India Report #33, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, 12:30 P.M. from Calcutta, India
Dear family and friends:
I just finished reading all the emails we have sent previously and thought I’d try to tie together a few of the things not mentioned in the last one. We must soon eat again, take our warm “pour” and get suitcases tied up again for our trip to the airport. We fly at 5:30 p.m. from Calcutta to Delhi. Had to phone American Airlines again because their partner, Jet, did not have correct details in their computer. They had me flying at 5:30 and Mary Alice at 7:30. Now it is corrected and we can rest assured (amost).
The final flurry of ministry in Aizawl before flying to Calcutta is memorable. We had a full house at the Vespers program Friday night with several hundred attending the Conference Church. Biaka did not translate and the one chosen to do so (without time to go over the sermon) had a hard time. It detracted from the smooth flow of thought as I had to coach him repeatedly. But many said they were blessed anyhow.
Sabbath morining I preached to a church with special problems between two Elders who have been battling one another and dividing the church. One phoned Biaka when we were still in Lawngtlei and asked for me by name to preach to them in the hope of correcting the problem. Many said after the sermon that it was just what they needed and they could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout the service. We trust it will make a real difference and are grateful when the Holy Spirit can use us to be helpful.
After lunch with Biaka and family we chose to skip the Adventist Youth program in favor of getting a little rest and do some preparation for the Sanctuary Seminar the next morning. The church where we preached the 11 a.m. service, had a multitude of uneven steps up and down which we carefully navigated. So we were exercised enough to offset the tensions surrounding the visit.
At 10 a.m. Sunday when the Sanctuary Seminar was to begin, only two people besides us were there. I wondered if the word had not got around sufficiently. But there were many other competing programs that morning and afternoon. Half an hour later the place began filling up and when I began preaching every seat was taken. I thought our presenting the same seminar last year would hold back a large attendance this time, but it did not. So very many told how it had met a real need in their lives.
I ate the cooked food they had for the people between the morning and afternoon sessions and it went well. It means something to them to see us eating their food, even though I used a spoon rather than hands. There was a little pile of something on the plate that I carefully tested before seriously getting into it and am so glad I did. It was the hottest thing I have encountered in India. To have eaten any significant amount of it would have been a preparation to preach on Hell rather than the Sanctuary.
We (Mary Alice returned from her final packing while I preached) were presented with Mizo clothing once again made of beautiful cloth. Mary Alice has a skirt and I have a vest of the same material. They count us as Mizos since Mizo means “Hill People”. We have been to Mizoram six times now and are known all over the state. It is so nice to be known and appreciated.
On Monday Zosiama had us come to his house for breakfast and then to talk to the 280 students of his Aizawl school. Mary Alice talked to the younger ones and I spoke to the older students. Then I also had a little more for the younger ones to end our “ministry” there before the hurry back to head for the airport. In between the appointments I transferred to computer the slides from Mary Alice’s Camera to share with Zosiama and also with the Youth Leader who does not have a camera. And Zosiama was taking some of his video off onto DVD’s for us. He didn’t quite make it and so will have to mail some. I will do the same for him from our video. I don’t want to run either of them through my computer because it takes so long for the processing and eats up too much of the little available memory space left before transferring more onto a portable hard drive. Fortunately I now have a unit that will transfer video directly from our Camcorder to DVD without going through the computer.
David (Head of the Mizo Conference AV Dept) had made DVDs for us of the three sermons we preached again in the studio to make up for the lack of sound on those at Lawngtlei. He stayed up a bit of the night to get that done and gave them to Biaka who forgot and left them in his office when he and Melody (or Mizo granddaughter) accompanied us to the airport. When they left the airport and we were in the area of no return, our phone rang and Biaka sheepishly said “I made a mistake” and told of the forgotten DVDs. He has too much on his mind to keep track of everything.
Now, at 1:34 p.m. we must get the needed things done and hail a taxi for the airport.
We felt sorry for the gateman who carried our suitcases up the 50 steps to our room. He has a bad leg but would not let me help him with them. Then he told us about needing surgery for the leg but it would cost Rs 200,000 ($4000) and he did not have the money. We wished we could help him. Then Mary Alice went down this afternoon to buy a little more water and pay the RS 1600 for our two nights (one before Aixawl and the one now). She asked about the gatekeeper and his needed surgery. They explained that he is covered by medical policy as are all their workers and the surgery had been scheduled but he backed out because of something in the family. SO, we wonder what one can believe of what you hear in India. Everything has to be verified. At least I’m glad we gave him Rs 100 for his trouble of carrying the suitcases up to our room. I will carry them down myself today.
We just finished our “noon” meal trying to use up what food we have left before going to the airport. It is amazing how close we came to being exact. We used the rest of the powdered soy milk, the bought biscuits, the tangerines, and the raisons. We still have some of Mary Alice’s crackers, cashew nuts she roasted at home, some banana rings we brought from USA, and some apple rings we dried at home. They will go well in supplementing the airline food for the rest of the trip that may be scant and/or hot. If hot, our stuff can act as a fire extinguisher. It is good to have some but not too much.
We did not have to pay any extra charges from Aizawl to Calcutta and expect the same for the rest of the trip home. Good thing because we gave away most of the money we would have used for that.
Yesterday afternoon at the Calcutta airport I could have lost Rs 500. At the pre-paid taxi booth I got our slip and was making payment. I gave Rs 1000 and received change. The line behind me was pressing in so I stepped away and then noticed that I was shorted Rs500. So I returned, and explained the problem. The cashier said that I had only given Rs500. I knew better because I only had one Rs 500 note and it was still in my wallet. I knew it was Rs1000 I had given because I have them separate for easy ID and took from that part of the wallet. He insisted I had not given Rs1000 and I firmly held my ground that I did, explaining how I knew. He relented and gave the other Rs500 and it ended well. I wasn’t sure that I had that much confrontation ability left in me, but it proved to be so. I have better uses for it than to “grease dirty palms.”
Our luggage was in two carts and Mary Alice and I were well able to care for them. But one little boy shoved his way in and wanted to “help” us in spite of our protests that we did not need any help. Even the older men who were his competitors for our business, seemed amused by his assertive behavior. When we reached the taxi, he grabbed our big suitcase and was able to lift it over the rail to the driver who put it into the “boot.” So I gave him Rs 10. Then he noticed that we had a small bag of tangerines and asked for “food.” I asked Mary Alice to fetch him one and enjoyed his beaming smile. Maybe he will receive a special blessing at home for his good day.
Well, it has been a good trip in spite of all the challenges and we are deeply grateful to the Lord for all He has done to make good things happen in spite of Satan’s obvious efforts to detract. We understand the Great Controversy much better because of our intimate involvement in it. We will need those memories to help in what lies ahead for each of us in End-time events.
I’ll close and get ready for the hopefully uneventful taxi experience to the airport. Maybe it won’t be so bad since it is not rush hour at this time of day.
With our love,
Dad and Mom, (Glenn and Mary Alice)
P.S. from Delhi, India
Our trip from the School in Calcutta to the airport was not as expected. It took two hours rather than the ½ we anticipated because a Moslem parade held traffic at a standstill for much of that extra time with bumper-to-bumper cars etc. moving just a few feet at a time. We trusted the Lord and He came through as usual. We made it “just in time” to get cleared and get on the plane. So there was no extra sitting around at the airport, just on the plane for the two-hour flight to Delhi. There was a meal served and it was vegan but sizzling hot with spices. So we didn’t eat it all and found cooling refuge in our crackers and the fruit they had as part of the meal. We wonder if the fruit served with meals is really the fire extinguisher. We also wondered if the fresh fruit or vegetable salads are really safe, remembering Danny Shelton’s experience. We ate them anyhow on the plane.
Our SDA School in Calcutta has 1200 students and nearly all of them are strict Moslem. So with the Muslim holiday they had no school today. The school teaches three classes in Bible but they get very few baptisms. They have a waiting list and are considering tearing down the old building and building new with higher floors to accommodate more students. Land there is limited so they would have to go up.
The long flight from Delhi to Chicago was not as bad as anticipated. We were able to sleep some and walk the aisles frequently to change position. Also we had all the water we wanted and juice if desired. I listened some to the IPod Bible and music. The movies they offer on the flight are not worth watching even if you have lots of time to do it. What you see on the screen of other passengers is enough to turn you away even without the sound.
We met some Christian people along the way at airports and on the plane to Chicago. They are interested in our mission outreach and are impressed that we are doing it at our age. One lady said she has not seen many older Americans on trips. They usually go on cruises but not mission trips. I guess she has not met many SDA.
One man on the plane entered conversation with us asking about our missionary activities. He was an independent minister and did not have a particular denomination. He shook hands with Mary Alice and pressed Rs600 into her palm, “to have a little part in the good things we are doing.” I had one left of my Sanctuary books in English and gave it to him later when I could get at it in the baggage line.
We were told that our suitcases would come on line 2 in Chicago since we were transit. I got one and wondered when the second would come. Then I spotted one that looked like ours with our method of tying etc. on line 3. I went over to check it out and it was ours. The attendant did not know how it could get in that line. Then she said they had an accident of some kind and it could have been switched then. We are just glad we saw it and it did not go off somewhere difficult to reclaim. Air travel is not our favorite thing. Especially all the extra security checks now that make you take out the computer and video projector and even cords sometimes. We had a problem over batteries again but managed to not have them confiscated.
Here in Chicago we were supposed to fly from gate G14 and settled in there. But while waiting we got the word that the gate had been changed to G1. So we got a little more exercise and that is good for us. Not only in India do changes come often. At least here the communication about change is prompt and usually gives enough time to accommodate it.
That’s enough for now. They will be calling for us to board in just a little while. Home will look very good even if it is cold. We heard that it is 19 degrees in Gentry right now, cooler than Chicago.
We got safely home by shortly after 11 a.m. thanks to Don and Irene Gilbert meeting us at XNA airport. We are impressed with the large additions that are part of XNA now. They must have done a lot just since we were gone to India.
Our house was cool because we had set the thermostats to 45 while we were away. I was glad we had cut up a large dead limb that fell from one of our old Oak trees before we left for India. It is warming the house well right now. There was a considerable difference between the “cool” of Aizawl, the “hot” of Calcutta and the “cold” of Gentry.
Our car had not been started in eight weeks and got so used to the idea that it didn’t start when I turned the key this time. I put it on battery charger for quite a while and got it to the xzzzzzzzzzzzz stage. Robert McMullan brought his larger charger but it didn’t make it start either. That’s when I remembered we belong to AAA and phoned them. They were most gracious and sent a man within an hour. His special charger had the wallop needed and we drove to Dave Jensen’s place to pick up our food order that came while we were away. Also stopped at the grocery store to get a few fresh things. I trust it will start this morning again when I head out to get a much needed haircut, the mail, and send this email from the Library before we go to Fayetteville to pick up the tofu ordered for us while we were in India. There are leaves waiting to take to the burn pile. Nature blew them into piles around bushes and the house, so that will help getting it done sooner. Mary Alice has the washer and dryer humming once more. Our first meals at home featured good buttercup squash, poke greens, potatoes with Mary Alice’s good gravy, and garbanzos without hot seasoning. The long, lingering hot shower for me and bath for Mary Alice renewed the feeling of being truly clean again. Yes, “it’s good to be back home again.” The John Denver song has it right!
With more love,
Dad and Mom (Glenn and Mary Alice)