Saying Goodbye To My Kids.

This past Tuesday was our first day back at Kalapani after being away for two weeks. As I was walking up to the school building I heard some kids yell out "Miss". Then Chetan and Sushil came running out of the classroom calling "Good morning Miss! Good morning Miss!" And one after the other they ran up to me with arms open wide and grabbed me in probably the best hug I have ever received. It nearly brought tears to my eyes and I've gotten a little teary eyed when I have thought about it since. A child giving someone a hug might not seem like that big of a deal to us in North America but here in India people don't really give hugs. Everyone shakes hands instead. This has been a bit of an adjustment for me because I like hugs. It has been hard saying goodbye to people and not being able to hug them. For me a shake of the hand just doesn't seem to bring enough closure. This unabashed show of affection from Chetan and Sushil really made my day. I know that it is going to be one of my fondest memories of India when I go home. That small event has given me some confidence that maybe I did make a bit of a difference in these children's lives.

Chetan on the left and Sushil on the right. I made them pose for this picture after class on Tuesday. Not only are hugs uncommon but so is smiling for the camera!

Today we went out to Kalapani for the last time. We have been going to the school twice a week and teaching stories from the life of Christ. (We also taught Sunday school using Old Testament stories.) We wrapped up our lessons on Tuesday with the story of the crucifixion and resurrection and today we had a fun day of presentations and goodbyes.

From the very first day that I went to Kalapani I fell in love with those kids. That first day they had no idea what to make of these white Canadians girls. Now just walking up the road to the school we are greeted with shouts of "Good morning Miss!" no matter what time of day. And on our way back down we are sure to be sent off with a "Goodbye Miss!" Even the parents of the children often greet us. I've gone from not knowing how to even pronounce their names to only confusing a few of their names because they look so much alike. Some of them have gone from being too shy to even try to speak English to being able to say some simple phrases. Spoken communication has been difficult but unspoken communication has happened on so many levels.

Today was a difficult day for me. I knew saying goodbye was going to be hard but I never imagined that my heart would hurt as much as it does. We started out our morning by handing out folders with all of the worksheets that they have done with us over the last 5 months. We also presented each child with a photograph of themselves. These kids have most likely never had their photos taken until we came along. They get so excited every time I pull out my camera and they always want to see the picture after I have taken it. I think they were pretty pleased when I gave them their photos today. As I called them each up one by one I went against the cultural norm and gave them each a hug. Some of them were eager to hug me and others didn't seem to know how to respond. We spent some time singing their favorite songs and then we went outside for a class photograph.

It was unfortunate that there were only 39 out of 53 of the students there today.

After our photo shoot we had one last go at "What time is it Mr. Wolf?" They really do love that game although sometimes their "What time is it Mr. Wolf?" comes out more like, "Wat choo a et mor woog?" or something of the sort. :) After they were all played out we served them cookies that Raysha and I had made last night. Soon enough it was time for them to be dismissed and the inevitable goodbye had come. I tried to say a little something but pretty much started to cry on the spot. They all kind of stared at me dumbly and I know they were thinking, "Why is Miss crying???" I think that most of them understood that this was the last time that we were going to see them as they all came and said goodbye two or three times. I was blown numerous kisses from Laxmi as she walked down the road and I was pretty much just a big blubbering baby.

I love those kids and I pray that the seeds that were planted in their hearts during our short time with them will one day grow into faith. Please join me in praying for these very precious children. Thank you to all of you who have chosen an individual child to pray for. There are still 10 more children who have not been chosen by someone. This includes one new student, Hinangshu Sinha who started coming to school while we were away. The others are Raj Chetri, Brine Marak, Aditya Singha, Emon Sangma, Ujjal Kalita, Sujal Singha, Rahit Sharma, Pawan Chetri, and Udiptta Sharma. You will find their photos here. Go and choose one and leave a comment letting me know. Thanks.

Five Months

Today marks five month since we left Canada. That means that in two weeks from today I will be back in Saskatoon. We are leaving Guwahati in four days. FOUR DAYS! It feels surreal. I've already started to assemble the complicated puzzle that is the contents of my suitcases. I'm beginning to think that packing could be considered and art form.

This is my travel schedule:

June 14
12:00pm, depart Guwahati - 1:10pm, arrive in Kolkata.

June 17
1:45am, depart Kolkata - 5:40am arrive in Bangkok.
8:00am, depart Bangkok - 11:45am arrive in Hong Kong.

June 19
12:45pm, depart Hong Kong - 10:00am arrive in Vancouver.

June 22
7:25pm, depart Victoria - 9:45pm arrive in Calgary.
10:40pm, depart Calgary - 11:45pm arrive in Saskatoon.

The McPerhouses will be hanging out in Calcutta for a few days and then spending a few days in Hong Kong with Harmony. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Calcutta than I did the first time but I'm not looking forward to the heat and humidity that we are going to encounter there. They tell me that it's worse than Guwahati, which is hard for me to imagine. I am really looking forward to seeing Harm again and eating some incredible Chinese food. That's probably my favorite memory of our first time in Hong Kong. Such good food! The McPerhouses will be parting ways once we hit Vancouver. I'm heading to Victoria to hang out with my old high school friend Crystal Peckett and the rest of them are headed to Regina. I can hardly wait to see Crystal again and have her show me her BC world. I'm also looking forward to getting home to Saskatoon and seeing my family and friends again. If you're in the Saskatoon area give me a call after the 22nd and we'll catch up.

Aizawl, Mizoram

As I mentioned in my last post Thursday took us from Manipur to Mizoram. The city of Aizawl to be exact. Both Autumn and Andrew were super excited to finally be returning to Aizawl. It is where they lived before they came to Guwahati in January. After spending time with them in Aizawl I now know why they like it so much. It really is a very nice place, very different from anywhere I have been in the North East.

Taken on the road between Aizawl and the airport. The drive from the airport to Aizawl was spectacular!

Aizawl is unlike any city I have ever visited before. It is a city on a hill, or if you are from Saskatchewan, a mountain.

It amazed me how all of the buildings were built on stilts on the side of the mountain. I can't even imagine the devastation that would occur if there was an earthquake.

Our time in Aizawl consisted of lots of visiting. Our first visit was to Supreme and Mary's house. They have a daughter, Shristi and an infant son, Christopher.

Here I am with Shristi and Christopher. Christopher was not at all fond of us white people. He cried when he looked at any of us. Lucky for me he didn't realized it was a white girl holding him until after we took the picture.

On Friday we went to visit the former campus of Silver Oak School where the McMillans used to live and work. A beautiful place that is now owned by the Indian Border Patrol. We also went to visit the new school which operates under the name Dr. Saptea Memorial School. Autumn and Andrew had the chance to visit with some of their old friends and classmates.

This was take at Dr. Saptea Memorial School...Nice view.

This shot was also take from the school.

Friday evening we had supper at Ginpu and Alemla's house. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of their family. Their daughter, Aran, is Autumn's age and their son, Dodong, is Andrew's age. Both Autumn and Andrew spent a couple of nights sleeping over at their house. Alemla is an amazing cook and a very pleasant lady to visit with. While we were there Aran took Raysha and Autumn and I to the highest point in Aizawl, maybe the highest point in all of Mizoram. It was a steep and precarious climb but the view of the city and the sunset was definitely worth it. I took a ridiculous number of photos and I had a very hard time choosing only a couple to post.

On Saturday we had lunch at Pu Moia's house. He entertained us with stories from his trip to the UK. He works with the Gideon's distributing Bibles in various Indian languages.

Pu Moia then took us to meet Becky's mom. I was really glad to have that opportunity.

Saturday afternoon Ray and Ellen took us to the big market in Aizawl. It was quite the experience with lots to see and of course lots of people. Ray and Ellen bought both Raysha and I a Mizo Puan, a wrap around skirt, as a thank you gift. There were literally hundreds to choose from so it was very difficult to make a decision. I absolutely love mine and I am very excited to wear it when I get home to Canada. I can't imagine wearing it in the heat of Guwahati, not even in the cooler temperatures of Aizawl. I'm not sure how the Mizo women can stand it. I would surely melt into a puddle!

Early Sunday morning I became sick again. It was really disappointing for me because it meant that I had to miss out on meeting a lot of people. I stayed at the hotel all day on Sunday and most of Monday. Monday night I did join everyone for supper at Ginpu and Alemla's house again.

Before we knew it Tuesday had arrived and it was time for us to head back to Guwahati. It was a beautiful sunny day and it stayed that way up until we arrived at the airport. The sky darkened and then unleashed a huge amount of wind and rain. We sat around the airport for a very long time before they finally announced that the flight was canceled. Canceled flights to and from Aizawl are not uncommon at this time of year with the Monsoon starting. The rain had stopped by the time we were making our way back up the mountain to Aizawl. Along the way we encountered a major landslide that had blocked the road. Eventually they were able to clear it away and the traffic slowly filtered through. There were many other small slides along the way but none that blocked the road.

The hills were even more beautiful after the rain. The clouds appeared to be almost resting in the valleys. Quite a sight to see.

The cancellation of our flight offered more opportunity for visiting. Wednesday's flight was booked solid so we had to get tickets on Thursday's flight. Every extra minute was well used. I know that Autumn was glad to have a couple of extra days. On Tuesday morning before we left the hotel she had said that she hoped our flight would be canceled. She got her wish.

My two favorite kids and I hanging out at the hotel.

We awoke to rainy weather on Thursday morning which made us wonder if our flight would be canceled again. Luckily by the time we reached the airport everything had cleared off. If the flight had been canceled our next option was to take a bus. Aizawl is 525 kms from Guwahati which would have taken 18 hours by bus. I was much happier to spend an hour on the airplane. The trip was great but it was very good to come home.

The last but not least of my news from our wonderful trip to Manipur and Mizoram was that I finally learned to solve the Rubik's Cube. Raysha started teaching me back in January when we first arrived. I said back then that I wanted to be able to solve it before leaving India. Figuring it out by myself didn't work so well but the mission was accomplished thanks to a lot of patient instruction from Raysha.

Yippee!

Imphal and Churachandpur, Manipur

So I guess I didn't keep you all waiting as long as I thought I might. For once blogger was not persnickety about allowing me to upload photos. On the health aspect of my life I'm feeling better just really, really tired. I think I'm on about a six day cycle so if I'm right it should be hitting again by Thursday. Here's hoping I'm wrong. :)

From the comments I got on my last post, I think that it may have sounded a bit negative. It wasn't intended to be that way. I was just making fun of the fact that I know that Ray and Ellen's family read the blog to see pics etc. even though many of them have never left a comment. I am very aware that there are people out there who are interested in what I'm doing. I mean really, who wouldn't be? :)

Now, what you've all been waiting for... The Trip! The McPerhouses, minus Ellen, flew to Imphal on Saturday, May 24th. Ellen joined us there on the 27th. When we came out of the airport I was glad to see some familiar faces. I started shaking hands and before I knew it I was shaking the hands of many people I had never met before in my life. At first I thought maybe these people were just trying to get in on the chance to shake a white person's hand but then I realized that there was actually just a really huge welcoming party. (I'm not expecting that kind of welcome when I get to S'toon...I fly in at 11:45 at night. Don't feel bad, I wouldn't be there myself if I didn't have to be!)

We went to Shyam Salam's house where I finally got meet his wonderful wife Peggy. I like her a lot! We were served a very tasty brunch and then took a much needed nap.

Peggy and Shyam.

Joshua then took the "young folk" to see the sights of Imphal. We visited a couple of Hindu temples. My favorite was the monkey temple. I fed bananas to some free roaming monkeys. It was good times.

He was one of the less scary looking ones. I held out the banana to him and he came over and took it right out of my hand.

After the Monkey temple we headed to Kangla Fort. It was established as the capital of Manipur by King Khagemba (1597-1652) and King Garibniwaz (1709-1748). Kangla was occupied by the British in 1891. During the time of British occupation the Palace was destroyed. Today there are only a few portions of the outer walls remaining. The Indian military took over Kangla in 1915 and remained there until 2004 when they handed it over to the Manipur government. It is now a historical landmark. (This info came from a sign at Kangla)

At Kangla. That is Joshua holding his son, Lulu. The guy on the far right is Tawkceu, from Myanmar.

On Sunday we worshiped with the Langol Church of Christ. I was asked to prepare a children's class for Sunday morning so I was pretty surprised when there were actually only 2 children and about 20 young adults. Not exactly what I had prepared for but I managed. Ray preached and then after lunch there was a time of fellowship which actually consisted of a lot of speeches and presentations.

A young man by the name of William spoke on behalf of the young people. He asked specific people he remembered who had been previously. Jason and Shannon Bandura, Jonathan Slywka, Jeremy Olson, Rachel Husband, Serena Bell and Harmony McMillan. He asked me to send greetings from the Langol youth to all of you. He said that they remember you fondly and the fun that they had while you were here. They miss you and pray for God's blessings in your lives. It was really very sweet. If you've been to India before it is guaranteed that you are remembered by the people here and it's very likely that I've seen some pretty funny pictures of you in their albums when I've visited their homes...Tim you had some sweet glasses back in the day! :)

Sunday afternoon at the church building.

A group "snap" taken during one of many "photo sessions" :)

After services we went visiting people in their homes. I met some great people and drank lots of tea! Good times!

Here we are at Thongkhanpao's house. His wife, Vialzaching, is suffering from cancer. She is a very sweet lady.

On Monday we visited Brighter Academy which is run by Shyam's daughter Betty. We ate a wonderful Indian breakfast with them. At the home of the McPerhouses don't eat curry for breakfast. It's pretty yummy if you ask me.

Here are some of the younger students during the morning inspection and prayer time.

We had the chance to teach some songs to classes 3 and 4.

After our visit to Brighter Academy we headed for Lamka in Churachandpur. The drive to Lamka was a really good one for me. I spent some good quality time listening and talking to God. I realized that I've allowed myself to get so busy doing other things that I haven't made personal time with God a priority in the last little while. So funny how doing good things can actually be a bad thing if you don't keep your priorities straight. I had lots of thoughts during the drive but I think I'll save them for another post.

The Lamka Church of Christ had a whole program laid out for us. One session Monday night, and then one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening on Tuesday. It definitely kept Ray busy and didn't leave a whole lot of time for visiting people in their homes although Ray used every spare minute to do just that. He was up before the sun and off visiting...I'm pretty sure he woke some people up. Again I met a lot of special people and drank lots of tea!

The Lamka Church of Christ building.

Listening attentively to Ray speak.

The brothers and sisters in Lamka singing in Paite. I really enjoyed following along in the song books and singing with them.

Ray with Amzathang on the left and Kamkhantang on the right. We had breakfast at Kamkhantang's house before we left on Wednesday morning. I really enjoyed him!

Here we are with Tualdouthang and his daughters, Siame and Naih.

This is Muana, a former ABC student with his wife, Chingbiakkim and their daughter who they named Harmony after Ray and Ellen's youngest daughter.

I love how they tie their babies on their backs.

We headed back to Imphal on Wednesday morning. Ellen had arrived in Imphal while we were in Churachandpur so we were very happy to have her with us again! We hung out with Shyam and his family for the evening. It was very enjoyable.

A very fun group of people to spend time with!

Joshua with his wife, Ranita, their son, Lulu and daughter, Hannah.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Manipur. Something that saddens me and has stuck in my mind is all of the division that I've seen amongst the churches of Christ here in India. It has been the most apparent to me when we were in Shillong and especially during our visit to Churachandpur. Please pray for the brothers and sisters here in India, that God would move in their hearts to overcome the divisions and break down the walls that have been built. I take comfort in knowing that God can do anything.

We flew from Imphal to Aizawl on Thursday morning but I think I'll write about Aizawl in a separate post. Stay tuned. :)

Back In Guwahati

Thirteen days and 31 cups of tea later I arrived back in Guwahati. It was two days later than we had originally planned but I guess that's what happens when you travel to Aizawl at the beginning of the monsoon season. It was a good trip. I met a lot of people and drank a lot of tea. I would have met more people and drank more tea but I got sick again while we were away. I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to feel yucky until I get home, have some blood tests done and hopefully receive a cure for this "Nasty-India-Sickness". Due to my feelings of yuckiness, all you die hard fans of my blog are going to have to wait a while longer for pictures and stories from our wonderful trip to the states of Manipur and Mizoram. I 'm pretty sure that most of the people who currently read this aren't really interested in me anyway. They either have or are related to someone with the name that starts with a Mc and ends with a Millan. Sorry to disappoint. Serves you right for lurking and not bothering to comment. :P

Random Update

Things have been busy around here as always. Ellen pointed out to me this evening that in exactly four weeks from today we will be arriving in Canada. Ray asked me how I felt about that and all I could say was that the thought brings mixed emotions. In some ways I am more than ready to go home and in other ways I don't want to leave this place. *sigh* Where has the time gone?

I thought I would take a few minutes and catch you up on what's been going on around here lately. The last of our guests have already made their exits. Jordan left on May 13 and was headed to some place near Kashmir I believe. Bonnie, Eric, Nic and Tyler left on May 21. They were first headed to Siliguri for a wedding and then on to Delhi and from there they were going to Oman. It's feels a bit strange not having anyone staying with us right now. Pretty quiet these days.

Raja is now back at home and doing well. He was released from the hospital on May 19. We saw him today when we were at Kalapani to teach. He was very glad to be home and is diligently doing his exercises for his hand and arm.

Earlier this week we had an exterminator come to our house and spray for the ants. There are still ants, just not as many. I think they will return with time but for now, I like less ants. :)

My Brazilian friends, Fabiano, Ducy and Karen, have returned from their furlough in Brazil. They arrived back in Guwahati on Saturday. They stopped by the house twice this week but I wasn't at home either time. Today I spent the afternoon and evening with them at their house. It was nice catching up with them and of course great to have someone to speak with in Portuguese again.

Everyone in our house seems to be taking turns at being sick. None of us have really been ourselves over the last week or so. Ellen had been feeling under the weather for a few days. She had a fever and then on Monday she noticed that her right leg was becoming red, very similar to what it had looked like a year and half ago when she was admitted to the hospital with cellulitis. Since Ray was traveling I went with Ellen to the hospital where they checked her out and did a few tests. In the end we came home with some oral antibiotics and instructions for her to rest as much as possible and keep her leg elevated. She is going back to see the doctor today to see what he says about the prospect of her traveling with us over the next two weeks. Please keep Ellen's health in your prayers.

We are planning to visit the states of Manipur and Mizoram over the next two weeks. We are leaving on Saturday for Imphal. We will be in that area until the 29th and then we will head to Aizawl where we will stay until June 3 when we will return to Guwahati. That leaves us only 10 days in Guwahati before we begin our journey home. The next four weeks are going to be so full that I know they are going to fly by.

The blog will be quiet while I am away but stay tuned for news from our travels when I return to Guwahati.

Roots Festival Tour

On Saturday night Samuel was good enough to take Raysha and I to see our new friends, Too Late Lucy, perform at the Roots Festival Tour. There was not nearly as many people as I was expecting at the venue. I think maybe 200 and that is being generous. I met up with a couple of the guys in the band and they introduced me to some members of one of the other bands, DUB L.F.O, that is touring with them. DUB L.F.O is a rock/reggae group from Israel.

The first performance was an Assamese Bihu group and then there were a couple more tribal Indian performers, Rewben Mashangva and Warklung. DUB L.F.O was up next. I really enjoyed their performance. Their songs are inspired from their lives in Israel. I had a chance to talk to them again after the show and they all seemed like pretty cool guys.

Too Late Lucy was up last. They were pretty concerned about playing to such a small crowd since all their performances in NE India up until this point had been to audiences of around 20,000, give or take. The Assamese people are more into Indian music than foreign groups. Even though it was a small and not so enthusiastic crowd the Too Late Lucy guys gave a great show. They did a pretty good job of getting the crowd excited and they even dedicated their second song to their new Canadian friends. :) Later on in the show Dan dedicated his bass solo to me...it wasn't much of a solo but pretty funny none-the-less. I had a really good time. I hope that the rest of the tour goes well for these guys and that they find success when they head back home to the UK where they will begin recording their first cd.

DUB L.F.O - Guy Cohavi on guitar, Eviatar Gutman on keyboard and electronics, Adi Ben Tsur on bass and vocals, Dudu Vazana on drums and Roi Avital on guitar and vocals.

Too Late Lucy - Jimmy Isaacs on trombone, Graham Howes on trumpet, Will Hoult on guitar, Ben Chapniss on guitar and vocals, Alex Bisset behind the smoke on drums and Dan Saunders on bass and vocals.

Ben and Graham trying to liven up the crowd.

Ben.

Me with the DUB L.F.O boys, minus bass player Adi. From left to right Roi, Dudu, Guy and Eviatar. Friendly bunch of guys.

Too Late Lucy drummer Alex and I. I caught one of his drumsticks. Nice guy!

Alex, Dan, Ben and Will. Cute smiles and great accents!

Graham, Jimmy, Raysha, Me, Dan, Alex, Will and Ben. Talented group of guys!

Update on Raja

I just got back from visiting Raja in the hospital with Andrew, Autumn and Raysha. Raja had his surgery yesterday at around noon. According to the doctor everything went well. We didn't go to see him yesterday but Ray did see him briefly and he appeared to be in a lot of pain. He'll be staying in the hospital until sometime on Monday. When we saw him this afternoon he seemed to be ok but still complaining of some discomfort. We played some games of UNO and had a nice visit. The doctor came in while we were there and told Raja that he needs to be doing some exercises with his arm. He wasn't too excited about that which I can understand but I did make a point of encouraging him to follow the doctors orders. Please keep praying for Raja and a full recovery.

Too Late Lucy

This afternoon Raysha and I went shopping. It was a pretty successful shopping excursion, I bought some maps, a Mekhla Chadar, the traditional Assamese outfit and another Salwar. Love those salwars! We decided a little North American grub was in order so we headed off to Pizza Hut. While we were eating I noticed some white guys come in. That might not seem significant to you but we're pretty much the only white people we know around here. By their reaction when they saw us I'd say that they were pretty excited to see other white people too. We chatted for a bit, typical white people conversation, "where are you from?" and "what are you doing in NE India?" Turns out that they are a pretty new (as in they formed in January of this year) band from the UK and are playing in the 2008 Roots Festival Tour. Too Late Lucy is their name and they seemed like pretty nice guys. They invited us to their show tomorrow night and I'm pretty stoked about going. Check out their myspace page here.

Here we are with Too Late Lucy in Pizza Hut.

A Typical Week In My Indian Life

Maybe some of you wonder what I actually do here in India, maybe you don't. Either way I thought I'd tell you. :) This is a rough schedule of what my weeks look like here. Please remember that I am in India and so this tends to be pretty flexible

Sunday:
7am - Breakfast
9am - Worship and Sunday School at Kalapani.
12pm - Home for lunch.
4pm - Worship at the Bread of Life Centre in Guwahati.
6pm - Home for supper.

Monday & Friday:
7am -Breakfast
9am - English class with Autumn
10am - English class with Andrew
11am - Social Studies class with Autumn
12pm - Lunch
1:30pm - Social Studies class with Andrew
2:50 - Communication Skills class with Autumn
6pm - Supper.
(Friday evening usually involves a DVD projected on the living room wall and popcorn.)

Tuesday:
7am - Breakfast
8am - Leave for Kalapani where we spend the morning teaching Bible to the kids at the Bread of Life Academy.
On Tuesdays I eat lunch at Kalapani.
1:30pm - LST follow up with two small groups of readers at Kalapani.
3:30pm - Home to Guwahati.

Wednesday:
7am -Breakfast
9am - English with Autumn
10am - English with Andrew
11am - Social Studies with Autumn
12pm - Lunch
1:30pm - Social Studies with Andrew
2:10pm- Bible class with both Autumn and Andrew
2:50 Communication Skills with Autumn

Thursday:
7am - Breakfast
8am - Leave for Kalapani for a morning of teaching Bible to the kids.
12pm - Home for lunch.
1:30pm - To the Bread of Life Centre for one-on-one follow up LST sessions with readers.
5:30pm - Head home for supper.

Saturday:
DAY OFF!!!!

Add to this lots of lesson prep in the evenings both for A&A's classes as well as classes out at Kalapani , some blogging, facebooking and other normal life activities and that's pretty much my week in a nutshell. Consider yourself informed. :)

One And 21

So in exactly one month from today I will be leaving Guwahati. That reality brings a mix of emotions. I know that I am going to miss this place when I'm gone but if I'm honest I am ready to go home. I am really looking forward to hanging out with my family, I've missed them. Hopefully they're looking forward to hanging out with me too. :) There's some other people I'm looking forward to seeing too, if they haven't forgotten who I am by now. I admitted to Ellen today that the hotter it gets the more I think about going home.

I am leaving India as a different person than when I came. If you want to change your life, go hang out in a foreign country for half a year or better yet make it a full one or even two. You can't help but be changed. I've learned a lot during my time here in India. Maybe someday I'll feel like sharing with the blogging community, right now I don't. I thank God for not allowing me to stay in my comfort zone.

And as for the 21 part of the title of this post. Today Tyler Butel is celebrating his 21st birthday with us here in Guwahati. In the photo below he is sporting his Birthday gifts, an Indian outfit that we all pitched in for and a mustache given to him by Andrew, since even at 21 he can't grow a decent one. Happy Birthday Tyler.

Introducing Raja

This is my buddy Raja Das. Raja lives very close to the Bread of Life Academy at Kalapani. His father is employed by the Bread of Life Centre. Raja is ten years old and is in grade 5. I've had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with Raja. He has great English skills and has recently taken over translating for us during Sunday school out at Kalapani. He is always willing to help in anyway that he can. Having Raja around has been especially great for Andrew as they have become close friends.

Two months ago while Raja was playing ball he fell and broke both of the bones in his right forearm. Unfortunately the doctor that he originally saw did not set the bones properly. His arm was x-rayed after 4 weeks and the doctor said he needed to wear the cast for another 2 weeks. When the cast was removed it was obvious to everyone that the arm had not healed properly. There is an obvious bump that you can actually see in the above picture if you're looking for it. We thought that it was important that Raja get a second opinion on his arm. The new doctor that looked at Raja said that he would be fine for now but would run into definite problems in the future if his arm is left in the state that it is in. Tonight Raja is in the hospital awaiting surgery at 6am tomorrow morning. The doctors will be re-breaking Raja's arm and putting in plates and screws.

The surgery is going to cost about $25,000 Rupees, about $600. To give you an idea, the original plaster cast that was put on Raja's arm cost $1500 Rupees. That's only about $35 Canadian but when you take into consideration that Raja's father's monthly salary is $1000 Rupees you can see that there is no way that this family can afford the care needed. If you would be interested in helping with the cost of Raja's surgery get in touch with me and I'll pass along the needed info.

After school today Raysha and I took the kids to go see Raja in the hospital. We played some UNO and had a good visit. He confided in us that he is pretty nervous about the surgery. Please pray that he would experience God's peace and a full recovery.

Changsari

Let's look at a simple equation. one large Sumo + heavy rain + narrow dirt road going up steep hill with significant drop off = lots of slippery mud and a terrified Pamela. I have a fear of heights. If there is a wall or some kind of barrier between me and a significant drop than I'm ok with it but when there is nothing I'm not so ok. This fear has come up a lot since being in India. Mostly when we are driving up the side of a mountain on super narrow roads with huge drop offs only inches from the edge of the tires. My prayer life has increased significantly since being in India.

This morning on our way to visit the village of Changsari we stopped at Kalapani to pick up team "get BENT". The sky was very angry looking as we neared the village. If we had made it to the top of the hill 5 minutes earlier there would have been no problem. If we had made it to the top of the hill 5 minutes later it would have been impossible to descend. The way it was, I nearly peed my pants as Kuldip somehow managed to turn the Sumo around and slide down the hill to where there is pavement. He laughed at me and I punched him in the arm. Team "get BENT" made it down to the Sumo soaked to the bone and covered in red mud but at least they didn't slide off the edge.

When we first started out driving up and down the hills I called my fear irrational. I don't consider my fear so irrational anymore. Since being here I have seen a three wheeler that had gone off the edge of the very road I was terrified of, I have seen the remains of a bus that fell off the side of the road in the Khasi hills, and I was riding in a vehicle while it was raining and we slid off the dirt road and nearly hit a bamboo hut. Had it been the Sumo that day I think we would have hit the hut. I can't even imagine what would have happened if more than just the one tire had gone over the edge...My heart pounds just thinking about it.

Thankfully the rest of the road is paved and so there was no worries of sliding off the edge in a Sumo mudslide. The storm let up as we made our way out to the village. We had visited Changsari once before during Bihu. Sarbananda invited us to come and hold a small worship service there in one of his relatives homes. Three of his relatives are LST readers and participated in the Discovery Youth Camp. I can see how God is making His way into this family and this village. We sang and Ray shared a message on how prayer is common to many religions. His message was very appropriate for addressing Indian people of Hindu faith. It is exciting to me to see the young men who have been reading and who came to camp so eager to sing with us. I think that there is great potential among this family and village.

The Canadians were all seated in chairs and the rest of them sat on the floor.

Everyone was eager to sing and very attentive to the lesson which was translated into Assamese. They even sang us an Assamese song.

After the service they took us for a walk. We ended up wading through some mud and water and finding our final destination to be a huge mango tree.

Here is Eric climbing the giant mango tree.

Even though the mangoes were totally green they collected a big bunch of them.

They washed, peeled and sliced the mango and then added salt. It was a green mango salad to be shared by all. Sour and salty but good.


I really like goats...I think I want one as a pet!

Tyler hitching a ride on the way back.

Eric taking a little cruise.

This little girl's name is Coquita (sp?). She was the most carefree child I have ever met. She didn't care who carried her.

Washing off the mud from our little trek.

Sarbananda requested that I take a "snap" with the newcomers...how did Raysha make it in there?