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A Little Depressed

2011-06-11T04:28:36Z

I woke up a little depressed this morning.

I paid my rent. Two more whole months to go before returning home. Something is wrong with my water bill at home... it is twice as much as it should be, which means I have a problem somewhere. Other nagging problems that need to be taken care of, but I can't handle them for two more months!

Tonight is the Bible study at sister Aide's house. She is Nicaraguan and talks so fast that I can't understand very much of what she says. And the ladies in the Bible class are country, and I can barely understand what they say. Oh, and of course, the preacher speaks Spanish too, and when he is teaching, he talks very fast, and sometimes I totally lose track.

And I wonder if I am doing any good, struggling so much with the language. I smile and nod my head a lot when I don't understand. I smile some more when they say to each other that I didn't understand, because I DO understand the words for "she doesn't understand"!

But tonight at the Bible study, Aida said, in Spanish, that she didn't want me to go home because she would miss me.

So I am feeling a little depressed, because I only have two more months here.

Thanks for listening. I feel better now :)

Off the Costa Rica

2011-02-21T22:09:10Z

I will be leaving on March 1 to go to the Dominican Republic for 10 days, and then on to Costa Rica until the end of July. Please keep me in your prayers. I will be there by myself. However, the church is wonderful there, so I will not really be by myself!

Costa Rica 2010

2010-08-11T20:49:28Z

June 28, 2010

Greetings from Costa Rica

I have been in Costa Rica since March 22, and I must say, it has been a great experience! Michal was with me until April 26, when she returned home, and I stayed here, practicing my Spanish and working with the church. She came back to Costa Rica on Monday, June 14, along with Steven Guerrero, the preacher for the Sabanilla church who had been reporting to his sponsoring congregation and visiting his many friends in the States.

The church in Sabanilla has kept us busy, teaching English, visiting Christians and non-Christians and helping with various projects. Steven went to the US in May, and that left me here on my own - with his car!! So I was the driver for the congregation. I think only two other members of the congregation have a car and many people don't know how to drive. But the bus system here is really great and inexpensive, so it is easy to get around. When it is raining, though, you can get very wet waiting for buses. And since it rains nearly every day, having a car is a great blessing that needs to be shared.

Besides the usual activities with the church, we have been spending lots of time with the families in the congregation, especially Pedro and Flor Morales and their four kids. No one speaks much English except their oldest son, Isaac. But they are careful to speak very slowly so that we can understand. When we are at an impasse, Isaac steps in and helps straighten us all out.

Being the keeper of the car I had to make two trips to the airport. Shelley and Anna Hopkins arrived on the 11th from West Virginia to go to language school and help with the work of the church. Shelley is very good with her Spanish and is able to present lessons in Spanish. Then Michal and Steven arrived on the 14th. Michal arrived at 2:00 but Steven's flight didn't arrive until 9:00, so we had to spend six hours in Alajuela, since it is a two-hour round-trip drive. Fortunately, there was a mall, so Michal, Flor and I got lots of exercise while we waited.

After getting back to the apartment at about 11 pm, we had to repack Michal's things and get a quick nap before leaving at 5:30 in the morning to take a five-hour bus trip to Panama. My visa expired on the 19th of June and I had to leave the country for at least 72 hours. Panama was very hot with only ceiling fans. I did get the chance to talk with the owners of the Bed and Breakfast we stayed in about the church and our work, which they asked us about. We survived the trip well and did not have any of the possible problems that we had read about on the Internet. God was definitely taking care of us.

When we got back to Sabanilla, we worshiped with the church on Sunday. There was a group of dentists and dental assistants from Tennessee worshiping with us. They were here for a three-day free dental clinic. So on Monday through Wednesday, we arrived at the Arbol de Vida (the community center where the church worships) at eight in the morning to process the patients, and worked each day until 5:30 or 6. While Michal entered the patient information into the computer and answered questions, I translated for Tom who was taking blood pressures. I got pretty good at numbers.

Language learning is a strange experience. For instance, at the Thursday night Bible study, there are some Nicaraguan ladies who speak very fast. I can barely understand what they are talking about. Then there is Marvín. He is from the country, and he talks very slowly. I don´t understand anything he says. Of course, Flor just laughed at me when I told her about my troubles. I didn't tell her that I don't understand her most of the time either!

We have had some interesting experiences here. Rosibel, one of the ladies from the Sabanilla congregation, was taking the dental brigade appointments, which meant that she was taking hundreds of calls! An older gentleman who called to make an appointment told her that she sounded tired, and she admitted that she was. On Tuesday, when the gentleman had his appointment, he came with a loaf of sweet bread to give to Rosibel who just happened to have come by to give us an updated list. So she talked to him and he said that he would come to worship the next Sunday. God works in mysterious ways!

There is a guy in the apartment complex from the US but of Colombian descent. We have had lots of late-night conversations and I had invited him to worship with me several times. To my surprise, he finally accepted. It was interesting being with him at worship, though, because he didn't know how to turn the sound down on his cell phone and both his mom and brother called him. He kept having to repeat to them, "I'm at church with Barbara," because they didn't believe him!

Both Michal and I are struggling with colds at the moment. I think there was just too much activity and too many long days, and we got worn down. But it is not the time to rest, because now we have to get things ready for the children's Bble classes and English classes in Alajuela and the Evangelism camp in Sarchí. That involves getting a house set up for the arrival of 13 tired, travel-worn people who are expecting something to eat and a bed!

Thanks to all who have helped me financially to be able to make this trip. It has been such a blessing to get to know and work with the fine Christians here. You are in our prayers always as fellow-workers.

God bless us all as we strive to serve him

Retractable Eraser

2010-06-11T17:57:59Z

The Fellowship Room Daily Nudge was, "Which do you use, pen or pencil?"

My answer:

I use a retractable eraser. Enough said.

Home Again

2009-10-02T17:24:38Z

I hope you all have had a very productive and enjoyable summer so far. I just returned from a two month stay in Costa Rica, which, in case you don’t know, is about 10 degrees cooler than where I live in Mississippi! In fact, in the middle of the night, with no air-conditioning, I needed covers on the bed because it would get quite chilly.

Michal and I had a very interesting time during the month of June. We went to Forester Instituto Internacional in Costa Rica to study Spanish. Michal had never taken any Spanish at all, so she started in the beginners’ class. Unfortunately, everyone in the beginners’ class had taken at least two years of formal high school or college Spanish. Undaunted, she hung in there with the big dogs and came out speaking Spanish as well as any of them! Because I had been studying on my own and knew some vocabulary, they put me in the intermediate class. It was tough, but I too came out speaking Spanish. We are by no means experts. Rank amateurs would be a better description. But it is a base to build on, which we both needed.

During the beginning of the third week of classes, I developed some sort of stomach ailment that made everything difficult for me. I would go to class during the morning hours, but instead of using my afternoon and evening studying, I mostly slept. We kept talking about taking me to a doctor, but no definite plans were made, and I continued every day to think that maybe this was the day I would feel better. So although I did go to the lab to make sure I didn’t have a parasite, I never did go to the doctor. I continued to be sick the whole month of July and did not get better until I had been back in the states for about a week. A great side benefit, though, was that I lost some weight!

On July 2, late in the evening, the Mars Hill group, along with Robert and Jamie, arrived in Costa Rica. They got up early Friday morning and traveled to Sarapiquí to a fairly remote area to visit with relatives of one of the families of the Sabanilla congregation. They are Christians, but their area is so remote and difficult to get to that there is no formal congregation. The Gospel Opportunities team will be researching this area to see what can be done in the future to help the church grow. Everyone had a great time, crossing the river in a wire basket, swimming and meeting a wonderful Christian family. But, of course, they all came home totally exhausted! I stayed in Sabanilla, since I was too unsteady healthwise to face the difficult journey.

On Monday, July 6, we started our VBS and English classes. The VBS was held where the church meets. Jamie stayed at the VBS and helped Chris Rich with play-time activities. Robert, Michal and I were teaching English classes at a school located about 1/2 a mile away. Michal and I taught beginners, which means we needed to speak a lot of Spanish! Robert helped Virginia Searcy, from the Mars Hill group, with the intermediate students.

I have to admit that I have never actually taught much. But I can say with all honesty that I loved teaching English using the Bible to grown-ups. Michal and I shared classes; I taught the morning class while she assisted me, she taught the afternoon class while I assisted her, and we traded off who was to teach and who was to assist during the evening class.

We left for the school every morning at 7:15 am and didn’t returned until 9:00 pm every evening. We walked to the church building twice a day, for lunch and dinner, and the rest of the day we were in class, until 8:30 pm. It was really rewarding, but three classes a day was very exhausting for everyone.

Every day except Saturday we had a baptism, either from the VBS or from someone taking the English classes. On Sunday morning, we had a graduation for all of our English students. There were two baptisms after the morning worship. It was so exciting to have one of our students respond to the invitation and become a Christian. That made Michal and I very happy! Her daughter’s boyfriend, who was also in our class, had come to us after one of the class breaks that week and asked a question about the story of the sheep and the goats, with tears in his eyes, because he was an unfaithful Christian. We talked for awhile, and we introduced him to some of the people in the Sabanilla congregation. He witnessed his girlfriend’s mother being baptized that Sunday, and it was a good time to talk to him about his life and introduce him to more members of the church. We have heard from Steven that he and his girlfriend asked for help so that they can get their relationship right with God.

After a truly hectic week of VBS and English classes, we took Monday off, souvenir shopping, playing soccer with some of the members at Sabanilla, doing laundry, etc. Tuesday was camp day. We got all our stuff packed and met the bus at 1:00 pm for the four hour drive to Sarchi, in the mountains. The camp was situated on an old coffee plantation and is owned by a congregation in Paragould, AR. We had 18 North Americans, about 30 Costa Rican Christians, and about 20 campers, 16 of whom were non-Christians.

Since the main emphasis of the camp was to evangelize, there were lots of studies and classes. We were all proud of Jamie who gave a devotional before the whole camp. Robert gave the final lesson on Sunday morning to wrap up the weeks’ theme, and did his usual fine job!

What a great week! We had 10 baptisms! And with each baptism, the speakers reminded the church family of their responsibility for loving and caring for these babies in Christ. It was so uplifting to see the encouragement that these new Christians were already getting. We hope that they will continue to care for these young people, so as not to lose any of them. Steven says that so far they have been attending the worship in Sabanilla.

Also, one of the people who came to camp was a man who was baptized last year but who has not been faithful. Michal got a verbal agreement from one of the elders at Sabanilla to stay in contact with this man and help him in his Christian walk. We so often forget how hard it is to change your entire life. It is such a shame to let someone with the spirit of God slip back into the world because of our lack of support and care. We forget that they are just babies in the faith, and they need us to help them stay focused on the prize.

What a great summer! So many new Christians! It was especially rewarding for Gospel Opportunities, since the Christian camp was our first team effort in Costa Rica. We are looking for more opportunities to serve, not only in Latin America, but in the states as well.

Now that we are back from Costa Rica, we would really like to visit with you or your congregation and present to you in person what we have been doing. Robert is always ready to speak to the congregation, and Michal or I would love to speak to your ladies’ classes. And, of course, any of us would be eager to make a presentation to the elders. If you would like to hear about what we do, just let us know and we will be happy to arrange a time. We are really excited about our work and want to share it with you.

Off to Costa Rica!

2009-05-14T22:04:00Z

I am so excited! Michal and I are going to go to Costa Rica on May 29 and will not return until July 22. We are enrolled in a Spanish language course during the month of June. We have been wanting and needing to increase our Spanish language proficiency. Along with full days of classes, we also will be helping the churches in Sabanilla and Alajuela.

Everything worked out just great! Since we are going to be in Costa Rica for VBS and camp in July, we didn’t have any extra plane ticket expense, and we don’t have to pay for accommodations, since we will be staying in the same house that we will be at for the VBS during the first week of July. Robert and Jamie will be spending June in gospel meetings, visiting grandparants, and camp in the states before joining us for VBS and camp in Costa Rica.
The plan to work with the Mars Hill congregation’s VBS is really shaping up. The Gospel Opportunities team has been asked to help with teaching English this year, so we will be only marginally involved with the VBS, except for Jamie who will be helping Chris Rich with VBS activities. We are all excited about the opportunity to learn new skills that will be valuable to us in other countries.

Last year, after the Christian camp in Costa Rica, the Gospel Opportunities team was asked to head up this year’s program. The camp is situated on an old coffee plantation in the mountains and is owned by a congregation in Paragould, AR. We are planning to take 25 Americans, the Costa Rican church will take 25 from their congregation, and there will be 50 non-Christians invited to attend. So far, we have about 20 Americans, so if anyone would like to join us, there is still time!!

The main emphasis of the camp will be to evangelize, so we will have lots of one-on-one studies. Robert worked hard on an organizational chart and lessons that included about 100 individual talks and devotionals done by all of the camp counselors from Costa Rica and the states. Please pray with us for this effort. We hope to be able to make an impact in the lives of these young people and strengthen the church in Costa Rica.

As always, the project of my house hangs over us, and we devote time to it as we can. The kitchen is nearly done and I am able to live in the house now. We still have to finish one of the bathrooms, lay carpet in the living room and guest bedroom, finish out the closets and myriad little things that are too numerous to mention both inside and outside of the house. It is great getting to live in my own house, though, and I am really happy about that!

We just finished printing El Apocalipsis de Juan (The Revelation of John) in February, and I am proofreading Las Cartas de Juan y Judas (the Letters of John and Jude) and working on setting up Romans. This continues to be an exciting part of our work, and we are so happy to have met Enrique Mortorell and collaborated with him on this commentary series. We have been asking folks to consider buying one of the commentaries to give to Hispanic preachers. We call it our “Adopt-a-Preacher” program. It is a great way for Bible classes, children’s classes and individuals to help spread the gospel by putting good literature into the hands of our preachers. So if you know of anyone who might be interested in this service project, or if you yourself would be willing to consider it, please let me know. It is only $10.00 per book, plus about $2.00 for shipping, and right now they are being printed about every six months. So that is only $24.00 a year!

After we return from Costa Rica, we would really like to visit with you or your congregation and present to you in person what we have been doing. Robert Swain is always ready to speak to the congregation, and Michal or I would love to speak to your ladies’ classes. And, of course, any of us would be eager to make a presentation to the elders. If you would like to see what we do, just let us know and we will be happy to arrange a time. We are really excited about our work and want to share it with you.

Please keep me and the Gospel Opportunities team in your prayers as we continue to look for opportunities to serve.

May God bless our efforts together for His kingdom.

Costa Rica Here We Come!

2008-06-25T20:09:52Z

The first question I asked the doctor when I was in SICU was, "Can I go to Costa Rica in 25 days?" Requiring one after-operation check-up, he gave me the go-ahead.

Yikes! We leave tomorrow!

I will try to keep you updated. Seems they have internet where I am going, so I should be able to keep in touch if studying doesn't consume me!

January 31, 2008

2008-02-22T18:58:03Z

Greetings in Christ,

I hope you are all enjoying the New Year and haven’t broken all of your resolutions yet! Wish I could tell you that I am still on target, but I am so far behind, I haven’t even made mine yet!

Here’s what’s happening in Winona...

We finally got our first Greek-Spanish commentary back from the printers during the second week of November. Boy, it looked wonderful to me! We have several congregations who have “adopted a preacher” by contributing $10.00 for the book (or $13.00 if they want us to mail it in the US or $15.00 if we need to mail it out of the US) to give to an Hispanic preacher who can’t afford to buy one on his own. We would love to give them away, but Robert had to raise the money to have it printed, and with trying to raise my support and his support and a work fund, we can’t afford the time and resources to raise the money for printing. We hope to make enough from the sale of this one to print the next one, the Book of Revelation.

Enrique is working feverishly on Revelation now, so I should have part of it in hand in a few days. Soon it will be back to the keyboard for me, typing in Spanish and Greek. Of course, I love it!

Raising support has been way outside my comfort zone, but I have met some wonderful Christian women and am constantly reminded how much love and faith the women of the church have. Many fine women have volunteered to help me with my support. The Woman 2 Woman program is doing well, and there are about 12 ladies’ groups who are participating in that program. In case you don’t remember, Woman 2 Woman is where a group of women commit to sending one dollar a month each to help with my support. One or two of the ladies volunteer to organize, announce and collect the money and send it on to my sponsoring congregation. This has been such a great help and encouragement to me.

I can’t leave the men out of my praise either. Several elderships and men of the congregation have come to my aid when they heard of my need. It is very difficult for a woman to raise money. As Robert says, I have two strikes against me in the church. One is that I am female, and the other is that I am single and don’t have anyone to speak for me. So it does my heart good to see the outpouring of people who do care and are willing to help.
We are planning to go to Costa Rica in July, so I am diligently studying my Spanish. Robert is planning to go to Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama sometime in February or March with David Riley, the preacher at Mars Hill in Vilonia, AR. Then the Swains are going to Romania in May. I am trying to set up a plan to visit the Alpha and Omega Hispanic Preaching School in Little Rock to do immersion language learning for the three weeks that they will be gone.

My house is coming along slowly. With the holidays and lack of money on my part, work has ground to a halt, except for all of the caulking and plastering, which doesn’t require much money. So I am working that into my schedule. It seems to be a never-ending job!

I got a big boost in October! The campus ministry at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway brought a group of students on their fall break. They built a deck off my kitchen. Wow! It is wonderful! And thanks to the Mars Hill congregation in Vilonia who paid for the construction materials.

Right now, Robert is working on building kitchen cabinets with my expert assistance. He says, “Where’s the tape measure?” I find the tape measure. That’s my job. He says, “I need a phillips screw driver.” I get the screw driver. That’s my job! He says, “I need you to hold this board while I saw it in half.” I hold the board. That’s my job!! What would he do without me? Seriously though, I have learned a lot about construction. I can hang sheetrock, float out windows and facings, mud walls, and just about every other job that needs to be done. Maybe someday these skills will be of help to others in an evangelistic effort.

I hope you are all planning a great New Year, full of fun and family and memories in the making!

May God bless your efforts for His kingdom.

Welcome

2008-01-25T17:06:18Z

Please visit GoEvangelism.org if you would like an update on our work.

]]> Please visit GoEvangelism.org if you would like an update on our work.

Home Again, Home Again

2003-12-09T22:29:10Z

Wow! I have been home for two weeks already! I am just now coming out of the fog of jet-lag and holiday-company-overeating-lag.

We left Tasmania on November 12 and spent Thursday in Singapore repacking for Myanmar (Burma). Singapore is sort of a hub for the Choates. They stay at the Supreme Hotel, and the hotel lets them store luggage. Since they are usually toting books from place to place, it is convenient to unload things that aren't needed for certain parts of the trip.

We were met at the airport in Myanmar by Winsome Vertannes, a single woman who lives with her mother. They do all the cooking and arranging transport for the missionaries who come to teach at the preacher-training school, which is held in the spring and fall. We drove to the Seasons Hotel in Yangoon, formerly Rangoon. It is an amazing hotel, with an attentive staff. We had to stay in a hotel because the government does not allow foreigners to stay with locals.

The Burmese are a very pleasant and polite people. The predominant religion is Buddhism. The country is controlled by the military. They had free elections, but when the people elected their president, the military put her under house arrest, where she remains to this day.

I have to say, Myanmar was one of my favorite countries, except for one thing. The Myanmar government has a strict policy regarding the internet. I was not able to check my email or even go to the home pages of my email servers! For over a week I was nearly internet-less! It was frightening!

We left Myanmar on Monday, November 24 for Singapore. We spent the night at the Supreme Hotel, gathered up all our luggage the next morning and were on our way to the airport by 6:30 am. Our flight was at 10:00 am, Tuesday morning. About 25 hours later, we arrived in Jackson, MS at 8:00 pm, Tuesday evening. No, that is not a math mistake. We gained about 10 hours. Tuesday was a long day!

Since I have been back, nearly everyone has asked me, "Did you have fun?" Well, yes, we did have some fun on the trip. But was it a fun trip? No, I can't say that it was a "fun" trip. I can say that it was an adventure.

This was not a vacation trip. It was a mission trip. Anyone who has been on a mission trip will understand what I mean. People think, "Wow, you went to all these cool places! Did you see the sites? Did you travel in style and stay in luxurious hotels, and eat expensive, exotic foods?" No, no, no and no!

We saw very few "sites", we stayed mostly in other Christians' homes and ate food that they prepared for us (which was often exotic, by the way). We seldom ate in restaurants, unless you call Burger King in the airport a restaurant! We traveled for days on poorly air-conditioned trains in which we had to take our own food and water. We sat elbow-to-elbow in the back of airplanes. We still haven't figured out how we managed to always be put in the back of the plane!

Was it great? You bet! Would I take a vacation to most of the places I went? Not on your life! Would I go again if there was a need? In a New York minute!

There are brethren strewn all over this world, and I have met some of the best. I would love to see them again. But I probably won't have that opportunity. As she was giving me a good-bye hug, one dear old sister, whom I met in New Zealand, whispered in my ear, "If I don't see you again, I will see you in heaven."

Our lives are as fragile as that old lady's whisper. It is up to us to pack as much service to God as possible in the short breath of time we have on earth. Hang on tight, because sometimes it can lead you on a wild adventure!

Speak English!

2003-11-17T22:28:39Z

[Editor's note: Barbara is in Myanmar (formerly, Burma) where Internet access is restricted. She asked us to post this latest entry.]

G'day Mates! How ya going on? Feeling like a bit of tucka? Just grab a cupa, and Bob's your uncle. Add a bickie or a chockie, and you're a box of fluffy ducks!

The first time I moved to Winona, Miss., to work with the Choate family in 1972, I noticed that when Betty sang, "This World Is Not My Home", that at the end of the first verse, where it says, "and I can't feel at home in this world any more", Betty was singing the word "world" with two notes instead of one. When I pointed out that there was only one note for the word "world", she replied, "But you can't say wor-ld in one syllable!"

Come to find out, there were lots of words that she could not pronounce in one syllable! Oddly enough, J.C. is totally lacking in Southern accent. Betty, on the other hand, got a double dose!

Several years ago, a brother from Ghana went to New Delhi. During his attempt to talk to Betty, they discovered that they could not understand each other. So, Sister Elzy joined them and began to translate for him what Betty said and visa versa. The funny thing was, they were all three speaking English!

Sunny David, the Indian preacher in New Delhi, who has been associated with the Choates for about 35 years and has been to the States (mostly the southern ones), was preaching in English at a seminar in India. English is the predominant language, since there are over 400 languages spoken in India. One of the brethren came up to him afterwards and asked, "How did you get your southern accent?"

Throughout the trip, in every country -- India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore -- understanding what people were saying has been difficult, even though we were all speaking English.

When we got to New Zealand, I just knew that my problems with language would be over. After all, these were native English speakers! Everywhere else, English had been the second language. So we should have no problems in New Zealand, right?

One of the ladies in the Palmerston North congregation came up to me and said that she and her husband were going to attend college in the US at "Caans or," she asked, "is it Cans?" I looked quite confused, because I had never heard of Caans or Cans, Tennessee. I asked Frances Walker to come over to clarify. She said, very plainly, "Caans". Still confused, I asked her to spell it. She slowly spelled out "K-A-R-N-S".

In Tasmania we actually got to do a little traditional vacationing. Betty had a Saturday seminar and J.C. had to preach on Sunday and Tuesday night, but other than that, we were free for three whole days! Dennis and Shirley Gresham took turns squiring us around the island of about 500,000. It was wonderful! The Christians in Hobart were all lovely.

Which reminds me. Another interesting thing about New Zealand and Tasmania were the men. Big, burly guys were always observing, "My, that is quite lovely!" or, "We had a lovely time." It was very cute.

We went to lunch with Ken and Jane Short before going to a wildlife park to see the kangaroos, wallabies, Tasmanian devils, and such. J.C. reached into his pocket to get his wallet, but Jane stopped him and said, "My shout." Which, being interpreted, means "my treat".

And it has all been a great treat! We may not have understood all the words that we have heard throughout our travels, but we have understood the hearts of our brothers and sisters. Funny how love is greater than words.

From Sea to Shining Sea

2003-11-08T22:27:54Z

Ok, hang on. This is going to be a fast trip.

It has been a while since I have been able to get on line, so here is a synopsis of the travel to Tasmania.

We left Bangalore by train on Monday evening and arrived in Trivandrum 18 hours later. We were met at the train station by brother P.K. Varghese, who took us to his home.

Several years ago, J.C. and Betty had taken a site-seeing trip with the Varghese family. Since I had never been to south India before, Betty wanted me to see some of the sites (since we had not seen any so far - after a month!). So Thursday we went on a harrowing car ride to visit the palace of Patmanabhapuram and then down to the tip of India where the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean meet.

J.C. reminded me that I had been to Kashmir back when I had lived with the Choate family in India for a year and a half during 1972-74. Now, here I was at the tip of India. "Not many Americans can say that they have been from one end of India to the other", he said. Wow! What an adventurous life I have had!

The next day, when we were ready to leave, Thankum, P.K.'s wife, had tears in her eyes. She told Betty that they had not had a holiday since that time many years ago when they had taken that one with the Choates.

We boarded a Sri Lanka Airlines plane on Friday morning at 9:00 am and got to Banderanaike Airport about 55 minutes later. Lilani Thomas, Reggie Gnanasundarum's daughter, picked us up in her pickup. Lilani is great! Everyone should have the privilege of meeting her. Her life story is an inspirational one, and she tries to make every day count. You won't be around her for more than a minute before you will hear her infectious laugh!

As she drove us to her house, to my surprise, I discovered that she lives about a quarter mile from the ocean! We got to visit it only one evening, though. We did a bit of relaxing there and left by plane on Sunday night at 1:30 am and got to Singapore three hours later at 6:30 am. That is not a math mistake! We were going backwards in time.

We went to the Supreme Hotel and checked in and slept for about 2.5 hours. Once again, I regretted my inability to sleep on a plane. We got up about 11:00 and picked up our tickets for the New Zealand-Australian part of our trip.

We left Singapore at about 8:00 pm that evening and arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on Tuesday morning about 9:00, and were met at the airport by John Staiger. We stayed at his house with his wife, Linda, and family and left by bus the next day for Palmerston North. The 10 hour drive was beautiful. Lots of sheep and cattle, and snow-topped mountains, and wonderful beaches!

Thursday evening was the start of the Ladies' Challenge. There were about 50 ladies who stayed in a cottage motel-like place at night and then drove to the church building for the seminar. Betty was the speaker, and she did a great job. The seminar ended on Saturday at about 3:00. We went back to Graham and Frances Walker's to spend the night.

The next day after morning worship, the Walkers took us to Wanganui where we met Nathan and Rachel Paki and had dinner at their house. We hopped in their car and they drove us to Kent and Rachel O'Donnell's house. They took us to New Plymouth the next day to meet Steve and Juricz Blackman and family. I also met her mother, Ma, who read to me out of the Samoan Bible and then made me read to her to make sure her lessons had taken.

The next day we went site-seeing in Taupo and stayed in a hotel that was 15 meters from the lake! Kent's parents, Wally and Maureen had joined us and we all had a wonderful time together in that beautiful place.

Wednesday morning, we drove for a couple of hours and met Rex Banks, who had come down from Hamilton, just to drive us all the way to Auckland! He dropped us back at the Staigers and took off to get home in time for his Wednesday Bible study.

As we were driving up to John's house, he turned to Betty and said, 'The ladies have a Bible study tonight. I bet you would like to speak at that.' With no preparation time, she headed into that study and did a wonderful job, as usual! When it started, Linda said that they usually had a prayer session in the beginning and then at the end, but for time's sake they would dispense with the starting prayer. Betty, in a panic, shouted out, "Oh, no! We have to pray!"

By the time we got back from the ladies' class, it was 10:30 pm. Since our flight was at 6:00 am, we decided that we would just go to the airport and wait instead of trying to get a few hours of sleep only to get up at 1:30-2:00 in the morning to get to the airport, which was about an hour away. So John got us to the airport at about 12:30. We slept on some chairs, and I wondered around the airport until about 5:15, when we were allowed to board the plane. We went through Melbourne to Tasmania. As we were picking up our luggage, a voice behind said, "There you are! Welcome to Tasmania." Dennis Grisham drove us home to his wife Shirley and she has taken good care of us ever since!

Whew! That was a fast trip, I know! We covered lots of miles and met lots of great brethren. We went from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, but wherever we were, we were with family, so we were home.

Bangalore Rain

2003-10-21T22:27:12Z

Rain!

After a month of being in India, we have finally run into some rain. Funny how something so simple can bring such a feeling of normalcy, of all's-right-with-the-worldness.

Bangalore is a city of about six million people, near the middle of India. Swamy and Saroja live in a rented house in a nice area of the city. They will have to move because they are struggling with the rent, but for us, it is perfect!

Don and Beverly Norwood are here, and we are having a great time visiting, eating, shopping, and most importantly, worshipping and fellowshipping with the brethren in Bangalore. The Sunday worship was four hours long! I must admit that I was getting very tired of sitting. J.C. spoke for an hour. Then Don spoke for another hour. Then Swamy introduced all the preachers who had spent the last week at the school, gave three of them an opportunity to tell their story, then presented each one with a gift.

Afterwards, Swamy, Saroja, Sheila (their daughter-in-law), the Norwoods, Choates, and I went to a Chinese restaurant. Because of the rain, we did not travel to another congregation that night, but just visited at home. If you have never visited with Don Norwood, I highly recommend it. He can tell stories all night long, and you would never get tired of hearing them!

It started raining last night. I turned off the fan and let the rain lull me to sleep. I wouldn't say that I have been homesick in India, but I will not deny that the strangeness of the food, living conditions, travel, etc., takes its toll, and weariness sets in. But then something as commonplace as rain happens. And, as I look out the window and see it dripping off the trees, I feel a comfort, a settled-ness.

I think back over the last month and recall those moments which, though seemingly insignificant, have brought that feeling of connection: The sweet burst of citrusy juice from an orange, the smell of soap, the burn of a long swallow of that occasional Coke, the yellow blossoms on the trees across the road, the old dog in the street scratching fleas. And those more significant moments: the hug of a sister or brother in Christ, seeing a scripture reference, and not recognizing anything - but the chapter and verse look familiar!

I recognize the truth that God's world is basically the same, as are the people who inhabit it. The differences in culture and language and food are the spices that jazz it up a bit. And wherever you are, however strange those customs, there are things that keep us connected, things that keep us from losing our footing on the earth; things from the small and insignificant to the great miracle of God's grace.

It has stopped raining. Time to get busy again.

Kakinada by Train

2003-10-16T22:26:28Z

Monday, October 11, 1:36 am, I struggle to put on my socks and shoes, climb quietly down from the top berth. I sneak quietly past a sleeping J.C., notice that Betty has disappeared somewhere in the night. I pick up the liter bottle that I have been craving for the last two hours and drink greedily, disappointed that the frosty, slushy concoction of earlier in the evening has turned into lukewarm tea.

We said goodbye to the New Delhi brethren at about 7 pm, after the evening worship, drove with our sixteen pieces of luggage to the train station (yes that is more than we left the US with). Francis and Vinay, his son, and Sunny and his wife Nargis came with us. We sat on the train together until 8:30, had a pray and said goodbye to them. And we were underway.

At about 9:00, we had the famous train-food that Betty, Elzy (Francis's wife) and I had been cooking all afternoon: masala potatoes (fried potatoes with Indian seasoning), fried pork loin with Indian soy sauce (note to self: bring soy sauce from the US next time!), fried chicken strips, and chapatti (Indian bread similar to tortillas).

Ugh! Train sickness. See you later.

Well, it is Thursday evening. We spend Sunday night, Monday, day and night asleep. All those good intentions of listening to language CDs and reading were lost to a Dramamine/train-rocking induced sleep. And after the first night, the train-food lost its appeal!

We arrived in Kakinada on Tuesday, about 12:00 pm and drove to Joshua and Kabita Gootam's home. Their three boys were all home from college. That evening we went to a village and J.C. preached for about an hour. Since most of the audience were women, after a short break, Joshua Gootam translated as Betty spoke to the women for about 15 minutes. All was going well until Betty finished and Joshua said, "And now we will hear from sister Barbara."

I leaned over and said, "Joshua, I am not a speaker." He said, "Come on. Just say a few words." So before I knew it, I had said a few word and was again seated in my chair, squeezing the plastic arms so tightly they squeeked! The evening ended wonderfully as three were baptized.

Wednesday, I didn't go with J.C. and Betty to the village because Montezuma caught up with me. Wednesday evening, we met with the brethren at the church building here in Kakinada, and then today, we drove two hours to a village, where once again J.C. spoke. After baptizing seven people and having lunch, Betty spoke to the ladies, again with Joshua translating. I was sure I was safe, but I believe in the saying "once bitten twice shy", or something like that. Anyway, I was semi-prepared and lived through the experience. The good thing I can say about my little talk - short and sweet!

Tomorrow we board the train again for a 24 hour trip to Bangalore. My standards have really fallen. I am only keeping out two CDs, have my Dramamine handy and don't really expect to do anything but sleep!

Don't Laugh!

2003-10-08T22:25:52Z

India is a diverse country with 28 states and 7 union territories. There are areas in the North East, near Bangladesh, where foreigners are not allowed to travel, and in other areas special permits are give out judiciously. We often hear of the clashes between Pakistan and India over Kashmir to the West. But there are states in the North East who want to break away from Indian rule and become independent.

Terrorism is a common fact of life here. With a population consisting of about 12% Moslem, there have been bombings during Hindu festivals and in Hindu markets. In just the past several months, hotels have been bombed, and just last week, a politician's car was bombed. In recent years, radical Hindu groups have been responsible for killing missionaries and believers in Christ.

Sunny was explaining to me about one such bombing that had taken place in Lajpat Nagar (an outdoor market). We were standing in front of one of the stalls, and he was telling me about how people in the stall had been burned alive when a bomb exploded during a Hindu festival, when the market was crowded with shoppers. Believing that lightening can indeed strike twice, and remembering that it was, on this particular day, a Hindu festival, I caught myself inching slowly away as he relayed the story!

Several brethren who have visited us while we have been here have faced potentially serious situations getting to New Delhi. One brother, who is from Manipur, has five children, all of whom lost a whole year of education because of the fighting between the Kuki tribe (pronounced "cookie")and the Paites.

Nepal, though not a part of India, is also plagued with internal strife. One brother who visited us brought his wife with him for protection! He was hoping that the Maoist insurrectionists would not bother him during his travels across his country, if he was with his family. He also hoped the same thing of the Nepalese army!

Nepal is noted for its Gurka soldiers. In fact, at one time its major export was soldiers. The Gurkas are known for their ruthlessness and total loyalty to whomever they serve.

Back in India, the state of Nagaland is also a hotbed of strife. There are about 16 tribes. The people of one of those tribes still wear no clothes. In fact, "naga" means naked. This is gradually changing, as the children are being educated. And there are still canibals in them there hills! So, if someone from Nagaland says he wants to have you over for dinner, run!

There is one other thing that I need to point out. If you are ever in Nagaland, and a Naga comes into town, and you happen to notice that he is naked, don't laugh! If you laugh at him, he might take out a big knife and, swish! Your head is gone! They take great offence at being laughed at. So the next time you see someone naked, don't laugh! He may be a Naga!