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After a long awaited (hopefully) entry, I will finally tell of our time in Nepal and our current life back in Switzerland.

 

We were only in Nepal for 10 days but it was a fully packed 10 days. The adventure started as we left Siliguri for Nepal, which is only a 30 min bus ride. We, Stefanie, Sadhana--a Nepali girl who we had spent the last 6 months with, and I, crossed the border without any problems.

Then we reached the embassy and as we walked up we were greeted with the ever comforting words from a tourist standing there "We are stuck here for 4 days. There is a strike and nobody can go anywhere." "Hmmm, there's gotta be some way." I thought to myself. The country of Nepal is in the midst of writing a new constitution since the last king was overthrown and a democracy was declared. So every little group tries to show their strength and "importance-ness" by calling a strike and trying to show the sway they have and why they should be given what they want in the new constitution. Quite annoying as it causes travel problems for locals and travelers alike. In any case, Sadhana and I went about trying to find a way to the town of Biratnagar 4 hours away, where our flight was to depart from. 

The police told us not to go as it was dangerous but the taxi drivers said "of course" they could get us there. In reality they would've tried then tried to scam us of our money. I'm so happy to travel with locals that can speak the language.

There was also an airport in this border town where we were at. When we first made our travel plans we were told that the airport in this border town was closed for repairs, but a few days earlier we met a Nepali who had traveled using that airport and he said it would be open until the day that we had arrived. We called the travel agency in Kathmandu and he said there were no tickets available from there.

Discouraged, we walked into town to the travel agencies there and went into one. A young man gave us the typical "of course I have tickets" answer, but by now after a couple hours of trying to find something  I was quite skeptical. After talking to him Sadhana convinced me that his company always receives a couple tickets for every flight. We decided to buy but now a new problem arose, no money. We had already purchased e-tickets for our flight from Biratnagar and we did't want to travel with so much money. The next ATM was in a town 10 miles away and time was winding down until the last flight. He got a van ready and we sped off and picked up Steffi who was still looking after our luggage in the embassy. We loaded up quick, took off, and arrived at the ATM. Problem was I knew from previous experience that the ATM's are often out of order or don't have the large amount of cash we needed. My pessimistic attitude walking to the ATM was "I'll beleive it'll all work out when we arrive in Kathmandu." The money came out and we were off to the airport again "I'll beleive it'll all work out when we arrive in Kathmandu." The man filled out our tickets in the back of his car and took our luggage into the smallest airport I've yet been to. A few hours ticked by as we observed people coming and going. Finally our booth opened--which was a white board with the name of the airline and price written on it-hmm, that was a first.

And who was behind us in line but the tourists from the embassy who said that there was no way out of the town for 4 days. Guess they didn't want to share their plan. The security check consisted of a lady putting a hand into my bag and saying ok, comforting..

Finally we boarded the smallest, loudest plane I've yet been on. I was in the front row and could put my head into the cockpit and look around. The plane proceeded to turn around and start for take off, everything was nice and quick at least. I still kept the thought "I'll beleive it'll all work out when we arrive in Kathmandu."

A short 1 hour flight later and we arrived in Kathmandu a day early!! Not only did we not have to sit in the embassy because of the strike, but since we left from a different airport we could arrive earlier and enjoy more time, what an unexpected blessing from the Lord.

To sum up shortly:

We visited the YWAM base in Kathmandu and got to know people. The brother in law from our friend Sadhana is the leader of the bible school there and he invited me to teach there which I accepted but don't know when. It is the same bible school I'll be working with in Switzerland, more on that later.

We did a lot of the tourist stuff, seeing the tourist attractions. Kathmandu is an interesting city with many things to see. The old city is one of the coolest things I've seen in my travels.

One day was a festival "Holi" where mostly young people run around throwing water and clothes dye on almost anyone who dared go out onto the streets. We had to travel to our hotel and I caught an unexptected water balloon upside the head...happy Holi indeed

A few days were spent in "real Nepal" about a 3-4 hour bus ride from the city. It was the village where Sadhana grew up and her parents still live. It is also where, after 6 months of India & Nepal, I finally had my first and last bout of food sickness or poisoning whatever it was. I spent one nite by the toilet,(toilet side) for awhile but the next day I was ready for a trip, veery sloowly, up mountain for a view of the Himaylayas. The ride back we caught a ride on an empty bus and after 10 seconds we knew why it was empty. We barreled down the pothole-filled path, called a road with no guard rails. That was fine but the bus rattled so hard we couldn't hear each other right next to each other without yelling loudy and we could hardly stay in our seats. In was like riding a mechanical bull down a mountain pass. This all compounded my nauseousness and after 5 minutes we asked to get off and proceeded to board a more gentle ride.

Steffi and I also did a Mount Everest flight, where you take a small plane from Kath to Everest and back. The whole way are great views of the huge Himalayas and of course Everest. We didn't fly as close as I hoped for, but still worth the money.

The last thing to tell of our time there was also from the village. On Friday evening Sadhana's parents asked if I could preach in the local church. "Yeah" I said, "When?" "Tomorrow morning at 10. Only 30-45 minutes." was the reply through translation. Now I knew I had a small predicament as I know culturally it would be somewhat rude to turn down the offer. So I said yes very hesitantly and with little joy from the pressure. I quick prayed about what could be the topic. I chose Acts 29--that doesn't actually exist but was part of my point I wanted to make.

I taught/preached that God is still working through our lives like He did through the apostles as recorded in Acts chapters 1-28 and our lives are like Acts chapter 29.

Afterwards they had a special prayer time, with Stefanie and I being the western, Christians viewed as having some kind of special prayer power. I would have no problem with that expect we have no kind of special prayer power :-). We, Sadhana, and some other elders prayed for people and some people gave testimony of being healed, by Jesus of course through us. Stef and I laughed at each other at the beginning cuz we knew we had nothing to offer the people.

Then suddenly people started getting excited and gathered around a boy at the other end of the room, so I went over to investigate. This boy came in deaf and mute. His dad is a local shaman who uses magic and demonic power to do spells and this day they decided to come to the church. He tried to heal his son with his magic but it didnt work. Someone there prayed for him and he was able to hear!!!!!

We haven't heard how this has further developed, but we know Jesus has shown Himself again as Lord of heaven and earth as He continues to do signs and wonders as He did in the Gospel and Acts.

 

This was a quick highlite of our happenings in Nepal. We've already been back in Switzerland for 4 or 5 weeks. What we are doing and have planned will be posted (hopefully) soon.

Entry #20 March 1, 2009

(there is also a new entry below under Feb 25)

Last week was our last full week here in India! It was also an eventful time. From February 16-20 we attended a conference for people in our line of work. It was a great time of teaching, meeting old friends, and being in God’s Presence—it was all very refreshing and a nice break from the usual.

Then the day after the conference was over, we had some seminar teachings from a women from America. I can’t relate a lot from that time but it was a great time of growth and prayer for us all. Then right after the 2 day teaching seminar we had a 2 day medical camp. The first day of the camp was in the community we work in the most. Four doctors from the USA, Belarus, and India came to give free medical consultation and treatment to the people who usually can’t afford it. Our team was split up to help out in different stations. Steffi was put on baby weighing and blood pressure checks, and I was put on pharmacy duty. I guess I had a couple years of chemistry in high school and college, but I don’t think I was too qualified for the job. Thankfully there was a doctor there to help us out. I would’ve felt bad if I poisoned someone!! The hardest part of the job was deciphering the doctors’ prescriptions. There must be some secret pact among doctors to have the most unreadable handwriting. The camp was a very hectic and fast paced day. I didn’t really even have time to eat and I was so busy I didn’t want to stop anyway. Besides providing medicine we would also pray for their healing. We heard a couple of reports of people feeling much better after the prayer. In the end we served over 300 people. It was nice to help the people physically and spiritually.

The next day we had another medical camp in a different community. The people there were sicker and there were more serious cases. A few cases of scabies were found. The doctors said we need to clean their houses to stop a possible outbreak. It you saw the conditions of the houses and slum area that was a pretty laughable suggestion. We tried to help the best we could. I don’t know how many we helped in that community, but it was also a few hundred.

So there were two weeks of constant activity. Today is March 1 and we plan to leave to Nepal on the morning of the 3^rd. It’s a strange feeling knowing that we will soon be leaving and in 2 weeks we will be back home. Right now I don’t think much about going home as we are looking forward to our time in Nepal. The travel situation is rather unstable, with constant unannounced strikes so we will let you know how it goes.

 

On the road again…

Heute ist tatsächlich unser letzter Arbeitstag hier in Siliguri! Wenn ich daran denke, dass wir in zwei Wochen schon wieder in der Schweiz sind, fühlt sich das ganz unwirklich an... Der letzte Monat hat mir noch einmal alles abverlangt, es gab sehr viel zu tun und dazu war unsere Wohnsituation sehr unstabil. Wir haben seit einiger Zeit keinen festen Wohnsitz mehr und befanden uns deshalb immer auf Achse. Während zwei Wochen sind wir sage und schreibe 6 mal gezügelt. Eine Nacht haben wir sogar in einem Hotel übernachtet. Das ständige Ein- und Auspacken, und der unstete Lebensstyl gingen uns beiden an die Substanz. Wir setzten uns nach einem vollen Arbeitstag auf unsere Velos und mussten zu erst überlegen, wo wir überhaupt hin müssen. („wo genau schlafen wir heute Nacht?“) Zudem war ich in de letzten paar Wochen öfter krank und hatte Magen-Darmprobleme als in den ganzen vorherigen Monaten zusammen!

Auf der anderen Seite haben wir in dieser Zeit so viel unerwartete und grosszügige Gastfreundschaft erlebt! Unser Team hat sich gut um uns gekümmert und immer wieder fand sich jemand, der bereit war, uns für ein paar Tage aufzunehmen.

Ich kann nicht beschreiben, wie sehr ich mich auf ein richtiges Zuhause freue!

Vor einer Woche besuchten wir eine Konferenz, wo sich alle J-Mitarbeiter der Region hier treffen und über ihre Arbeit austauschen und geschult werden. Wir haben vom Seelsorgeangebot Gebrauch gemacht und das hat uns sehr geholfen, unsere Erlebnisse hier verarbeiten zu können. Oder wenigstens haben wir mit Verarbeiten begonnen... Wir fühlen uns noch einmal sehr bestätigt in unserer Entscheidung, zurück in die Schweiz zu kommen und freuen uns auf die Zeit dort!

Wärhend ich schreibe, merke ich, wie viel ich zu erzählen habe... aber ich glaube, ich fasse mich kurz und erwähne nur das wichtigste, ok?

Direkt nach der Konferenz organisierten wir ein Seminar mit unserer Gemeinde in den Slums mit einem Team aus den USA und direkt danach halfen wir für zwei Tage mit bei einem Medical Camp in zwei unserer Arbeitsgebiete. Drei Ärzte stellten ihre Dienste gratis zur Verfügung und das zieht natürlich massenhaft Menschen an! In den zwei Tagen haben wir über 500 Leute behandelt! Mein Job war es, den Blutdruck von diesen 500 Leuten zu messen und mich dünkte, es nähme kein Ende... Weil ich ein Stethoskop benutze bin ich nun offiziell eine Ärztin und wurde sogar von der Presse fotografiert und in die lokale Zeitung geknallt. Die Journalisten wollten unbedingt ein weisses Gesicht für ihren Report und da keiner der Ärzte Zeit hatte, bin ich halt eingesprungen J

Zac war in der Apotheke beschäftigt und gab Medikamente an die Patienten ab. Es war uns ein grosses Anliegen, auch für die Menschen zu beten und nicht nur Medis zu geben. Medical Camps sind immer gute Gelegenheiten, neue Kontakte zu knüpfen.

Gestern und heute ist Abschiednehmen angesagt, wir besuchten unsere Freunde in Nuton Para und Vivekananda und sagten ein letztes Namasde (tönt sehr dramatisch, he?).

Ich glaube, unser Team hat für morgen eine Abschiedsparty für uns geplant, aber es soll eine Überraschung sein – ich weiss also offiziell von nichts...

Am Dienstag Morgen fahren wir zusammen mit Sadhana ab Richtung Nepal. Wir versuchen, noch am gleichen Tag den Flughafen von Biratnagar in Nepal zu erreichen. Unter normalen Umständen ist das eine 4 Stündige Fahrt aber die Lage in Nepal ist zur Zeit recht angespannt und ständig werden Streiks ausgerufen, was unsere Reise in die Länge ziehen könnte, deshalb wollen wir früh genug abfahren. Wir hoffen, am Mittwoch in Biratnagar anzukommen und von dort dann unseren Flug nach Kathmandu zu erwischen. Wir möchten ein paar Tage in Kathmandu verbringen und dann Sadhana in ihr abgelegenes Heimatdorf begleiten.

Am 12. März fliegen wir dann von Kathmandu nach Delhi und von dort über Doha nach Genf. Wahnsinn! Noch scheint die Heimreise so weit weg!

So, das war etwa ein 10tel von dem, was wir im letzten Monat in Siliguri erlebt haben. Mich dünkt, ich setze diesem Blog hier ein Ende und erzähle Euch den ganzen Rest persönlich, wenn wir wieder zuhause sind. Tönt doch gut!

Merci fürs Lesen und bis gli!

 

Hello all,

I believe it was Willy Nelson who sang “On the Road Again” I should’ve asked his impersonator when we sat next to him on our Greyhound Bus trip from SD to Montana.

But anyway “on the road again” is a good description of our last couple weeks.

It all started when we found out we would have to leave the apartment we were staying in to make room for a couple ladies who will be staying there long term. We found a place to stay at a Korean family’s apartment, but the problem was the key was also in South Korea, so they had to mail it. We packed our stuff not knowing where we’d live, but that day we also planned a short 2 days to visit Darjeeling. It is world renowned for tea and its beautiful views of the Himalayas. So Steffi and I set off with our friend and co-worker Sadhana to Darjeeling. The trip started off with a man trying to rip us off, always an interesting beginning. He told us one price and later as we sat in the car he tried to tell we had to all pay more. So Sadhana was there to talk with him in the local language which was nice and in the end we didn’t pay. Then we sat in the jeep for an hour waiting for more people. Finally we took off and just the thought of fresh air, clean streets, and the thought of a Himalayan panorama had me in a good mood. The way there went as expected; the boy in the front seat had motion sickness, and for good reason the roads were very windy and in desperate need of repair, some potholes could swallow a compact car. So that boy was in the front occasionally getting sick into a plastic bag and then casually tossing it out the window. Then the flat tire came, but was fixed quite quickly, as I can only imagine that is an every time occurrence. Then a long wait as we got the flat tire fixed at an auto garage. But finally we made it! Only traffic was being held up by a long protest rally. If it was a protest to get the roads to Darjeeling fixed I would’ve gladly jumped into the fray.

Darjeeling was noticeably cleaner, with much less human and vehicle traffic which was such a relief. One reason we decided to visit a friend of ours. I’ll try to keep it simple. She is from Australia and came to Switzerland and was in a same class as me. Then unknowingly to us she came to Darjeeling, India about the same time as we came to Shillong, India, and after 3 months we met her here in Siliguri at a conference. It’s at times like this the world seems very small and agree somewhat with the buzzword “global community”.

So she was there and helped to show us around and gracious enough to give us a place to stay.

It really was a beautiful place. It’s up on a hill with tea plantations surrounding it, and so I've mentioned, has the view of the Himalayas. Very unfortunately this time of year has a lot of cloudiness so we weren’t able to see the mountains, but they look very nice on the postcards.

It is a tourist city and I saw more white people than in the last 5 months. It was kinda strange.

Yeah, it was a good couple days and if I have the chance I’d like to go back.

We knew coming back that we were in sense homeless sense they key hadn’t arrived in the last week. First stop was some cheap hotel. The next day a lady we knew offered us a place to stay for a couple nites until another couple came. Then we moved to a student dorm. Next week we have a weeklong conference and will stay there. And since the key arrived the other day then we’ll finally move into the apartment, for the 10 days before we leave.

So lately we go out for the day into the slums and then at the end of the day, we have to remind ourselves where we are living at the moment before we go home. “Variety is the spice of life” as the phrase goes.

On March 4^th we are planning to go to Nepal for 10 days again with Sadhana. We plan to visit Kathmandu and see what possibilities might be there for us in the future. Then we go to “real Nepal” out to Sadhana’s village away from the tourist packed streets and trekking trails in and around Kathmandu and Pokhara. We only have 9 short days there, but look forward to it.

We are less than 3 weeks from our return to Switzerland. On one hand I’m excited and look forward to the familiarity of home, some of my family, and what seems to be our place the next 2+ years. It’s not all joy though. India started to grow on me, not in a needs-to-be-lanced off-wart-way. There are many things here I find challenging and even several things I outright dislike that make me want to leave and never come back. But our work within the slum communities has allowed me to bond with the local people and it will be hard to leave them behind. We’ve laughed and cried with them, been inspired by hope and discouraged by, well, discouragements, and celebrated and mourned with them. Though our language learning didn’t go deep enough to allow us much interpersonal communication, the true proverb says “actions speak louder than words”. And our inter-actions with the people helped us to know them and the people of Nuton Para, Vivekununda, and Putirum Jote, to know us.

As it is written, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

We still have 7 days to enjoy all Siliguri, West Bengal, India has to offer, and offer Siliguri all we have to be a blessing and bring praise to the Father.

More to come soon...

So, endlich haben wir wieder mal neue Fotos gemacht! Wir versprechen mehr in den kommenden Tagen... Ja, wir waren beim Coiffeur. Sadhana und ich wollten schon lange die langen Fäden abschneiden. Die Coiffeuse hats gut gemacht nur leider sprach sie kein Englisch und mein Hindi ist offensichtlich noch nicht gut genug.. Es kam kürzer, als ich mir das vorgestellt hatte aber was solls!? Es wächst ja nach und ausserdem ist es ziemlich bequem!

Die Bilder vom Baby-Check sind von gestsern Morgen. Ich erzähle mal, wie das so läuft. Wir treffen uns jeweils um 8.30 und teilen uns dann in zweier-Teams auf. Jeden zweiten Tag besuchen wir einen anderen Abschnitt der Gegend und versuchen, möglichst alle Babys unter 3 Jahren zu erfassen. Im Moment wägen wir ca. 400 Kinder. Jedes Kind hat eine Karte, wo wir das Gewicht aufschreiben. Anhand einer Tabelle sehen wir, wie gut es dem Kind geht und können der Mutter erklären, was sie für eine gute Ernährung tun kann. Bei einem Gewicht von unter 50% des Normalgewichts geben wir Vitamine ab. Bei stark unterernährten Kindern beginnen wir eine Behandlung mit Laktose. Es ist traurig zu sehen, dass die meisten unterernährten Kinder Mädchen sind. Sie sind ganz einfach weniger wert und werden schlechter versorgt. Noch wenn wir dem Kind Vitamine geben ist es nicht sicher, ob das Kind sie wirklich auch bekommt oder ob die Eltern die "Medizin" weiterverkaufen... Die Tradition des Dawris, des Brautpreises, ist ganz eng mit dem Problem der Unterernährung der Mädchen verbunden. Bei einer Heirat muss die Familie der Braut eine möglichst hohe Mitgift an den Bräutigam bezahlen. Je höher die Mitgift, desto grösser die Chance, dass das Mädchen verheiratet werden kann. Für ein hohes Dawri muss eine Familie viel Geld sparen, Geld, dass sie nicht für Heilungskosten und Spitalaufenthälte ausgeben wollen. Komplizierte Angelegenheit.

Was wir den Müttern immer wieder erklären müssen, ist, dass sie ihr Kind ab einem gewissen Alter abstillen müssen und feste Nahrung verabreichen sollen. Die Kinder werden meistens noch mit 2 oder 3 Jahren gestillt, weil sie "keine feste Nahrung akzeptieren". Unser Team hat gemerkt, dass die Mütter oft einfach aufgeben, wenn das Baby den Brei nicht isst. Wir erklären dann, dass es normal ist, und dass sich das Kind erst mal an Brei gewöhnen muss. Einem Kind das Essen beizubringen braucht Zeit und Geduld, die die Mutter nicht hat oder nicht aufbringen will. Das einfaschste ist, die Kinder weiter zu stillen...

Zum Baby-Check bringen wir auch immer einen Nagelclipper mit und schneiden allen Kids die Fingernägel, ein kleiner Beitrag zur besseren Hygiene. A propos Hygiene: der Fluss, den ihr auf den Bildern seht ist gleichzeitig die grösste öffentliche Toilette, die ich je gesehen habe! Jeden Morgen treffen sich dort alle Kinder der Nachbarschaft und verunreinigen frischfröhlich das Ufer und den Fluss! Es sieht jeweils lustig aus, ist aber ein weiteres grosses Problem!

Ihr seht, es gibt viel zu tun hier!

Bis zum nächsten Mal!

 

The first thing I need to start out with is about a baby who had "no hope" and four doctors said either she had TB or it was a very high probability she had it.
We went to the hospital to visit her and, trying to be sensitive to those who are from or love India, the hospital was just not good. Dirty, needles by trash cans, bloody cotton balls on the exam bed from who knows when, etc. And it was so smelly we and our clothes smelled like hospital the rest of the day. So after waiting for the doctor who was 2 hours late! he told us "she needs TB test, pneumonia, HIV test" and we can't do anything for her here. You need to go to another hospital. The highlite of the day--our first ambulance ride! For a mere $2.50 we loaded up 3?? guys up front. I think 2 of them were bored. Then the mom and Babita (the sick baby) Steffi, Sadhana, and me. And my bike. All in an ambulance about the size of a chevy luv. The ensuing scene was "you had to be there moments" but Ill try to do it justice.
I was in the back by the doors and as I look forward towards the driver all I see are my bike and Steffi holding up an intravenous (IV) bag and I say "Quick get us to the hospital my bike is very sick!" And we start laughing and I try not to since the mother is heartbroken and the situation for the baby is quite serious but it was a funny site. Got it on video actually. We get to the hosptal and get Babita checked in and there the doctors were on the ball. They say we're pretty sure she has TB. She gets all hooked up to IV and we pray for her. Another girl and I found her about 2 weeks earlier and we've been praying for her since then.
So we leave and the next day one girl goes to check on Babita and the mom. She comes back and says the doctor said she does NOT have TB?!? WHOHOO We attribute this to the power of Jesus! After 4 different hospitals, including a TB hospital, said she did or in all probability has TB, now she doesn't! She is malnourished and has worms, of which she "passed" a few, eww, glad I wasn't there.
We went back today and her face has life and she can hold up her own head, and I saw the mom smile for the first time in the 2 weeks I've known her. I'm also thankful these doctors are doing what they can to help.
"No hope" said one doctor as I wrote in my last entry and now she is doing much better. She still has a long way to go to full health. The volatile situation with the mother and father also needs healing. But we are praising Jesus for His work on Babita so far. I've been complaining to God about lack of power to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons as He said to do. I also need to deal with my unbelief, sometimes I'm not expecting God to do this cuz it happens so rarely at this point.
I hope you find encouragement in Jesus in this story, especially when you think or hear "there's no hope" Still busy, still trying to get some grasp on the language/culture, still the hospital is very smelly, and still trying not to buy a gun on the black market so I can put to rest the seeming 176 stray dogs that live on our block and seem to have a barking party next to our house every other nite at around 3 a.m. I'm consternated…

I was thinking I could relate a couple “firsts” that have happened to me in the last few weeks.

First time a rat touched me (in the dark as we were sitting at a friend’s house), first time I got hit by a car (thankfully it was going slow enough it just knocked me off balance), first time I got hit by a rickshaw (and the way the driver turned and looked at me made me think it might’ve done it on purpose…), first time I ran into a rickshaw with my bike (are you seeing a pattern??).

We are still visiting Babita almost every day. She is pretty much staying the same now which isn’t so good. She doesn’t want to eat much and her main problem is malnutrition. She has been on some new antibiotics for about a week so the doctor will reevaluate her and we’ll go from there. The doctors can’t run tests for the specific sickness because the family can’t afford it so they give general medicines to treat the general symptoms.

Today I almost had to be admitted to the hospital because of nausea, ironically it was the smelly hospital that made me nauseated in the first place. When I came home Steff smelled me before she even saw me. “Eww, uhhh” isn’t the greatest greeting to come home to J.

A mildly funny and entertaining story happened just the other day. We went to visit some of our friends and it turns out they had been looking for us. That day was a celebration for a certain people group and they wanted to invite us for a special meal. They came out with what I thought was well I don’t remember what I thought it was.  Anyway it ended up being flattened rice with some sort of homemade yogurt, and approximately 15 tablespoons of sugar coating it all. As a side there was a very sugary cookie thing and some sort of sweetened rice ball, oh and some very spicy vegetables which happened to save the day. Anyone with diabetes would’ve died from an insulin spike just looking at it. Our team was supposed to be having a fast day so up until this time we hadn’t eaten. I saw that yogurt stuff, with some sort of liquid splashing around the bottom of the plate and thought to myself “that’s a few days of diarrhea”. But it would’ve naturally been quite offensive not to finish the whole plate. After a short prayer for protection, I dug in. I'm sure they could see the timidity and apprehension on my face as I slowly scooped up the cold curds and placed a small amount hesitantly into my mouth. Ah, I forgot to mention how in their gratuitous hospitality they gave me an amount fit for a foreign visitor gracing their home. The only thing that kept me from a sugar induced coma was the veeery spicy vegetables which I guess were purposely made for that safety precaution. Long story short 25 min later I was done with 1 plate of food. Then Steffi came along, haha, I knew what was in store. She was more than happy to try it out. 5 mouthfulls later she was looking for a way out. Being the caring husband that I am I stealthily took her honey oozing cookie and deposited it in the drainage ditch. I'm sure the rat or dog or crow or cow or goat or fish that found it is still wired. So we felt pretty bad afterwards, but then got some more solid food which helped and we didn’t even have stomach problems the next day. It wasn’t bad tasting just a bit on the very, very sweet side.

Speaking of food our only source of meat—chicken is no longer on the market due to my new arch nemesis named Bird Flu. No chickens also means no eggs. I don’t know the whole story, but off and on there is a Bird Flu scare and all the chickens and eggs need to be destroyed and can be reintroduced in a couple months. That leaves our meat protein choices to fish which I don’t like and seeing the activities going on in and around the river makes me shudder, mutton which hangs nicely in the warm sun throughout the day and is a favorite resting place of flies, and some sort of soy bean thing. So the winner is soy beans hands down! It’s quite easy for me to pretend that these soy bean chunks are meat so my carnivorous appetite is taken care of.

The biggest news is that in the last few days, Stefanie and I made a decision not to stay longer in Siliguri than our 3 months. We had the option of staying and finishing the 2 year internship, or staying a few more months. We are usually enjoying our time here. We like the team we work with, the people we work with, and the area we work in. It’s great to spend time in different cultures and learn other ways of doing daily activities and seeing a different perspective on life. We have been praying through this decision for quite some time, and after weighing our options here and in Switzerland we decided Switzerland is the place for us at least for the next couple years.

I have applied to teach in a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) bible school starting in August. That decision required me to make a 2 year commitment. Teaching in this school allows me not only to teach but to go on outreaches periodically, and we hope that we could return to this region during my 2 years, do some teaching, and continue to work and support the team here.

 One reason we wanted to go back was that Steffi could help her parents through a transition period in the nursing home they manage. At the time we were making our decision, there was no open position, then one lady quit and another decided to take a several month leave and the office needed some help. We saw this as God opening a door for us to come back. She will be able to work there full time through October and afterwards part time.

So our plan is to be here until middle of March. Then we will fly back to Switzerland where it seems we’ll be for a while. From March through June I’ll be searching for work and since there seems to be a job slow down everywhere I'm hoping that I’ll get some work doing English teaching and tutoring. In July, I or maybe we will come back to South Dakota to visit and also do some support raising. Since YWAM is a volunteer organization no one is paid by YWAM, but everyone needs to raise his/her own financial support. Then in August I would start in the ywam bible school. This is our tentative plan, but we say God willing, as we recognize our dependence on Him.

Ok, ladies and gents, that’s all for this time around.

Zac & Steffi

 

Ein freier Tag!!! Endlich, muss ich sagen! Diese Woche war wiedereinmal gefüllt mit viel intensiver Arbeit, die von uns auch emotional und geistlich viel verlangt. An Montagen geniessen wir das süsse Überhauptnichtstun! Wir bleiben einfach zuhause und versuchen so, dem ständigen Lärm und der Hektik hier etwas zu entkommen.

Noch immer besuchen wir fast täglich Babita im Spital. Nachdem mehrere Ärzte bei ihr TB diagnostiziert und ihr keine Überlebenschancen mehr gegeben hatten, konnte bei späteren Tests keine TB mehr festgestellt werden! Ein Wunder! Wir sind sehr ermutigt und dankbar für einen weiteren Beweis dafür, dass es bei Gott keine hoffnungslosen Fälle gibt!!! Weiterhin muss Babita aber im Spital bleiben und ernährt werden. Hier müssen die Patienten selbst für ihr Essen und die Medikamente sorgen... So gehen wir regelmässig ins Spital, holen das Rezept für die Antibiokika ab und kaufen die Medis in der Apotheke gegenüber. So ganz habe ich mich auch nach all den Besuchen noch nicht an das Spital gewöhnt. Wir sehen sehr viele furchtbare und herzzerbrechende Situationen und ausserdem stinkt es dort immer so stark, dass wir nach jedem Besuch sämtliche Kleider in waschen und eine gründliche Dusche nehmen müssen!

 

Gerade war ich draussen und etwas lustiges ist mir passiert: ein junger Mann rannte mir nach und rief: „Lady!“ Ich hielt an und unsere Konversation ging etwa so: „wohin gehst du?“ (eine sehr oft gestellte Frage, die uns viele neugierige Inder hier fragen) und dann: „Ich möchte deine Hand schütteln“ Das erlaube ich ihm dann auch, worauf er sich herzlich bedankt und davon rennt! Man kommt sich schon ab und zu vor wie eine Berühmtheit...

 

Wegen Vogelgrippe-Alarm hat die Regierung den Verkauf von Poulet und Eiern verboten. Super. Das war so ziemlich genau unsere einzige Proteinquelle... Unsere Optionen sind jetzt Fisch (und wenn man die Flüsse und alle Geschehnisse rund um diese herum hier betrachtet, versucht man eigentlich nicht daran zu denken, irgendetwas aus diesem Wasser zu fischen und zu essen...) dann Ziegenfleisch, welches an rostigen Hacken an der brennenden Sonne hängt und bei Fliegen sehr beliebt ist und daher auch eher nicht in Frage kommt. Dann bleibt uns noch Soja. Ja, Soja. Ich war ja bis jetzt eine überzeugte Fleischfresserin und Soja-als-Alternative-Ablehnerin aber was soll man machen, wenn man unfreiwillig zum Vegetarier gemacht wird? Die Sojakügeli sehen zwar aus wie Hundefutter aber schmecken mit viel Gewürz nicht ganz so schlecht und man kann sich wenn man will sogar vorstellen, man beisse in ein Stück Fleisch. Soja, Soja, ho!

Eine lustige Essens-Geschichte ereignete sich letzte Woche beim Besuch einer Familie, die aus Anlass eines Festivals ein spezielles Zmittag für uns gekocht hatte. Die Mahlzeit bestand aus soetwas wie Reis, mit soetwas wie Quark und ganz ganz viel Zucker drüber. Dazu ein Ball aus getrocknetem Reis mit einer Art Honig und – stell Dir vor – ein Süssgebäck! Beilage war ein Schäli rattenscharfes Gemüse. Alles in allem eine kalte, übersüsse Angelegenheit, die in einer undefinierbaren Suppe schwamm und die ich wohl oder übel zu mir nehmen musste, denn nicht auszuessen wäre sehr unhöflich gewesen! So habe ich mich tapfer durchgeschlagen. Zac war mein persönlicher Held, als er unbemerkt das Süssgebäck von meinem Teller stahl und in den offenen Abwasserkanal warf... Merci, gell!

 

Eine nicht ganz so lustige Geschichte ist, dass Zac schon zweimal im Strassenverkehr angefahren wurde, oder mindestens Körperkontakt mit anderen Verkehrsteilnehmern hatte. Ein Auto hat ihn auf dem Velo erwischt, zum Glück fuhren beide langsam, so dass nichts passiert ist, aber gefürchig ist es eben doch! Zudem wurde er zu Fuss von einer Rickshaw angefahren, was auch glimpflich ablief, unsere Motivation, uns jeden Tag in den Verkehr zu stürzen, jedoch nicht gerade erhöht!! Ich selber habe auch schon jemanden mit dem Velo angefahren, der fand es aber sehr lustig und lachte mich lauthals aus. Er hat sich nicht verletzt.

 

So, genug Geschichten, jetzt haben wir noch wichtige Neuigkeiten! Wir haben uns letzte Woche definitiv entschieden, nur noch bis Mitte März hier in Siliguri zu bleiben und dann zurück in die Schweiz zu kehren! Die Entscheidung war nicht ganz leicht, weil wir die Arbeit und das Team hier gut mögen und auch hier Mitarbeiter gesucht sind! Wir möchten daher weiterhin aus der Schweiz mit dem Team hier zusammenarbeiten und uns so weit wie möglich in die Arbeit eingeben. Wir werden weiterhin mit JMEM zusammenarbeiten, Zac kann ab September in Wiler mit der Schule für Bibelstudium (SBS) arbeiten, ws uns die Möglichkeit gibt, weiterhin Einsätze in nach Siliguri und Region zu koordinieren. Ich kann bis im Herbst wieder im Altersheim arbeiten, wo sich erst kürzlich eine Stelle eröffnet hat. Es sind viele Türen für uns aufgegangen und wir glauben, dass dies der richtige Weg für uns ist. Jede Mitarbeit mit JMEM verlangt eine Verpflichtung von 2 Jahren, wir werden also für mindestens zweieinhalb Jahre in der Schweiz bleiben. Zac sucht jetzt in der Schweiz Stelle, wo er temporär bis im Juni arbeiten kann, bevor die Schule beginnt. Unsere Mitarbeit mit JMEM – in Indien sowie auch in der Schweiz – ist freiwillig und jeder Mitarbeiter der Organisation wird duch seinen persönlichen Freundeskreis unterstützt. Wer also durch eine Partnerschaft ab Herbst 09 uns und unsere Arbeit finanziell oder im Gebet unterstützen möchte, kann sich gerne für weitere Infos bei uns melden!

 

Das wären also die neusten News von uns, wir freuen uns, Euch alle schon bald wieder zu sehen!! Bis dann, Eure Fischers