Sunday, January 20th

This weekend people from the Churches of Christ around North East India came here to the Baptist Compound in Guwahati to participate in a weekend retreat. Next week there will be a youth camp held here as well that we will also participate in. During this weekend I have sat in a room with an average of 40 people in which 6 Indian language groups were represented. It was encouraging that 7 distinctly different cultural groups could come together like that in the commonality of our Christian faith. India’s official language is Hindi and their second official language is English. From my limited experience so far it seems that more people speak English than Hindi which I find interesting. I am very thankful that I was born in Canada and that I speak English as my first language. English is used in so many places around the world and it has opened so many doors of opportunity for me. During the first devotional of the retreat I was very moved to be able to sing and worship in a common language with all of these people. I start to wonder why these people from different tribal backgrounds can look past their differences and see their brother and sister sitting across from them and more often than not we at home don’t even acknowledge that it is our brother or sister we are dealing with and simply focus on the differences between us.

Wednesday, January 16th

So I’m thinking that I could be writing a lot of blog posts prior to actually being able to post them. Right now I am laying on my bed in the Baptist Mission Compound in the city of Guwahati. We arrived in Guwahati this afternoon, an entire week after we left Canada.

In one of my last blog entries (that has yet to even be posted when I am writing this one) I mentioned the sights and sounds of Calcutta and I’m sure that some of you are wondering about how I’ve dealt with that other sense, the smell of Calcutta. Something I have always heard about Calcutta was that it stinks. Everyone I spoke to before coming warned me about the smell, not only of Calcutta but of Guwahati as well. The question that has been in my mind for some time now has been if the smell of Calcutta would be worse than the smell of the Tiete River in São Paulo. I can’t even imagine anything worse than the Tiete River so I was expecting the smell to be at least equal to that of the River in São Paulo. I have to say that I was really surprised by the lack of smell in Calcutta. Not to say that it doesn’t smell different than home, because it does but in comparison to the stench that is the Tiete River walking the streets of Calcutta is like taking a walk in a rose garden. I am pleased to say that Guwahati is no different. I don’t think I’ll have any problem with the smell here.

Raysha and I are sharing a room here at the Baptist Mission Compound in what is called the Baptist Guest House. This room has offered me my first official squatty potty experience. I don’t think it would be too bad except for the fact that my back is so sore which makes the squatty potty experience a little more complicated.



This floor of the guest house also has no hot water. Apparently tomorrow they are moving us up a floor to a room with a hot water heater and a Western style toilet. Both of which I won’t turn down. Each of the beds comes equipped with mosquito netting which I am thankful for considering there are a lot of the little beasts buzzing around.


There are a few, and by few I mean at least a million crows that are living right outside the windows. I wondered out loud to Raysha earlier if she thought that they would sleep at night. I am glad to report that they do. I am pretty sure that they will be awake before I am ready to be though! If it wasn’t for the sign that is posted saying that killing of birds in the compound is strictly prohibited then I would probably be picking them off one by one.

We went for a walk with Ellen and the kids to explore a little bit. I don’t think that I have ever felt as foreign as I do here. I’ve been stared at in other countries but it doesn’t even begin to compare to how I’ve been stared at here. I can follow almost every person’s gaze as it goes up and down taking in every white inch of me. And I have a whole lot more inches to take in than any Indian person. I feel a little like a white giant in this place. Indians are a lot shorter than I am, especially the women!



There seems to be quite a bit of police presence in the streets. At first they were a little intimidating with their big guns but they basically just stare at us like everyone else does as we walk by and don’t seem to care that we’re here otherwise. I guess that’s a good thing. Apparently they are here trying to prevent any unrest on Republic day which is coming up on the 26th.

We had a little treat at Baskin Robins. I never imagined finding that here. So far it is the only American chain I have seen here.

I have a thing for cool trees. This one was especially fun.

My Thoughts in Calcutta

As I write this I am sitting in a hotel room in Calcutta, India. There is no internet connection but I have so many thoughts running through my head that I just need to write. I’m sure I will post this on my blog eventually once we get settled in Guwahati with internet access. Since we left Canada almost a week ago I have experienced an almost overwhelming sense of “what have I gotten myself into??” I guess this feeling started even before I had left. Last night this feeling reached a climax. I was tired, really tired. I was tired when this journey began and after an incredible but busy weekend in Hong Kong I was even more tired. Being delayed in Bangkok added to the mounting weariness. On the plane to Calcutta I was seated near an interesting Indian family. I am an observant person especially when it comes to people. I spent the majority of the flight watching this family and how they interacted with each other and how they interacted with the flight attendants and the passengers around them. As I watched them I really began to wonder what the Indian people would be like and if the way this family behaved was what I had to look forward to for the next five months. “What have I gotten myself into?” I asked myself for maybe the hundredth time. Arriving in the Calcutta International Airport I asked myself the question for the hundredth and first time. After we had collected our baggage and were about to make our way through customs I heard ten year old Andrew say to Ellen, “I don’t want to go out there, I don’t want to go into that outside world of Calcutta.” Not exactly words to reassure my doubting heart and I asked myself again now maybe for the hundredth and twentieth time, “what have I gotten myself into??” There wasn’t much to see during the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel as it was already after midnight local time and was very dark. I think this left me even more anxious and apprehensive. I went to sleep last night with a sense of dread hanging over me. I felt weak. Like I had told God I would do something only to realize now that it was too much for me. I want to just make the excuse that my exhaustion was the reason for my lack of trust in Him and that would be easy to do but I know in my heart of hearts that I still do not have the kind of faith that I need to have, the kind of faith that can move mountains. This morning I woke up with a better feeling about things. After breakfast Ray took me to an internet café a few blocks away to send a quick mass email. It was my first look at India in the light of day. What I saw was exactly what I expected to see, a lot of garbage, a lot of people, a lot rickshaws, bicycles, crazy traffic and cows. The feelings I had were not the feelings I expected to have after the way I had been feeling last night. I can’t really explain it because I loved every sight and every sound. I was simply fascinated by everything. A little later Ray and I ventured out to visit a man named Swami and his wife Violet. Swami leads the Church of Christ here in Calcutta. That outing allowed me to see a little more of the intensity that is Calcutta, and again I was enthralled. When we returned to the hotel I felt like writing some of my thoughts out but instead I got my Bible out. I’m following a schedule in order to read the Bible through in a year. I read yesterdays scheduled reading from Genesis and as I read about Jacob’s dream God’s words to Jacob washed over me. “I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go.” God is speaking to Jacob here but as I read those words God spoke to me exactly what I needed to hear. He is with me here. He goes with me wherever I go, protecting me. I think that I need protection from my own doubting heart more than from anything physical around me. My feelings of weakness are not unwarranted. I am weak and inadequate, it’s true. What I had forgotten somewhere over the last week is that it is God who makes me adequate and strengthens me for the tasks He puts before me. My attitude this afternoon is much different from the one I had last night. Maybe it is partly due to the fact that I am more rested and have been able to see what that “outside world of Calcutta” actually looks like. But I think even more than that is that I have remembered Who it is that I serve and that He is in control.

Delayed Posting

Right now I am in the Bangkok airport and we are delayed again. As you can tell from my last few posts on here I created the post on one day and actually posted it on the blog much later. As we are about to enter India I am sure that my access to internet will become even more touch and go than it has been over the last few days. My intention is to write blog posts on my laptop as I am inspired and then post them here as I am able. Unfortunately that means info may not be extremely current on here. At least until we are more settled in our new home. My new adventure is about to begin. Please keep us all in your prayers.

Hong Kong, Day 3

This morning we went to church with Harmony at an International church. We arrived late, unfortunately missing the worship portion of the service. The service was very similar to what you would find if you walked into a church in North America. In a way I was kind of disappointed because I would have enjoyed experiencing local worship. Ironically this was the congregations Mission Sunday where they were encouraging their members to get involved in missions. It was moving to listen to some of the local people share the experiences that they have had with short term missions and it was inspiring to watch as they encouraged their body of believers to get involved. I couldn’t help but be impressed with the number of missions opportunities that were being placed before the members. There were twenty-five (if I remember correctly) short term mission projects occurring over the course of the year in a number of different countries. A highlight of the service was when a group of African men from three different African countries were called upon to share with us the way in which they worship God. It was a powerful thing to watch. Their singing, dancing and drumming was very different from our North American style of worship. Especially different from what those from the Church of Christ are accustomed to. I readily admit that I am among the more liberal of Church of Christers. In my study of scripture I have yet to be convinced that instrumental worship is wrong and I am quite comfortable worshipping in settings where musical instruments are used. As I sat during service today I couldn’t help but question where we get the idea that it’s ok to tell others that their “style” of worship is wrong. It reminded me of when the disciples told someone to stop casting out demons in Jesus name because he wasn’t a part of their group. Jesus told them plain and simple that they should not stop him. He continues to say, “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us. If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded” (Mark 9:38-41) The man casting out demons was not in the select group that was with Jesus but what he did he did in Jesus name. There are many people of many denominations who do what they do in Jesus name. I think that when we judge the ways in which other believers worship that Jesus would have a similar response to us, anyone who is not against us is for us! As the preacher got up after the African men left the stage he reiterated some of the thoughts that I had been having. He commented that the African dancing was different from what their congregation was used to and that many people have different ways of worshipping. He said that we all have relationships with God that are similar but different. That phrase stuck with me. He talked about how we tend to want to look out for number one and often end up worshipping ourselves. Missions is the opposite of that, missions is acknowledging that is not about me. I think that when we acknowledge that it is not about me that it becomes easier to accept other people’s styles of worship. It is not about what I am used to and what makes me comfortable. It’s about Christ and giving Him the glory! He preached from I Corinthians 16 and II Corinthians 8. He talked about how God gives us resources so that we will use them to help others to know Christ. He encouraged us to get out of our comfort zones so that the gospel can permeate this world. Everything he said seemed so appropriate as we are on our way to India, a place that I am sure will be out of my comfort zone. I couldn’t help but be impressed with the mission mindedness of this congregation. The preacher talked about the 10/40 window and what a unique opportunity they have as a congregation to be living within that window. I came away from that service being very encouraged.

After service we went out for lunch with an Australian family that Harmony knows from her church. We ate dim sum, it was quite the experience. All of the food is steamed in bamboo. I tried everything, even the stuff that had shrimp in it. I must have been feeling adventurous because I even ate one of the little dried fish with eyeballs! I didn’t have a second one though.

After lunch Harmony took us on a boat ride across the harbour. We walked the Avenue of stars. I didn’t recognize many names but I was pretty pumped to see Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. Oh the fun!

We went back to Mong Kok to make a few purchases and had some bubble tea along the way. I actually had a mango drink with it little floaty jubies in it, that is about the only way I know to describe it. Harmony said that the jubies were a type of plant. Whatever it was the combination of it was pretty yummy!


Harmony then took us to one of her preferred Chinese restaurants. I sort of felt like I was eating in the kitchen, especially when Ellen had to lean forward so that the lady could get some drinks out of the fridge. The lady that served us was the cutest, most adorable little lady I have ever met! She made me laugh the entire time we were there. I don’t know what her name was but I call her Winifred because when she offered us vinegar she said “winegar.” It had me giggling for quite some time. She was very gracious and posed for a number of photos after we had eaten.

After our meal of the best Chinese food I have ever eaten Harmony, Ellen and Ray all had reflexology massages done on their feet. Because I’ve been dealing with some pretty nasty back issues which has been aggravated by all the traveling we’ve been doing I opted for the body massage. If I wasn’t already in pain the massage may have only been somewhat painful, but instead it was pretty excruciating. Andrew couldn’t stop talking about how my ankles cracked when she stretched my legs up to my back…Getting the whole Hong Kong experience was an interesting one to say the least!

Hong Kong, Day 2, Disneyland

Day two in Hong Kong held a pretty big surprise for me. The plan was to go to Disneyland. This was probably the last thing that I had imagined us doing while we were here but I have to admit that the kid inside of me was pretty pumped! There were lots of highlights from the day. A definite one was Space Mountain! We went twice right off the bat.

(Photo shamelessly stolen from Harmony's Facebook album.)

Another highlight for me was meeting some of the Disney characters. I didn’t get to meet some of my favourites like Tigger or Mickey Mouse but we did take pictures with Goofy, Pluto and Buzz Lightyear.




Maybe my favourite thing from the whole day was watching the Celebration of The Lion King musical presentation. The Lion King is one of my favourite Disney animated movies and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. It was done in English with a couple of creatures that translated some of the key dialogue into Cantonese along the way. Everything was so well done, the costumes, the props, the singing, acrobatics and I especially enjoyed the pyrotechnics.






Ray, Ellen, Raysha and I saw a second show while Harmony and the kids hit up Space Mountain a few more time. The Golden Mickeys show was almost as impressive as the Lion King had been. It also included a lot of singing, acrobatics and even pyrotechnics. I’m glad I chose the show over another round of Space Mountain, even though it was tempting!







After a fun filled day at Disneyland Harmony took Autumn, Raysha and I out for some Chinese food. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to enjoy Chinese food in Canada again.





It was a fun filled day where my inner child roamed free for just a little while. If you’d like to see more pictures of the day visit my facebook album.

Hong Kong, Day 1

So I think that this, even though it was only the first leg of our journey, was by far the longest I trip I've ever been on. I left my house in Saskatoon at 5:30am on Wednesday morning. I arrived in Hong Kong at 9:30am Friday morning (7:30pm Thursday Saskatoon time). Taking the difference in time zones into consideration I was traveling for a grand total of 38 hours. ugh!

This was taken at about 2am while we were still waiting for our plane to start boarding...When it finally did it was only 11 hours behind schedule. :)

This was the route that we flew. These little screens make the time seem to pass even slower!

When we got to Hong Kong the first people that I spoke to were actually a couple of Brazilians from Porto Alegre. It made me super happy to speak Portuguese for a few minutes. Harmony was working when we finally arrived in Hong Kong so a couple of friends of hers met us at the airport. They put us on a bus and told the bus driver where we needed to get off. It was a double decker. I hit my head when I went to sit down on the second level. When I looked up to see where I'd hit it this is what I saw...

Raysha and the kids and I had a good laugh!

Crossing a bridge.

Raysha and Andrew on the bus.

Autumn and I on the bus.

On the way to Harmony's school.

A co-worker of Harmony's met us at the bus stop and led us (with all 12 of our suitcases and 6 carry-ons) to the school where she teaches. It was fun to watch Harmony and her family reunite.

We visited with Harmony's class and they asked her family all kinds of questions about when Harmony was younger. Then over her lunch break she took us back to her apartment. I'm actually staying with her co-worker, Lynn. I took a nice nap before we headed out for supper. We had some amazing Thai food. Sooo good! They brought us forks but I didn't have to use mine which made me happy!

First HK meal, Thai food.

Andrew was soooo tired! After supper Ray, Ellen and Andrew went back to Harmony's to sleep. Harmony took Raysha, Autumn and I to a place called Mong Kok. Apparently it is the most densely populated square kilometre in the world! We walked through a market and we drank bubble tea. It was definitely a good time! I've only been here for a day but this Saskatchewan farm girl is digging Hong Kong! It surprises me actually because I'm not a fan of big cities. I hate São Paulo and I thought I would have similar feelings towards Hong Kong. I've been pleasantly surprised!

Mong Kok, lots of people!

Mong Kok, lots and lots of people!

YVR...My New Home???

Well, I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever leave. We arrived at the Vancouver International Airport at 9:30am (Vancouver time) yesterday morning and we were supposed to leave at 4:30pm (Vancouver time). The rumour I've heard circulating amoung my fellow passengers is that there was mechanical problems with the plane and that they needed to have a part shipped from Montreal...I'm not sure how accurate that information is but something about the delay is accurate enough that last night they shipped us all to a hotel. As we followed the crowd from our gate I had an uneasy feeling of a sheep being led to the slaughter. I'm pretty sure that we took the most out of the way route to get to where we were going. My fears were not alleviated until we actually arrived at the hotel and they gave us two rooms for the 6 of us. We got ourselves settled, sent a few emails and got ourselves a bite to eat at the restaurant. Just to give you an idea of the state that the hotel was in after receiving an influx of passengers from an entire flight, the lady who brought our place settings to the table told us that she actually works in housekeeping...As Ray put it, she must have been drafted. At 9:30pm (Vancouver Time) We all decided to sleep. Unfortunately I didn't. I did lay down and rested but couldn't get my mind to slow down. We were all back in the hotel lobby by 11:45 to take the midnight shuttle back to the airport. So here I sit again. If we leave "on time" at 2am (4am Saskatchewan time, which we're all still operating on. 30 minutes less than 24 hours since I got out of bed to start this adventure) it will have been 16.5 hours since we arrived, almost long enough to grow some roots I think. Time will only tell if we actually leave on time. My opinion is that I'll stay as long as it takes for them to be able to assure me that the plane I'm on is safe! As we wait this morning I had some time to upload some pictures. Enjoy!

Ray, Ellen and Jim Hawkins, when we were still just sitting out a 7 hour layover.

Autumn and I getting friendly with my new friend the moose. :)

Autumn, Andrew and Raysha in front of the very cool aquarium in the international departure area of YVR.

Savouring the last few drops of my last Tim Horton's coffee...I'll miss you!

Flight Delays and Free Wireless

Well, the countdown is over, I have officially left for India. This first update is coming way sooner than I had anticipated it would. I left Saskatoon this morning at 7:20 but I was on my way through security at about 6:30. A big thanks to Mom, Dirk, Bob and Sharon for coming out and seeing me off at such an early hour. I felt kind of like a star with all the cameras that were shooting pictures of me! My plane landed in Calgary as my flight to Vancouver was starting to board. I met up with Ray, Ellen, Raysha and the kids before getting on the plane. It was good to see their smiling faces that early in the morning. We've now been in the Vancouver airport for 7.5 hours. We were supposed to be here for 7 hours but now they're telling us that our flight to Hong Kong has been delayed for an hour. Anyway, with the news of a delay I decided that it was time for some laptop solitaire. I'm glad I pulled this puppy out because If I hadn't I wouldn't have discovered free wireless internet. Thank you YVR!!! I mean writing a blog update is way more fun than watching the guy across from me pick his nose! And he's been diggin' for gold for a solid ten minutes now...eewwwe! We had quite a few people from the church here in Vancouver stop in and visit with us so that was nice. I actually knew two of them, Jim Hawkins and Mike Parker. So another big thank you to all who came out to see us here in Vancouver. Hmmm, as I'm writing this they've just announced that there is going to be more of a delay than expected and that they are anticipating a 2am departure. Oh the joy of air travel! On that joyous note I'm gonna sign off for now. Stay tuned for more stories of my misadventures.

Thank You!

I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to some very special people. I have been blessed by the financial support of so many individuals over the years. I can't even begin to name names but you know who you are. The process of fundraising is a very humbling experience and I am always encouraged by how generously people give to help further God's kingdom. I want to give a special thanks to all of those who have joined in helping me to go to India. My decision to go was not made very many months in advance but with the help of many people the funds have quickly come together. There is still a little way to go but I know that God will continue to provide. I also want to thank everyone that has lifted me up in prayer and shared words of encouragement with me. Prayer is essential to the success of what I am embarking on and I thank you for remembering me when you go before our Father. The words of encouragement that I have received are priceless to me. Knowing that you all are backing me up means the world to me. The words "thank you" just don't seem to say enough.


Oh and by the way, there are 4 days left until I leave for India.

Resolutions???

Do you make New Years Resolutions?

I normally don't. For me there is just too much hype about making big changes just because it is a new year. After all isn't each day a new day? If you want to make a change what's to stop you from making it right now? That's just my opinion I guess. At the same time I think it's a good thing to stop and reflect about your life and which direction you're headed and which direction you want to be headed and whether or not you need to make some minor or even major course corrections in order to get there. Anyway with all that said, I have set a goal for myself this year. Every year Dave Patterson challenges the members of our congregation to read through the Bible over the span of the year. I've tried it before and always seem to fall off the bandwagon. I'm going to try again this year and my goal is to succeed this time! Spending time in the Word on a daily basis is something that I always seem to struggle with. It's something that I want to do but don't always accomplish. I'm hoping that by having a scheduled reading for each day that it will help me to stick to it. I'm not under any delusions that I'm never going to miss a day but I would really like to able to say at this time next year that I finished it all, Genesis through Revelation. So tune in again next year and I'll let you know how it went. :)

Oh and by the way, there are 7 days left until I leave for India...My visa arrived yesterday with a whole week to spare!