Community

A painting of light Janis did during a worship service at Kingdom International, the fellowship we attend on Sunday afternoons. It was also exhibited the next week in a service concentrating on Divali, a Hindu festival of lights.


Art lesson time for Vivan and Kritika, grandchildren of our landlady.



Baby, a local cosmetologist, applies henna to Janis's hand.







Cricket is very big here. Especially when playing Pakistan! Most of the parks have at least one area, if not several, where there a numbers of aspiring young cricketeers. All very passionate about the game.




The ever-present construction in Delhi - if not roads, flyovers, If not flyovers, high capacity bus systems (HCBS). If not HCBS, metro - both aboveground and underground. If not transportation construction, then buildings - a city intent on modernizing and de-centralizing is causing a boom in construction of government buildings, glistening, immaculate and sprawling malls, or something more mundane like sewers. These bricks are for a sewer re-construction in our area. Bricks are everywhere! The favored material of construction seems to be brick and concrete.



Recently we had the privilege of a visit by Sam, Colleen and Chris Yim. We first met the Yim's while we were all Pasadena. They are now serving in Varanasi (also known as Benaris).

Creative Conscience Workshop

Janis participated in this Workshop during the week of November 12-16. The theme of the Workshop was, "Disparity." It drew artists from all over India - Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, and Pune - plus artists from Japan and Tonga. Most of the artists were followers of Christ, although there were two Hindus and one Muslim who attended. One of the artists came from a slum background.

During the week, many of them stayed and ate together at the site of the Workshop - TRACI House in Greater Kailash 2 (GK 2) in New Delhi. The paintings that were produced were used in an outreach community event the next weekend in a slum area of New Delhi. All of the paintings will be exhibited at a new gallery being opened by Stefan Eicher and the SALT Project as a part of the ongoing project to explore ways to use Art in Kingdom purposes.

Janis met Stefan Eicher last fall at the Transform World Consultation in Hyderabad. He has been a sparkplug for many of the artists gatherings in India.


This young artist comes from a Muslim slum background.


Janis met Kim at Kingdom International, the fellowship we attend on Sunday afternoons.


Shakutai Patade, now in her 80's, started painting about 10 years ago. She is self-taught, has a bold style, often painting with her fingers, and concentrates on social justice issues. Her paintings of prostitutes in Mumbai and Kolkata, and images of the Gujarat riot, are emotionally moving pieces.


Aunty and this artist from Japan collaborated on this painting.























Janis and Aunty Shaki. They and two other women artists, one a professor from Chennai, are planning an exhibit together sometime in the next year.

Janis' painting dealt with children in the city. It was inspired by observing a little boy (the child of one of the many construction workercouples who live on job sites - whether buildings or streets) playing in a puddle of water by the side of a very busy street in the midst of construction.

Some Happenings

Interspersed with several more bouts of illness - which seem to be plaguing both of us - here are a few other things that have been happening:

Language Acquisition
Janis has been able to stay even with her classmates and, with her thrice weekly private sessions with Mrs. Pande, is becoming more and more comfortable using Hindi in basic exchanges in the marketplace. Chuck has regained some of the momentum interrupted by illness and is starting to advance again in his four tutoring sessions per week.

Relationships
The Pande family have become dear to us in many ways. In addition to the crucial assistance in health matters, the private tutoring for Janis with Mrs. Pande, and the weekly art lessons by Janis for Kritika and Vivan, Mrs. Pande's grandchildren, they frequently share with us the various family celebrations. Below are pictures of some of the family before they all attended a wedding.

Kritika

Kritika and her mother, Nina (Nina is Mrs. Pande's daughter)

Vivan (Vivan's father, Vivek, is Mrs. Pande's son)


Teaching & Mentoring
Numerous opportunties in these areas are opening up. Janis is now informally mentoring two young artists, one a Christ-follower and one not. We are exploring the possibilities of an intensive, week-long training session in early June in which we would focus on, "The Kingdom of God: The Big Picture." This is a part of an intensive, month-long training for between 40 and 50 college-age and young professionals sponsored by Touch India Trust, the sponsoring organization of Kingdom International which is the fellowship we attend on Sunday nights.

A Week In Our Lives

Saturday (10/13)
This is Chris' Birthday. Our landlady, Mrs. Pande brings us flowers for Chris' birthday...even though Chris, Nicole and Esther are in Lucknow, a 6-hour train ride away!



Janis paints a border and trim in the staircase of our flat; Chuck works on his painting of St. Francis & the Sultan for Chris' website, Negashi.













We take a walk over to the "J" Block Market to pick up a few more household items from one of our favorite storekeepers.


Sunday (10/14)
Even though we had planned to attend Delhi Bible Fellowship this morning, Janis is not feeling well, so she sleeps, Chuck works on the St. Francis & the Sultan painting.

After lunch, Ankit drops by. Ankit is a young man Janis met at a local coffee shop while studying Hindi. He's been staying in touch through some transitions he gone through and visits us occasionally. He is now in training for a position in reception at Max Med Hospital.


At 4:00 pm we leave for evening worship at Kingdom International (KI), which meets at 4:30 in the same building in Nizamuddin where Chuck's office is and Janis' language classes are. This is a very young congregation and reminds us a lot of Mosaic in Pasadena. They've asked Chuck to bring a devotional on Tuesday morning to the full time (11) and student (8) staff of KI's parent organization, Touch India Trust.



Monday (10/15)
Chuck has an early morning meeting at Metro Delhi International School (MDIS) in Greater Noida. He's supposed to catch 1 of the 2 buses that picks up students and staff in Delhi. At 7:05 am, our autorickshaw driver, who was supposed to pick him up at 7:00 am to go to the bus stop, calls to say he can't make it today - "Ghari (Hindi for, "vehicle") trouble." Chuck has trouble finding another auto- but finally gets one. The only problem is when they arrive at the destination, the driver insists on 2-3 times the reasonable price!

The meeting concludes about 12:30 pm, and Chuck catches a ride back into Delhi with one of the others who attended the meeting and returns to the EWEF office where he works until about 5:00 pm.

Janis usually teaches art from 4:00-5:00 pm to Vivan, our landlady's 5-year old grandson, but he is out of town this week with his family.

Janis meets from 5:00-6:30 pm with Divya, an art student here in Delhi who shares many of Janis' interests in the role of art in a culture.

Tuesday (10/16)
Janis has Hindi Conversation from 8:00-9:00 am, then Hindi Class from 9:00-10:30 am. She returns to our flat to study Hindi and art.

Chuck brings the devotional to the KI staff from 9:30-10:30 am. He returns to the EWEF office after the devotional. Usually he has Hindi Conversation from 10:30 am - 12:00 pm and Hindi Tutoring from 12:00-12:55 pm.

Janis meets with Mrs Pande for informal Hindi tutoring in the evening. The original arrangement was 7:00-8:00 pm, but is now stretching from 7:00-9:15 pm! [Mrs. Pande refers to Janis as her friend. On the days when they don't do tutoring, she usually comes up for an hour or two for unannounced visits.]

Wednesday (10/17)
Chuck usually leaves every morning for the office at 7:15 am, but today is another exception. He's scheduled to arrive at 8:00 am for an all-day physical as a pre-requisite for the In Patient Medical Coverage we're applying for. This is the same physical that was postponed earlier due to the illness that led to hospitalization [notice the irony of the timing!].

Janis has Hindi Conversation from 8:00-9:00 am, and Hindi Class from 9:00-10:30 am; art lessons with Kritika, Mrs. Pande's granddaughter, from 4:00-5:00 pm; and informal Hindi tutoring with Mrs. Pande from 7:00 to whenever!

Thursday (10/18)
Janis & Chuck travel together to EWEF/EWLI offices where Janis has Hindi Conversation and Class from 8:00-10:30 am.

Chuck gives the devotional at the weekly EWLI Staff meeting at 10:30. Staff meeting lasts until noon.

Janis meets with Mrs Pande again tonight.

Friday (10/19)
Janis stays home today to catch up on Hindi study, art study, and any household errands that have piled up during the week.

Chuck goes into the office at the usual time. He is scheduled for Hindi Conversation from 10:30-noon, and Hindi Tutoring from noon - 12:55 pm. Today he is also supposed to meet with the Finance Subcommittee from MDIS at one of the member's flats who is a block away from the EWEF offices. The time for this meeting is still pending, though it is a very important meeting!

Hopefully, that about wraps up a week in our lives. Can't say it's usual, because there doesn't seem to be anything "usual" about our time here in Delhi - there always seems to be a surprise lurking in the wings somewhere!

Exploring Art in India

Thursday, Friday and Saturday (9/27,28,29) Janis attended an Art Consultation that drew about 50 artists from all over India. It was a personally inspiring time as well as a productive time expanding contacts within the Art-world here.

Janis was asked to paint for the worship time on Friday. She thought it was in the evening, but when she arrived that morning they had scheduled her right away! In India, if possible, expect the unexpected!

Below are some photos of the Consultation.


























Also during these recent weeks, Chris, Nicole and Esther have spent several weeks with us as they took OSLS training, conducted an exploratory visit to Aligarh their intended destination, and then following that visit, and after receiving some additional counsel, they are currently (10/2) on their way to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh!

We've enjoyed being together as a family and enjoyed worship and prayer times together. We will miss them and they will be 6 hours train ride away rather than 2-3 hours train ride :(

ROUND 2: The Revenge of the Microbes and Other Physical Manifiestations of Spiritual Conflict!

"Infectious Season"

We are constantly being reminded they call this the "infectious season" here in Delhi. Following Janis and my recent bouts with "Delhi Belly" and complications resulting in hospitalization, we thought I was on my way to recovery...

However, my temperature suddenly spiked up to 101+, ran that way for over 24 hours, then as mysteriously returned to normal. For a while there was concern that I had dengue fever since there was some muscle and back pain and numbness. The Doctors said it was fatigue. They ran a battery of tests anyway, none of the blood work turned up anything...but...

The days in the hospital, and all the laying around, apparently aggravated an old injury (30+ years ago a trampoline accident resulting in 3 compressed vertebrae) resulting in some nuero-muscular complications. The MRI revealed the vertebrae were pressing on the spinal nerve. Fortunately, not serious enough to require surgery, so physical therapy was prescribed to alleviate the immediate pain and numbness, and exercises will be prescribed to prevent, as much as possible, recurrences... however...

The immediate treatment of symptoms included a hot pack, which ended up burning the skin on my shoulder (2nd degree - significant blistering). Treatment continues - without the hot pack!

"A Spiritual Battle?"

We have been warned by several nationals now, that not only is this "infectious season," but it is a period of a couple weeks in the Hindu calendar when Ganesh, one of the Hindu gods, is celebrated. The nationals have witnessed over the years an increase in physical and spiritual oppression during these weeks.

Given the strange string of physical maladies we've recently experienced, we would certainly wonder if there is a spiritual component to this as we seek to advance God's Kingdom.

ROUND 1: A Week Too Far...

We went a week too far.

Monday, September 10, about 10:00 am, I made appointments for Janis and I to have physicals. This is part of our medical coverage here in India. The Plan we are with has two aspects: Outpatient and Inpatient.

The Outpatient is easy to get into, fill out the form, pay the fee and you're in. The Inpatient part of the plan, however, requires a physical (a very complete physical, by the way, taking a whole day including a battery of some of the most advanced tests) for people over a certain age (to be discretely unnamed!). So, our appointments for physicals were scheduled for Monday, September 17.

On Monday the 10th, about 1:30 pm, I began to have a small knot in my stomach. By 5:00 pm, when I arrived home, I was definitely not feeling good. About 7:00 pm I fell asleep. I awoke around 9:00 pm when the first light bout of Delhi Belly struck. Another more severe bout struck at about 11:00 pm. The knockout bout came about 1:30 am. That's when it took me over five minutes to get up enough energy to tell Janis I needed some help.

Our landlord drove us to the Emergency Room, I was later admitted to the Hospital, and stayed for three days, finally being released late Thursday (9/13) afternoon.

During this time, Janis was also experiencing similar symptoms, less severely and suddenly, so she was able to be treated by a physician.

Also during this time, Chris, Nicole and Esther arrived. Hmmm...we wonder if it was accidental that these these happened virtually simultaneously...



Janis, Chris and Nicole visited while I was in the Hospital.



Here is my room-mate who had been in for about 20 days! He had just retired from a government job when an illness struck. He was released the same day I was.



I finally got to see Esther when I was discharged. Here we are reading a book.


If we'd only been able to complete the physicals the week before! We went a week too far!

Despite this, we both became very aware of our dependence on strength from outside us. To all of you who support us in so many ways, "THANK YOU!".