We're Okay

Hey everyone - I'm not sure how news saavy you all are, but if you are at all you probably have heard of all the bombings in Guhawati and the Assam region.

Anyway - just wanted to give you all a quick update on us. We're okay... we weren't nearby any of the blasts and we are safely staying at the McMillan's home which is in a neighborhood not in the middle of the city.

Being that it is such a serious situation, though, Gary is attempting to get us a plane out of here tomorrow. So keep that in your prayers that we can leave.

But just know, we're okay now and we are hoping to all leave tomorrow.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7699105.stm

that's a news link in case you didn't hear what happened today.

Rain, Church and Tea

It's so beautiful here. We came at the end of rainy season, so everything is unbelievably green. And another pleasant surprise - its been very cool here. Especially today. I think it's in the low 70's and rainy. This is great because the 10 day forcast had the temperature in the low 90's with 80% humidity. So... good news.

Well, enough about the weather.

Linda and I taught the kids' Bible class this morning at church. We had a translator in there with us, so that was kind of neat. I've never had a translator... in the past I've just resorted to the ol' smile and nod. So this was a good thing. I would say a sentence, then the guy would translate. But at one point I think he was spacing out because I said a sentence... paused... and... nothing. So I said another sentence. Paused. Nothing. I repeated this process about 4 or 5 more times before I noticed him looking out the window.

And all of the kids were looking at me.

Cool.

But aside from that small hang-up, everything else went well. We even had a church tea time after that, which was super. I like tea. And it's great here. Which reminded me that I need to get a bunch of that while I'm here.

OK - time for lunch!

Holy Cow

Alright, I'm starting to wake up a little. I'm glad we're done traveling... for a couple of days at least. Right now, we're staying in Guwahati with some of the missionaries over here. They're Canadian and I think that's cool. This day has been jam packed with cultural experiences because of this. Let me give you a story to illustrate what I mean -

So Ray (the Canadian missionary) came to pick us up at the airport. Once we got all loaded in the car and down the road a ways, these loose cows started jetting across the highway. Multiple cars were slamming on brakes and swerving to dodge the cows (including ours). I thought someone was surely going to die. All Ray says is, "Holy cow, eh?"

I thought that was funny. Nothing beats a northern accent coupled with a dry, witty statement.

Anyway...

Tomorrow I think we're going to check out the town and meet up with some people Gary knows. Speaking of Gary, he's pretty much like the Pope over here. I had no clue. When we showed up at the airport, we were met with a small mob of people anxiously awaiting Gary's arrival. They adorned him with a silk, hand made scarf with his name delicately sewn into the pattern. I think later they're naming some sort of building or school after him.

Huh. Who knew?

Anyway, this unassuming 82 year old man holds the key to our daily itenerary. That being said, I don't really know what we're specifically doing tomorrow.

I will leave you with this true life parable -

Today on the airplane, there was this green thing in my food and I totally thought it was a green bean. So I ate it because I like green beans. It was definitely not a green been. It was definitely the hottest pepper I have ever eaten in my life. This is what my mouth felt like:

The same way in which I didn't realize what eating the mysterious green piece of food would mean for the future, I do not know what following Gary's plans means either.

We're Here

So we made it to India last night... everyone is safe... and living.

The flight was brutally long... and the chickpea salad sandwich that we got during the middle of it did not do great things to my stomach. But - this one lady and a flight attendant got into a fight over seating arrangements before the flight left. It was pretty heated and tempers flared.

Too bad it didn't last longer... the on flight movie selection was poor.

Just joking.

But seriously. I am kind of in a hurry now, so I can't think of anything important to say. We're about to have breakfast then get on another flight up to Assam. Sooo... more traveling!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

So, tomorrow morning... leaving for India.

I'm pretty excited. Truth be told, I haven't packed yet. In my defense, I did get my suitcase out last night, though. It's sitting in the middle of my living room. So that's a step in the right direction, yes? I wanted to start my packing last night, but I really didn't know where to begin or what I needed to bring. And that follows suite with my general feelings of not knowing what to expect these next two weeks.

Bigger unknowns await me than the pants I'm bringing, I'm sure.

But hey... that's part of the fun, right? Not knowing what to expect and all. We've got an eclectic group going, so I'm sure with that will come a lot of entertaining stories at the very least.

In fact, if you're interested in reading any of their stories, I believe Barry Thomas is going to be keeping a blog while we're over there as well - barryathomas.blogspot.com ... His account will probably be more informative and insightful ... where as mine will be random and not all that insightful at times. Just to give you a heads up as to what to expect from me.

Haha, but in all seriousness - I am really excited for this trip. And like I said before, I don't fully know what to expect, but I am going with an open heart and mind to what God has in store. And I'm praying that, through this trip, we can raise awareness among our members at GCR about the ministry going on in the Assam region AND that he will show us future ministry opportunities for our church to be involved with over there.

But for now, I will leave you with this picture

This is going to be Me, Gary, Barry, Jerry, and Linda as we travel from town to town.

This is the First One!

I haven't had a blog in like... four years.

So, this will be fun?