Saturday 7/14/07

Well, at midnight Chennai time, we picked up our luggage and headed out of Chennai around 2:00 a.m. for the 6 hour drive to Omalur. Bro. Judson and a hired taxi driver drove my group. It was eerie seeing the little plastic lit up elephant god the Hindu taxi driver had on his dashboard. I was so thankful that I was not depending on a piece of plastic for safe passage. The mountains of southern India are part of the Himalayas and they are absolutely gorgeous – lush vegetation with palm trees on mountains – very beautiful. We stopped on the way at TamilNadu Hotel and had tea. There was a poster on the wall showing a gorgeous waterfall nearby in Combeloire but I did not get the name of it. I think the drive to R.C. Chettipatty (formerly Roman Catholic Chettipatty) with the Hindu taxi driver was the worst of the entire trip. I suppose since he was a taxi driver and accustomed to risk-taking that our Indian brethren didn’t take with driving – although their driving could by no means be called tame! At one time we passed a bus and there was a woman standing in the middle of the passing lane with a waterpot on her head. We blew the horn and she just turned around with a blank stare and looked at us. There was a bus coming from the other direction and it was God’s grace that we did not hit the woman and wreck with both buses. The oncoming bus drove off the road while the woman never budged an inch. The look on her face was one of total hopelessness and nonchalance. It will forever be etched in my memory. Finally, on Saturday July 14, 2007 Tamil Nadu time, we arrived at R. C. Chettipatty and slept the afternoon in our room at Shady Grove. Bro. Guna has built a nice place for visitors including upstairs bedrooms, bathroom and sitting room and downstairs kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and office. Very nice accommodations indeed for anyone planning a visit to India. That night we were welcomed at the church. The boys sang songs including Lord I Lift Your Name on High, one of my favorites. The girls performed welcome dances and we acted out Daniel in the Lions Den. Ashley told the story, Bro Jeff was the lion, Leah was the king, Karen was Daniel, and Jill and I were the guards who arrested Daniel and then we were the princes cast into the lions den and devoured. The children squealed and giggled as Bro. Jeff roared and pretended to go after them. The children held posters with the letters for WELCOME written on them. They danced forward and gave us flowers. Bro. Guna introduced each one of us and it was really funny that he introduced Sister Leah as having a special talent for speech. Everyone who knows Leah knows that she is one of the friendliest and most talkative people you’ll ever meet, as most friendly people are. Ashley was funny when she got up to be introduced. She was hesitant to get up after Leah’s introduction. She told Bro. Guna, “I don’t know what you’re saying – so be nice.” I got to meet my newest foster child – Sebastin. He’s a very sweet, quiet child – 11 years old.