Tuesday
I’m writing Tuesday’s update as it’s Wednesday morning and Tuesday is closer in my memory.
In the morning Aslam, Kathee, Gideon, Hope, Esther, and I walked around the village to reload on fruit from the fruitwala, potato chips, bread, and eggs from the “grocery store” (more like a convenience store in America. We did this while Karl stayed home and worked (since he has two very large corporate worship services this week in Christmas Eve and Christmas Day worship) and Eve slept. We are walking about 2 miles a day on each trip through the village. And by “we,” I mean that the adults and Gideon are walking that while the younger ones take turns being carried on my shoulders. Or if Karl is alone he carries Esther on his shoulders. You should see the stares we get when we have a kid on our shoulders. I mean, we get stared at all the time by just about everyone, everywhere. But we turn into traveling circus when the adults become pack mules iand carry around the children. Children stop playing, adults stop talking with each other, everyone just watches us go by like we are a parade. And a parade we are, so I guess we should wear the shoe since it fits.
Where would we be without Aslam? Officially he is Karl’s driver. I know, I know, seems posh, right? Until you see how driving is done here. It. Is. Insane. Add to that that India drives on the left (which I still cannot get my brain to figure out how traffic works even after riding shotgun since we arrived). Needing a driver is a necessity here, I assure you. But Aslam is so much more than that. He shepherds us like crazy. “Uhh, the Isaac, you need to move in closer to the building so traffic can get by.” “The Isaac, you can take a picture of that but the men ask you not post it to the Facebook.” He will steer us with his hands to the right or left, tells us when it’s safe to cross the street (which I assure you is sometimes no easy task), talks with vendors about things, tells us what is good and save to buy and what we should avoid. He carries children who are on their last legs, carries kilos of fruits, veggies, eggs, bread, etc. He loves my children, holding their hands and keeping them safe wherever we are. He drops us of close to where we need to be dropped off and is a phone call and minutes away from picking us up when we are ready. He plays with the children and treats us as family. Words cannot express how thankful we are for Aslam.
Yesterday we had the privilege of a lifetime. We were invited to Huma and Faroot’s home for lunch. They are a refugee family from Afghanistan. They lived about 15 kilometers from Kandahar and brought to India via the UNHCR 4 year ago. They want to move to America or Canada and are waiting and hoping for that day to come. As refugees, they come from very humble means. Very humble! While both seemed to struggle a bit articulating English (Mrs Huma was more conversant), we were able to communicate just fine and had a delightful day. They pulled out all the stops and made us a very special meal that would be reserved for holidays and special meals. The first course was the most interesting soup that I’d ever seen. But so delicious! I’m not even sure I can describe what was in it but it was so tasty. After that we had a rice dish with pieces of goat meat in it (called Kabulie Palau). I’m a little sad I ate so much of the soup as I could have eaten 2 more helpings (I had already eate 3 helpings and they wanted us to eat more). They pulled out a table cloth, placed it on the floor, and we gathered around it and ate like kings! And what an experience it was. Such good and humble hosts. That was an experience I hope my children (Gideon and Hope will remember, I doubt Esther will, and I know Eve won’t) remember this for a lifetime. What an experience!!!!
After lunch we came home, I slept, and woke up to Aslam making supper. The last time we were here we asked him to come and make an Indian meal for us. By the way, Aslam lives in an apartment behind the home. He made us a chicken meal that was incredible, too. He made rotis from scratch, and the chicken dish was awesome! He is such a great cook, too! Wow! We are blessed!
As we were finishing up supper some people who are dear to Kathee and me came for a visit. Christiaan served as the head of the church board when Karl served here the first time. It was then we got to know him. When I attended the businessmen’s breakfast with Karl we all rode together and so I got to know him a bit then. We got to spend time with his wife Cornelia when we were invited to a foreign ambassador’s residence for an art show. Last time we came (4 years ago) their children Nevititha and Christopher were little. Now they are growing into adolescence and are a joy to be around. Christopher and Gideon hit it off and played on the floor while Nevititha joined the adults in conversation and much laughter. Each time we come India we hope that they will be able to spend time with us. They do so much good for the people of India. Their businesses are to help those who have been impacted by the sex slave trade, giving them jobs and teaching them skills to make a living as society and family has disowned these girls. They also run (or ran, I’m not sure) sewing industries for widows living in Kashmir. And they run coffee shops as a way to sell the goods the girls and women make (full disclosure, that may not be entirely accurate on all the details but that’s what I understand them to be doing). Hailing from South Africa, they have lived here for decades and have given their lives to helping the poor and outcast. It is a joy and privilege to call them friends and get to spend time with them.
That is it for now. It’s Wednesday morning at 9:40am (so 10:10am Tuesday night). Karl said he and I may be going to the Old City today. That is the place where the book binder is and I brought a couple books again to be rebound (John Frame’s Systematic Theology and a new ESV Bible I bought from which I’d like to preach). So we’ll see what materializes today. Staying home and resting may work, too. The downstairs neighbor dog barked for what seemed like an hour (it work Karl up, and Aslam, Kathee, Eve, and me, too). Also about that time a large truck’s tire exploded as well. Sleep did not come easy last night. The noise, dirt, honking, and everything is just wearisome. India is a hard place to live. It just is. Yet we love being here and consider it a joy and honor to be here. Our God is so good to us. And It’s always an adventure here in Delhi.
I’m writing Tuesday’s update as it’s Wednesday morning and Tuesday is closer in my memory.
In the morning Aslam, Kathee, Gideon, Hope, Esther, and I walked around the village to reload on fruit from the fruitwala, potato chips, bread, and eggs from the “grocery store” (more like a convenience store in America. We did this while Karl stayed home and worked (since he has two very large corporate worship services this week in Christmas Eve and Christmas Day worship) and Eve slept. We are walking about 2 miles a day on each trip through the village. And by “we,” I mean that the adults and Gideon are walking that while the younger ones take turns being carried on my shoulders. Or if Karl is alone he carries Esther on his shoulders. You should see the stares we get when we have a kid on our shoulders. I mean, we get stared at all the time by just about everyone, everywhere. But we turn into traveling circus when the adults become pack mules iand carry around the children. Children stop playing, adults stop talking with each other, everyone just watches us go by like we are a parade. And a parade we are, so I guess we should wear the shoe since it fits.
Where would we be without Aslam? Officially he is Karl’s driver. I know, I know, seems posh, right? Until you see how driving is done here. It. Is. Insane. Add to that that India drives on the left (which I still cannot get my brain to figure out how traffic works even after riding shotgun since we arrived). Needing a driver is a necessity here, I assure you. But Aslam is so much more than that. He shepherds us like crazy. “Uhh, the Isaac, you need to move in closer to the building so traffic can get by.” “The Isaac, you can take a picture of that but the men ask you not post it to the Facebook.” He will steer us with his hands to the right or left, tells us when it’s safe to cross the street (which I assure you is sometimes no easy task), talks with vendors about things, tells us what is good and save to buy and what we should avoid. He carries children who are on their last legs, carries kilos of fruits, veggies, eggs, bread, etc. He loves my children, holding their hands and keeping them safe wherever we are. He drops us of close to where we need to be dropped off and is a phone call and minutes away from picking us up when we are ready. He plays with the children and treats us as family. Words cannot express how thankful we are for Aslam.
Yesterday we had the privilege of a lifetime. We were invited to Huma and Faroot’s home for lunch. They are a refugee family from Afghanistan. They lived about 15 kilometers from Kandahar and brought to India via the UNHCR 4 year ago. They want to move to America or Canada and are waiting and hoping for that day to come. As refugees, they come from very humble means. Very humble! While both seemed to struggle a bit articulating English (Mrs Huma was more conversant), we were able to communicate just fine and had a delightful day. They pulled out all the stops and made us a very special meal that would be reserved for holidays and special meals. The first course was the most interesting soup that I’d ever seen. But so delicious! I’m not even sure I can describe what was in it but it was so tasty. After that we had a rice dish with pieces of goat meat in it (called Kabulie Palau). I’m a little sad I ate so much of the soup as I could have eaten 2 more helpings (I had already eate 3 helpings and they wanted us to eat more). They pulled out a table cloth, placed it on the floor, and we gathered around it and ate like kings! And what an experience it was. Such good and humble hosts. That was an experience I hope my children (Gideon and Hope will remember, I doubt Esther will, and I know Eve won’t) remember this for a lifetime. What an experience!!!!
After lunch we came home, I slept, and woke up to Aslam making supper. The last time we were here we asked him to come and make an Indian meal for us. By the way, Aslam lives in an apartment behind the home. He made us a chicken meal that was incredible, too. He made rotis from scratch, and the chicken dish was awesome! He is such a great cook, too! Wow! We are blessed!
As we were finishing up supper some people who are dear to Kathee and me came for a visit. Christiaan served as the head of the church board when Karl served here the first time. It was then we got to know him. When I attended the businessmen’s breakfast with Karl we all rode together and so I got to know him a bit then. We got to spend time with his wife Cornelia when we were invited to a foreign ambassador’s residence for an art show. Last time we came (4 years ago) their children Nevititha and Christopher were little. Now they are growing into adolescence and are a joy to be around. Christopher and Gideon hit it off and played on the floor while Nevititha joined the adults in conversation and much laughter. Each time we come India we hope that they will be able to spend time with us. They do so much good for the people of India. Their businesses are to help those who have been impacted by the sex slave trade, giving them jobs and teaching them skills to make a living as society and family has disowned these girls. They also run (or ran, I’m not sure) sewing industries for widows living in Kashmir. And they run coffee shops as a way to sell the goods the girls and women make (full disclosure, that may not be entirely accurate on all the details but that’s what I understand them to be doing). Hailing from South Africa, they have lived here for decades and have given their lives to helping the poor and outcast. It is a joy and privilege to call them friends and get to spend time with them.
That is it for now. It’s Wednesday morning at 9:40am (so 10:10am Tuesday night). Karl said he and I may be going to the Old City today. That is the place where the book binder is and I brought a couple books again to be rebound (John Frame’s Systematic Theology and a new ESV Bible I bought from which I’d like to preach). So we’ll see what materializes today. Staying home and resting may work, too. The downstairs neighbor dog barked for what seemed like an hour (it work Karl up, and Aslam, Kathee, Eve, and me, too). Also about that time a large truck’s tire exploded as well. Sleep did not come easy last night. The noise, dirt, honking, and everything is just wearisome. India is a hard place to live. It just is. Yet we love being here and consider it a joy and honor to be here. Our God is so good to us. And It’s always an adventure here in Delhi.
1 comment:
I have heard many stories from other friends about their travels in India, and with each one, I am more thankful for Aslam. He is a gift and treasure to Karl and all of us who have been there. He makes all the difference between those other stories and ours.
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