FINAL REFLECTIONS ON THE TRIP

The final post on the blog is the thoughts of each member of the team of the trip

Sharmaine

In my role as team leader I could not have been blessed with a better team. They encouraged each other, comforted when it was required and all had their own role. Brian was the childminder and the children adored him. Brian also brought wisdom and discernment.
Ishbel was the prayer intercessor
John had the responsibility of updating the blog and gave words of encouragement to the staff at the Purnata Bhaven project. He also made us laugh.
David, along with John worked on the blog and saw to the travel arrangements.
Sandra, she came alongside the children in the each of the projects and church.
Finally, myself Sharmaine.
I prayed for my team bonding and for the projects and many other things.
Therefore, I feel I had many blessings from my first trip.
However, one thing will stand out and that was the humbleness of the people and their thirst for God. I do not think I could convey the privilege and honour it was for me to be able to pray over the people God put in front of us. I came away finding that my faith in God has been taken to a new level because of the Indian people’s lack of Western needs and love for God and desire to serve and honour Him.
Adam & Jo’s warm hospitality and thoughtfulness made this truly a memorable stay. God’s hand from start to finish was amazing and we could not have achieved any of it without his Holy Spirit direction and prompting.




David

The whole trip has been superb. The team have got on really well and kept healthy whilst God has used us to His glory, as we have been able to listen and to pray with folks that we have met. Adam & Jo have been such a pleasure to be with as we have been taken about and also whilst we have been at their home. I’m sure all the team would say that this trip has been an unbelievable , humbling and life changingexperience and one that they will never forget.





Sandra

The whole trip has been a great experience for me. I have loved every minute. God is good. He has used “my eyes to see how others” live, which I hope and pray He will continue to guide me through my life and use this wonderful time to bless others in the future. I have taken this as a learning curve for me.
I have enjoyed so much spending time with Adam & Jo and the children it has been such a pleasure I will never forget them. They will always be with me in my prayers and blessings.





Ishbel

What an experience on this India trip. Adam & Jo’s hospitality was absolutely superb. I have seen God move in a miraculous way in a Hindi speaking church and even though we could not understand the language, the presence of the Holy Spirit was very tangible. There are too many amazing things that I have seen to enhance my experience but the Lord has also worked in me personally and I know I will be coming home a changed person. The team were all incredible and we all bonded really well.




Brian

The time in India went nothing like I thought it would. Jo and Adam never went out themselves (editor – in spite of many requests to do so!) – enjoying our company too much they said. Saw God move miraculously in a Hindi speaking church. Got a more hands on physical overview of Adam’s work, which was great. All in all a blessing.





John

Visiting Adam, Jo and the kids in India has been absolutely fantastic. It was brilliant to be so at home with them in this foreign land. I have been truly overwhelmed by the work Adam and Jo are involved in within the local Hindi speaking population. God is the central focus of all the projects visited in which His love is so apparent and His presence so tangible. So humbling, deeply emotional and character building stuff. I want God to help me bless others through all these experiences, now and in the future. Can’t wait to see you Adam, Jo and co again. Thank you to God for taking the six of us to India to witness your Kingdom at work and calling us to be part of it. Amazing and unforgettable

FUNNY SIDE OF LIFE

It is almost inevitable that you when you get four men together there will be a certain amount of mucking about. It seemed that on the trip Adam & John were usually to be found at the centre of such events.

I maybe wrong here but Adam came out just on top in the silliness stakes.
John did lose at the game of "mercy" however he did manage to throw a small ball of paper into Adam's mouth from a distance of four feet. Adam was however complaining that John closed his mouth when a prior throw seemed certain to go in. The loser had to pick up all the pieces on the floor which Adam did not like doing but I guess was better than a verbal volley from Jo!

Here are some pictures of the more silly events on the trip





One for the ladies!!

These are eggs are being carried!

Ishbel striking a very scary pose here

I thought Jesus was a carpenter not a tyre distributor

Adam is driving the motorbike whilst taking this picture! Since John has no dependents(other than his cat he adds he does not have the helmet)

Don' t worry Adam did not close his mouth on the cricket

Thursday

This was a planned rest day as we had to pack up and then we went to Thane’s main shopping area for a final shop.

After some tea we said our goodbyes to Adam and Jo and then we travelled back to the airport (largely uneventful from a traffic view for a change!) for our Friday 2:40am flight to Heathrow and subsequent connection back to Glasgow.

Wednesday

Today we visited where Adam spends most of his time at Jeevan Sahara Kendra(JSK). This project caters for people who are positive with HIV and require medical treatment. We first had a time of praise and worship and then we all shared about how God had brought us to the place to where we are at either in Glasgow or Thane)

Adam then gave us a presentation about the work of JSK and how during treatment they seek to show God’s love to these people through practical help and also to take the opportunity to pray with them. They also put them in touch with a local church who is then about to come alongside them and are an ongoing source of support.

After some lunch we returned to the JSK offices where we took the opportunity to pray for different members about the work that they do and also any prayer requests that they may have.

Adam then took us to Lok Hospital (run by Bethany Trust) where we were able to see a hospital that funds care to people who have no money to pay for their treatment with those that can. It trades on the fact that its staff provide that best treatment in the area without the fear of having to bribe the doctor or pay for treatment that is not necessarily needed that, it is alleged, may be the case in the state sector.
We saw the labour ward where Freya (Adam’s youngest child) was born and also where Ishbel had a CT scan!

Our final activity of the day was to go to a house where we were able to have a cup of chai (milky tea). This was quite an experience in that the house was in an “official” slum and was no more than 10ft square. To get there took us through the slums and avoid children, dogs and pigs in the road. The house had no running water but had electricity and small gas cooking facility. It was heartbreaking to see that just after David presented the two children (who have nothing) with a bag of sweets containing four lollipops, the boy took one of them out and gave it to his best friend. A humbling experience indeed.

Tuesday

This was a rest day as we went shopping for presents and clothes. We did however see the usual mad traffic antics along the way.

Monday

This day we went to Purnata Bhavan where we saw a project run by Oasis Trust that provides a refuge for those children who have HIV Aids or are affected by HIV. Adam says that 13 of the 35 children are HIV + and around 25 are orphaned and live on site.

The project also runs training schemes to enable the women to do jobs such as tailoring or candle making. Those of you with connections with team members may be fortunate enough to receive gifts purchased from the centre!

We were able to pray for the team who are led by a lady called Bethany from USA with assistance being made by Helen(who teaches 5 children) and now Kris (who will be advising of new designs for clothing)

In the picture on the left Karen is in the red top and Kris is next to her in the light blue top. Bethany is in the gold top and on the right hand side of the picture.

Sharmaine is pictured below with a number of the children at the project

The journey back will go down as the most eventful we have ever experienced as due to a (probable fatal) accident on the mountain road resulted in driving practices you will never the like of again as cars overtook each other on the inside and outside in order to get past the accident. This is inspite of oncoming traffic and a sheer drop (protected by a 4ft brick wall on the left side!)

Apologies for also missing a photo opportunity as a wee boy lifted electric cables above the height of a lorry using a long wooden fork!

Sunday

Sunday was a remarkable day where we saw God’s power move in miraculous ways.

Picture below is the walk up to the church.

We went to the church where Adam’s housekeeper worships and part of Sharmaine’s sponsored silence money went to fund an extension.

The church building has been extended from the area on the wall that you can see the banner with Jesus's face.

We arrived at around 10:30 where the service had already been progress since 9am!

The service was in hindi and appeared to be very informal with the singing being accompanied by a guy on the bongo drums and a guitar player so when we arrived we just clapped along as the songs where being sung.

We then took communion and also witnessed a baptism.
We were first ushered up the front where Adam introduced us all and we received garlands of flowers from the Church and then we all said a short prayer each.
It then became obvious that God had other plans for the rest of the service as one man then had to be prayed for as he had become possessed by a devil.
The pastor of the church then asked the congregation if we would pray for healing for the members of the congregation who required it. First it was one or two people but then as the Holy Spirit came, more and more people came forward and in the end the whole team were either praying or “catching” people as we prayed. We were grateful for a couple of congregation (and also Adam!) who could translate for us into and from Hindi.
In the end we were praying for folks for nearly two hours and then we had a very welcome lunch.
We managed to leave around 2:30pm elated but exhausted at what God had done through us.

After a short rest period we then went for a swim and basically played about in the pool.

Road System

The system here you could say is very chaotic at best and at worst very dangerous if you do not have your wits about you. It is probably as a result of the men usually doing all the driving but that is not substantiated!

Like the UK, Indians drive on the left however comparisons end there!

There are familiar lane markings but they are largely ignored and are therefore indications of the general direction of traffic.

There is no concept of give way. If you do, you will get nowhere as it’s each person for themselves. When you think about it, traffic should be able to go where and when it wants. Two cars in two lanes is far to sensible when you can fit four cars/riks/motorbikes there easily.

There now follows a version of the Indian Highway Code

1) Honk your horn at every opportunity to indicate your presence
2) When you come to a junction, you do not stop and wait, you now go and merge with the traffic going in your direction
3) If you go past your junction and should have turned, you should reverse back and correct yourself. It does not matter about oncoming traffic they just honk their horns and get out of the way.
4) You may bring traffic to a halt in the direction you’re going when turning right.
5) Cows are sacred and have free and unhindered access to the road. You must stop whilst the cow is on the road.
6) Lights are required but do not have to work or be on at night.
7) Overtaking can be done n any way which gets you ahead of the person in front of you.
8) You do not have to travel on the left hand side of the left side of the road (no matter what speed you can achieve)
9) You may overtake and force oncoming traffic to swerve to avoid you on a two way road.
10) If you approach a queue, say after an accident, it is acceptable to overtake the vehicle in front of you on the inside or outside if space permits.
11) Any number of people or amount of goods are acceptable to be carried for the journey.
12) For motorcyclists a helmet is advisable for the driver only. It is not necessary for passengers.

Possibly the best feature if traffic in India is the fact that at traffic light controlled junctions there is a countdown to when the lights change. It should be noted that it really spells the start of the race!

Saturday - Trip to Mumbai part II

After the boat trip we then went to the Cottage Industries Emporium where the goods from various local trades where available for sale. The payment process proved to be very trying as you first of all had to take the goods that you wanted in the department to the desk where you then received a note. Once you had been round all the departments you then took all your notes to the cashpoint where you paid for your goods. In the meantime your goods where being sent and packaged to the despatch point where you received your goods once you had produced your receipt. For the few items that I bought this took 20 minutes as I had to queue three times! Patience is indeed a virtue!

After the excitement of the initial shop we then went for a coffee except that the lads decided that as one of them had to purchase a hand bag for his dearly beloved he had better go shopping. After a debate in the shop that may have lasted 5 minutes, a bag was safely purchased. On the way back we also took the opportunity to buy some jewellery as well! You could palpably feel the frustration at the lack of manly activity for 4 residents of the West of Scotland so we reverted to type and went to the café for a drink!

The girls by this point had taken the taxi home and so we were left in Mumbai. The taxi home proved long and eventful as the rush hour had started. We left the centre of Mumbai at approx 6:30 in a taxi which when it rained had the driver wiping the windscreen with this hand to clear the rain to not much effect. After an hour or so of crawling along the taxi driver decided that to get to Thane we need extra petrol however the petrol station that we turned up in would not accept his voucher that the driver had. So this taxi journey had to end and after a period of negotiation we settled on a figure and then had to find another taxi that would take us to Thane. Adam was beginning to get a little worried as the first two drivers did not want to go at the meter rate but then we found a driver and we eventually got in the door around 9:30pm!

Saturday Chill Out - Trip to Mumbai/Bombay (part 1)

Comfortably rested, we bounced up bright and early Saturday morning to begin the trip to Mumbai. We arrived at Thane Train Station by rickshaw and braved the swarming mass of travellers to find our platform. That's our train here. Scotrail, eat your heart out. Adam assured there would be enough seats since this was the start of the line. The real squash did not begin for a few stations. Only two of the four carriage fans were working. This was slowing becoming a mobile sauna, resistance was futile.

How many people can you fit into a train carriage? One more please......... A surging mound of bodies slowly grew before our eyes as station by station more people took up every opportune crack available in the carriage. Well, if you can't beat 'em.....

Directly opposite Mumbai Central Station exit

Just turn right down Wallace Street you'll find the finest hand made paper shop in Mumbai. Inside it is quite literally ablaze with colour in a multitude of paper products.


No prizes why this photo was taken as John Wallace was keen to point out the fact his ancestors had been amongst the first settlers in Mumbai.




The Taj Mahal - Mumbai's most expensive hotel.

The Gateway To India

One of Mumbai's most famous landmaarks, built in colonial times for the arrival of King George V. The backdrop is the impressive Taj Mahal Hotel.