February 8, 2009
We went to church today and it was a lot like our churches at home. We knew many of the worship songs and the style was familiar. It is always neat to see how other cultures worship the same Jesus we do. The people were very nice and welcomed us graciously. Huldah Buntain (the founder of our nursing school and the mission here—hospital, schools, and churches) was there sitting in the front and was happy to see our group. Next, we went and had lunch with her and saw the apartment ("flat") where she stays when she is here in India. We have learned so much about her and her family--she is like a modern day Mother Teresa. Her and her late husband first came to Calcutta in the 50’s and had a vision to serve the poor people and children in need. The Mercy Mission has since grown into a large hospital, churches, schools, and daily feeding programs. We will have to tell you more about it when we get home, but you can look at their website (www.buntain.org) if you would like to. She is quite an energetic woman for being 84 years old. She still spends many of her days traveling around the world raising money for the mission. She truly inspired all of us as we continue to see more and learn about her mission. Later, Sunday evening we went to church again. This service seemed a bit more causal with a younger crowd. At the end of the service, Chantel, Crystal, and Sara went forward and prayed with a couple young girls. It was a humbling experience hearing the needs of the girls. It is just amazing to be here and see the problems and wishes of people around here. It makes us realize how much we have in the U.S. and how much we take for granted.
February 9, 2009
We started the morning off with devotions at the hospital with the staff and students. We were surprised at the end of the devotion when the nursing students gave Dr. C. a flower lei and each of us a gorgeous bouquet of roses. They treat us so well in an unexpected way.
Next, we went on a hospital tour and got a glimpse of the environment that we will be working in. We were able to view a presentation of the hospital’s history and personally meet the C.E.O., Sanjay Prasad. We learned that because Calcutta is only 12 feet above sea level, the city floods easily. When they began digging to build the hospital, the site continually flooded and was declared unbuildable. Because Rev. Mark Buntain believed that this land was a gift from God, he knew that water could not stop them from fulfilling God’s plan. He prayed out loud asking God to push back the water and lowered a Bible down in to the water. To the amazement of the construction workers, the water gradually receded and building continued. To this day, they have never had a problem with flooding even when surrounding buildings flood. What a miracle!
Later that afternoon, we had the opportunity to tour the new nursing school. The students welcomed us with a program of singing and cultural dancing (You can look at the pictures and video clip of the dance). They served us our first tea (Chai) and it was so much better than our Chai tea at home. We had fun and are eager to spend more time with the students talking and getting to know them.

February 10, 2009

Wow, what a busy day! We started our day with devotions at the hospital. We went to the site where the ministry of Mark and Huldah Buntain first began which is now an elementary school. It was so much fun meeting some of the kids and playing with them during their recess. They were so happy to meet us, talk, and take pictures. Next, we went and saw the feeding program that feeds the poor on the streets. There is a network of these programs across the city that feeds 25,000 people each day. While we are here, we are going to have the opportunity to serve in the feeding stand by scooping rice and vegetable soup into people’s dishes as they come through the line. After lunch, we went on an hour-long bus excursion to visit a boys home on the outskirts of Calcutta. This is also a part of the Mercy Ministry of the Buntain’s. They currently house 33 boys from ages 5-17 who came from broken homes or were once orphans in the streets. They had a large building with room to run around outside. Inside they had a rec. room where we played some ping pong and foos-ball with some of the boys. It was really neat to learn about this ministry and hear stories about boy’s lives that have literally been saved. We wish we could describe to you what we saw out the bus windows on our ride there and back. There were cows, people carrying large baskets on their heads, rickshaws everywhere, cars extravagantly decorated with flowers for weddings, people living under bridges, and elephants in a zoo off the road!! We hope you enjoy the pictures and get a glimpse of our experience here and what we see everyday.
PICTURES WILL BE POSTED LATER...DUE TO LACK OF INTERNET TIME...SORRY BUT ENJOY THE JOURNAL!

First 24 hours in India!!

First 24 hours in India!!!!!

Here is our story from the first 24 hours in India~

February 7, 2009:

We know our journey is just beginning, but we have experienced so much that we want to tell you! After 36 hours of travel, we were greeted at the airport by hospital staff and several Indian nursing students. We piled ourselves and our luggage into a bus and we experienced our first taste of Indian traffic. Not only were we driving on the opposite side of the road, we learned that lanes are non-existent. The roads were full of taxis, cars, buses, bikes, rickshaws, and people. Everyone honks constantly and weaves in and out just to make it through. While cars were merging in to the sides of the road, a bus next to us crashed into a car leaving a large dent into the driver’s door. The honking continued, but nobody stopped. After soaking up as much as we could through the bus windows, we arrived at our new home for the next month. It is on the third floor of a building (with a 24 hour security guard at the door—which is common in this area). It is located on a very busy street surrounded by extreme poverty outside of our front door. We have two rooms that each has a bathroom with toilets and showers!! We decided to all sleep in the same room and have our luggage in the other. It has been nice to be together as a team and we are very grateful for the room that we have!
Even though we were all exhausted, we woke up bright and early around 6am (or 4am if you are Chantel) to the sounds of chickens, crows, loud squeaking of the street well outside our door, and prayers chanted over a loud speaker. We had breakfast downstairs at 7:30am—Scrambled eggs, “baked beans” (not sweet, but spicy), chewy white toast, and green bananas that were yummy! Last night, when we were dropped off, we were invited to join the hospital staff for devotionals at 8am. Since we were awake and ready to go so early, we decided we would join them and show them that we appreciate them and wanted to be involved. However, we must have misunderstood the plans for the day and were surprised by a private devotional in our dining area with Pastor Phillip. We led hymns, which was a hilarious experience, as most of us didn’t know all the words or the tune. ☺ After the devotion, we were anxious to get out of our building and see our environment that we had been hearing and smelling all night long. Shishma (the head of the school of nursing here) was kind enough to take time out of her day and take us on a walk outside. The city was already bustling with activity and we saw many people on the streets as we walked to their old nursing school and around our close surroundings. After this, we asked the plan for today and were told that we were to “rest” in our rooms. We came back to our room and played card games and enjoyed talking. After Dr. C’s morning meetings, he met us for lunch and then led us on a 2-hour expedition trekking through the streets and parks of Calcutta.
As we sit down to write this, we wish we could accurately describe what we saw and how we felt as we walked down the streets. We felt like we were walking through a movie set, yet this is the reality of so many people. It truly stimulated all five of our senses! The roads were crowded with more people than you could imagine (you think Pike Street is busy!). Cars, rickshaws, over-crowded buses, bikes, dogs, cats, goats, and even chickens freely move in a fluid, unstructured and chaotic movement. We saw hundreds of vendors crowded amongst the streets selling - exotic food, fruit, clothing, watches, shaving and shoe shining services, car parts, and sooooo much more. Despite all the loud noises, there were many people sleeping on the streets. It was challenging every time we had to cross a street, as it is common for people to weave in and out of the cars to get across the streets. The sound of honking cars was a constant noise that was hard to adjust to. We smelled incense burning, smoke, various food spices, and waste. As we walked through the streets, kids would grab onto our arms and beg us for money and food. We found this especially hard to ignore, although that’s what we were told to do. We all wished we could do more to help… a.k.a. take them home with us ☺ This is just the beginning of our experience here and are eager to see more and help in any way we can!

We are in Hong Kong!

We safely made it through our longest flight of 14 hours...yikes! But we all slept for the most part and enjoyed hours of movies and tv shows...plus snacks! Here are some photos for your enjoyment...plus we can never escape our Seattle culture...STARBUCKS!!!!

India here we come!

We all set out an exciting journey today...we are headed to India! Although our route is not direct...we will arrive on Friday! We are all so very excited about this trip and would ask that you pray for our safety while traveling and while abroad!

Team Meeting at Dr. C's home!

Team Meeting