Connecting (Ellen)

Hi everyone, Thanks to all who have responded to my new email address. it is working much better and we are able to check our email much easier. Thanks too to all of you who are praying for us on a regular basis. We are adjusting very well to our new home, new surroundings and new work situation. All have provided us with much to think about, be thankful for and wonder about! Andrew and Autumn are making new friends almost daily and our house has become the new play place for many children. Andrew would much rather be outside climbing trees, digging holes, taking apart every bug or flying insect he can find or playing hide and seek or just exploring than being inside. He has piles of friends (young and older, girls and boys, ) . Autumn is a bit more selective in whom she brings up (150 steps from the main school building) here but still enjoys the newness of the place. She and her friend, Angeline arrived up here the other day with a big green fruit they had plucked from a tree. I do not know its name, but it is in appearance like a large grapefruit. They asked me to peel it. It has a thick white layer under the skin and we take all that off to find a pink or red fruit (if it ripe, green if it isn't) and then they tear bits of it off and dip it in salt and sit under a tree and enjoy!! It tastes and looks like grapefruit. Twice as big though. The children are doing fine in school. Andrew is not crazy about learning Hindi, that is of having to write it (Hindi has its own script). He is quite fine with learning to speak it. Mainly because he has to write pages of the alphabet and learn the vowels and how to print them. This is brought home for homework. We are all looking forward to a school picnic next week. We will take buses and travel for a couple hours, prepare special foods over an open fire and have all kinds of fun!! There will be over 100 of us to go. School finishes here on Dec. 7 I think it is.

On December 1, Ray and I and the children will go by Sumo(a big jeep) for 12 hours to visit Shillong and meet up with Wilf and Laura Olson. Ray is planning many activities for us while we are there. I am looking forward to meeting old friends and living in the "pasture" for a few days. We hope also to visit Manipur. The situation there is a little unstable so we are not sure that will work out. We will all be very disappointed if we cannot go there. I am looking forward to a good visit with Laura and of having them in our home here and showing them what goes on here. We will have Xmas with them here. I imagine we will do lots of entertaining and be entertained in many of our friends homes.

We have really enjoyed being able to see most of our children on MSN, using the webcam and the Skype (computer telephone system) program. What a blessing that is!! From Harmony in China, to Steve and Tim in Yellowknife, to Billy in Calgary, and Heather in Regina, we are able to communicate quite freely. We love it! Holly has a telephone now, so we phoned her yesterday. It was nice to visit with her as well.

Ray and I have been thinking a lot lately about the servant attitude. Many people here have paid servants. Someone said it is a status thing, if you can have a servant -- then you are really somebody! I really didn't like that comment since I am thinking I may need to have someone to help me!! I don't want to be a "somebody" in anyone's eyes. We have been watching the people in this school who serve so willingly, and we are humbled. They always seem to do it with a smile! Ray and I are pretty independent. We like to do our own work, if we can. Ray was burning the garbage for a few days. As soon as they noticed him doing that, along came a boy to gather and do it for him. I decided to paint the window casings in my living room. During the day along came several people to comment on me painting. Then soon along came Mr. Sinha with a former student of his who would like to volunteer to paint the rest of the windows and whatever else I wanted him to do! When I go to market, and arrive back in a taxi, almost immediately, one of the boys runs up the stairs to meet the taxi at the top of the hill so he can carry the groceries up the long flight of steps. In this case, and in all the others, I am very grateful!! The dorm mother of the small boys knows how to sew so offered to sew the curtains for me; she is doing the kitchen ones for me today. She has many duties besides the dorm work and I am so grateful for her willingness to help me out. These are only a few examples of the serving that we have been the recipients of in the last six weeks, and it has really caused us to think about our role here and how we also can be of service to these people. We came here wanting to be of service and find ourselves being served !!

Well, I think this will be enough for this time. If you sent an email, I will eventually answer it. I love getting them. There are many things to write about, so till next time, Love and Blessings.
Ellen