Elisabeth just started week 9, which means we are 1/4 through the school curriculum. I haven't even been here 2 months and we are a quarter through! AHH! Maybe we'll take an extra long Christmas break....orrr if any of ya'll (I live in a Texan home, I'm entitles to one 'ya'll' a month. Though having a Canadian say 'ya'll' is kind of like taking your chances with a bubble gum machine, you aren't really sure what will come out and what will be the reaction.) have this uncontrollable desire to come and visit another part of the world, since we ARE 2 weeks ahead, I betcha I could take some time off to show you around (oldest gold mines in the world? Driving 3 feet from wild tigers? Bouldering and exploring the rugged countryside of Asia? I should write tourist brochures. Oh ya, and a free unpredictable unplanned totally 'safe' adventure with me to be sure ;-) ) .
I also started a new saga in my life yesterday - Hindi. Only conversational, I'm not quite ready to learn a whole new alphabet and script, I have enough trouble with 26 letters (and according to all of the American's here, I can't talk right either. pfft. 'Shone' is said 'shawn' not 'shooouwn'). It was fun, and I will be doing it 2 times a week. I can say, "hello, my name is Beth". And "I am Canadian. Boo yah." Okay, so, maybe we through a little English in there for the "boo yah."
As far as one of the decisions, I have come to a conclusion. And since I know you are incredibly anxious to know what it is, I will ease your curiosity. A while back when I was helping at the VBS, I told the woman director (it is a couple that runs the facility), I will call her Mary, about my desire and passion for the unborn (if you do not know the history about this, I would highly encourage you to read about it on my Blog http://blazingdawn.blogspot.com/2009/04/tattoo.html). She instantly became excited about this and mentioned that perhaps I could come sometime and talk to the mothers of the slum children about the sanctity of life, and female infanticide. Although I was honoured, and felt incredibly unprepared I said I would 'think' about it. After talking it over with some very wise women, and asking Dad about it, I have decide to move forward in that direction. I have yet to talk to Mary (since they have been out of town) about how to approach this best, but I am hoping to talk to her sometime this next week. I have been doing research on female infanticide and women's roles here, and the statistics are heart-wrenching. According to this book that I am reading (Disappearing Daughters by Gita Aravamudan) women here will kill their daughters because of three main reasons. #1 If the family cannot afford to pay the dowry (technically illegal) then she will be a life long burden to the family and an unneeded mouth to feed. #2 It is either the mother or the child who will be beaten and/or killed by the husband/father, a risk the mother is not willing to take (simply for the child being a female). And #3 the mothers would rather send the child back to 'their Maker than live this awful life'. With the limited knowledge I have recived on the subject, it is clear that the mothers do not take such action because of their own choices, it is out of force and fear that they do this. My desire is to hopefully start a story set with them (telling them the Good News verbally through retelling of the stories of the Book) that shows their value as women of Dad. Perhaps if they are able to see the value of life they will be willing to take the chance at saving their daughters. I still need to find out from Mary what can be done if they choose to not kill their daughters and how to go about doing that. So please yarp that I will know which questions to ask and how to proceed. I know I am useless without Dad, and that I myself cannot save anyone. But perhaps He can use me to...well, I'm not going to limit what He can do, just perhaps He can use me. I am also hoping to do some interviews with some random people to see what the general view is on infanticide. Maybe if I can find out what is valued, not valued, believed and applied I can know how to best love and teach these women. Friends, I need your help in this, it seems like a huge undertaking but the more I walk in that direction the harder I feel Dad is assuring me that it is the right decision. I will need your 'thoughts' as hard as ever, I have no idea what I am getting into, but doesn't Dad use our weaknesses to demonstrate His strength?
On a different note, the zoo was amazing, and I will send you a picture of me riding an elephant as soon as I get them. It kind of felt like we were on the top of a very large, heavy...well, not much to compare it to other than an elephant. Sure it was just a little jaunt around a tree, but when you are sitting on top of an animal 25x bigger than yourself, and the size of their tail is the same as your thigh, well the journey seems much more exciting (I was imagining what kind of Jackie Chan jumps I could do to get off if Mr. Dumbo decided to roll over, thankfully that plan never got put into action). Here is a picture of me with Mrs. Dumbo, the Mr we rode was much bigger.
That is all for now. I'm off to read with Luc. Hope your day is enjoyable and filled with blessings. Love to you all.
Beth
