Around Town

A few pictures I took around town last week. Check the flickr for more...

"Looking Beyond the Veil"

http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/muslim_fashion/

Jumpstart.

Just wanted to give you an update on the "speedbump". I have officially been jump-started :) There's a team here this week from the States that is helping me with a project strategy in a big way. They have a lot of wisdom to share and zeal for this project and the people of this city.

I'm exhausted after being out with them sharing with people in the city today, but I promise to post more later. They're here for the rest of the week, so please be thinking of them as they battle jetlag. Pr. that we could walk away from this week's meeting with a clear plan of what area to focus for the rest of my term, specifically the next 6 months.

Many more pr. requests to come. Time for me to rest! He is faithful and so are you - thank you for lifting me up!

Sincerely,
C

Elections

May 10th is an election day. This is a pivotal time in Karnataka’s government as the State has been under Presidential rule since October of last year. There is much anxiety in who will come to control the State in this election. Elections sometimes end up in violet reactions and rioting around the city.

Pr. for...

• safety for those in this city.
• freedom of religion to remain after the election.
  
• my neighborhood "S-Town". There is a certain political party that is very anti-chr.st.nity. They are highly active in my neighborhood.
• US elections. I hope these elections can be a reminder to you to pray for the upcoming elections in the US as well as wisdom and discernment for the American voters.
  

Speed bumps and a few requests.

I have come to "speed bump" of sorts in my project. The front end of my project has been a lot of research and gleaning all the information I can get my hands on. The research aspect of my job has been better than expected (last month I had someone tell me they had 3000 media resources for me to distill and catalog!).

Now, I have embarked upon perhaps the most important part of my time here - partnering with nationals. You see, it's not about me, the foreigner, coming in, "fixing things" and then leaving after two years. No, it's about joining Him where He is already at work and equipping nationals to complete the work that He has called them to in hopes of working towards something that will last beyond my brief stay in South Asia. Here's where the "speedbump" comes in - lack of national partners. The nationals know better than anyone the areas of the city that have no access to the word. One of the goals of this project is to identify those pocket areas that have little to no access to the word and focus on saturating them for the next two years. Many aspects of my job cannot move forward without national partnerships. All this to say, these have been some of the challenges and frustrations I've faced over the past month, but I guess anything worth having takes a little blood, sweat and tears, right?! What's it going to take? I'm ready to do it. Whatever it takes. I covet your pr.yers:

Pr.y...
-for at least two national partners that I would be able to work with for the duration of my term here in S. Asia.

-that I would be able to clearly communicate the end-vision of this project to potential national partners.

-that the fact that I'm a single woman wouldn't be a hindrance to working with local past.rs and leaders.

-for good networking to happen over the next month with nationals and other M's doing the same type of work I am so we can share ideas of what is and is not working.

-that I would know who to trust in terms of who to partner with. This can sometimes be tricky here, especially with the communication breakdown.

-for at least one national partner who will be willing to do field research. There are many places I can't go to because I'm a woman and a foreigner. I'm desperate for a national who would be willing to go to these places on my behalf in hopes of better understanding the people of this city.

-that He would provide at least one national woman who has a heart to reach and/or knowledge of the musl.m people. It would be great to have a woman's perspective, especially since the woman has the most interaction with children and younger generations.

-that I would wait on Him for guidance and direction. My tendency is to go out there and do all the research and work myself, but I realize the importance of nationals doing this work instead of me. Pr. that He will remind me of this daily when my "Type A" personality wants to check things off a list.

-C

Update

I wanted to give you a brief update on my Iranian friend, CeCe.

Last month, we thought that she would have to go back to her home country due to admission problems with local colleges, but after much pr.yer and persistence on CeCe's part, a local college accepted her! I'm really excited because she's been a great friend to me these past few months. It's funny how I have this instant-bond with expats I meet in this city. I guess we're all going through similar struggles living in a new culture.

Last Sunday, I went to CeCe's apartment for lunch, Charlie Chaplin movies (yep, she's a big Chaplin fan!) and to help her with her English. She's taking some English classes before her college classes start this Fall, so I've been helping her with reading and pronunciation. CeCe's mother tongue isn't Urdu, so she can't help me with speaking, however her script is the same, so she has been helping me with improving my writing.

Afterwards, I was able to invite her to ch.rch and she was very excited about coming! I think He's doing something in her life, so please keep her in your pr.yers. I'm glad He brought her into my life - she's a great friend and I'm looking forward to getting to know her more over the next few years.

-C

Culture Shock...for real.

Well, after living here three months I think some culture shock things are finally hitting me. It's not that I'm lonely so much. He's really answered my requests in that area and I feel like I've connected with different groups of people, whether they are brothers and sisters, expats, or people in my community - that end of things has been great. It's really the little things that are getting to me now. Maybe it's because it's hotter now or lack of sleep. Or maybe I should just call a spade a spade and admit, "Hey! I'm in culture shock!" I guess I can only suppress my feelings for so long. Haha.

I don't feel that He's abandoned me by any means. He is answering specific requests everyday which is awesome to see. I've been meditating on this verse for the past three weeks:

Jms. 1:5-6
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask G.d, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given him. But when he asks he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the sea.

I've recently realized that for some time now, maybe ever since I first knew Him, I've been that "wave of the sea". Sometimes I believed that maybe He would do it, but that's not what the word tells us to do - it's not a "sometimes" type situation! I wasn't truly believing with all that I am that He would do it every time. So this week I came to a breaking point where I was asking some very specific and mighty requests of Him confident that he would do it ...and He did. One morning last week, I had a long auto-ride ahead of me to go to meeting in another part of the city and I had pr.yed that I would have a chance to share with someone that day. Wouldn't you know it that my auto-driver was a J. Witness and he started sharing with me first. I brought the Word with me that day, so we were discussing the scriptures for close to an hour. It was actually somewhat of a funny sight. Here's this white girl in the back of an auto and her auto driver, swerving through traffic whilst reading the Word at the same time! Only in India!

This week, a friend told me a story of a sick woman he once visited. His friend pleaded with him to visit this woman who had been in the hospital for nine months and would most likely die soon. When he finally went to visit her she asked if she could pr.y for him. He was a bit taken aback (he had come to pr.y for her), but he agreed. After she was finished, he asked if he could pr.y for her, but her reply was "No! But you can pr. for the man in room 100- he has cancer, and the woman in room 101 she has a fever..." and on and on it went like that. "Who are you, ma'am?" he finally asked. She explained that she had become a bel.ever in college and married a Punjabi man who wouldn't let her read the word or meet with other bel.evers and by the grace of g.d, she was able to get sick, come to this hospital and share Him with those in the hospital everyday! Talk about being content in all circumstances. That was a good word that I desperately needed to hear this week.

I pr. that you'll be asking him bold, extraordinary, and specific pr. requests this week and truly believing that he will do it. I pr. that you will be content in whatever circumstances you face this week. Please pr. the same for me :)

Blessings,

C

P.S. This picture has nothing to do with anything. I just wanted to put up a nice picture for you to look at. This was taken at the Lamberton Conservatory in Highland Park, Rochester. Enjoy.