Thoughts from the other side....

Cultural shock? or Cultural adjustment?....BOTH. Things we have learned:

• A "shower"can be taken in less than a bucket of water. 
• A ceiling fan at high speed works as a hair dryer. 
• When the power fails: a light and a fan are really the only things necessary, actually only a fan becomes essential.
• It is possible to brush your teeth with just one swallows worth of water. 
• You can coexist with bugs, geckos and ants.
• Still not sure why God created mosquitoes.  
• Motorcycle = transportation for a family of four
• We have a better understanding of why the disciples cringed with the thought of washing others feet..... feet get really dirty here.

And a parting thought that we are learning to live by: "Where you lead I will follow, and what you serve I will swallow."     H. Tully

Simple things

Such a simple thing gives much joy, and today I had the chance to give to the 9th grade girls from Emmanuel School some fun flower hair clips.(see photos) They were made by Joy at Sunshine Church. But I got the joy of being blessed by seeing the girls excitement in receiving the flowers.
We have been teaching for 6 weeks at Emmanuel School and the Janet English School. We have taught flannel graph stories of Jesus, and life lessons - what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Praise God over 40 girls and boys this past week indicated there desire to follow Jesus.

One girl in particular has caught our hearts, because her name is Cecelia. She always has a great smile (which reminds us of our future daughter-in-law Cecelia's great smile) and comes to find us each Monday and Tuesday when we teach at Emmanuel. We also have been teaching (and learning) Rounders (English baseball) and completed the final competition games this past week. In both schools the 7th grade won the playoffs and competed with the 10th grade, and in both schools the 7th grade won the tournament! The school year ends here the end of April, so the children are studying a lot and getting ready to take exams.

Simple things - a kiss

A Hug -- Cecelia is on the right-oops caught her not looking!

Randy on the bottom of a Pyramid - we likened it to the church working together

Flannel Graph stories

Teaching with translator - Buji Mis

10th class Rounders Team

Randy with 7th class Rounders Team-before the game- they look worried!

                   Adjusting.... 

We turned the computer on and were blown away…we have an icon on our desktop that shows the temperature here, and it is at 99 degrees today! That temperature here also morphs into a problem with the electricity going out more frequently. Oh well, we are learning of the “joys” of living here.

It looks like we will be spending our next 3 weeks, teaching classes in the school each morning. We assist David and Janet and Erika, with our “talents” in drama, storytelling, and Phys. Ed classes. Ok… don’t laugh…God is equipping us…..If he can make a donkey talk……..we are trusting Him.

 We have dinner at lunch time- often followed by personal time- which we call nap timeJ, and  "tea” at supper time- lighter fare such as soup, pancakes, or sandwiches.

Saturday we go to town for shopping…and supper out. What an experience, it takes about an hour to get to town, which is 35 miles away, traffic, traffic!!!! It is a hair raising, pants peeing journey....it is a good time

to play I spy...to take your mind off what is happening just inches away from you.

               

       Randy has been bothered with his left foot – there is a bump on the top of his foot, and two toes turned black and blue, and it has been swollen since we got here. There is a nurse on staff here, and he decided Randy should go to a hospital in Vijayawada to have it check out. The foot is almost 100% now, but he was in and out of there in 40 minutes!  He had it examined, 2 x-rays, and a prescription –total cost, 762 Rupees – that’s $15.24!!!!  That is cheaper than a large deluxe pizza!

     

    Yesterday afternoon we walked the campus and the school girls that live on campus shared with us their afternoon snack “Googolu Nuts” Now, we can’t tell you what kind of nut they were, but similar to boiled peanuts, warm, soft, salty…mmm…mmm....we gingerly ate them at first, but we soon found our selves loving them and the girls were laughing at us as we tried to shell them before putting them in our mouths.

    

    They are such good kids here on campus, they study very hard and many hours. The minute we step out the door, they swarm to us, and ask us their name, because you see, they tell us all the time,(their names) and want us to remember….but we can’t remember, or pronounce them. Is that one Swatamo….Lakish….Calaca…? Once in a while we hear a familiar one, like for instance we have met a Cecelia (same as our future daughter-in-laws name) you can bet we remember that girl, and she is very pleased that we do!!

    

  Sunday we worshipped in a small  church, in a poor village.  A group of us learned “As a Deer Panted for the Water”in Telegu to sing at the service. Everyone smiled and “nodded” as we sang it, but we are not sure we got a straight answer on if they understood any of it.  After the service the pastor showed us the wooden doors on the front of the church that are falling apart….60 dollars or so to fix, but the church does not have the money for it....hard life for churches and pastors here.

We miss you all….more on the journey coming later!

Randy and Sheryl

                                        

 

going....going....GONE

Well we are officially gone!!!....34 hours of traveling...with a few hic-cups along the way, we got to Hyderabad and were checking in for our next flight, and they had no record of us. Somehow, orbitz/american had dropped that last leg of our trip, even though we had a confirmation for it. So after much deliberation/discussion with the airlines, we ended up buying 2 more tickets. So we have some work to do for reimbursement!
Otherwise all is well, we are adjusting to the warm climate, and different time zone...that will all come I suppose.
We did sit in on a Christian Exploration class today- with some of the stonecrusher children, they were 4 girls(see photos below) that were learning to be a seamstress, they had sewing machines- ancient ones...with a foot pedal. They also learn to embroidery. One girl was married, I am sure she was only 14 or 15. They could not speak English, so the class was translated.  Randy went this afternoon with the boys swimming class...held in a hotel pool nearby...I napped as I was suffering from a bad headache...adjusting to the heat I think. We will send more later!

                                                           Abu Dhabi Airport

                                                              school girls

                                                        looking off our balcony

                                                               Living area of the apt.

                                                            looking out the front door

Going, GOING....

The whole family. 

 Catching up.

 Ken, Randy, and Millie - Luth siblings

 The Luth boys.

 Randy and Jenny.

 The spread.

Set-up for the party! 

On Saturday, we had our going away open house with family and friends. What a great way to spend time with those who are the backbone of our lives here in Michigan. We were able to catch up and share some stories before we leave tomorrow on Monday, Feb. 6. 

We feel incredibly blessed to have strong love and support in the U.S. while we will be gone. 

Thanks to all who could make it, and to all who were unable to attend - we felt you there in spirit :)

Next time we write, we will be in East Asia!!! 

Blessings to you - Randy & Sheryl 

GOING....Going...

Wow! only 1 week until we leave. We are grateful and humbled by all of our friends & family that have supported us financially, prayerfully, and with encouragement and love. I(Sheryl) stopped working December 30, 2011, and thought, wow! I have more than a month to get ready, but here we are just one week before, and well.....not quite there, BUT...we have got to hang out with so many of our friends and family, and if we missed you we will be back in just 3 short months for our 2 guys getting married this summer, and maybe we can get together then
OR....
You can join us this Saturday from 6-9 for a going away party that our kids are giving for us. Everyone's invited!  It will be at
Clark Communications(our daughters work)
131 So. Division
Use front or back door - free parking by meters on Sat.
or use the parking ramp at Cherry and Commerce.
                           

Passion Riders

Passion Riders(our team name) Riding with passion for the oppressed. We rode Saturday Oct. 1 in the Ride for Refuge Bike Marathon in Grand Rapids.We raised $500.00 for the event put on by International Teams. This event raises awareness of the oppressed around the world. Thanks to those of you who sponsored us.