Project Nehemiah

In April my friend Louise had posted me some Cds and when they did not arrive I thought they were lost in the mail and was very sad.But surprise - surprise I got them yesterday.
Actually they vere wrongly delivered to a neighbours house.
They are very rich people and royals - during the British Raj they ruled over a princely state which is still theirs (a large part of it) but their titles vere abolished.
The Queen , we knew more closely (my sister taught the grandson in her pre-school) is no more.Rajah Sahib received the package sometime back and did not know how to send it to us ( below their dignity to come over, I suppose). So when an ex-trusted servant came to visit him, he sent the parcel to us.
To our great joy and surprise.Better late than never.
The music really gladdens my heart.
I could never get these here and even if I could they, would cost a lot.
THANK YOU LOUISE

Due to heavy rainfall a 30 meter section of our church boundary (can 't spell the vord) collapsed.So yesterday we launched into

Project Nehemiah

A large section of the

monsoon undergrowth and bushes

had to be cleared

This tree which grew right into the boundary

had to be chopped
The bricks cleared and a trench dug

for the foundation

The old building in the background is an unoccupied bungalow , neglected by the owners, they live in Delhi ..Hired 3 men but tomorrow, there 'll be 5

We have marched forward into this venture

trusting the Lord to provide the finances needed

about $400

Our Lord will meet our need.

Prayers are needed on our behalf.

Mother has a bad cough. She 's taking cough syrup and steam inhalation.

Happy Birthday Prem

Sunday Blessings - Mera Yassu

Here is a lovely Punjabi Praise song sung by Shreya Kant. It has an English rap to go along, so its bilingual.It says My Jesus,My Father died on the Cross for my Salvation. The roadside tea shop you see is typical.

Had a number of first time people in church so that 's good.

Simran 's first ? on Sat. evening vas; Can I come tomorrow? We told her she could.Its the love she is getting , and she has dinner too.Please pray this child may put her trust in Jesus and be like those young people in the video singing a praise song to the Lord.

Please pray that some important papers may be cleared in our bank.I am asking for God 's special favor. Things are so hard to settle.

I tell you

now is the time of God 's favor

now is the day

of salvation

2 Cor 6;2

Some days back I heard that a young missionary couple working for UESI (sister organization of the Inter Varsity Fellowship) vas injured in a bus accident. They were on their vay to Delhi from the Punjab.Srinivasan Rao and their little son vere not hurt very badly but Padma 's (his wife) arm and hand vas badly smashed.

The doctor 's have operated 3 times and put in metal plates but there are not sure if she can use her hand again.Padma is in great pain.They also need financial aid.Believers are supporting them.Please remember the Rao 's in prayer.

__________________

You must have heard that last weekend 2 Indian cities vere rocked by terror attacks.One person died in Bangalore and 45 died in Ahmadabad.Shame-faced covards the murderers are. TV mages are so heart rending. Security is just another word.

I vas telling my mother. I will write out my funeral service etc on a sheet of paper and put it in my Bible, and suppose I don 't return home one day, just take it out and follow it.On the side bar on one lady 's blog she has mentioned her funeral service.

Its good to remember

The Lord watches over you -

the Lord is your shade

at your right hand

The Lord vill

keep you from all harm -

he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over

your coming and going

both now

and forevermore

Psalm 121;5, 7-8

Thank You Robin

Robin thank you for your red ribbon

I love reading about your Romanian experiences. Your last post made me chuckle.There are so many similarities between India and Romania.

Butterflies, Blossoms, Vines and Cacti

Children are like butterflies -

a friend 's daughter

People are like blossoms


colorful and scented


All these are found in our garden

Can anyone tell me their names


I am like this rambling
gourd or courgette vine


This is the vegetable.

But some folk are like cacti ready to prick you if you get close enough.

Yesterday I dropped in to see an old lady on the first death anniversary of her husband but she vas cold and indifferent.. She 's been like a cactus all her life, maybe her method of self protection.

Today I had to go to a bank known for its cactus people.I prayed really hard before , the Lord 's favor showered on me and a man gave me the information I sought - after fussing a little.I stood before him with a pathetic face and literally begged him to help me ...so he took pity on me.

In India you have to try all sorts of PR techniques to get your job done LOL.

Today Simran came for her lessons. She did not turn up yesterday.Before school work, I trimmed her hair,shampooed , washed and oiled it. Made her vash her face, hands and feet with soap.

That child is a victim of neglect and emotional abuse.The mother favors her son.Daughter is of less value.We want to make her feel loved and needed.

I applaud and admire the way, you my blog friends are raising your children ,many of them with special needs. I am inspired by you and I also want to do something for children.

Gotta Eat

Someone has said ; I EAT TO KEEP MY MIND OFF FOOD.Don 't you agree?

Those are not my legs. I uploaded the above from HappyLOLday.blogspot.com

________________________

Today I made patties or kebabs with soya granules.
They come a box.
You cook them with lentils and spices, then zip them in a food processor.Add finely chopped onions, fresh coriander leaves (green chillies ). Form patties and shallow fry them in a skillet.

They go well with any kind of bread or rice or you can just have them with ketchup or a dip.

Mine turned out
like this

The lemon and green chillies are from our garden.Plums are from the market.

Birthday Visit

Unexpected bloom in the monsoonThe grapefruit ripen in Nov/Dec


Visited an aunt on her birthday this morning. She said her greatest gift was her son and daughter and their families getting together to celebrate the occasion after a very long time.They live a short distance from each other but hardly ever meet.





Bought mutton (goat meat) and vegetables on the vay back.Our food prices have really shot up, and all over the world too. I bought meat after a gap of several weeks.I don 't miss it much.A vegetarian meal cooked to my liking satisfies me.


Simran came for lessons in the evening. She has her term tests next month and she has missed out on a lot of school. Parental neglect.She is putting in a lot of effort but she is way behind.I feel so sorry for her.Her mother came so late to pick her up the poor child started to cry and we tried to comfort her the best we could.


Today was a day of high drama in the Indian Parliament.But the present government von the vote of confidence by a good majority - Praise God for that.

The government of this world rest upon our Prince Of Peace as Isaiah says.

He appoints our leaders.

History is HIS STORY

Am I being served?

My bed tea please - first thing in the morningYou forgot my goodnight biscuit

Life Lessons

I have heard sermons about turning the other cheek, loving our enemies, if someone asks for your shirt give away your coat too etc. etc. And I have asked the Lord to help me assimilate and practice these teachings of Christ in my life.
God takes our prayers very seriously opens ways for us to put our faith into shoe-leather as Dr J Vernon McGee would say.
I was not going to share this experience in a post, but I struggled with it , so I thought I might put it here.

A day after Aunt Sybil 's funeral I discovered that a young woman with a troubled past,who sometimes comes to our church had caused Mama and me considerable financial loss. I went into shock and panic, but I did not share it with Mama as she was suffering and ill.I told 2 of my sisters about it.(Mama does not know about this )
At first my heart was full of anger and resentment against this girl -Al.But after speaking to my sisters and Prem I just committed the whole incident in the Lord 's hands and asked Him to wash away the hurt and loss from my heart.

Al has had a troubled childhood.Her mother died when she was a baby and her father neglected and emotionally abused her brother and her.
She made several false starts in life and messed up relationships quite often.

Our family tried to help the two siblings several times.Once when she was a teenager Al became mute. It was a psychological problem. But people around her thought it was demon possession - maybe it was.
She needed to be counselled but people were afraid and no one would open their home to her.My parents took her in and tried to" bring her around". Once in church she went berserk and started screaming at the preacher but when we prayed she went mute again. (I was working in another place when all this took place)
The Lord used my younger sister Namrita as a catalyst and she helped Al return to normal life.

Al is now married and has a 4 year old son. She is much better now, but you know we are made of clay and slip at a moment 's notice.
Last week I heard that she had been very sick and the doctors had to give her 2 bottles of blood to save her life.
Immediately my mind said;Aha this is what happens to people who ---And a number of "suitable" Bible verses flashed on my brain.
But the Lord rebuked me and said ;You go and visit her on her sick bed.
After that ,the matter was settled in my soul and I went to see her.
She was lying on her bed and her little son was playing next to her.Compassion and love flowed from my heart - she looked so sick and weak.I sat with her for sometime and visited with her parents and husband. As I was leaving she asked me to pray for her and I laid hands on her and prayed. And the Lord gave me such peace in my heart.

I learnt a lesson about forgiveness and 1 Cor 13 -LOVE
When I was a student we had weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings . In these meetings our leaders encouraged us to share what the Lord had taught us that week and share our burdens and prayer requests.In that same spirit I shared my experience here, not to appear noble or righteous. But to testify about the grace of God which flows to a weak needy person like me

Lord ,like the old tree in the photo , light a fire in the hollow emptiness of my life.

Sunday Blessings -Visitors

Although Saturday morning was grey and rainy, the sun broke through with a surprise call from a friend from Canada. We have been visiting each other 's blogs and she has been such a blessing to me and now it was wonderful to visit by phone. I felt we are like next door neighbours.No matter how far we live from each other and how varied our cultures may be, when God 's Spirit dwells in us become one family in Christ.

We had many visitors this weekend.A Pastor from a local church, a young missionary couple and their daughter from Varanasi and an engineering professor and his doctor wife.
After church today a doctor intern from the Medical College and her friend who is a doctor in the Leprosy Mission Hospital also dropped by.
But early in the morning we had these herons swooping down looking for breakfast insects and frogs in the grass. But Sheeba the huntress chased them away after a while, afraid they would take over her territory.

Yesterday I got my Unlimited Internet connection. Which means I don 't have to pay for each page I open.This is worth the money.
From tomorrow 6 year old Sinran will come each evening for school work. She has started going to a new school and has to be tutored in her new syllabus.Mama and I will help this child for free.

I have a new template and the transfer was only possible with the help of my dear sister in Christ, Carol-Ann. A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU CAROL-ANN. without your help Cinderella 's pumpkin would have simply remained a common garden variety...instead of being transforned into a Porsche. LOL
______________________________
Thank you for praying for Cole.

I got this from Terry 's blog. They took samples for biospy and the results will come on July 31st. His liver doesn 't look good the doctors said. We have to keep praying for this precious child.

_______________________________
This week the Lord impressed upon my heart lessons about self-denial, taking up my cross and following Him and shunning the attractions of the world and the pride of life.

Prayer Request

Please pray for Cole, Ron ' s 12 year old grandson.He is undegoing surgery today (July 18th).I have copied Terry 's post for you

Hello ,Just wanting to ask for prayers for Cole [ my 12 year old grandson ] on his upcoming surgery Friday July 18th .View his blog and leave comment at http://cole12.wordpress.com/He forgot about the liver transplant that still may have to be done .Blessings and thanks !Ron. RRBJ.... http://rrbj.wordpress.com/ Here is a post that Cole made in April. WILL YOU PRAY FOR MEApril30,2008 I’m sorry it has been so long since I have wrote anything I have just been really sick. A few months ago I had started throwing up like last year when I got mono. So I went to the doctor and they didn’t notice anything wrong. I kept throwing up but, it got worse everything I ate or drank came right back up. It made me lose about 20 pounds. The day after I went back the doctors told me too wait another week. I was in school and we were about to go to lunch when I was called to sign out. I got up to the office and my mom was there and she wouldn’t tell me what was wrong and we got home and she said to get some clothes and she very upset. I kinda figured that I was going to the hospital and that ended up to be where we were going.We got there and the doctor said that I had to stay at the hospital. He said to stay in room 316 and all I could think was John 3:16. I didn’t know what was going to happen and me and my mom sat in the room for about an hour or so and three doctors came in the surgeon said that they are going to have to take my gallbladder out. They had to plan when to do the surgery so we had to wait. The surgeon wanted to do the surgery on the next day which was Saturday so I could get out of there on the weekend but, he couldn’t so we had to wait a week till surgery.After the surgery I felt like I weighed 500 pounds. If you have a weak stomach skip this part. I had to use the bathroom so I got out of the hospital bed and yellow stuff from my stomach poured out all over the place. I could barely walk so my stepdad stayed and he had to help me get to the bathroom. The yellow stuff kept on pouring out seaping through the three pads I had on top of my bellybutton. I had four stitches and two were about two inches long and the other two were just dots. I also had no belly button it had to grow back cause it was closed up. I also could not sleep because every two hours the nurses would come in and take my blood pressure. The next day I went home but I couldn’t go to school or anything.I had to be on hospital homebound for two months. I went back to school for about a week and I had gotten sick again. My mom and I went to the doctors office and the doctor did not no what to do so he did some bloodwork on my liver enzymes and ordered an ultrasound on my liver. When the test came back my liver enzymes were high and my liver was swollen really bad. The doctor researched some things I could have and there was a lot of different things that had the same symptoms so he did not know what was wrong. Just a few days ago we went back cause I am still hurting so he ordered a cat scan for may 8th so maybe on may 9th we will know something. So please pray for me. Thanks!!!While you are praying for me, one more requestMay5,2008As some of you may know I have a sister that is 8 years old and has leukemia, she could really use prayer also. She has been sick for a long time and we know that prayer encourages miracles to happen, so if you would please pray for her to. Her name is Taylor. Thank you, Love Cole

Catty Business

Got a Kitty to help me with the job - I named him Michael Angelo.

Terry saw my previous masterpiece and encouraged me to create this.I feel like Michael Angelo 's apprentice. LOL. Poor Sheeba looks cornered, surrounded by feline foes.




Dear Friends, Thank you for your prayers. mama is much better . I popped into my homeopathic shop, described her symptoms and he gave me a digestive syrup which helped her a lot.

Earlier our family Doctor, a very famous physician prescribed pills over the phone from Delhi.He was very kind,usually they don 't do that and charge heavy fees.But since he was out of town, he did us a favor.We were glad we saved his very expensive fees too.

God proves His lovingkindness towards us in such simple things.

Terry go ahead and swipe Sheeba picture.She 's up for grabs.

I used the cookie cutter shape.

_______________________________

Hey friends can you help our Kitty give captions to picture for example:-

Its Raining Cats and Dog

Catnip

Taming of the Shew

A Thorn Among Roses

and what Robert Orben has said;

"WE HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE WHO TELL IT LIKE IT IS -

NOW WE COULD USE A FEW WHO TELL IT LIKE IT C AN BE".

Doggie Pause

With help from Terry I was able to do this.
Sheeba on a mongoose hunting mission

Sunday Blessings - Cast Your cares Upon Christ

My Sunday began with a little rumble


As mama was climbing the church steps she tripped over her sari and had a fall. Praise God no bones were broken, but she was hurt and in pain. I asked her to returned home and lay down but she refused ; I will not let the Devil keep me away from church, she said. She went to church after a gap of several Sundays. It vas good as it lifted her up.Rev Dr M spoke on the Fruits of Wisdom from Prov. 3
I vas more shaken up than her. The men helped her up the steps.Our church steps are rather uneven as they are about 200 years old. I too have difficulty climbing them because of knee trouble.Please keep praying for her.She doesn 't feel too good after her tummy problem and is not eating much.I made her these dahi vadas - lentil fritters in a yogurt sauce.She had some of it sans the sauce.



We had Martin V attending service for the first time. He first came to Allahabad as a young man from Malaysia to study at the Agricultural College.He got into drugs but was saved at one of our student camps.After finishing studies Martin started teaching in the College and the fellowship elders arranged his marriage with a girl from our fellowship.They have returned with 2 of their children to teach in the college.This photo is from time past.

This canopied sving vas on sale at the crafts bazaar.Looks so inviting, just needs some cushions.
(2 keys on my keyboard are not working, so I 'm having trouble)

When V are dovn in the valley its good to remember

Duet 33;27

The Eternal God

is your refuge

and underneath

are the everlasting arms

Harvest Fields

I like visiting .oneyearbibleblog.com and find many treasures there.I got this video from them.Challenges me to think about my responsibility to my fellowman.



There are needy hurting people everywhere even in the most industrialized countries of the world.And in the economically backward countries the gap between the rich and poor is widening.
I ask Christ to enable me to do my tiny bit to reach out.
My present house help is a middle aged lady , lost her husband and has 2 teen aged children.She is taking care of her aged FIL. Her late husband 's younger brother and his family (3 children) also live with her.This man works and earns enough to feed his family, but they expect our Fatima to feed them. Sometimes he brings a handful of groceries.
At times Fatima stopped feeding them, but then she could not bear to see them hungry. This kind of dependency is selfish and cruel, I should add.
Fatima is struggling with 2 jobs herself.
Sometimes poverty and culture and vice can add to a person 's burdens.
I like reading blogs of people involved in missions and out in the harvest field.
My friend Robin recently returned from a trip to Romania. I am challenged by her experiences. Visit her and see.
Bonnie also travels to various harvest fields.Her photos and poetry is very good.
And to read about some of the labourers in the harvest field I go HERE
Take a look. You"ll be blessed too.

Good Flick

This evening watched a 1989 movie called Dad, (on HBO) starring Jack Lemmon.It really touched my heart.

Its about a young executive who returns home to take care of his aging parents.Its about care giving, relationships, love and understanding. The movie struck a cord in me.There are so many tender moments in it, you want to cry.

I would recommend to to all my friends specially those who have aging parents.

_________________

Have to pray for the political leadership of my country and our coalition government. The Left parties and others have withdrawn support and the present UPA alliance is short of 9 seats in the Parliament.Our country is in a great upheaval.Its all due to the nuclear deal.

May the Lord guide our leaders.

The World 's Wildest Dog Chase

You must have watched "The World 's Wildest Police Videos" on TV. Read on.

Today after a re-run of a Noah-type deluge the sun came out and I quickly organized myself to drop off some letters at the post office.

As I was leaving the house Sheeba walked along with me to the gate (which is quite far from the house).I slipped out of the gate and ordered her to get back to the house.

After walking about a block in heavy traffic I discovered Sheeba was following me.This was the time when a large High School next to us was getting over and there were all kinds of vehicles on the street.I have never taken Sheeba out on the road without a lead, she doesn 't know how to behave on her own.She started dashing in and out of the traffic;jumping at cars, dodging motorbikes and rickshaws.I got so scared and nervous. In my mind I was singing the Requiem for her but shouting and shrieking like a banshee. She collided with a car and the driver looked at me questioningly ; I quickly apologized to him. The silly dog jumped into waiting taxis and rickshaws, she was having the time of her life...this was Disneyland for her...for me Dungeons and Dragons ( I hate that game BTW). But the funny thing was that many people were scared of Sheeba. She is the world 's friendliest dog and I always say that if a thief or robber came into our house she would welcome him with a bouquet of roses and lead him to the place where we keep our valuables.

Anyway after a good bit of ducking and dodging and skidding I got her back inside our gate and made sure she got back to the house.She could have got out through a small opening in the wire mesh in the gate or a naughty High Schooler bird watching near our gate opened it and let her out.Next time I will make sure she doesn 't follow me so far.
Here she is with Jimmy.
__________________________
Today we did not have electricity for more than 8 hours. Ha...ha...ha!
And the Left parties and other politicians in our coalition government are opposing the nuclear deal with the US and IAEA. Dear brothers the nuke deal will help us generate electricity.

Sunday Blessings - Its Pouring

Good church yesterday and communion service afterwards.In the evening had a small prayer service in our home in memory of Aunt Sybil.
Its been raining incessantly since the past 2 weeks all over North India. And although that means renewed water resources and end of drought, the excessive monsoon has brought in a lot of problems.
Rivers have flooded
Property, livestock and farms destroyed
About 50 people have lost their lives in rain related mishaps in my state
Infrastructure and public services in the cities are cracking up because of water logging etc.
Rain related diseases are rampant
The poor homeless , street dwellers have nowhere to take shelter.
Food prices have shot up
In today"s newspaper I read that the roof of an old cinema theatre , (Palace Theatre) came crashing down yesterday. Fortunately no one was hurt.This building was built during the British era and is about 100 years old.

It was one of the few theatres which screened English movies and we have growing up memories of watching Hollywood blockbusters like -The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, Quo Vadis (I spelt it wrong for the obvious reasons) and Sound of Music etc in this hall. We also saw many plays in here. Once the Shakespeare Theatre visited from England and we saw "She Stoops To Conquer" .

These days movie halls are not doing good business as people have television, home theatre systems and the Internet.But I do hope they fix the roof and get going once more.

Besides the building also houses our favourite sweet shop .

___________________________

Friends ,I want to request prayer for Brother Ruan, our Shri Lankan friend (39 years old) diagnosed with brain and abdominal cancer. He is going for chemo therapy starting today.Ruan and his wife Kumari have 3 very small children. Ruan 's faith is very strong and he is witnessing to his Buddhist Shri Lankan friends, who are really stunned to see his faith and trust.

Also please pray for my younger sister Namrita.She lives in North East India with her husband and 2 little boys.Recently she 's been having migrains and the doctors have recommended a CT Scan.She will have to travel to another city for the scan, she can 't do that right now as she can 't get away from her job.We are worried for her, she is not keeping good health. Please pray for her too.

Thankyou Kostas

Thank you Kostas for giving me this award..

I enjoy the pictures of the Greek coast and natural beauty

which you post on your blog and also your comments.

Do You hear What I Hear?

Listen to this little girl.


Are you laughing?
Well on one level we can laugh at her childishness , but I can t help being alarmed at the display of such aggression in a little girl.Where is it coming from.TV, video games, cartoons environment?
I heard a 4 + year old boy plotting the murder of his l3 year old cousin sister in such gory detail that it gave us goose prickles.It was in my house and we did not laugh His mother tried to brush it away ,saying he is watching too many cartoons.
Why doesn 't such behaviour shock us? I can 't treat it as a joke.
The Bible says,"Train up a child the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it".
Jesus said,"Unless you become like a little child you cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven".

Lets be good examples to our inheritors and protect them from the hatred and violence present in society.
_____________________________
Thank you for praying for Mama. She is so much better today.
Two days ago we rang up our family doctor.He was away in new Delhi, but Mama described her trouble to him and he prescribed medicines over the phone. We got them right away and praise God they worked.

The Potter and the Clay

I took these photos at the crafts bazaar sometime back.This is called blue or chinhat pottery, unique to our state.Its made with a special clay, then glazed and painted.It is exported all over the world.

Look at the young man with his works of art. These objects of beauty were at one time on the potter 's wheel as clay-clay that yielded to the potter 's hand.

What happened? That lifeless clay was under the hand of the potter, and as the wheel of circumstance turned he molded and made them into vessels that stand on display.

We are like clay in the hands of the Master Potter.He can make us and shape us according to His will.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 8:4

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter;so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it."

What Dr J Vernon McGee says is true,"I do not believe that life 's big decisions are made in a church sanctuary. I believe they are made out in the work-a-day world-in the office, in the school, in the workshop, at the crossroads of life-there is where the Potter is working with the clay. There is a place He is working with you my friend."

A few years ago I tried my hand at pottery in a hobby class in the school where I was teaching and I loved it. I made a few mis-shapen works of art and I photograph them and show them to you.

__________________________

Its been raining constantly , we 've had no sun. its hard to dry clothes. I have a semi-automatic washing machine, maybe your grandma 's had them.Its twin tub with a washer and dryer.It doesn 't dry the clothes completely so you have to hang them out on the line.

The fully automatic machines use a lot of electricity, washing powder and water. So to save all that and to be environmentally friendly I use this kind.

Please pray for my Mama she is not well.Suffering from acidity and can 't hold down anything.I got her apple juice and cream crackers. She can have a little of that.