Welcome to Ashish and Megan

Ashish  and  Megan  arrived  on Feb 24th

Their train  was  late but  they  got  here safely

Family  and  friends  want  to  see

their  photos so  I  am 

sharing  them  for  everyone

 Finally  I 've  been  able  to  download  pictures  from  our   4  cameras ( 3  belonging  to  our   guests  and  one  of  mine and  my  cell  phone  too). I  am  sharing   a  few  of those.

 Ash  and  Megan  in  their  air conditioned  coach  on the  way  from  Assam  to  Allahabad.

A  train  view  of  the  Indian  countryside

While waiting on an Indian Railway station

The  train  bearing  our  guests was late

and while  I  waited for  it  to  arrive

I  took  some  photos '

 An  air conditioned  coach.

 This    is  a non  ordinary non-AC  coach.  The  ticket  for  this  ordinary  class  is  very  cheap. But  it  can  be  very  crowded  and uncomfortable  in there.

 Father  and  son   standing  at the  door.Their  train  was  moving  on.

 A  food kiosk where  you  can buy, tea,  coffee,  snacks  and  packaged   meals. Usually  people  carry  their  own  food  on trains but  on  long  journeys its  convinient  to  buy  packed  meals and fresh  fruit being  sold   on the   railway  platforms.

 The  ralway  platforms  have  book  shops where  you  can buy newspapers,  magazines  all  kinds  of  books in Hindi  and  English  or  your  state   language.

 Parcels  waiting  to  be  loaded  on the  train.

 This   is  the  inside  of  a  ordinary second  class  coach. Its   a  rough  way  to  travel, but  its  cheap  too.

 In my  student  and younger  days I  used  to  travel  by  second  cless,  but  don 't have  the  stamina  or  grit  to  do  that   any  more. I  prefer  air condition travel  now.
Indian  Railways is  the world 's longest  and  the  most  largest   and  complicated  train  systems. Many  books  have   been  written  about  it. People  come  to  Indian  as  train tourists. Its  a good way  to travel and  you  can  see  a  lot of  India  from  the  train. There  are  some luxury  tourist  trains  too where  you  are  treated  like  a  Maharajah.
I  love  the little  toy  trains which   take  you  into  the  mountains.

 Mailbags

 A   luggage  porter

 This  little  fellow  is   also  helping.

 Members  of  a  village   community  encamped  on  the  platform, waiting   for their  train.

 The platforms  are  connected  to  each other  through a  footbridge, usually  in   a  junction,  there there  are  many  platforms  and  a  lot  of  rail  traffic.

 A lone  engine on  the move

 Several  transport  or  goods  trains  passed  by.

 This  one   is  carrying  coal  and  minerals  from   the   mines.
And  finally  this  is  the  train which brought  Ash  and  Megan  to  us.

All is Well

Dear  friends, God  is   so  good  to  us.My  nephew  Ash  (short  for  Ashish) and  friend  Megan  arrived   safely on  the  afternoon  of  Feb 24th.  Their    train was   2  and  1/2  hours  late and   I   received  then  at  the  train  station.While  I  was  waiting  I  took  some   photos  which  I   will  post  later  on.

Ash brought   us  lots   of  gifts ,  it   was   like  Christmas. The   best  thing  is  a  commode  raiser for  Mama.  Specialized  health care  equipment  is  not   easily  available   in  India  as  it   is   in  Canada.

Yesterday  Sonia arrived   with  her  son Abner -  and   so  we  are   having   a  mini  family  carnival. In  the  evening  we  went  to  a  very  posh   shopping   mall so  close  to my  house,  but  for   the  very  first  time.  I  never  thought   of  entering  it  before.  Megan  and  Ash  were  so   happy,  they  said  it  is  like  a mall  in  Canada. I  took   photos  with my  cell  phone.

Then  Ash ordered   lots  of   pizzas  from Dominoes. We  ate  so  much and   have  tons of  left overs  to  finish. Oh  we  are  just  enjoying   ourselves.

Megan  loves  Allahabad  and   our   food.  She  likes   our  cooking. And  praise  God  she  has  not  had  any   health or tummy  problems, I  was  worried  about  that. She  is  drinking  our  filtered  and  boiled  water  too.  She  loves  my  dal (lentil soup). This  morning  we  bought   a  Muslim style  curry  for  breakfast  with  nan,  , it   was  spicy but  Megan ate  it  and   enjoyed  it.

Ash  and  Megan  have  gone  to  take  a  tour  of  the  All Saints  Cathedral -a heritage  tourist  site  of   our  city. We  are  having  our  baths and  getting  ready . Later  on  we  will go  shopping in   the old  part   of  town.

In  the  evening  I want  us  to  go  to  the  Horticulture  and Flower  Show.  I  have  so  much  so  share.

Sonia 's  cough  is   better, but   she  looks  quite  weak. She  needs  a lot  of   rest which   is  impossible   for  her.

With  all the  activity  and   walking  my knees were  very strained  and  I  was  in  a  lot   of  pain. I  took  Ash 's  Tylenol capsules  but   they  did  not  work, this  morning  I  got  my  paracetemnol and  I  am some  better.Ha-ha!.

The  weather is  perfect,  we 've  had  some   rain  too.

Thank  you  for your  prayers.  Namrita  is  better  and  misses   us   all.  Ash  and  Megan  had   a  lovely  time  with  her family   for  6  days. They  are   taking a  lot  of  photos.

Wish  we were  all  together.

Sunday Blessings - Revival Time

From  Thursday  to Sunday I  attended   evening  revival   meetings at  the  Seminary. Bro Ashok  Vedanayagam (left)  was  the   speaker. He  brought  us   the  Word  of  God  in  a   fresh  and  powerful way. He  kept  his  audience  captivated  by  his  practical  insights,  personal  anecdotes   and  teaching   about  family  life.

The  children  were  having  their  own meetings in  the  High  School  building  near  the  church. On the  last  day they  presented  a  song.

Worship  team

Many  people  walked   forward for  prayer  and dedication. There  was much  rejoicing  in heaven.

The  young  and the  old  publicly  confessed  their  faith.

Below   are  photos  of  the  OM  book table.

And  the  English  choir..

Enjoy  the  2  short  videos  I  have  posted.

The   students  had  a  missions  stall  where

they  were  selling   various  food  item  and  snacks   with   tea

to  raise  money to  support   evangelists.

I bought  momos,  vadas, Korean pancakes

and  poori kebabs help  with

the  fund raising.

They  all we  delicious.

My nephew  and  friend  Megan are  having  a  good  time

with my  sister  Namrita  and  family

in  the North East.

They  will  be  arriving  in Alld.

on  Thurs (24th )  morning.

We  are  so  excited  and 

I  am  busy  preparing to welcome  them.

Please  pray  for  my  sister  Sonia

She  has  bronchitis with  a  painful ear

and  maybe  the  onset  of  diabeties.

She  wants  to  see nephew  Ash,  but

she  has  to  be  fit  to  travel.

Prayers for  her healing  are   needed.

Namrita  also  needs  prayers, she  has

bronchitis   too

Your egg might pop a surprise on you (pun intended)

I  don 't  watch the   Grammy  Awards  but  the   eggcellent

entry of  Lady Gaga made  me  laugh.

   I am  going   to   count  my  pop  stars  before  they  are  hatched.

You never  know  who  might 

land  up into  your  frying  pan.

And  taking  cue  from  the  Lady

a  saucy  celebrity or two  might  squeeze  out 

of   my sauce  bottle!!!

Oblivious   to  all

the  gaga

Sheeba  is  enjoying   the  sunshine.

Its  been rather  warm   the past  few  days.

But  we 've  had  rain  in  our  state

which  has  brought   down the  temp.

Today  is  cloudy  and  cool.

Ash  and  Megan  are  crossing  the  Atlantic -

Kolkata  in  a  few  hours!

Roses are for Valentines

To  tell  you  the  truth  I  am  not  a  great fan  of  Valentine' s  Day.
Love  means  never  having  to  say  'HappyValentine 's Day ' So  says  Seema  Goswami and  I  somewhat  agree  with  her. 
Well  first  of  all there is  the  sheer  pressure  of  it. All  the  entire  world seems  to  become  a  part  of  a  giant  global conspiracy to  turn  14th  Feb. into  a  day  for  celebrating  romantic  love ,  sh e says.Read  the  rest  of  her  article entitled BIN THE  RED  ROSES.
http://seemagoswami.blogspot.com/2011/02/bin-red-roses-love-means-never-having.html
In  case  you  think  I  am  the  Grinch  who  stole  Valentine 's Day  I  am  sharing  my  lovely  V roses  from  my  garden.

Had  a  very   peaceful  and  happy  day  today. Applied  henna  to  my  hair and  paid  some  bills. Now  I  am  going  to  make  minestrone  soup  for  supper.

Tomorrow  my nephew  Ashish (Ash  for short)  and  his  friend  Megan are  going  to  begin  the  first  leg  of  their  journey  to  India  from Canada. They  will  arrive  in  Kolkata  Wed 16th midnight.  From  their  they  will fly  to the  NE  to  visit  my sister  Namrita  and  then   come  to  Alld. on Feb  24th. We  all  are  so  excited.  And  I  am  busy  preparing.

Megan  is  a  Navigator' s  missionary  in  Ottawa. This  is  her  first  trip  to  India. I  am  really  interested  to  know  how  she  will  react and  what  her  observations  and experiences   will be   on  the  short  trip. I  am  making  so  many  plans to  give  Ash  &  Megan  a  good  time and  also  ensure  their  comfort  and  safety in  an environment  which  is  so  different  from  theirs.

I 've  had  many   foreigners -missionary  friends  come  and  stay with us.but  they  were well  settled  in India  and  knew how  to  take  care  of  themselves  etc.  Megan  is   brand  new - , hope  she   will  have  a  positive  experience.

Please  pray for  Ash  and  Megan  as  they  begin  their  journey tomorrow.

Sunday Blessings -Songs Of Redemption

Yesterday I attended a Christian Rock Music concert called Redemption II. It was organized by a group of University students who call themselves Youth Arise.

The first artist was Benny Prasad from Bangalore.  (Check  his linked  website) He has a world record for visiting 245 countries in a very short time. You can read his powerful testimony on his website.

This 35 year old man suffers from a rare disease. 60 % of his lungs were damaged and he has arthritis - he said his fingers were broken. Doctors told him he would die at the age of 16. Discouraged and disheartened with life he was contemplating suicide when he met God and he was healed and blessed with the gift of music.

His scientist father hated and abused Benny because he was not doing well in his studies and was a failure in life. He could not accept his weak son.

At this point of his testimony Benny said something which touched my heart. He said his father was good in his own way (because all parents want their children to do well in life) but he was not right because he rejected his useless sick son. That struck a chord in my heart.

Parents can be good but not right. Indian parents specially should pay heed to this. Children are put under undue academic and other pressure to succeed in life and fulfil their dreams and ambitions.

Now Benny is the pride of not only his family but also India as he travels all over the world sharing his testimony and playing his custom made guitar for the glory of God. He has performed with the top musicians of the world.

He has played at the Viking Festival in Norway. The FIFA World Cup and the Greece Olympics. What a life! I relate with Benny specially because of his physical challenges.

Another group called Adonai led us in worship both in English and Hindi.

There were close to a thousand people in the audience. Mostly college students.

Everybody was enjoying the soul stirring music.

Above is Manjit Joseph the last performer. Hi s version of Petra 's Our God is an Awesome God really brought us close to heaven and I felt like a 16 year old in the middle of the college crowd. LOL.

Its amazing to how how these talented musicians have dedicated their music for the glory of God.

.

ADONAI

Manjit Joseph