VBS

Each child is precious.

By God's grace we are in touch with about 150 people in Thane who have HIV/AIDS through the JSK home-based care programme.

Many of our friends have children. Some of our positive friends are children. Each child has their own special needs.

Holidays are a challenge for many - as there just is nothing to do.

The streets beckon.

For a number of years Jeevan Sahara has been organising a Vacation Bible School together with folks from local churches for children who we are in touch with. This year's time was a wonderful one.

The kids who join the JSK VBS are not 'Sunday School' goody-goodies. They are children who have seen their share of sorrow. Many have lost a parent. Some have lost both. Some are HIV positive themselves. Some have HIV positive siblings. Almost all have a parent who is suffering from the disease.

Needless to say - it is unsurprising that many can hardly sit still.

Which is why we worked hard to get teachers who have big hearts. Lots of them. We ended up with 18 different classes taught by 22 different teachers. With 119 kids being there on the final day this meant that almost every class had only 6 kids in them. Some with even less. The attention to each child is vital. Precious.

Over the 5 solid days of the VBS we saw so many blessings. Lives receiving love. Children holding on to their teachers. Much laughter and prayer. Games and joy as well as times of introspection.

The children loved singing. Loved it. To have over 100 kids singing lustily together was an amazing sight. We were so blessed to have a great song-team who poured themselves into the kids.

The premises for this intense 5 day time was provided very very generously to us by the Marthoma Church in Majiwade, Thane. We are so grateful for the beautiful hall and stilt area which we were able to have fully to our use for the whole time! Such a blessing to have a safe, beautiful space for the kids to learn, play and enjoy in.

At the centre of the VBS is the Bible. We are convinced that it is God's word which changes hearts - and know that many of the dear ones will see real fruit in their lives.

We were blessed to have Bro Oliver Ammana and Sheba share with the older children in the special devotional assemblies - and Sis. Sabina Jadav share with the younger children.

I had the joy of telling a daily 'missionary story.' As I was telling the older children about David Livingstone - it struck me that Livingstone left school at the age of 10 to work in a rope factory because his parents were too poor. Instead of giving in to a life of drudgery, however, Livingstone took his books along with him and tried to read and learn in every spare moment - while working 12 to 14 hour days. So many of our children have very poor educational situations - but how any one of them can be a world-changer - and a desitiny-shaper - with God's help!

Behind all the classes and amazing sessions - was a whole lot of work. Cleaning, serving, preparing, cleaning again, purchasing, bringing food, serving food, cleaning again, bringing children to the VBS, taking them back, cleaning again.

We were blessed with a small army of young helpers who made it all possible - and an excellent JSK team who continued to meet people with HIV in their homes - after having dropped off their assigned kids in the morning - and then taking the children back home at the end of the day.

And we were also blessed with a lot of prayer. People across the city (and the world) were praying for this special time. We did too. As teachers and helpers. Many times in preparation and during the whole VBS. Prayers made a huge difference in all of us!

All good things come to an end - and on the last day we had a programme where the children shared what they learned with their parents. What a joy to see all of them wearing their crowns - and each class giving a short presentation on what they had learned.

The theme of the whole VBS was 'Walk in My Ways.' At the end of the time we know that God had helped all of us - kids, teachers, helpers - everyone to walk in His ways a bit more.

Here's to the on-going journey!

Departure

Four beauties lie on the floor. Two black. Two blue.

Square with bulges. Filled with the stuff of dreams.

Our suitcases wait silently - as the family sleeps.

Tomorrow is nigh upon us - 4 minutes away.

The long-hoped for day will tick into being. 13th of May. D-day.

We are leaving on a speeding train. Boarding at Borivali we will whiz north to Delhi.

Tickets checked. Money stored away. Milk and newspaper-wallahs informed of our 2 week departure.

A small mountain of work still lurks between here and our leaving - for the mountains that we desire.

But this too will pass. We are now counting hours - soon this will bleed into minutes - rushing towards the 4 PM taxi arrival that will start our trip to Mussoorie.

The road goes ever on and on
Down from the step where it began
Now far ahead the road has gone
And I must follow if I can
Pursuing it with eager feet
Until it meets some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet
And whither then?
I cannot say

Well - I know where our road leads us (D.v. of course). From here to Delhi on tomorrow's Rajdhani Express where we will be cramming in as many meetings with dear ones as we can in the 48 (apparently roasting) hours that we have there.

Picking up Asha and Enoch's cousing Joanna, we then aim to get the night train that leave Delhi Sunday 23.55 to Dehra Dun - and a taxi jaunt out to the Herbertpur Christian Hospital where lots of remarkable folks are - not the least our amazing Dr. Cherring Tenzing.

We plan to spend 2 days in Herbertpur - and then along with Stefan, Neeru, Ashish and Anjali - we should be winding up the roads to the blessed coolness of Mussoorie on Tuesday evening. And the welcoming hugs of Mum and Dad at Shanti Kunj. And 10 days stuffed with silence and laughter, reading and hiking, conversations and meditations and silly hats and and and....

Pinch me! Its finally happening!

So grateful for God's mercy in our lives.

Chicken curry

Its been a long time since I made chicken curry. Far longer than the long break from this blog (see here for the reason). So long that I had to ask Sheba for a step by step set of instructions.

Here is the recipe for Sheba's lovely coconut chicken curry:

1. Take 2 big onions and slice them fine
2. Cube 4 tomatoes
3. Heat up the oil in the fry pan. Add the onions while hot and fry.
4. When the onions are brown, add the tomatoes and the following:
a. 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
b. 1 tsp haldi (tumeric)
c. 2 tsp garam masala or chicken masala
d. 1 tsp 'Amma's special masala'
5. Allow the spices and onions and tomatoes to cook on high flame till the oil separates
6. Add 1 kg chicken and 1 cup of water (I added a watery dahi tonight)
7. Let simmer on low heat until the chicken is cooked (about 1/2 an hour to 40 mins)
8. Add salt to taste and 1/2 a grated coconut
9. Serve with rice or hot chappatis (which is what we are eating tonight).
10. Enjoy

As I type the lovely smell of the curry wafts through the house. Sheba and the kids have come back from the birthday party (we are hosting Oliver and Jaya's daughter Stuthi for the duration of the VBS).

I am just about to add the salt and coconut. Soon after that we should be sitting down at the table to eat. One hungry man and four birthday-party-snacks-full-returned-others. But I have a feeling that the chicken curry won't last long.

Bon appetit!

Shanghai Dreams

Every now and then you get the odd newspaper article saying how creaky old Mumbai should become like swanky, spiffy Shanghai.

Shanghai - with its swish - has somehow taken root in our middle-class subconscious as being the apex of modernity - at least on the Asian side of the world.

I for one beg to differ.

While there is so much that needs to be done. The sprawling metropolitan swathe of concrete that is the Mumbai Metropolitan Region has a long way to go before it measures up to the magnetic pull it has to those who keep thronging the city in search of the promised better future.

But there is one huge area where we trump Shanghai hands down.

It is in the precious gift of freedom.

Over the last week our house church has been organising a public meeting where we wanted to tell people about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We chose the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter and approached a local school for permission to hold it at their hall. They agreed. We then made some invitations and some inserts which we wanted to put into newspapers to tell people about the meeting.

We did not tell the police. We don't have too. We have the freedom of association, the freedom of expression and the freedom of religion as part of our constitutional rights. These were hard fought liberties which we so often do not cherish.

Most of us approached the secretaries of the co0p housing societies we live in to put up small posters on the notice-boards about our meeting. When I met the worthies in our building they had a small issue to take up with me. "We have been wanting to tell you something for some time" they told me. "Why do you not contribute when we come to collect money for the festivals we organise. It hurts us when you do not. At least contribute Rs. 100. Do not be apart from us." they said.

I have the freedom to give - or not to give. I explained why we don't contribute. I didn't expect them to put up our small posters. But they did.

When we had the meeting, we saw people exercise their rights to come - or not to come. No one from our building came. The choice to sit at home and watch the IPL cricket match which was on is entirely theirs. The 60 odd folks who did come to our meeting (many of whom were our own church members) came entirely on their own volition.

This is hardly the case in China.

Today, on Easter Sunday, there were a flurry of arrests in Beijing. The crime committed? Members of a large 'unregistered' church were trying to meet in a public place. They had been denied permission to meet in their own meeting place - and so some of them tried to meet to worship in a park.

As I have said - and will say again - we have much to repair in our country. But one thing is clear - we do have the freedom to say what we want to change - and the opportunity to do so. We can move (almost) anywhere in the country without permits. We can take up (most) jobs based more or less on our merits (though connections often help). We can vote and hunger-strike and take out processions. We can attend a clearly religious meeting. Or we can sequester ourselves away watching the IPL cricket matches - or the latest bufoonery laced with aspirational ads that our free country offers by way of televised entertainment. But that freedom is itself such a blessing.

Shanghai dreams can wait for me. Give me Bharat any day. Now lets get to work and make it live up to our shared potential.

Busy, busy, busy

Radio silence from this side usually means one thing: we have been busy, busy, busy.

And so we have.

Here is a short list of what the Eichers have been up to in the last 2 weeks:

1. Admitted 3 patients at JSK for inpatient treatment
2. Supervised young volunteers who are eager to help at JSK
3. Hosted teachers and helpers meetings for the upcoming VBS - twice
4. Taught about the life of Christ in a Tuesday night Bible study at the house of our of our staff - twice
5. Organised and ran a full JSK staff retreat at Pune
6. Organised and ran a wonderful network meeting for Christian organisations and churches working on HIV issues in the greater Mumbai area
7. Talked about JSK to visitors - four times
8. Welcomed and oriented the 3 new interns from Union Biblical Seminary
9. Helped plan and run a special public meeting by our house-fellowships about the Death are Resurrection of Jesus
10. Met with church members for prayer every night in the week running up to this meeting
11. Preached the Good Friday service at the Free Methodist Church
12. Supervised our happy twosome as they have started their summer holidays - while their happy parents are still very much at work
13. Led the Lord's Table at our Easter Service this morning
14. Hosted dear friends for the night last night - and other dear friends for prayer and lunch last Sunday
15. Prayed with a brave woman who is suffering from cancer - and prayed with her son about his upcoming marriage
16. Am bone tired. Had stars before my eyes early this evening. Have been trying to catch some sleep to make up for the last few weeks - and am very much looking forward to travelling North to be in Delhi, Herbertpur and Mussoorie for the latter 2 weeks of May
17. Plus the various and sundry joys of keeping the household going.
18. Life is full. Wouldn't have it any other way.

April 2nd 2011

The white ball flew into the night sky. A beautiful arc. Way out beyond boundary and into the stands.

The country erupted.

28 years is a long time to wait for anything.

Despite all the grime and slime that surrounds professional cricket today here was something to savor.

India are world champions.

Not something we are used to roll trippingly off the tongue. Not something that we hear often.

Given our long hiatus in mediocrity any victory is sweet.

The mind flashes back to 1983. The unbelievable feat of beating the invincible West Indian cricket team at Lords in London.

I was in Bihar at the time and read about it via day-old issues of The Telegraph from Calcutta. With each step that the team made I thought that this was the end. It couldn't get better. We were after all the team that regulalry was battered. That strove to grind out a drawn test match. Where winning was an alien word.

But it did. Kapil Dev's toothy smile, frozen in the black and white shots of the time. Carrying that massive silver cup. A whole new universe opened up. India and winners. Unthinkable till then.

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And so we come back to the night of April 2nd - Anno Domini 2011.

The night when the white ball sliced the sky and the fireworks went on and on.

It was the end of a superb birthday for me.

The morning started with flowers and cards and gifts and kisses from Sheba and Asha and Enoch.

Phone calls from Amma and Appa and from Mum and Dad. Blessings and prayers. Isaiah 41.8-12.

Enough for the whole day to have ended right there.

But it just got better and better.

The morning was spent with my dear fellow-elders from the group of house-churches where we worship.

It was such an honour to host them in our flat for our monthly meeting where we shared about what God is doing in the various parts of our family of faith. Each of these dear men are worth their weight in gold many times over. Quietly doing the work of helping move us all forward. We talked and prayed and thought and prayed. By the time 2 pm had rolled around we were all treated to a lovely lunch by Sheba.

Then an afternoon of rest. Cleaning up. Badminton with the kids.

Since our phone lines were down there was no question about 'listening' to the World Cup finals on the internet as we had been doing till then. We had to find a home willing to host us.

The home of Rolly and Doris Jayakar- where one of our house-fellowships meet - was the obvious choice. A call and we had invited us to the 2nd half of the match.

We dressed in whatever blue we could find (not too much in the Eicher household it seems). Enoch's plastic cricket bat and ball (in appropriate flourescent colours) and a make shift turban completed our outfit. We were reading for the game.

When we got to Rolly and Doris' home Sri Lanka had already batted beautifully to get 275 runs on the board. Our men were batting and A wicket was already gone of our dear Indians. As we settled down we saw Sachin Tendulkar edge the ball off a vicous Lasith Malinga ('the Slinga') delivery - into the happy hands of the Sri Lankan captain for another out.

In the bad old days we would have now switched off the TV. Because we knew what was next. Once Sachin was out there was no hope.

But this night was going to be different. This was finally a team.

And so while the camera zoomed in on various celebrities and their spouses burying their heads - we were given a nail-biting lesson in tenacity as Gautam Ghambir and Virat Kohli stuck it out. Intelligent batting. A run here. A shot there. Shepherding their time. Moving forward. When Kolhi went, it was time for MS Dohni to come in.

Our cricket captain has been called 'Captain Cool' for some time. This night we saw why. Playing the innings of his life Dhoni warmed up slowly. A shot here. Another there. Then a four. And another. His bat - so silent for most of the tournament - did the talking. Dhoni started to cramp and had to get medical attention at one point - but he didn't call for a runner - preferring to do it himself.

As our room shouted encouragements towards Wankede stadium, we started seeing the overs tick by, and team India come closer and closer to the goal. Guatam Gambhir ended his brilliant innings just short of a century - but by then our nervousness was slowly draining out as we allowed ever greater doses of belief to seep in.

A few overs later Dhoni faced the Sri Lankan bowler with 4 runs left to win the match and the right to hoist the cup.

His shot went high into the night sky. Far beyond the reach of any eager fielders' hands. Right into the heart of 1.21 billion fellow countrymen who started the partying.

Andi and Anil Sainani celebrate the win

Sheba, Enoch and Asha with Doris Jayakar (pics courtesy of Juanita Jayakar)

It was 11 PM. We had supped with the Jayakars. We went down to get an auto rickshaw home.

There were none to be had.

Everyone was celebrating. People driving down the road honking horns. Fireworks going off. Shouting. Some had their shirts off and were waving around. Flags flying out of the doors of cars and being waved from the backs of motor-cycles (including a few saffron ones - don't know what that had to do with the team).

We walked back home. Cars scooted past with people out to celebrate.

We were charged by a bull.

Yes you read it right.

When we passed a small group of cows - a juvenile bull challenged us with a short charge. I don't think he was celebrating the World Cup win. The crackers may have just been too much for this small group of bovines. We gave the little herd a wide berth and continued our happy wandering home.

We got home just before April 2nd came to an end.

A good day all around.

Two figures

I see them almost every morning.

On my short ride across the lunar craters which masquerade as a road that links my office with the JSK centre.

Two figures. Walking.

One a 5 year old boy. Beside him a lady.

Some mornings the lady is the boy's mother. Sometimes she is another woman.

The boy holding the hand of the lady.

Walking to school. The small pre-school that a local church runs for children of the vicinity.

To every one's eyes this boy is just one of the many who avail of the kind-hearted church.

The lady is just a woman taking her son or ward to the school.

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We will call the boy little Thomas.

Thomas was born in a brothel.

His mother has left that world. And is stepping into another one.

The other ladies who take little Thomas to his pre-school have also stepped out.

We know them because they have all come for HIV testing at the JSK centre.

Little Thomas is HIV positive. So is his mother. So are some of the other aunties that he lives with.

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When Thomas was 3 his mother decided that she had enough of the 'rehabilitated' life. She told the people running the centre she is living at that she wanted to visit her relatives in the village. They took Thomas and his mother and put them on a train in the main station in Mumbai.

His mother got off at Kalyan station and went back to the brothel.

Thomas was put under the bed while his mother gave herself to her clients.

We remember the dear couple who run the centre telling us about their heartache when they found out that Thomas' mother had returned to the trade.

But they prayed. And so did we. And others too.

One day Thomas' mother decided that she had enough - and returned.

The good people who run the centre welcomed them back with open arms. Prayers have been answered.

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And so when I pass by two figures at just before 9 AM on any given day, I know that these are not just any old people.

These are precious, precious people.

Thomas is starting a new life - one that we are proud to have the tiniest part in sharing in.