My Birthday Turkey

My birthday is not for a couple of weeks but i celebrated on sunday with a wonderful thanksgiving dinner! beside mexican food thanksgiving and all the trimmings is one of the things i miss most in INDIA. As yes it was yummy and i ate too much!! 

fleshies for living HOPE

 

looking back a little

I have been at an amazing conference for Christians who are working with women who prostitute around the world. And truly, mostly I have found myself encouraged but after 5 days I am really ready not to talk about it anymore...not to live it in for just day. I feel very selfish saying this and it is selfish since the women I love and care about deeply in Kolkata never get a break.

I said in my last blog entry that I had a really good day at the gach on Thursday before I left Calcutta...it was good because it was painful and I was moved in particular for one woman. Her name is rupa and I actually met her years ago when I first lived in Calcutta. She was one of my first friends in sonagacchi. She used to great me with a sweet smile but since my return she has seemed broken and so sad. She is defeated and evasive on many, many days but my hope has been that I have not seen her really harden. I feel a little caught because I know that hard shell is all some of my friends have for protection and I want them to be protected. On that Thursday I asked rupa when she going to leave and let us get her a job. She said she could never leave. I told that I did not believe that….I told that I knew she would leave…I asked her if she had an owner anymore and she said no…this is amazing an answer to prayer really because she has always been under someone. I felt the need to keep encouraging her…I told her I believed in her and I believed in her freedom and that her life was so valuable. She started to cry…as did I…I am holding out HOPE to and for rupa…she needs it and even if she can not hope for herself…I can hope for her. I looking forward to getting back to Kolkata and seeing her again and see her walk out of the gach to the freedom that awaits her.

Kristin after hearing one more thing was wrong!

 

After a day of hard work in our new HOME!

 

Calcutta Cuties

 

The WMF Kolkata Team

 

five year history in tollygunge

It was so sad to say goodbye yesterday to my life in tollygunge. the home of wmf kolkata for the last 5 years. it literally and exactly 5 years ago this april that i looked at the flat in tollygunge and decided that it would be my place and what would become the place of WMF.

We packed the last of our things into a taxi with sadness yesterday. We said goodbye to our neighbors and dear friends. I know that it is not the end of the relationships but they will change. the daily life together will end...tea at maya's on my day off, hugs from raja, and everyone in the neighbor knowing our buisiness...i will really miss being known.

Girish park already seems to be a new world. the poor are on our doorstep...literally they sleep all along the front of our building. the sounds of life enter our windows late into the night..as voices and huge trucks make their way up to our 5th story flat. kristin and i took the trash out this morning and before we even made 5 steps a lady asked me to leave the trash with her so she could look through it. i feel that we will be at a new level of accountability in our simplicity and choices. we can not waste because we know that at our doorstep are those who are hungry.

had a really heartbreaking day at that the gach--beautiful, sad and yes heartbreaking. i will tell you that story later. keep the girls of the gach and sari bari in your prayers. they desperately need them.

we have a HOME!!

Can i just say that finally, after pretty much everything taking a really long time or being really messed up we are finally in posession of our new home just 5 minutes from the gach. it still will require a lot of work but we are super excited to be moved in and we will spend our first night in our new home tomorrow night. just before we leave for the states on thursday. thanks for all your prayers as they were a big part of making this happen for us.

the last 7 months have been so amazing. it is a gift to be here and i already look forward to returning in three weeks after the conference in wisconsin and some time with my family.

i feel like i have a ton to share but have not had any time to process it so maybe on my way home i write up some good blog entries.

love to the people!

Just because it is beautiful and you should see it!

 

Pray for these people...

these are the field forum fleshies from all over the world. it was a beautiful expression of the kingdom to see so many from so many cultures and backrounds coming together. we were challenged and encouraged to be together and super encouraged to led by our friend and director Chris deeper into Jesus heart and deeper into the imagination of his kingdom coming for the poor in the world. 

My hermana ( or so people think)

But i do not mind being compared to such a beautiful amazing woman!! 

Can i tell you how much i love this girl!

Kristin keen is an amazing friend! I love her so much and i know kolkata would not be a good or sustainable place without her. She is an amazing visionary and beautiful woman. Keep her in your prayers. 

St Patricks Day

We had a st. pattys party. Yes these pics are out of order but i am just posting as i see things. I have been gifted with an amazing community and an amazing extended community of friends in kolkata. Good to be green in Kolkata! 

The dissendent daughters

i was super thankful to be with these courageous, strong and beautiful women in Sri Lanka. It is amazing to see how God is using each of us in a unique way for His Glory. 

Beauty on so many levels!

 

trying to look HOT while being sweaty!

I loved my time in sri lanka and it was fun to be out of my regular enviroment and get a little dressed up once in a while. Daphne and i went out to dinner on this night and had a seafood platter that maybe was the best thing i have ever eaten for the best price i have ever eaten anything like that...plus it was the first time i ever had lobster on the shell. 

Fleshie field director Friends from Field Forum in Sri Lanka

 

Pigeon Poo and our new home!!

These are a few of our not so welcome house guests. I think we are actually moving into their territory...they have been inhabiting the the house we almost finally have for the last 10 years...they have never paid rent and are very messy...leaving us hours and hours of work to get the place clean. However, last night kristin and i ate domino's pizza on the veranda of what will be OFFICIALLY OUR NEW HOME on thursday morning at 11am. The landlord finally did what we asked and things are getting cleaned and we are so excited about the potential for Sari Bari and creating a beautiful garden(metaphorically) not only for ourselves but for our friends in the gach. This is a huge answer to prayer! Thanks for praying with us!! If you want you can pray against the pigeons trying to move back in!! 

busy Calcutta

 

New "vintage" Saris for Sari Bari

 

I have not forgotten...

I have just been insanely busy! I have so many pictures and so much to say but no time to sayit. so maybe tomorrow...

that freedom story

Just got this news from Kristin about our friend MITU--really this is a miracle!!

Alrighty folks...have i got a story for you!!!! i think this is the most amazing sofar. please read.Mitutu hadn't been coming to work. for about a week. some people said she wassick, but most didn't know where she was. so today we went looking for her becauseshe didn't come to work again.kiron, beth and i found her working the line. She was sitting on a stool lookingmiserable!! she didn't even smile this time when she saw us. well, we found outthat she hasn't been able to pay rent for about 18 days and owed about 1440ruppess...that is a lot here (abut $30 dollars). so she quit training withouttelling anyone and started to work the line again full time.We gave her some encourgaing words and told her that our problems are her problemsand that freedom is still possible. I don't know if she believed us yet but wecalled freeset and told her that we had found mitu. they told us to bring herthere. so five minutes later we took her back to freeset. kerry, pria and the four of ussat down and told her the solutions....and its amazing. we pay off her rent. shecomes to freeset and actually lives with pria until the room in the DOWNSTAIRS offreeset is done. after a month of living there they will work with her to findhousing........and from this day onward she will leave the trade forever.she agreed. so kiron and beth took the money and went to meet with the landord whowas not happy at all hearing about mitu leaving. It is the bengali new year so forone month they don't get new tenants or let tenant go. She insisted that mitu paidthe rest of the month....but mitu and kiron held strong. even after a lot ofshouting. so we packed up her stuff from her room hired a taxi and dropped her off atfreeset!!! i dont think i realized what had happened until i was sitting and eating dinner andi almost wanted to get up and dance. never, ever again will mitu have to work theline again. never, ever again will she have to lift up her skirt for a $1.00!!! I remember that verse...."God set the lonely into families". i saw it come true today.and on the selfish side. i feel like to today was such a gift to me. i have beenin a funk and Jesus just ripped my face off and reminded me about his character andhe does hear our prayers.keep it real folks. wish i could share every detail but just know that this ishuge!!!!! huge!!!!

still easy

not sure why or how by my travels all the way to sri lanka were easy...i arrived and was the first in line for immigration and within 2 minutes of arriving at the baggage claim we had our bags. SERIOUSLY, THIS NEVER HAPPENS! NEVER EVER!

just feeling super thankful for this and for the next two days of doing nothing on the beach!

traveling the easy way..

i never travel the easy way...if there is something that is gonna go wrong it always seems to happen when i travel in asia...that is why today has been so amazing!

We had to get up at 230am to catch our flight but it was worth the clear and almost beautiful open roads of calcutta. it was worth being first in line at SpiceJet. never ever in my whole time in india have i been first in line for anything! our flight to chennai was amazing and easy and we just walked a little way over to the international terminal--no worries--no trouble. We get bumped to the front of the line in the bag security area and then again to the front of the line for check in on our columbo flight. I am feeling loved today because of these things...it is weird but i kind of feel taken care of... in a way that i really needed to be taken care of after some insanely busy weeks in Kolkata. I am heading to sri lanka for the WMF Field forum which will be amazing. Keep us in your prayers as the international leadership (from usa, peru, bolivia, romania, sierra leone and nepal) of the community comes together. Seems almost prophetic to see the coming together of many tribes and tongues for the growth of the kingdom! keep us in your prayers.

hoping that the rest of my travels are as amazing as they first hours have been...

Last Picture...I Promise

 

Kristin and Beth after enjoy some very good onion pokora

 

Fisherman on the beach

 

more of the pretty ladies

 

Beautiful indian ladies on the beach, Bakkali

 

Glen and Karen on the way to Bakkali

 

Beautiful Beth on the way to Bakkali, West Bengal