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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