Chris and Kris in India 30

This Month.  (Post early for Christmas)  :) :)

Comment (2)
A look at where we work

The progress of HDS

The colours of our garden

May we wish you all a very happy Christmas, may God
bless you and keep you safe in the coming year.

Chickenopolis

Comments from Kris                                                     

Comment 1 from both of us.                                

We learnt something quite strange and surprising to us this week.

We learnt that last month 169 people read this blog.

We thought we were mostly talking to members of our home church, a few friends, maybe 15 or 20 people. It has come as a complete revelation to us just how many of you out there we have never met who follow us and our life.

So to you all unknown readers, we say welcome and may God bless you and we hope that you continue to enjoy reading about our experiences of India and our desire to save lives.

Comment 2.

Hey I get to make two comments this month!

There is an old UK saying “Home is where the heart is”. For us having just returned to India after an enforced (but very happy) visit to the UK we can confirm that old saying.

We have found peace here, a spiritual peace neither of us feel anywhere else, a closeness to God, a feeling of harmony. We are here to serve Him and knowing that gives us a calmness in adversity that we find very wonderful, a sense of rightness in our lives.

In the UK we were tourists, running around taking photographs, eating foods we can’t get here, visiting old friends and family and generally having a very busy but happy time.

Then our Visa’s were granted and we were so full of joy knowing we were coming home. Some regret that we didn’t get to see all the people we had planned to but the speed of our application for visa’s took us completely by surprise. Four days from application to approval, we are still a bit stunned by the speed of it.

So, we are home, our spiritual and physical home is India now and always will be we pray. As a friend and mentor said who has also followed where he was led by God, “At least our epitaph won’t read “Watched TV and did nothing in life”.

One final word, if you have a calling, or dream then follow it, do it, be true to yourself, and listen for God’s guidance in all things and never lie.

Jesus taught that truthfulness should be habitual, and that oaths ought not be necessary for those who give testimony.

“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfil your vows to the LORD.’ But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; and anything beyond these is of evil” (Matt. 5:33-37). Be honest to yourself, and to others. When you lie you only deceive yourself.

Our Lord taught that truthfulness should be a way of life, so that no oath taking is ever necessary. We should, as it were, always speak as though under oath.
Chris.

A Look at where we work
Buddha Architectural College, this is about 3 Kms from where we live, Chris is teaching Workshop skills and English and Kris is teaching Art and Design. We are both working the same days together which is nice. 

Views of the inside of the building

Kris in 'Teacher' mode

What a place to work, lovely building, staff are great as are the students, but like all students they need a push now and again! More on the college in comments from Kris.

Beautiful piece of art, all you see was built from a flat lawn

The students range from all faiths and are fascinated by the fact we are Christian, we must have testified 20 times already! We keep getting asked 'are you catholics?' so we have to explain our faith and why we have come to India to live, our hopes and our dreams for us as people and the Ngo. God has been so good to us, He has given us so much. It isn't always easy (rarely easy!) but we are certain this is all His will and we follow where He leads. The path ahead of us is obscured from us but we both KNOW it is being cleared of obstacles and traps by our Lord. We never struggle alone.

HDS (the Health and Development Society)

Well we have done it! we have achieved what a lot of people said was not possible to do, we have formed an Ngo made up of :Women, Men, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Christian members. The governing body (7) is led by a Sikh woman with remarkable drive and ambition for the society.

Not all here have welcomed this multi faith approach but as it says in the bible we live our faith by example. All faiths working to one end, the well being of all Indian peoples, wonderful.

Although we had all the paperwork done last month the governing body has to meet and elect officers before we could officially begin work as an Ngo.

What with honeymoons, late work coming up to Christmas it is proving difficult to get all the governing body together in one place to meet! Our first project should be starting in January so urgency is the key! But this is India...............

The colours of our garden

 

 

      

Chickenopilis

Inspired by a friend in the UK (Les) we are building 'Chickenopilis'. All you see here is recycled other than some of the wire. Since we 'melted' our bee hive last summer (Place in full sun..............oh yeah, all the wax melted and they left home) we have had the hive sitting awaiting a new use.......this is it. We intend to try bees again but when we know more about the life of the Indian bee! 

Nest Box

A view of the pen showing the 'drawbridge'
 entry. A hatch will eventually be fitted here
 in the end fence to allow the chickens
 to clear the growing area when we clear crops.

Training Bottle gourd along the wire, another hatch here
for the same reason as above but on this growing area..

We still have the roof to finish and put in a light to keep them warm over winter later we intend to put hatches in the end and side to allow the hens to clear weeds from our growing area's and add fertiliser as they go, (no pun intended). We will erect temporary fences so they can wander but not get out of the garden area. We hope to have five happy birds soon. 

We have found a trustworthy supplier, Udaipur Agricultural College, who are also in favour of saving this local variety of hen known for its flavoursome eggs, if somewhat smaller and less frequent laying. A standard egg in the market costs Rs3-5 each these eggs (when you can find them which is rare) bring  Rs12-14 each.

The chickens will become our little workers, fertilising, weeding, and giving us high quality eggs. 

 The eggs they produce are a little smaller but so much more flavour and if we help to conserve a local breed then that's a bonus.

 We have decided that a cockerel is not a good idea, don't need one for eggs and they get up and awake a little early for us and our neighbours who by the way think getting chickens is a great idea.

      The back can be removed for cleaning,
   there are perches inside to give them
plenty of room.

The rope raises and lowers the 'drawbridge' entry 
so they can be closed in safe and sound at night.

Fully enclosed, wire buried in the ground 6", marble to
stop them uprooting it. A sand pit 1' deep about one metre
diameter wire roof. Draw bridge door.
Now all we have to worry about are snakes!

Comments from Kris

Well here we are again writing the blog, it does not seem five minutes since the last one, and yes I know we are publishing this one early for Christmas.

The last few weeks since we returned to Udaipur has been very busy and interesting.

We went to a friend’s wedding recently which was a really lovely occasion, not much time to meet the bride in between all the different parts of the ceremony but we will have the opportunity to get to know her soon.

The groom’s aunt painted my hand with the traditional Indian body decoration called Mehndi, which was very nice of her. It looked very beautiful and took ages to dry, I had been advised it would take 15mins to dry but it took around 30mins, not so easy to not smudge it in that time. Once dry you scrape off the brown paint and do not wash the area for several hours to allow it to darken naturally which enhances the effect. I was so impressed I will get it done again for a special occasion. See the photo of Sahiba and myself holding out our hands after we had the Mehndi applied.

We have been busy consulting on an exhibition at the college and it has reminded me so much of my time doing fine art at university in Sunderland. The frustration of things not working out as you first thought, but then having to redesign is all part of the challenge of being an artist doing an installation. It is a good opportunity to get to know the students and see what they are capable of. To be honest they are more capable than they think they just need a little encouragement and a nudge in the right direction. It is hard for some to realise that they can give their ideas and we will listen to them and incorporate those that fit in with the brief for the Installation. We will show photos of the exhibition in a later blog. The exhibition will be held in the college between 24^th and 26^th of January 2015 so we are pushed for time to get everything in place.

I was reminded the other day that I was seen on the back of a police Inspectors motorcycle and asked what had I done. Funny really as they also wanted to know where Chris was. Well it was a Police Inspector from CID who just happens to be an artist and had invited me to view his art work, Chris at this point not being an artist was not invited as it was one artist talking and discussing Art with another artist. He was later invited to see the work. But the stir it caused that I was seen on a police bike was interesting. I am hoping he will come to see the student’s exhibition at the college as we are still in contact with each other and I think he will find it interesting.

Another funny incident happened again some time ago, Chris and I were at our landlord’s home and when we were leaving and in private our Landlord (who just happens to be a Senior Criminal Advocate) asked me why I was in Court the previous week. Looking and feeling very puzzled, I explained I had not been in or to Court and that I had no idea where the Court was. It turned out I had been going to an office of the telephone company who shared part of the court building and our Landlord had seen me walking in the corridor near the Court part. He was very relieved when we figured it out and I still think it is very funny. Having gone to our landlords chambers at Court to see him I now know where the Court is, that was also a funny experience as the security man kept asking if I was sure I wanted to go to his chambers. Our landlord is quite a formidable and honourable man and a lot of people are in awe of him, some are actually afraid of him you can tell this by the look on their faces when they hear his name. If ever I need counsel he is definitely the man to have on your side, I have nothing but admiration for him and would trust him to get me (us) justice if ever there was need.

It is really nice that we live here in a multicultural colony with Muslims, Hindu’s, Sikhs and Christians it is really friendly and people are very welcoming to Chris and I, everyone knows we are Christians and accept us as we are.

The other nice thing is that the local ladies who work on the colony as servants all say hello when I see them and I get lots of smiles. I have found ways of saying Namaste when riding my scooter, either raising one hand or nodding my head as I say Namaste when riding by.

For us we do not differentiate between castes because for us everyone is equal and we treat everyone the same. When someone calls at our home we offer Panni (water) and then we find out what they want. It is very important to Indians to offer hospitality just as we do. In fact a couple of years ago we were told by a senior Sikh that it had been noted that we offer hospitality to all who come to our home no matter who they are or what caste we are.

It is a nice feeling to be accepted for who we are, and I think the attitude of all on the colony is a good example for others of accepting others faiths and living in harmony. Oh, if only the world as a whole would do the same thing life would be so much better.

We have been working hard on Chickenopolis it is fortunate that I am lacking in the height department ( me being a shorty under 5 feet in height) as I can stand on a chair and fix the roof in place very comfortably without touching the roof with my head. So I feel in this instance my lack of height is a definite advantage. I am really enjoying the build it is very creative and relaxing if not a little time consuming.

I hit a pothole (read crater in road), when dodging a motorcycle who pulled out suddenly from nowhere in front of me and the car driving to my right. Needless to say we both expressed our displeasure in the usual Indian manner; Der…………. some people should not ride motorcycles. See photo of what it did to my beloved Yamaha Ray, 

Chris assures me it can be put right, thank you Chris.

Well that’s all from me this month,

God Bless, Kris

A Final thought:

On the 25th of this month Christians all over the world will celebrate the birth of Jesus, an event that changed the world. If you believe as we do that he came to save us from our sin and that he is the Son of God then the 25th is for you is a story just beginning. 

Even if you don't believe you will no doubt celebrate anyway, maybe santa will come, maybe not. 

In either case can I ask something of you? Will YOU give just 10% of the cost of your Christmas dinner to those who are in need this year, miss out on that extra last minute spend and do what Jesus asks of us all, to love your neighbour as yourself. Please think of the less fortunate and do something personally to help them.

May Kris and I wish you all the happiest of Christmas,s and a joyful new year.

God bless you all.