Medical Team: A Little Off-guard!

It didn’t take Jim long to finish with little Moses. When he did, Moses’ mother walked over with all smiles and extended a warmth and vibrancy that lit the Indian twilight. Then she asked me if I would take a picture of her and Barb together, and I said “sure”. I pulled out my camera and watched her sidle up to Barb. Thinking that this would be just the standard “we both stand here and smile for the camera” gig, I set up and prepared to click the button. Before I knew what was going on, however, the little lady reached up and grabbed Barb’s head with both hands, pulling it down to her face in the most energetic and grateful smooch I have ever seen! I think it really caught Barb off guard. But it was awesome! When it was Andrea’s turn, she received similar treatment, and it was amazing to see such a massive outpouring of affection.

Medical Team: SuperDoc!

Anyone who knows Jim Blechl knows that he rocks anyway, but today, I gained a whole new appreciation for just how much! We showed up at a family’s home just before twilight, and found this little guy sitting on a cot outside the back door. His name is Moses. Apparently, he had been riding his bike down the street a couple of weeks ago when his bare little foot caught in the spokes, thus ripping a huge chunk of his skin right off and exposing the top of his foot to both infection and a difficult healing process. There was a rudimentary bandage on the wound, which is being treated regularly, but Jim sat down and set to work, carefully engaging the little guy so as to keep him comfortable and yet making sure that everything was analyzed well. But here’s the part that blew my mind. We’re in the middle of a remote Indian village with really, pretty much nothing. The family didn’t even have peroxide, Neosporin, band-aids or any of the things that most of us have just “on hand” in our medicine cabinets at home. The entire environment is far from sterile by ANY means, but Jim was absolutely undaunted, carefully looking through the wound, suggesting remediation and care, and also ensuring long term care as the wound heals. So often, I think that we see doctors in our pristine US offices and hospitals and think that somehow, all that equipment and the latest tech is the “real solution”, but let me tell you, it’s not. It’s the key people like Jim who can take that knowledge anywhere and make it work, improvising even when “the latest scanner or gizmo” is simply unavailable. And even more than that, it’s the fact that when he was done, Jim laid his hand on Moses’ head and prayed for him. Prayed with a passion and humility that was amazing to see in action.

Ziggy Was Right After All…

Maybe I’m the only American who thinks that the perception of most Americans about India is that “gurus” live atop every mountain in the country. You know Ziggy (the big nosed, huge headed, cute little guy who shows up in your newspaper comics)? You know how “the guru” is one of the prominent characters in his little strip? Ziggy is forever encountering this wise man with pithy advice and contemporary wisdom as he journeys to the top of Indian mountains for advice. Well, guess what! Today, while hiking up a little mountain near where the Medical Team is working, Raj told me that there actually IS a guru atop the adjacent mountain. He lives in a little temple at the top, and people DO actually hike up there (it’s about a 5 hour hike) and ask his advice about things. Only downside is that the zoom on my camera wouldn’t allow me to give you a very close picture of… well… anything but the mountain, so that will have to suffice. Just know that atop the third peak from the left, there’s a little guy up there somewhere, and if you have a big nose and oversized head (and 5 hours to spare), you could probably come pretty close to looking like the comic inserted here.

Medical Team: Comfortable…

Okay, so I was wondering how I would find the Medical Team upon arrival. They had, after all, been in the village for a good 12 hours, and I was anxious to make sure that they were doing well. Upon arrival, therefore, I was amazed to find that not only had the team “adapted” to their new environment well, but you’d think that they had grown up there. Check out these pictures! I look up and see one of the little kids from the village just crawling up into Jim’s lap. He didn’t want a thing… just wanted to sit there, and did so for the better part of half an hour. And the little lady here holding Barb’s hand so carefully was their hosts wife. A firecracker of a little lady, she made absolutely certain that the team absolutely lacked for nothing. We learned later that she quite literally just got up every few hours at night to go and check on the team “just to make sure they were okay, didn’t need anything, and were comfortable”. I looked up to see her just holding Barb’s hand like they were long lost sisters, and it amazed me at how quickly that bond had formed. Andrea as well was right at home, and the kids in the village absolutely ADORED her! There was also one particular young pregnant woman (probably about 20 years old) who kept just staying close by, smiling and doing whatever she could to help. I asked at one point who she was, and Anand told us that she is a young mother in the village. “She has never seen a white person before,” he explained, “and now that you are here, she is so happy that you are here to help."

Medical Team: Promotion

Okay, so you’ve got a team of US doctors and nurses on the way, and have also negotiated having 4 Indian physicians to showing up for a one day health camp as well. How do you get the word out? Well, immediately, I start thinking of all the things Kem Meyer would say (and then I look reverently at my W.W.K.D bracelet and chant a little mantra about Google vs. Yahoo), but in the absence of Web strategies, Wired Churches workshops, News Releases and the Blogosphere, not to mention all the other cool things that we at GCC and our Comms Dept do so well, I thought I would show you how we do it here in India.

Step #1: Poster Bills
You get the critical information that you need and have hundreds of 18”x24” “bills” printed at a local printer. Then you soak said bills in a watery glue solution, and go to find every available square footage of surface in the surrounding village. Once you find a highly visible section of facing, you smack the glue-soaked bill onto it. Find another section somewhere else. Repeat. You should watch out for sections of space that say “post no bills”, because if you post there, you can be fined by local police or building owners. The odd thing is that the “post no bills” signs look worse, generally, than the bills themselves, but that’s probably not for me to say. Pictured here is actually a house where one of our little bills was smacked. Close-up also attached.

Step #2: Mobile Megaphone
Hire a local auto-rickshaw and then rig it with a makeshift, battery-powered megaphone system. Add music and a nifty jingle about the benefits of health camps, where the health camp will be, and all other relevant details, and then send the rickshaw throughout the entire area of more than 3,000 people.

Step #3: Await the Masses
Having accomplished the above two steps, people will most assuredly show up. Seriously. We expect to have some 200+ people come to the Health Camp tomorrow. Guess we’ll see.

Medical Team: Initial Notes

Some quick notes before I move on to the actual Medical Team itself. For those who are unfamiliar with the team’s objectives and methods, we will be attempting to do the following things in our time through the ministry of the Medical Team:
a) Train church members and Christians about HIV/AIDS and related issues, as well as other chronic illnesses that are present in the village and surrounding.
b) Visit local families who have HIV or a chronic health issue in order to help them determine the best next course of action medically, keeping in mind the need for adjustment culturally.
c) Conduct a one-day long “Health Camp” for anyone who wishes to attend, and in conjunction with Indian physicians from a nearby hospital as well.
d) Conduct “women’s meetings” whereby Barb Blechl and Andrea Welch attempt to engage women regarding issues that uniquely affect them in regard to HIV and other illnesses.
At the end of our time, our hope is that the people of the village perceive the local church as a place that has an interest in helping them in their day to day lives, and also has the power to resource experts or other critical personnel to make that happen. We also hope that the church begins to be viewed as a sort of “clearing house” for positive connections, great care, a Message of Hope, and the Love of Jesus.

C’mon, What’s the Hold-up? Oh…

Came to a railway crossing and the gates were down. Living in South Bend, naturally, I was neither surprised nor unfamiliar with this concept, but couldn’t remember the last time in South Bend that I was parked at a train crossing behind an ox-cart full of agricultural products and people. Now true… I don’t spend a lot of time in Amish Country either, so that probably still exists not too far from away, but here in India, it’s a really regular occurrence.

I had video footage from Robin William’s portrayal of Adrian Cronaeur in Good Morning, Vietnam running through my head.

“There's a water buffalo jackknifed up there. It's not a very pretty picture. There's horns everywhere. I don't know what to say. Might have to drop some napalm in down there and see if we can't cook 'im down."

“Hay-fro”

Okay, couldn’t resist this one. Driving from Conversational English team to the Medical team, I saw this little guy walking down the road. From a distance, it just looked like a massive pile of hay with two little legs (like a Muppet or maybe “Gossamer” from the Looney Tunes – pic below), and I began immediately calling it a “Hay-fro”. I’m going to try to convince Tim Stevens that he and I need to adopt this for our next hairstyle. It would be a massive shift from bald, and we wouldn’t even have to grow hair to try it!

Indian Paper Plates…

Ever hear the term “sitting Indian style” (i.e. cross-legged on the floor)? Well, here in India, you do that a LOT, particularly for meal-time. After the day with the teachers, we evacuated to where the English Team is staying (a small village about 15 minutes from the school) and sat down to share a meal with the hosts. Now, in India, there are no “paper plates”… at least not the way we have them in the States. Rather, in India, disposable flatware is really just a cleaned off palm leaf. And… since you don’t use silverware (you eat with your hands in Southern India… no silverware), there is no need for plastic utensils either. Honestly, if we had palm trees in South Bend, I’d be sorely tempted not to adopt the same practice as it’s eco-friendly, cheap and effective.

Shown here is a traditional South Indian meal, complete with steamed rice, sambar (a sort of saucy soup that can have a variety of ingredients), a warm rice “chutney” (I didn’t catch the name) and a crispy wafer (also forgot the name…sorry… but think “Munchos” potato chips, and you’ll have a pretty good idea).

As mentioned, you eat with your fingers, and the best method of approach is to sort of scoop all the ingredients to the center of the leaf, and then just dig in. Indians often get a laugh out of watching us try to eat with our fingers, and I’ve seen our friends call the improvised techniques we often employ range from “elephant” to “steam shovel”. All are probably accurate, and you absolutely can’t help but get your fingers absolutely messy in the process. If you want to try and experiment with the consistency, try this. Make 1 quart of Minute Rice. Dump a can of Campbell’s Sirloin Burger soup on top of it. Eat it with your fingers. It’s not as easy as you might think… particularly sitting cross legged on the floor.

Hello!

So I look up for a quick second and see Dan Blacketor shaking hands with this small group of brave little boys who wanted to try their English. Surrounding him like little piranha, they circled and jumped in, extending hands and taking pieces of his, shaking vehemently as they did so and shouting “Hello! Hello! Hello!” all the while. He was holding his own pretty well… until I pulled out a camera to take a quick shot. It was like throwing horse meat into a feeding frenzy, and within seconds, Dan was literally stormed with nearly a hundred little boys and girls (mostly boys) increasing the “Hello!” volume and darting in and out to try to shake his hand before running away giggling. By the time I got close enough to get the first picture, I had to start retreating to take the second in order to be able to fit everyone in.

Conversational English: Incentive

When the teachers began to develop a level of comfort with the basic vocabulary and phrases, Raj stood up and offered a challenge. Having divided the group into four teams, he offered an “incentive” of 100 RS to the group that could do a skit with the most participation from their group with the most usage of English vocabulary and concepts studied in the small groups. After about 10 minutes of prep time, each group yielded the best skit they could, and they ranged from very “serious” skits featuring teachers and students interacting about career choices, to more comical skits where teachers parodied the struggles that they have with their kids in the classrooms and trying to keep them quiet and attentive. In the end, each did such a great job that Raj doped out a 100 RS note to each group, and even another 100 to an “MVP” teacher who was especially creative (and hilarious) in one of the men’s groups. As a general rule, India (particularly South Indian) culture is extremely expressive artistically. It is not uncommon for everyone to play multiple musical instruments, be familiar with literally hundreds of folk and contemporary songs, and adapt quickly and readily to drama or other means of expression. If they think or believe something, it comes out in their arts and expression, and those expressions are vast in number and depth.

Conversational English: Work Groups

After using a computer-based Tamil/English language program for some initial pronunciation and basic skill drills, the team broke into small groups headed by each team member. Each group worked through a set of basic phrases and interaction, and each group of teachers listened carefully to each native speaker as words were clearly spoken. They continued to go back and forth, both among the team members and each other, working diligently on their pronunciation, and also their inflection. It was fun to see their confidence burgeoning right before our eyes!

Conversational English: Team Intro and Initial Matters

Before diving in to the time with the teachers from the school, our team was introduced by the school principal (pictured standing below) and welcomed accordingly. Both Raj and Dan did great jobs explaining why they are there, what they hope to accomplish, and how much the entire process is intended to be collaborative and participatory. The teachers responded warmly, and so Dan and Raj set about jumping in to the first round of training.

Interestingly, the first round of training actually featured a “Learn Tamil” CD software program that I bought a couple of years ago in Chennai on a previous team. Even though the intent of the program is to help English speakers learn Tamil, the program actually works in the opposite direction just as well (Tamil to English), offering pronunciations for all sorts of words, and offering a vocabulary map that increases in difficulty for both languages. Because India has a very “repetition” driven pedagogical system, the teachers quickly complied with requests to listen and repeat words, and were careful to listen closely to the exact pronunciation of Dan and the team.

About half way through the first module, we were joined by Mr. Shivasetham, the regional English coordinator for a variety of private schools in the area. He speaks phenomenal English, and was ecstatic that a team of native speakers was present to share and help. He also had some great ideas for improving things along the way, and it was obvious very quickly that he not only has a passion for language, but a passion for teaching children as well.

Apologies

Hey there. Quick note to all of you who are following just to let you know that I’m having a lot of difficulty with both Internet connection and access to Blogger. In most instances, the connection is slow enough out here that I can’t do much other than slooooooowly load anything (think circa 1992 15k modem and early era AOL), and when I have had a decent connection, Blogger seems to either be down or not wanting to cooperate very well. I have also taken a ton of brief video, and was excited to load for you to see, but even at 100 meg or less, it’s taking too long to load and is timing out the connection, alas. Anyway, please just suffice to say the following:
· I am continuing to work on updating. Have just been foiled regularly. Thanks for your patience.
· The team is doing GREAT! Wish you could be here to see them in action!
· By the way, for those of you concerned that we are proximal to the bomb blasts that have been plaguing some of the cities throughout India, let me assure you that really, the areas where we are operating are pretty remote, and therefore, the risk is considerably if not altogether minimized. If we begin to sense any sort of emerging or pressing danger, we have great ground staff and ready evacuation plans. Appreciate your continued prayer, of course, however, and just know that we are taking no unnecessary risks and are in good hands.

Thanks again for following along. Know that you are loved, and that your friends and loved ones over here are charging the line with a fervor that would make Gen. Patton envious. I’m going to try a couple of more unconventional means to post, so we’ll see if any of them work. In the mean time, thanks again for your patience.

Conversational English: Prep for the Day

After waking up at 6:15, I got re-packed and headed downstairs. A little while later, Raj and I were joined by “The Professor” (Irilingaraj… who is an English Professor at a local college - pictured here) and all piled into a vehicle to head to the Elementary School where the first day of Conversational English Team training would begin. According to plan, the first day would actually seek to train the teachers and help them to be comfortable with some basic conversation skills before seeking to engage the children in similar training tomorrow. At this particular school, there are about 1,000 children (K – 6th Grade), and as soon as we were introduced to the teachers, we immediately fell in love with them. Bright smiles, sharp minds, courageous spirits and dedicated passion for their children simply radiate from each of them, and so as they gathered into the room, Raj and Dan prepared the team for action, checking last minute details on schedule, modules and approach for the day.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles Reloaded...

After skeedattling from Anbuannan’s place, we sprinted back to Chennai to catch our train to Salem. You might have noticed on the news that there have been several bombings in bigger cities over the last couple of days (don’t worry, moms, we’re pretty far from big cities, or the cities where the “action” has been happening), and so I was interested to find that while we entered the train station, security personnel were x-raying all the luggage. I’ve never seen that before, but was glad that things were being taken seriously. Anyway, we loaded our gear onto our train, and then settled in for what was supposed to be a 4 hour ride to Salem. After multiple delays, however, our 8 pm arrival time progressively stretched on… and on…. and on… until our actual arrival time was more like 10:30 pm. Erg!

After we finally arrived in Salem, however, we were greeted by Raj and about 20 others on the platform, all bearing traditional Indian flower laurels as a welcoming gift. From there, we split our luggage up into Medial and Conversational English teams, and then loaded separate buses as each team was heading to different villages to begin their work. In order to be more centrally located, Raj and I will be staying in Salem proper at a hotel (yes, I feel guilty because the teams are all sleeping on the floors in their villages, but no, not too guilty as I’ve slept on plenty of floors in previous trips :- ) and then making ½ day jaunts to each village to check on each team’s status.

Shown here are both team’s buses parked in the train station lot, ready to depart with each team tired, but happily entering the last stage of travel before they can begin the work for which they have so diligently trained.

Lunch with Pastor Anbuannan and Family

After surveying some of the home types for construction, we headed to Pastor Anbuannan’s house for a quick lunch before heading to Chennai to catch our train to Salem. Pastor Anbuannan has a wife and three beautiful children, and we were served rice, broiled fish and beef curry. The really fun thing is that they also served us spoons with our plates (most South Indian cuisine is just eaten with fingers… no silverware), which was funny because I’m so used to eating with my fingers here that I almost didn’t know how to approach it with a spoon. As with all of our Indian brothers and sisters, their hospitality is absolutely legendary, and were treated to the absolute best of the best of everything that they had. From a ministry point of view, Pastor Anbuannan oversees more than 100 churches in the surrounding area, and operates continually for the benefit of literally hundreds and hundreds of believers in Purpose Driven churches throughout his area. This man truly is a “Super Pastor”, and we are grateful to know him!

December Recon: Construction Opportunities

After leaving the bonded labor factory, we moved on to visit a couple of houses that would be typical of those that our December Construction Team will be renovating. In most of these instances, the houses are in desperate need of “permanent” roofs. You see, here’s how a roof works in India. In most instances, the roof is just made of a lattice-work of thatched palm leaves. The life span of such a roof is only about 18 – 24 months before it has to be replaced, or “patched” with whatever else is available (see hodge-podge coverings augmenting the thatch roofs in the pictures here). I made the “mistake” one time of asking why the roofs have to be replaced so often, and an Indian family told me, “well, it’s not just that the thatch gets dry and brittle and lets in the rain (as if that were not enough in and of itself), but rather that the bugs get into the thatch the drier it gets. But the bugs aren’t really the problem either. It’s the rats that go up into the thatch to get the bugs. But the rats aren’t really the problem either. The REAL problem is that the cobras go up into the thatch to get the rats… and sometimes the cobras are too heavy (a 5 foot cobra can weigh 30 lbs or more) for the thatch when it is old and they fall into the house with the family.” Oooooooookay… yup…. Cobras… got it. Now THAT’S a problem. So then, our teams will be going in and seeking to provide more permanent roofs (clay tile, cement board, etc) to homes that are currently having to regularly replace their roofs with thatch. In the end, the team will hopefully also be able to train church members how to replace the roofs on their own.

December Recon: Bonded Labor Issues

After church, we jumped into the bus and drove a few km further into a complicated network of brick kilns and brick factories. There are some 25 – 50 brick kiln operations in this area, each of which is owned by companies or individuals who “employ” large numbers of bonded laborers in their workforces. Let me tell you what that means. That means that if you are poor in India, you can go to one of these brick kiln owners and “sell” yourself and your family into slavery. The owner of the factory “owns” you. You are only allowed to leave to get food, and if you try to escape, they will find you and beat you (if not worse). You sleep at the kiln. You work whenever the owner tells you to work, and you work as long as he tells you to work. Because of cycles of debt with few opportunities to ever “get the upper hand”, many people just stay in slavery (along with their entire families) for their entire lives.

We spoke with one man and asked about his life situation. He told us that his son is very sick. That the hospital bill for his child is about the equivalent of $1,000 USD (an astronomical sum for a poor Indian family – it would be the equivalent of $100,000 USD for us, or maybe even $1 million), and that without any way to secure a loan to pay the bill, he was left with little recourse other than selling his entire family into slavery. You see, the owners aren’t dumb. By loaning the man $1,000, they own him for life. And because he can’t get money any other way, the owners know they will always be able to depend upon a continual stream of desperation to fuel their workforce.

Bonded slavery is illegal in India, of course. There is rigid legislation to prevent it. However, most Indians still don’t know that it’s illegal, and there is a tremendous “gap” between legislation and enforcement at all levels. As a result, our teams will be seeking to provide that education to people like those pictured here (each one a bonded slave laborer in a brick kiln similar to the kind mentioned above), as well as provide training and opportunities to other options so that people don’t have to resort to these extreme means to cultivate necessary funds when they need them.

Church in Vellavedu with “Super Pastor” Anbuannan

We had a great time with one of Anbuannan’s church! Sorry I couldn’t get pictures on this one, but to have done so would have been conspicuous and probably not very appropriate. But there were probably 300+ people in the small building (it was so packed out that there were men and women sitting in chairs outside the building, crowding around it in little groups), and the worship was enthusiastic and fast-paced. Raj introduced us, and we delivered our impromptu rehearsed song. The team did great! Raj had a microphone, and so was able to help “carry” us most of the way, but everyone participated, and the effect was more than satisfactory! Everyone applauded and cheered, and while we were a little uncomfortable, were glad that it delivered well (as well as that it was over). I spoke (with Anan translating) for about 45 minutes on the Kingdom of God, and then, the pastor (Anbuannan’s eldest sister) prayed. After that, everyone dismissed. Honestly, I was shocked. The typical Indian church service goes on for hours. This one was over in about 55 minutes. Sound familiar? Yep… it was like GCC India!

Impromptu Troubadores...

We try to train our teams to be as flexible as possible. We try to tell them that they could literally be asked to do just about anything from speaking in public to tasting goat intestines (which, by the way, are as rubbery and disgusting as you would think… no “tastes like chicken” for those nasty little pieces of gut-hose!). True to form, therefore, the team responded with panache when Raj announced that we would be singing in church. I cocked an eyebrow. “Singing?” As in, we need to speak, but do it to a tune? “Yes, yes, yes,” remitted Raj, “just a good song that you all know and can sing easily together.” We were stumped. Humorously, an unforeseen “drawback” to attending a phenomenal church like GCC is that we don’t exactly regularly sing a repetitive catalogue of “old favorites” or hymns. We vary our worship sets so much (which is a good thing!), that when we were all pegged suddenly with having to come up with an “old favorite”, none of us were sure what to say. “No problem,” Raj said, “I will teach you a song in Tamil.” (Raj shown here doing just that... in the middle of the Indian restaurant where we were having tea). “Oh great,” I thought, “as if singing isn’t difficult enough… now we’re going to try to do it in a completely foreign (not to mention difficult) language with 10 minutes notice!” But sure enough, Raj set out transliterating the lyrics on napkins and giving us a quick walk-through. Within 10 minutes, we could at least say the words. The tune was still a little stilted for us, but we could limp through it. Attached here are napkin copies of the song (transliterated Tamil and also English).

The words are as follows:

Tamil:
Yenna yen anantham, Yenna yen anantham, sollak koodathe.
Yenna yen anantham, Yenna yen anantham, sollak koodathe.
Mannan kiristhu yen pavathai yellam mannithu vitare

English:
What a wonderful joy! What a wonderful joy!
What a wonderful joy! What a wonderful joy!
I can’t explain everything!
Christ the King has forgiven all my sins completely!

Mornin' Ride to Work...

We woke up early Sunday morning, grabbed a quick buffet lunch downstairs at the restaurant (the breakfast was “complimentary”… taking a page from the Hampton, I guess), and then jumped on a small bus with Anand, who was to journey with us to our rendezvous with Raj just outside of the village of Vellavedu (some 35 km outside of Chennai). When we connected with Raj, we knew we would have a quick cup of chai, and then head to a local church pastored by Anbuannan (one of our 7 “Super Pastors”, who administers a network of several churches in the area). After chai and church, we knew we would do some quick exploration for the December teams in both areas where there are high instances of bonded slave labor (the Justice Team will be working with International Justice Mission on these issues) and also basic housing (Construction Team will be working on roofing and basic renovation). After that, we knew we would join Anbuannan for lunch at his home, and then make the trek back to Chennai where we would catch a 4 pm train to Salem. If all goes according to plan (and it almost NEVER does in India), we should be in Salem by about 8 pm on Sunday night.

"Crashin'"

Well, i suppose that it's a good thing that we crashed after we landed rather than before (bah-dum-bum), but suffice to say, at 5:00 pm, while sitting at Sparky's, i started to look around the table and note that we were all beginning to resemble zombies rather than our normal selves.

As a result, we made an expeditious payment of the bill, and then turbo'd it back to the hotel, where, by 5:30 pm, we were all heading to bed. As things aren't expected to really "slow down" any in the next few days, we figured we'd better catch the rest while we can.

St. Thomas: Apostle to India

One of the fun things about coming to Chennai is getting to spend some time with the life of an Apostle of Jesus. Remember "Doubting" Thomas? The same guy who is credited with both "doubting" Jesus' resurrection (i.e. "unless i put my fingers into His hands, and my hand in His side, i will not believe" - John 20:24), and also acknowledging His divinity upong doing so (i.e. "My Lord and my God!" - John 20:28)? Did you know that once dispersed from Jerusalem, he actually made his way all the way to India? He arrived sometime around 50 AD, i think, and immediately began speaking to the people he found there about the Good News of Jesus. Around about 70 AD, he was murdered/martyred for his faith on the top of a hillside by a spear through the back while he knelt in prayer. Later, his bones were taken from the hillside and he was buried near the beach in what is now modern day Chennai. Both the site of his martyrdom and also his burial are now critical Roman Catholic pilgrimage sites, and there are chapels or churches erected over each. In each place, Thomas is lovingly remembered and appreciated for being the "Apostle to India", and the start of the Christian faith in that nation dates all the way back to him.

St. Thomas Mount

The hillside where Thomas was martyred is called St. Thomas Mount. It is near Chennai's international airport, and the roar of landing or launching planes is constant. As you ascend the hillside, reminders that the place is sacred and intended to be a place of prayer, meditation and reflection abound. If you want to take photographs while there, you have to pay an extra (minimal) fee, and you will also need to be prepared to take your shoes off before entering the chapel that now sits over the site where Thomas was killed.

In the chapel, there are four main points of interest. In addition to the small altar and sparse pews with kneeling or praying parishoners (they still hold regular mass in the chapel, by the way, i think), there are 3 reliquaries at the front. The first is a bone fragment of Thomas encased in a vacuum-sealed cross. The second is an ornate stone cross that Thomas himself supposedly carved. And the third is an icon of Mary and Jesus that Luke supposedly painted and gave to Thomas, who brought it with him to India when he arrived. Finally, in the chapel, the martyrdom of each of the 12 Apostles is featured, each in a painting depicting the apostle and also the method of their death.

St. Thomas Basilica

While you would think that they might have buried Thomas closer to where he was killed, his followers decided to put him somewhere else. That spot is now the site of St. Thomas Basilica, and is some 15 km away from the Mount. However, it's an absolutely stunning cathedral, largely made out of white marble, and glistens, as Boromir would say of Gondor in LOTR, "like a spike of burnished silver, glistening in the morning light."

At the site, there is a library, the church itself (where the team here is posing), a museum of relics and other related items (they have a small case with [supposedly] the remaining lance/spear fragments of the spear that pierced Thomas as he knelt praying), and then the tomb of the Apostle himself downstairs.

One interesting legend told about Thomas is called "The Girdle of St. Thomas". According to the story, there was a huge tree that no man could move that had fallen across a road that the Apostle was travelling. When he was told that the obstacle was immovable by the local king, he simply took off the rope around his waist (i.e. "girdle"), told the king about the Power of Christ, tied the rope around one end of the tree, and then hauled it across the road and out of the way of the traffic. The king was so amazed that he instantly granted Thomas permission to preach his Good News to the people of his district.

Below the flooring of the Basilica is the actual tomb itself. The basement walls and floors are covered with white marble, and while you can hear every single solitary sound (no batting or acoustic baffling, and marble reverberates sound something fierce), everyone stays exceptionally silent in the little chamber. There is a plaster replica of Thomas resting peacefully in a Snow White-ian glass case (the actual burial site is located some 10 feet below the case), and there is another reliquery with a hermetically sealed bone fragment to the right of the exhibit.

Roman Catholic pilgrims and tourists from all over come to visit this site, and i tell you, it's something you really should make a point to see if you're ever in Chennai.

Click here to see Wikipedia entry for Thomas the Apostle.

Like a Salvador Dali Painting...

Okay... so get this. The last time i was in India, Raj introduced me to a "Tata Indiacom Wireless Modem". It's about the size of a common "flash drive"/memory stick at home, and plugs right into a USB port, providing the user with an instant, country-wide wireless point of access for the Internet. You can literally be driving down the street, plug in the modem, and then access the Net, your e-mail, or whatever else. We bought one, and i have been using it since we got here. Then i thought, "hey, i'll try to blog while we're travelling around." So... pulled out my laptop, jacked in the little modem, and booted up. Sure enough, up comes the wireless network! Cool! Access to e-mail, net, etc. all there while there are 10 of us packed like Sardines into a vehicle the size of a Ford Explorer.


But then it got REALLY weird. Check this out. Our driver couldn't find St. Thomas Mount (the site where "Doubting Thomas" was martyred in about 70 AD (more on that later), so i went to Google and typed in the site. Sure enough, i found the address, and 25 minutes later, we were there.



But then it got REALLY REALLY weird. After leaving St. Thomas Mount, we wanted to see the Tomb of St. Thomas, located inside the St. Thomas Basilica (it's one of 3 churches supposedly build over the bones of an Apostle of Jesus Christ in the world). It was all the way across town, and again, the driver, being Hindu, didn't really know where it was. No problem. I went back to Google. I quickly located the Basilica, plotted a series of directions from St. Thomas Mount to the Basilica, and began shouting directions from the back seat to Annand, who translated them for me to the driver. 35 minutes later, we were standing at the Basilica.

But then it got REALLY REALLY REALLY weird. After th Basilica, we wanted to go to an American-style restaurant called Sparky's for dinner. The driver had absolutely no idea where it was (or what it was), and so i looked back again to Google for plotting and waypointing. In addition, i loaded up Google Earth, got satellite flyby maps, and was able to show him geographical intel of the college across the street from the restaurant. "Oh yeah... i know that place" he commented, shaking his head as we looked at it's roof and surrounding from an arial view on my laptop. 30 minutes later, we were enjoying nachos at Sparky's.

So, a truck load full of 10 Americans ricocheting off of the streets of an Indian city, using satellite imagery from Google Maps via a wirelessly bound laptop trying to locate 2,000 year old monumnts and an American style restaurant nestled between kiosks and coconut salesmen. Wow! If i had a Dali-style mustache, i'd have it waxed into vertical handlebars.

Want to see the map and rough locations? I saved a Google Map with all points mentioned above. Click here (how cool is that?)!

Machines!

The team is doing great! They're like Terminator Robots. They just keep going. After a quick clean-up period and a bite to eat, we met Anand and piled 10 people (1 driver, Anand and the 8 of us) into something the size of a Ford Explorer and went bouncing around the city of Chennai to see some of the fun sites. I tried to keep a wary eye on everyone to make sure that everyone was doing okay, not turning into zombies, and having fun, and they just never seemed to shut down. Up for anything that was suggested, the team just kept going... and going...and going. Like Energizer Bunnies on steroids.

The video clip below shows Jim Blechl's commentary on how he feels. Keep in mind that Jim has probably only slept 4 - 6 hours in 48 total hours of travel, so when he says he's "doing fine", that's no small feat.

At about 5:30, when the team began to tire, i apologized to Anand that we were crashing on him. Anand, who himself had been up since about 1 am the night before to pick us up at the airport, said, "I am amazed that you have gone as long as you have. You are all so energetic... you're very brisk!" Brisk? Yeah... brisk. I like that! The next time someone asks me how i'm doing, i think i'll say, "I'm brisk! How are you?"


"Very brisk..."

Friends from the Field...

We got to the hotel where we would be staying to recoup for a few hours, and were quickly joined by our friends Immanuel (right) and Daniel (left) from The Bible League India (TBL). TBL has been one of our most critical ministry partners since the inception of our ministry in India, and we continue to have a great relationship with them as we continue to engage the field.

Immanuel is the Finance and Administration Director for all of South East Asia (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc), and keeps the books and administrative systems in play for all of those environments. Daniel works with Immanuel from an IT point of view, and keeps things running smooth with wireless and wired networks in each of the field environments. They also have matching shirts... and when i asked if i could get one, they looked at me, smiled, and said that they thought that they only had Medium sized ones. I laughed and said that it would probably be a little small. Immauel winked and told me i would probably need an "Extra Medium" at least.

Anyway, i went with them quickly to see our other TBL friends, most of whom are doing an Accounting Software package just a few blocks away, and was delighted to see our friends Francis (Director for Northern India), Zephaniah (Director for Central and South India), and many of our office friends (Pandian, Solomon, Yanashaker, Adam, etc.). They even asked me to address the group briefly before leaving, and i gave them greetings from GCC and all of you back home.

"Landin'"

After a 90 minute delay on the tarmac, we finally left London Heathrow for our 10 hour air-trek across North Africa, the Middle East and India to arrive at Chennai Airport. Chennai Airport’s airport code is MAA. If you’re wondering how you get MAA from a place called Chennai, it’s because under British Rule, the city’s name was changed to Madraas… hence, MAA.

We landed just after 3:30 am India time, and rolled groggily off the plane after attempting (in most instances unsuccessfully) to get a little shut-eye.

And this is the famous “India Team Sign”. It’s a GCC India Team tradition to pose in front of this sign shortly before entering Immigration. We’ve done this for years now, and I particularly love the sign because across the banner at the top, a Hindu proverb reads, “Do thy labor diligently, but lay not claim to its fruit.” As followers of Christ, we are working hard to build a foundation for the Kingdom of God. However, we are also standing on the proverbial shoulders of men and women who carry the work on far beyond us, and because we are all One Body, this proverb is apropos.

We finally exited Immigration at about 5 am with all our gear, and found the bright and happy smiles of our brothers Raj and Anand waiting for us. In typical Indian fashion, we were greeted with gifts, hospitable hugs and ready vehicles prepared to carry us away to a nearby Western hotel for some brief clean-up.

Pubbin'

Sitting here at Witherspoon’s (a quaint ½ “Bennigan’s”, ½ British Pub atmosphere) waiting for our flight to Chennai. I’d like to tell you that all of us gathered around the lowly lit tables, talking excitedly about the upcoming adventure, sipping coffee and eating “Brie and Toast” reminds me of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein gathering around their pub table at a gathering of their infamous “small group” called The Inklings… but the truth is, we’re all a little too tired and groggy to resemble such a bunch.

At Least They're Honest...

Neither Dan nor I could figure out this little sign placed beneath the glass at the little kiosk. If you can’t read it, it says, “High Street Prices Guaranteed”. I’m not sure how else to take that other than simply, “We will absolutely charge you more money than is conceivably possible for the least amount of food and beverage!”

Forget New Orleans!

Standing in line with Dan Blacketor for a quick bite to eat before jumping on our plane to Chennai, I looked over to see what sandwiches were available at the little Heathrow coffee shop/kiosk we were attempting to engage. What I expected to see were things like “Brie and tomato sandwich”, or maybe even “Kidney Pie”, but “Cajun Chicken Flatbread”? Somehow, when I think “Cajun”, I DON’T think “Proper English”. And by the way… that 3.75 isn’t dollars. It’s British Pounds. That means that this little Cajun Chicken Flatbread and a .5 liter Coke will cost you a smooth $10. Kind of like being at the movies back home, idn’t it?

Top 10 Ways to be an “Ugly American” at London’s Heathrow Airport

10. Wear lots of Uber-patriotic clothing, preferably US Military service paraphernalia, American flags, etc.
9. Hold up a hungry line 20 people for 15 minutes because you’re arguing with the cashier at the small airport deli.
8. Argue with said cashier about how ridiculous it is that they don’t take US Dollars! After all, don’t they know that even though this is LONDON, American currency should be good ANYWHERE in the world!
7. Speak loudly in a Texan drawl, crescendoing gradually into shouting as you don’t get your way.
6. When people begin to complain, ignore them. Completely. Don’t offer apology for making them wait. At all.
5. When a helpful Brit offers to just pay for your food because he has British Pounds on hand, act deeply offended at his impatience.
4. Accept his money, but then insist loudly to the line that “you didn’t need his money!”
3. Storm off in a huff at what a “ridiculous country this is” where they don’t accept American money, don’t appreciate having to stand in line forever, and readily insult one’s dignity by offering to help.
2. Never have an inkling in any fashion that there might have been a shred of “wrong”… or at least “cultural insensitivity”… at all of the above.
1. Repeat all of the above consistently when confronted with anything that is different from the way “we do things” in The States.

Touchdown!

Just time for a quick post. We landed successfully in London's Heathrow International airport after a good 7 hours of flight time, and are now sitting just ready to board our connection to Chennai. Later, i'll post a couple of quick notes about our limited time here in this colossal airport, but for the sake of brevity, suffice to say that everyone is doing well (albeit a little tired), and in great spirits.

Next Stop: London Heathrow...

If everything goes according to plan, and barring a replay of Snakes on a Plane, an infestation of Zombies (although i have just recently read Max Brook's Zombie Survival Guide-- so should be well prepared), or -- shudder -- being redirected to London Gatwick, we should arrive precisely at London Heathrow airport at 10 am sharp (London Time) in about 9 hours. We're going to be starting boarding here in just a few minutes, so i'll be signing off for now, and will try to post again if we have time once we land and try to sprint through Security... again... because... you know... we could have had LOTS of opportunities to purchase heavy explosives on the plane between Chicago and London.