aheartfororphans

My trip to India by Trevor Heil (con’t)

Day 6

After breakfast we went with Murli Menon (our host) and his wife Usha to meet with people with leprosy. Usha was meeting with them to verify they do have leprosy as she is starting a home for children of leprosy patients. People with leprosy are outcast from their village and are forced to live in leprosy colonies and are considered untouchable. People will not even associate with them. If the children are not taken into them home they will end up being beggars and have no hope of education or a future. It’s sad that these people are outcast because they are still people. I thought it was cool that Usha and Murli were willing and able to start a home for these children.

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Later we visited a tea factory/museum. It was cool to see how tea was made. Tea was discovered by accident. A ruler in china was boiling water on a journey and some tea leaves fell into the pot.

After lunch we walked around town and visited a local outdoor market. Most of this market was pretty interesting. It was chaotic - lots of shops in a small area, lots of people, narrow walkways with tarps to keep off the rain. A section of the market was lined with meat stands. Each meat shop worker was chopping up meat with cleavers, with no refrigeration, everything was sitting out on benches, some drying out. We then walked down a row of chicken and fish, it smelled bad! Max and Stu walked away quickly holding their breath.

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In the afternoon we visited an children’s home that Murli and Usha started for beggar kids. These are kids whose parents are street beggars that have nothing. Without a safe place to live, these kids would also end up begging for money and food. Just like the home we visited yesterday, all these kids were very cute and happy.

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After we got back to the hotel, we were able to watch the last half of the cricket rivalry game between India and Pakistan on TV. It was cool to learn about cricket which is kinda like baseball. The pitcher called a bowler throws a ball heavier than a baseball at 3 sticks called wickets. The ball has to hit the ground before it hits the wickets and a batter called a striker has to try to hit the ball preventing it from hitting the wickets. Anyway kinda confusing, I can tell you more about it when I get back. Pakistan won 322 to 290.

My trip to India by Trevor Heil (con't)

Day 5:

We left Quiet Corner headed for Ooty, a small mountain town of about 125,000 people. It’s kinda cold here, much cooler than anywhere else we’ve been. To get to Ooty we had to go up a mountain road that had 36 hairpin turns. Once in Ooty, we dropped our bags at the hotel and went out for lunch. The restaurant was vegetarian and was very good. We each had a platter with different sauces and foods that we ate with our fingers using nan bread to pick the food up.

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In the afternoon, we visited an elementary school where we each spoke to the children. We told them who we were and where we were from. After spending a little time with them, we went to visit an orphan home.

The orphan home had 22 girls ages 1 to 6. They have all been saved from infanticide. We watched them sing songs and recite bible verses. It was pretty impressive that they could memorize so much at such a young age. They showed us the rooms they stay in and we were able to play with them for a little while. They were very cute.

I can’t understand what would make someone want to kill a baby girl. It’s very sad to think that someone would.

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My trip to India by Trevor Heil (con't)

Day 4:

Today, instead of eating at the Samuel’s house, we stopped at a restaurant on the way to Quiet Corner. This was our first Indian meal. First we had Idli, which is steamed rice dipped in either a white coconut sauce (chudney) or a spicier red sauce (sambar). We next had masala dosa which is like a deep fried pancake with cabbage, potatoes and beans wrapped inside, again dipped in either the chudney or sambar. Lastly we had vada which was like a donut but not sweat, it too was dipped in the chudney or sambar. We topped it off with a nice cup of chai, which was like dessert. It was amazing.

The drive to Quiet Corner took a good part of the day. We stopped about half way there to visit a church started by the ministry at Quiet Corner, they are considering building an orphan home as part of the church. While Scott, Paul and Mike visited with the pastor, I got to use Scott’s camera to take some pictures of children living in a tent in a nearby field. The children noticed me taking pictures so they started to pose and laugh.

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As we arrived in the village near Quiet Corner, we stopped to visit a sewing program they run. There were 11 girls about my age that are there learning about sewing. All are from Hindu families and will learn about Jesus as they are learning to sew. I got pray for them as we were leaving.

After checking in at Quiet Corner we went to visit a feeding program. 35 kids sang songs for us and then sat down on the floor for their dinner. I was able to serve them rice and then teach them what high fives are. The kids come Monday through Saturday for 1 meal and to learn bible lessons. A couple of kids recited bible passages for us. We learned it costs $150 per month to feed all the kids a meal a day.

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That night we had chicken masala for dinner which was very spicy, but good. After dinner, we went on a night game drive (like a short safari). We saw dear, wild hogs, water buffalo and 7 or 8 elephants. The elephants were so close to the road I was sure on would charge our jeep, but they didn’t.

My trip to India by Trevor Heil

Day 1:

Today was a travel day. We flew from Denver to Chicago to Frankfurt arriving early Tuesday morning. We were delayed out of Denver and had only a few minutes to get from one terminal to another for our connection in Chicago. We ran through the airport and made it in time. I wasn’t able to sleep much, I was too excited to get to India.

Day 2:

Still traveling. After a 7 ½ hour flight to Frankfurt and a quick breakfast we were on another plane to India for another 8 hours. This flight went much faster as I slept the whole way. We arrived in Bangalore at 12:30am Wednesday morning.

Day 3:

Still Wednesday. We are staying with Thomas Samuel at his house for 2 days but didn’t get there from the airport until 2:30am. I then had my first cup of Indian Chai. Wow is that stuff good. We laid down for a couple hours and then got up for breakfast which was pancakes and eggs (the last thing I expected, but still good).

After breakfast we went to a Krishna Hindu temple and watched their "messed up" rituals. Lots of chanting and idols and we had to walk through in our bare feet. We saw them sacrificing fruit and flowers to idols and giving money to the temple.

We then returned home. Traffic was horrible. I heard more horns in 10 minutes than I’ve heard in my whole life. There are no rules, the larger the car, the more reckless the driver. Lots of buses, cars, motorcycles, rickshaws and pedestrians. Oh and the cows. We are in a city of 7 million people, with busier streets than I have ever seen, and there are cows randomly walking around. Four legged speed breakers as one of our hosts calls them.

After the drive back we had lunch, potatoes, beef stew and bread. (again not what I expected, but very good). We slept a few more hours and then went out to visit 3 more Hindu temples. The first was a Bull Temple, it had a big black bull carved out of a rock in the center. People were worshiping the bull, laying flowers and fruit in front of it and burning incense. It’s crazy, they are worshipping a rock.

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We then went to a Catholic temple, it looked just like a Hindu temple. Had I not known this was supposed to be a Catholic church, I would have assumed it was a Hindu Temple. They were all worshiping idols. One of these idols was statues of Jesus who was holding his hand in a Hindu worship sign.

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As we were leaving the Catholic temple, there was a small slum pocket of very poor people living along the street. Scott decided to take a picture of one of the little girls and we were soon swarmed by children wanting to have their pictures taken. It was amazing how something as simple as a picture, can caused so much enjoyment for children who have basically nothing. We stood there for 20 minutes, just taking pictures of kids and letting them look at themselves in the viewfinder. It was cool.

The last temple we saw had a ceremony taking place. Evidentially someone was having their car and another person was having their scooter blessed by the Hindu priest. That was really weird. They worship pretty much whatever they want. It makes no sense that a person would sacrifice fruit and flowers to a stone idol, that a priest would then burn the sacrifice and carry it burning around the car as if the smoke from a burning offering to a dead stone idol can give any protection or blessing to a car.

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It’s been a very exciting and interesting first day in India, I hope it just keeps getting better. Our time with Thomas Samuel has been fun. He is in his seventies and has been in ministry for over 40 years. He has a passion for handing out bibles to Indians. So far his ministry has given away 108,525 bibles and worship tracks, in 5600 villages and 8 states. His next strategy is to begin to place bibles in the Uttar Pradesh state which is one of the largest and most orthodox Hindu states in India. He hopes to give way 1000 bibles in each of the 71 districts. Each bible and track costs $7.

Tomorrow we leave early for Quite Corner which is a prayer retreat camp in the jungle with deer eating pythons and wild elephants that the staff scares off with firecrackers. Throw in a couple big hairy spiders, should be fun. I just hope I get some curry soon, can’t wait for that authentic Indian food.

India

Hard to believe it’s been 2 years since my first trip to India. This past week we were honored to welcome Pastor Sadhakar into our home for a night. He is an amazing man, doing amazing work through his church, reaching out into the slums, particularly to children in desperate conditions.

Pastor Sudhakar was our host in Hyderabad, the first city we visit back in 2006. He was gracious with his time as he shuttled us around to the orphan homes we had funded. It was fun to catch up with him last week and I’m anxious to return.

I leave this morning, part of a team of 6, one of which is Trevor, my step son. Trevor is 14, and a soon to sophomore in High School. The timing for him to take a trip with me couldn’t be better. We’ve been studying world views in the weeks leading up to this trip, and I have an ever increasing appreciation for that type of critical thinking, especially for a 14 year old.

Michael Vinson will be traveling with his teen-aged son Max as well. Paul Myhill and his brother Stu round out our team. Michael has posted a prayer calendar on his blog fallenscales - please check it out for our travel schedule.

Please pray for us, that we will seek God’s will in our travel together. That His agenda will take precedence over our own. That God will use this trip to continue to form Trevor's world view, one that is based on his faith.

Thank you to all those who contributed financially to our trip, making it possible.

Images from Mexico City

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Busy Week

It’s been a busy 7 days.

I spent last Thursday and Friday in St Louis visiting Covenant Seminary. I’ve been wrestling with the prospect of seminary for the past 2 years. Visiting Covenant certainly solidified the location; I loved the campus, the environment and the theology. I’m considering a Master of Arts in Theological Studies degree via distance learning (on-line) and 1 week on-campus intensive courses. Now I just need to pray through how I will afford and dedicate the time it. Hard to imagine right now how those 2 things will work out, but I suspect they will.

After returning home, the weekend was set aside for Norah’s baptism. As a family, we find great comfort in God’s sovereignty. We also find great comfort in His covenant - a covenant of grace, a covenant of redemption. On Sunday, we celebrated that covenant. We had Norah baptized as a sign of that covenant. Debbie and I believe that God’s plan of redemption includes work in and through families. And that by our faith in Christ, God will be active and involved in the life of our family.

 

Clearly this baptism doesn’t signify that Norah has a saving faith, the decision to put her trust in Jesus is hers to make. However, we have great hope for God’s work in Norah’s life, through our family. A family that includes Norah thanks to God’s sovereignty, grace and plan for adoption.

On Monday it was off to the airport for a flight to Mexico City. Thanks go out to the Williams family (CAM International missionaries) for graciously welcoming me into their home and special thanks to Craig for shuttling me around and introducing me to quality/faithful pastors.

Pastors like Ulysis, once sentenced to 96 years in a Mexican prison, labeled a dangerous criminal, only to be regenerated by God, converted into a pastor with a soft heart and a passion to care for children. Pastors like Manuel, a preacher and a businessman – giving tremendously as he self finances many of the social ministries within the church he planted, a church that has grown to 500 in only 3 years. Pastors like Emilio who started Adulam (a church and street child ministry) over a decade ago, who is using care for street children and kids clubs as a church planting strategy throughout Mexico and in Cuba.

It’s Thursday again, I’m at the airport again, on my way home again. This time for a while as I have no further travel plans until June. A welcome time of rest at home to enjoy my family.

Social Security Administration gets it?

Yesterday I went to the Social Security Administration office to get Norah a social security number. I completed the necessary application, waited in line to the prerequisite 45 minutes and presented the required documents to the lady sitting behind a very thick piece of glass. She asked me a few questions and began entering Norah’s information into their database. She then printed out a summary page and asked me to read it and attest that everything had been entered correctly, thus ensuring the card would be right.

I read through the summary sheet….

Name – check

Address - check

Date of birth – check

City of birth – check

Parents at birth – Scott and Debbie Vair – check!!!!!

I am amazed at the beautiful ways that God creates families, one of which is through adoption. I also believe in the sovereignty of God and that our adoption of this particular child was no accident. The Chinese government "assigned" Norah to us, but He created her to be a part of our family. We were chosen from before time to be her parents at birth. Not her birth parents – but her parents at birth.

So, the question is – did the behind the scenes computer code writer "get it" and intentionally write the program to reflect Gods sovereignty, or was this simply an act of Gods providence. In either case, it changed a potentially laborious "red tape" process at the local Social Security office into a heart warming affirmation of the sovereignty of God.

I leave you with this quote from John Piper…

"It is not merely that God has the power and right to govern all things but that He does so always and without exception." - John Piper

And with this verse from Ephesians…

"In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will" Ephesians 1:11

Images from Sudan

 

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Complex

Khartoum is a city that is busy with construction. New hotels, new roads, new business, new bridges. Much of the infrastructure is being funded by the Chinese. Demand is so high that construction costs are soaring. Building children’s homes here will be expensive.

I was told that China has developed a number of oil fields in Sudan, hence their willingness to pour in money for roads and bridges. Celebrities are calling for a boycott the Olympics in Beijing this summer due to China’s foreign policy in Sudan.

According to a recent International Herald Tribune article:

China is Sudan's biggest foreign investor

China — a U.N. Security Council permanent member with veto power — opposes any sanctions against Sudan.

China buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil and sells it weapons and military aircraft. Beijing has taken a hands-off approach to political violence and human rights abuses in Africa, where China has been increasing its investment to tap Africa's vast natural resources.

China has been accused of not doing enough to pressure the Sudanese government, which is accused of funding militias and allowing its military to brutalize civilians in a conflict that has killed some 200,000 people and left 2.5 million homeless since 2003.

Khartoum has worked hard at cleaning up its streets. All of the street children have been rounded up (as if they were cattle) and either placed in prison, beaten or forced to the edge of town where foreigners won’t see them.

Latest estimates are 3500 street children in Khartoum, 24,000 in southern Sudan and 32% of all children in the west (Darfur). In addition, 128,000 children are working on the street. Generations are being born on the street, as street children tend to be very sexually active.

I was told of an orphanage in Khartoum that recently closed. It had been full of babies that were half Sudanese/half Chinese. Evidently in addition to the host of Chinese workers, China had sent communist soldiers to protect their interest in the oil fields. We know from our work in Iraq there is great shame for a Muslim mother to have a child out of wedlock, resulting in abandonment.

The conditions of this state run orphanage were reported to be atrocious, many infants died from neglect. The facility has been closed now; it’s unknown what happened to the children.

Sudan is a complex country and Darfur is a complex conflict; one I haven’t been able to get my arms around. Three days in Khartoum did little in the way of clarity. The issues our partners will face in their work to rescue street children in Darfur are monumental. Please pray for them and consider giving to our Orphans of Conflict (War, Genocide, Ethnic Conflict) fund which supports the work there. You can donate online at our website www.worldorphans.org.

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