Tuesday, May 24, 2011
hey
hello, Is work keeping you away from your family http://glazingtape.com/redirect.php?to=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jbmJjNy5jb20vP3BpZD01OTI4ODM=
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Back in Toronto
I've been back in Canada for about a week now.
Last Monday I woke up in my own bed. I took a day off to shake off jetlag.
Everything seemed unfamiliar, yet comforting. I used cologne for the first time in a month. I walked down Queen St to get a cup of coffee, transfixed by the width and cleanliness of our streets. And so many less people. I walked by a pair of "homeless" dudes with a sign saying "Why lie? Spare change for Pot". It was so weird, because they had running shoes and jeans on. The last homeless people I saw before this were in Kolkata, and they were wearing rags. I had to remind myself not to judge the two dudes, but part of me was shouting at them, "You think YOU'VE got it bad?".
The challenge, now- is to step forward. To find and pray for a way to give of my time to fill needs here in Toronto. Real needs. It's been said that our poverty in North America is that of the heart.
I think I believe this, and I add myself to this bunch. This trip was spiritually life-altering and more then a bit challenging. But the real challenge now, is to honour what I've seen, and the little things that I have done. I would ask this of my teammates, the 18 or so I worked and walked beside for three weeks in India: Challenge me. Don't let me forget what I saw. Encourage me to take up my own cross here in my own town, and walk with it. Do this for me- I promise to do the same for you.
Blake
Last Monday I woke up in my own bed. I took a day off to shake off jetlag.
Everything seemed unfamiliar, yet comforting. I used cologne for the first time in a month. I walked down Queen St to get a cup of coffee, transfixed by the width and cleanliness of our streets. And so many less people. I walked by a pair of "homeless" dudes with a sign saying "Why lie? Spare change for Pot". It was so weird, because they had running shoes and jeans on. The last homeless people I saw before this were in Kolkata, and they were wearing rags. I had to remind myself not to judge the two dudes, but part of me was shouting at them, "You think YOU'VE got it bad?".
The challenge, now- is to step forward. To find and pray for a way to give of my time to fill needs here in Toronto. Real needs. It's been said that our poverty in North America is that of the heart.
I think I believe this, and I add myself to this bunch. This trip was spiritually life-altering and more then a bit challenging. But the real challenge now, is to honour what I've seen, and the little things that I have done. I would ask this of my teammates, the 18 or so I worked and walked beside for three weeks in India: Challenge me. Don't let me forget what I saw. Encourage me to take up my own cross here in my own town, and walk with it. Do this for me- I promise to do the same for you.
Blake
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
salut!
alanna says:
okay, so I apparently suck a blogging and keeping people in the India loop while in India.. so I'm going to stop vacuuming for a second (aka sucking) and try to 'blog' for you fi3ies.
.. well, since everything is kind of hard to put into words here, be kind on my literary skills ..
I am not offering any kind of story or piece of wisdom directly related to volunteering, or the poor, etc., but going back to my selfish North Amerian roots I will talk about me me me and what I have learned.. but wait, I may redeem myself.
Being in India, I've found, is much like being in a relationship of sorts - give, take, compromise, love. You learn about yourself, and you realize what you do not yet know. Some of the things you figure out about yourself are pleasantly surprising and some .. not so much. One of the great things about being here, though, is that you DO think about these things, and you approach them with Christ at your side. It's been interesting getting to know myself in a new light. Jam and Rachel made the team write out a bunch of fill in the blanks: I am what I am, but I am ______. I feel like I've been playing this game the whole trip, just laying it all out on the line. God is pretty much telling you to do laundry with your heart and then take a nice big drink of the dirty water you just wrung out into the red and white tie die bucket Karl purchased for 50 ruppees. Needless to say, it's a kick in the ass. [Team Two, prepare for total domination (.. oh yes, said like the beginning of that remix song in Bring it On .. ) ha.]
I am so glad to have gotten to know India, intimately and interactively. And as much as it sucks facing yourself and facing certain aspects of your life that aren't so Christ-like, it's so important to become aware of these things, ask the questions that hide in the shadows and would rather be left alone, and let Christ read your little black moleskin with all your 'I AM ____" statements that you wouldnt entrust in anyone elses hands.
Doing these excercises, it's really easy to get on the negative train track re: yourself, as most of us learned. It's so important, as I said earlier, to be aware of our imperfection (ouch!) and actively work with and in and for and all about Christ to be him and see him and be in his presence, but one can't always be so depressing. Someone once told me that humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. And so explcit lesson #1: as crapy as we are, we are God's creations and we are good. And so the last of my I AM's were quite redeeming. Despite the lame things we do in our lives, and blah blah blah.. I am loved. I am forgiven.
Huzzuh!
I wish could give you some foreign goodbye line, but I gots nothing.. so I leave you with the mental image of Rose in the middle of a circle of people trying to act nonchalent about the fact that she is hiding amongst them peeing in a cut off-bottle at the Varanasi train station. Sick.. as in gross.. and funny.
love.
alanna.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Liz - update
3:14am Sunday, May 20
Greetings friends!! It is May 20th and I have been in India for just over two weeks. It feels more like two months but I am truly enjoying this experience and am not eager to leave it in a month's time. India is painfully beautiful. Before arriving in Kolkata, we visited Agra and Varanasi. We explored the Taj Mahal in all its splendor... no wonder why it is one of the seven wonders of the world. On with the update...
VOLUNTEERING: I have been working at a Shanti Dan which is a home for mentally and physically handicapped women. I came to love and serve, but the women have shown me so much love and I have felt entirely served by them. There are four HIV positive children who also live on the compound with the women. They are so beautiful and full of life. If I could, I would pack Philip in my suitcase and bring him home with me. I also spent one afternoon working at Mother \nTeresa's first establishment, Kalighat. This place is a home for the destitute and dying. Some of the souls there seem spirited and yet most are so broken. I enjoyed singing to this one wee lady known as 'Ma'. She seems to be fairly mentally aware but physically she is very tiny and frail. I also fed this other fragile lady. All of these encounters are humbling and eye opening to the struggles of our fellow man. Looking into the eyes of the poor is like looking into the eyes of Jesus. It's peaceful and beautiful, but not without sorrow. \u003cbr\>Yesterday, we ran a camp for children at this centre called New Light. This is a place started by a couple of locals to care for children whose mothers are prostitutes in the red light area of Kolkata. It's like a day care and the mission is to: promote gender equality through education and life-skill training, thereby reducing the harm caused by \nviolence and abuse to women and young children. it's a community development project to empower people with no opportunity in their lives so that they can live with greater dignity. We had a BLAST with the children and I look forward to visiting them again at some point. This morning, Shanti Dan didn't need any volunteers so I went to Daya Dan which is a home for mentally handicapped children. Time flew by as the children ate, pooped, got hosed down, got dressed again and napped. We also had a mass service all together since it is currently Sunday here. Mother Teresa once said that we can only do small things with great love. That is essentially what we are doing here. While there have been intense moments, it has not been near as overwhelming and scary as I once anticipated it to be. I love these people and have been cherishing this opportunity to be and see Jesus in the poor.
KOLKATA: The air quality here is reeeeeeeally bad; all kinds of litter gets tossed on the streeet; begging is unavoidable- the streets are a community of poverty; one is always sweating; food is sometimes risky; traffic is lawless; noise is everywhere; urinals exists on the side of the street [and are by far the worst smell I have encountered in this country]; stray dogs; stray cats; stray cows; stray monkeys; rickshaws; stray children? being 'rented' for begging scams (on the street where we are living: Sudder Street); squatties; *sigh... oh, beloved India. I can't help but ask where the government is for its people. The corruption is devastating and things don't look as though they will be changing in the near future. As different as this place sounds from Canada... I see major similarities. Each country has their own system... what seems to work for them. Not to minimize the \ninjustices in our world, but I understand how things work for different societies and how set in our ways we have all become. Canada is suffering too; in similiar ways and dissimilar ways. Our government is a blessing with its minimal corruption (I know... had I not known India in this way, my opinion may still be different). Much of the poverty here can be remedied with bread, but Spiritual poverty is a much more serious ailment. Is Canada lonely? To each their own... but I don't doubt for a second that many people are lacking real love and affection. This leads me in to what I have learned most...
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED: Why have I been afraid to serve? How did I allow myself to be so preoccupied with my life that I didn't take time to spread joy. I have learned the importance ofselflessness and the ultimate life goal of holiness resounds in my head. Until this point, i had never \nworked with mentally handicapped people before, or the poorest of the poor. I have encountered the most beautful people here!! Did I really have to travel halfway around the world to find the simplicity and beauty of our responsibility to serve the poor? However, I don't doubt that I am here for a reason. As Mother Teresa always told people: 'Come and See'. Honestly though, this chaotic country has left me confused. My mind seems to be overwhelmed and behind in the process of processing what I have encountered. I feel like a child with so much yet to learn and understand.
MY THOUGHTS: I love the simplicity of wearing the same clothes day after day and handwashing them each night. I love the timing of India-- the long hours we put in, and the slow pace even though it seems to be perpetual hustle and bustle. This country is SO full of contrasts that I could say one thing, but my next sentence would run contrary to what I just shared. There is beauty here, yet there is devastation; there is an effort for cleanliness amidst filth; there is organized chaos; and beauty in the broken. I have been healthy so far except for cold-like symptoms (which I hope that is all it is). We have been in the presence of many illnesses but pray that we all stay well. If you have questions about this experience, please ask! It's hard to organize my thoughts... so if I missed anything, do inquire.
Much love- Liz.
Greetings friends!! It is May 20th and I have been in India for just over two weeks. It feels more like two months but I am truly enjoying this experience and am not eager to leave it in a month's time. India is painfully beautiful. Before arriving in Kolkata, we visited Agra and Varanasi. We explored the Taj Mahal in all its splendor... no wonder why it is one of the seven wonders of the world. On with the update...
VOLUNTEERING: I have been working at a Shanti Dan which is a home for mentally and physically handicapped women. I came to love and serve, but the women have shown me so much love and I have felt entirely served by them. There are four HIV positive children who also live on the compound with the women. They are so beautiful and full of life. If I could, I would pack Philip in my suitcase and bring him home with me. I also spent one afternoon working at Mother \nTeresa's first establishment, Kalighat. This place is a home for the destitute and dying. Some of the souls there seem spirited and yet most are so broken. I enjoyed singing to this one wee lady known as 'Ma'. She seems to be fairly mentally aware but physically she is very tiny and frail. I also fed this other fragile lady. All of these encounters are humbling and eye opening to the struggles of our fellow man. Looking into the eyes of the poor is like looking into the eyes of Jesus. It's peaceful and beautiful, but not without sorrow. \u003cbr\>Yesterday, we ran a camp for children at this centre called New Light. This is a place started by a couple of locals to care for children whose mothers are prostitutes in the red light area of Kolkata. It's like a day care and the mission is to: promote gender equality through education and life-skill training, thereby reducing the harm caused by \nviolence and abuse to women and young children. it's a community development project to empower people with no opportunity in their lives so that they can live with greater dignity. We had a BLAST with the children and I look forward to visiting them again at some point. This morning, Shanti Dan didn't need any volunteers so I went to Daya Dan which is a home for mentally handicapped children. Time flew by as the children ate, pooped, got hosed down, got dressed again and napped. We also had a mass service all together since it is currently Sunday here. Mother Teresa once said that we can only do small things with great love. That is essentially what we are doing here. While there have been intense moments, it has not been near as overwhelming and scary as I once anticipated it to be. I love these people and have been cherishing this opportunity to be and see Jesus in the poor.
KOLKATA: The air quality here is reeeeeeeally bad; all kinds of litter gets tossed on the streeet; begging is unavoidable- the streets are a community of poverty; one is always sweating; food is sometimes risky; traffic is lawless; noise is everywhere; urinals exists on the side of the street [and are by far the worst smell I have encountered in this country]; stray dogs; stray cats; stray cows; stray monkeys; rickshaws; stray children? being 'rented' for begging scams (on the street where we are living: Sudder Street); squatties; *sigh... oh, beloved India. I can't help but ask where the government is for its people. The corruption is devastating and things don't look as though they will be changing in the near future. As different as this place sounds from Canada... I see major similarities. Each country has their own system... what seems to work for them. Not to minimize the \ninjustices in our world, but I understand how things work for different societies and how set in our ways we have all become. Canada is suffering too; in similiar ways and dissimilar ways. Our government is a blessing with its minimal corruption (I know... had I not known India in this way, my opinion may still be different). Much of the poverty here can be remedied with bread, but Spiritual poverty is a much more serious ailment. Is Canada lonely? To each their own... but I don't doubt for a second that many people are lacking real love and affection. This leads me in to what I have learned most...
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED: Why have I been afraid to serve? How did I allow myself to be so preoccupied with my life that I didn't take time to spread joy. I have learned the importance ofselflessness and the ultimate life goal of holiness resounds in my head. Until this point, i had never \nworked with mentally handicapped people before, or the poorest of the poor. I have encountered the most beautful people here!! Did I really have to travel halfway around the world to find the simplicity and beauty of our responsibility to serve the poor? However, I don't doubt that I am here for a reason. As Mother Teresa always told people: 'Come and See'. Honestly though, this chaotic country has left me confused. My mind seems to be overwhelmed and behind in the process of processing what I have encountered. I feel like a child with so much yet to learn and understand.
MY THOUGHTS: I love the simplicity of wearing the same clothes day after day and handwashing them each night. I love the timing of India-- the long hours we put in, and the slow pace even though it seems to be perpetual hustle and bustle. This country is SO full of contrasts that I could say one thing, but my next sentence would run contrary to what I just shared. There is beauty here, yet there is devastation; there is an effort for cleanliness amidst filth; there is organized chaos; and beauty in the broken. I have been healthy so far except for cold-like symptoms (which I hope that is all it is). We have been in the presence of many illnesses but pray that we all stay well. If you have questions about this experience, please ask! It's hard to organize my thoughts... so if I missed anything, do inquire.
Much love- Liz.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Belated blog!
The Darjeeling Mist...
There's something about the Darjeeling mist that makes me want to cry. I can't explain it. The clouds seem to almost breathe here, inhaling and exhaling over the Darjeeling tea bushes, bringing a stillness in my heart that I haven't felt in a long time. I feel extremely blessed that I can see these distant mountains and feel the coolness of the day. A sweet respite from the Kolkata heat.
Although Darjeeling is my darling Indian fairy tale, I miss Kolkata. I miss the auto rickshaw honks, the 5 a.m. wake up knocks, the sounds of children calling "auntie, auntie" on the street, and my beautiful women at Shanti Dan. I feel honoured to go back to Kolkata in just a few short days. I'm ready to learn to serve more, breathe more, and love more... Never letting this new love go. I don't want to ever let it go.
Peace.
Anna Frenette
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The Himalayans
I have been in the mountain town of Darjeeling for 5 days now. The team and I arrived here early on the 22nd. It was raining heavily as jeeps took us up the winding roads for 2 hours. Slowly the we climbed through the clouds until we reached our destination, this land of mists and mountains.
Two nights ago was the last evening the team spent together. We sang songs of worship huddled together in an opulent and cozy meeting room furnished with thick carpets and plush chairs. As the fire crackled in the stone hearth I asked God to be pleased with our words of love and adoration.
That night, as we prepared to sleep, a magnificent storm rolled in. Sitting on the back veranda of our hotel one could see the speckles of lights in the valley far below, the dusting of stars in the black sky above, and the clustering of storm clouds directly ahead in the distance. Within the storm clouds lightning danced unaccompanied by thunder. Bolts and flashes flared for more than an hour. A silent symphony of light.
I heard these words in my heart - "I am pleased."
-Rachel Hahn
Thursday, May 24, 2007
O' Yeah,
Love is perfect, only when shared!
_________________________________________________________________
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India is fab......
We're in Darjeerling right now and it's insanely beautiful!!!
When the clouds clear (yeah, we're like in the clouds), you can actually see
mountains. It's so stunning.
I guess Blake told you the best story already, yeah trains are awesome
(Indiana Jones rulez!).
But I'm here just to tell evertone, you have to come here at some point in
time in your life, you just have to!
Heather
When the clouds clear (yeah, we're like in the clouds), you can actually see
mountains. It's so stunning.
I guess Blake told you the best story already, yeah trains are awesome
(Indiana Jones rulez!).
But I'm here just to tell evertone, you have to come here at some point in
time in your life, you just have to!
Heather
_________________________________________________________________
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Tuesday, May 22, 2007
All safe and sound.
I just read the newspaper and recieved some email concerns about bombs that were found in Kolkata main train station - Howrah. Weird. India in my opinion is a bizzarely safe place... With over 1 billion people things should be more hetic and crazy...
So just to let you know we are all safe and sound and were blissfuly unaware of the sitaution - because we boarded a different train station and train and found ourself in Darjeeling today!
I am sure we all will write more soon!
peace+
jam
So just to let you know we are all safe and sound and were blissfuly unaware of the sitaution - because we boarded a different train station and train and found ourself in Darjeeling today!
I am sure we all will write more soon!
peace+
jam
ANOTHER GREAT VIDEO FROM KARL!
