Who would have thought?

We are almost 3/4 the way through 2015.

It's proving to be quite a hing year for our family.

Who would have thought on Jan 1st this year that...

... we would be welcoming Yohan into the family on Jan 24th - and that Asha and Enoch would get a 11 year old brother with all the joys and challenges that Yohan brings

... that we would be rushing Dad down to Thane for emergency cancer surgery - and then go through multiple challenges to get him 'stable enough' for the surgery...

... and that the surgery would be done, and that too so successfully, and that Dad's post-op recovery would be so good...


And who would have imagined at the beginning of this year....

... that we would have 'Oma and Opa' living with us for most of the year so far?

... that Dad' would be undergoing 6 months of chemotherapy and that we would already have completed 5 months of this course with no side-effects to speak of...

... the people near and far would be praying for Dad and we would be riding an avalanche prayer and love by so many, many, many dear ones...


Yes, would we have believed someone who would tell us on New Year's Day that....

... Stefan, Neeru, Ashish, Anjali would be in Indianapolis as a family - with Stefan starting a 2 year Master of Fine Arts in painting programme...

... that the authorities in Bhiwandi would refuse our request for us to take Yohan with us on a family vacation to Mussoorie, thus effectively squashing the summer break plans that we had...

... but that Sheba, Asha and Enoch would be able to make a quick trip to Vishakapatnam and meet Daisy Aunty and Ramesh Uncle and their cousins the lovely Frankie and robust master Shofar at Amma and Appa's home...


And would we have imagined that by this time this year...

... our dear Agnes would be married to Ezra Kannayan and move to Delhi after 3 years of faithful service here at Jeevan Sahara Kendra...

... that we would hear God telling us that our time at Jeevan Sahara Kendra is up and that He would like us to take steps of faith and look into moving back North and seriously explore serving with EHA out of one of their hospital units...

... that we would be earnestly praying and looking for folks to hand over our leadership roles to at Jeevan Sahara Kendra, with the very real possibility of the work being dramatically down-sized if we do not find a person who can be trusted by the Trust...

... that we would be able to trust that God *will* provide and look after our staff in whatever the next dispensation Jeevan Sahara Kendra will take...



It's been quite the year so far for us Thane-based (at least at present) Eichers, and as we come to the end of the 9th month we can only wonder what the next 3 will hold for us all as a family.

Oma actually told us early this year that she thought a lot of changes would take place.  Well, she certainly seems to be right on the dot with that!

Sometimes I wonder whether everything that is going on is not some kind of a dream which we may awaken from any minute...

One thing is for sure.  Our times are in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a lovely hymn that Sheba and I will occasionally sing together which captures where we stand today:

How good is the God we adore
Our faithful, dependable friend
Whose love is as great as His power
And knows neither measure nor end.

'Tis Jesus the first and the last
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home
We'll praise Him for all that is past
And trust Him for all that's to come


And so we have the privilege of trusting Him more and more as we step out in faith.  Stepping into situations where we don't have all the answers by a long shot, and where we probably will see very few things perfectly falling into place.  But where we have the privilege of knowing that we can trust our Lord to take us through the way He would like us to go.

Onwards!