TRAVELING

Pismo Beach
We've been traveling a lot the last two weeks. We spent four days with Chris, Nicole & Esther, several families from Band Barnabas, and several families from the Center in an annual camping excursion at Pismo Beach on the South Central Pacific Coast (April 6-9).








Back to Pasadena
We returned to Pasadena for a day and a half so Chuck could take part in the quarterly William Carey International University (WCIU) Stakeholders/Board meeting. Chuck presented a brief summary of developments in delivering our program online and moderated a panel of community members who have had personal experience in some form of distance learning. WCIU is uniquely poised to provide a powerfully effective Masters Degree to distant students with a special emphasis on: 1/ proven leaders in the Global South, 2/ bicultural scholars in the Global South, 3/ cross cultural workers for NGOs in the Global South, and 4/ members of churches in North America who have a passion for equipping others, or being equipped themselves, for cross-cultural service.

Chandler, AZ
We left Pasadena Wednesday (4/11) afternoon to travel to Chandler, AZ, a suburb of Phoenix, to meet with John and Debbie Hervey, veteran cross cultural workers. John and Debbie facilitate listening prayer (sometimes referred to as "inner healing prayer") - a tremendous personal resource for cross cultural workers and a proven way of engaging those who are genuine God-seekers who are not Jesus-followers yet. We stayed with them until Saturday morning (4/14) when we traveled to Globe, AZ.










Globe, AZ
In Globe, we met my sisters, Joyce and Janet, and Janet's husband, George as we explored our family roots in this mining town (today's population about 20,000) that was once a bustling boom town of 60,000! It appears our mother's grandfather was one of the earliest settlers. Kellner Canyon is named for the area where he operated a sawmill.









My mother's father operated a general store with his brother for a number of years. This is how the store front looks today.








My mother's brother, Billy, in a photo overlooking the city of Globe from the plot of land where much of the family lived for a number of years.


My mother, her sisters and parents. Billy had died at age 18.











To Summarize...
We returned to Pasadena last night (4/16). Overall, it was great preparation for what we will be doing in India. We expect relationships, family, healing and restoration will play important roles in advancing the Kingdom in our lives and the lives of those around us there.

QUICK UPDATE 4.5.07

The last couple of posts have mentioned some procedural glitches arising. Here's the latest - they have worked out successfully!

On the same day, within just a couple hours of each other...
* we received formal approval from our parent organization for our 3 years in India, and
* received word from Mosaic, our local fellowship, that they would like to commission us as part of their team of cross-cultural field workers!

These developments will make it easier to move forward in the myriad of details that remain to be sorted through and completed.

Answered Prayers

One of the areas where things are developing nicely is arrangements for housing in Delhi.

Rhonda Thorne, a cross-cultural worker in Delhi, had to come back to the States for several months. Providentially, her departure and our arrival almost perfectly coincided. She offered to sublet her flat to us while she is in the States, we gladly accepted relieving us of the need to find a place and furnish it in the first couple of days arriving in Delhi while we're battling jet lag and the initial stages of culture re-orientation.











In the time lapse between her departure and our arrival, the Foundation is actually able to use the flat for some other needs as well. Prayers met all around, and the landlord is very agreeable to the arrangement. Here's our landlady with her daughter and two of her grandchildren, all who live in the flat below ours.










Here's a photo of the Flat:












The procedural glitches that arose last week began to work out with hope and promise. The final details and decision will depend on a series of meetings Monday and Tuesday. We'd appreciate your prayers concerning this matter. Hopefully, by the end of the week, these details will be finalized. Again, we'll keep everyone informed.

This is being written on Palm Sunday...may you have a holy week and a Happy Easter next Sunday!

Mosque Tutoring & Art Consultation

Tutoring at San Gabriel Mosque
Janis has begun tutoring at the San Gabriel Mosque every other Tuesday evening for 1 hour. She has been finding it very rewarding and helpful in understanding - in a practical, experiential way - what life is like for Muslims, particularly Muslim children.

Two brothers (ages 7 and 5) she tutors asked her last Tuesday, "Do you know God?" They seemed quite surprised when she replied, "Yes. Yes, I know God, and I love Him very much." She then asked them, "Do you love God?" They seemed quite pleased to be able to reply, "Yes, we do!" A very interesting exchange with much food for thought for all concerned.

Art Consultation
Saturday night (3/24), Janis, Restoration Art and Transform World L.A. hosted another consultation exploring the role of art in advancing God's Kingdom. Milcah Yupanqui (now, Anderson) played instruments and music from Peru; Nick Huang, an artist who attended the first consultation and is from Lake Avenue Congregational Church, shared a mixed-media art piece; and Joby Harris, Art Director for Mosaic, and an accomplished artist in a variety of mediums as well as experience with Walt Disney Imagineering, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, and experience on "Alias," "Bruce Almighty" and "Solaris," spoke on the creative process in advancing God's Kingdom.


Joby encouraged artists to be listening to the conversations God is having with other people, and then to allow art to be used as a prophetic voice in revealing the secrets of the heart as a way to graciously draw all to Him.

About 30 attended. Each was given a chance to make something from clay, and then all the individual pieces were assembled into a collaborative piece. See the photos below:

























India Update:
Well, some plans are moving forward: we have our tickets, scheduled to depart LAX July 2, and arrive in Delhi July 3. We will try to acclimate a couple days, then begin Intensive Conversational Hindi classes on July 9.

Some plans are still tentative: before we depart, we will try to make a trip through the North West the first couple weeks of June. The dates and plan are still tentative. Tentatively we plan to travel North on the east side visiting family and supporters in Central California, Nevada, Central Oregon, and Eastern Washington. Then we'll cross over the Cascades and basically return South on the I-5 corridor visiting family and supporters in Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, Eugene/Springfield, Roseburg and arriving in Santa Cruz area for a week conference with Band Barnabas June 24-30.

Some plans have stalled due to organizational procedures. These are actually becoming significant and may have an affect on the plans above. As this part of our journey emerges, we'll keep you informed.

"God's Heart For The Nations" at New Heart

Sunday, March 11th, we completed Janis' 6-week series entitled, "God's Heart For The Nations," at New Heart, the church our son and his family attend in La Mirada. The lessons incorporate art and storytelling from various cultures in communicating God's truth and His desire to see all peoples come to Him.

What a delight! The kids were enthusiastic, receptive, responsive, and creative. This was another chance to pilot this curriculum Janis is developing to use art in creatively advancing the Kingdom of God.

Here are the students hard at work on a project:


















Here are some of the students displaying their color wash - cut out in the shape of their hand - and a bead bracelet. Several of these "hands" will be given to students in India this summer during Raki, a special festival when bracelets are exchanged especially between sisters and brothers.































On a personal note, as good grandparents, we happen to have some very cute pictures we'd like to show you of our grandaughter. However, we won't bore you with having to watch them with us, but you can see them for yourself at: http://elindley.blogspot.com

News Flash!!! Our departure date for India has now been set for July 2!!! Things are developing verrry fast!

Update on Restoration Art/April Trip to NW Cancelled

Apologies to everyone we talked with about a possible trip to Tacoma/Seattle in April - Thursday night (3/8) we heard from leadership in India that they would like us there sooner than we had planned. Consequently, instead of two short trips to Tacoma/Seattle (April and June), we will plan an extended trip through the North West in June. Our tentative target date for India departure is July 15.

Restoration Art

The winter series (6 weeks) of Restoration Art concluded at the end of February. The spring series (also 6 weeks) of Restoration Art began last week. Below will be some samples of the art work produced by some of Janis' students. A few are experienced artists, but most are newcomers. May you also enjoy the delight they experienced in discovering how creative they can be.










Most of these are "Master's Studies," where a student follows the pattern of a master painter.


[this one, a portion of Rembrandt's Prodigal Son, is Chuck's]

























On March 24 another Transform World/LA region Art Consultation will be hosted in the Restoration Art Studio. Included in the evening will be a musical presentation by Milcah on the Andean pipes; a multi-media presentation by Nick, one of the young artists who attended the previous consultation; and a short message by Joby Harris an accomplished artist (worked for Disney, Warner Bros., Columbia Studios, and worked on "Alias," "Bruce Almighty," "Star Trek") and currently on staff at Mosaic. Photos and report will follow that consultation.

And, on April 28, Janis has been invited to exhibit her "Door Series" in a show at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena. Below is one of Janis' door paintings in progress, plus some of her previous works in charcoal and acrylic.

India Summer '07 Information:

Chuck will be Director of East West Educational Foundation (EWEF) a "Christian NGO [non-governmental organization] begun in 1997 and registered as a not-for-profit group under the Societies Registration Act. It specializes in cross-cultural education inspired by the teaching of Jesus Christ that 'many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.'" For Chuck and Janis this is a long-term commitment (minimum, 3 years).

Current EWEF activities include:
1/ East West Language Institute (specializing in teaching Hindi and Urdu to foreigners, and in teaching English as a second language [ESL]);
2/ Metro Delhi International School (MDIS) a Christian co-educational school providing a college preparatory education with an American curriculum;
3/ Hindustani Publishing (specializing in making the Gospel available to Muslims in India); and
4/ Cross-cultural seminars and consultations.

Following are some of the photos available from the MDIS website (http://mdis.net):


MDIS has recently relocated to sharing the YMCA building in Greater Noida, a satellite city of Delhi.


A group of students attending MDIS this year.


Not only is the student body international in composition, but so is the Faculty and Staff: 9 from India, 3 from South Africa, 3 from the U.S., 1 each from New Zealand, Iraq, S. Korea, and Australia.







As you can see, MDIS has an art program.

This is, of course, something Janis is very interested in, though she will concentrate her efforts in research and perhaps some in the Restoration Art and Art Institutes that she has been piloting in recent years.