Home Sweet Home!

Because I live in a large city where many people know at least a little English, my supervisors thought the best way for me to pick up the language would be through a home-stay. So, for the past 5 weeks I've been spending 5 days with my home-stay family and 2 days out in an apartment with my teammate (remember, Erin from south GA?). I wanted to give you a little visual of where I've been living... so, here goes!

This is the street our neighborhood is on. Lining it are vendors selling snacks,  a photocopy shop, stationary shops, a cyber cafe, a meat shop, cellphone shops, etc.

Across the street there is a place to buy milk, little general shops,  and a few chemists shops (pharmacies).  Also, usually there are 2 or 3 men selling vegetables and fruits from carts on the side of the road.

This is the entrance to our neighborhood! Welcome! :)

This is the street we live on. The gray building on the left is our house.

This is home! The portion with the little green door is actually to the Fellowship we attend (it's connected to the house), but the next door on the left leads into the house part. We live on the first floor and some of their close relatives live on the floor above us.

Right outside our door is the "press walla" a.k.a the person who will iron your clothes for you. So convenient! Our press walla is actually a lady, but her son came to work for her this day. I asked if I could take his picture, but he said no, so I had to sneak to the roof and get a picture from above! He's ironing on a wooden table with an iron heated by coals.  It costs about $0.04 to get one piece of clothing ironed. Not bad!

Just outside our house is a Hindu temple. This is a god sitting outside of it.

This is the mosque that's a few streets back into the neighborhood.

This is the sitting room... if you walked through the curtain on the left side of the picture, you'd be in the Fellowship room.

...and here we are! In this picture it's very colorfully decorated for Christmas and the new year. We meet here on Sundays around noon... or 12:30... whenever people show up! The ladies sit on the right side and the men sit on the left. If you were to walk out that door in the back, you'd be looking directly at the Hindu temple I told you about.

Back to the sitting room... this time the other side. In the back corner is the Nativity scene complete with dolphins, an elephant, and a dog!

Just through the sitting room on the right is my bedroom

This is my plate after breakfast one morning. Auntie serves it right to my room! This day was aloo paratha (potato-filled tortilla) and chai (tea with milk and sugar).

the potty... fun, fun!!

They have a hot water heater, but it's out of commission... so currently, Auntie uses this coil to heat the water for our (not-so frequent) baths. I'm not too sure what purpose the paintbrush serves...
There's a little tile room where we take bucket baths, but I didn't include it in the photos...

These are the kitchen...there's not much space to turn around in!

And that concludes our tour! There's another room where Auntie (the mom) and her kids sleep, but I didn't include that either in the photos. It's got one bed and usually a palate on the floor beside the bed. It's also got a small tv, and at night we watch Hindi "serials" on it!

And finally... my family! From left to right is C., the oldest child, Auntie (the mom), and S., the middle child.

And now to let you know a little more about the sweet family that's been taking care of me.... The mother and father grew up in Believing families... and both know the Father themselves! The father passed away about 2 years ago. He suffered from diabetes and kidney failure. He taught in the Fellowship that's connected to the house where his father taught before him. He also worked for World Vision. Since his death, the family has definitely felt it financially since Auntie is a housewife. For the past year she's been making beads (seen below) as a means to earn some money.

She and her husband have 3 children. The oldest is C. She is 23 and currently is in the process of starting up a non-profit organization that helps children living in the slums. She also tutors children in the neighborhood as a way to earn some money. She knows English really well, so that's not always been a great thing since I'm trying to learn their language! S. is the middle child. She is 19 years old and is in her first year of nursing school. She lives at the school throughout the week but comes home on the weekends. Their youngest child is A., and he is 9 years old. When he was just about 7 months old he came down with meningitis and went into a coma. He survived but is now crippled and unable to speak. We're not sure how much he can actually understand when we talk to him. Also, since he can't walk, he is confined to the bed and spends most of his time there. He was sleeping when we  took the picture above, so that's why he wasn't included. Hopefully I'll get a good picture of him soon!

The family is so sweet and really has taken such wonderful care of me. Auntie calls me her daughter and says that her home is my home. :) Sure, it may not always be the most convenient place to live, but the Father has reminded me so much of His grace on my life through my time there. I really do love them and am thankful the Father has allowed me to be a part of their family. Please be lifting them up as the Father brings them to your mind. Ask for continual financial provision, for the spiritual growth and maturity of the daughters, that the Father would use this family to be a Light and witness in their completely non-believing neighborhood, and for A.'s healing. They really believe the Father will restore his health one day on earth... so everyday we're taking that before the only One who can make that happen! (* A praise is that when I first started the home-stay, A. was having what they call fits (basically seizures) a few time a day. However, these past fews weeks he's had none... AND he's been twisting and turning all in the bed (and a couple times almost OFF the bed!), smiling, and laughing!! It's the sweetest sound!)

Ok... I know that's a lot... and maybe you didn't care to know all the details... but I just wanted to share about this new family that's become important to me, and hopefully they'll become important to you!

These are the beads Auntie's been making. We work on them while we're watching the serials at night! :) One night I made at least 200... but that's nothing! Auntie is so much faster than me!