New Blog Site 12/21/2011
 
In order for me to use my I-Pad on the road, I've discovered I have to set up an alternate blog site.  Here's the link so you don't miss any of the fun! 

dvansche.blogspot.com




1 Comment
 
Getting Close! 12/21/2011
 
1 Comment
 
Getting Close! 12/21/2011
 
Can't believe that we will be in India in less than a month.  Travel plans are complete and we're blessed to be traveling with Mike and Joan Anderson (Jim's sister and our brother-in-law from Bangor, Maine).  They are traveling to Chicago from Arizona where they will be visiting with Mike's mom.  All four of us will be leaving from O'Hare on Etihad Airlines the evening of Friday, January 13.

We were hoping to have Nick Beezhold and his sister-in-law Jayne with us, but their plans changed at the last minute.  That being said, we will be joined by Georgetta Bidwell, my niece Rachel (from Seattle) and Lauren (daughter of an associate of Nick's) from San Francisco.  

We all end up in Kochi around 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, January 15.  We will then be traveling by car for about 7 hours back to the higher elevations where we worked last year.  We'll be staying at Chrissy's again.  She is English and is married to an Egyptian.  She runs the hotel and a local yoga studio.  She serves vegetarian dishes that are more western than Indian, so we'll have some opportunities to expand our cuisine options when we are able to eat there.

During the next couple of weeks, the busyness of our lives will most likely prevent us from reflecting too much on the upcoming journey, but we covet your prayers as we prepare to travel many miles to the other side of the world . . . I know Smitha and Soji are anticipating our return to Kochi and are diligently working to organize our days.  Pray for them and their work in India as they make these preparations.  There are many local house pastors who are regularly visited by Soji so that he can work with them to help them learn to ef to spread the good news in many different parts of India. 
2 Comments
 
 
Hard to believe that it's the middle of September already.   Had dinner with Nick and Bonnie a week ago and discussed some plans for our upcoming trip.  We are tentatively going to be leaving for India Friday, January 12, 2012 and returning somewhere around the 23rd or 24th (we're hoping to take a detour north to squeeze in a quick visit to see the Taj).  Anyway, that brings me to my next thought which is that God is most likely working in the hearts of those other members of the team (which is yet to be determined).  So far the team is Dr. Georgetta, Nick, Jim, me and my niece Rachel VanderPol from Seattle.  We could certainly use a couple of nurses or nurse practitioners to take some of the load off of Georgetta and we would also welcome any non-clinical people who are up for some hard work!  It's quite an experience and we're so looking forward to returning to see our friends in Christ Soji and Smitha Manuel and their son Eben!  Nick is hoping to have details relating to our itinerary sometime in mid-October so thee's not too much time left to recruit.  Let me know if you'd like more information about the trip.   We'd love to have you join us! 
Add Comment
 
What a Blessing 01/18/2011
 
I can't quite believe that the trip has ended.  We arrived at the airport ahead of schedule and breezed through the ticket lines and customs.  Nick even managed to
get us an upgrade to business class on the first leg of the flight!   What a treat it was to recline and catch a couple of hours of sleep on that leg.  We had a couple of hours in Abu Dhabi and took advantage of the time to walk around and get the kinks out before the long flight home.  We napped, read, watched movings and pretty much did whatever we could to keep ourselves occupied and focused on anything other than the length of time we were cooped up.  The trip itself was uneventful.  We landed at O'Hare right on schedule and said our farewells to Nick.  Poor guy.  He had a two hour layover and then 3 more hours to Phoenix. 

We did the bare minimum after arriving home and hit the sack before 9:00 p.m.  What a great feeling it was to be back in our own house!  I slept llike a rock and didn't wake up until 7:00 a.m.

I received an e-mail from Soji today, recapping the success of the week.  We served almost 700 people across the various sites in India.  The hosts at each site were well organized and the people we partnered with were so accomodating!  It was a humbling experience and once again reinforced for me how blessed we are.  It was a privilege to partner with Smitha and Soji as they continue their work of spreading the good news in India.  The challenges are great, but their focus is on God and they so rely on Him to lead them in their work.   Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in India that their work may be blessed and that the Holy Spirit will be at work in the lives of the people we touched last week.

I don't believe this story is yet complete so I'll end by saying, "to be continued."
1 Comment
 
 
This house church was the first day clinic from last year's trip.  We did a half day clinic here today and saw a whopping 127 patients!  Last year for the same time frame we saw about 60.   That means that we doubled the number of patients served and that the word of mouth communication about last year's clinic was positive.  We actually remembered some of the patients and there were two girls in particular that struck up quite the friendship with me.  They attend a local Catholic school and their English was quite good (no accent!).  As we were closing up shop at the end of the day we were praying over the church, a picture from last year's trip suddenly was being passed around the group.  One of the girls had saved a picture from the clinic last year where Carli Doorn was treating her.  Carli had made such an impression on her that she had saved the picture and brought it to the clinic hoping to see her again!    What an impact we make on these people . . . it's humbling to know that after we're gone they continue to think of us and pray over us and our safety so we can return! 

We left the clinic at around 2:00 p.m. and knew that we had a long evening ahead of us so decided to take a side trip to the elephant training center so Jim could ride an elephant.  It took us about 2 hours to get there only to find out that the "riding" elephant was not well so no rides were possible.   That didn't keep us from getting up close and person with her.  We got some great shots with her compliments of the trainer and then proceeded to take a short hike down to the river (which was beautiful as the sun was dipping down in the west).  We also quickly checked out the small zoo and saw some of the monkeys we had seen along the road earlier in the week.  Then we hit the road back to Kochi to have dinner.  We ran into quite a bit of traffic as there are some Hindu festivities going on right now which has brought pilgrims from across the state to the Kochi area for their homage.  The roads are filled with vans full of men and many walk with their packs on their heads along the sides of the road.  Soji gave us some background on these festivals and shared how he is hopeful that some of these people will come to know Jesus as Lord.  Pray for these people, especially the ones we served at clinic this week, that they may have their eyes opened to the one true Got and accept Jesus as their Savior.

Dinner is over, we're packed and know we just wait for the drivers and Soji and Smitha to return to take us to the airport.  Because of the festivals, we're leaving here at 12:30 a.m. (noon your time back home).  It will take a couple of hours to get through customs and then our plane is scheduled to depart at 4:15 a.m.

I just have one more prayer request for all who read this.  Georgetta's daughter Carol has been battling cancer the past few months.  When we left last week, her most recent reports were positive and it appeared her cancer was under control.   Over the past 3 days we've been receiving reports that indicated that her health has taken a turn.  She went to the ER last evening and was subsequently admitted with pneumonia.  This is especially dangerous for her as the chemotherapy drug she was on has an adverse reaction to oxygen therapy and today her oxygen saturation levels dropped seriously.   She definitely needed to be started on oxygen and may even require a ventilator.  Georgetta is dealing as best she can with this situation but as you can imagine it's very difficult for her knowing that she can't get back during this very tenuous time for Carol.  Please ask God to give Georgetta peace during this next 24 hours until she can get to her bedside and ask God to stabilize Carol's declining condition so that she can begin to heal. 

Pray for safe travels for the whole team as we embark on our return trip.  This has been a whirlwind week and we all feel blessed by being able to participate in this team.  God is good.  He has allowed us this small opportunity to see him work out salvation in the lives of these people and their passion and enthusiasm for spreading the gospel is infectious!  I'm trying to upload some pictures tonight, but my internet connection is slow and it's been difficult.   I'll keep trying during the next hour to see
2 Comments
 
 
We ate our breakfast at the summer palace of one of the Maharaj's this morning.  Quite the place.   Open air to provide the best ventilation and it had quite extraordinary wood carvings throughout.  We stayed safe and ordered eggs and then were off to Nedupuram for the clinic.  It took a bit longer than we expected so when we arrived there was already a crowd gathered.  Thankfully we're getting really organized so we had set up and started seeing patients within minutes.   A lot of respiratory problems, allergies and once again the pains associated with manual labor.  There were also a couple of patients diagnosed with high blood pressure and extraordinarily high blood glucose levels.  Thanksfully we were able to start them on medications and refer them to local medical clinics for follow-up treatment. 

Jim's supply of reading glasses has been shrinking all week and he was just as busy as usual.  There was a steady line for eye testing and Annette was busy off and on during the day educating her patients and providing them exercises to help alleviate their pain. 

The clinic was held in a local community center owned by the YMCA so we had some fun at the end of the day pretending we were the village people.  Smitha was very entertained by the spectacle of it all!   The Wake Up Ministry at Nedupuram was one of the first groups that worked with Soji to begin formal training in evangalism.   They have developed a very proactive follow-up program to the medical clinics and they will most likely be visiting between 75 - 125 people in the next 2 days in an effort to encourage participation in bible study groups, prayer groups and children's programs.  Pray for them as they do this work that their efforts might provide much fruit.

We have a special treat tonight as we will be headed off to the Meridian Hotel for dinner in just a few minutes.  Tomorrow is our last clinic day and we will be headed to the Sharon Church which was our Day 1 Clinic from last year.  It is a small house church so we probably won't see anywhere near the 177 people we say today, but it will provide this small community with the same opportunities.  It is scheduled for a half day session so we can rest up before heading back to the airport tomorrow night. 

The week is passing quickly.  Stay in prayer over the team as we wind down through the next 48 hours.  We have been blessed with a co
7 Comments
 
 
We left the Cloud 9 Hotel after breakfast around 9:00 a.m.   It was about a 3 hour drive back to Kochi.   We had departed from the higher elevations the previous afternoon and had seen some wonderful sights.   Impressive waterfalls, monkeys, banana palms, tapioca plants (who knew you ate the root . . . I thought those little crystals grew on the plant!) and lush palms.  At the lower elevations we again passed through the rubber plants, cashew trees and other spice fields.  We had an opportunity to go to the spice shop up in Thekkady after Day 1's clinic so I'll be returning to the states with some real Indian spices!  

When we got back to the Nyle Plaza and checked in we departed for Fort Kochi for a tour of the old city during the day.  We had been there briefly on last year's trip, but so late in the day everything had closed.  We toured the Dutch palace which was a great introduction to the history of Southern India and the Maharaj's.  I also learned that an Avatar is actually a Hindu god (and they are actually blue just like in the movies).  We saw artifacts, tools and clothing from the early days and were able to learn a lot about the different countries who occupied India over the years.  The British didn't actually give up control here until the mid 1940's.  We also walked through Jew Town and toured the synogogue and briefly checked out some of the shops.  We then headed off to the shores of the inlet where we watched the fishermen using the Chinese fishing nets (see the picture in the banner above).  We had seen them last year, but didn't actually get to see how they worked.   It takes 5 - 6 men to lower and raise the nets so a lot of work is necessary to produce what seemed to be a pretty meager catch.  We walked through the fish market and decided that we'd skip fish at the restaurant tonight. 

It was nice to get a break from the clinics, learn a little more about the people we're serving and relax a bit.  Tomorrow's clinic is a 2 hour drive from Kochi so we'll be on the road at 7:00 a.m. and stop for breakfast along the way.

Did I mention that we went to Pizza Hut for dinner . . . yep, you read correctly.  The menu is quite a bit more impressive than the local PH's that I've be
1 Comment
 
 
We left Munnar early on Wednesday.  It was about an hour drive to the church in Kuachithanni and we decended past some gorgeous "picture perfect" sites to arrive there.  It was a small church, but well organized.  It was their first clinic but we wouldn't have known it from the preparations and assistance that they provided.  Our work areas were set up when we arrived and we are getting into the swing of things so got set up quickly and started seeing patients right on schedule.  We saw many children today which was great as entire families attended the clinic. 

Mostly minior problems, pain being pretty much universal in a society that thrives on manual labor.  Many of the workers are day laborers in the local spice and tea fields or they do manual work on the roads or in buildings.  Annette saw a couple of interesting cases and was kept busy on and off and assisted in pharmacy when she had down time.  I was working with a local evangelist during the morning hours and his daughter (who is hoping to go to medical school) left school early to come and assist in the afternoon. 

It is during these encounters that you realize how badly these people want to get out of their current state of poverty.  The father was very intent on making sure his daughter connected with our team as he was hoping to arrrange some type of support for her as she pursues her educational goals.  His older son is currently in seminary and he wants to see his daughter reach her goals as well. 

We served just over 100 patients yesterday so it was less busy than the previous day, but very well attended considering it was a first clinic for this church.  We ended the day knowing that we had made an impact in the community so as we continued down the mountains back toward Kochi we left knowing that we had some new friends and that we had helped them in their ministry. 

We had a bag of Twizzlers along (you know me, I need my daily sugar fix).  We had shared them with Smitha and Soji at lunch (they were very skeptical about eating something that looked like plastic, but they humored us by complying.  Later in the afternoon, I looked over at Jim and he was trying to convince his translator that they were in fact quite good and that he should give them a try.  He did . . . he nibbled away at the licorice.   I couldn't tell if he liked it or not, but he ate the whole thing!    Too funny! 
1 Comment
 
 
Sorry for the delay in updating the blog, but I found out this week that internet access isn't all that accessible in parts of India.  We left Thekkady early Tuesday morning and headed up higher into the mountains.  The scenery on the way was just outstanding.  The mountains brought us up into the 5 - 6 thousand foot range and the weather was perfect.   Low 80's which made for an excellent clinic environment.  We had worked with High Range Ministries last year when we were here, so it was a pleasant surprise to recognize some of the church leaders from last year.  I worked with the nephew of the pastor that assisted me last year.  He just graduated from nursing school and was a great help as we distributed our medications.  Last year our experience at another worship center for High Range was probably the most stressful as it was our longest travel day and our largest group of patients (we saw over 300).   Knowing that, the leadership from the church were very organized in setting up this year's clinic.  The flow of patients was steady but never overwhelming so we were able to give each patient individualized attention.   We are thankful that Jim is along and tending to the needs of the older adults who are having difficulty with their reading vision.  He has proven to be very popular with the crowds!   Add to that the fact that we have Annette providing relief to many of our patients who are experiencing pain and you have a clinic that is meeting the needs of the patients in a very real way. 

In addition to tending to the needs of the patients, it is good to spend time with our translators learning more about their lives and providing them support in their ministries.  Jim worked with Shirley that day.  This was Shirley's second time supporting us in our work.  Last year she worked with Annette and Hoku.  Jim got to ask her a lot of questions about life in India and her perceptions about America.  She expressed that if she were able to travel to the USA she would like to visit Washington D.C. to see the White House and New York City to see the Statue of Liberty!  It's great that she was able to work 1:1 with a team member as her perception of "Americans" will be shaped by what she experienced during these 2 encounters.  We ended up treating about 130 patients that day so the clinic was a huge success.

We headed north at the end of the clinic toward Munnar where we would be staying at the Mar Thoma Retreat Center.  It was about a 3 hour ride but it was through great scenery so we tried to enjoy the fact that the weather was perfect and that we were seeing the part of Kerala that makes it "God's Own Country." 

By the way, we did need the long sleeved shirts and jackets that Nick had advised us to bring.  It got down into the lower 40's that evening so we were thankful for our warmer clothing.  Munnar is located high atop the mountain range well over 6,000 ft.  We were there during a Hindu celebration so we also got to experience the evening chanting that is blasted over loud speakers throughout the valley.  It went on for well over an hour so we were very relieved when it finally stopped as I don't believe we would have slept a wink if it had kept up. 
Add Comment