leh update

a village woman in the mountains outside of Leh taking a break from farming

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Leh town from the old palace fort

a funeral

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a nearby village

spices along main street

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a buddhist parade down main street

stupas and pr-yer flags with the mountains beyond

leh town from the plane

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the view from 16,000 ft

an old fortress in ruins with the indus valley in the background

Himalayan trek

a friend from the trails it was all she could do to keep from smiling when gretchen took her photo

an unexpected view from an unexpected village at the end of a (very long, very steep) unexpected trail (eric's photo)

a man from one of the villages we trekked through (jill's photo)

some donkey (our frequent trail companions) grazing (jill's photo)

a very serious slate roof

this is a view of a village called Gangor from our path on the other side of the Tones River - i think it's worth it to click on this one to see the village a little bit better...

[ryan (staff architect) keeping several thousand gallons of water from pouring out of the wall with his finger, me (intern arch) playing "shuffle dice", a game we invented during chai time on the roof, matt p. (staff arch) claiming some rocks on the site, billy (volunteer eng) at our closing meeting in delhi, michelle (intern eng) after a long day of surveying, stuart (volunteer arch) percolating ideas on the first day, and at the bottom, us walking over the site on the first day]
[a local woman going to the well, s-minary students diging posts for the boundary fence, a lemon vendor in the bazaar, students outside a mosque classroom, a village child at the well, a young man washing in the mosque courtyard, and the squatters settlement out in front of the existing s-minary]
[the mosque mineret, lodi gardens in delhi, the national mall and an auto-rickshaw in delhi, a temple in bhopal, a roadside shrine near our side, the squatters settlement from the s-minary rooftop, and some housing near the site]
[this was part of our final presentation for the m-nistry; a few views of the campus master plan fly-through...we chose to do a fly-through to help with fund-raising in the future. we're currently finishing up the design drawings and reports so that we can hand off to Dr. M a full set to use for fund raising. FYI-we estimated that phase one of the entire campus will cost around $350,0oo (US)...this is less than many high-end suburban homes in the US.]
[the professors, a student helping with the new fence, assistant dean's children, a few of the women studying at the s-minary, the founder and head of the s-minary, Dr. M, one of the students playing cricket out front, and Matt P explaining some of our drawings and receiving feedback from Dr.M, his wife, and the staff]

in case you all are as forgettful as i am...

"The kingdom of heav-n is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." - Jes-s in Matthew 13

You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
Too wonderful of comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard

Who can grasp your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depth of your love?

You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty enthroned above

And I stand, I stand in awe of you
I stand, I stand in awe of you
H-ly G-d to whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of you.


...and...Romans 9:14-26,33

14What then shall we say? Is G-d unjust? Not at all! 15For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17For the Scr-pture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18Therefore G-d has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
19One of you will say to me: "Then why does G-d still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to G-d? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' " 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

22What if G-d, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," 26and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living G-d.' "

33As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Snow in India = party/mass confusion

Once again, the L-rd has provided a day full of India...

06:05-06:30ish AM - Over the past few weeks, I've gotten used to seeing my breath when I wake up in the morning; being used to something and enjoying it are two different things though, so my day starts out with a test of character.
06:33-07:00 AM – Checking on my laundry (which I washed for a second time the night before - the first time they were blown off the clothes line and into the dirt) as I walk to the kitchen brings the first real choice of the day. Run the dryer for another thirty minutes and perhaps there will be enough power to dry one of the five shirts I was going to wear today, or plug in the water filter so that we can have water to drink for breakfast. My other shirt isn't all that dirty and hasn't begun to smell noticeably yet, so clean water it is. Ryan (a staff architect) and I head out at 7:00 to catch the bus down to Dehra Dun in the plains.
08:05-08:35 AM – A uniformed, school-aged girl with pig tails in the front seat of the bus says, “Uncle, you're five minutes late.” Now this bus (or vomit comet as it's endearingly called here) doesn't really have a schedule, but the driver must have considered getting this girl (who's not actually his niece) to school on time a challenge worth rising to. Half an hour later, Ryan and I can barely walk straight as we exit the bus; the task of finding our footing is made more difficult because bus drivers seem to consider anything under 5mph to be equal to a stop here as far as I've been able to tell.
08:45-09:45 – After a short walk from where we got off the bus, we arrive at the Moravian Institute to meet with the school's director. At the Moravian Institute, boys and girls who are struggling to maintain their academic studies in their last few years of high school and would have dropped out are given the opportunity to learn some valuable skills in a vo-tec type atmosphere. eMi has done several projects with this ministry and the church at which the director is also a pastor, and today I learn that there are still many irons in the fire. Speaking with the pastor is encouraging, and I can see first hand the value of eMi's services in the local ch-rch body. Being able to speak with a brother or sister who is an architect or engineer gives ministry leaders a sounding board and a reassuring (or cautioning as the case may be) voice for the plans that the L-rd has put in their hearts.
09:45-11:00 – We visit the site of the director's church. It's been raining for an hour or so now, and will continue to rain in Dehra Dun for the rest of the day. The church has been under construction for 11 years! Various issues (monetary, neighborhood unrest, and eminent domain land seizures) have strung out the construction for a long time, so everyone involved is quite happy to be so near to completing the job. Ryan and I get to provide some construction administration services for the church and the nearby lodging house and fellowship hall. Matthew (the office director) and two of the other interns (Eric and Michelle) will be going down later to survey the site so that the best location for the access road and water management practices can be determined.
12:00-12:30 – After stopping by the glass contractor's shop to discuss some design issues, we all stop by the hospital to visit one of the ladies working at the Institute and to drop of lunch for the pastor's wife who is staying with her. Just the day before, this sister had a 13lb tumor removed from her stomach, and today, she's in good spirits! Praise the L-rd!
12:45-4:00 – Lunch!...and then more discussion on the plans for the church and Institute properties. This brother has so many things that are going on to expand the ability of these ministries to serve, but monetary support is sparse. From talking with folks on staff with eMi, this situation is typical in India. As a result, most of the projects that we produce are design and presentation drawings that the ministry can present to potential and current supporters. This service is quite important both for the supporters and the ministry as the vision and future plans for the ministries can be outlined and presented in an easily understandable format. When and if the funds that are required are raised, then eMi will work to provide drawings that a contractor can build from.
4:00-5:00 – The pastor provides us with a ride up the mountain...almost all the way up the mountain, that is. During my time down in Dehra Dun, Mussoorie was getting blanketed with snow. Snow! Apparently snow is a HUGE deal in India. Folks were driving up from the plains in droves just to stop their cars on the side of the (narrow) road and take a picture of everyone in their family holding snow. So eventually we could go no further up in the van, so we started walking. I quickly find out that there are no rules as to who you can and cannot throw snow, slush, snowballs, or just really cold water at here in India. Everyone's fair game and it's all a part of the snow party (seriously, almost everyone was going crazy!) fun. For many of the people coming up from the plains that we talked with, this was their first time seeing snow.
By the time Ryan and I make it to the place where we're meeting the rest of the office for a good-bye dinner for one of our departing staff members, my shoes and three layers of socks are completely soaked, but the view out over Dehra Dun during the walk up the rest of the mountain was definitely worth it. Amidst all the craziness someone yelled at us, “Welcome to INDIA!”. Why thank you!

All in all it was a good day.

[unfortunately, my camera was broken about two weeks before the day I described above...however, at least I can say that I broke my camera while riding on a human-powered ferris wheel! it was definately a fun and unique experience to watch these two guys climb around and inside the wheel]

arrival

well...i'm here.

after a week of training in colorado, i was on my way to mussoorie, india. a day of plane rides and another day of train and car rides have brought me here, and the himalayas are amazing! i've spent the last week walking up and down the mountain getting to know the area and some of the local people, and in group discussions and (rather humorous) role playing exercises getting to know the indian and eMi office culture. so far, so good!

i believe we'll start work later next week, which, as much as i've enjoyed training, is something that i must say i'm eager for. i'm also looking forward to finding a local ch-rch and some local min-stries that i can join with during my time here. I was able to attend a small cell group meeting last week and hear the stories of some local friends. What an encouragement!...and what a difficult road they have ahead of them as they try to share the hope, joy, and deliverance they have received with those in the surrounding villages.
Once things get into more of a routine, i'll think i'll have more to share. until then...

tick tock tick tock...

there's now less than one month left before i head to colorado springs for a week of training. i'm having a bit of difficulty wrapping my mind around that, but the days go by nonetheless.

i trust completely in g-d that going to mussoorie is his idea; while, at the same time, i'm somewhat nervous about leaving friends and family for six months. i'm so grateful that so many of you who are reading this felt called to support me both in pr-yer and financially. i cannot possibly begin to explain how overwhelmed and humbled i am by his provision through you all. as of this last friday, through you all g-d has provided nearly all (98%!) of my financial support. as i wait for my visa application to be approved and check things off my pre-departure list, i'm trying to prepare my heart and mind for the coming months. i would appreciate your thoughts and pr-yers during that time.

i know that, in all my many weaknesses and struggles, he will be faithful.