Home to Aotearoa

I am spending a nice afternoon at Clarke Quay, among the restaurants,
boats, fish and people watching, you can't get much better than warm
tropical weather and a good ice-cream and you can get it all here.

The most fun I'm having is checking out the fish in the river, feeding
on all sorts of things. Their scales are shiny and reflective as the
graze close to the waters surface. Hundreds just huddling together and
seeing what sort of yummies they can find. Its quite a nice wee sight.

Singapore, although I've only been here 3 times after my stint here
being born and being a baby - it still feels so comfortable and homely
and like I would fit into the culture, people, climate, and life at
the snap of my fingers. Maybe its because its a city that is clean and
green, or because its so easy to get around, or maybe cos everyone
speaks English? I'm not sure of why the ease and comforts are there,
but they just are.

Its a great location and really is the gateway of Asia. Its affordable
and easy to travel to any country around the world really and the best
thing that Singapore did for itself is making it a central hub with a
giant and amazing airport. It doesn't matter if you have a 9 hour lay
over in Changi Airport, because it will really only feel like 2 once
you've gone and explored, or maybe even got a spa treatment, gone to
the botanical gardens or butterfly garden or eaten an array of amazing
food and surfed the internet for free. No painful waiting here like
there was in Entebbe or Mumbai where you literally see the seconds
pass as minutes or sometimes even hours.

So anyway, this trip to Singapore, although short - is still a
delight. I managed to catch up with a sweet friend who is Malaysian,
who I met in London, who just happened to be passing through the same
dates as me for a job interview. Funny how life works out to give you
friends all over the world. Its just grand.

As I'm getting hour by hour, closer to my departure time for New
Zealand, my heart gets more and more excited. I just can't wait to get
on that plane! I kind of am like 'ok, I'm done being on holiday, I
just want to go home now'. It feels like this past 3 years have just
been one giant holiday. Yes, I remember that I have worked, and been
on trips to Uganda, India and Vietnam to do work that is on my heart
to do...but it still feels so like I've been blessed with an amazing 3
years of holiday. I won't try too hard to remember the incredibly
tough times that I faced...but I will continue to bask in this holiday
glory.

Ahhhhhh.

Off to Kiwi land I go.

Vietnam

I like food. Yes, I admit it, I even love food. It brings me such pleasure to taste the infusions in my mouth, to try new things, have spices and flavours just rolling around in there. It’s so good. My Vietnamese experience has been somewhat of a taste sensation, such beautiful fresh and crispy flavours, as well as some fiery little red chillis to spice things up, it has been a delight every meal that is for sure. I find myself looking for the place that I will next have my meal, constantly thinking about my stomach, or more like what concoction my taste buds will experience. I don’t know how I have managed to fit 3 to 4 courses in at one sitting, but I have mastered the art it seems. I look forward to every course like I am 5 years old on Christmas Eve, anticipating the arrival of Santas’ glory the next morning. I have had so many delightful meals, in ‘Western’ style restaurants, Not for Profit run restaurants to train and teach street kids, side of the road joints, food carts being pulled by sweet old ladies, fish markets, and in a family home, and I can safely say that I have thoroughly enjoyed every one.

One morning while in Hoi An, I rose early to go to the markets, where they start their trade at an early 4am when the first of the fishing boats start rowing in their catch of the night. With fish still jumping out of the boat for one try at their last escape, they haul the fish up on the docks and crowds from restaurants start to barter for the cheapest price from the lowly fishermen. It is ridiculous the prices here, it’s not worth mentioning because it will get you all mad and jealous that in the western world we pay far too much, and we can barely get them straight off the boat like this. The freshest and most delicious array that you can possibly imagine are soon all over the markets, getting sliced and diced and sold to the locals.

One of my favourite meals I ate was a whole fish that was wrapped and baked in a banana leaf, with some herbs incrusted over it and fresh lime, it is a taste that can only be described as fishy heaven. I have no idea of what the herbs and the spices were, and when I asked they could only provide me with the Vietnamese names, but I figured I didn’t need to know since I could never cook it as good as they just did.

(Don’t worry - this is the part about food, I will get serious soon but for the time being, I hope that you’re not hungry!)

A dessert that I tried that I can still imagine tasting in the back of my mouth was a crème brulee, but infused with ginger and lemongrass. Oh. My. Goodness. Don’t even try to give me another crème brulee in my life if it doesn’t have this combination.

‘Streets’ was the name of a restaurant that I went to that was started and run by an American Buddhist, he has a heart and connection with Vietnam so has decided to start a Not for Profit organization here for abandoned kids who are living on the street. He has started a cooking school to give them a skill and has opened a restaurant so that these young teenagers and adults will learn the hospitality industry. They work there for a fair wage, as it is a not for profit so all the money after expenses literally go to these kids. It is such a fantastically run place, the kids are so welcoming, friendly and appreciative of what this opportunity has given to them. The owner (who for the life of me, can’t remember his name) comes to every table to welcome you, suggest an item off the menu and wants to know your story, why you came to Vietnam, how you’re enjoying it etc. It is the best hospitality I have ever received at a restaurant before and it was an absolute pleasure paying my bill at the end. The food was pretty spectacular as well.

Wandering the streets has been a delight as well, I have met so many funny people in the most random ways and the hospitality of the Vietnamese is so wonderful. I was going down a dead end alley way on my bicycle (it looked like it might be an exit), and one sweet woman called out to me ‘Wong Way!’, so I stopped and talked to her for a while. She invited me back the next day to cook and eat lunch with her, what could I say? So, I accepted her gracious invitation to welcome a complete stranger into her home and she said ‘ok, you meet my husband too’. I arrived the following morning at 10am like we arranged, and out comes a 59 year old Australian man from the house! So it turns out that this 29 year old Vietnamese woman is ‘married’ to this man. I say ‘married’ because they just pose as being married, since it is very against their traditional culture of not living together before you’re married. They get less hassle this way. So off to the markets we went to purchase a whole array of fruits, veges, herbs, fish and meat to cook, which in total cost less than US$5. I listened to her story while we cooked and obviously asked a lot of questions since the situation seemed so typical…an old, lonely western man wants a wife, man comes to Asian country to seek wife (younger and prettier of course!), man gets wife, wife gets visa. I know it’s a huge generalization of me and I automatically put them in that category (to which, sadly, they really do belong). We all ate lunch together in this awkward, ‘ewwww, you look like my granddad and your new wife is younger than your youngest kid’, state of conversation and sometimes it got the better of me and I just smiled and held my tongue. They were pleasant though. Thu, who is the woman, has a daughter who is 9 years old, she was once married to a Vietnamese man but he did the dirty on her and then ran off to America with a new woman. Since then, she has had to work for a little less than US$140 per month to care for her mother and daughter and so her daughter actually lives with her mother. It’s all very confusing. Steve, the Australian man, has 2 children back in oz who are in their thirties and have 2 children each. Steve and Thu plan to move to Australia soon, once Thu’s visa is approved, and they will leave the mother and daughter behind. Thu told me that this was her choice.

The whole situation just made my head want to explode. Hearing the stories and watching the documentaries of so many ‘mail order brides’ or the likes, and meeting the real deal for myself. It made me so sad that they were going to leave behind her mother and daughter…how would they survive? To me it sounded like sheer abandonment, but I guess you have to do what you have to do when you’re in a desperate situation. I don’t judge them for it, actually that’s not entirely true…I judge him a little for it, but then again, I guess it’s not really my job.

In a very oppressive country, in all aspects like governance, religion, gender inequality and steeped in generational traditions, it is very hard to have any peace or freedom in the choices that you make. My friends, Ross and Nicole Anderson, have been here for almost 2 years and have tried to participate in a church body that was for expats, but due to strict control, police will not tolerate Vietnamese and Westerners experiencing religion together. So the alternative to reaching the Vietnamese is underground or illegal churches. So, they started one! I found myself in an underground, secret church where they have to change their location every week so that police don’t get suspicious about having regular ‘mixed’ meetings. It was a fantastic experience, and actually in a country that has barely any freedom in religion when it comes to Christianity, these smaller, home sized groups work much better for this environment. It was a privilege being able to experience this part of the journey with them.

Through the work that they’re doing here with the ‘fellowship’ and other outreaches, I’ve also had the privilege of visiting an orphanage, or better described as a shelter until they can find these kids a home. A wonderful elderly couple, of a Vietnamese-American mix have a massive heart for abandoned children of Saigon, so what began as taking a baby or 2 into their home and nursing them, has become over 13 shelters and housing around 250 children. They are very basic and don’t leave much to be desired for, but they are a home for kids that otherwise don’t have one. This old couple house the babies in their own home – being older than normal retirement age, this couple take in new babies and are their parents, I can’t imagine being that old and doing the mum and dad thing! So they are real troopers for Jesus, in total obedience to Him. Anyway, once the children get old enough to manage in a shelter, they place them in one that they have started. I managed to get to one of these shelters and the kids were so happy, so full of life and so, so cute. It was great to interact, to be there and to hear their stories. Sad story, after sad story…but transformed – and continuing to be transformed into a powerful story of God’s love and grace. There were some really great things about the place, but some really sad things too. They are not raising many funds from people overseas, so what they have is all they’ve got, kind of a deal. There aren’t many resources to spread around the homes and food is expensive when you’re feeding 30 kids in each shelter. They have a teacher coming to the shelter to teach them, but very basic when you consider the vast needs. Many of these children do not have documentation, so in the governments eyes, they do not exist. They are not entitled to education, dental and health care or basic rights until they have proper documentation. As you can imagine – it’s a constant struggle and fight against the very corrupt and inflexible government.

I adopted a wee boy as my God son, as I was leaving the shelter, this particular boy ran up to me and put a simple pink beaded necklace around my neck that he had made during the arts and crafts session. He was so proud of it and wanted to give it to me. This touched me deeply and I asked if I could adopt this little boy into my life. At the moment, he has an ear infection that he has had for many weeks, it is so bad that green ooze is spilling from his ear. It doesn’t seem to bother him much, apart from the fact that it is causing him trouble to hear. Health care is very expensive here and it is sad to see children in such a state, but hopefully now that we are aware of it, we can help him.

There are opportunities for people to adopt a wee life into your family as well. Ross, Nicole and a team they’ve got around them are currently trying to set up an official NGO, but with the governments zero tolerance on Christian organizations, it is proving to be difficult, but hopefully soon they will see the vast need of the communities they’re reaching and have mercy on the aid organizations. For the moment, it is encouraging children through writing to them and praying for them. It is a wonderful opportunity for people to enlarge their lives with some Vietnamese children, and at the moment, it will bear no financial burden on you…which is a plus for me since next year I will be studying and my financial life will be more difficult. They’re excited about leaving it open and seeing what God does, and if you feel in particular seasons that you want to give, then that will truly bless them.

Marie, who is French-Vietnamese woman, is leading this particular part and it is called Hand of Love. If anyone wants to adopt a sweet little child into your lives, then please let me know so I can pass on your details to Marie. Her main request is that you just pray for the child and the work that will continue to be done here in Siagon.

I am excited about the prospect of being a part of something in the beginning stages, of seeing what God is capable of doing in such a hardened country, in these kids lives and how big this thing really gets. But what is more exciting to me, is because we paid a visit, one life is changed, one kid will get some medical help (Nicole is a doctor!) and one kid becomes a part of my world.

The famous saying that my pastor in London says is ‘We can’t do everything, but we can do something’ resonates deep within me when I think about this. I love the realness of that statement. It is true, we can’t do everything, our visions often want to do everything then we often do nothing because it’s all too hard. But we can do something, and I refuse to sit by, comfortable with my life and pretend that other things don’t exist. They simple do, and we are not called to live a comfortable live, but one of surrender to Christ. Really…what would He do?

Indias Magic

Somehow in the chaos and confusion that consumes you when you enter Mumbai, you fall in love with it. I don’t know how it happens, or why it happened to me, but it has.

From the first time I took a rickshaw, I fell in love with Mumbai. I’m not sure why it was that experience that gave me a depth and admiration for that city, because logically it would be a death defying and terrible experience for any westerner, but maybe just experiencing life as the locals do was the best thing for me. I was a little nervous, those crazy 3 wheeler things that buzz around the city, weaving in and out of traffic (not very carefully) can be dangerous, scary and you feel like you can come within an inch of your life on most occasions. I was proud of myself, I did it. I flagged it down, I told him where I wanted to go, I got there, gave him the right amount of money and I had no help. I felt it was a small miracle, and for the first time in the four days that I was there, it made me smile from a deep place that I hadn’t smiled from.

‘I can do this’ resonated from deep within.

That was the first sign.

The first weekend that I was there, it was Diwali (the Hindu New Year celebration, name the festival of lights), the streets were bright, ornamented with flowers, colours and lights. Every street corner was cracking with fireworks and the night sky was lit with beautiful sparks of colour and festivities. The people were buzzing in celebration and the atmosphere was wonderful, almost electric. People were happy and smiling and taking their time to admire lights and colours and beauty in what could be classified as a very ugly city. People took pride in the floral arrangements and decorations, they were adorned on cars and windows and buildings and doors, and such time and care was taken in preparing the lovely decorations. It was the India that we would imagine, or at least it is what I imagined. Bright, vibrant and very alive, and I was happy to meet it. Firecrackers and works began early morning on the Friday – I jumped alarmingly out of my bed when the first explosion woke me at 5am. Thinking it was a bomb that had exploded, I cautiously looked out of my window expecting to see some burning buildings, but to my surprise, I saw fireworks being sent into the early morning sky, then hearing the crackles and bangs made everything fall into place. For the 72 hours of the weekend, I don’t think there was one that was not filled with mini explosions, all through the night and day, hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of firecrackers were lit. Most people liked to put them under a bridge or flyover to get a full echo effect and to see them light up the darkness, there seemed to be a sort of competition to see whose was the loudest, brightest and best.

The famous Indian head wobble is another endearing and beautiful thing here. It is hard to describe what it is, but if you imagine one of those silly little dash board dogs that their heads wobble from side to side when the car moves, that is kind of what it’s like. The Indians have this sweet way of communicating with each other using the head wobble, any sign of agreement, encouragement, understanding and instructions will be given and received using this head wobble from side to side gesture. It means so many things, I’m happy with you, ok, I understand, yes, please, thank you, goodbye, nice to see you and so it continues. They use it when they laugh, when they make jokes, when they’re talking, when they’re making plans, when they’re giving instructions, and I’ve even seen it when they’re talking to someone on the phone! It is sweet and so unique and special to Indian culture (in my experiences of the world so far). I have caught myself doing it also and it has made me just appreciate it that much more and has connected me to the people.

It seemed to be a well known thing that everything runs on ‘Indian time’ so when making plans, I learned very quickly to be there at least an hour after we arranged and I would still be early, on one occasion, I was on time and the group of people I was meeting were 3 hours later, to which they then asked me why I was so early! For me, it was all a part of the Indian experience, you had to embrace it or it would never work for you.

Unsystematic, unorganized and chaotic seem to be three words that I would easily describe my experience of India to be. I had the absolute delight (I seriously mean delight) of going to a police station with a friend to make a report of a stolen phone, and I was in awe of the unstructured chaos that was so evident in the tiny building. Waiting outside the small office, was a line of more than 20 people waiting to see an officer, while in the room were at least 7 police sitting around behind their empty desks literally doing nothing but checking their phones and talking to each other. As soon as they noticed that we were there, they ushered us into the room. Soon there was a gathering all around us of police and locals wanting to find out the story of why we were there. They couldn’t understand why we were reporting a phone loss, but we were stern with them that we needed a police report for insurance reasons. After a small discussion amongst themselves, they handed us a piece of blank A4 paper and told us to write it down ourselves and they would sign it. With no computers, log books or any sort of filing system, I saw one officer slide a piece of paperwork between the desk and the wall and watched it fall to the ground. I thought that was one great way to deal with paperwork. I so enjoyed the people watching in that experience.

I don’t think people have defined jobs, and several times I saw signs such as ‘caution, men at work’ and then next to it were 20 men drinking tea and having a chat. Or I have seen one man with a drill and 7 men looking over his shoulder and making sure he has the moral support to complete the job. There will always be a bunch of gardeners and then a supervisor literally standing over them watching their work, or behind a counter there would be 4 men working the one till and taking your order. You never know what person you needed to talk to in order to get anything done.

Not too far from my humble little room that I called home, was a new mall with a lovely coffee shop in it. Whenever I needed my western comforts after a long day on the Vision Rescue bus, or on a Saturday morning, I popped down to the mall and had a coffee. After only my second visit, the staff remembered me and my name and so every time I went in there, they would see me walking up, start waving, smiling and calling out ‘Hello Miss Corrina!’. It was so sweet and another reason why I have come to love this crazy city called Mumbai.

‘It is people, it is people, it is people.'

It was a quote that was used all the time by my Maori lecturer in college, and it is only now that I am really beginning to understand those very simple, but powerful words. In some ways it is the only way I can really define why I love to explore this beautiful world of ours, and it is the only way I can describe some of the best experiences in life I have ever had. I thought it was a silly and meaningless quote, but now I understand the power and truth in it. Something seemingly so small can impact a life so much – and how? Through people.

The Indian people are beautiful, welcoming, appreciative, humbled that you want to be there, excited, joyful and truly genuine. From being invited into homes of the people that we were reaching on the streets, invited to participate in a meal and seeing them giving completely out of their need and lack, to being invited to a humble, single room home of a teacher, I have been completely and utterly touched. This, so far has been the most extreme poverty that I have encountered, but the more extreme I seem to experience, the more generous and welcoming people I seem to come across. All the people I met and was invited into their space, were so enthused that I would come and be with them, they wanted to serve me and give to me as best as they could, and they counted it as an absolute honour to have me in their home.

So, it is with sadness and joy that I have departed the shores of India. Firmly planted in my heart and life, I know I will be back and be able to connect with such wonderful people again. I love that life has such an incredible way of unfolding layers upon layers of things you truly never expected to experience, and you India, were one of them. I hope through this journey of mine, that you have also had a piece of India enter into your hearts and lives…there’s so much more to it than these few words and experiences that I have shared, but too much for words to express. Simply put – you must experience the wonders for yourself.

Last Teacher Training

On Friday, I concluded the teacher training that I have had the
privilege of doing. I gave each teacher a clear file of all the notes
from the training, new songs, games, copies of the new planning format
and they were so stoked. A clear file that was organised and brought
for them, each. The delight on their faces was beautiful when I asked
them to write their names on the front with a permanent marker and I
think they finally felt worth something.

After going through the paper stuff, we just played games and had fun
together, I wanted to keep the mood light and let them know that they
can really enjoy themselves in an extremely hard and taxing job.

Over the few weeks that I have been having the training sessions, I
have seen people lighten up, relax and open up a whole lot. From the
first session, I felt they were cold, worried about what others would
think, they wouldn't participate like I wanted them to. Slowly,
they've come out of their shells, I have demanded it from them and it
has been invaluable for them as people and them as teachers. On Friday
I saw them laughing in hysterics, not caring about how they look or
what others think, completely letting their guards down and not being
afraid. It was such a freeing experience for everyone, and such a
beautiful sight for me.

I really felt in that moment, as I got one of the teachers to lead a
game I had just taught and seeing everyone roll in laughter, that I
had really done something here. If that's all I did, and that's all
that they remember, then I am happy with that.

At the end of the training, I gave the Kindergarten teachers the large
pack of goodies that I had made for each of them, including maths,
phonics and english resources, story books, toys, puzzles and other
things for developing language, personal skills and relationships and
the smiles were again, so impacting. Something that seemed so little
and small on my end will impact their ability to teach greatly, and it
only took a few thousand Indian Rupees per pack and a few days of
planning and organisation to make it happen.

My main work has been to develop a working model for the Kindergarten
programme as it is so new, but greatly needed. It has been fun taking
something from absolutely nothing, and moulding it into something that
will really work, putting resources and skills in the teachers hands,
and seeing them run with it, with enthusiasm. I really hope that it is
only the beginning of something great, that will take on its own shape
and continue to grow and adapt where it needs to.

I also purchased some more hands on resources for the buses like story
books, measuring tapes etc and gave the teachers them as well. The
need was not as great as it was for the KG team, so I was pleased to
be able to give to that. Don't get me wrong, the need is still so
great...but for the time and money that I had received to put into it,
that is what I was able to do and it was greatly appreciated.

So to all the people that so generously gave, that is what you gave
to. And now, in the Kindergarten programme, over 200 2-5 year olds
that they see per day will get hands on resources and activities to
see and do every day instead of sitting on a mat waiting for their
food. It seems worthy when you see the 200 precious little faces.

Sightseeing and the Temple Gates

Sightseeing has not been on my agenda for this trip, so it is a

welcomed but also interesting experience.

So far in India, I have really experienced life as a local and have
definitely not been to the sights, treated like a tourist or even
behaved like a tourist. This weekend I was thrown into a whirlwind of
something different, of how most foreigners view this country.

After being scammed, ripped off and taken for a ride, I can
comfortably say that my trip here could not have been complete without it and has added a beautiful dimension to my stay. From touts sending you in a direction of a 'tourist information' centre, where they are on commission for any things that they manage to talk you in to.

Rickshaw and taxi drivers who literally times their fare by at least 5
for anyone that looks different, or men in the market groping you
because they think they can...it all somehow makes India beautiful,
unique and intriguing.

India is wonderfully disorganised, and I don't even know if they know
it. It is something that you resolve to and it all becomes a part of
your India experience. Standing in the train station line to buy
tickets to Agra is a prime example of how un systematic their
'systems' are. Out of 20 lanes open, one was for woman, I joined the
back of the line and was quickly squeezed forward by another that
joined behind me. Suddenly, wrapping her arms around my waist and
holding me, I was alarmed at this stranger and her serious lack in
physical boundaries, then I glanced forward and noticed that every
woman in line was doing this and soon it became apparent why.

Woman try to push and barge their way to the front or try to get others to
buy their tickets so woman stand strong, united in their line
formation and determined to keep their places. But as I got closer and
closer to the front I noticed all these people that seemed to be
'legitimately' pushing in, and it seems that they were allowed to by
the strong woman standing their ground. Men and woman were pushing
their way to the front, crowding the window and buying tickets on the
side of where the actual line was and I then found out that these
people are buying coupons. So, you can board a train with coupons or
tickets, if you're buying a ticket then you have to line up, but ifyou're buying coupons you have every right to push your way forward. So why doesn't everyone buy coupons?! After a long, squished wait time of 50 minutes, I finally arrived at the front and was told I was in
the wrong line. Hah! I assumed I was in the right line since it was
the only womans, and this is where they sold train tickets. But...this
is only where they sold train tickets to Indians, and I had to
therefore go to the International Tourist Bureau to get my more
overpriced tickets. I went there and it was closed. A friendly
gentleman pointed me to another one which just happened to be where he
worked.

To cut a long story short, it ended up that I hired a private car with
a friend, to take us to Agra which is where the Taj Mahal is. No
trains were available and I needed to do it, I came here to do it. So,
after dodging traffic for 4 1/2 hours on a long, straight and busy
road, I found myself standing at the gate of the mighty Taj.

Included in the car price was a guide and he met us there, we walked
in and we were faced with the images that we had seen all our lives.
The beauty was inescapable and every bit as amazing as you would
imagine. Except, I got to see it in person, with my own eyes and it
came alive...off the paper and it was so breathtaking. We did not have
a beautiful blue sky, but one of white fog and it seemed it gently
blended into the background, but yet protrudes out to meet you.

It is just a sight, it is just something else in this world that isbeautiful, but I'm glad that I got to experience and see it. Like the
pyramids of Egypt, the structures of Olympia, Vatican City and ancient
Rome and the white terraces of Pammukale, they will be a once in a
lifetime trip. I won't come here or do this again - so it is fun that
I have been.

I also have had time to explore Old Delhi, with forts, tombs, mosques,
temples and bad electric wiring, with streets and rows of buildings
connected by hundreds of lines of electricity between them, crossing
roads and dangling from every corner. I was able to imagine how life
was, and really how life still is for many, many people.

One scene really threw me back to bible times actually. There was a
long, narrow road with markets down either side, bustling with people,
children and all sorts of livestock. There were areas of grass that
people were selling their most prized goats, pigs and chickens, and it
was buzzing with life. At the very top of the road was a temple, up
raised on a hill and overlooking the market place. After moving my way
through the busy, non-touristy market, climbing the stairs and going
into the temple, I came out of the gate around 3pm, and there, sitting
right at the gate were lame men - blind and deformed. Immediately I
was taken to the passage at the gate called Beautiful where Peter
called upon the man to 'Look at us!...Silver and gold I do not have,
but what I do have I give to you'.

As I slowly walked away, I was contemplating that story, the whole
scene that I was just in that almost mirrored exactly what Peter had
encountered that day, and I was disappointed in myself. Here I am -
having the answer to abundant and beautiful life, full of grace and
freedom and I did not have to boldness or tenacity to simply say 'look
at me!' and help them up.

Imagine if I did?

What would happen?

Would the Lord heal them?

Would the men turn to faith in Christ?

Would it mean that the people would be in 'awe and wonder'?

It just makes you think...

It makes me believe that it is possible. It gets me excited and expectant.

Look at me! There is power in that.

Proverbs 10:12

I am sitting here in Mumbai, India, at Gloria Jean's coffee shop and
am having a moment of peace and solitude from a crazy city outside of
these walls. I am reading my bible and these words are hitting me deep
in my heart.

"Hatred stirs up dissension,
but love covers over all wrongs."

Dissension. I don't even really know the full extent of what that word
means, but I know that it is not pleasant. In my heart I know that
hatred is simply a lack of love - it is not the intense word that we
use in todays society, and I really believe that everything that lacks
love is hate. I know that there are some people that I am finding hard
to love at the moment, does that mean hatred? I know I would never say
that, but is that how God sees it? Is that how He views my heart when
it comes to people that I'm finding difficult to love? I really hope
not, but I'm pleased that the next part of the verse says what it
does.

Love covers over all wrongs. Wow. My wrongs, your wrongs and everyones
wrongs. Love, His love, and our love for each other. It covers all
wrongs...not some, but ALL. That's crazy and unimaginable as I sit
here and think of all the wrongs that go on inside me on a daily
basis, all wrongs that other people do to me and I do to them, all
wrongs that are done in this city that I am experiencing. All wrongs,
all wrongs, all wrongs.

It doesn't say that love will fix all wrongs...but covers. I think
that is incredible and so against the culture that we live in. We live
in a fixing culture, where everything needs to be perfect and
wonderful and if it is not, then we need to change something about our
lives, or circumstances, or get new friends, or shelter our existence
instead of really battling through it.
Love covers...I imagine the Lord spreading out a blanket over my life,
my wrongs, my thoughts, my feelings, my hurts, my troubles, wrongs
done against me. He doesn't fix it, doesn't make them go away, I still
have consequences of my thoughts and actions but He covers, He covers
it with His love, grace and mercy.

I imagine a blanket being tenderly pulled over this city and all the
tragic wrongs that are done here in peoples lives and to the people.
Some have no control over it, some are beaten, killed and controlled
by terrible people wanting to make money or because of power. Some
young girls and children are trafficked and broken and made to service
disgusting men for their pleasure. Some people and families are forced
on the street because of unfair treatment in their workplaces. Some
come to find a better life, expecting promises to be filled, only to
be shown the true reality of what it means to live here and what was
'the city of dreams' soon becomes that of nightmares as they find
themselves wrapped up in evil. Some have known nothing else than to be
living on the kerb eating gutter food. Through it all, I see Jesus and
His mercy and kindness and He is kissing this city, He is covering it
with His enduring love.

Somehow, love covers this city and people will know Love. Love is
covering, but now needs to be poured out. He needs His church, His
people to rise up and to be His hands and feet and to show 'kindness
and mercy' to those who are so desperately in need of it.

People might not want it. People might not appreciate or value it the
same way in which we do. But nevertheless, it is a command. To love
our neighbour is not a small, medial task, but a mighty one and one
that Jesus and His apostles so wonderfully modelled to us. They went
to the dirty, unclean, seemingly un loveable people as well as their
friends, family and people who were similar to them. To love our
neighbour is not to just love the person that is easy for us to love,
it is to love all people. That is huge for me and I know I can't do it
without His empowering grace. In my humanity I will struggle, but in
His bounty of grace and love I know that it is possible.

It has to be possible, otherwise He would not have commanded it.

So, imagine today, God spreading His cover of love over all the wrongs
that you have experienced in life, that others have experienced, that
your city is experiencing and that this world is experiencing. See him
gently spreading the cover over us and thank Him, love Him and love
your neighbour.

Training, Kids and Other Things.

This week is week 3, and actually, it’s almost the end of week 3! I cannot believe that my time here has ended up going so fast. I guess the days are long, but the weeks are fast. Or that seems to be my feelings when I get home each night, exhausted, hot, dirty, and in desperate need of a shower. My very rusty and corroded faucet and shower head have proved to be very worthy of my praise and I have set up a little offering to it. Haha, just kidding…but seriously, if ever I was going to have a false idol, this glorious shower at the end of the day would be it.

This week has been a little different, some training sessions with the teachers and a lot of admin for me and only one day in the buses with the kids. I guess it’s getting to that point of the trip where I really have to set in stone the things that I have done, so I have been busy writing curriculum, useable planning formats, songs, games, translating to Hindi and I feel very much like a one man band doing everything. But I feel capable, not out of my depths and very secure in what I am doing. It is such a great feeling, because I know that I am definitely being used by God, and the things that I am setting in place and training them in are going to have huge implications in such a positive way. It’s fun knowing that I get to be the ‘behind the scenes’ person in helping them reach over 600 kids per day with education, Jesus and food.

Yesterday I had a 2 hour training session with the Kindergarten teachers, it went extremely well. I was so happy with their receptive hearts, and there was an atmosphere that was so glad, and I almost felt them have a sigh of relief as they were so happy to really have something to go with instead of wandering in the wilderness as they have been. The KG teachers are absolutely fantastic and they love to be with the kids, and in this ministry. They are enthusiastic and energetic with the children, but they have lacked such direction since they have not had any training. All the previous training that has been done has been with the teachers who target the 5-14 year age bracket, so they really just felt like they were ‘entertaining’ the children and not really inputting into their lives and education. I shared a new planning format that will help their preparation, and give them direction. I also gave them a ‘mini-curriculum’ with ideas for areas of learning that they need to head towards. They were very encouraged and thankful to have that particular direction, and stoked that I did not leave them hanging with no ideas and gave that extra support. It would be all very well and great of me if I just trained them in how to use the planning, but they would still have that stuck feeling like they didn’t know where they were going, so this way it gives them skills and resources to fall back on.
After sharing all those things, planning a model lesson together and doing a model lesson together, I shared some other ideas in using just a ‘bag of tricks’ as I have called it. It is a bag of toys, objects and a lot of random things like sandpaper, to create discussion, developing language and also using some thinking skills that will hopefully get the children to be more interactive and alive in the lessons.

The children here are interesting, and it is quite hard for me to watch. Their life is hard, it is not fair and there are so many wrongs with it. But the one thing that breaks my heart, is that the children here are completely under stimulated. In the western world, our kids can often be so far over stimulated that it has created this highly stimulated and entertainment driven generation, but here, I can’t even explain it. Some of these children will sit on the small mat hunched over, limpy and lifeless and no matter how much you try and coax them into doing some actions or singing some songs, they will not. Their little lives have created it, they are simply left on the side of the road on a mat and are required to sit there, to not play, to not move. The parents sleep, lie down, don’t move, don’t do much at all and that is the life that is modeled to them. They have seen it from such a young age, and they copy. They have extreme internal boredom and literally no skills or knowledge of how to think, create play, or do anything but to sit. I can’t imagine how it affects you in such a deep way, and by the evidence that I have seen here, I know the type of society it produces. There is nothing healthy about it. It is probably the most tragic thing that I have seen here.

So, going into the slums and teaching has more barriers than you can imagine. They are up against so many obstacles, but they remain faithful, positive and in the knowledge that God has called them to be there and to do His work.

Did I ever mention that they use 75kgs or rice per day? PER DAY!

I have 2 weeks left here in India before I head out to Vietnam to see what is going on there. I am going to take a little break from Vision Rescue work for 5 days and this weekend I will head up to Delhi and see that area. I will also travel to Agra and see the beautiful Taj Mahal…how can you come to India and not see it right?! So that will be a fun adventure, and I have a travel companion as well which will be nice. A mutual friend hooked it up so that is great to have a little company.

I hope that you’re all keeping Vision Rescue alive in your hearts.

My short glimpse at my week

Internet is very sparse around here - I only manage to get on it every
4-5 days, but I have found a new system that works - in my down time I
can write and save emails, then send them when I get to an internet
connection. The discovery has blessed me! So right now, I am lying in
my room, fan going, windows open and the monsoon rains falling. It
has, for the first time, created a cool breeze into my room and I am
enjoying it very much. Tomorrow I am going to meet with 2 woman who
live here with their husbands who work for British Gas, they have
invited me to have coffee with them tomorrow, so that will be really
nice to have the contact with my western comforts of living. I am
taking 2 more training sessions for the teachers this week...the first
one for the Kindergarten teachers, in which I have developed a
curriculum and a method of planning for them that I will train them
on. The KG part of Vision Rescue is very new and the teachers have
zero direction, so my prayer is that this will give them something to
lean on and give them more structure as I have seen them sitting there
literally doing nothing at times.

On Friday I will continue the training with the Primary teachers, I
have developed their planning formats so that it is much more straight
forward and easier to digest. I will also be teaching them to interact
with the children in a more positive and lively manner so engage them
in the learning. So...keep all those in your thoughts and prayers. As
always, there is some trepidation about new ideas and ways of doing
things so I would love open hearts and ears.

Introducing Roshan

Roshan is an amazing guy that was rescued off the streets of Mumbai.
As he sat outside the kitchen where we prepare the meals for all the
buses, in broken English, he started to share his story with me. I was
truly blessed, and I think that you will be too.

From a very young age Roshan was homeless and parent-less, with no
mother or father, this tiny child had to fend for himself in a pretty
hectic city where there is so much desperation and need. For years and
years he was his own keeper, he had no one to lean on, or rely on. He
was his own family, he kept himself alive and provided for himself.
When the boys at Vision Rescue found him, he was sleeping in the
gutter and also eating the 'gutter food', as he called it, as he
gestured putting his hand in his mouth. He told me he had a Muslim
background, and this new Jesus that they shared with him was
refreshing, they continued to visit him on the streets everyday, would
give him food and talk to him about Jesus. At the time he was also
hooked on 'brown sugar' as he called it, which I assume is some kind
of drugs. Vision Rescue encouraged him to get clean and provided ways
for that to happen. The team took him in to their homes, and now 5
years later, he loves Jesus, is working in the kitchen, has great
relationships with the others that he works with, is drug free, and is
also learning to read and write, which he has never had the
opportunity to do.

With a tear in his eye, Roshan told me that I am his family and calls
me sister, and he told me that all of the people at Vision Rescue are
his family, he now has a father and mother, brothers and sisters and
he is so blessed.

Roshan, along with about 10 guys live in one room next to the kitchen.
This, for him and all of the other men that have been rescued and
found their way there, is luxury. It is luxury in more ways than one,
as it is more than just shelter and food. It is relationship, it is
family and it is functioning. They work, live and play together, they
have purpose and vision and hope for their lives.

Roshan has such joy in his heart that can only be described as
experiencing Jesus. He is a new man, a new creation and he is
wonderful. He constantly talks about Jesus, both in the Hindi language
and broken English. Someone recently gave him a phone and loaded an
audio bible on it so now he plays his bible out loud everywhere he
goes as well as some worship songs.

Roshans life challenges me to be so thankful and to find joy in all
circumstances, celebrating Jesus continually, and I hope it does for
you too.

I don't know why it was Roshan that was picked up off the streets, but
I know he is literally one in a million. Think how many other stories
could be set on a new path like Roshan if we just did
something...anything.

Link to photos...

Hopefully this will work?!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=324148&id=593397305&l=45b24d0a29

Dental Van Miracles

For a lot of Indians (and the rest of the world), dental care is very
expensive. So, people neglect their teeth, and in the slums, they do
not know basic hygiene and very few even brush their teeth.

I had the privilege of spending the day in the Dental van that Vision
Rescue have started as just one of their many initiatives to fight
poverty in this city.

This little boy in the picture, came in with very decayed,
brown and broken teeth - even his front ones. After a little over an
hour of work from the amazing dentist here, his front teeth were built
up, restored and are now white. His mouth looks more normal, and
because of this he will not be ashamed to smile.

I have seen many people come and go today, smiles brightened, and some
still in pain. Services are limited on the van but they really do
everything that they can. I got to assist and help prepare fillings
and generally was in the dentists way. It was quite fun.

The second picture is the view from the van today.

Just a day in the life of what happens here at Vision Rescue.

New Perspectives..

Week 2 has begun with much more anticipation and grace from my end. I
was excited to get on the buses, see the children, see the work and
just have some good times.

From this week will see me doing 2 training sessions per week for all
the teachers. My aim is to keep it light, vision filled and refreshing
because I know that the last things the teachers want to do after a
big day on their bus, is to come back and sit down and have to
concentrate again. So on Wednesday I will take the first session, and
we will talk about memorable teachers, how to interact so you will be
memorable, speaking value into these precious children and just
generally being Jesus to them. My intent is to keep them positive
about what they're doing and knowing that the sacrifices they make are
changing lives. So I would appreciate that you would pray that they
would have ears to hear and that I can speak into their lives.

From there, my intent over the next few sessions is to give them more
practical ideas for games, songs and interactive activities that will
help build relationships between the teacher, but also between the
children. The major thing that I have noticed is that the children
don't know how to play together or work together so I think that is a
major challenge for them.

Next I will spend some time on planning, giving them more strategies
to be able to teach these kids. Since the teachers have no formal
training, they don't have prior knowledge to lean on. I hope to give
them skills to be able to think outside the box and also to rely on
each others strengths and to help each other plan.

Rajesh, who is the Vision Rescue director, really wants me to be able
to address getting a balance between having fun, being interactive and
also the learning that needs to take place so I think that all the
things I will be touching on will bring a good balance for them.

With some of the money that has been donated, I am making phonics
packs for the buses as they are teaching them English through phonics.
I will be purchasing items that will mean their lessons are more
interactive and child centred rather than teacher directed. I am also
going to be buying tape measures and rulers for every bus, and enough
to share between 2, as their maths programme is also very teacher
directed, and hopefully measurement will be within their comfort
levels to teach, stretch them a little, but also really bless the kids
to have something hands on. They have no Hindi picture books so I will
be buying around 25 to share between the buses that can be rotated, as
we all know, story is such a brilliant way to capture childrens hearts
and minds. There are a few other things that I intend to buy as well,
but I will give the remainder of the money that is left over to Pastor
Biju at the end of my trip which will bless them.

So with all that in mind, I ask you to continue to pray, read and ask
God to be with me as I do this stuff.

On a daily basis, it is still intense because for 8 hours a day we
drive into the most perverse and sickening way of living and no human
on the face of this planet should have to live, breath, eat and
function in this way. It saddens me that literally millions, in this
city alone, live in such a way.

So there you have it!

Nothing Like a Fresh Curry

Yum.


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Weekend of Festivities

On Friday there was a festival called Diwali here, which is the festival of lights. All the streets are adorned with beautiful lights, flower garlands and bright, vibrant colours. It is how I 'imagined' India to be before experiencing the reality of how a lot of people live.

During the festival, there are literally fireworks and crackers on every street corner, from the top of every building and they light up the sky like nothing I've ever seen. It first terrified me, I awoke at 5am literally thinking that a bomb had gone off because the explosion of fireworks was so loud. Soon after the first one was a second, and a third and then I remembered the sounds of what I thought were shotguns the night before and I pieced all the puzzle together. It amazed me that they had started their celebrations so early and carried it on throughout the day, and long into the wee hours of the morning. Practically 24 hours of explosion going on around me, I got used to it and put it down as the craziness that is Mumbai. I couldn't imagine that President Obamas team would enjoy it so, as they would be put on high alert from the 'explosions' that are going on all through Mumbai. I guess they didn't really think that one through as they planned his trip for this weekend. It just kinda makes me giggle.

I am over my mini-meltdown and I have renewed hope for this trip. I am excited about the things that I will get to impart into the teaching team and also get to experience while on the buses. My 'observing' time is over and on Monday I will get stuck into some planning, teaching, gathering and making resources and hopefully making life somewhat easier for these untrained, but very capable teachers. I can't imagine doing what they're doing without any training, it is truly brave and courageous and I think they're flippin awesome for doing it and being available to what God is asking them to do. So hopefully I will be able to encourage, help, give and be a resource for them to squeeze while I'm here.

I'm SO ready to get stuck in. Bring it!

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Some Pics...

Life here on the bus means that a bunch of kids get to have some schooling and food...here's a couple of pics to show you what goes on!

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Yellow School Bus with a Difference

The last 2 days have been spent on Vision Rescues yellow school buese. Currently, they have 3 operating and another one they have just purchased and are waiting for the people to come along to run it.

My first morning there, we arrivd at the headquarters where they have an office, a kitchen to prepare all the food for the day, and they also park a medical van, a dental van and one of the bueses. I met all the people, tried to figure out who went where, we got in a circle and discussed and prayed for the day. Before long, the food was loaded onto each bus and we were heading out to our first of 5 destinations.

Cruising the streets of Mumbai is not a typical Sunday drive. The streets are crammed with cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, rickshaws, and even horse/ox pulled carts. A complex array of honking seems to be the only road rule, with 'lanes' merging into one with several layers of traffic trying to squeeze in. Sometimes it feels like you go within an inch of your life, by in a big bus you feel the power and strength that it has, and feel quite safe in the hands of the driver.

Pulling up to the first sight was what I had expected, makeshift houses, tarpaulins, rusty iron, bits of wood and tons and tons of rubbish. I was a little nervous about interacting with the children, as my friends who I'm normally with in this type of situation, were not there to rely on. It was up to me to connect, play, to smile and to try and get their names. I failed on the most part, but was stretched and made better because of it. I wish I was way more fun and easy going, but put me in that situation and completely out of my depth, and I'm just not!

It was fun seeing what they get up to on the buses, they teach English 2 days, Maths 2 days and then Hindi for 1 day. They also talk about general hygeine, being clean and will not let the children on the bus if they have not washed their face. At the end of the lesson, they close it with prayer and then give the children their rice and food for the day. I'm surprised at the share volume of food that they give to each child, and what they give out in a day. Every day, they cook 75kgs of rice, and around 25kgs of lentils and vegetables. That is a HUGE amount of food, and that is a HUGE expense that they keep on giving.

It was nice seeing one or two of the sights that they visit, but by time we got around to the fifth, it was too much. It was too much in the heat of the day to process, it was too much extreme poverty for me to see, it was just too much. Every day, 3 buses go out and go to the same five locations. Thats 15 different slum areas that they're educating and feeding daily...and in the scheme of the largeness of this city, that does not even scratch the surface of the need that there is.

Its too much for me to drive around and literally see all the streets 'littered' with slums, street people and rubbish everywhere. I hate to use the term littered because they are not trash, they are people and hearts and feelings, but that is the only imagery that I can protray it as.

Mumbai is so well known as 'The City of Dreams' and I am continually thinking, how? How can people come here with so much hope for the future when there is so much of this around? How can people possibly think that they'll be better off here than in their home towns? How can you look around at this and call it hopes and dreams?

It is SO intense, and I find myself hourly trying to figure out a way for me to leave here, leave this uncomfortableness because it literally just hurts. I feel alone when I go home at night to my little bedroom where there is no one, I eat alone, I sleep alone. I know I'm being a whimp, but in the first time of all of my travels, I want to go home.

(And its only my 4th day here!)

India Welcomes Me

Arriving in the heat of the day was a good hit after the coolness of London, and I enjoyed knowing right away the temperature high that i would be living in over the next month.

After some questions from immigration, backwards and forwards conversation in their own language, and more questions by the gentlemen, they agreed to grant me a visa and allow me into their country. Although they would only grant me the visa until the night before my outbound flight, I was happy to get the all clear, collect my bags and then go meet my ride from Vision Rescue that had been patient for over an hour while the whole scene unfolded. You can imagine me, a single girl travelling by herself to meet an Indian man that had invited her to come and stay for a month, provided many questions to the immigration officers.

Two Vision Rescue staff, Marshal and Islam, welcomed me and we proceeded to weave through the busy and overcrowded streets, a much different picture to the village in America that I was in. All around I saw some similar sights to things I had seen in other countries, but I also began to see new sights, experience new smells and take in everything that Mumbai has to offer. The roads are full of people and things to dodge, within mere centimetres sometimes.

We arrived at St. Pius College where I will call home for the next month. It is a simple room and complete with 2 small single beds (which I have now combined to be like a tiny double), a hard pillow, a wardrobe, and a 'European' style bathroom. The buckets and jugs in there slightly concern me, and I have not attempted the open shower (or should I say facet in the wall) as of yet. I am thankful that I at least have that.

After dropping my bags, we were soon out on the road that would be a 10 minute walk to the Vision Rescue office, that I'm sure will become very familiar to me. It was good to see some new and old friendly faces and they all greeted me warmly. There was an excitement and nervousness as introductions were made. Thoughts invaded my head like 'What are you doing here?' 'What are you going to talk about?' ' You have nothing in common with these people' 'You can't do this for a whole month, you're crazy'. So throwing those thoughts and fears aside, I delved into conversation and silence was broken.

There were so many questions unanswered about my stay, but I was feeling a little more comfortable. We made plans for me to be picked up at 8am and taken out for a day in the buses the next day, and then we left. I was taken back to my room, feeling overwhelmed, uncomfortable and unsure of what I should do next.

And now, in my 4am jetlagged state, I am writing this, so better try and sleep some more.

Ending, but just beginning.

I'm sitting here on the tarmac of London Heathrow T5. I feel that it is the end of a sweet, exciting, fun, hard, challenging and adventurous season of living in London and all that meant for me. I actually felt like this trip of just a few days was a little bonus, and that I was so blessed to be able to see great friends again.

As I contemplate the ending of something that has been so life changing, I also get the sweet reminder that the end is still only the beginning. It is the beginning of something that will probably be even more exciting, fun, hard, challenging and adventurous. But something that God has prepared me for, and for that I am so thankful.

Tomorrow morning - Londons breakfast time, USAs middle of the night and NZs dinner time, I will be landing in the heat of Mumbai, India. In my mind I simply cannot make a comparison of the differences in things that I will see and do. Its absurd to me that I can get on the plane, and shortly land in a place that will be so foreign to me in more ways than one.

Well...it is time to turn off and fly. I will be sure to keep the updates coming, and your part of the deal is to keep the prayers coming!


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Simple facts...

As I'm starting to get sleepy, I was just reading through some facts about Mumbai, India...(which of course is my next destination) and now I'm alarmingly awake.

There's some really staggering things about Mumbai, like the crazy amounts of people, slum life and street people, extreme poverty and extreme wealth living next door to one another, but the most hard hitting one I've read so far is this:

*Breathing the air in Mumbai, India for just ONE DAY, is equivalent to smoking 2.5 packs of cigarettes.

WHAT?! All I can say is - Lord, protect my lungs!

The song with the phrase "this is the air I breathe" comes to mind, and not in a nice way.

30 days x 2.5 = 75

75 PACKETS OF SMOKES is what my lungs will endure in the month that I'm there. Now I'm REALLY glad I'm not a smoker!

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A Glimpse into my next : Vision Rescue

How to JAM two months of FUN into a blog?!

WOW.

It has been epic. It has been life altering, it has been a great adventure.

I'm not going to JAM many words into this blog but I am going to share some photo love of this great American adventure that I've been so privileged to be on.

OK so after one photo...my conclusion is that I hate this blog set up and adding more than one photo. It's just rubbish and I can't do it very successfully without throwing things.

SO. I will post a link to some photos that I will get going on Picasa (oneday soon!)

Birds and Beads

As people are becoming more aware of my approaching trip to Mumbai, India, I just wanted to share a little more about it and give an opportunity for people to support through donations and prayer.

Mumbai is the largest populated city in both India and the world, reaching 14 million in the city alone. It was formally called Bombay and is the business centre of India. It is a thriving city that has all the modern conveniences of other developing countries with plenty of wealth in some areas. Along with the extreme wealth, lies extreme poverty and houses some of the poorest people in the world, and has the largest slums in the world.

I am going to a wonderful ministry called Vision Rescue, under a local pastor, Biju Thampy, who saw a need and started to meet that need in 2004. Today, Vision Rescue reaches about 850 street children per day in 15 locations in Mumbai city where they are taught hygiene, basic education and are provided with a hot meal. The venue for this to happen is on a school bus that they have converted to make a sufficient classroom environment, and they drive this bus to the various locations throughout the day.

When I am there, I have the privilege of getting to train some of the volunteers who teach the children just to give them more skills and strategies in order to teach the children more efficiently as they have no teaching backgrounds. I will also get to spend some time with the children, teaching them English, having fun with them and hopefully building some great relationships.

I have titled this blog "Birds and Beads" for a purpose...

I wanted to raise some support for this trip because I want to be able to give and to bless the incredible work that Vision Rescue do, I want to be able to put more resources in their hands and ultimately, I want them to be able to accommodate more and more children because the need really seems endless.

If you would like to give a donation towards furthering their work in Mumbai, then I would love to give you the above Bird and Bead hanging thingy that I have made especially for my supporters. It doesn't matter how much or little you would like to give, any small or large contribution will together make for something big and life-changing.

My hope is that it will be a reminder, every time you pass it or look at it, to pray for me and to pray for those precious little children and people in India.

Leading up to my trip which will be for the entire month of November, I want to ask you to keep me in your prayers as I prepare my heart and mind for this amazing, life changing and challenging opportunity that lies ahead. While I am in Mumbai, I will be sending out regular updates on the work that I have been doing and what my prayer needs are.

Until next time, think, pray and decide how you can contribute, be in touch with me and I will send you a sweet little "Birds and Beads".

Much love and appreciation xo

Taking a Bite of the Big Apple

New York City never disappoints. It didn't matter that I was by myself this trip, unlike the last time that I was here with 6 crazy friends from around the globe with London as our common home.

My trip had a different feel about it. A bitter/sweet moment of leaving London as my home and embarking on my next adventure - spending the next 4 months of my life as a gypsy in no mans land. I am excited, I am nervous and scared, ecstatic, hopeful and most other emotions that I choose to face.

Nevertheless, I am approaching this space of my life as 'fearless', or trying to at least. Stepping off the plane at JFK was exciting, driving into Manhattan was just as breathtaking as the last, and the city of dreams has really turned up the heat.

I came with one goal only - to get lost in the streets, sights, smells, lights, tastes, sounds and people of NYC - and I must say I did it well.

Foolishly deciding that I would never be seen dead in NYC with trainers on, I swapped them for new flats, hit the streets and hit em hard (and now have the blisters to prove!).

From walking the entire length of 5th & 7th Avenue and Broadway from Central Park to TriBeCa, as well as along the Hudson. Passing landmarks like the Empire State, Madison Square Gardens, World Trade Centre, Lady Liberty and many more. I stopped at a TriBeCa local diner and had a world famous Turkey Club before jumping on the Staten Island ferry at dusk. What a beautiful sight - Manhattan skyline at dusk on the trip there, then dark on the return journey. Other things I jammed in...

Cruised the Hudson river and saw this beauty...

Found my way into a Yankees game....

People watched in Grand Central Station.

Went to the NYDC 2nd Anniversary celebrations.

Rode the Staten Island Ferry and admired this view...

Concluded that Times Square has to be one of the coolest places ever...

 Huge Landmarks...and huger views...

Watched a movie being filmed in Central Park.

Joined in a free yoga class at Bryant Park.

Failed at taking photos of the Farmers market at Union Square.Also got lost in the streets of Soho and Little Italy, finding antiques, vintage shops and delicious little deli's.

So there you have it, my whirlwind adventure in NYC, jammed packed full of goodness. I am getting on this flight exhausted, but excited for my next stop...New Mexico :-)

India - You are on My Mind

Dear India...

I am dreaming of you and thinking what it will be like when I hit the tarmac in the November heat.

Will it be anything I've ever experienced or seen before? Will it be like anything I have read or watched on T.V? Will it be like the media portrays it? Or how people talk about it?

I think it will be everything, yet so much more. More because of the people I meet and the way they change my life and perspective. More because of the homes that I enter that are made of cardboard, yet the atmosphere is more generous, courageous and faith filled than I could ever build. More because of the children I meet playing in the slums have the biggest and brightest smiles I will ever know. And more because it will challenge me to my very core.
India - that's the experience that I'm imagining you'll give me but I also know that it will be so much more than even I can imagine because that comes from the mind. India, you will hit me in the heart, in my emotions, in my faith and in my dreams.

I know that I will never be the same. I am preparing for my life to be changed, for my world to be rocked and for my dreams to shift.

India, you scare me because of it, but yet I feel this magnetic pull to you, stronger than ever as you get closer and closer.

Time is nearing, and so is my heart.


Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

My NEW Year

A year full of change, anticipation, excitement, of growth, of new experiences and of great challenge. A year that will be determinative in my life, that will speak volumes of my character, faith and trust in God. A year that will see such incredible favour and blessing on everything that I do as I step out of what is comfortable, and move into a direction that is far beyond my comfort levels in every way. A year that relationships will grow and form and blossom, a year that new, strong people will enter my life who will mentor and bless me, people who will challenge me like nothing else before, but who will love me deeply with a sense of unconditional love.

This year of being 27 will be rich, full and blessed so that I can be the most amazing blessing. There will be time, strength, power and resources to meet the needs of people in every way that is required. A year that is abundant, that is overflowing, that is full of direction, wisdom and intention.

My hopes...

friends

This is a photo of some fabulous gals that I have the privilege of doing life with. We had a fun night of cocktails for my birthday, was a quality night full of friends from everywhere in the world, but call home London (for now), in this photo alone there is a Brit, Australian, South African, Colombian and me the kiwi of course.

I'm having a constant realisation about just how cool my friends are here in London. I am truly blessed to be around a bunch of fun, amazing people, who thirst after God's heart and truth and who passionately love people.

Being around them stretches and grows me and challenges me into new depths of life and love and relationships. The conversation, the motives and the heart of the people I'm surrounded with is world class. I've never been around such a massive bunch of people who are just so connected to a sense of purpose for life. The sheer quantity of people amaze me. Yeah, I've always been a part of a group with such passion and purpose, but never quite this many. I'm constantly just in awe of all that God is doing here.

This environment is amazing, who wouldn't want to be a part of it?

I'm realising more and more that life isn't necessarily about what you are doing, but the people and the heart that you're connected with. Being connected to the right people and place will bring about incredible fruit and send you in a direction that will be a blessing in this world. It is the togetherness that will bring about change, freedom and love to a hurting humanity.

God had a cool plan when he dreamed up just how powerful and effective the church can be in this world. We are all in this together.

Fun times.

Also in my birthday weekend, I enjoyed my last coffee for the rest of the month. Ouch it's hurting, and I have had a caffeine headache for 4 days now.

At my cocktail party a candle decided to spill out of its seams. It was an interesting shape at the end of the night. Not much point in me telling or showing you, except I think it was kinda cool.

So that's the end of this little blog. Just thought I should share something from my world since it's been so long.

Basically, I'm just loving London friends (notice I didn't say London?), loving being a part of Hillsong and I really, really like my house.

That is all.