So far east ... I'm west

When flying on El Etihad airlines, you are not only given a map of where you are on the in-seat-video, but a constant compass of where Mecca is in relationship to the plane on the ground and in the air. And in hotels, there is a little arrow in every hotel room pointing to the same. We think of Muslims bowing to the east for Mecca, but in Abu Dhabi - it is actually to the west. We are a long way from home!

After flying 3+ hours from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi after midnight, we were thankful to be met by Mike and Mattie, friends from Bent Tree who have intentionally chosen to live and work outside the US to have Impact (with a capital "I") It's been a difficult transition for Mike, Mattie and three of their children, with another son back in the US in college. Tough to move away from close friends and family, tough to adapt to the business culture, tough to do it without an organization or team to hook up with, tough in every sense of the word. But it's obvious that Mike and Mattie consider home where ever they settle as a family.

We scheduled some extra time to hang out and encourage them, but I'm pretty sure it would be a tie as to who really got the benefit from this "detour."

We hung out, went to breakfast ... coffee! ... Chilis for lunch. Kudos to Chilis for their quality control - everything tasted exactly the same as in the US ... hanging out at their apt ... grocery shopping ... more coffee ... and then a fun Lebonese buffet dinner to celebrate.


View from our hotel. Abu Dhabi is a maze of high-rise buildings along the coast that quickly fade into the desert.

The highlight of day was a tour of the opulent 6th largest mosque in the world that was completed about 2 months ago.

It wasn't the tour itself, but that Mattie had asked her friend, Buzshra to come along to give us the details of the mosque. Buzshra is an Iraqi Believer, formerly Muslim - married to a Muslim man. As she told us about the details of the mosque, she started to get quiet - mentioning that it was painful to think of all the years she wasted in this empty religion and alluding to the difficulty of her mixed marriage.




We finished the day seeing the church where they worship and then a fun dinner at a Lebanese restaurant.

Buzshra brought scarves that we needed to wear in the mosque and then graciously gave them to us. It is a nice prayer reminder of Buzshra and the culture.

Then time to go home! Leaving at midnight, we had a 15 hour flight from Abu Dhabi to New York. Then a 7 hour layover in New York (with a train trip to Jamaica Queens to pass the time - pizza, yumm). And finally, a 4 hour flight to Dallas.

So wonderful to be met by Marty at the airport. After a call to our favorite Mexican restaurant for traditional after-trip-dinner to pick up and a hot shower, it's good to be home!

For the whole slide show of India trip that includes more pictures, just click on the picture below to use controls and see the captions. (Double click on the slide show to see the pictures individually.)

Joyride

Teju and I, along with Rheena and Marganne, heading out for a joyride through the busy streets of Pune.

Joyride ... that actually describes the whole trip. When you're on a mission, you get up in the morning, go where you're supposed to go, do what you're supposed to do and fall into bed late each night in thankful sleep. No decisions - you're along for the ride. The joy is traveling with this fun and funny group, meeting new people in India and making friends, learning new ways and culture, stretching, growing and flexibility.

Mary, Me, Leila, Gina, Marganne, Joanna.

I taught 2 lessons: Every life has a Story and Sharpening Our Skills to Help Others.

There was some lecture time for lessons, but lots of discussion and application.

Rheena henna-painted my hand one day at lunch, a custom they all do for special occasions.

It lasted over a week. The closest I'll probably get to a tattoo!


We dressed in borrowed saris one day, which meant we needed help getting wrapped in 8 1/2 yards of fabric. This is Vaishali dressing me. (Safety pins are a great invention.)

Marganne and I each ordered a custom-made punjabi. Way too overwhelming were the thousands of choices in fabric. But, after the tailor takes my measurements, $23 and 24 hours later ... voila!


Thursday night, the new group of church planters graduated and we had "dinner on the grounds."


This was graduation of the third year of Discipleship curriculum.













Out of the class of 20, 12 women had completed all three years.


They gave us traditional Marathi gifts. Happy day, but sad to say goodbye.


Thankfully, no bus trip back to the Mumbai airport. We loaded 3 vans with 20 pieces of luggage plus carry ons. Next stop: Abu Dhabi.

"Namiste" is Marathi for "hello"

Ready with my first 3 Marathi phrases, I was eager to connect with people - my favorite part of any international trip. One of the highlights of Sunday, was attending the baptism of 19 Marathi Believers from one of Jithu's cell churches. Because of persecution, this event takes on a legal aspect as each person pays a fee and signs a document that is filed with the government to state that they were not coerced in their conversion. It is not a decision they have taken lightly so being a part of the service is very special to us. Jithu is a single young man of 27, but has really become a leader by serving and loving his church. While they thought it was nice that we were there and one of our team (Kurt, an elder at Bent Tree) was in the water too - they all wanted Jithu to be the one that baptized them.

And after each person was baptized, Jithu called for one of us to pray specifically for that person ... a humbling privilege.

I prayed for Sonali, whose parents host Jithu's cell church and were the first members.

This is just my observation, but it seems that India is a "charismatic" culture socially and spiritually. Because the Hindu religion has over 3000 (little "g") gods, the people are looking for somthing real. And what they find in Christianity shows the reality and love over the elephant-headed, multi-armed, carnival-like, gods they've been told about. I thought I was a pretty warm person, but felt kind of buttoned up compared to their warm, hand-holding, long-praying, touching nature. It was a short adjustment that I happily made. (Just remember that if I start playing with your hair or holding hands as we're talking) That warmth, was also evident as we split into groups to attend several cell churches that night.

After the service, it is the custom that we, as visitors, pray over anyone asking for prayer. Each of us stood separately at the front and people individually came by with prayer requests ... family problems, sickness, infertility, upcoming school tests ... and we were to pray over them. I soon figured out that a short prayer wasn't appropriate, the longer the better. So, whatever it took to honor their culture.

We were given flower garlands at this cell church. With Eric (Caring pastor at Bent Tree), Gina and Marganne. We girls are wearing punjabis, a tunic top/baggy pants Indian everyday outfit.

Next, we're ready to start teaching in the 5 day conference. Have I mentioned that I don't like standing up in front of people talking? What was I thinking?

India - bits and pieces

I just got back from India, and while it would have been easier to post daily about the trip, the days were too full, technology slow and it was much too fun to be engaged with the people and the team to take the time. So I'll give it to you in pieces from journal-memory.

This was a team trip from Bent Tree Bible Fellowship traveling to Pune, India. We were teaching a 5 day Counseling/Discipleship Conference to women. The men were teaching Leadership to the Church Planters ready to graduate after a year of Bible Study. The focus of church planting, training and discipleship is the Marathi people in this Indian state of Maharashtra that includes Mumbai and Pune.

We'd planned this trip for months, now it's time to get there. We flew out Feb 13th to overnight in NY, then a 13 hour flight to Abu Dhabi on Etihad Air plus another 3 1/2 hour flight to Mumbai. It was great to be met by a familiar friend, Jithu. (Jithu and Shashi oversee the church planter training) Just one more leg, a 3 hour bus ride to Pune ... yes, a 3 hour tour.

We broke down ... twice, sat by the side of the road for hours waiting for another bus and arrived in Pune 8 hours later. It was, at the least, an adventure! It felt so good to climb into a clean bed with no option but to fall into a great sleep.

This is our hotel.

The street in front of our hotel - yes, downtown street and cows roam free because of Hindu religion.

The view from our hotel - pollution.

It's Satuday, and we "lost" a day in the air. This would be our only free day to see a bit of Pune. Some of us went to the International Leadership Academy (ILA) that evening to visit the group of men who had been living and learning together, out of their suitcases in dorm conditions, in Bible school, training to be church planters. This was their last week and then they would go back near their hometowns to start cell churches. After the their first 6 months, they had been directed to start cell churches and they had started 25 with over 200 in attendance.

As we walked up to the house, we heard their clear, strong voices singing together during their devotions. It was thrilling. We prayed for them in a group and had a great visit. I learned a few Marathi words ... I love to do that in any country ... which I would use during the week - much to the surprise and giggles of the Marathi-speaking people.

OK, enough for now. Check back later and I'll have more.

They call it a "Bluebird" day

So much for "let's take the first few days and just relax, read some books and putter around." You have to take adavantage of the beautiful days God gives you. Marty and I got into Crested Butte yesterday afternoon, stocked up on groceries, did some opening chores around the house, had fun cooking and settled in - fully anticipating a slow few days to wind down. But when we woke up very early this morning to crystal clear blue skies and warmer temps than normal for January in Crested Butte, (today predicted high almost 30 ... last week -34 low and 0 high!) we quickly grabbed all our gear and headed to the mountain for a full day of skiing. And what a day it was! It's been a banner year for snow, and with no wind and sunny skies - we fully took advantage of every run we could on this bluebird day. I think we still "got it."


Wish you were here!

And now ... the rest of the story

This is probably TMI, but if my last blog seemed a little "Hallmark-y," here is the rest of the story.

My memories, of the whole holiday were not diminished by any glitches. Any time with family is precious. Yes, the week was a happy, noisy house full of family but that meant that Marty spent 4 hours in the clinic the day before getting meds, shots, inhaler because of bronchitis and onset of pnemonia. I went to the clinic the morning of their arrival for the same symptoms. That meant my 79 year old parents, whose plane was delayed 4+ hours traveled across the country to be with all of us ... sat in the Cleveland airport all day, making friends with other stranded travelers, playing cards and eating junk food. That meant my sister (with 2 broken feet) was delayed 6+ hours in the middle of her connecting flights with almost no hope of making it all the way in that night and very rude airline employees. That also meant Marty made 2 trips to the airport within 2 hours to get the weary travelers in. Also in the mix, was a trip to the ER and overnight stay in the hospital with my dad because of a pain in his neck and left shoulder. Real troopers, the day after Christmas in the ER not in your home town is a bit unnerving - my dad checked out ok even with his history of open heart surgery and a pacemaker. The stay in the hospital with extensive tests meant my parents missed their original flight out, re-booked on an afternoon flight ... and that flight was cancelled. All packed up and ready to be home, they stayed one more night with us. That also meant that Brian, Julie, Scott, Holley, Abby and Grant still made lots of time around their schedules and in law families, travels, colds. We so appreciate all the time and effort that everyone made to be together.

There is always "the rest of the story." What I remember is the meals together, the laughter, the candlelight Christmas Eve service (with truly choirs of angels heralding the birth of Christ) the games, the wonder and delight of children ... that it was a nice week celebrating Christmas with everyone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The house seems rather quiet today after a happy, noisy house full of family over the holidays. My mom, dad and sister - Judy came in for the week to spend Christmas with us, which was no small effort considering the summer they've had. My mom has made a great recovery after a broken femur (titanium rod/ weeks in rehab) in June and Judy is on her 10th week of recovery after breaking her left ankle (plates/screws) as well as her right foot. It was fun to hang out with Brian, Julie, Abby, Grant and Scott & Holley as they made lots of time for us. And Marty's parents joined us on Christmas morning. It was a nice week celebrating Christmas with everyone.












Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!