India Farewell

We have all returned to our respective homes (with the exception of Lee who continues his journey in India on another project). So this will be the final post to this blog.

When you meet someone in India you say "Namaste." The word means, "I honor the place in you where the image of God resides and when you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, we are one."

When Namaste has been fulfilled, goodbyes are always difficult. For when Namaste is fulfilled you are not only leaving friends but leaving a deeply meaningful and transforming encounter with God. The transformation that God brings in those encounters is never only one way.

The light of God that shines in Chiluvuru, India is now in our hearts. We pray and are humbly confident that light of God within us will continue to shine in the hearts of all we encountered in ways that we may never know.

Farewell to Cricket Players

Farewell to those who welcomed us into their homes and their hearts.

Farewell to those who served us so selflessly.

Farewell to those we laughed with and danced with.

Farewell to those we met on the streets.

Farewell to the amazing staff of Menno Clinic India

Farewell to Azam and his beautiful family.

The light of India remains in our hearts. May the light that we shared continue to shine in the hearts and lives of all that we encountered there.

Back in the USA

We arrived back at Dallas Fort Worth airport. Made it through immigration, customs, and security. Said goodbye to John Nathan first. His flight to Phoenix left first. Grabbed some breakfast and retold trip stories until we has to say goodbye to Kelli as she boarded her flight to Columbus.
We board for Wichita in about an hour. Looking forward to seeing family and sharing sorties of our stories.
Amazing trip.
Hoping that AJ, Kateri, Lee, Padma, Azam, Ammama, and all the rest of our friends from this trip are enjoying their memories as much a we are.

Leaving India

We are at the Hyderabad Airport. Departure is in about an hour. Tearful goodbyes in the village followed by a long van ride. A wonderful stop at our drivers house. Them to the airport.

An unfortunate experience as we arrived. Our driver decided to argue with the police rather than go where they directed him. Not a good choice. We made it to the airport. Hope they go easy on the driver.

Said goodbye to Lee, AJ, and Kareti. Their flights are later. Checked in. Through security. Heading toward the other side of the globe soon.

Last Day in Chiluvuru

The bags are packed. Tomorrow morning we begin the homeward journey. For those of us heading back to the states it will be a six hour drive followed by three flights. the first two flights will be four and half hours and then  fifteen. The length of the third flight will depend on whether we end up in Ohio, Kansas or Arizona.

AJ and Kateri have just one flight to Abu Dhabi. Lee's flight is within India as he will be heading to Bopal for another Indian adventure.

The last night in Chiluvuru included laughter and tears, dancing (Kathy, Kelli, and Maritza aren't telling the whole story but it sounds like they had quite a time with the women staff of the clinic--teaching one another the dances of their respective cultures--I hope the video wasn't deleted), and saying good-bye to our new friends.

AND we observed as 5 cataract surgeries were preformed at the eye clinic!

To say it was another amazing day is an understatement.

Even with all the great experiences, we are getting travel weary and ready to be back with our families.

Thursday in Chiluvuru

Thursday was a very full day for us. It began with a wedding celebration! Pastor Gopala Rao's nephew was married today. The marriage ceremony began at Pastor Gopala Rao's house, followed by a parade to the Assembly of God church where the marriage ceremony was held. That process took about an hour and a half and was the extent of the festivities that we were able to take in.

After lunch we headed to Vijayawada to pick up some clothes that we hand bought the other day, but needed tailoring. Of course we took the opportunity to do a little more shopping while we were there. On the way back from Vijayawada we stopped at the NRI hospitial in Mangalidiri and picked up two friends of Kelli's who happened to be spending a month there. Kelli got to know these two doctors while she was in residency. They each knew that the other would be traveling to India but didn't know where they would be located. They were surprised to discover that they would only be about 20 km apart. We picked them up and brought them to Chiluvuru for supper. They returned to Mangalidiri later in the evening.

Tonight was also an evening for worship for the church that meets at the clinic. There is a smaller crowd on Thursday nights (about 15) than there is on Sunday (about 60). But we enjoyed the time of worship, even though we could only understand a few words. We could certainly experience their joy and enthusiasm in worship.

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day in the village. We leave here early Saturday morning to begin the journey home... first a 6+ hour drive back to Hyderabad and then the long flights home.

Here are a few pictures from today.

Being blessed by the generosity of friends as we visit their homes.

Two of the beautiful faces of Chiluvuru.

In Chiluvu you never walk alone.

Pastor Gopala Rao standing among the musicians as the wedding parade is about to begin.

Standing in the street in front of the entrance to the location where the wedding feast will be held. Of course we all dressed up for the wedding.

Wednesday in Chiluvuru

Wednesday in Chiluvuru was a little less intense. Only one major event for the day... a special lunch for the staff and our guests Bashu and his family. Our driver Azam offered to cook Biryani for us. Padma and our cooking staff assisted. We served the staff.

Bashu, his wife and two daughters used to live in Chiluvuru. We had become very close friends--Bashu calls us brothers--in previous visits. They now live in Sattinapalli, about 60 kilometers from here. They made a special trip to come visit. It was wonderful to see them again.

The afternoon included a little more cricket, a couple of house visits. We did take a little longer rest after the lunch as we are all wearing down a bit from so much activity. Tomorrow and Friday will both be very full days and then we start the long journey back home. It is that time in the journey when it feels like our time is very short.

Here are a few pictures from the day...

Our turn to serve the staff who has been serving us.

Revithi and Nagamoni

My brother Bashu, his wife and daughters with na koduku (my son), John. 

Half the fun of taking pictures is showing them afterward. 

Tuesday Part 2

Here is a little more detail of our Tuesday...

A morning run for a few energetic early risers. Another wonderful breakfast (did we mention that the food here is amazing?) A walk in the fields. An early lunch (consisting of more wonderful food). Then a trip to the train station in Vijayawada where we met Lee Voth-Gaeddert. Lee will be with us through the rest of our time here in Chiluvuru. A cricket game after we got back to the village. Some more amazing food for supper and a great group conversation after supper. 

We are truly blessed with a wonderful experience... here are a few more pictures...

On the streets of Vijayawada

Welcoming Lee Voth-Gaeddert to Chiluvuru

I knew this picture was going to upload sideways, but the smile just had to be shared.

AJ with some new friends.

Lee's first swing with the cricket bat and the ball cleared the two story building beside the lot that they were playing in. Someone should have told him that local rules say that anything hit out of the field of play is an out. 

Jared has gotten into the swing to cricket. Should we start a new club sport in Hesston?

Tuesday part 1

A quick post now with pictures to follow later. Tuesday has been another great day! One of the exciting developments is that Lee Voth Gaeddert has joined us. We picked him up at the train station in Vijayawada.

Saturday night and Sunday

Saturday night the "Three Kings Festival" took the streets with a statue of Mary and the infant Jesus paraded through the streets on an ox cart, accompanied by blaring music and fireworks. Quite an experience.

Sunday morning we invited children to a "Sunday school" which about 45 attended. The afternoon included another cricket match. Church was in the evening.

We continue to have wonderful encounters with people in the village.

Kelli encountering a woman in the street at the Three Kings Festival.

Jared getting caught up in the three kings street festival.

With the children for Sunday School.

Another group of children at Sunday school.

Yet another group of children at Sunday School.

A message for all of us.

Aruna Kumari has become a special friend.

Aruna Kumari and Kateri

All dressed up!

Cutting up Papaya For supper. 

Saturday in Chiluvuru

Interacting with the children has been one of the highlights.

Everyone is always interested in seeing pictures of our family.

Jake took some time to take some swings with the cricket bat in the street. (a little frustrated that  that the pictures keep rotating the wrong the direction when I post them)

Jared taking his turn. I think that the ball Jared hit ended up in the open sewer... but no problem a kid just jumped in  and retrieved the ball, they washed it off a bit and kept going.

With neighbor friends, Sharuk, Simon and Salamon. We couldn't get them to all smile for the camera so we decided it was best if no one smiled.

A little interaction in the streets.

At the RCM (Roman Catholic Mission) festival to celebrating the three kings  visit of the infant Jesus. There is to be some kind of parade through the streets tonight. We will be interested to see what happens with that.

Found our old friend Miriama who used to work at the clinic . Her daughter is now 20 years old, studying nursing at a nearby college. 

Friday Evening

It is Friday evening in Chiluvuru. We had a wonderful first day here!

After a quick tour of the facilities after breakfast, I went to Duggiralla to take care of official details while Kelli worked along side of Dr. Jaecry and the others went to visit the home of pastor Gopala Rao. The afternoon was a trip to visit my friend Yacabu, which ended up taking all afternoon because of all the people we met and visited in the streets.

All are doing well. Having wonderful experiences... and the food is terrific!

Time to Upload Some Pictures

We told Kateri to stand in the corner, but only so that she could experience  the  amazing acoustics in Golconda Fort in which whispering in one corner of the room could be heard loud and clear in the opposite corner.

Sankrati Festival is in full swing.

Everyone wants their picture taken with the celebrities from the USA!

Thumbs Up!

Yes, we are tourists. Why do you ask?

More photo requests.

Making friends. (Jared is actually sharing his contact information, not signing autographs.)

Flowers at breakfast

We made it safely to chiluvuru. The women were given flowers after breakfast. Looking forward to first day in village. Already had a number of fun connections.

Leaving Hyderabad... sometime

It is Thursday morning in Hyderabad. We had planned to leave for the village this morning, but we heard that John and Kelli's bags should be available for pick up at 11 so we are waiting for them to arrive before we leave. Gives us a little relax time here at the hotel this morning.

Yesterday was a wonderful, amazing day. We went to Golconda Fort, Charminar, Birla Temple, Shopping at Lepakshi, and the Orphanage. It was a long, tiring day, but wonderful experiences. We had a great time of reflecting on the day around the breakfast table this morning. What a wonderful group of people to be traveling together. I am very grateful.

One of the funny experiences yesterday was in several places that we visited we became celebrities as all kinds of people came up to us and wanted to take their picture with us. We could hardly get away from them in a few places.

I will try to upload a few pictures from our day in Hyderabad at another time.

We are all well. Keep us in your prayers.

Hyderabad

Made it to Hyderabad. Delayed about 45 minutes at the gate in Dubai, but they evidently made up time in the air, because we only landed a few minutes late in Hyderabad. Bad news is that they lost Kelli and John Nathan's check luggage. Hopefully it will show up tomorrow while we are out and about around Hyderabad.

Our flight left Wichita at 7:00 a.m. we landed in Hyderabad about 26 hours later at about 8:30 p.m. local time. Till we messed around with filing claims for the lost luggage, made the transfer to the hotel and got check in it was a little before 11 p.m. here.

AJ and Kateri Raglow were waiting for at the hotel. Great to see to them. They arrived from Abu Dhabi about 4 a.m. local time.

Tomorrow is a city tour of Hyderabad, beginning to get acclimated to the Indian culture.

I was about to say that I am ready to call it a day. Actually I think that I will call it two days.

John

Dubai

Arrived in Dubai on time. About an hour and a half break until another four and a half hours in flight. Sounds short after the fifteen hour flight we just completed.

Tried to upload a picture. But couldn't. Guess you will have towait to see our smiling, exhausted faces until later.

Got the picture figured out.