Some final thoughts on India...

-They drink hot water and shower in cold water
-The buildings are all square but the streets twist and curve and go up and down
-Really, all you have to do is go up the mountain to the right
-The bathroom is in the shower, not the shower is in the bathroom
-There is no such thing as on time, only India time (Meaning we get there when we get there)
-They shoo you away with their hands to tell you to come
-They nod their heads sideways to say yes (It looks like 'I guess so')
-Rice and dahl... that is all
-In Darjeeling everything is in a perpetual state of damp, nothing ever fully dries
-You don't need an alarm clock because the roosters will wake you up before one anyway
-Socks and sandals are the fashion statement, runners look ridiculous with a kurta
-When on construction sites forget everything you know about building, it's wrong
-Everyone is related... They are all sisters, aunts and uncles (Not biologically, that's just what they call each other. We never fully figured out blood lines)

One final thing, we did stick to our three main rules Tim mentioned in one of our first posts.
#1 Try everything, even if it causes extreme pain
We had a few days throughout the trip where our stomachs objected to the food. Either the spiciness or the sheer volume.
#2 Visit every religious sight
We went on a prayer walk one day and saw all the major sights
#3 Stick to the itinerary, no matter what
As far as was in our control we stuck to YWAM's schedule for us and we made all our flights despite delays and 'India time'.

OK... maybe we'll do one more post!

Alright, so we thought it would be a good idea to let you know that we all arrived back safely in Canada after some very long flights. I'm sure I can safely say that none of our flights were on time, there or back. Fortunately though we never missed a flight nor did we lose our baggage. The children's program went well; always a fun time with the kids. That evening we enjoyed an evening of debrief with YWAM, some of the most unique pizza any of us had ever had, time looking at pictures of the last 3 weeks and a little bit of 'Solomon Island rap'. The next morning before we left we were met by our YWAM coordinator who had a prophetic word for each of us. We were all quite moved and touched at what she had to say. The drive out of Darjeeling was a little bitter sweet for all of us. We were ready to go home but we all left a little piece of our hearts in India. In Delhi we spent some time with Ruth Jensen, our travel agent for this trip who has many strong ties with the school. We all appreciated the little 'taste of home' her and her family offered. Tim was also able to meet up with a friend that he hadn't seen in 6 years. Unfortunately due to our delays they weren't able to spend too much time together before he had to catch his train. They were both thankful for even just the short time though. The flights were uneventful as were customs. We were met with quite the welcoming comity in Edmonton and then made the icy drive home to Camrose. We laughed about all the room in the vehicles... we didn't think they needed two, we could all fit in one! As well, it was almost odd to drive so quietly; no horns! We had another debrief at the school the next morning, a good finale to the trip.
At the moment we are all recuperating from jet lag and preparing for class again on Monday.

We would all like to thank you for all of your faithful prayers and support. We all walked away from this experience learning a little more about ourselves and a little closer to God and each other. We feel we did make a small but mighty impact in Darjeeling and Darjeeling made a huge impact on our lives.
Thank you
God bless

Our Last Post

Hey everyone!
So we just arrived back in Darjeeling. We spent the last week at Mim Tea Estate rebuilding a nursery. When we got there it looked like it was used to house animals. There was a dirty wood floor, chicken wire windows, corrugated metal walls....not a place for children. With the help of some locals we covered the walls with plywood and painted, added real windows, cleaned the floor, painted the old rusty roof, put up a ceiling, and added toys. It was recieved well by all the villagers, especially the children. It was an awesome feeling to go there and make a difference in the community and show them that they can make a difference too if they all pull together. Leaving a footprint like that was so rewarding for all of us and is what we came here to do. We have bittersweet thoughts about leaving in two days. As our last outreach here in India we have a kids program to run tomorrow in a small village just outside of Darjeeling.
We look forward to seeing you all soon!
Team Darjeeling

Here's what's happened since we last spoke...

Hey everyone, we're back in Darjeeling for a day before we head out to another village. Just thouight we would let you know we are all doing great. We had such a great time in this first village (I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it, I mentioned it in a previous post though.) It was called the small village; there was no electricity except for some injenious water powered genorators that they build, and even those were rare. Anyway we took the '3 hour jeep ride' (more like 5 hours, India time) out to the village and from there it was another 20 minute hike to the church where we were staying. The next day we were in charge of a kids program that we had organised. It went wonderfuly. We sang some songs, Tim had a lesson on Jonah and talked about Gods love and Emma and Amanda had a paper/visual presentation to go with it. Abishek, who's village we were visiting translated for us. He did a great job too despite never translating before. He was a little nervous at first but I think he had a great time and we really enjoyed our time with him. We had a craft with beads which all the kids loved and even most of the adults were happy to participate when we offered to them. We also did a skit, which had everyone laughing. It's hard to explain how we did it, but it was about getting caught in the trap of sin. We all got quite animated, especially the boys. After lunch we split the boys and girls up. The guys played soccer (and succeded in breaking a window, which we paid for. A whole $4 with the excange rate!) while the girls went inside the church to play jump rope and paint their nails. I couldn't believe how fast that nail polish went. I had 10 different colors in my hands and just kinda held them up and all the older women grabbed them out of my hands. The girls and I were expecting to be painting little girls' nails for hours, but the older women were more excited to do their own and to be involved. So as they all painted eachothers nails we went around with our cameras and took their pictures. They get equally as excited. Aunty, aunty; take my picture please! They all laugh when they see themselves on the tiny digital screens.
I should explain a few things here... They call us Aunty or Uncle as a sign of respect. The little girls here love it when we call them 'Biney' which means little sister. We were told we were the first 'white people' to come to this village, and our program was the first ever for them as well.
After the program we did some house visits. The next day was Sunday so we went to church and sang a few songs and did another skit for them, which they loved. Quite a few of them asked for more beads to make more braclets. (I realize now I didn't tell you what our craft was. Braclets with the colors green, black, red, white, blue and gold to tell the gospel story.) We handed out more beads, and the boys played soccer some more. And succeded in breaking yet another window! We weren't sure if we should leave the balls there or not, who would keep paying for the windows? Also the people were in awe of Matt's size, mostly because when he first got there he hit his head on the door frame. They spent some time asking him how tall he was and how much he weighed and standing next to him comparing their smaller frames.
Every night we had fellowship time with the family we were staying with. We would pray and sing and the last night we even had some Nepali dancing. Another thing I have to mention is the food. It's quite good... but the proportions are amazing! The first day we all struggled through a few meals under the impression we had to finish everything on our plate. Imagine for a second the amount of food you eat Christmas day; ok, pile it ALL on one plate. Now eat that amount in rice and spicey beef 4 or 5 times a day! No I am not exagerating one bit! We each had a plate like that. After a few meals we couldn't hardly look at rice. We did eventually talk to Abishek and ask him if they could feed us less and our host just laughed and said we didn't have to finish, aparently it wasn't all that offensive to leave food on the plate. We all thought that information would have been fantastic earlier!
So after our goodbye's (and more food than we could eat) we hiked out to the main village at 5:00 this morning to meet our jeep to go back to Darjeeling. That's an experience; hiking through jungle in the dark. So we are here for the day before we head out again to go to MIM. We will be fixing up the tea estate daycare untill Monday then we return to Darjeeling, then back to Canada.
I'm sorry to write you a novel but there is no internet conection where we are going. (Nor was there one where we just came back from) Thank you for your prayers so far. We ask that you pray for our health as a few of us are still a little queasy feeling from all the rice. Also for saftey as we drive out to the estate and we will be doing some roof repairs.
Jimasee
Beth

We don't know what to name this post...

Hey everyone. So here's whats been going on since you last heard from us. We had our orientation Saturday morning with our YWAM hosts. We learned what we will be doing during our time here. On sunday we walked around Darjeeling and the girls bought kurtas for the church service at 3 pm. It was an english service but we were the only ones there. There are two men that work at the Grace Inn where we are staying that set up the electric bass and guitar. They asked us if we played; Matt on drums, Tim and Florian took turns on bass and guitar and the girls sang. One of our hosts also showed up, but baisicly it was a worship jam session with our team. Today we went on a prayer walk and prayed for the different temples, churches and mosques. We have been really enjoying the food, mostly Momo's which are pretty much a stuffed, steamed dumpling. They serve almost every meal with a sort of butter soup with little bits of vegtables and cilantro. The people are very friendly, they almost always smile back. the weather has been kindof cool and damp, no problem for us, but quite cold for the locals.

We have a pretty chill few days ahead hanging out in Darjeeling before we head out to the first village called Chotahatta where we will be working with a church running a childrens program and going to house meetings. That will be for 4 days before we head out to MIM where we will be renovating a daycare center on one of the tea plantations. We will be there for most of our time in India and will come back to Darjeeling for one day of good old debrief then we will be heading back home.

We probably won't be able to keep you updated while we are in the villages. It's quite uncertain when we will write again. We ask that you would pray for continued health for our team, the people we are going to encounter, and for YWAM's service in the city.

Thank you for your prayers, we are praying for you also.

Finally Made It

Well, the computer just deleted everything I just wrote, so here's the shortened version: we had some long flights to Delhi and Bagdogra during which we got a glimpse of Everest from the window of the airplane, landed, and were met by a van, which took us up the mountain to Darjeeling... a beautiful three hour drive along a winding switchback road. We enjoyed the luscious green scenery... trees, tea plantations, monkeys, etc. and finally arrived a little before 6:00 last night at our hotel, where we met one of our hosts, and settled in to our cozy accomodations. Today at 11:00, we will be meeting the rest of the YWAM team for our orientation. Until that time, we are just getting to know the city a little bit... doing some shopping perhaps, and seeing the general sights. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!

Team Darjeeling