Amazing beautiful india

india is in the villages and on the trains...the city is just an intense microcosim of the village...the city makes more sense in the context of seeing the village. the villages are so beautiful, peaceful, simple. i went to visit one of the ladies from sari bari who has been sick on monday and the trip was amazing. the train was insane, we packed in the ladies car easily less than one square foot person. the ladies were loud and sassy and full of life. it was actually fun even though when i came of the train my clothes were drenched with sweat. it was kind fun to be like a spy because everyone assumed i could not speak the language, so it was interesting to listen to the conversation, fight and wonderings about who i was and what i do etc.

the village was abosolutely gorgeous. i mean it was poor, but poverty has a different face in the village and family is a beautiful experssion of community in the villages. because your neighbors are your family or your inlaws. they share everything, help each other. 5 families pooled their resources to serve me some pepsi and snacks...i felt a little overwhelmed at the generosity and sacrifice. the cost to them was great whereas i probably would not think twice about serving the same thing to them. and i was only one eating they would not share it with me. i do not think i will ever get over the generosity of the poor. our friend is getting better and we look forward to having her back soon.

the last week has been amazing...yes i know i keep using the word. but really i get not over the goodness. we showed the ladies the passion of the christ and had a little easter celebration and i was profound for some of the ladies. and profound for me to translate the story into bangla. and these days since we have seen some changes in the ladies. iwish i could show you pictures because the ladies are so beautiful and the pics are amazing. god is so good and i can how he is working everyday here.






i made goat curry for 30 for our celebration. my first time and it turned out great. the ladies said they liked it but i did not add enough salt. they all said it was great first effort...which is high praise coming from an indian lady. we all actually went to the goat shop and watch them carve the goat and give us the meat. i have always been afraid to do that but i was not big of a deal. we went early in the morning so the meat was fresh. i think i might be able to do it again.


headed to thailand this morning for a conference. really looking forward to the break. more soon...

Charotte's 30th Birthday

Last night we celebrated Charlotte's Birthday at Quepies....a restuarant in Kolkata. Maybe the best restaurant in kolkata. It had charm, great service and the food was amazing indian bengali food. i am going to take anyone who comes to this place...it really was amazing. we were in a private room because we had a little wine for the celebration and it reminded me of my great grandmothers house for some reason. its good to have good friends and celebrations! these little things add to the richness of life...mixed in with the hard, good, amazing, horrible, devasting, powerful and beautiful thing, it makes for a pretty good road to walk.

i just bought Amos Lee on itunes. this guy is amazing.

New life in the City

10 things i thought about in the last week

10. can trade be fair? is company responsible only for the person who works for them or for their whole family? is it possible for their to be justice in consumerism?

9. how would miranda sorbet soda taste as a float, ya know if we added ice cream?

8. every day i think about Deepa and Asha and ask God help us, help them out of the sex trade and onto the road to freedom

7. this quote from a devotion: ""nine-tenths of our suffering is caused by others not thinking so much of us as we think they ought" Mary Lyon

6. my brother...i want him to be happy!

5. my sister and grace

4. whether or not we would get tickets to see the namesake...this ended up being really funny because i ended up really worrying out loud about this...and end up cracking up with kristin. dang i wish i could kill worry in my heart. no we did not get tickets :)

3. why don't i lose weight when i fast? this is not a reason to fast i know but still i wonder....

2. when will i cut my hair, how should i cut my hair? when will my hair stop falling out?

1. can i really be this happy? can sari bari really be this good? HOPE is definitely the answer( jesus is the only only hope)...and then more thoughts about thought number 10 and how can we really make sari bari "fair" and "redemptive" in everyway for everyone who works and purchases....

More on Freedom Day

Watch this video!

Freedom Day, Sunday March 25th

If you are in so cal you can attend the Freedom Day program. End the trafficking of persons and modern slavery through awareness and advocacy! You can use your voice because they can not use theirs. Abolition now!!

CONTACT: Greg Russinger
Freedom Day Coordinator
(805) 701-0079

Modern-Day Abolitionists Unite to End Slavery
Freedom Day Promotes Awareness of Human Trafficking

WHO: A Coalition of NGOs, Faith Communities, Universities, Artists and Individuals

WHAT: On the 200th anniversary of Britain’s abolition of slavery by Parliament,
non-government organizations, government agencies, faith-based
organizations, artistic organizations, students and community members are joining together to raise awareness, network, and mobilize against modern-day slavery and human trafficking. Freedom Day will feature a series of films, music, art, and learning forums as people come together in support of this modern abolitionist movement.

WHEN: Sunday, March 25, 2007
2:00-7:00 P.M. PST

WHERE: Vanguard University (courtyard outside of Heath Hall)
55 Fair Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

BACKGROUND:
While many believe that slavery ended in the 1800’s, the sad truth is that slavery still exists in disturbing numbers throughout the world. Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery – and it is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) approximately 600,000 to 800,000 victims are trafficked across international borders worldwide each year. An alarming 14,500 to 17,500 of those victims are being trafficked annually into the United States. Victims of trafficking are men, women and children that are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of commercial sex or forced labor.

For more information about Freedom Day and to pre-register for this free event, please visit www.onevoicetoendslavery.com

What happened today in kolkata (taken from the Times of India)

KOLKATA: About 100 people were arrested in various parts of West Bengal on Friday as bandh supporters beat up government officials, torched a bus and disrupted rail and road traffic during an opposition-sponsored general strike to protest the police firing at Nandigram.

Roads wore a deserted look as vehicles kept off roads while train services on both Howrah and Sealdah divisions were disrupted.

A state-owned bus was set on fire in Sealdah area of the city on Friday morning by bandh supporters. They also pelted stones and damaged a few buses at Landsdowne, Hastings, Beliaghata and Beadon Street (we live near this one but stayed away of course), Deputy Commissioner of Police (HQ) PK Chatterjee said.

Around 100 bandh supporters were arrested for disrupting traffic and damaging buses in the metropolis, he said.

In North Dinajpur district, Congress supporters beat up the Additional District Magistrate and four top officials. Deputy Magistrate Probhat Chatterjee was admitted to hospital in a critical condition, Home Secretary PR Roy said.

Roy said road and rail blockades were put up by the bandh supporters at different places in the state which were removed by the police.

Railway sources said that train services in both Howrah and Sealdah divisions were hit due to picketing at various stations by the bandh supporters.

Most of the long distance trains were stranded at different stations due to picketing, the sources said.

Metro Railway however maintained its services.

About a dozen flights belonging to different airlines took off for their destinations by 7.15 in the morning.

The strike was called by Trinamool Congress, Congress, BJP and Socialist Unity Centre of India in protest against the police action on the villagers of Nandigram that claimed at least 14 lives on Wednesday.

Be the change you want to see in the World

I am blog copier...any way this one is for a good cause.


From Daphne's blog:
jara pointed me to kid, zach hunter, who is working to abolish modern day slavery. he's 15 years old. watch this video. you can also read about him at the IJM website. he is super inspiring. and if that isn't enough you can read more here.

cultural phenomenon

this is definitely cultural. every evening the men of the city settle down in the parks to play cards till it gets dark. And they gather round the Chai shops and cigarette shops and sit in small groups and talk or not talk as it may be. i was standing on my veranda tonight looking down and marveling at this little phenom. i mean it is all over the city...the casual gathering on the streets...rich and poor do it. though i have noticed that poor guys are often asleep on the street by 8pm..sure they have had a hard day of labor that lets them sleep through anything. tonight, i am wondering what they are talking about and what pulls them out of their houses and away from their families every night. We actually have the communist party sitting outside in chair just in front our place. they just sit there looking intimidating and important...i just wonder why.

i think it just might have to be one of those questions i ask God in heaven. maybe i won't care by then...

tomorrow there will be a huge strike in Kolkata and all of west Bengal. it appears that it might be violent and there could be some pretty serious chaos since the police are the target of the protest. if you want to read about it click here and here and here.

apparently, the police opened fire on 300 women who were standing in front of the male villagers who were well prepared to fight for their homes. The police were there in an attempt to quell a protest by villagers against the opening of a TATA chemical factory. people here are really angry. it is a very volatile and political situation.

why do bugs love light??

How the world shapes up...

Just read this thanks to daphne, really interesting. checkout the link by clicking on the title of this blog entry.

today at the gach

We were feeling pretty crappy and ready to leave the gach at around 4pm today so we went down the flyer lane and I ran into a lady I know and used to talk with a lot and while were talking with her we ran into these 2 young girls and right away I asked them how long they had been there and if they wanted new work…and they came with us right away to freeset and they will start on Tuesday!!! So I am supposed to go pick them up at 930am on Tuesday. Their names are asha and deepa. Asha is 20 and was married early, her husband sold her into the trade in benaras and I think she was rescued and she said her husband is in jail and she has a 2 month old daughter and has only been in the gach for 2 months. And she really wants to leave and is really, really excited about it. Deepa is married and has a husband and a small daughter and she is only 18. she is also really interested to have a job that honors her family… her husband knows she works the line but will be supportive of her leaving. We were at freeset till about 530 talking with the girls about freedom and new work. So a rough day turned into an amazing day!! lots of reasons to have hope that new life is possible in dark and awful places!!

where your treasure is...

last night small group was amazing. we had a full house of regulars and a few guests fellowshipping over ground nut stew, fried eggplant and watermelon. we listened to shane claiborne's talk from the beggars society and while that was certainly good...it was the conversation afterwards that was truly amazing and powerful.

two things stood out to me...the most powerful question was this...if what we do has benefit to us (which we all agreed being here in kolkata in relationship with the poor is a gift in our lives) then what is the cost? is there a cost? having come off a couple of amazing weeks at sari bari i am currently living in the benefits. because i am seeing transformation and in the process of working with the women to see their lives made new, my life is being made new. the benefit of being in relationship with poor persons is powerful, meaningful and life changing. everyone sitting around that room confessed it. the couple of weeks i have been realizing that leaving here does not feel like much of an option...i think this is a good thing. so the costs are there....but the benefits are real which leads me to the next thing that really ripped my face off...

the second thing was "where your treasure is there you heart will be also" i think we usually get it turned around the idea that where our heart is then that's where our treasure is....but our heart goes to the place we treasure not the other way around right? so if my treasure in things like finding the perfect guy and getting married, having a sucessful life, a comfortable life then that's where my heart will be....but more and more everyday, my treasure is here in the faces of the gach and certainly in the lives of the women at sari bari and so that is where my treasure is...that is what is changing my life. because my heart has followed and what i treasure is changing....my need for things is changing, because i see my friends without these things...so it makes me re-evaluate what i need. my treasure is in jesus and the things he cares about...some of the time, hopefully moving to all the time. my treasure is in the lives of the women of kolkata and so that is where my heart is these days....more than ever.

this is so unprocessed but i am still kind of reeling from the goodness of the last couple of weeks and amazing gift it is to see a 35 year old woman write her name for the first time, and another woman to be proud of herself, and all of us this last week learn about the power of forgiveness and what unforgiveness costs us.

alright its friday morning i am off to the gach today. planning to have time this weekend to blog more.

bringing back the old

This article was republished by http://www.msainfo.org/clop.asp in their journal. thought i would share with you all.

Seed Share: A Return to the Garden

by Sarah Lance

This article originally appeared in The Cry: The Advocacy Journal of Word Made Flesh vol. 8, no. 1 (Spring 2002) http://www.wordmadeflesh.com/learn/spring2002.pdf

I cut nails for a living. I take the hands and feet of the sweet women of Kolkata, India into my hands and cut their nails. It is simple and seemingly not so profound an act, but it is the beginning of a return to the Garden. By a return to the Garden, I mean the place where we as humans are safe, secure, and unashamed before one another and God. Cutting fingernails for my dear sisters in Kolkata is the beginning of breaking down the wall that separates and isolates one human from another. It is the beginning of intimacy.

The process begins simply. She offers me her hand. Really, she is not just offering me her hand she is offering me her heart, so I receive it as a gift. I take her hand and examine her fingernails. Her hands are rather dirty one finger does not even have a fingernail. Looking at my hands, I see that they are also rather dirty; in Kolkata the dirt clings and finds a happy home in nail beds. Actually, I think my fingernails need cutting more than hers. I have discovered that fingernail cutting is not really the main reason for our contact. Really, our hands are meeting in friendship, four hands meeting together to engage in the grand act of fingernail cutting so that we can begin our relationship and begin to break down the walls that separate us. I am learning that intimacy can begin in small acts of service. Continue reading this article.


Sarah is currently joining hands with women from Kolkatas red-light districts in a Word Made Flesh business initiative called Sari Bari. Her hearts deep desire is to walk with these women as their lives are made new in the spiritual, emotional and physical. For more information see http://saribari.blogspot.com

Word Made Flesh

Word Made Flesh (WMF) is a US international community that seeks to establish justice with the poorest of the poor. WMF has over 230 members living in mega-cities of the majority world. They seek to transform people through the proclamation of the powerful love of Jesus, through communities, through advocacy for the poor and through compassion. WMF staffers might be found in garbage heaps in Romania seeking out abandoned children or amongst women and children used for the sex trade in Asia or amongst the homeless youth sniffing paint to cure hunger pains in South America. Their unique and incarnational desire to serve people exemplifies Jesus life on earth. The previous story is taken from a compilation of journals focusing on various attributes that help us live as examples of Christ. Take a look at the work and vision of Word Made Flesh at www.wordmadeflesh.com.

learning to let others fail

i am extremly hard on myself most of the time...i have high standards for myself and that often translates in to having a hard time failing. oh i know we all hate to fail...at least i know that i do. the thing is i fail all the time...i fail myself and i fail others...i can not be what i want to be..or as paul say so well...why do i do the things i do not want to do. what a complex mixture of beauty and failure we all are... however, this difficulty i have failing also often means that i have a hard time letting others fail. i want everybody to be happy, healthy and failure free. i want to protect those around me the crash and burn that i so easily find myself in at least on a weekly basis. i want to give advice or i guess you could say control situations where i am aware failure can happen. however, i know i can not fix and or protect those around me and i just need to let them fail. i mean that's how i learn...i learn by screwing up completely. it is just so hard to keep my mouth shut sometimes...i want to give the answer when the question has not been asked. i often annoy myself because i have this tendancy to take everything out to the very end....from step one to 20 i project how things will happen as a result of single action. i do this to myself and i do this to people around me....i really try not too but sometime i can not stop myself...my mind goes there without my permission. one of the big lessons of the last two weeks had been learning to keep my mouth shut and those around me fail and learn for themselves...it is a weird thing because i almost feel like i have to withdraw in order to let it happen. i hoping it gets easier. i am hoping being a kind, gentle, cheerleader and servant is the kind of leader i will become...i do not want to control. darn that tendancy to want to make things perfect..to control. it is so ugly. even this blog entry is tool in helping me process this...letting people fail thing...because i am taking out my feelings here instead of on a person i fear might fail.

i mean i am running sari bari on the fail first and fix it plan. why can't i let others do the same....praying for lots of grace today.... yeah grace, that is vocab word i know but not one i have really let in to my heart for myself and maybe i have let it in for the sari bari ladies more than anyone else because i have grace a million miles long for them but it does not extend everywhere to everyone. so i guess grace takes pratice...so right now i am practicing and hoping that one day it will come naturally. dont they say it takes 2 weeks to form a habit...i have been working on this letting others fail things for a couple of weeks now but it still not a habit. super glad to serve a GOD that is a thousand times more gracious that i am...lord help me.

the power of hardwork

i woke up this morning really tired and a little overwhelmed at having go to the atm to get money to sari bari's rent at 630am. I did not want to face the street today but i ploughed through singing " i need thee every hour" as i walked past a few hollers and hoots in my direction. I got the money and went to the market and got some milk for a good cup of hot cinnamin milk to enjoy with 2 corithians chapter one. i sat out on our veranda in the cool blowing breeze and was blown away by how directly i needed the words of first corinthians

He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort— we get a full measure of that, too. When we suffer for Jesus, it works out for your healing and salvation. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, that also works to your benefit, spurring you on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times.
When we see that you're just as willing to endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you're going to make it, no doubt about it.

not sure why this encouraged me so much...i guess it made me feel not so alone. and i reassured of the healing that will come from a faithful God.

and finally putting my bible down i had a few minutes to reflect on yesterday. yesterday was the first of the month...payday for sari bari. And the end of the first month of our 7 ladies in training. they got their first paycheck...or really just their first training supplement. And their response was suprising to me and so beautiful. each one of them had a similar reponse...pride! Good pride...that kind that reminds you that are valuable and can do something to make a difference in your own circumstance. They knew from a simple paycheck that their work has value, that they have value. and while we know their value is not in their ability to work...it is step in the right direction for these women to be empowered. for most of them this was their first payday ever from a real job...their words not mine. one lady said from my own trouble i earned this money. i wanted to cry. i am sold out on giving people jobs as a means for empowerment. a job does what a hand out can not...it gives hope and belief in self. these new ladies are so amazing and i am so so proud of them!!

My hair loss reality

This is the amount of hair i lose every morning and every night when i comb my hair. The hair loss is startingto get disturbing. My thick hair has turned into thin hair. think i might be getting a really short haircut for the first time ever in my life if this does not stop. On the flip side i am having sympathy for men with comb overs since i might have to do that soon!!

Me and Maya chillin on the veranda

Maya in her jean pants!!

Pigeons, rats and cockroaches oh my!!

Well if it not one form of wild life in our house it is another. We have been living peacefully with a rat for almost a year. he doesn't bother us, we do not bother him. well now he is breaking the rules the last couple of days and breaking into all our food, getting into the cupboards and making a mess. today we discovered his nest because a whole loaf of bread was missing...yes the entire loaf plus packaging (he is that big!)...and we discovered it behind the fridge along with a grocery bag of other items...i now understand the term pack rat after seeing our friend turned enemys little home. so now the war is on...we, well i have been resistant to poisoning the little guy from the begining cuz i do not want to deal with the carcass but today after cleaning up that nest i am ready for a little rodent homicide.

Beauty of it all

It was an amazing two days in bakkali. I have so many thoughts...we really celebrated our lives together over the last year and the one year of freedom that we are marking for the first three ladies who came to sari bari a year ago on february 20th. we ate, slept, swam, worshipped, prayed, hugged and laughed. it was a beautiful celebration of the hope that we share...lots more to share but it is late and my bed looks too good to pass up so more tomorrow....

Sari Bari Picnic in Bakkali

Yes, you can not see any bodies faces except us americans but i did that on purpose, wanted to give an idea of where we were .... There is another photo collage on the sari bari blog with slightly different pics...check it out at www.saribari.blogspot.com.

KFC by candlelight

Okay so want to wish you all HVD as my mom just wrote me! kristin, beth and i went out for HVD to KFC and it was busy and decorated for HVD so kinda normal but then they dimmed the lights and brought out the candles and seriously it was cool in a weird only in india sort of way. so we had a candle light dinner at KFC on HVD and ate chicken and hot fudge sundaes and told each all the ways we think each other is cool and lovable and amazing. it was good. surely, i will not forget KFC by candlelight on valentines day anytime soon. hope you HVD is a as unique as mine.

small inconviences that bear good fruit

Well we have been without electricty and water for the last 2.5 days. this is the second time in a week. i feel like it has not been that hard really...i keep trying to think of it as a way to identify with our friends who regularly lose these somewhat basic things. it makes life hard but wow it really slow you down too...for me this is a good thing. i had a whole list of things to do yesterday on my computer but i couldn't because the battery on my computer was dead...so instead i reorganized, filed, spent time with jesus, rested and listened to music...i did have batteries on the ipod :) !! it was a really good day and it left me refreshed to my time in the gach yesterday evening. we had a really time with the girls we spent time...we drew pictures with our friend chobi who desperate needs attention and affirmation and had lots of chai with several other friends. we prayed before hand that we would be an encouragement and it was really cool to talk to a few girls on the street who look like death warmed over and have them smile and be happy to see us. it was a good day.

we head out for bakkali tomorrow to our Sari Bari retreat...it should be a blast! we are just taking the three ladies who have been with us from the begining and our staff and their families. we are hopeful that it will be restful and a good community building time.

Go Colts!!

Love that the colts won the super bowl. love that i am not to old to drag my rear out of bed at 545am to go watch the super bowl at a friends house. i love that my friends are kiwi's and think american football is for wussies but watched the game with us anyway at 6am. i love that i got to talk to my brother and share in his joy that his team won....he is a serious serious fan. i am only a fan because he is...i would have had to be loyal to the bears if they had not been playing the colts. since i am pretty sure the last super bowl i watched was superbowl 20...when the bears won. i love my brother and my sister in law and their crazy allegiance to the colts...i mean look at what they are wearing :)

Rocky Balboa

what an amazing movie...i have not enjoyed or been inspired by a movie like this for a long time...i was clapping and jumping out of my seat. thankfully i am in india and this is normal behavior in movies. i mean i enjoyed rocky the original but kind of thought the rest lost something but this last one is great...i heard even the critics liked it. really great movie..everyone should see it.

when the internet actually works...

we have been without internet for the last 4 days. and it might not last today...who knows why it is not working but it is fairly frustrating when we have had the people here twice...anyway that is dumb news....

here is some really great news. we have 7 new ladies at sari bari for training. it is really exciting. yesterday was so great. we played the knot game and basially tied ourselves in a human knot and had to get out of it with team work. i told that i can not make my life go along its proper course if i try to do everything on my own...i have to jesus and some good friends to make the road easier and the burden lighter. it ended up being a great object lesson because the knot tooks us at least 20 minutes to unravel from...there were lots of missteps and hard parts but together with a little outside direction from upendra we got untied and gave ourselves a standing ovation at the end. all the ladies started on their own mini blankets and we right now working on making straight lines and small stictches as we move forward we get into measuring etc. we ended the day with a birthday party--for a freedom/new life party for all the new ladies. we had cake and coke and a good time. the original sari bari ladies shared with the new ladies about what the birthday party meant and what a huge party we are going to have on the 20th which is their one year freedom anniversary and the 1 year birthday of sari bari!! it was a amazing, so good, terrific day.

today, after all that goodness, i felt a little of what it must feel to god and constantly pursuing a fickle and easier distracted children. one of the ladies seems to be having some troubles and said she was going to quit so i changed my whole plan for the day after having a good cry with kristin cuz i just felt overwhelmed at the thought of just one more time pursing this woman...until i realized that this is exactly what jesus does for me...and there will never come a day when he stops and so there probably never be a day when i stop.

it has been a good, hard, tiring week and i love being here...appreciate your prayers as we walk in this desert with our friends to freedom.

beautiful as my blog

yes, i am now be heralded to be as beautiful as my blog. i am think i am happy about this...see the comments on the previous blog entry.

anyway, i just had a beautiful time with two of the ladies who work at our sari bari partnering unit. it is amazing how when they come out their context, that the simplest thing will open them up to sharing their stories. and i am always floored by the stories they tell...they are such sad, sad stories..stories of being sold or almost sold for about 250.00 dollars, of being married at the age of 12 to an old man who very tall and of hiding under the bed because she did not know what was going on and she was afraid. all this over tea and fried eggplant. they said they will come back to our home...it was fun to host them because they always host us...probably 20 cups of tea to our one cup today.

we have been talking about how to make the women more central in our community...i mean in a sense they the focus of what we do, but we want to see them be a more casual part of everything we do and hope for them to drop in, be friends, have community with them. this is my hearts prayer.

Momata's Birthday Party

last week

The last week has been full of good things. On monday the 22nd we had a big meeting at Sari Bari for all the new ladies who will start work on the first on february. it was beautiful watch them trail in...some greeting us like old friends, some unsure. but we they sat down together oh what a beautiful image it was...9 women seated in a circle on the verge of something new. you could see the anxious hope in their faces. i was the one who got to share the vision... the hope we have for their freedom and the belief that we have they can do it...they can reach out with their own hands and take back what has been taken from them. They can learn to read and write, they can know God's love, they can have healing in the mind and their bodies, they can try something new and do well at it. I told them it was would not be easy but that we would help them. i felt something the God's pleasure sitting before those women...something of what it must be like for God to sit on the throne and welcome someone new into the kingdom. i just saw beauty and light and hope...the pain they have suffered, the hard rough they walked did not show on their faces for those few moments...only HOPE. i feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be apart of this freedom road, this exodus with these women.

after last monday everything else was bonus....beth is here so we did a little shopping for her room on tuesday and wednesday i spent time at sari bari finishing up 2006 financials--yes that was really fun! and we had staff prayer and devotion that morning and that is always good. it was hard week for staff as we tighten up a bit and make sure everything is ready for the new trainees...there are so many hard cultural differences in work ethic...i am want to empower and had off responsiblity but culturally the one seen as in charge gets asked about the tiniest things and no one wants to make decisions for themselves....i am seeing this as struggle but one that is more my issue...i just need to remember to be teacher and walk with them on their exodus of a different kind...the poor are disempowered no matter where they come from and sari bari will not only empower women to freedom from the sex trade but other bengali's to help them walk that road by handling the details with confidence.

okay so then on friday, on my goodness, i went to a picnic with my long time friend maya with her work. she is apart of the housecleaning department of a bank here. so it turns out that we went to someone's ones house---and it ended up being really ackward for me....maya ended be responsible to do all the cooking, so the whole point of it which was to spend time with her was lost a little, i had three guys from the bank hitting on me--one was young, one my age, and yes one my dad's age--nice to know i have appeal all on these levels but frustrating to have to deal with inapproriate advances on a picninc i was told would be all women. the best part---the part that has to be blogged is that at one point everyone sat around and SANG...yes they sang...they played game boys against girls where you sang part of a song and then someone had to start signing a new song based on the first letter of the last word...they did this for an hour and a half. i wish i had video...before the girls where all very traditional and the boys where all like sharuk khan dancing while they sang.

i did take the local train home by myself and them walked to my house from howrah which was really cool...it was relatively empty and peaceful (relative being that you are never alone in kolkata). i love walking along the river by our house...so much life and craziness goes on there.

so i guess that is all for now... more one this week as it happens....

sharing a meal

i just got back from having lunch with some of the ladies in songacchi who work in sari bari. it was an amazing meal...each one of the ladies contributed something different. one pudding, one rice, dahl and chicken and one fish. i brought thumbs up (soda that tastes like coke with cough syrup). and the thumbs up was shared around with everyone who lives on the roof about 15 people--a 2 liter bottle. i am always awed by the hospitality and poor's ability to share with one another. they put my attempts to shame really. they have little and they give everything. it was good just to sit and talk and be friends...hear their worries and their hopes for the week...their excitement about the picnic on tuesday with our SB partner. it was good to share their life and let them be my teachers in everything from bengali to how to make a little go a long way.

barefoot bowling in k-town

of all the things you can do in kolkata...bowling just might be the weirdest. today we went bowling with almost all the foreigners we know and we had fun for a couple of bucks. however, we did end bowling barefoot because the shoes were either too gross or too small. it was strange to bowl barefoot...i do not think they would let you bowl barefoot in the states...it would be like an OSHA issue or something.

this week has been good...normal and busy and happy. we are making a promo video for sari Bari which is cool. i just finished doing the voice over with john..we hung thick quilts over the window to block the noise from the street. i am really surprised how that worked...should keep em there all the time. i am sure i would sleep better. that's pretty tough work...voice overs...you have to sound normal and excited and like you are not reading from a script. i hope it turned out okay.

i got CSI for Christmas and sadly it seem disk 3 is not going to work for me and there is absolutely nothing i can do about it cuz i live in india.

so here are some amazing thoughts from this week...you can get ants off your sweet biscuit simply by blowing them off, big sari blankets might be more cool that small ones, the george's (we have one form the the UK and one who is Dutch) make me smile because they are so unique and yet so the same, freedom is going to happen for rekha AND HER HUSBAND at freeset and freedom is going to happen for at least 7 more ladies at sari bari, my bengali can and will get better and when i fast i feel like i can't pray but when the fast is over i miss the closeness i feel to the jesus.

beautiful words

We dare to dance justice
in the face of oppression, reverence in the face
of exploitation,
beauty in the face of brokenness,
tenderness in the face
of violence.
And in the face of doubt
and death,
we dance our belief
in the living God.

Music i am loving right now...

and the winners are

1. Jason Morant
2. Anthony Skinner
3. Leeland
4. Patty Griffin (old school)
5. Matt Redman's new one
6. Corrine Bailey Rae
7. Ray LaMontange
8. Amy Cole

open your itunes and add these now!!

getting my own life

I struggle here in calcutta with many things...and one of them I think is how to live independantly of my community...that might sound bad but read on for a better explanation. everything is so intertwined that it makes it hard to get out and hard to stay in on many different levels. many of you are my friends and so might know something that my mom pointed out to me when i was home, which is that i can be a little relationally intense. meaning i love being with people but more than that knowing them fully and initimately, in a real way and this can be scary for some people i guess. the other side of this is that i generally do not feel safe unless there is vulnerability, truth telling and forgiveness...all of which lead to intimacy and or "real" friendship. i also love being known fully...i think that was what the prayer time omaha was all about for me...it was God letting me know that he fully knows me and he is cool with it!! but i also long to be fully known by others...there are people who really know me like Kim H and these are the people i long for in deserts like this...

so my struggle of the week and maybe the struggle of my life is being played out right now as i try to learn how to be present but not pushy. how to vulnerable without expecting it in return...how to give space and how at the same to make sure i am taken care of...my relational resources are limited here. we are kind of in a closed context where friends tend to be shared and sometimes sharing is hard.

so my unofficial goal for the next week is to get my own life...meaning i want to start taking better care of myself and not allow the stupid little things people do bother me--in other words not take responsiblity to fix others problems. so i am go out finally to get my easel and start painting and i am going to ask for what i need when i need it and keep my own counsel in the presense of the master otherwise.

i guess i might sound angry or hurt...i am hurt but that is just part of life right? not angry anymore just want to be happy to me in my own space, loved for who i am, and a good lover of people no matter where they are in life.

so i am thankful for my time in the gach today and the ways that God is teaching me to be silent with him. i am thankful for a little bit of creative energy--i made 4 bags this week out of sari blankets--they are wicked cool!! I thankful that i come from good people and for most of my life i have had a treasure trove of friends and i am thankful for this time in the desert so that i can worship god in desert or the promised land with equal excitement. thankful for my sari bari friends and all the cool people i know from the UK!!!

here's hoping for a another good weekend....

the lonliness birds

sometimes i feel like whenever there is something really good there always follows something bad. i did have a good day but i am weary in doing it...doesn't the bible say something like you should not grow weary of doing good...i am not weary of doing it just from it, if that makes sense.

and it seems that today after my sweet weekend that the lonliness birds are chasing me and my weariness makes so that i am not sure i want to run the other way. it is lonely to lead, to be in the crowd stared at but not recongnized, present and moving forward but dragging the weight of a thousand worlds on your shoulders. i think i am in BFF withdrawl...missing the julie's, the daphne's and the mom...or something! who knows!! definitely need to abandon this line of thinking and stop being responsible for things that are not mine!

here's hoping to waking up tomorrow , a new day, with a fresh perspective!! Cheers!!

A great weekend

wow...what a great weekend i just had....sari bari is now open monday through friday and having 2 days off in a row is making all the difference. i slept in on saturday a bit and then we went to the gach to see if our friend rehka wanted to go to freeset...she was not there though we had an appointment...definitely pray for her...she is so close yet so far from freedom. And then we went shopping for a desk and some shelves for sari bari...it was amazing...I everything i wanted and needed on the first trip and all within a couple of hours. this never happens.

i am really excited about the desk...means i can actually do lessons plans somewhere other than the floor for sari bari training.

then we went back to rekha's but we still could not convince her...there are so many excuses. but we ended up with our sari bari friends in songacchi sitting on their roof in the sun and the breeze talking, drinking tea and being...it was soooo relaxing. it may sound like these thing were work but it really was restful...even the shopping part.

then we went to freeset and i helped them move some rooms around including about 8 industrial sewing machines...i am wicked sore today--two days later!! i did not even do the really heavy lifting i was one of two people one end of the sewing machine!! hung out a bit with annie and the kids and then came home for an evening of CSI (thanks to justin and laurel).

sunday was amazing. went to church which was good...discussed reconciliation...there are just so many contexts where that applies and can be applied to life. we then went to kfc picked up some chicken and had a great day at the bontanical gardens lazing in the sun.

then we all went out for a beer and just talked. it was like a real weekend. i even broke from usual routine of being the first one to go home and went out with charlotte and julian to the movies and then coffee.

thankful a great weekend and i am looking forward to a great week!!

The staff

Me and Shopna at the SB Christmas Party

Kolkata's first sunset of 2007

New Years Party

I'm here again

I am back in k-town and so happy to be here. my time at home was amazing and restful and really full. full of so many good things. i feel like i am returning to kolkata full to the top and maybe even a little overflowing. thanks to all of you who made my time at home so special.

i thankful for color and the smells of life. i am thankful for noise (this might wear off in a day or two), i am thankful i get to see the sari bari ladies in a bit, i am thankful for the good life i get to live in this crazy amazing place.

The Family on Christmas Day

yes we are tired

Pretty sis with pretty neice

t

weird dreams

i have had very weird but similar dreams the last several nights. in every dream i step on what should be solid ground and i end up sinking to my waist or chest in mud. and once I stepped right through a natural bridge of some kind and almost fell all the way through but someone familiar was there to help me once i screamed for a awhile. they did not know i needed help at first and seemed to think i was over reacting. it is weird...not sure what i means...i always seem pull myself out of the mud but i end up feeling embarrassed and foolish...

must be having pre return to calcutta anxiety....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

Merry Christmas to all...

so today is the eve of Christmas...the day of anticipation before the Big day. the day when we await presents, family and hopefully the begining of hope for the world. church was really good and what it was really about was the fact that we all need to be transformed and we can celebrate christmas as the begining of transformation...when light enters a dark room the darkness is dispelled at least in some measure. darkness can not exist fully where there is light. we are all messy people with many and few messes that we have created through out our lives but we do not have to live with the mess or in dark...thanks to the coming of the light bringer. a light bringer born into a messy manger, under messy circumstances . so we can be comforted that the mess in our lives does not scare jesus...he just wants to transform it for our sake and make it new!!

so merry christmas my friends and may this year of our lives be less messy than the last because of transforming power of jesus in your life.

hoping for the world today in the only hope that makes any sense...the word made flesh as a messy baby, in messy circumstances for the salvation of the messy world.

my new motto

I think maybe i am reverting but a few weeks in the states has me back to feeling like myself...i am happy and funny and even silly. We went to walmart today and found this really cute veggie tales fleece...and i think i am going to adopt the veggie tales motto for the rest of my life...they seem to have it covered in a "everything i need to know i learned in kindergarten" kind of way...

So here it is the things i am going to live by...

Honesty
Helping
Sharing
Kindness
Forgiveness
Silliness

Hopefully my new motto will keep me sane, happy, kind and silly!!

My mom is a super hero

today sitting at my grandmothers talking with my mom...i saw in my mom a super hero. she is all the things of 1 cor 13...she is patient, she is kind, she is not easily provoked...she is love that endures all things. she is a super hero!! she has been taking care of my baba (not her mom but my dads) and it has been cool to see how well she loves my baba with her actions. she can't leap talk buildings in a single bound but she can love and serve people in a way that not many can...she has the power of patience, the power of kindness and the power of serrvanthood...what a mom...she is definitely my HERO!!

Fun Photos from Omaha

americans are tacky too

yep..after a couple of weeks back in the country i know that the holidays bring out the tacky in everyone! there are crazy lights, blow up snow men, santa and his reindeer alongside the baby j and his mom. i always thought maybe india had the market cornered on tacky for their holidays--they too have lots of lights and gaudy decorations, over the top fireworks. i think from now i will just think of puja like christmas except the US is much quiet at least at christmas--in india they bring out their private fireworks arsenals and the baddest most offbeat drumming bands they can find.

i think am comforted by the tacky...maybe it signifies what it means to celebrate in all cultures. the time of celebration is good. but as my sister keeps reminding my 2.5 year old neice, christmas is jesus birthday. and as my neice has reminded my sister that means CAKE and a celebration of the hope of transformation for us all.

parting thought, if you have google mail and my email address can you send me an invitation. i am in spam torment and need to make a change.

New Hair cut and color

Hey here is my new hair cut and color..the color is dark chocolate but there is also some light highlights that you can not see...a little bit of layering and about 3 inches off the bottom. fun to have sorta cool hair at least for the next couple of weeks before i go back to frizzy land!!

Excerpt from my Beggars Society talk last night

As I have begun to live life with the women of sari bari I have become aware of this very human conception that God will always take us straight out of slavery and into the promised land or what we can calcutta call freedom. But it seems more often than not God First takes through a process. A process of exodus and he has it planned from the beginning…

Exodus 7:16

16 Then say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened

he did not say so that they may worship me in the promised land or the land that I am going to them he said the desert.

Why would moses take them to the promised land before first introducing them to the promiser—the desire of the ages. If he first brough them to the promised land they would end up loving the promises more than the promiser. God’s main purpose in delivering israel was so that they could know and love him…bevere

We must recongize that from Adam to now that God has been interested in the transformation of his people. Jesus is not just interested in the destination because the destination in his own mind is secure. He is interested in the process of transformation…that is why after more than 400 years of slavery God does not take his people straight to the promised land he takes them into the desert.

He is not just interested in giving us what we want or what we think we deserve…he wants to be apart of the process that takes us there. So that we can receive freedom as gift instead of a right. A gift that only we can give..so we fall in love with him and not just the things he can and wants to do for us. He is interested in knowing and being known by us.

Exodus requires obedience, struggle and a willingness to be transformed. That is what Sari bari is about…the restoration of women from the sex trade. Sari bari is about transfomation, redemption and exodus.

The road to freedom is never easy. For the women coming out of the trade it means a completely different lifestyle. I means getting up early, making food and making food in india is no short or easy pop it in the microwave task. I means a 40 hour work week, it means structure and accountablity. I mean budgeting and planning ahead. I mean learning something new when all your life you have told that you are nothing, worthless, trash who can not to anything but lay down and take it.

But the flip side to this freedom we have on offer to the women, is a new life, new confidence, restoration of hope, self confidence and diginity. It means the hope of life in Jesus.

THINGS THAT FEED MY SOUL

Friendship feeds my soul. it has been an amazing refreshing week as i have spent time with my omaha family. really my friends here feed my soul. I have shared wonderful meals and real and deep conversations with the gray's, the smith's, the harrells and beautiful daphne. An arty lunch at the jocelyn with kathy--that made me feel known and loved. i had a really good time eating at the leavenworth cafe with brent and then this afternoon checking out the newest coolest mexican food with jara and brent. I had two amazing but too short days in fargo with jared and julie...they blessed me and encouraged me on every level. I love julie landreth so much. I am almost speechless with thankfulness for this week of soul food. the last year in many ways have been like a friendship desert...i have good amazing community in kolkata but there is something really beautiful and amazing about these long term jesus reflecting soul reviving relationships. and the beautiful thing is that i get another week in california with more amazing friends...it will be like dessert for my soul.

feel thankful and blessed! i am speaking at the beggar's society meeting tonight in omaha...should be good...i feel good any way.... you can decide for yourself if it is any good. i think you can download and listen from the website in the next week or so.

sweet note that brought tears to my eyes!!

A year ago I had decided to raise money for an organization like say Samaritans Purse. I was looking through a catalog and saw that you could give money to save a girl's life by giving her money so she didn't have to sell herself.

Awhile after that, my grandma told me about WMF Kolkata and I decided to put the money towards that. Most of the money I used was birthday and Christmas money. My sister and cousin also gave some

- Hannah Scott, 13