One Week for the Streets

Thursday, August 29, 2013

One Week Mark!

By this point we now have a working phone, our own internet, a refrigerator, and a washing

machine (that we can’t use yet). Amos and Justice have made their ways into many hearts on

campus. I’ve been able to visit in four other apartments, chatting with very wonderful ladies.

Anim has helped us with our laundry and is planning on taking me grocery shopping. Sharda has

put me more at ease with having a home birth, and took me to her OB/GYN doctor today for a

regular checkup. Akim is all alone in her apartment and was very glad, I think, that I knocked on

the “wrong” door trying to find Sharda’s apartment. J I think we will have very good visits in

the future. Preety is very outgoing and is fun to talk to.

Amos asks every day, “Are the kids outside?” He is thriving on the little school books we

brought with us in our backpacks, and I think he’ll be ready for the curriculum that is being

shipped once it gets here. I’ve been asked almost every day about Amos going to school, so I

have started turning that into an opportunity to explain why we feel it is important and that it

is our responsibility, biblically, to teach our children about the Lord all throughout each day.

So far I haven’t had any response to that. I’m learning how to manage my days between two

active boys, the hot afternoon, and the evening visiting time. I think there is a routine slowly

developing, although a good deal of that will change once we begin language classes and I start

to cook.

On that note – we get to meet with the language school director, Rollee Narrain, and another

American couple next week! Yay! We will have a meet and greet time, and then we will talk

about our schedules for doing classes, which should start next week. We found out about a lady

who sweeps and mops the floors daily for several apartments on campus, and we might enlist her

help (with money, of course) in our apartment as well. It’s about six US dollars a month. Yeah –

wow. And that’s helping her out.

I found out that prenatal care is also very cheap – and it is considered expensive here in India.

Around 3 dollars will pay for a checkup, 6 dollars for an ultrasound, and about 300 dollars for

delivery. My checkup went well. Everyone here was very nervous about me, so I think they

will be relieved now that I have seen the doctor. After being at the maternity home, though, I’m

pretty sure I want to stick with a home birth if possible, especially since I don’t speak Hindi. The

doctor could speak English, but I could tell she is much more comfortable with Hindi, and I’m

afraid that might cause problems in the middle of delivery and things may not go like I would

want them to.

Andrew has found out more than he ever would want to know about Indian mechanisms so far –

or the lack of them. After 5 visits to the phone store and many hours later, he has finally got our

cell phone working, but is still wrestling with getting the internet package working that he signed

up for. (News flash: he got it.)

Andrew has been to chapel once this week, and was very impressed with the message on the

book of  Joel. He wants to be more regular in attending those if he can. He was also able to help

Sundara Raj by taking pictures of all of the 1

purposes. I had my first motorcycle ride today to the maternity home. J That was fun. One of

the staff took me, since there was some confusion on having a driver available. We have found

that (1) you can’t count on anything happening the way it’s planned, (2) relationships are very

important here, and (3) the Lord is faithful to keep His promises and His word to us – as we seek

Him, He is found, and satisfies our hunger for Him.

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 and 2

 year students. This is for fundraising