Our little boy who has been at the JSK centre for the past 10 days seems to be ever so slowly turning the corner. He is eating on his own - his 'death skull' look is ever so slowly receding. Satish is still hovering on the brink - but a lot of love and care - and many prayers later it looks like he may make it after all.
The next question is where to discharge him to?
The street, where the ruin of a hut awaits them at their pavement site? Add to that the monsoonal rains and we understand how Satish came to be in the miserable state he is in.
The challenges of urban squalor and destitution don't go away.
We are trying to locate relatives. We have found some, but they want nothing to do with the family. Sadly, not a single person from the relatives have come to visit and inquire.
Poverty is primarily a poverty of relationships.
And how to involve God's people in all of this? What steps to take, what options to give.
We find so many questions surrounding us - and so few hard (and even fewer easy) answers.
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
300
Gentle readers - we are now 300 posts old. Whew!
Last year - during the monsoons - we were visited by the wonderful John Forbes. Since he was travelling around India I suggested that he write a blog about his adventures. Though I had never written one myself, I bravely suggesting I could help him set it up - and so we put together a small blog for John - something that I thought would be fiendishly difficult. Not so.
After a month of regularly checking up on-line to see what John was doing - I finally gave in and Chai Chats with the Eichers was born a year ago tomorrow.
The very first post had an image of a woman peering out from behind her veil and this text
In the beginning was the Word.Have the words been few? Seems like there have been many. And always more to say.And the Word was with God.And the Word was God.Oh that the Word would be knownby all whom the Word fashionedby all who call on the Word,with wordsBut let my words be fewand let them join with the songs around the Wordand around the world.
Our hope is that some of the thoughts and experiences we have shared have touched different places in the heart and have made there ways to different spaces in the world.
We are encouraged by some of your emails (including from all the way out in Lincoln Nebraska) Its a real lift to us as the situations we face are often bleak. We yearn for conversation - and hope that this on-line diary may help towards talking things out. Please do post comments and links to other sites too - let iron sharpen iron, and let charity prevail!
Life is beautiful (and cruel) and then there is an eternal second helping (with no hint of cruelty to stain it)!
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In the interest of full disclosure - the dashboard said I had 300 posts - but I think it counted 4 that I deleted. When I actually tallied the posts from 2007 and 2008 to date it comes up to 296. Not quite such a pleasing round figure after all, but since this has already gone out into the ether...
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Bat
Morning prayers were over and the teams were about to head out for the home-visits on a wet wind-swept day.James looked excitedly and gestured us to take a look out the window of the JSK centre and into the tree which had been planted by the late Sachin.
What should we see but a bat!
A fruit bat by the look of it - a goodly 30 cms long or so - hanging upside down and shivering with cold.
Though wet and wretched from what being out in the almost incessant torrents of the last 24 hour hours - the bat still retained the amazing beauty and strange wonder to see a furry flying thing.
What struck me most was his fox-like face. But then, just next to it is the claw that is so bird-like - and the folded leathery wing which seems so alien to us ground-bound creatures.
Monday, 28 July 2008
Satish
A small update on Satish - the little child admitted at JSK:
His face still looks like a tiny skull - the sunken eyes accentuated by him drifting off to sleep ever so often. Satish is still teetering on the verge of death. But he is eating. And really wants to eat.
Our nurses have been doing 12 hour shifts for a week now. Sandhya started nights this week, with Sunita going to do the days. Sheba goes over in the nights as well to spend time with Satish and his mother. The other 2 kids (older and younger to Satish) are taken to the child-care centre during the day.
The absolute torrent of a rainfall today did in whatever was left of their shack on the pavement. Rahul and Akshay went to the ruins this morning to see if they could salvage some of the papers that Satish's mother says she left there - including her card for her anti-retroviral medications she gets from the government ART centre in town.
On Saturday, Satish wanted to eat fish. He insisted on it. Sunita gave in. She bought fish and cooked it. Satish ate fish for lunch. And for supper.
Later in the night, when Sheba did her rounds with him, she asked Satish who made the fish. She expected him to say: "Sunita Sister" or "Sunita Auntie" or "Nurse Sunita".
Instead he said: "Jesus made it."
His face still looks like a tiny skull - the sunken eyes accentuated by him drifting off to sleep ever so often. Satish is still teetering on the verge of death. But he is eating. And really wants to eat.
Our nurses have been doing 12 hour shifts for a week now. Sandhya started nights this week, with Sunita going to do the days. Sheba goes over in the nights as well to spend time with Satish and his mother. The other 2 kids (older and younger to Satish) are taken to the child-care centre during the day.
The absolute torrent of a rainfall today did in whatever was left of their shack on the pavement. Rahul and Akshay went to the ruins this morning to see if they could salvage some of the papers that Satish's mother says she left there - including her card for her anti-retroviral medications she gets from the government ART centre in town.
On Saturday, Satish wanted to eat fish. He insisted on it. Sunita gave in. She bought fish and cooked it. Satish ate fish for lunch. And for supper.
Later in the night, when Sheba did her rounds with him, she asked Satish who made the fish. She expected him to say: "Sunita Sister" or "Sunita Auntie" or "Nurse Sunita".
Instead he said: "Jesus made it."
Bombs
Sheba and I had a conversation that I never thought we would. What should we tell Asha and Enoch to do if they find themselves in a bomb blast.
And what should they do? The very thought of it boggles the mind. A newly married man watched as a loud blast shook the street and threw his wife in the air. She was closest to the explosion - and died. What should Asha or Enoch do if they see something like that? If they experience that in their little bodies?
Whoever was responsible for the blasts this week in Bangalore and Ahmedabad was cold blooded in the extreme. The Bangalore bombings - where the newly-wed man lost his wife - saw multiple blasts - at least 7. The bombs in Ahmedabad were timed to kill people who were helping (something we hear from the Middle East) and for the first time they even targeted a hospital. Over 50 people died in the 16 known blasts.
Though we do not like to admit it, we are living in an age of terror. The anonymous act of violence looms over each one of us to greater or lesser degrees. My mother had a childhood defined by bombs - but those were from the Allied aircraft, carpet-bombing German cities in the quest for victory in Europe. The families would huddle around the radios hearing the evening news about in which cities bombs had fallen and what the damage was. Mum was sent to the countryside since Leipzig was a major target for the bombers - and during the three years she was away from her parents this little girl would listen and wonder if her parents had survived.
What we see today, however, is something altogether different. The bombs seem to be randomn. They keep coming. Its not clear who is actually doing this. A few groups 'claim responsibility' afterwards - but who can even understand their bizarre rantings? Who are these people? What drives them to purchase pressure cookers from the bazaars and pack it with explosives - and prime it with their mobile phones?
One thing is sure - these are frightfully normal people. How true the press repo
rts are is hard to know, but one of the men who died while carrying out one of the previous bombings in Mumbai kept a bar-dancer as his mistress and lived with her for some time. Hardly the stereo-type religious fanatic. Very much like many of the young men we are in touch with.
Inside each one of us lies the seeds of hatred and revenge. They may be small and ignored, but our thoughts lead to actions. We know that each person will stand one day before the great white throne and give account for everything that they have done. The bombers - whether found or not - will stand before their maker and will have the shocking task of seeing everything they thought and did laid out before them. Likewise the many who may not have actually bombed but supported them materially. Or logistically. Or by agreeing with their principles. Or by harbouring hatred in their own lives. Or by thinking thoughts of hatred towards others. From God's perspective - thoughts - if dwelled upon and relished - are just as real as the actions that often follow these fantasies.
So what to we tell our children? Well, right now we have decided not to specifically tell them what to do. We are going to love them and let them know that they are very precious to us. We are going to enjoy each day with them - and seek to build their character to carry on even if we are suddenly taken away from them (by bomb, accident or some other unexpected shock). We are going to spend time singing and exploring what it means to live with God as part of who we are right now.
And what should they do? The very thought of it boggles the mind. A newly married man watched as a loud blast shook the street and threw his wife in the air. She was closest to the explosion - and died. What should Asha or Enoch do if they see something like that? If they experience that in their little bodies?
Whoever was responsible for the blasts this week in Bangalore and Ahmedabad was cold blooded in the extreme. The Bangalore bombings - where the newly-wed man lost his wife - saw multiple blasts - at least 7. The bombs in Ahmedabad were timed to kill people who were helping (something we hear from the Middle East) and for the first time they even targeted a hospital. Over 50 people died in the 16 known blasts.
Though we do not like to admit it, we are living in an age of terror. The anonymous act of violence looms over each one of us to greater or lesser degrees. My mother had a childhood defined by bombs - but those were from the Allied aircraft, carpet-bombing German cities in the quest for victory in Europe. The families would huddle around the radios hearing the evening news about in which cities bombs had fallen and what the damage was. Mum was sent to the countryside since Leipzig was a major target for the bombers - and during the three years she was away from her parents this little girl would listen and wonder if her parents had survived.What we see today, however, is something altogether different. The bombs seem to be randomn. They keep coming. Its not clear who is actually doing this. A few groups 'claim responsibility' afterwards - but who can even understand their bizarre rantings? Who are these people? What drives them to purchase pressure cookers from the bazaars and pack it with explosives - and prime it with their mobile phones?
One thing is sure - these are frightfully normal people. How true the press repo
rts are is hard to know, but one of the men who died while carrying out one of the previous bombings in Mumbai kept a bar-dancer as his mistress and lived with her for some time. Hardly the stereo-type religious fanatic. Very much like many of the young men we are in touch with.Inside each one of us lies the seeds of hatred and revenge. They may be small and ignored, but our thoughts lead to actions. We know that each person will stand one day before the great white throne and give account for everything that they have done. The bombers - whether found or not - will stand before their maker and will have the shocking task of seeing everything they thought and did laid out before them. Likewise the many who may not have actually bombed but supported them materially. Or logistically. Or by agreeing with their principles. Or by harbouring hatred in their own lives. Or by thinking thoughts of hatred towards others. From God's perspective - thoughts - if dwelled upon and relished - are just as real as the actions that often follow these fantasies.
So what to we tell our children? Well, right now we have decided not to specifically tell them what to do. We are going to love them and let them know that they are very precious to us. We are going to enjoy each day with them - and seek to build their character to carry on even if we are suddenly taken away from them (by bomb, accident or some other unexpected shock). We are going to spend time singing and exploring what it means to live with God as part of who we are right now.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
Saturday, 26 July 2008
The end of a training
Just finished off another set of Church Member trainings in HIV care today. 4 day-long sessions - interspersed at fortnightly intervals.
Each batch has its own unique flavour.
Today we were discussing death and how to help people who are dying. While we held the session in the meeting hall used by the Bethesda Assembly, just a wall away in our JSK centre, little Satish was fighting for life (note - it looks like he may pull through - he ate a whole banana on his own tonight - and some fish).
One of the salient points that came out again and again is that we are able to face dying - because of Lord Jesus has himself gone through the bitterness of death - and is able to help us with courage and hope. The other is that we are being comforted through Him and are able to comfort others in any kind of trouble (2 Cor. 1.4).
As we reviewed the training with our participants and staff we can only say that we are very grateful - all of us - for the learning experience we had together. An exercise we did was to stand in a circle. One person held a ball of red knitting wool. He or she then expressed something that touched us over the 4 sessions - and then threw the ball across the circle, while keeping hold of the end of the thread. The result was a beautiful web of red. We heard each point of the star as something that was to be thanked for.
Now that the training is over we need to see where our dear friends will take what they have learned. We were blessed to have 2 members of the Blessing Youth Mission who are working in rural Maharashtra and have come across many people with HIV. Other blessings were seeing local trainees meet people with HIV in their homes over the last 2 weeks.
This evening our youth from church discussed about how one of their 'mini-teams' have been visiting the home of a very sick person with HIV. Its sometimes not easy to visit him given his on-going illness and depression - but they are sticking with it - and have seen some small improvement in the man.
This is what we want to see take place - common people reaching out in love in the name and strength of our uncommon Lord Jesus.
Each batch has its own unique flavour.
Today we were discussing death and how to help people who are dying. While we held the session in the meeting hall used by the Bethesda Assembly, just a wall away in our JSK centre, little Satish was fighting for life (note - it looks like he may pull through - he ate a whole banana on his own tonight - and some fish).
One of the salient points that came out again and again is that we are able to face dying - because of Lord Jesus has himself gone through the bitterness of death - and is able to help us with courage and hope. The other is that we are being comforted through Him and are able to comfort others in any kind of trouble (2 Cor. 1.4).
As we reviewed the training with our participants and staff we can only say that we are very grateful - all of us - for the learning experience we had together. An exercise we did was to stand in a circle. One person held a ball of red knitting wool. He or she then expressed something that touched us over the 4 sessions - and then threw the ball across the circle, while keeping hold of the end of the thread. The result was a beautiful web of red. We heard each point of the star as something that was to be thanked for.
Now that the training is over we need to see where our dear friends will take what they have learned. We were blessed to have 2 members of the Blessing Youth Mission who are working in rural Maharashtra and have come across many people with HIV. Other blessings were seeing local trainees meet people with HIV in their homes over the last 2 weeks.
This evening our youth from church discussed about how one of their 'mini-teams' have been visiting the home of a very sick person with HIV. Its sometimes not easy to visit him given his on-going illness and depression - but they are sticking with it - and have seen some small improvement in the man.
This is what we want to see take place - common people reaching out in love in the name and strength of our uncommon Lord Jesus.
Friday, 25 July 2008
Rains
We started out this monsoon wet. Very wet. Then a span of dryness. Now we are wet again.How many prayers went up on behalf of the weather? Hard to say. The papers have pictures of various religions praying for rain. When it comes each will take credit for it.
We certainly prayed for rain as a church and a family. Though our creature comforts are a bit disturbed by the deluge that a good Mumbai monsoon is - we know that so much of our country depends on agriculture.
Being in Thane, we already have 4 hour power-cuts because of the rain scarcity (hotter - so more people in power-cut-free Mumbai use their air-cons more). But that is nothing compared to the farmers who have sowed their seeds in anticipation of rain and see grey but rainless clouds each day.
Did our prayers swing it? It certainly feels like it - though as said already folks from other faiths will also claim it was their efforts that brought about the moisture from above. Nothing new here too - we can think back to an episode where a man like you and me prayed, and the Lord shut the heavens for 3 years - and then he prayed again - fervently - and the Lord poured down rain.
How loving and gentle God is to hear his children.
How much of the intimate history of the world we will have to unwind and trace to the simple prayers of God's people.
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