Hot temper and cold pizza

Last night we decided to order something that was unthinkable for me growing up in south Mumbai in the socialist 70s.  We called on the phone and asked for pizza.

Rephrase.  Sheba had the super idea to augment supper with a bit of pizazz - and so I checked things out and gave the magic call. 

The folks in the Bangalore call centre took the order, reminded me of the price that I would be forking out, thanked me for choosing their company (hint: two words and the last one is German for 'hat'), and told me that it would be there by 10 PM. 

So when I got a call at 9.50 that the delivery man was down-stairs, I went out so that he would not ring the bell and disturb Yohan who was trying to get to sleep. 

And then I realised that he had made some kind of mistake.  He was in a wrong building.  No lift was moving up to bring pizza to us.

At 10 PM I called the Bangalore wallahs to inform that our pizza had not arrived yet.  They told me to call the local shop.  I was not in a happy mood by now.

Then I saw the lift light go on.  The pizza was coming up.  The delivery man soon was opening the door with his burden.  A mistake in the address - one that had been done on an earlier order (A4 sounds like 84).  

When I mentioned that we were outside the 30 min guarantee delivery, and that we would be having a free pizza now, he baulked.   A call to his boss.  Boss said that the delivery man had arrived at the base of the building in time.  I told him that the phone-wallahs had said it would come by 10 PM.

The volume of our conversation was now getting louder.  The joy of the order was draining fast.   

I should not have even started into the argument.  If a company doesn't keep its word, well, then it doesn't.  My spleen won't help.

20 mins later.  A few more fruitless calls to the store.  Stale mate.  Dug in.  Got out the cash.  Gave it to the man.

A nice cold pizza was waiting.   We microwaved the thing.

Sadly, my temper was the only thing hot for a while.  Even when I looked back with regret at my loose tongue and bright red face, I found myself walking in my mind along silly streets. "How about giving the Bangalore wallahs a call and telling them that I would write about all of this on the blog?  What if it went viral and they have to send some corporate types to mollify me?"  Astoundingly, I even wondered about how much they would be willing to pay me...  A kind of internal black-mail being played out in my mind.

Where do such thoughts come from?  How fragile is our goodness, how quick the old nature emerges - cloaked in self-pity and parody of 'justice.'

And so 24 hours later, and a number of prayers later, here is my mea culpa:  there is still much anger that my Lord Jesus must tame.  

We learned at the church camp that we are to rejoice in suffering, because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope (check out Romans 5 - dynamite).   Our amazing speaker David Rendall shared that we can see the very character of Jesus being lived out in us through this process.  That we are being transformed from the inside-out...

Failing once again - with the family as spectators - doesn't make for much character showing of Christ in me.  But oh, the depths of His love and forgiveness.  Even for silly-balding-middle-aged-men who are loved by Him despite their tempers.   Work in progress.  Blessed Savior.

Mum

For years we have wanted to live with 'Oma and Opa' as a family.  This year our wish came true - though the circumstances of Dad's cancerous tumour, the major surgery and the subsequent 6 months of chemotherapy are not quite what we had expected.

As expected, a goodly portion of the writing this year on 'Chai Chats' walked with Dad and Mum through their valley of treatment and prayer.  And earlier this month we had the wonderful news that after 6 months of chemo, Dad's results were all clear.

One of the nice things about being an eicher Oma is that you have an awesome grand-daughter...like super awesome!!!

Editor's note... do you notice anything about the previous line?  

So this evening our house is full again.  John and Nalini, Nikita and Jasper are here to celebrate with us 7 Eichers.  To celebrate 8 months of healing and blessing to Dad... and also to celebrate Mum's 78th birthday!

The birthday part is a surprise - we hope - since Mum's birthday is on the 11th of November. 

So here is to Mum!

Hip, hip, hooray!

We are so very grateful to God for the joy of having Oma with us for these months.

Mum is a doer.  She literally cannot sit still.  After a few minutes she is restless and has to stand up.  She made sure that she pulled far more than her weight in the household chores - and had to be shooed out of the kitchen many a time - and then just went back to the kitchen while Sheba and I were not there.  Currently the fridge has apple pie, cheese cake and a mousse that Mum has prepard for us all.   She has also lovingly taken Yohan for his classes and picked him up each day.  Service, service, service would be her motto - and that is service with love, not for any glory of her own.   The way that she patiently has cared for Dad over these years is another huge topic!

Mum pours herself into people.  Our Tuesday night Bible study always ends with Mum hugging the ladies who attend.  She talks and prays with the dear ones that she meets.  Hers is no superficial 'hello, how are you' kind of relationship - she expresses her appreciation for the very essence of each person that she loves.


As always, Mum continues to rejoice in beauty.  I remember how as a kid we would sometimes attend conferences where the living conditions were quite spartan - but Mum would bring a table cloth and a few candles and turn a bare room into some thing homely.

She still does that.  Here is a small example.  Mum and Dad were expecting two dear friends to spend some time with them.  Mum had bought some orchids to give to them.  These very close friends were unable to come at the last moment, which was a huge disappointment for Mum and Dad.  But Mum made the best out of the situation by remembering the friends through the flowers.  And by taking the picture above.

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Well, as I was typing the above, John and Nalini and the girls came in and so we were plunged into the suprise party. 

I am now writing with all the family asleep and the click of keys and the whirring of fans and the odd dog barking outside being the only sounds in the night.

Our time this evening was wonderful! The time was a wonderful surprise: John and Nalini themselves did not know that we would be celebrating Mum's birthday together.  As I mentioned earlier, they were mainly here for fellowship and to thank God for these months of grace that we have seen in Dad's life.

We started with Enoch walking in, climbing on a chair, and unrolling the Birthday Banner for our beloved Oma.

The table had already been laid by then and we were basically getting ready to eat when we shifted focus to celebrate Mum and God's grace in giving us this wonderful daughter of His.

Yohan then came in with a big boquet of flowers, followed up by Asha carrying in the cake.

Mum loves surprises, and this time we got her 100%.   She had been thinking of other things are we were able to draw a delightful smile from her when things unfolded and it became clear that she was the centre of attention for the evening.

78 years is a long time.  Mum was born in a Germany that was ruled by the National Socialists (Nazis) under Hitler.  She was separated from her parents for a 3 year period as a young girl to protect her from the allied bombs raining down on Leipzig.   Then the communists took over and declared the "German Democratic Republic (which was certainly not democratic by any yardstick).  As a young woman she left her country as a refugee and moved around in different countries - working and learning languages.  Then she had a life-changing experience with Jesus while in Spain - and decided with live out a life for Him.   And thanks be to God, He guided her to come out to India in 1964 - and we stand in the awe of over 50 years of service to our country that Mum has done.

Cakes are meant to be cut... and eaten.  I am snacking on an absolute chocolate bomb of a cake as I write this to you.  Dad helped Mum do the honours while the songs were sung and then John prayed for Mum.

There was of course a lovely spread to celebrate with.   And lovely people to have heart-to-hearts with as well!

John and Nalini have been such amazing friends to us over the years.

Asha and Enoch have grown up with Nikita and Jasper - and amazingly are attending the same school at present.   We are so grateful that they can have such lovely friends to grow up with.

Nalini and Sheba are like peas in a pod - though they are very different to each other.  Yet, whenever the get together it is magical.  I have appreciated John so much over the years - his savvy and his deep love for God are part and parcel of the same John who has given me many delightful conversations over the years!

What is especially lovely for us is to see Mum and Dad become so deeply linked with John and Nalini as well.  God is good and blesses us over the generations of his grace!

 So here is to you Mum!

We know that your real birthday is only on the 11th of November, but wanted to take this time to thank God for you.  There is so much to say, but let us make this small step forward: "Thank you for your love which you continously poured out for us!"

We also would like you experience year as you enjoy the presence of the most high in you life, your family and your community- as well as the rest of us here in our nation.

May your feet be firm as you continue to serve others in the name and spirit of God's love, and may the twinkle in your eye become ever more infectious!

This is church...

This is the church, and this is the steeple

Open the doors, but where ‘re all the people?

This is the church and this is the steeple

Open the doors, and here all the people!

As kids we used to say this rhyme along with clasped hands – the first two lines being said with the fingers interlacing above, the index fingers forming the steeple and the thumbs opening up to show… an ‘empty church’.  And the 3^rd and 4^th lines being said with the hands clasped together again, but this time, the digits intertwined and pointing in, so that when the ‘doors’ of the thumbs are opened, a wiggly group of six fingers show folks ‘in church.’

Thank goodness we don’t have many steeples here in Bharat (though the odd cathedral may still have one poking up).  But we do have churches in India.  Of all shapes and hues.   From happy-clappy to somber-hombres,  from smells & bells  to shouts & yells, from bible-bible-bible to bible-what’s that?   All languages (ok, many of them).  All ethnicities (at least in a smattering).  All classes (no surprise where the largest numbers are now – it’s not by accident that the Lord who did not have a pillow to lay down his head on does not have much of a following in the race-course-set). 

One of the reasons why we shifted to the Mumbai area two times seven years ago was to work with local churches.  Little did I know how much church would become part and parcel of who we are.

I grew up in a Christian commune in Bombay.  My parents were part of a group of young people (giants to me of course) who had forsaken almost all and were living out a life of faith.  Church was there – but for most of the folks who were living out revolution of love and balance together – it was a bit of a pale shadow to the intense spirituality and group discipleship that they were experiencing. Church was nice, but OM was the real deal for my parents (and by extension for me too).

Sheba’s growing up was on the other side of the fence.  Her family had intense, complete involvement with the local Hebron assembly in Rourkela.  Her father had been totally transformed by a conversion experience and had joined and grown in the embrace of the assembly.  Church was their life.  Every gathering, every service religiously and full-heartedly participated in.  Their home was a home for church and their church was home for them.

On shifting to Mumbai we had the privilege of participating in one of the Hebron Assemblies in the suburb where we staying in Borivali (and found our amazing friends John and Nalini Gabriel with their lovely daughters Nikita and Jasper).  When we moved over to Thane a year later, a friend of ours suggested a house fellowship within walking distance of our home.  Thirteen years later, this particular expression of the global body of Christ has fused into us and vice versa.

Now that we are about to strike out again, perhaps it’s good to think about our experience of being part of the Body… and what church is all about – or at least a what it is a bit about!

Lets start with the basics.  I believe that church is intentional, not a given.  A decision, not a fate.  To me the starting point is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Being adopted into His family means that I am no longer alone.  I have a new family.  Folks like me who are broken-and-being healed.  'Saved'-but-being-made-holy.  Spiritual babes but growing in all dimensions as we follow our master together.  The key to church is meeting.  Meeting together. Spending time and space and love and service with each other - and at the same time in a mysterious way, becoming the very dwelling place of God Himself.  

Will there be different flavours? Of course - there had better be, given how varied Christ's followers are.  But ultimately the focus of church cannot be on it's members - our eyes should be peering ever more clearly out our Lord, our actions should be shaped ever more dearly by His heart-beat, our very being should be moulded ever more really by His love and power.

And the beauty of it is that it is actually in the doing that it all happens.  The first believers in Jesus Christ - a minority both to the Jewish authorities and established sects of the day, as well as to the imperial power in Rome - immersed themselves in this new life.  We are told that they devoted themselves to the Apostle's teaching and to fellowship, to breaking bread and to prayer.   

That's pretty much what we want to see happen today.  And do so in various ways.   

Apostle's teaching?  Well, we have the Bible which we do well to learn, imbibe, discuss and apply. The bits that are obscure?  Well, we can talk about them and wonder a bit.  But there is so, so, so much there that is crystal clear and which we would like to sweep away as being not quite up our alley.  And so it is vital for all of us to keep learning, keep engaging with God's word.. together.

As  fellowship, we meet in homes during the week regularly to study the Bible and learn and grow together.

These studies are opportunities for us to keep placing God in the centre of our lives.  And how much we need that - esp. as our own nature likes to take us along other well-worn-grooves.

When we meet on Sundays in Jolly's home, we also make sure that we spend time learning together. Our desire is that God's revealed word will shape us, rather than we shaping it.  Which is why we do things together and want all of us to share what they have heard and understood over the course of the week.

Dad gave a short talk the other week, which I had the privilege of translating.  I remember hearing Dad sharing when I was small - sitting in the front rows of churches we were visiting when he shared about the work in India.  

At the end of the day we want to be saturated with the word.  To see Christ transform us through His revelation.

What a privilege to speak the very words of God Himself.  And what a privilege - with His help and grace of course - to live these out in our lives... 

The first Christians remembered the sacrifice of Christ through the breaking of bread together.  We do so too.  Every Sunday.  In fact, having communion together - taking part in a symbolic but deeply meaningful meal where we remember Jesus' death and resurrection - is at the very core of our Sunday gathering.  Everything else spins out of this joyful but reverent obedience of Jesus' command to remember Him when we gather together.

On a recent Sunday, Jolly led us in the Lord's table, with Anil translating for him.  

Three generations of Eichers took part in the bread and the wine.  What a blessing.

The early Christians devoted themselves to fellowship.  Church is not just formal meetings - it is the 24 x 7 living of our lives together.  The joy of welcoming a new life into the family - here we are dedicating Anil and Sandhya's second son Ashish to the Lord.

But what happens after the meeting is over is just as important.  Our times with each other are so precious.  We are all so very different - we have varied mother-tongues, have widely different incomes and education levels - but are all experiencing God's grace together.   The joy of fellowship and the hard work of fellowship go hand in hand.  The first century church had it.  We do to, but have some more way to go of course.

'Every meeting should have some eating' is attributed to a modern day apostle of house churches - or words to a similar effect.

We put this into practice.  Not at every meeting - but at many of them.  Church does not 'end' with the last prayer.  We continue to fellowship - and often over a meal.   The opening picture of this blog post is Mum with some of the ladies who we meet with for a Bible study on Tuesday evenings at Shanti's home - and have a meal with afterwards. Every week. Fellowship.  Yum.

And then there is the matter of prayer.  The first followers of Christ - back in the first century put this way up on their agenda.  They grounded their lives with communication with God - just like our Lord Jesus and His nights on the mountain.   

At each of our meetings we share and pray.  It's part of breathing.  Jesus has said to pray continually. Like a bad cough.  On and on.   Can we do more?  Of course, and I look at myself in the mirror as exhibit No. 1.   But, oh the blessing of having regular prayer with our brothers and sisters.

Over the last few years we have had the privilege of hosting our fellowship's prayer times every Wednesday.  The ladies come from 6-7 PM for prayer.  Then the Eichers have supper (Yohan has his food early because he has to take his 9 PM meds on an empty stomache).  At 9.30 the men come for their hour of power.  We normally see more women than men, but are so very thankful for each person who comes and prays.  

But church does not end with our meetings - formal or informal as they may be.  We continue to be church in our home too.  Each evening the Eicher band gathers to make a joyful noise and live out a bit of church in our family.  And yes we normally have some delving into the word and prayer too.

So there is a bit of church in everything we do.   This is church.

Streams of living water

There were two phone calls the other day that touch the core of what we are doing at Jeevan Sahara Kendra - and the hidden reality all round us.

The first call came on my mobile phone. It was an unknown number to me. I answered it. The person said that he had got my number from the net and had a question about HIV. 'Ask away' I said, and the voice on the phone told me that his relative was sick and had been admitted at a hospital where they did an HIV test. He is now found to be HIV positive and they really do not know what to do. He is running a fever again.

I asked whether the patient was able to walk around and was told he is. So I asked the man on the phone to come with the patient and meet with Dr. Sheba tomorrow. We will understand the situation and guide you on the next steps I told the person on the phone. They live in a distant suburb on the western side - but we know folks there who are also doing home-based care. Talking on the phone does not help much. Meeting face to face, understanding the person's history, doing a physical examination, holding their hands, listening to the often tear-washed stories... all of this means so much.

The second call was from Shanti, one of our staff. She had called up the relatives of Tamin (name changed obviously), a young 21 year old orphan who also had HIV and was racked with TB. Tamin's relatives had brought him to us last week. We had admitted him for observation but medically had little hope for him since at the end of an 8 month TB treatment he was still sputum positive for TB. He had come to us in this condition and we asked for a sputum culture test to be done. Reluctantly, we discharged him on Saturday for follow up home-care.

Sadly, when Shanti called his relatives, they told her that Tamin had passed away today. This was a shock to us - though the writing was on the wall. How we wished we could have met Tamin earlier. That we could have helped him be regular with his TB medicines, that he would have had hope in life instead of despair and loneliness. How sad that this young man's life is now over. What a tragedy.

Is there any hope at all in this often dark world? Today marked the beginning of a relationship with one man - and the end with another. Where does our hope finally come from, esp. in the fact of loss and tiredness and dryness?

Our help is from the Lord. Look at what the disciple John writes out Jesus: Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7.37-38).

At the end of the day. At the end of a day like this, we need rivers of living water to flow out of each of us - and all of us together! Come Holy Spirit and guide our hearts and actions, let the rivers of living water flow out of our rock-hard hearts...

LOTR

"I want to go back to the Shire."

That's a comment that has been said a few times this week in our home... and a thought that has played in my head a number of times too.

It all started with us cracking our red book again last Saturday, and getting sucked into Bilbo Baggins eleventy-first birthday party... and you know the rest of course.

Why is it that Tolkein's story is so hypnotic, so deeply compelling, so wonderfully satisfying - even though we know that at the end Frodo will be setting out for the Grey Havens?

We had our weekend dose tonight, after Yohan was in bed, the 4 of us lying down and being transported to the gradual unwrapping of wonder, and the delicious joy of living out another journey of daring and deep-love-friendship and the mercy-shot audacity of good being able to triumph seed-like over the dark tsunami of evil that crashes over Tolkein's middle earth.

Tonight we managed to sneak with the hobbits into Buckland on the border of the Shire, despite the sniffling black riders.  Will we have to wait till next weekend to escape out into the grey world beyond?

We have read through the whole book already as a family - aloud - spending many wonderful hours together with this tale.  But as Asha said this evening: "I don't remember those parts at all!"

I think back to when I first read this magical tale - using my flashlight under the blankets while in boarding school, well past lights out.   The only homework I ever did past bed time - we actually had it as a 'text book' for a class called 'Modern Myth' in the Woodstock School of the late 1980s - I wonder if such a class exists in the Woodstock of today?

But here I am with this magnificent tale in my hands (thanks to James Barrett for the handsome 1 volume tome), and the whole household sound asleep...  Should I read ahead, just a little bit?

A testing time in a village

Most of our work at Jeevan Sahara is urban.  But every now and then (make it more like every 'then') we do reach out to the countryside.

Thane is a big district.  A very big one.  In the 2011 census it had over 11 million inhabitants. That is just less than the population of Cuba today - and just more than Tunisia.  If Thane were a country, it would be the 79th largest in the world by population.

Just over a year ago Thane was split into two with a new district called Palghar being formed out of the northern portions - and thus we have lost 3 million or so folks.  Our remaining 8 million odd souls live largely in urban areas (77% of the population were in urban areas of undivided Thane) which include the largely railway-station-clustered sprawls of Thane city, Kalyan-Dombivili, Mira-Bhayender, Ulhasnagar and others including the 1.2 million folks in Bhiwandi.

Any way there are lots of small villages around - and even though the bulk of folks live in the big and getting-big urban areas - Thane still has a population that lives on the land and is linked in with the cities.

Last week Jeevan Sahara Kendra was invited to do a one day Family Life Seminar and HIV Testing Camp at a church in a village well beyond Kalyan.   We jumped at the opportunity.  It was going to be a testing time in the village - and in more ways than one!

We got to the village after a delightful early morning drive down a wonderfully smooth highway - and met our host outside the nearest railway station. Our trusty Papaya was carrying the equipment and the Eichers - Sheba, Enoch, Yohan and myself that is (Asha had a day off on her own).  We had a cup of tea in the local tea shop.  When they said 'full cup' I thought it would be a tiny serving as usual - and so was surprised when the brought out two huge glasses with enough tea for 4 people each.

The rest of the team arrived by train shortly afterward, but our host had already put a local gent into our car and off we went off the main road and onto a tiny - but well paved - single track off into the bush.

The sheer delight of seeing forests and fields and small villages after so much noise and glitz and concrete (even the decked up kind) was just tonic.

As we came close to our destination village, our guide pointed out ladies that we passed:  'they are believers who are coming to the meeting he said.'   And then we finally came to the church a simple building, on the outskirts of the village, with a beautiful ridge of hills behind.  

Our team arrived in a jeep shortly afterwards and we had already started to set up.   Sheba was sitting with village women - talking with them using another lady who translated into Marathi. 

Folks were trickling in when we got the first inklings of trouble.  Everyone went to one door of the hall and I could see a man carrying a child in his arms and people around him.

An accident.  In the first confusion we didn't know what happened.  I thought one of the jeeps that was hired had hit a local child.  It was actually the opposite.  A local man, drunk and riding his bike, had hit one of the children who were coming to the meeting.  The child was bleeding profusely from his nose, and he and his grandfather were whisked off to the nearest town.

But the problem did not settle down.  The biker got a group of local folks together.  And they were angry.  Before we knew it a group of men and women had entered the area.  I saw a man with a big log of wood, trying to swing it.  Folks were asking him to stop.  Many prayers were said.  People were talking loudly in Marathi.  Stochastic actions here and there.  Folks coming into the hall.  Dust and movement outside.  Then a settling down.

Who was who was not clear to me as other than our JSK team I was seeing almost all for the first time.  But things settled down and the folks in the hall - mainly women - settled down and the singing began.   The young leaders sang out in Marathi and the assembled village women, with a sprinkling of men and children sang along too.  A harmonium and drum added melody to the earnest joyful singing.  We were taken into glory land.  Outside things were still unclear.  But in the hall the beautiful village faces were singing.

And then we had our first possession of the day.  One of the ladies fell on the floor and writhed around.  The young man leading the singing came close to her and prayed.  Other ladies were praying too and singing.  After a few minutes the lady settled down, a little while later she sat up.  And soon she was singing again.  All in a days work it seems.  The songs continued.  The morning light poured in.

It was then time for me to speak. We were here for a special Family Day.  I had the privilege of sharing the first message about God's plan for our families.   What to share in such a short time.  How to relate to folks with such different experiences to me.  How good, though, to know that God cares so much for our families - and that the Bible is all about relationships and the transforming love of Jesus.  As I looked out at these dear ladies - dressed in bright clean sarees, many of them with weather-beaten faces - and the men who were on the right hand side - I saw my sisters and brothers in the faith.



What a privilege to share about how God desires all our marriages - and families to be united.  The reason a man leaves his parents and cleaves to his wife is for union.   How much everything around us seeks to split us up - especially our own selfish natures.    The second huge desire of God for us is to be holy.  Our Lord says 'be holy, for I am holy' - and purity seems the last thing possible in a world that celebrates sensuality.  But how gracious and helpful God is to keep us growing and being cleansed.  Finally, we talked about God wanting every marriage and every family to be one of service.  We are not here for ourselves, but to seek the good of others.  Our Lord Jesus laid aside His heavenly majesty, stripped Himself down to the clothing of the slaves of the day, and washed His followers feet.  How much each of our families should be serving in various ways of grateful obedience to God.

It was the first time I had talked in Hindi and been translated into Marathi - and soon after this my translator - our own Daniel Kautikkar - had the floor to himself.   Daniel took a session on HIV prevention.  We had our LCD projector - and the hall had electricity.  Thankfully for the entire period of the presentation!   Using simple Marathi, Daniel walked the 70 or so adults and 20 odd kids through the basics of HIV.  At the end of his talk, Daniel shared that we had come to do HIV testing on whoever wanted it.  He explained that we would counsel them before hand and then take a small blood test and give the results 2 days later.



It was now time for lunch.  Our JSK team of Peter, Nissi and Kamal had already eaten and were ready to start the HIV counselling and testing camp.   Amazingly, the folks started lining up.  Daniel ate a quick lunch while Kamal started counselling after the candidates had been registered by Peter.   Enoch helped out by taking folks to Daniel's counselling room and then bringing people to Nissi who took the blood samples.  As the numbers started to take off, Sheba also was pressed into service as a pre-test counsellor.


Then it was time to start again.  The threat from outside also started up.  We heard that a group of folks with sticks were assembling.  The coordinator of the programme went out.  Most of us stayed and prayed.  Later he said that one of the participants was a lady village pradhan (chief).  She had come with him and gave him a running set of instructions on what to do.  When to engage the others, when to pull back.  God had sent and angel, a calm young woman who brought dignity and savy to a tense situation.  And the prayers of those within continued to keep the peace.

After another session of lively singing - and another set of dealing with women affected by spirits - done with grace and confidence - it was time for another blessing. We had a very special person with us.  Shobha.  Shobha has HIV and shared her story.  Openly speaking in Marathi.  Giving her new friends a picture of her life.  Shobha also has only one arm.  She lost one of her arms as a child.  Her husband had died.  She raised up her 3 children by making papad with her one arm.  And then she started falling sick and came in touch with us at Jeevan Sahara.  In between, Shobha had also met the Lord Jesus.  As she stood in front of her brothers and sisters from the village, her face was lit up with joy.  What a privilege to see this amazing lady tell her story.

The counselling and testing continued and it was now time for our final session of the day.  The counsellors had their steady stream of folks and all roads led to Nissi who took the blood samples.  In one end of the hall Sheba and Shobha met with the women and discussed the challenges they faced.  I had the men with me, talking about how we should behave as men.   We looked at what roles we play normally, and asked ourselves how Jesus wants us to be.  Good stuff.  Time ran by too quickly.

And then the day was over.  There were still folks being counselled and tested.  We ended up doing a whopping 53 blood tests among the 70 odd adults!  Thankfully not a single one came back HIV positive!

It was still not clear whether all was clear in the village, but the first jeeps started back.  We got the phone call that there had been no trouble.  The sun was setting behind the forested hills.  Sheba, Shobha and the boys went for a walk down to the village hand pump. 


Then the final packing up and thanks giving all around.  A special prayer for having taken us through a testing time.


What a privilege to be with such dear people.  The genuine smiles of our new friends will linger on in our minds.

As will the scenery.


As I type these words a week later, its 9 PM.  We are back in our urban home with 24 hour water, linked up with the wide world through our internet connection, with Sheba working with Asha and Enoch on their homework and Yohan taking his bath.  Mum and Dad have gone for a 2 day outing.  So many blessings we have - and yet the greatest joy is that we were able to worship along with our new sisters and brothers, and we know a time will come when people from every tribe and tongue will be around the throne of glory.  We have had a small taste of glory under the woody slopes an hour and half, and a world away from us.  But a world that we are linked with through the love of He who loved us first.

A day to celebrate!

 Today was a red-letter day for us.

Dad and Mum went over to Bethany Hospital to meet his oncologist Dr. Ashish Bakshi and show him the blood tests and the CT scan he had requested over the weekend.  

The plan was for them to call Sheba and myself when their 'number' got close.  We would then drive over from Jeevan Sahara to have a conference with the oncologist and see what the next steps should be.  Usually Dad spends about an hour before he gets to see his doctor.  

This time was different.  When they arrived, they were whisked right in to see Dr. Bakshi.  No waiting this time.  So when we finally got the call, Dad had already been seen by his doc.

And the news is good news.

Nothing at all on the tests to suggest any need for further treatment.   Hooray!

Dad's cancer treatment is over for now - and by everything that we can see it has been a success!

And what a journey it has been.  Our initial concern when we got a copy of the ultrasound from Mussoorie showing a mass blocking the common bile duct.  Dr. Stephen Alfred insisting that Dad come down to Bethany immediately.   Mum and Dad being woken up by Stefan and Neeru and told they have to be out of the house in 3 hours to get the flight to Mumbai. Dad's ridiculously high bilirubin levels. The initial stabilising procedures.  Stefan and Neeru's coming down to help.  Then huge step of the major surgery - a Whipples procedure - to remove the large cancerous tumour and a goodly portion of Dad's digestive plumbing.   The post-op care - at the hospital and then at home.  Then news of one of the nodes being positive for cancer post-op and finally the 6 months of chemotherapy...

Well, the journey reached a milestone today.  A happy milestone that says all is clear... for now!

No mo chemo.  No more diet restrictions.  Dad and Mum are free to go back to Mussoorie.  Amazing stuff.  And all the fruit of so much love and so many prayers.

Dr. Ashish Bakshi would like to meet Dad again in 4 months.    The shift to surveillance has begun.  Pancreatic cancers are aggressive and could very well show up again, having micro-seeded in the initial outbreak.   But we will take one day at a time.  And we will celebrate this amazing recovery and the good news that nothing was detected in the blood tests and CT scan.  

We are so proud of how Mum has soldiered through all of this - especially being with us in the heat of Thane (and October being very much a second summer - we had 5 over 37 degree days so far this month).   Her dogged love.  Her on-going care and willingness to adapt and be a blessing to us all and a support and help for Dad is such an example to us.

We never imagined we would be living 9 months this year with Mum and Dad - what an amazing blessing it has been to us all!   We would of course never want them to be here because of cancer... but this has been one of the many silver linings of this extra-ordinary experience for all of us. 

We had a small celebration at supper this evening. 

Out came some cards and a bunch of flowers.   And a big thank-you to God for bringing Dad to this amazing place.

And a big THANK YOU to so many of you who have been reading along and praying - both near and far.  We have had folks 3 floors below us tell us that they are reading about Dad on the blog - and folks in remote parts of the world send emails (and prayers) our way.   Each prayer has been such a treasure - we will never be able to thank all of you in our extended family enough.

But suffice it to say - today is a day of celebration.   And so after supper we broke out the coffee and caramel icecream.  Speaking of which, I am off to get another bowl from the freezer...

The day to celebrate is not yet over!