Goa 

Goa: beach scenes 

species: "beach urchin" 

Our evening entertainment 

we were able to catch this Hindu wedding on the beach just before boarding our night train back to Kerala - notice the elephant the couple rode in on. 

We were in Goa for the Festival of Holi and everyone gets dressed up.

Even the cows get dressed up! 

People throw colored powder all over each other durring the festival of Holi 

Dinner! 

Greetings from Goa 

Donna's favorite beach boy Vinnie 

While we were staying in Goa last week we spent most days just walking out of our hotel right onto Colva Beach. In Goa you find a Beach Hut and they provide your lounge chairs and umbrella's as well as refreshments. We found the Silver Spoon right outside our door and it was fantastic. The owner Menino is pictured here ( like we promised Menino! lol) Also want to say hello to our favorite beach boys Vinnie and Martin who took such great care of us and cooked us wonderful fish everynight on the beach. 

Ajuna Beach in North Goa 

Sunset in Goa  

Hi everyone!
We just returned from a wonderful week in Goa! It was our only week of being totally alone and having a chance to catch up on some much needed rest. To visit Goa alone is really not to fully experience India. Goa is really only known for it’s beaches. If you look on a map you will see that Goa is actually only a very tiny state on the western coast of India. We stayed at Colva Beach which is pretty much right in the middle of the state. We only wished we had spent more time there! Our hotel was very nice, at least by India standards. The beach was relatively quiet as this is the end of their tourist season. We met many tourists generally from Germany and England. We seemed to have been the only Americans! Flights from Europe are fairly reasonable and we found that people travel from there to Goa fairly frequently. If one can afford to fly to Goa, everything else is really cheap. Our hotel room really only ended up being around $40/night!

We started each morning early with a walk along the beach. Then we would have breakfast and head to the beach. We spent every day, all day, under bamboo umbrellas hanging out on lounge chairs and being waited on hand and foot by very friendly staff of a bamboo hut “restaurant” right on the beach in front of our hotel. Goa is known for their wonderful seafood so dined on that most every night. Goa was influenced by the Portuguese so we enjoyed some many different flavors, still quite spicy though! We swam all day in the Arabian Sea ~ unbelievably warm and clear! We arrived early Monday morning and headed straight to the beach. Our first swim in the sea was with dolphin! They were so beautiful arching out of the water! And the sunsets!!! Magnificent! Harold took photos of every single one, each one being more beautiful than the last! Our “restaurant” hut set tables out every evening right at the edge of the sea with candlelight which is where we had our dinners. Very romantic! The week could not have been better! A perfect second honeymoon!

We are now back at the Bishop’s House and cannot believe we head home in just 16 days! The time has really flown by. While our emotions are quite mixed about leaving this place, we do look forward to being back with all of you. It will be a wonderful Easter celebration!

~Donna and Harold

This pic is for my niece Kellie who has been recovering from surgery. I thought a picture of Uncle Harold in a skirt would give her something to laugh about - why not the guys in the villiage seem to be amused. Get well soon Kellie! 

Donna gone native 

Harold lecturing and the Bishop translating 

Mission Workers Conference 

Summer is almost here....this week was exam time... these children live in one of the hostels the Diocese runs for children who are orphaned or have other family problems many come from some remote places in the Diocese. 

Tea Time ( Harold's favorite picture of the week) 

The Bishop and his wife Susan with their new grandson 

Hi everyone Weve ha

Hi everyone!  We’ve had some different weather this week.  It’s rained every day – although only for the afternoons and evenings.  The humidity has also shot up.  Most problematic is how frequently the power goes out in this weather which creates not only a problem in getting on line but leaves us with out a fan.  Today the weather does seem to be breaking in that the humidity is less.  Still it gets quite hot but until this week it was very dry and hot.  It’s not monsoon season until mid June so we are anticipating a return to dry weather soon.

We are now 2/3s completed with our sabbatical and I (Harold) have to admit mixed feelings.  I certainly look forward to returning to everyone back home and to a life I love.  Yet there is an emerging sadness to think of leaving this place which has been very much home for us in so many ways. My new pastor friends here tease me that I am becoming quite Indian. While it’s said with humor it reflects a deeper truth….I have become Indian too!  In fact while I am writing this I am wearing my new native dress (more a dress that you might think!) its called a Dhoti which is a piece of white linen cloth wrapped about the waist.  We have adjusted to the Indian spices as well. I think we have achieved one of our goals for the sabbatical in that we have truly been immersed into this culture.  But most of all we have come to feel like family with the people here.  This is especially true of my relationship with the pastors here.  I really admire them.  Their pay is about 2000rs a month which is just over $40.00.  Their homes are all very humble.  Yet there is a deep joy within them and their families are truly beautiful.  You will see pictures of some lecturing I have been doing for the mission workers as well.  They remind me of our Preaching Elders in many ways.  These men ( they are all men – as with the pastors – although the Bishop has publicly stated that he believes it is appropriate to ordain women as pastors – but there is long way to go culturally before this may happen) ..anyway,  these men are so dedicated to their calling and do know their Bible extremely well.  They have been soaking up my lectures and I find this very rewarding.  There are 50 of these mission workers and they each have a location in which they are working with grass roots communities preaching and leading Bible studies as a means of sharing their faith.  I have told them they are the front line of growth for the diocese – in fact some of them work deep in the forested tribal areas.  We had a great discussion on earth keeping last week – since they are in the right place to help community groups with these issues including sanitation and clean drinking water issues.  I was able to give them a Biblical/theological basis for all of this.  

We head to the state of Goa on Sunday for a week of beach bumming and sight seeing.  Goa was a Portuguese colony so we expect some significant differences from Kerala and North India.
When we get back the last three weeks are filled with two pastor’s conferences I am leading and then a day of lectures by Donna and myself at a pastoral counseling Institute as well as long trips to the Tea Garden areas for documentation of proposed community development projects we are recommending to the Reformed Church in America.

We love you all – thanks for the comments – we’ll be back on after March 19th.
Harold

Our trip to north India. A special thanks to our new friend and guide Leslie Daniel from Chennai who accompanied us along the way - including two and three nights on the train at a time. Hope you like the pictures - leave a comment if you can. HMD

Harold being "charmed" by a couple of cobras! Notice how the one snake is really eyeing him up! 

Dear Friends and Family,

We just returned to the Bishop’s House this morning after a wonderful 10 day trip through north India. There are two words that continually went through our minds the entire time: unbelievable and amazing! The sights, the sounds, the smells are all so intense. We tried to capture all of it on our camera but realized that the only way to truly undertand India is to see it for yourselves.

After traveling for two days on a train we arrived first in Jaipur. Donna began to experience “sensory overload” as you cannot begin to imagine the intensity of all the different sights, sounds and smells surrounding you. First of all, the people. There are so many people in India. It is predicted to be THE most populated country in the world very soon ~ more so than China. The traffic ~ not just the cars, but the scooters, the rickshaws (both motorized and those by bicycle) and all of them tooting their horns and going every which way! The animals ~ EVERYWHERE ~ cows, monkeys, goats, camels, elephants, chickens, dogs, wild boar! Unbelievable! The heat, the dust, the smog, the beggars. The smells are not all bad. There are some amazing spices in India and much cooking is done in the markets which do smell wonderful!

We took our first elephant ride in Jaipur when we visited one of the many palaces. That was quite an experience! After dinner we “crashed” a wedding. Apparently, this is a very acceptable practice and visitors are encouraged and warmly welcomed! We were even invited to sit down and eat with them (we had just been to dinner!). But, we did meet the happy couple and had our photo taken with them! We’ll be in their wedding album! How about that?

We journeyed by train on to Agra where we were able to see the beautiful Taj Mahal. It is by the far the most spectacular sight we have ever seen! We just wanted to stare at it all day! Just magnificent!

On to Delhi (again, a long train ride). New Delhi has much more “order” to it than Jaipur and Agra in that the roads are better for traveling and we did not see as many animals wandering about. New Delhi has a wonderful bazaar for shopping which, of course, we took advantage of. Not so much to make purchases but to see all the different vendors and just experience life in Delhi! The shops were amazing with all the variety, the colors and shop owners eager to bargain with us to make a sale! Our guide had family living in Delhi so Harold was able to attend their church service on Sunday (Donna was feeling a little under the weather that morning). The service was entirely in English and was conducted very similarly to our own worship service. Men and women sat together, and shoes were not removed. They sang some familiar hymns and had a children’s choir. Someone played the guitar. After this church service we arranged to meet with a CSI missionary who works primarily in the slums of South Delhi. We found this to be an entirely different world from New Delhi. Our original plan had been to just simply drive by the slum area to get an idea of what life is like in this area. We were told that it is not a safe place for westerners to visit. However, the missionary decided at the last minute that we would accompany him into the slum area itself to see for ourselves the ministry he is doing there. We took many photos but again, photos cannot even begin to describe what we experienced that day. We left our car and were quickly escorted by our missionary friend down a very narrow alley with many people hovering nearby, garbage everywhere, sewage running down the sides of the walkway, and flies everywhere. We then quickly entered a small room ~ no larger than Kyle’s bedroom ~ where about 40 people were all seated on the dirt floor, all very quiet, awaiting our arrival. This was their church!!! All they seek to do is to worship God and this is where they have been gathering. They have no other place to go! We were invited to sit in the front of this room as they began their worship service. They started with song, and then prayer. Harold was asked to give a short message which was translated by the missionary. As I looked at all of these faces, some old, some young, I spotted a young mother holding a newborn baby. I motioned to her and she brought that baby to me and allowed me to cradle him in my arms. That little baby was so tiny and so thin. I just could not believe that I was actually sitting there in that place with this little baby as I watched these people worshipping the same God we worship. We could only stay a short while ~ not even a half hour as the missionary was worried about our safety. As we were preparing to leave, all of these people wanted to touch us, shake our hands, thank us for coming to them, to remember them. The missionary took us ever so briefly into a home ~ again, no bigger than Kyle’s bedroom, which housed 6 members of a family. No windows. No walls dividing kitchen from bedroom from living area from toilet area. Just one small room. This is where they live. We then hurried back down the alley to our car, and quickly drove off. It was very quiet in that car as we left. I just sobbed as I could not believe what we had just witnessed. These are all human beings, just like you and me, just trying to survive. They have no where else to go. And yet, the smiles on those faces especially the children! I wish I could bring you all here just for a day so you would know exactly what I mean.

We left Delhi that evening and traveled another 2 days to Chennai (formerly Madras). We first noticed a change in the weather ~ much more humid. This was to be just a brief visit as we had wanted to travel along the coast to see some of the tsunami relief camps that have been set up. We stopped and spoke with one woman who shared some of her story. Many of the people who have been relocated to these camps would like to settle there but the government is insisting that they return to their former locations to rebuild (most, if not all, of the homes were destroyed). Many do not want to do that as they are very frightened to live so close to the sea again. It is quite uncertain as to what they will do. We then traveled further south to Vellore so that we could visit the Ida Scudder Medical College and hospital. Many of you are aware that the Scudder family comes from the Reformed Church and it was the RCA which started this hospital. The Scudder family were missionaries and started this hospital back in 1924. We were given a brief tour of the hospital and actually saw some patient rooms as well as the physical and occupational therapy rooms.

After dinner in a lovely outdoor garden setting, we boarded the train once again for another nights travel back to Kottayam to the Bishop’s House. (we now know what a sardine feels like after all the traveling on Indian trains!). We now consider this “home” and it was good to be back among some familiar and friendly faces. We are totally exhausted but also thrilled to have had this opportunity to see so many different places. Every place we visited was so different. And all of it so very different from Kerala.

When we arrived back in Kerala we discovered that the Bishop’s daughter was in labor and had been taken to the hospital! At 4:00 this afternoon (March 1st) she delivered a healthy baby boy! He was around 6 pounds and won’t be named for 3 months. They will give him a nickname for now, but Indian tradition does not name their babies until the time of baptism, usually 3 months after birth. We may even get a chance to visit mom and baby in the hospital. Average length of stay here is about 3 days!

It is hard to believe that we have been in India now for 6 weeks and have just another 5 left. It will go by quickly and realized today that we can now say to our family and friends, “we’ll see you next month!”

Dear Friends and Family,

We just returned to the Bishop’s House this morning after a wonderful 10 day trip through north India. There are two words that continually went through our minds the entire time: unbelievable and amazing! The sights, the sounds, the smells are all so intense. We tried to capture all of it on our camera but realized that the only way to truly undertand India is to see it for yourselves.

After traveling for two days on a train we arrived first in Jaipur. Donna began to experience “sensory overload” as you cannot begin to imagine the intensity of all the different sights, sounds and smells surrounding you. First of all, the people. There are so many people in India. It is predicted to be THE most populated country in the world very soon ~ more so than China. The traffic ~ not just the cars, but the scooters, the rickshaws (both motorized and those by bicycle) and all of them tooting their horns and going every which way! The animals ~ EVERYWHERE ~ cows, monkeys, goats, camels, elephants, chickens, dogs, wild boar! Unbelievable! The heat, the dust, the smog, the beggars. The smells are not all bad. There are some amazing spices in India and much cooking is done in the markets which do smell wonderful!

We took our first elephant ride in Jaipur when we visited one of the many palaces. That was quite an experience! After dinner we “crashed” a wedding. Apparently, this is a very acceptable practice and visitors are encouraged and warmly welcomed! We were even invited to sit down and eat with them (we had just been to dinner!). But, we did meet the happy couple and had our photo taken with them! We’ll be in their wedding album! How about that?

We journeyed by train on to Agra where we were able to see the beautiful Taj Mahal. It is by the far the most spectacular sight we have ever seen! We just wanted to stare at it all day! Just magnificent!

On to Delhi (again, a long train ride). New Delhi has much more “order” to it than Jaipur and Agra in that the roads are better for traveling and we did not see as many animals wandering about. New Delhi has a wonderful bazaar for shopping which, of course, we took advantage of. Not so much to make purchases but to see all the different vendors and just experience life in Delhi! The shops were amazing with all the variety, the colors and shop owners eager to bargain with us to make a sale! Our guide had family living in Delhi so Harold was able to attend their church service on Sunday (Donna was feeling a little under the weather that morning). The service was entirely in English and was conducted very similarly to our own worship service. Men and women sat together, and shoes were not removed. They sang some familiar hymns and had a children’s choir. Someone played the guitar. After this church service we arranged to meet with a CSI missionary who works primarily in the slums of South Delhi. We found this to be an entirely different world from New Delhi. Our original plan had been to just simply drive by the slum area to get an idea of what life is like in this area. We were told that it is not a safe place for westerners to visit. However, the missionary decided at the last minute that we would accompany him into the slum area itself to see for ourselves the ministry he is doing there. We took many photos but again, photos cannot even begin to describe what we experienced that day. We left our car and were quickly escorted by our missionary friend down a very narrow alley with many people hovering nearby, garbage everywhere, sewage running down the sides of the walkway, and flies everywhere. We then quickly entered a small room ~ no larger than Kyle’s bedroom ~ where about 40 people were all seated on the dirt floor, all very quiet, awaiting our arrival. This was their church!!! All they seek to do is to worship God and this is where they have been gathering. They have no other place to go! We were invited to sit in the front of this room as they began their worship service. They started with song, and then prayer. Harold was asked to give a short message which was translated by the missionary. As I looked at all of these faces, some old, some young, I spotted a young mother holding a newborn baby. I motioned to her and she brought that baby to me and allowed me to cradle him in my arms. That little baby was so tiny and so thin. I just could not believe that I was actually sitting there in that place with this little baby as I watched these people worshipping the same God we worship. We could only stay a short while ~ not even a half hour as the missionary was worried about our safety. As we were preparing to leave, all of these people wanted to touch us, shake our hands, thank us for coming to them, to remember them. The missionary took us ever so briefly into a home ~ again, no bigger than Kyle’s bedroom, which housed 6 members of a family. No windows. No walls dividing kitchen from bedroom from living area from toilet area. Just one small room. This is where they live. We then hurried back down the alley to our car, and quickly drove off. It was very quiet in that car as we left. I just sobbed as I could not believe what we had just witnessed. These are all human beings, just like you and me, just trying to survive. They have no where else to go. And yet, the smiles on those faces especially the children! I wish I could bring you all here just for a day so you would know exactly what I mean.

We left Delhi that evening and traveled another 2 days to Chennai (formerly Madras). We first noticed a change in the weather ~ much more humid. This was to be just a brief visit as we had wanted to travel along the coast to see some of the tsunami relief camps that have been set up. We stopped and spoke with one woman who shared some of her story. Many of the people who have been relocated to these camps would like to settle there but the government is insisting that they return to their former locations to rebuild (most, if not all, of the homes were destroyed). Many do not want to do that as they are very frightened to live so close to the sea again. It is quite uncertain as to what they will do. We then traveled further south to Vellore so that we could visit the Ida Scudder Medical College and hospital. Many of you are aware that the Scudder family comes from the Reformed Church and it was the RCA which started this hospital. The Scudder family were missionaries and started this hospital back in 1924. We were given a brief tour of the hospital and actually saw some patient rooms as well as the physical and occupational therapy rooms.

After dinner in a lovely outdoor garden setting, we boarded the train once again for another nights travel back to Kottayam to the Bishop’s House. (we now know what a sardine feels like after all the traveling on Indian trains!). We now consider this “home” and it was good to be back among some familiar and friendly faces. We are totally exhausted but also thrilled to have had this opportunity to see so many different places. Every place we visited was so different. And all of it so very different from Kerala.

When we arrived back in Kerala we discovered that the Bishop’s daughter was in labor and had been taken to the hospital! At 4:00 this afternoon (March 1st) she delivered a healthy baby boy! He was around 6 pounds and won’t be named for 3 months. They will give him a nickname for now, but Indian tradition does not name their babies until the time of baptism, usually 3 months after birth. We may even get a chance to visit mom and baby in the hospital. Average length of stay here is about 3 days!

It is hard to believe that we have been in India now for 6 weeks and have just another 5 left. It will go by quickly and realized today that we can now say to our family and friends, “we’ll see you next month!”

entering one of the slums..Harold's favorite picture of the week 

the worship gathering in Delhi