Life Changing Words Ministry

Missionary Journal

February 25, 2007

We walked over to the house where Saji and Gracy are living to have tea and ended up having lunch with them. I showed them the pictures of Corrie and Jason and also of Dan and Pam with their children. They were interested in seeing how much they have changed since 1996, when the three of them were with us at Grace Bible College. Gracy remembers sewing my sari blouses for me and has requested that I give a blouse to her to stitch. I said I would do it.

They introduced their tenant, Mini, to us and she left shortly to go to the nearby clinic where she is a nurse. She came back before we left after lunch. She and Gracy stood at the house entrance and watched us go out of sight, waving each time I turned around to look at them. Saji walked us back to Pastor Sam’s house, where he was waiting for us. The children got home just before we left.

Bill and I rode back to Gene’s with Pastor Sam. Then we set off for Monday market to get the veggies for the week.

Madabi Rachel Elsen came to see us and to take me with her to Karol Bagh, a west Delhi market place. We had lunch out and shopped for saris in complementary shades of blue. They will be for her four daughters to wear for her USA wedding and reception.

It took a long time to get an auto rickshaw when we were finished. The asking price was Rs 100; it was Rs 65 to get to the market. It was now after six pm, so we compromised to Rs 100 to Vasant Kunj. Madabi took a taxi back to her place.

I received an email that made my heart leap for joy!!! It announced that our family had expanded by two more souls... Walter David and Rachel Renae Dunn were born on January 25th. Thank you, Lord. Bless them with good health and give Brianna a speedy recovery for now they are a household of six persons. "...the generation of the upright will be blessed." (Ps 112:2)

Mawana asked me to help him with his English pronunciation. We are working in phonograms in an ESL manner for at least an hour everyday. His weekend assignment is to learn the sounds of the alphabet and to find words to match his phonograms that I will check for him.

Thursday Madabi called and asked me to meet her in Green Park. I told her that I would meet her at the taxi stand that Gene usually used after church. I thought she understood me. I took an auto by myself to the bus stand. I was there ten minutes early. At noon I asked the taxi stand man if I could call on his cellphone to Madabi’s number. She was on the same block, only in front of a temple the opposite way. She was in front of me before I got my phone book back into my bag. I thanked the man and we left to get an auto rickshaw. We went to Dilli Haat, a location of handicrafts from all over India. It attracts mostly tourists who are shopping across the way at the famous INA market, where imported goods can be purchased. We found a few pieces of costume jewelry to go along with the saris for the girls.

Back at Madabi’s place, the lady we wanted to minister with welcomed me in, but suddenly changed her clothing and left the house without her key or cellphone, which surprised Madabi. After finishing my tea, I asked Madabi to help me get an auto so I would get back at the time Bill asked.

Riding in the auto rickshaw by myself seemed almost like I was somewhere else. It felt like the same calm that you have when you are at your own familiar surroundings. I wondered exactly what this meant for me.

Another guest came. Her name is Sarah Garner from Atlanta, Georgia. She came through the Crown Finance relationship of two friends, both Gene knew of. She was in Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra over a two week period on a vacation. This is her second visit to India. The 25 year old will be here for three months to test the waters for a way to minister teaching written English to deaf children in Tamil Nadu. She was supposed to go to Bangalore, but did not get a ticket in time.

Since Sarah and I both had some tailoring to be done, we walked over to the tailor that Sam recommended. The tailor took our measurements and we kept a copy for ourselves. Sarah’s outfit will be ready Saturday by seven pm and mine by Tuesday. It is more expensive in this place to have stitching because this is a posh and wealthy area that the supply meets the demand.

Saturday turned out to be a quiet day. Bill’s stomach has been acting up since yesterday. Perhaps all the spicy foods he has eaten have caught up with him. He spent most of the day sleeping as his healing method.

Gene has gone to a meeting at the north end of the city and doesn’t plan to be back to supper. Dr. Carthi went to the office. Sarah went to Priya Complex to see a movie and won’t be back until after 9:30pm. Mawana had left for the weekend. I have caught up on my journals, except for the first ones, which I think Peter will cover from his perspective.

Madabi called to schedule another place to minister to -- a Hindu lady she introduced me to two years ago. We will try to see her on Monday.

Sunday morning we went to the English-speaking church at Green Park Extension. We saw many people who we have not seen for some time. It was nice to renew acquaintance. Gene stayed for the Bible study and lunch. Bill and I took Sarah and headed back to Vasant Kunj. We changed clothes and went to Priya Complex for a "special" lunch at McDonalds, then a check of the emails at a spot Sarah discovered that has WIFI. We left Sarah to do emails and to follow later.

Bill and I got a short nap in before Gene returned to start thinking about the evening meal when the Ditto couple would be returning from their south India visit. They have to leave Monday evening for the States. Gene and Dr. Karthijeyan reorganized Dr’s room to allow them to sleep there. Dr. would move onto Gene’s bedroom floor for the night. He has to leave for Bangalore in the morning until next Tuesday, when he will return. This way when Sarah Garner returns on Tuesday, she will also us Dr. K’s room.

My husband and I donned the aprons and fixed the evening meal of O’Brien version using small potatoes, steamed spinach, fried paneer (cheese) as the protein, fresh veggie salad, and rice pudding.

The Dittos arrived just as we were starting the meal. They had eaten, but thought that a taste of the evening meal might be alright. The shared their adventures with Gene and Bill, while I did the dishes. [It felt good to be serving in the practical sense.]

The Dittos felt that what they had seen and experienced needed to be "processed", so they went to bed after prayer. The rest of us followed their example.