be committed to me…

Right, I know such a person doesn’t exist. Haha, but that's good. I won’t have to waste my time looking :) And Father, perhaps I will go on several other trips like this one, and I’ll have a different companion for the journey- not a husband, but another partner. Goodness, I have no idea what you have planned- how cool to think that you know what’s going to happen this evening, tomorrow, next week, a year from now and the rest of my life!! Great!!! And, what’s even better, is I know I can trust you for that!!! I can totally trust you!

Thank you Jesus for restoring my relationship with God, so that I can call him Father and that I can trust him…

I also want to pray that I would become the woman you want me to become. I’ve asked you for a companion with specific characteristics, but have not in any way prayed about how I might be a companion to him!!!!

May you continue to work on me and show me my faults (uh oh, watch out!!!). Please show me where I can be a better companion, where I can improve in communication and can extend grace where it is needed, but also stand firm when I should. Please show me how I can encourage others, especially my partner. Help me to be able to read her well and know what her needs and wants might be and help provide for them as I am able, but also as you want me to- perhaps in some cases, you don’t want me to play that role- help me to know that too….

May you be preparing me now for the next companion I might have, whoever that might be.

Thank you for your provision for me. Thank you for guiding me thus far in working with my partner. Thank you for showing me your grace, when I’ve needed it (everyday!!). Thank you for helping me more recently to be able to stand firm when I’ve needed to and not give in to arguments.

I ask that you would continue to bless Robin’s and my relationship, partnership and friendship. I pray that you would continue to show both of us how we can work even better together, and how we can work in a way that brings the most glory to you!!! Thank you for giving us only what we can handle each step of the way…You are truly a good God.

Some people don't show up, others don't know the language (Journal Entry)

(picture- Robin and me, studying language)

The people we were supposed to meet today cancelled because they had company at their house. We drove over the NTD and found out only after getting there- ugh…All well. Sara had tried to call several times, but my phone never rang for some reason. All well…what to do.

We came back and Deepika and Pinky came over (the girls who live behind us). Deepika has asked us if we could type something for her. We asked if she could back-translate something for us. She had told us she doesn’t speak Kahani, but she can understand- we said that’s all we need- just tell us what the story says in English! She tried about 1 minute of the story- had to listen to it about 4 times before she could even attempt to tell it. She did okay, but I think we may know more Kahani than she does, so don't think that will work. I went to ask Precious to come to our house- but she had left for a wedding.

Anyway, we can’t go any further in the Creation story til we get it back-translated again…So we decided to start on the Fall story tomorrow with Anne. Then we’ll go back to the Creation story when we get it back-translated. Hopefully she won’t be completely confused about that!!! We will call our principal friend and ask him if he can do it for us tomorrow. We are also asking Anju if she knows of someone. We’ll see what happens…

The bike was fine today- stopping on a hill is tough, but we went through some areas today that were very similar to dirt biking- goodness, only God knew how that would be preparation for me!!

No water came again today…so no shower, which is nothing new. I had been washing my hair more frequently because of the heat, and sweating and especially because of the helmet! But I didn't not wash it today, and may not tomorrow too- I may end up looking like I live on the other side of the hill with the hippies!!!

A REAL motorcycle! (Email to Parents)

(picture - our bike in the doorway of the garage!)

6:05am MONDAY your time….(3:30pm, Monday, my time)
I’m writing to let you know we still can’t get on email….or internet at all- not sure why…other than it's Asia!

Anyway, if you don’t call before we get online, I’ll let you know we got another bike. It’s a “pukka” (real) bike…gears, clutch, etc…. It’s really great I went dirtbiking, because it is so much more similar to operating. Had I not gone dirtbiking, I am not sure I would feel as comfortable as I do---oh, we did kind-of hit someone on the way home. Our mirror hit theirs….we didn’t stop- not sure what to do in that situation....all well…..

Oh, and Daddy- I copied an article about our bike…it was rated #1 out of about 50 bikes…for being the best bike….I had the guy copy the article and I’ll send it to you. I think you’ll like reading about it.

I can’t believe we own a motorcycle….my goodness….so strange….I thought owning a scooter was odd…but a motorbike? And, especially since women don’t really drive them here….another advantage being a foreigner does for us. We can get away with that kind of thing!

Anyway…thank you for your prayers- please keep praying for safety especially as I learn more how it works!!!!!!!

Oh. I just found out that we don’t have any water. Or rather, we have some in our tanks, but they are really low….hmm. We have phone, but no water, no internet. I guess everything can’t work at the same time. That would expecting too much, or at least we can’t have it all at the same time for one complete day. They forgot to put that in the fine print on the registration form when I signed up for this! But then again, I believe I would still have come, even if I knew all these things. Who needs water anyway? We got a bike, what more do we need? Haha….oh goodness….can’t you wait to come here and visit me???? :)

Best Session Ever (Journal Entry)

Wow- today was perhaps our best session ever- a great note to end the week on. Pastor Moses was not there, we were not able to tell the story, our "plan A" was not possible. However, somehow, we were able to communicate to make the story shorter, to summarize, to put things in order, etc- and she did it…and we got it recorded. Anne made the comment when we were done, “I like being with you.” We told her, we like being with her too. We took some pictures too- and laughed a lot.

Anyway, I still think she is saying it from memory, rather than a natural story- but at least now it’s shorter, and more summarized, and things are in order more…I feel like we made great progress today. Now we have to get it back-translated and see if it’s biblically accurate!!!

We were a lot more relaxed in the session, and asked her a lot more questions - letting her lead in how to tell it, what to say, etc. We talked through each part rather than just try and get her to do the whole thing at one time. Don’t ask me why we didn’t do it like this on the first day…goodness!!! I apologized to Anne for mixing things up today- and told her we were learning about stories just like her- and she was doing an excellent job.

Another thing from today’s session- My limited knowledge of Kahani helped in several places. I was able to catch her saying the word for children (which is different than in Hindi), and was able to ask her to put that part later in the story (i.e. when God says to multiply and fill the earth). I was really impressed with how much I could follow along and stop her when I didn’t think something was right. Now, we’ve listened to the Book recording probably 5 times, and heard her tell the story about 10 times too- so you’d think I would have gathered something!

Another thing, and I have to write and tell Akash (my Indian friend from Delaware) this. Most of the words such as creation, sky, angel, etc- I actually learned when I was with Akash crafting the creation story. Those are words from Hindi- they don’t have them in Kahani and thus I had learned them with Akash when we did the creation story before. I would not have known much at all had he not helped me with that story. I’m starting to wonder about future stories- thinking I need to learn the vocab asap so I can at least follow along like I did for this one…Anyway, several times I thought back to those sessions in the Newark library or at BrewHaHa on Main Street with Akash discussing Creation and words, etc. It was not a crafting session like we do now, but similar, and lots of the words are the same as they are now…how cool….little did Akash know how much help he would be!

Anyway, the trip on the bike went well too; stopped to get gas- no problems. I am regretting only getting a scooter- it hardly has any power at all!! An actual motorcycle would have done better on the ruts and holes in the road, plus would have more power…more dangerous in ways, but actually more safe. Our little scooter isn’t make for these kaccha roads. All well- have to start somewhere…this gets us there and back…that’s good enough…for now… :) I do really feel like dirtbiking in Thailand prepared me best for driving here. I would be much more hesitant to go over the ruts and such here if I had not gone dirtbiking- and if you are hesitant, or go too slow, you just fall down (as I learned when we went dirtbiking). So key is to keep up speed (unless a truck is coming!)….and just take the bumps as best you can…our little bike hits them pretty hard.

It’s only 11:30- we are back already today…the whole afternoon to….study language!!! Well, maybe not the whole afternoon. We’ll have to get this story back-translated…Anyway, I’m disappointed, because now with a bike, I can only wear my clothes maybe twice before they are completely dirty and dusty. Before it was about a week I could go without washing them! Aw man!

Father, wow- thank you for an amazing week that is not over yet! Thank you especially for the time with Anne today. Not only did she seem more comfortable, but the story seems better too. Thank you that taking pictures seemed to ease any tension even more and that she is starting to see us as her friends- at least it appears that way. Thank you for her willingness to meet with us and for her interest in the work- may that develop into interest more in the stories and in You too.

Please give Robin and I a restful afternoon, but also productive. Help us to help each other with the work- and if we can split it up, help us to do that. Thank you so much for keeping us safe on the bike this week.

Through muddy puddles, cows, pigs (Journal Entry)

(picture - Panna - the lady who makes our lunch every day and helps us in the house!)

We are off to another storying session- this time we get to take the bike!!! Yeah! I hope we make it there!
I mainly pray for our session today- I pray that we would be able to complete the Creation story- not just to check it off and say it’s done, but to have a story as an example, and that Anne would feel like she has done something- one whole story. I pray that we would be able to explain the creation of the spirit world more and if she has more questions, she would ask- and I pray also for our comprehension- that we would understand her questions and when we ask her questions, that we would understand her answers. Please allow her to remember the stories- but not to have memorized them. Help the stories to sound natural- help Anne to relax….

I pray also for our meeting with these two other ladies- if they speak Kahani and understand English and want to work with us- praise the Lord! Even if only one of these things is true about them, help us to know how to best utilize them for the work and for your glory. I pray that we would have endurance to spend the time this morning- and into the afternoon in these meetings.

I pray also for both Robin and I to find someone to help us with language- I need to get to the neighbors house- help me to do that today. Help me to know if I should ask Precious to help or not…

Thank you Lord.

(picture: Me, Panna, Robin, Vivian)

-------------Later---------------
Goodness, another long day. We got the bike out from the lady’s roof- as she left us keep the bike inside her gate on her roof, up at the road. We set off- had trouble again starting the bike- but no problem, our friendly shopkeeper helped us. We traveled through muddy puddles, rocky terrain, cows, pigs, chickens, etc. Fortunately, there were no major problems- I put it on full throttle up the hills- we can only go about 40km/hour with both of us- Going down, we can go faster, of course. Anyway, we made it there- dusty and dirty, but safe and sound.

We met with Anne. She was surprised we were “early” (Even though we were 10 minutes late!). She retold the Gen 1-2 story. It was probably 10 minutes or so- WAY TOO LONG! She pretty much memorizes it- which is amazing, but not what we want! We discussed how to make it a little shorter. She had some good ideas. She then retold it from start to finish. We recorded it- it was 7 minutes. We said it would be great if the story could be about 5 minutes- so tonight we would think about it- and asked her to think about how to make it shorter, then tomorrow we would do it again, making it shorter still.

We then walked to Pastor Joseph’s- since it’s not far, and it’s also down some pretty steep kaccha rastas (not very good paths). We met two OLD women. Mrs. Alexander and Mrs. Wilson (!). Mrs. Alexander didn't speak English. Mrs. Wilson spoke very good English. In fact, though confusing, she said her mother was from Holland and adopted her, and that is why she knows English (we aren’t sure why she wouldn’t know Dutch- actually, maybe she does…).

Anyway, we explained probably 3 times what we wanted to do- Mrs. Wilson was quiet…We explained the whole thing- crafting the stories, taking them to the villages…Mrs. Wilson was concerned that the people don’t know how to read and write…

Us: Right! We aren’t going to write them down- just recording you saying them..
Mrs. W.- not write them down? Oh…that’s better…I think you need the younger generation for this- they can go places, I can’t go many places, I mean, I can, but it would be harder..
Us: Right! We do need the younger generation to take the stories, but we need you to help us make them!
Mrs. W- so what do you want us to do?
Then the whole conversation would start again…by the third time, she still seemed confused. We offered to show her what a session would look like- how to make a story. She agreed- Mrs. Alexander was a little lost throughout the whole thing as it was all in English- but Sara was there too and translated for her.

Mrs. A- I’m so old, you are young…(seeming to imply that she couldn’t do the work)…I said, “No, you are young!! We are all young- you can do it!!! We need you to help us!”
We asked Sara to explain that we can really benefit from her wisdom and insight and because she is old, people will respect her a lot more than they will respect us…Mrs. A seemed to be a little more willing after that.

So we played the Hindi scripture, and the Kahani scripture of the Tower of Babel story. I have to say, Mrs. A’s face lite up when she heard the Kahani scripture. She was nodding along with it in agreement and even speaking parts of it that she knew along with it! It was amazing- she was smiling the whole time. Her reaction was much more subdued when she listened to the Hindi. It was like the Hindi was even a foreign language for her- though she speaks it fluently. When the Word was played in her own language, she sat on the edge of her seat, much more interested. That was really cool to see- and just more confirmation that these stories, not just in a language they can understand, but in their own heart language can really make a difference…

We talked a little bit about it. We explained that perhaps since it was a short story- there wasn’t much to talk about. But for example, in the beginning it says that the people left and settled in a place called S...something. I said, for American people, they might not care about the name of that place or that they moved there, but perhaps for Kahani people that would be really important. If so, we’ll leave it in the story…if not, we don’t need to keep it in the story.

It was funny because Mrs. W said, “This is good but you need to start from the beginning..” We explained that yes, we were starting from the beginning- another girl was working on the first few stories. Mrs. W also said, “this story isn’t good- I mean, it’s the Book, so it’s good, but it doesn’t really teach anything- you need something like the Good Samaritan that teaches a good moral lesson.”

We explained, “Yes- and we might do that story! But, we want to start from the beginning and show them that God is powerful and different from their gods. We want to show that God wants to have a relationship with his people which is different from the Hindu gods.” They all nodded in agreement. “This story shows how man’s sin broke that relationship with God…” We also explained that this story is also not meant to be told in isolation- but along with other stories. We also said if we just tell NT stories, they may think Jesus is just another god- Sara agreed with us in that…

After some discussion, we asked Mrs. A- if she could retell the story in Kahani! She was really shy and nervous at first. After telling the story, Mrs. A seemed happy, but unsure how she did it. We all praised her a lot. She seemed happy. She said, “Today was my first day- I’m a student here.” We said, “You’re an A+ student. Great job!” Mrs. W also praised her saying her Kahani is really nice and she has a good voice.

Anyway, after arriving back, I tried to organize some language learning stuff- then headed to Champa’s to ask her if she could teach me. I was there about an hour or so, but with so many distractions- we didn’t really do any formal studying at all.

It’s already near 7:30pm- we’ve been working literally ALL DAY…I’m exhausted, but it does feel good to have done something today. I’m not sure when language learning is going to happen….hmm…Anyway, I need to go and try and get Precious from upstairs to back-translate this- I have no idea if she has time to do it or not…we’ll see…Then I plan to go to bed…driving the bike is also exhausting I think…riding a jeep is too- but bike is exhausting in its own way… Phew!

Indian comic

In the Indian newspaper I glanced at the store the other day, it had a picture of a man in the car shop. He had just bought a new car. He said to the dealer:

“I’m so happy I bought a new car. Now, can I keep it here til I find a place to park it and a road to drive it on?”

That is so true! Buying a car/motorcycle and keeping it somewhere and just driving it on the street is quite challenging!!

We got a bike!!!

So, we got a bike. It’s sitting upstairs right now. It’s ours…really ours. I drove it home today. We had to go around cars, jeeps, trucks, busses, cows, and a wedding parade. So much excitement!!!

A little bit after we left the shop, we ran out of gas…but no worries, I coasted back down the little hill and filled up the tank. Then we had trouble starting it…we asked two different guys, one finally did help us, but I think I knew more about the bike than he did! We said thank you and climbed on again. Man, it even has a rain cover on it and everything- so cool!!!!! It’s a nice little bike- I think more lightweight than the ones in Thailand as it seems a little more “skidish” and “wiggly”- which means it’s probably less safe, but it’s okay…

That was the most exciting thing that happened today…so far…

We did have our session with Anne- She retold both Gen 1-2. We discussed how to make Gen 1 shorter by summarizing what God made. At that point, Sam came in. We asked Anne what she thought about angels, and Satan…Sam kept butting in and saying, “she doesn’t know anything about them- we know, we believe this, but she doesn’t believe it, so she doesn’t know…” I would then ask her again and she would respond in agreement, “No, I don’t know…”

It was hard to get Sam to be quiet. Finally I didn’t yell but did kind of raise my voice a little and with a smile said (in Hindi)- “Yes, yes, we know she doesn’t know about this or understand, but we want to know whatever she knows- we want to know so that we can make the story more understandable for the Kahani people….if there is something they don’t understand, we want to know so we can make it easier for them…” I think he kind-of got it.

Anne then did tell us about something we think must be equivalent to ghosts. Unfortunately, the “ghost” means ‘meat’ in Hindi. I mean, if we say “ghost” it means “meat.” So, we tried to explain and they were totally confused why we were asking about meat. Ahhh!!! Anyway, I think we figured it out that when people are in the jungle, or it’s dark, they get scared and think that others who have died might be there…i.e. ghosts/spirits. Anne was cute in how she told it- unsure I think of Sam's response. He said, “What she is saying is true- this is right”- I think it was reaffirming for her to hear praise from him.

Anyway, we didn’t get much farther than that due to time. Then we went with Pastor Moses to get the bike- now we are at home. In an hour, we are going to Minna and Vimal’s to get some more Kahani recordings.

It turns out that on the way to our session this morning, Sara called me (pastor Joseph’s wife). She said she has two people who want to meet us tomorrow to find out more about our work and maybe they will help us. She said, “They are too old ladies…not very old, but pretty old.” Sara said, “They have some pahardi (mountina/Kahani) knowledge and also Bible knowledge.” I’m wondering if they really speak Kahani!! We’ll find out. We are supposed to go there after our session with Anne tomorrow- it will be another long day!

I really hope that these people can work out- mainly so that perhaps Robin and I can split up and work on stories simultaneously. We have been doing great together I think- but it will certainly speed things up if we can both be working on stories.

It may end up these women tomorrow may not know Kahani very well- but we could use them for cultural information or questions that we can’t understand Anne's answers to. Or, perhaps one of them could meet with Anita and us- and help translate stuff for us…though that might make Anita more nervous too. We are thinking that they may be more open with us and honest about cultural stuff since they are much older than us. We will see… I won’t get my hopes up for anything just yet.

"The Kahani people don't know this story." (Journal Entry)

Today’s session went well. It was just Robin, Anne and me. We started off with Anne retelling the story. She remembered the story and told it in Kahani really well (From what we could tell)! We praised her and then listened to Gen 1 in Hindi and Kahani. We talked about the story and asked her questions to get some cultural information.

What do you like in the story?
She hesitated at first, so we told her what we liked. I said I like that he made animals. Robin said she like how He made it “systematically.”
She then said she liked how he made the stars in the sky and the trees and plants.

What do you think Kahani people would like in the story?
The stars and the trees and plants.

What do Kahani people think about how the world was made?
I don’t know…God made it…I don’t know…

What do you think/what would Kahani people think about the part that God made people like himself? (For this, I had no idea how to say it, so I showed her the kumaoni scripture portion and asked her what people would think about that…)
They would think it was good. –She gave more answer, but we couldn’t understand, so we recorded it- will get it back-translated at some point.

What do you think/what would Kahani people think about God blessing people?
They think it’s good.

Does it happen here?
Yes…if you do your prayers and good work, then God will bless you. If you don’t do your prayers, then he won’t.

What do you think people will think about the story, since Adam and Eve (in this story) didn’t really do any prayers or work, but still God blessed them?
It’s okay…if God doesn’t bless someone then they will think that there isn’t a god, or that he isn’t here. So he should bless them. Again, she said more, but we had to record it, I couldn’t figure it out.
(picture - Hanging out with Aunty and Uncle)
What do you think about God making the earth in 6 days…is that important, or could you just say, “When God made the world, he made tress, animals, light, etc…”- is it necessary to say what happened on each day?
Yes, it is important…and then on the 7th day he rested. People don’t know why they have holiday on the 7th day- on Sunday. They will hear this and know why…

We discussed this for a while- trying to get her to think more along the liens of “summarizing” rather than mimicking the recording- as I think that is what is happening. She finally did say, “Either way is fine- to say each day, or tell all what he made, but that he rested at the end is important.”

We listened to the recording in Kahani and Hindi once more- and told her we would do the story tomorrow. We ended with her telling a childhood memory. She did a good job.

It was a good session. We go back tomorrow. I think the plan is to have her tell the story/what she can remember of Gen. 1- and then talk about putting the two stories together…PLUS adding the spirit world part. We got Pastor Moses to translate what we had written into Hindi and then we’ll have her translate it into Kahani. It is NOT how a story should be crated- going from English to Hindi to Kahani. But we don’t have the scriptures available for all the anchors for the spirit world story. And, it would probably be really confusing to Anne to hear all these references and then to be asked to make a little story about it- it was hard enough for us in English! We will come back to it- we’re just getting it done for now…That is what Jimmy and Jeff did too…so…guess it’s okay!! Haha..

So this afternoon or sometime today we still need to, get back-translation of Anita’s retelling of Gen. 2. That will involved either waiting until Precious is home from school and hopefully she would have some time…(Precious is the girl behind us who speaks English and Kahani). Or there is the retired principal who I met on the road one day who offered help who could do it. Or we could call one guy we met who works in a school and either he could do it (For now) or perhaps he could suggest one of his students. The issue right now is that all students are really busy with papers and exams. We may not have much luck with them right now.

---------Later--------

So you would have though most of our work was done for the day…but no, not quite yet.
I called the principal, he said he was busy, maybe we could come on Friday. He actually asked if we could come at 9am, but we told him we had other meetings then. About an hour later, he and his wife showed up at our house! We discussed the back-translation stuff with him and he back-translated our story!!!! We didn’t really tell him what we were doing, rather just that we needed a story translated from Kahani into English. After hearing the story the first time he said, “This is a story from Christian mythology…but she didn’t tell the whole story, there is more to it…” He then told us the story again and started telling us about the Fall too, and Paradise Lost!

Afterwards he asked, “Why do you want this?- This is not a Kahani story, this is an English story…The Kahani people don’t know this story…this is just an English story translated into Kahani…” It was really interesting to hear his point of view on the story- I wanted to say, “Right!!! They don’t know this story, that’s why we’re getting it into their language! Cool huh?”

Anyway, in the back-translation, it came out that Eve made Adam her slave and Adam forgot about his parents and left them and lived with Eve. They lived in nakedness and didn’t mind about it because they had pure thoughts….So- that’s one thing we have to fix in the next retelling!!! He said a few times that Eve was beautiful- I’m not sure if that’s in there, or not…but we may check that too.

I’m also a little concerned that the story was more memorized than a summary or a story form…but that may take time to happen…

We also asked the shopkeepers upstairs if they knew where we could park our bike if we get one. They were so helpful and nice and said they would help us. They said, “during the day, it’s fine- we are here, we’ll watch it for you…during the night, you can keep it in our shop…” We still have to “arrange” it with them for sure tomorrow- but in general, it’s such a sense of community here, I’m not concerned about it at all- I trust them to take care of us and the bike…and do whatever they can to help us.

You are like Daddy... (Email from Mommy)

Elizabeth,

...You are like Daddy in avoiding conflict and you are right - it is not always good. That is what Dave S. (associate pastor/former Worker in S. America) was trying to tell you - plan a strategy ahead of time of dealing with differences, disagreements, etc. I think you guys do that well. Of course it helps that you are so agreeable. But there are areas where you will not bend - like when it comes to the project - and that is healthy. Yes, I am the one with the job of bringing up unpleasant things with Daddy and he hates it - but it isn't always between us - it may be things that he needs to think about in regard to the kids or others. It's dangerous to think that you are humble - and be proud of it.

You are wise to guard against that, but you are wise to recognize that you are an agreeable person so that when you have an opinion it's fine to voice it and act on it. In fact it's very important to!

I can't believe your bruises from dirtbiking!! My word - you really had a rough day!

I am off and running to testing today and meeting with my two gals while the kids are testing. We are meeting at Laura's house.
Love and Miss you lots!

Mommy

The most agreeable person in the world! :) (Email to Mommy)

I am realizing that I must be the most agreeable person in the world. No, seriously, I very rarely bring up issues, I never start a conflict. I’m very agreeable and whatever anyone else wants to eat, or do, I’m fine with. Really….haha…I know I have my issues, of course.

And yet, I actually am not so sure this is a good thing- I think there should be someone in the relationship (partnership or marriage!haha) who isn’t “afraid” of conflict and can bring it up- because sometimes (though maybe not all the time) it does need to be discussed. Who usually brings it up between you and Daddy? I’m thinking you probably. I’m more like Daddy- avoid conflict at ALL costs!!! I am glad that Robin brings things up more, even though I know it's hard for her too!

Anyway, just random thoughts this evening.

Love ya!