Indo-American Thanksgiving

We hope that you had a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving with family and friends.  Though we are nearly 8,000 miles away from you, our precious family and friends, for whom we are most grateful, we too had a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving…Indo-American style!

We gathered with our dear friends and church family in our home to give thanks to the Lord for His amazing love, goodness, and provision.  Tony even shared with them some of his favorite American traditions…like watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and even an old Dallas Cowboys football game…how much more American can you get.  Hehe!

We had a delicious meal of some of our American and Indian favorite dishes.  Here’s a list in case you are interested…smoked chicken (no turkey in these parts), mashed potatoes, carrot soufflé (no sweet potatoes either), deviled eggs (loving renamed "heavenly eggs"), rice, dahl, spicy honey chicken, momos, chicken and mutton biryani, fried soya, gooseberries, papaya salad, broccoli salad, carrot cake, pumpkin pie, apple cake, and jilebi.  It was quite the feast…our Indian friends left looking forward to next year!

Our after dinner conversation was quite unique.  Our friends are tribal people from Nagaland and Manipur.  They, themselves, are cross cultural workers in our area.  Their people were headhunters.  Even now, many live off the land and eat whatever they can find. 

So, our conversation centered on the things that they have eaten with their people.  And, the list includes: monkey, python, dog, pig, cow, cat, goat, deer, porcupine, silk worm, locust, rat, and boar.  It was a fascinating conversation that made me squirm in my seat…our Naga friends are planning to take us to their land next year!  Oh my…

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving!  Please know how much we love you and how truly thankful we are for you.  You are a God-sized blessing in our lives. 

 

A Powerful Encounter

This morning we decided to do something a little out of the ordinary.  We chose to drive up into the Himalayan Mountains and find a quiet spot to worship together as a family.  We put on our warmer clothes (jeans and long sleeve shirts), packed our blanket and a few snacks for the road, grabbed our Bibles and our song books…and set out for our favorite mountain getaway (our “fishing hole”).

It was a pleasant one hour drive up to about 4,000 feet in elevation.  The air was cool but refreshing.  To our great surprise and delight…we found a place, in the tea gardens, on the side of a mountain, where we could be alone…let me say that again for emphasis…ALONE!  In a country of nearly 1.3 billion people, it is an extremely rare occurrence for us to find solitude.  We spread out our blanket on a large rock, in the middle of the tea gardens…and we had an amazing worship experience…a powerful encounter with our Creator!  We sang our favorite worship songs…we prayed together…and we studied Joshua 3…where the Israelites crossed the Jordan River.  

We lingered and just basked in the bright sunlight until Rae Rae’s grumbling belly demanded that we move on.  Of course, we had to stop at our "fishing hole" for lunch before heading back down the mountain.

This morning, we were truly blessed beyond measure, and we trust that we blessed God’s heart as well.  I know I will remember this day forever and I pray that my children will as well.  What an awesome God we have!  We pray that you too will have a powerful encounter with our Creator today!

Hit with Unbelievable News

On Tuesday evening as you were waking up to vote, we were sitting in shock in front of our television listening to an announcement from the Prime Minister.  He said that as of midnight that night all 500 Rupee ($7.43 US) and 1000 Rupee ($14.86 US) notes would no longer be legal tender.  Mind you, these are the two largest notes this country uses.  So, now the 100 Rupee ($1.49 US) is the largest note available.  The government will be issuing new 500 Rupee notes and new 2000 Rupee notes, but none are available now…at least not in our city.  And, the 2000 Rupee note is not scheduled to be released until February 2017.   Modi also announced that all banks and ATMs would be closed the following day to prepare for the change.  Furthermore, there are caps on how much money a person can theoretically take out of their bank account, in one day 10,000 Rupees ($148.60 US) up to a maximum of 20,000 Rupees ($297.20 US) in one week, but out of an ATM only 2,000 Rupees per day.  Yet, the reality is that there is NO money to get.

There are huge lines at every bank and ATM.  Tony has gone out every day this week since the announcement to get money and has only come back successful twice…with 2,000 rupees ($29.72 US) each time.  He stood for hours in a line at an ATM yesterday only to get 3 persons away from the machine and have it run out of money.

   

India is a cash society…very few people have credit cards and even fewer establishments are capable of taking credit.  We cannot pay our employees, nor can we buy meat, vegetables or fruit from our regular shops because we have so little cash.   We are one of the fortunate ones here because we have a bank account and we have credit cards.  So, we are able to go to larger stores that accept credit cards…but we are among a small minority.

The plan was implemented to crack down on corruption…“black money” and counterfeit currency that are apparently rampant in this country.  “Black money” is money illegally gained and kept in cash by people so that they can avoid paying taxes on it.  But, you might imagine how this plan has caused tremendous havoc across this nation as everyone is scrambling to deposit or exchange their now useless notes with 100 Rupee notes…Did I mention that there are nearly 1.3 billion people here?!?! 

It might have been a great plan, but all are suffering now because it was not properly implemented.  Who knows how long it will take for banks and ATMs to have sufficient currency to accommodate the needs of the people…until then we wait.  Rest assured…we are safe and healthy.  We are not at all in danger.  But, we do ask you to pray for all those who are struggling to provide for their families during this time.  Please also pray for wisdom and discernment for us about how to proceed in the days and weeks to come.

Click here to read more on CNN Money.

 

Mountain Life

We love living at the foothills of the Himalayans!  Mountain hill stations are so much fun to VISIT…we love escaping from the heat and humidity of our city by driving just a few hours into the mountains!  Some of our most fun times in India, we have spent as a family in the mountains…BUT…we are sooo glad that we don’t LIVE there.

Living in the mountains presents so many challenges.  We are good for about two nights in the mountains and then we are all ready to escape and retreat back to our home.  Mountain living = cold…just can’t get warm kind of cold; damp, mold and mildew; steep inclines, switchbacks and tons of stairs to get anywhere; water shortages; and even more unpredictable electricity and internet.

To help you get a better visual image of what mountain life is like, below you will find several pictures with brief descriptions…

Mountain road driving is always entertaining and even somewhat dangerous especially for those who draw the “short-straw” and have to ride on the outside of the vehicle.

Tea gardens and chai sipping are an everyday part of life.

  

There is no such thing as flat land…switchbacks, inclines, and stairs…stairs…and more stairs…everywhere!  We had to climb 114 stairs in order to get to our homestay. 

Sleeping in the mountains always means bundling up…no matter what time of year…long-johns, multiple layers, hoodies, and heavy blankets!

Parking is always an issue...so creativity is a requirement!  Fortunately, parking on the sidewalk is not illegal!

Selling beef seems to be illegal everywhere else in India…except in the hill stations…where you can get literally any and every part of the animal.

Roadside snacks just taste so much better in the mountains!

Milk-delivery horses, monkeys begging for food, and live chickens hanging from the back of motorcycles…are all fun sites to see driving in the mountains.

The Himalayan Mountains...an amazing place to visit, but we're so glad we don't live there!