Appa's 73rd

Time flies. Especially when you are 73 years young!

We had the joy of celebrating a special birthday this week. Sheba's father (called Thata by the kids) turned 73!
The night before a cake was baked. A basic banana cake - but with a twist - 1/2 cup of grated carrot (found loitering in the fridge for some unspecified amount of time) - and a whole tangerine (narangi as we call it here). The tangerine - was ground up - peel, pips and all and dumped into the dough. It gave the whole cake a lovely kick. Vive la différence!

But enough about cakes.

The real joy was to be with Appa on this day.

The tragedy of our lives is how far away we live from our parents. How much we yearn for their presence. For the comfort and joy of them being around us.

Its been almost a year since we last met Amma and Appa. In the interim they have been in the US for 4 months with their newest grandchild - Shofar. It is a joy to hear Appa unravel his impressions of the United States - a combination of awe at the standard of living there - as well as concern about the general apathy he found in many people with whom he talked about God.

On the 2nd of March - we focussed mainly on God's goodness in Appa's life. To think of how Appa grew up virtually without a father (who went to Malaysia and never came back) - and how he had slogged over the years to bring up the amazing foursome of Daisy, Sheba (Bethsheba as she still is to her family), Sarah and Peter!

And now to be with us on this special day.

We were able to source a Tamil reference Bible just in time for the birthday (thanks Isaac and Anil for going out of your way!). And Appa was thrilled to open the heavy tome!


In the evening when Agnes came over after work, Asha and Enoch put on a special mini-concert for us - complete with an entry card which showed the concert programme and which instruments would be used in each piece. Needless to say - parents and grandparents alike were thrilled with Asha and Enoch!

As we put a shawl around Appa's neck (and Amma's too) we just have to thank God for the wonderful gift of godly parents. Appa and Amma's love for Sheba was complete. She never doubted their love. She never feared that they did not care for her. This gave such a solid ground for her to develop into the person Sheba has become.

We want to do the same for Asha and Enoch. Looking back on the life of Appa - all 73 full years he has experienced - gives us a challenge to look forward. With both of us coming close to our 42nd B-day celebrations - we have a good set of examples in Amma and Appa for our next 31 spins around the sun (D.v. of course).

Secret

A shadowy organisation holds a weekly meeting at the Eicher residence each Monday evening.

Small people come in the front door and congregate behind closed doors in the middle room.

A brave mother (bearing colourful potable liquids - and knocking the password knock) managed to get into the aforesaid room. Her courage knowing no end - she actually managed to take a photo of the hidden goings-on.

Here - in a world exclusive - we present a glimpse into another world:


The HVVVSC in session (the full form is too secret for us to reveal!).

Glimpses

A small room. A few women. Some of their kids. Add a small assortment of Eichers.

Tuesday night study of the life of Jesus Christ. We are unpacking the Lukan account.

We were in Shanti's home. We have started this study on Tuesday evenings. An hour. 7 to 8 pm.

Last week - after our first meet - one of Shanti's neighbours asked her why she had not been invited. The neighbour lady came today - along with her sister. After the study she asked for prayer. She has been married for 20 years without a child. She is almost 40 years old now. She works by going to homes and looking after small children and giving massages to new mothers. We prayed with her.

In sharing the snippet about Jesus' life this evening I was struck by the insights of two old people - Simeon and Anna.

Simeon - who had been told that he would not die before he saw the Messiah - was moved by the spirit to come to the temple on the day a Gallelian carpenter and his wife brought their son to the temple. They must have presented a pitiful sight - though of royal blood - now reduced to offering pigeons instead of a lamb.

But Simeon saw far past the surface and took the child in his arms and shouted out that he could now rest in peace. He had seen the saviour.

What did Simeon see? A month-old baby, held by a young girl and her rustic husband?

Simeon's spiritual eyes were open. They saw something far deeper. They recognised that the maker of the universe was confined to the helplessness of this babe. Simeon registered that the child he now held in his arms - would one day be his redeemer.

Do we have spiritual eyes that are open? Or are we keeping them tightly shut? Tightly status-quo-don't-disturb-me-I-am-fine-thank-you?

And then we have the person of Anna - this 84 year old widow - who spent all her widowhood it seems in the temple in Jerusalem. Instead of the pall of mourning - or the wiff of self-pity - you get the sense of Anna's eagerness and yearning for the Messiah. You can almost feel how connected she is with others who are seeking - because when she sees Jesus she tells everyone about him.

Are we seeking? Are we looking? One of the promises Jesus gives is that He will be found by those who genuinely seek Him.

All this in a tiny room, with 3 ladies, 2 teen girls and a gaggle of kids - learning about Jesus.
The beauty of the word is that it illuminates the living Word. Our contexts are simple. Our lives can be complex. But He reveals Himself through His life that we read together.

Next Tuesday. 7-8 PM. In a small window-less room in Manpada. The next slice of Jesus' life. Glimpses.

UBS Graduation 2011

I finished speaking. We prayed. I left.

Left our Sunday morning worship at Jolly and Suma's home in Samata Nagar for Pune. Left to get on a local train to Kalyan and then to catch the Hyderabad express up the Ghats to the once sleepy town of Pune. Left to attend the Union Biblical Seminary Valedictory service.

Thanks to a sliver of delay I got to the seminary when the service was in full swing.

The speeches were rather insipid - considering the amazing fact of so many remarkable folks having completed a superb 4 years of practical theological education - and the fact that so many of those about to walk across the stage to get their diploma will be shaping out country over the next decade.

I was there - primarily to meet some of the lovely folks who had interned with us at Jeevan Sahara.

My first surpise was to meet Jayprakash Chouhan right at the gate of UBS. Jayprakash and his friend Bendang Chuba were the first two UBS interns at JSK. And here he was - now a pastor in Pune. It was surreal to see Jayprakash with his wife and angelic daughter - and get a big welcoming hug from him as I arrived!

Rev. and Mrs. Jayaprakash Chouhan - and baby - dig into the food afterwards!

Everyone was decked out to the nines - and when I came into open air ampitheatre where the service was in session I soon saw the dapper Nimit Patel decked out in a sharp sports coat and Priscilla P. resplendent in a sari. Right after being seated by one of the many ushers - I found the head-usher himself - our own Paokholun Haokip checking in to say hello to me. Later in the ceremony I recognised the fourth of last year's interns - Naveen Bhambal singing along with the Marathi choir. This foursome are now poised to be final year students (a pesky set of exams lie before them of course).

And then there were the graduates themselves:

It was an amazing thrill to see Binson, John and Ashis - our JSK Interns in 2009 - be called up on stage and get their diplomas and momentos.

I had been trading SMSes with John - roundly disagreeing with most of what the main speaker chose to say (made all the easier since his speech was also printed out and distributed for all of us). This was made all the more surreal since I was flanked by what I understand to be parents of one of the graduates - who could only speak Malayalam and not a word of English - and were engaged in an animated coversation with their grandchild (or was it a child?). A quick scan around me showed a goodly portion of the crowd engaged in activities other than hanging on to every word that was said. The whole affair was rescued by the passionate goodbye speech of the class representative. By God's grace his was the last word - and my prayer is that it will have erased the memory of the preceding speeches!

Then the great moment came when our friends were declared graduates of UBS. No tossing of caps in the air. No bottles of champagne popped. A rather sober affair - but one where the big smiles of the graduates lit up the darkening night.

The happy throng soon clustered around the row of graduates lined around the edge of the area.

I had the privilege of meeting John and Ashis' families - who had travelled far to be with their sons on this special day. Ashis will be joining his church in Kalimpong as an assistant pastor. John looks set to take up the same job at the Tamil Methodist Church in Parel, Mumbai. Binson will be joining his church in Kerala. We have experienced so much with our dear friends - and are proud that they are about to impact so many others now.

Then there was time to get chowing on the spread. I was privileged to eat with Ashis and his family - and an extended faith-family of Nepali speakers who are working in the red-light areas of Pune. In the midst of all of this there was time to catch up with Lun, Nimit and Naveen from this past year's UBS crew. Nimit has been elected Vice-President of the student body for the next year (following the footsteps of JSK intern Arun Dimple). Naveen hopes to help us out at JSK a bit this summer. Lun was his normal coolness spiked with friendliness.

Its great to see our friends growing in confidence and ability.

And its also great to see into the future - a limited amount of it of course... I got to meet the three new UBS Interns for this year - Amol, Ezra and Ngamcha. Based on a quick get-to-know-you time with them, it looks like we at Jeevan Sahara are in for another good year.

It may also be our last one with UBS interns - as learned that this batch is the last one to have a 7-month internship time in their 3rd year of studies. From the next batch (the current first year students) - the new syllabus has a month or so practical experience each year - spread over the whole course of study - rather than the current practice of an in-depth learning time.

Ezra Pamei, moi and Ngamcha Haokip

But the story does not end there. Naveen puttered me through Pune town to the bus-stop. It was past 11 PM. I got into a rattly State Transport bus. We started mercifully soon - but ended up waiting unmercifully long at various bus stations. I was in a daze of sleep - bashing my head against the window latch (an old game that I have not played for ages - basically since I got married).

Somehow we got to Thane at an ungodly hour. An auto-rickshaw-ride home and I was in bed at 4 AM.

At 9 AM we started today's penultimate sessions for the CANA training in HIV care.

And we ended the day hosting the CANA trainees (18 of the 19 showed up) for dinner at our place. Life is certainly full.

It was, however, worth every ounce of tiredness to be with our young heroes at UBS.

CANA Training

We are in the middle of an intensive week of sharing our hearts and experiences of HIV care with 20 folks from North India. Our trainees are field partners of the Christian AIDS/HIV National Alliance (CANA) and have come from all corners of the country - Delhi, Uttarkhand, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Orissa, MP and of course our own Maharashtra. Each one of them are involved - or want to be more involved - in caring for people with HIV in the name of and with the love of Jesus.

We have tried to make this week as hands-on and fun as possible - while at the same time working to equip our friends with tools that they can use to make massive changes in the lives of people with HIV around them. One of the themes that keeps coming through is that it is better to do something - as feeble as it might seem - than nothing. Another is that God has always chosen the seemingly weak to bring glory to Him. And that is certainly what we see in the church - with all our flaws and ugliness. Yet at the same time across our country we see amazing works of God as lives *are* being changed...

Sheba teaching about TB treatment: DOTS! DOTS! DOTS!

Since HIV still is a disease with so much stigma and shame attached to it - we cannot go as a big group to the homes of our HIV Positive Friends (anyway their homes are usually too pitifully small to host more than 3 people). So instead we send out our trainees in groups of 2 along with a staff to visit and understand the lives of our friends. This morning our participants are fanning out to local churches. In the afternoon they will be visiting homes of people with HIV that these churches are blessing. We want people to see what is actually happening on the ground.

In between we are also teaching our 4 day curriculum which we use to train local church members. The idea is for our trainees to be equipped to in turn teach this course in their own place of service.

What our friends are learning is reinforced by role-plays and games as well as case-studies in discussion groups. This batch of trainees is quite lively - and with 3 different discussion groups taking place simultaneously in a room - one could mistake the place for a fish-market given the volume of our discussions!

At the same time - we see that each person who has come is being deeply moved. Its just not enough to have facts and figures - unless our hard hearts are moved with compassion - we will never see real change.

Change starts with me. Today.

May God help our trainees as they fan out back to their amazing places of service on Tuesday night.

May God help us to ourselves implement what we have shared with others - with greater heart and more sustained and cheerful commitment!

Night

Its 11.45 PM. 20 minutes ago I was just about to go to sleep - the last in a slumbering household.

Then the phone rang.

It was Mr. Anmol's sister. She wanted to talk to Sheba.

I went into the bedroom and woke up Sheba.

Mr. Anmol may be breathing his last. His sister wanted Sheba to come over. Sheba got ready to go.

Mr. Anmol is a 60+ year old bachelor. He has HIV. He is dying of cancer. He lives with his spinster sister of a similar age. They have another sister living close by too.

I went out into the dark night - over to the JSK Centre to pick up Sheba's steth and the death certificate book. By the time I was back Sheba had already called Sunita - and was ready to go down.

Asha woke up in all of this and hovered around.

A short prayer - and Sheba is out of the house. Walking to meet Sunita down-stairs. They will take an auto-rickshaw over to Mr. Anmol's flat. To be with him in his last moments. To be with his sister. To pray and be with them.

Its been an exhausting day for Sheba. We started our CANA training today. A large number of patients came to the clinic. We had our monthly HIV positive support group meeting this afternoon.

And now off again - after 20 mins of sleep.

Lord have mercy on Mr. Anmol - in his final moments. We know that he is safe in the arms of Jesus. Pray for Sheba and Sunita as they are with Mr. Anmol as he transitions from this life to the next - and for his sister who will be left behind for a little longer at least.

And Lord give Sheba a double portion of sleep - and energy to teach the 20 odd people from North India who have come for the CANA training tomorrow.

Enoch's Big B-day Bash

Birthdays are big - correction - birthdays are HUGE in the Eicher home.

This weekend saw another block-buster. Enoch becoming a ripe age of 8 years old.

True to Eicher tradition - the birthday bash begins before the actual day. With Enoch's B-day being on the day Shivaji was born, he always has a holiday (this year it was on a Saturday as well). The school allows you to wear 'colour dress' to school on your birthday - so Enoch chose this year to wear it on the day before.



Hence he and Asha headed off to their school on Friday colourfully attired - with Enoch wearing his special outfit that Ammama and Thata had just brought him the day before - and Asha wearing her PT uniform since it was a Friday.

The actual anniversary day started ... at 12 AM. Asha had insisted on baking a quick cake - after we returned from the Bible study at 11 PM on Friday night!

Amma and Appa had brought a cake-mix with them from the US so Asha whipped it up and we put it in the oven. Only for the tired Asha and Enoch to drop off before it was done. Sheba and I put our hands on the sleeping Enoch at 12 and blessed him as his Birthday celebrations begun.

In the morning - after our weekly prayer hour for Jeevan Sahara Kendra (a few of our staff come over for a prayer time from 7.30-8.30 am at our house) it was time for the 'morning cake' to come out!

The first (of many) birthday songs was sung and we enjoyed a lovely breakfast as an extended family.


After our JSK staff friends left, it was time to find the gifts. I had hidden them at an unearthly hour in the morning (and wrote down their locations should I in my tiredness forget where they were). And its a good thing I did!

Ouch! A gift (relatively flat of course) hidden behind a picture - falls right on Enoch's face!

The kids had a ball finding the prezzies (matched by the fun the Dad had in hiding them before hand!).

And what joy is there in the opening.

After this it was time to get going on other important matters of business - such as finishing off Enoch's main birthday cake. If that sounds almost military - it is! The process of crafting it has its own joys but can also end up with the crafter being more on the snappy side of the fence. Here is a shot of the afore-said crafter in action - is that a real smile or a paste-on job?


One of the great things about B-day parties are all the wonderful friends who come. An appearance by the fabulous four is absolutely de rigeur - this time joined by Uncle John Gabriel!

This years party was a real whirl. The games were put together minutes before we were to start - and since the terrace is like a battlefield given the rennovation work that has been going on for the past 2 weeks - we went down to the common park in our housing complex. As we started the games other children stopped. To watch. To come shyly close by to participate. Soon our small group of kids was growing - by the last game we must have been in the mid-twenties at least.

"Uncle, will you come and have games tomorrow too?" Asked one of Enoch and Asha's new friends when we marshalled the troops to head back up to our 7th floor abode. The deep hunger for play that all children have (and which is so sadly underfed with our virtual-world-'game' generation) yearns for fulfillment in group joy.

Up in the flat we had a time where we explained the special Bible verse which we had chosen for Enoch - a song of King David where he says: For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth... I will ever praise you. (Ps. 71.5-6)

All the party-goers were in rapt attention of course: here is Asha and the littlest guest - Ruth.


Having Thata and Ammama here for this special time was a real blessing. And we made sure that Thata gave Enoch a blessing in prayer too!


Then the cake was brought out and all our little guests gathered round to sing! I don't know if in all the noise our childhood favourite of "you belong in the zoo, with lions and tigers and monkeys like you" was slipped in or not.

Willing hands helped do the important job of cutting the cake. And then Enoch wandered around feeding all and sundry with the big piece he had carved out.

With the cake safely cut it was time to eat. Sheba had out-done herself in preparing a South + North feast. Idlis and chutney. Chole and bhature. Hot wadas. Payasum. And the Tintin-shirt-coloured cake. A merry time was had by all.

Enoch and Raj (his best friend from his class) tuck in to the goodies.

And so ended a day. A tired and happy family. We had really celebrated. Whew!

Credit Sheba for a massive, massive amount of behind the scenes work to make it all click. Credit God for great grace and patience throughout. Blessings upon blessings.

Enoch, Ammama and Asha - ready for next year - already!