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The Deam Team
Blog, India, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
We had to move CMI to a new location.
The children were coming back
to the school that CEF was using to house the CMI students and hold classes so
last Saturday, June 26, we all packed up and moved into New Delhi. In
our previous update we said that we were going to be moving to a big house in
the town near the school. However, it did not work out to rent this facility.
So, from now until the end of CMI, which ends August 5, CMI is being conducted
in two churches that are located near the home of Jacob and Sheela
in New Delhi.
The two churches are right
across from each other so it is working out fine. Classes are held in the
smaller of the two churches with the men sleeping upstairs in the parsonage
that happens to be vacant at the present time. The bigger church has a basement
which we use for eating and study and the girls sleep on the second floor of
the facility. The one inconvenience has been that we (Lynne, Edwin, David and
the two of us) are staying about 15 minutes away at a hotel-type guest house.
Jacob’s car can only transport four other people beside himself, so Edwin has
been riding on the motor scooter driven by one of the Delhi CEF staff.
It was quite a challenge
moving all the students and staff as well as the luggage, bedding, cooking
utensils and classroom equipment, but we all made it! When we think back on
this past Saturday we have just one more “adventure” to tell about from this
particular trip. CEF rented a big bus that transported the students and a large
open-bed truck transported the luggage, classroom equipment and cooking
utensils. Two of the CEF of Delhi staff rode on the motor scooter, Jacob
and Sheela road in their personal car and we (Lynne,
Edwin, David and the two of us) traveled in a larger vehicle that the school
allowed CEF to borrow for the move.
It is still hot here and the
church is located in the slums near shanty-houses (cardboard, plastic, tin—any
material that can be found) where there is an open sewer drainage that
resembles a canal. But the students have adjusted well to the non
air-conditioned facility and the smell and noise of the city. Seeing the
homeless, poor, physically dirty and hungry Indian adults and children who live
in these slums and daily walk past the church, is a continuing reminder of why
we are here training the national workers. We look around the city and
see the garbage and filth in the streets and have caught ourselves thinking, “How
can people live in conditions like this?” Then we were reminded that the
people of India have a deeper problem than the filth, poverty and physical
needs in which they are living. The deeper problem is their spiritual poverty
filth of sin. If the Christians of India don’t share the truth of the Gospel
with their fellow Indians then these people will spend eternity in an even
greater hopeless situation; they will go into a Christ-less eternity. This is
why we are here training the national CEF workers to multiply themselves by
training others to reach the spiritually lost children (and adults) of
India.
We will be heading for home late Saturday night,
early Sunday, July 3 & 4.
The four weeks that we were
schedule to be here in India is nearly over. We will be taken to the airport
this coming Saturday, July 3 late in the evening. Our flight to Chicago leaves
shortly after midnight, July 4—remember this is India time. We have a 15 hour
flight to Chicago and will land at around 5:00 am on Sunday, July 4 and then
fly to St Louis, arriving sometime around 7:30 am.
Prayer Requests:
·
Pray for the
students. They are getting tired and still have five weeks of CMI before
graduation. Pray that they will stay focused and alert during the remaining
weeks of institute. Pray that they will sleep well and survive the heat.
·
Pray that the
students will put into practice and apply the principles and methods they have
been taught so many boys and girls of India will hear the Gospel of Christ.
·
Pray that we will
adjust to the time change when we return home.
Thank you for praying!
Tim & Lisa (The Deam Team) J
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
A Typical Day for Us at India CMI
5:00
am Our usual time for waking up and
getting ready for the day
6:15-6:30 We
leave the white house and go to the school where we have classes for CMI. Often
Jacob will drive us or sometimes we walk. Jacob’s car is small and will only
hold three four others besides him so sometimes he takes our visuals and
teaching materials and we walk. One day Lisa got a ride on the scooter.
7:00-7:45 Prayer
time and devotions with the students in the classroom
7:45-8:30 Breakfast
8:30-12:30 Four
CMI classes are held during this morning time with a long 20 minute break for
tea mid-morning.
12:30-1:30 Lunch—If
the food is not ready to be served, the students usually sit and sing as they
are waiting for their meal. It is a blessing to hear them sing.
1:30-3:30 Two
more CMI classes
3:30-5:00 We
often have a staff meeting, use this time to meet with students or finish
grading or making preparations for the next day. Often we stay at the school
during this time.
5:00-7:30 We
either walk back to the white house or we catch a ride with Jacob. Most every day we take a shower to cool down
so we can relax. On some days we have washed our clothing and hung it out to
dry, take a rest, relax or make preparations for the next day.
7:30-8:00 Evening
meal—sometimes we’ll go back to the school to eat and sometimes Sheela, Lynne or Lisa prepares a meal for us and we eat at
the white house.
8:00-bedtime Preparations
for the next day, grading of assignments, talking over the next day’s
activities, or relaxing often occupy this time.
Our co-worker David Bachelder has
arrived. Because of
weather conditions in Chicago this past week-end, David’s flight was canceled
and he had to catch a different flight. After over 50 hours of waiting in the
airport or flying in the airplane, David finally made it here.
The heat—It has been
over 100 degrees the past several days. One evening Lynne took her “temperature
gadget” out on the balcony and it registered 109 degrees. It had recorded 98 in her room prior to
taking it outside. We, along with the other staff, do have an air conditioner
in our bedrooms. However, we have been experiencing a problem with the
electricity at the white house so the air conditioners are not working
properly. Quite frequently the electricity goes off and as a result we have
gotten very little sleep. A couple of days ago we both were hot, tired and
grouchy because of the heat and lack of sleep. Then the Lord reminded us of the
students. They have no air conditioning, only a ceiling fan that blows around
the hot air. They sleep in a classroom on a thin mattress/pad that is on top of
wooden school benches. Yet, the students never complain and are always trying
to serve us. Their attitude and spirit caused us to appreciate what we have and
to thank the Lord for His provisions. We are thankful that Jacob got all the
staff foam mattresses that we put on top of our hard cots. We are thankful that
we have water to drink and shower in. We are thankful that we have food to eat.
We are thankful that we have a ceiling fan above our bed. We are thankful for
the wonderful students who are here taking CMI and praise the Lord for how we
are blessed by them.
The students will be moving to a new facility this coming
week-end. Because the school children
will be coming back to school in July, we have had to find a new facility to
house the students and hold classes. Jacob found a big house which is about a
mile away from the white house. So, over this week-end we will be moving the
students, the CMI office materials and classroom supplies to this new
facility.
Prayer Requests:
·
Pray that all the
details will be worked out for the move to the new facility this coming
week-end (6/26).
·
Pray that rain
will come and cool down the temperature.
·
Pray that we will
get rest in the evening and that the electrical problem will be resolved.
·
Pray that we will
communicate clearly and be effective in our teaching.
·
Pray that we will
not complain but will be reminded of God’s goodness.
·
Pray for the
students who are now being trained to teach other adults to teach children. The
students have several practicum sessions this week and next where they will be
evaluated on how they would teach adults.
Thank you for praying!
Tim & Lisa (The Deam
Team) J
Wednesday,
June 16, 2010
Similarities & Differences from
our 2008 Trip and this Trip
Teaching Staff—During our last trip to India, our CEF co-workers
were Lynne Herlein from the CEF headquarters and
Martha Olanga, a CEF worker from Kenya, Africa. Once
again Lynne is heading up our teaching team but this time Edwin Juma from CEF of Kenya has joined us. CEF national workers
Jacob and Sheela are once again overseeing CMI as
well as Christopher G who is teaching several class sessions. This time David Bachelder, a co-worker from the CEF headquarters, will be
joining us this week-end and will be staying until the end of CMI.
Location—In 2008 we were in the city of Delhi so we heard lots
of noises such as car horns beeping, dogs barking and people talking in Hindi.
In the city we were within walking distance of shops and we could take an auto
rickshaw any time we wanted to go someplace.
This time our surroundings are quite different. The
school where CMI is being held is located in a rural setting just north of
Delhi in the state of Haryana. There are lots of dogs that run wild so in the
night we hear dogs barking. Last time we
stayed in the same building so we could just walk one flight up from our
sleeping room to get to the classroom. This time Jacob either drives us from
the white house to the school, where the students are living and having
classes, or we walk the 1/2 mile distance.
The other evening we were walking with Edwin on the dirt road that leads
to the school. As we turned the corner we saw a whole herd (LOTS) of cows
walking right toward us—they took up the entire width of the road. We didn’t
know if we should stop and get off the road until the cows passed by or if we
should just keep walking. Well, we decided to stop and let the cows pass until
we discovered that several locals gave us a questioning look as they walked
right between us and the cows. So, we started walking again. Edwin waved his
arms at the cows, clearing a path between them and the side of the road. Every
morning we look out our bedroom window and see black cows (water buffalo)
cooling off in a small pond. Sheela calls this pond the water buffalo swimming
pool.
Children’s Ministries Institute—Last time CEF offered only two of the eight modules of
CMI. This time all eight modules (three months) are being offered. At present,
we have 29 students of which six attended the partial CMI session two years
ago. It is a joy seeing these students again as well as getting to know the new
students.
The heat—One thing that is the same as two years ago is the
heat. We do have an air conditioner
in the classroom and when it is working the air conditioner along with the
ceiling fans keep the room at a manageable temperature. However, we can still
feel the sweat dripping down our neck and back as we teach. But as we look out
at the students, who are eager to learn, we are reminded that they do not have
air conditioning in their sleeping quarters so we don’t mind putting up with a
little bit of discomfort.
Dust storms—Two years ago we experienced the heat, power outages
and rain. This time we are experiencing the same things BUT we have also
experienced a dust storm. On Sunday afternoon we were being driven back to the
white house and we noticed that the sky looked a funny color, like it was going
to storm. Right as we got back to the white house a few drops of rain started
and Sheela commented that it looked like a dust storm
was coming. By the time we climbed to the third floor and entered our room we
heard the wind howling. The owner of the white house is in the process of
getting glass installed in the windows and one of our bedroom windows has a
wood piece in place of glass. Our closet window has no glass, only a screen, so
we hurried to move our clothes to the bed and shut the closet door. After the
storm passed we had lots of dust in the closet as well as rain and dust that
had blown on to our bed and window sill. Lisa said she was glad that we rode in
the car instead of walked because we would have been caught in the dust storm.
Lynne told us that this was the 3rd dust storm she has experienced
since she arrived in India.
Prayer Requests:
·
Pray that we will
stay focused on why we are here—to teach the nationals to spread the gospel to
the children of India and disciple the children in the Word of God.
·
Pray that the
students will get adequate rest and will be able to comprehend and apply the
methods and principles they are being taught.
·
Because of the
heat and the food, we occasionally get upset with each other. Pray that we will
remember to have a servant heart and will put the students first above our own
comfort.
·
Pray that we will
look for the good in every situation and that we, as well as our co-workers,
will continue working in unity as a team.
Thank you for praying!
Tim &
Lisa
Thursday,
June 10, 2010
We have arrived in
India!
Our airplane
touched down in
We praise the Lord
that we had a safe and uneventful flight. Thank you for praying! We both were
able to sleep some during the 14 ½ hour flight. All our baggage arrived and
Jacob, the CEF national worker and institute director, was eagerly waiting for
us after once we got through customs. Thank you for praying!
While we were
standing outside the airport we were surprised at how cool it was. Jacob told
us that Monday had been the first cool day in weeks. We were very
thankful. It was cool again on Tuesday but has heated up some since.
However, the temperature is not in the 120 degree range like it had been over t
he previous two weeks. We are praising the Lord.
We’re staying at the white house!
It took us about an hour to drive through the city and
into the next state until we finally reached our destination—the white house!
For the next few weeks CEF is renting rooms at a Christian school to house the
CEF institute and the 29 students who are here at this present time. About ½
mile from the school is a house that CEF is renting for the staff. Because this
building is white, Jacob is calling it “the white house.” On Monday evening our
co-worker, Lynne, greeted us and showed us to our room. She excitedly told us
how things worked out to purchase a generator back-up system so the air
conditioner would continue running even when the brown-out occurred each night.
Thank you for praying!
We jumped into our teaching
responsibility right away!
After getting some
rest and unpacking Tuesday morning we began teaching the students that
afternoon. We taught them how to use puppets and then conducted a workshop
where the students actually made a puppet. The students are so creative and
overseeing this workshop was a fun way of getting acquainted with them.
We’re trying to get adjusted.
The sights, sounds
and smells of
We’ve been
experiencing email problems.
·
Pray that we will
stay healthy and that the food will not cause digestive problems.
·
Pray that we will
communicate clearly so the students will understand the concepts and methods we
are teaching. They’re getting adjusted to our accent just like we’re getting
adjusted to their accent.
·
Pray that we will
quickly learn the student’s names.
·
Pray that we all
will sleep well and adjust to the time change—
Thank you for praying!
Tim & Lisa
Wednesday,
June 9, 2010
We arrived safely on
Monday evening, June 7
We’re sending this quick
email to let you know that we arrived safely in India at 9:00 PM Monday evening
(June 7) which was actually 10:30 AM Indiana time. All our luggage arrived
safely. Yesterday morning was spent unpacking and taking a nap (jet lag &
getting used to the time change). In the afternoon we taught the 29 students a
class on using puppets followed by a workshop where we helped the students make
a puppet. The students are wonderful and very creative.
We’re also praising the Lord
that the temperature has dropped. Yesterday was cool and today is a little
warmer but not the 120 degree weather that everyone here experienced the past
two weeks.
Lynne is glad that we have
joined her and that the temperature is lower. Edwin arrived from Africa
on Monday morning and we are enjoying getting to know him.
We only have email access by
using Jacob’s computer and it is really slow getting online so this will be
short.
·
Pray that we will
sleep better tonight. The bed has a very thin mattress on top of plywood so it
is very hard. All four of us instructors are experiencing pain in our back or
hips. Jacob is out running errands and is planning on bringing back pads for
each of us to put on top of our beds.
·
Pray that we will
quickly learn the names of the students and will clearly communicate as we
teach.
·
Pray that we will
have a servant’s heart.
·
Plans are that we
all will move to another facility in three weeks. Sometime the first of July
the children will be coming back to school where we are right now. We
misunderstood and this school is not a boarding school but is a Christian
school. Right now our students are using
six classrooms as their sleeping rooms.
Pray that all will go well with the move and with the new facility.
We’ll send more info later.
God bless, Tim and
Lisa.
Saturday,
June 6, 2010
India, Here We Come!
This
coming Sunday, June 6, will be the day we start our India Mission Trip. We fly
to Chicago from St Louis at 3:30 in the afternoon,
then
leave for Delhi, India at 7:20 pm. The flight is a direct flight to Delhi — 14
½ hours. Delhi is 10 ½ hours ahead of Missouri time. By Missouri time,
we
should arrive in Delhi about 10:30 on Monday morning (which would be 8:30 on Monday evening in
Delhi.
Other
CEF Co-workers who will be joining us:
Edwin
Juma (CEF Kenya) will be traveling this week-end
also.
David
Bachelder, from the CEF Headquarters, will be joining
our teaching team in a few weeks.
We
will try to send email updates and prayer requests as time and availability
permits.
Prayer Concerns and
Praises:
·
Pray for travel safety and that we will get some rest during the flight.
Pray that neither of us will be nervous—Lisa doesn’t like to fly.
·
Pray that all of our luggage will arrive with no problems. We are taking
extra training material and an LCD projector that we will be leaving in India.
Prayer requests regarding
the Children’s Ministries Institute (CMI) location:
·
Please pray for our co-worker Lynne Herlein who
has been in India for 2 weeks now.
·
Because it has been extremely hot (well over 100 degrees) and the
electricity keeps going off the students and staff have not been sleeping well.
·
Because of miscommunication when arranging for CEF to rent the facilities,
the boarding school students will be coming back to the facility in a couple of
weeks. Pray for wisdom as solutions are sought regarding moving CMI to another
location—SOON.
·
Pray for good communication between Lynne and the India staff as they work
out a move.
·
Pray for the physical well-being of the students and staff in the extreme
heat.
·
Pray that Lynne will get adequate rest.
(AND that we will rest well after we arrive.)
Prayer requests regarding
our ministry:
·
Pray that we will be true servants to the students—that we will have a
self-sacrificing heart.
·
Pray that we will be content even thought we will have hot conditions and
will be without the “creature comforts” we have here in the USA.
Prayer requests regarding
our health:
·
Pray that we will both stay healthy and that the heat, food and other
conditions will not create any physical problems.
Thank
you for praying! God does amazing
things.
Tim
and Lisa