On Top Of My Computer

Do you see him? Do you see my little friend who came to visit me this morning?

Oh, there he is.
Ah. What a nice little guy to pose so prettily for the camera. He looks like a rock star sitting on top of that CD.

He's a gecko. They hang around our wall and eat our bugs. I like them most of the time but they do tend to poop in inconvenient places - like my soap dish.

Free Bibles

We are in need of English Bibles (NIV version) for our Bible students. Anyone know anywhere that distributes them for free to - say - Indian Bible students?

Where The Lice Live

Well, in our hair of course.

Do you know that in Hindi they have two different words for "our?" One refers to the collective "our" as in "our earth," "our God," etc. "Our" that means all of ours. Then there is the word for "our" in Hindi that refers to me and mine (the speaker) specifically. Such as, "Our children" - they belong to just me and O.

OK, enough of that.

The "our" in "our hair" is the specific one in this case. While I was in church yesterday, E. got tired and laid down on my lap. I brushed my fingers through her hair and it was full of nits. (I pulled a few out but then figured I was in church and it really wasn't the place for lice hunting.)

Later C. came by and put her head down. A quick look at her hair revealed that she had massively more nits than even E. and with one brush of my fingers through her curly blond hair I saw three (3) actual lice bugs.

I whipped the first one out and went to squish him - you gotta kill 'em or they crawl right back into someone's hair - but in order to end the lice's crawling days forever, you have to stab them with your fingernail against a hard surface - like your other fingernail. Not discreetly done at all. I had to abandon the lice.

We did a thorough lice evacuation yesterday afternoon and the girls are fairly lice-free today. Whew.

We haven't told O. If he hears about lice he gets all uptight. But hey, as my sister-in-law says, "Does or does not the tiger live in the jungle?"

E.'s Exams

E. starts her 1st marking period exams tomorrow. We're practicing math as I type. Her studies have improved and she got a kid's digital camera as a recent reward.

Here are some of my favorites that she took.
This is my top favorite.

Book 7

I'm avoiding news of every kind since yesterday, not hard to do over here. I won't get my hands on the new Harry Potter for another 10 days or so. Til then I am contenting myself with my pre-new book rereading of the previous book in the series.

HP and the DH is actually out in India and it really makes my blood boil that other people in India already have their hands on it. Bleh.

Starts Today

Our Bible College starts today.

Since O. is back I don't really have time to write much more than that, just thought you'd like to know... and pray.

What To Do

I am left at the moment at one of those points in time where I just don't know what to do with myself. I don't have much work pending (for once) or at least not the kind that I can do from home. So, I blog and post a boring post.

C. has her 1st marking period exams this weeks and we've studied for that. E. starts hers from next week, so I guess I really should be studying with her some more... blah.

Our Kids Don't Work

This is Keziah and Mariam.

They are 2 of the 24 children in our Children's Home. While I was there today taking the pictures (see post below) they were home from school because of skin infections. We'd had the local Dr. at the clinic treating them and there wasn't any change. (You can see one of the large infections on Keziah's chin. The ones on her hands are appalling. )

I couldn't take it anymore, I whipped them both off to the Dermatologist. While we were there and the Dr. was examining Keziah's hands he asked me, "What does she do, work?"

I think my heart stopped beating in my chest.

I said, "No, she goes to school."

He wasn't asking in an accusatory way, just matter-o-factly so he could get some idea what was causing the sores on her hands*.

It's not the Dr.'s fault that child labor is rampant in India, but it does show just how common and well accepted it is.

Oh, Keziah is 8 years old.

* The Doctor said the sores were caused by scabies that had gotten infected.

P.S. - Who wants to bring a medical team to India?

Children's Home Pictures

I finally got around to getting these pictures up. Here is a group shot of the Children's Home kids and staff with my dad and niece when they were here in June.

I took these pictures of the Children's Home today (I had forgotten to take my camera with me the last 2 times I was there.)

Children's Home.

Construction is going on on the balcony to make it into a bathroom.
The old bathroom walls have been broken down. The 30 people who stay in the Children's Home are currently using only 1 bathroom til the other one gets built!
This shot looks up into the 2nd floor. We'd like to close this section off to make a larger bedroom for the girls.

Once again, if you'd like to help in any way with the Children's Home, email me!

Our Karuna Kids

Due to some shifting around of some of our staff, I have picked up some new responsibilities.

One of the areas that I am now overseeing is our Children’s Home. There are 24 children that we care for and educate in our school for 11 months out of the year. Mostly these are children of village pastors and there is not an educational future for the children if they stay in the villages with their parents. This puts a heavy level of stress on the moms and dads who desire to follow God’s call to penetrate the unreached areas with the Gospel, yet they see their children suffering.

After a few years of children coming to us and then more children and then more children, God opened our eyes to see what He desired and Karuna Children’s Home was opened. On just a side note, most (if not all) of our leadership team, including my husband, were raised in Christian Children’s Homes/Orphanages. That might put it into perspective for you.

I am now overseeing the financial management of the home in addition to my other duties. The home runs on a shoestring, to say the least, and God provides all that is needed (like food and electricity) but there are many other items that are required and there never seems to be the funds left over at the end of the month to get them.

The needs list was presented to me again yesterday (it’s been floating around since some time last year). I decided I am going to add it after this post with the required items listed. If you want to help out in any way, contact me. My email will be on the Profile page for the next week or so, or leave a comment.

What The Kids Need

Here is the needs list for our Children's Home. If you want to help out in any area, email me and I'll let you know what to do. Thanks.

In no particular order:

• 2 big cabinets to keep clothing
• 1 wash basin
• bedsheets (about 20)
• pillows (15)
• pillowcases (15)
• tube lights (2)
• alarm clocks (2)
• plastic chairs (6)
• buckets (5)
• jugs for bathrooms (5)
• trashcans (2)
• Dust pan (1)
• welcome/bathroom mat for wiping feet (5)
• large mat for sitting on the floor
• Bin for keeping flour
• Large vessel for cooking
• steel glasses for drinking water (6)
• Steel plates (6)
• food processor
• bookshelves (2)
• plastic netting for windows to keep out mosquitoes

Presently, there are 30 people sharing 1 bathroom in this house. The other one is under construction. There is a great need for construction and repair work to be done on the house. I'll add pictures later today.

You Were Always On My Mind

Still are.

I do think about posting. I wish I were posting. I just haven't been here. I mean, I've been around, but not around in the sense that I can sit and post.

Even now I just had to jump up to check on my fried okra* that we're having with dinner. It's just non-stop around here nowadays.

Not to mention that when I do have the time to post is when my electricity is out or my Internet is down due to the rain. sigh.

We're good to go now. O. left late last night for a Management Seminar put on by the Christian Institute of Management. It's being held from the 11th to the 13th. I plan to get loads done while he's gone. It always slows way down when O.'s not here.

But the seminar looks cool. According to the website promoting it they'll be discussing:

Biblical Leadership
Finance Management
Income Tax Act as applicable to Churches, Missions & NGOs
Laws relating to Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)
FCRA Bill 2006 detailed discussion
Project Management & Proposal Writing

I'm sure he's gonna have a blast, this is so up his alley. However, I better get all my posting in before the 14th because he's surely going to lay the workload on thick when he gets back.

*I just ate fried okra for the first time last month and I 'm hooked.

Happy 4th Of July

For Some Reason We Always Act Surprised

At the stroke o' midnight on July 1st (well, maybe not the stroke) it started to rain.

Rain.

I'm talking about Rain.

It finally stopped around Monday afternoon but has returned again today.

Houses are in and under under water. No electricity, no water, roads under water and blocked off. People rushing around trying to get vegetables and rations.

And we always act surprised. Each and Every year. It's Monsoon season, this is what it does - Rains.