the dorcas center. Wednesday, March 16, 2011 This post is a little delayed because the pictures are from Maggie’s camera, but I wanted to tell you about one of my favorite parts of our trip last week: a visit to the Dorcas Center. This center was begun by Anima, the wife of a national seminary professor, and provides jobs for women from troubled backgrounds.  There is a shop, which sells hand-made quilts, bags, jewelry, clothes, etc., and also a cafe where you can taste anything from fresh crepes and bagels to samosas and momo’s.  Through coming to work here, women are taught skills, given dignity and the opportunity to create…

  a care package day. Monday, March 14, 2011     Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!  

  We take the twenty-five minute auto-rickshaw ride through Sunday-morning-quiet streets, the wind in our faces, chatting and looking at the world flying past us.  In this country there is always more to see and smell and hear than the human body can absorb. This road is in a part of our city I love; right downtown in the middle of the hustle and bustle and energy.  If we were in New York, we’d be on Fifth Avenue; if in Columbia, SC, The Vista. But this morning the shops and restaurants are closed, the fruit vendors just parking and assembling their cart-top piles of watermelons and limes and bananas.  The…

  the taj. Saturday, March 12, 2011   On our way home from visiting the northern team our family spent two nights in Delhi.  Julie and Amelie had a little stomach bug, so Judah and I made a man trip to see the Taj Mahal. Not long after Luther’s theses, the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan employed thousands of laborers for more than twenty years to build this mausoleum for his third and favorite wife’s burial.  Made with imported nonporous white marble, all the close up shots of the design work and Arabic script are not paintings but inlaid precious stones.  Absolutely breathtaking. I think Judah was more impressed with the…

  he says she says. Friday, March 11, 2011   Judah: “I don’t want to take a nap!  I want to live!” ———— Judah: “Where are you from, Mommy?” me: “I’m from South Carolina.  Where are you from?” Judah: “I’m from Delhi.” ———— Amelie: “Where’s Daddy?” me: “Daddy’s climbing a mountain.” Amelie: “Ooooo!!!”    

  gratitude, #458 – 479. Friday, March 11, 2011   back home after eight days away open windows and sunshine and a fresh-air breeze this afternoon the second load of laundry in David did a Thom’s run and stocked us up on diapers and groceries and fruits and veggies Pizza Hut delivery in South Asia our kids squealing in their bathtubs we peeked in and found both of them squeezed into one tiny bathtub Amie prayed at dinner tonight Jesus loves it when Amie talks to him my new apron (my first apron) Anju is coming tomorrow! talking to my mom on the phone Love Walked Among Us, just as…

  into the himalayas. Wednesday, March 9, 2011   As the last item of orientation here in South Asia, Julie and I spent a week up north with the other team working here through our company.  We were so encouraged to be with families who have given their lives for this country and are brimming with wisdom. On our final two days, the women generously took the kids so that the men could trek into the Himalaya foothills.  It was simply stunning and an experience I’ll never forget.   In the above picture, in the bottom left, is a mountain goat.  We saw tons of monkeys, parakeets, barking deer, mountain…

  five things i miss about our city. Tuesday, March 8, 2011   From all of these idyllic photos, you may wonder if we are dreading our return to the south at the end of the week. Surprisingly, as much as I love it here, I actually miss our city.  Here are some of the things I miss … 1.Good coffee.  As a friend up here said, “Northerners just don’t do coffee well.”  He is so right. 2.An abundance of auto-rickshaw drivers … no walking a couple kilometers to catch an auto. 3.The shopping.  Okay, so it’s not the U.S., but you really can find pretty much anything.  And there…

  the himalayas. Monday, March 7, 2011   On Saturday afternoon, we made the hour-long trek up to M., a famous mountain town, once a British hill station.  It was well worth the kilometers of windy roads and motion-sickness to see the stunning views.  We saw a huge temple, Hindus on pilgrimage, Woodstock School, snow-capped mountains (and beyond them is China!), a crowded, cramped town built right into the side of the mountain, and at the top, stopped at a tiny out-of-the-way shop for jars of fresh local peanut butter.    

  “Take heart. he is calling you.” a guest post at (in)courage. Sunday, March 6, 2011   Recently, I wrote a post for (in)courage blog, and today I’d be thrilled for you to stop by and read it.