Chris and Kris in India 24

Hi Guys, Wow what a month.
We have finalised our leaving Pmf.
We have lost a friends father to Gods care.
Had a fantastic party.


A short comment from me this month to make up for all the long ones!
I want to talk about a little known sect founded over 2000yrs ago and still going today


Wikipedia reference:    Jesus, an early prophet and founder of the Jesus sect.
.
Born in Bethlehem during the great Census, allegedly in a stable or Cow shed off the main road.   
Wise men passing  by stayed until after the birth of Jesus they chanted sacred songs and gave gifts because its traditional at a birth and because of a prophesy they believed in. The Jewish sacred scrolls told of a great event to happen that night. A comet had been crossing the sky for some days and lit the heavens. This was taken as a good omen by the wise men who followed its path to the birthplace of Jesus.
Sect followers now revere comets as heavenly signs.
Jesus was from the line of David and born that night, the night of the star. (This event is also recorded by Chinese scholars)
Later he grew to be a reasonable carpenter  He spent much of his time assisting his father and brothers but he was always wandering off, even as a child! 
Rumours at the time and in later writings claim that Mary, wife of Joseph and mother of Jesus had claimed Joseph was not the real father, but that an angel had visited her and next thing you know she's pregnant betrothed and off out of town heading from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the great census,Well the rest is lost to  history until word of a great teacher spreads about thirty years later.
Jesus Had become a wandering teacher and led a band of disciples around the country teaching love and peace. This was a new idea in a country where God was feared and had to have sacrifices 'burnt offerings' made to him to atone for sin or He would punish you, perhaps even kill you. Jesus drew many thousands of followers. It is claimed in some accounts that faith healing took place and he once is said to have walked on the ocean although rumours that contemporary accounts of his life were written and may even still exist undiscovered very little is known of him. Other than his great claim 'To be the son of God' recorded in the book of a diarist of that time who does record the passing by of a man called Jesus who he listened to talk in the market place and claims to have seen the cure of a blind man by him. The claim he was the son of God eventually led to his trial by by the Jewish courts the Pharisees and finally to Pontious Pilot who confirmed his death sentence. 
He was crucified for blasphemy, it is believed at about age thirty three. Coincidently it was a day of a great storm that the Jesus followers took as a sign that God was angry.
The order he founded still exists today teaching love and peace and a belief that death is a pathway to God.
The Sect of Jesus ranks fairly low in the scale of world religions in total  forty thousand two hundred exist as I write. The sect  has it main temple in Jerusalem, and several thousand followers world wide visit as a pilgrimage every year. The sect regards December 25th to be the birth date of Jesus although some followers contest this.
His crypt in Jerusalem contain what is said to be his remains and is the Sects most holy place where it is claimed healing's still take place.
June 2767 AUC  (ab urbe condita)

Well that's one version.

Here's another

The different Jesus we know of made it clear that He is the son of God by one great miracle. Rising again from the dead, defeating death itself before hundreds of witnesses and proving he was real and back from the dead and not some fiction but with solid proof. He ate with friends, talked to others The Apostle Paul records this event in 1 Corinthians 15:6. He states that most of these men and women were still alive when he wrote this letter, about 55 A.D. Undoubtedly they told others about this miracle. Smaller groups also saw the risen Christ, such as the apostles, and Cleopas and his companion. They all saw the same thing, and in the case of the apostles, they touched Jesus and watched him eat food. after the ascension of Jesus into heaven, sightings of him stopped.These people were solid eye witnesses, some later died under torture when they refused to change the story of what they had seen, despite all the efforts to prove this event false by some groups nobody can, 500+ eye witnesses wont go away!

Had he not proven He could overcome even death, that his claim to be 'the son of God' was real and true perhaps all we would have is an account similar to the one above had Judas not betrayed him by an act that led directly to His crucifixion and resurrection what would we have been but another sect.

Jesus lives today and through him we live in grace because I believe that he died on the cross for all of us to carry our sins on his shoulders.That never again would God be feared and sacrificed to but through His son Jesus, love would one day reign on earth He died,then rose again. 
My major regret is that CNN weren't there to film it, the BBC could have done a "Jesus rises from the dead" special, sadly 2000 years too early for TV so not having seen it on the box many won't believe it. What a world we live in, A con man bends spoons and it makes headline news, Jesus is not even taught in our schools, in case we offend other religions. I have found living as we do among Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian in India there is far more tolerance of other faiths than in the UK. I can talk with any faith as long as I respect his beliefs as he respects mine. Through learning and meditation or prayer comes wisdom.
As for our belief in Jesus,

We can prove it, we have hundreds of eye witnesses who saw it all, 

He overcame death. He rose from the grave, He is the Messiah. He is Jesus Christ.

Good isn't it!

June 2014 AD (We also changed our dating system based on the date of his birth)





Things that make me go MMMMMM

This occurred because of a conversation I had with a neighbour as I was clearing fallen leaves.
The scene:
Autumn UK, cool crisp November day raking leaves off the lawns and garden.
Something moves in the pile, you smile and lift the little hedgehog to safety under the hedge.

The scene:
Pre monsoon, humid and hot July day raking leaves off the lawns and garden
Something moves in the pile, you leap back as a cobra rears three feet up to open his hood and mouth in warning he is going to strike. Cobras it seems like mounds of leaves or fallen tree branches to rest in at this time of year.
So the next time you find that little hedgehog.....be grateful it is only a hedgehog.

Hannah...........finding cider on draught in Durham, that's another place on our visit list!


Oh yes, its ant season, 1/2" big black ants all looking for a temp dry home for monsoon...................move on there buddy!

So far (Bless you all) we will be staying a few days with Christine's Brother in Kent, (Tunbridge Wells) then up to Evenwood for a couple of days to visit old friends including an ex girlfriend who has offered us a room if we need it, isnt that so nice of her, (This may extend by a day or two if there is a sea fishing trip on) then to Isla and Andy's. At some point we also have to get in a visit to Christine's cousin in Scotland (Falkirk) Davina Snedden who is very brave and awe inspiring in her fight with cancer. The Itinerary is growing.

Posted this on faceache.

After posting ‘Does God exist?’, I was asked by an Indian friend ‘do you then believe in the devil?’

Well those who know me and my past will affirm that I served the devil for many years, finally coming to Christ late in my life in a split second where He truly did what physics calls impossible. If you want to know more then read ‘A Long and Winding Road’ by C R Hyde.

God is my rock in the sea to which I cling when times get tough, the devil is like the sea trying to pull you off that rock, washing back and forward, wetting your hands, loosening your grip little by little.

It usually starts with a ‘harmless lie’ something you say on the spur of the moment, and then regret but it’s too late, so you lie to cover the first lie, your grip on the rock is slipping.

God gave us only ten commandments, why does he rate lying as high as murder as a sin? Because it will destroy you. It is the small grip on you the devil needs to pull you away from that rock that is God. We have free will, we are of God but only if we work at it, it’s so easy to drift from that rock because of a small lie that seemed not to matter when you told it. Remember the ninth commandment the next time you are tempted to ‘bend’ the truth.

Our Party,

Its becoming an annual event, 58 came of those five were Christian, the rest Sikhs, Muslims, Hindu and non believers. We really believe that by living in the community as Christians we have removed a lot of prejudice and pre conceptions about just what a Christian is. People know our faith and except our sometimes strange ways (Fasting and doing no work for ourselves on Sundays). We ALWAYS say grace and thank God for our food, all our friends know this, most join in.

When I was so ill recently there was a constant stream of visitors and friends of all faiths who wanted to pray for me. These people are so genuine and honest about there feelings (once you learn to read body language) for us it makes us so proud to know them. 

It usually comes as a surprise to UK visitors when they find out that Christianity is India's third largest religious group, by living as we do in an open community we have learned so much more than we could have had we chosen to live in a totally Christian community. We make mistakes (Some biggie's) but we are forgiven and shown why it was a mistake, why do people bother? Because they care about us and want to help us 

To anyone thinking of coming here do not be afraid its safer than many city streets in the UK. If you want respect then give it. If you want to learn then listen. Never forget this is India expect to be misunderstood, especially by English speakers who can  misunderstand the meaning of a word and that changes everything you meant...........beware it has happened to us more than once. 

Indians will admire a piece of jewellery and ask what it cost, where did you get the wedding rings....how much, are they real gold.

I love this about Indians once they call you a friend it is much more than in the UK, almost part of their family.

Kris looking beautiful in traditional dress

Preparing for the food, catering was 100% superb (Zucchini Udaipur)




                                                                                       

  The bouncy castle works like a child vacuum cleaner, lets the adults relax and the children have fun.

Some of the lovely flowers and gifts Kris and I were given to celebrate our wedding anniversary  from friends.

Garden
Because we are having to return to the UK to change our visa's we are not planting the veg garden this year until we return. a friend will keep everything watered and the grass and hedges cut.

We grow what are known locally (Indian joke)  as 'Roof Melons' they are mega sweet and so fresh, pick and eat!

Sitting in the sun getting ripe and juicy

 These are fantastic....nothing like what we get in the UK, the flavour just explodes in your mouth.

    Local wild fruit that looks just like a melon. All seeds and juice.                    

Sodis

Running flat out producing water at 11.5 L per day. Help us over the monsoon when we don't get as many clear days.

Comments from Kris

Well it is this time again, where I give you some idea of how I feel about things here in India.

I can’t believe we came here to live in November 2012, it just seems like yesterday that we came for a holiday in November 2011, and had no intention of moving here. Such a lot has happened since that holiday, which was life changing, I still remember praying in the local park with Chris and Andrew Westerman for God to guide us. As Chris and I have said many times it is as if we are in a boat and God is steering we are just paddling, the problem comes when we try to do the steering, but we are learning to give it all to the Lord.

I want to give you some idea as to what our plans are for the future and how this came about. Well as you know we came out here as unpaid volunteers with Pragati Marg Foundation (PMF), we and they felt our skills and experience would be beneficial and there were several projects we wanted to get involved in. Our first year was very interesting and Chris developed Chringlish which is an English course which can be taught without an interpreter, he has continued to tweek and develop it according to the needs of the groups or individuals he has taught. I am really proud of him and he has put in many hours of work and research into the project. There has been a lot of interest in it from other NGO’s and organisations such as schools and it is freely available in PDF form for anyone to use so long as they credit it and do not charge for it. We strongly feel education should be free for all and the poorest in India society are the ones that can least afford to pay. For this purpose Chris copyrighted the material so no charge can be made to students. We are extremely excited about Sodis Solar Water Purification as it can save so many lives, In Rajasthan alone this summer 4,000 children will die due to dehydration caused by diarrhoea from drinking contaminated water, Sodis can reduce this significantly. I have sourced a field water testing kit which detects for harmful pathogens and micro organisms that cause diarrhoea and it is so simple to use and read no need to use expensive laboratory testing, It takes between 18 and 48 hours for the test and I have already done testing with it. In fact we tested our own water supply from our bore well which is classed as a safe source of drinking water. Guess what it is not safe it came up with a very positive result, in 18 hours, our bore well, we now drink only water purified with Sodis as we have our own Sodis system set up on our roof. As you might remember from previous blogs we became concerned about our drinking water following several episodes of diarrhoea and then one evening whilst watering the garden we could smell human waste, and yes it was coming from the water. For the geologists among you the rock around here is mainly sandy shale sat on top of an impervious rock layer and there are a number of cess pits been built above our house (not the original plan) and when they become full and overflow especially in the monsoon the waste products mix with the surrounding water table and the water becomes contaminated. Our neighbours who are mostly middle class opt for water purification systems that work by osmosis but that wastes at least 80% of the water and in a country where water is scarce we feel we could not do that, they also cost a minimum of Rs13,000 to buy (basic model) that’s about £130 just for the unit then you have to pay for filters and maintenance on top. Our system of Sodis costs less than Rs400 about £4, and we plan to give these free to the poor. We can get the price down further it just depends on if a filter is needed and the size of rack needed.

I have done some sessions on Health and Hygiene, basic hand washing, First Aid and Self Breast Examination along with some conversational English using Art. I plan to continue with Self Breast Examination as there is so much ignorance here even among the more educated women, I also plan to do more on First Aid and Basic Health and Hygiene which will compliment Sodis. I feel very excited about continuing to work here and reach more people.

As you may have heard we have made a decision not to renew our contract with PMF when it is due at end of September. We have not taken this decision lightly and have prayed and sought God’s plan for our future. For me the decision had to be made after Chris’s serious illness where he nearly died twice, and his long recovery to fitness. I believe that during that time I sought God’s will for my own life and came to the conclusion of what was important, I know Chris has also done the same but I am speaking here about me specifically. I have been a Christian now since 1986 and although there have been some difficult times I can say with absolute sincerity and honesty that the Lord has never let me down, people have and I have let myself down at times but God has always been there even when I struggled. During Chris’s illness it was a very difficult and traumatic time for me and I felt I had to put him first above work or any other commitment this I did and I do not regret that decision one bit. It did mean for a while I could not go to work but my place had to be with my husband and I know my friends and neighbours agree with that decision. Normally we have been able to fund most of our project costs ourselves but as Chris’s illness has meant a huge financial bill which we are still paying off, we are unable to continue to do this. After discussion with PMF they acknowledged they were unable to fund our projects to the levels needed, and were in fact going to discuss with us the feasibility of our continued work with them after our contract ends. So we have put the whole matter into the hands of God and are praying that a new NGO that is in the process of forming in Udaipur and have expressed a great interest in employing us and also seem to have the funds available. For instance they have agreed to fund mobile Self Breast Examination clinic for a year and cover the cost of water testing and supplying 100 water treatment kits as a trial. We had looked at setting up our own NGO, the word complex does not begin to describe the difficulties, so when we were approached by this group we frankly jumped at the chance.

We are continuing to work with PMF till the end of our contract, Chris at the moment is continuing to prepare a report for PMF entitled “Water Consumption and Conservation in Udaipur District”, this is keeping him busy with lots of research, as it is a massive subject.  I do not know if I will get an opportunity to do further sessions on Self Breast Examination in the rural areas, this is yet to be decided by PMF.

Well we had our anniversary party a month late but it was still a great night, I got a little concerned that the Mickey Mouse Bouncy Castle might be a flop when the guy did not bring an extension cable or any spare wire. After the 2^nd trip to get more cable success it was inflated. To the great satisfaction of the kids and parent’s, in fact the last to leave were those with kids still wanting to play on the bouncy castle. The food this year I think was far superior, we used a new caterer a new Indo/Italian Restaurant called Zucchinni did the food, we chose our own menu but it was superb and the service was very good. We had a good turn out a couple of people could not make it at the last moment but those that came seemed to enjoy the company and the food. Next year we will have it again in May. I decided this year not to wear a sari but to go with my own style and put together my own salawar suit which I loved. Mind you when I got dressed and looked in the mirror I didn’t recognise myself for a moment, I looked so different. I got lots of compliments so it must have looked ok, at least Chris definitely thought so. It was stressful organising the party but worth it in the end.

In respect of Chris’s health a brief update. Chris has got over the malaria but still gets some problems with his kidneys following them shutting down and him coming very close to needing dialysis which was a very scary time. If he goes out for a ride on his bike he needs to wear a back support to protect the kidneys as they are still recovering, his blood tests in this respect are back within normal limits Praise God, but he still gets back ache in the area. Chris’s prostate is an ongoing problem but is stable at present, he is still taking medication and will need to continue with this for at least another year, he is continuing to have regular scans and check ups. Whilst it is not growing any further we and the consultant feel conservative treatment should continue and if we need to we will go down the surgery route. Chris still gets a lot of the side effects from the medication and still gets tired and exhausted easily, he is trying to get fit (so am I) and increase his stamina, but he is much better than he was which is very encouraging.  For Chris not being 100% fit is very frustrating he is a very active guy and has found this illness difficult to cope with at times. It is scary how something people think of as just Malaria can actually cause such devastation and even kill people and Chris had to be different and not just get one form of it but the 2 most dangerous forms, he does nothing by half measures. We remain thankful that we could rely on God’s love and grace throughout this difficult time.

I still have anaemia and this is recovering slowly, Chris has been concerned that I have lost so much weight but on the good news this has helped my mobility and put less strain on my knees. I do still get some pain in the knees but I am much more active following knee replacement and do not regret the decision to have the knees replaced it has changed my life. I recently got a bug we think and have had a fever so tried a remedy I have not used before. When you feel so grotty you will try anything within reason, Chris had read an article that putting raw onion on the soles of the feet can act as an antioxidant and have some antibacterial benefits so I did give it a go. It was very smelly especially here in the heat, but whether it was that, prayer or the body just fighting it I did get some improvement, so would try it again. I think I need to research it more fully in the future, but a lot of locals use a lot of traditional methods during illness with success.

On a sad not our maid Amberbai’s father Papa who we knew, liked and respected very much passed away earlier this month following his battle with cancer. We will miss him greatly and have prayed for him and the family on many occasions. This has been a stressful, painful and difficult time for Amberbai she was very close to her father and I know she will feel his passing greatly. Papa was a man of courage, strength with a quiet dignity and honour, both Chris and I miss him but are privileged to have had the opportunity to meet such a gentle hard working man. He was not rich, coming from what the Indians class as one of the lower castes but to us the caste system is irrelevant it is the person we see not their social status. I still remember his smile and I hope I continue to do so.

Well I hope you liked the photos of the party and we will see some of you again soon in October when we return to the UK. Thank you once again for those that have offered us accommodation during our stay, we really appreciate it as this is going to cost us a lot of money to return and we really do not have the funds right now but it has to be done in order to re-apply for new Visas.

That is all for now from Kris.

Take care and God bless to you all

From both Chris and Kris