SoFMEDA Staff
Dear Supporters, Prayer partners, friends and family!
It's time for my first India update!!
My departure day has finally arrived after months and months of support
raising and planning. I first wanted to thank all of you who have been so
faithful in your prayers and your financial support. God has blessed me so
much with the encouragement from all of you! I wanted to send out one email
before I left to let you all know my plans. I leave Monday, August 23rd but
will not arrive in my final destination in NE India until Thursday, August
26th. (I will be returning home for a couple weeks in January before leaving
for Zambia). I have one overnight stay in Kolkata before I meet the
regional director of World Relief who will be escorting me the rest of the
way.
I'm really excited that I will be living with a family. I think that will
make the transition much easier. And I'm also really excited to find out
that I will be living in the mountains so the weather is not deathly hot!!
In fact---I was told to bring lots of sweaters!!! Yeah!! I am very excited
to say the least, and also a bit nervous about all the traveling before I
get to NE India. I was commissioned at BAUMC today and I got to see many of
you, and I also got to tell all the little kiddies about what it means to be
a missionary during the children's message! I let them know that
missionaries aren't all "old and boring"-that made the congregation laugh!
I know many of you have been asking about a mailing address for me in India,
and I still do not know what that will be. I will find out all those
details after I get settled in and I will be sure to let you know. Also,
any email can be sent to shidey@aol.com. My dad is actually administering
this mass email update list, so if you reply to this email, you will be
replying to my dad (but he can always forward your emails to me). Whatever
is easier for you! My email access is going to be sporadic, but I will try
to respond to as many emails as I can!!! I have a website that is linked
off of the Bel Air United Methodist Church website (www.baumc.com). The
direct link is www.baumc.com/mission/shidey.html. Currently the only thing
on the page is my prayer requests, but there will soon be updates and
pictures so check back often. That will be the best place for you to see
what's going on with me in India and next year, in Zambia.
For all of you who asked to be on my prayer list as well, I have some prayer
requests at the end of this email. As you can see by the list, I need a lot
of prayer!!
In HIM,
Sarah
"If you spend yourself in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the
oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness." Isaiah 58:10
Prayer Requests
* Please pray for safe travel. I will be traveling from August 23-August
26th. I will be traveling home January 11-13 (I will travel to Zambia on
February 1). As many of you may know, it is often confusing and stressful
traveling in a country where you don't know the language. Please pray for
patience and calmness on my part during all my flight transfers within
India. I will be staying by myself in Kolkata (Calcutta) the first night
before I meet my contact that will escort me the rest of the way to
Shillong. Pray that I can find the hotel (I'm serious)!!
* Please pray for health-this is a huge one. India is one of the "worst"
countries for food-related illness and I have been known to have stomach
issues in the past! Some big issues: safe drinking water, sanitary
conditions, spicy foods, etc.
* Please pray for safety, especially for travel outside the town-outbursts
of violence are not uncommon in the region I will be going to, although
Shillong is usually calmer.
* Please pray for adaptation to the culture/lifestyle. Because I am the
only American in the setting I will be working, it will take patience and
endurance on my part to really "fit" in and to understand different cultural
practices.
* Please pray for Amzad DeCruz and the rest of the staff of SoFMEDA. They
have been praying for me daily in their staff meetings. Pray that I will be
of help to them and that my skills and knowledge would be beneficial to the
farmers and women that I will be helping.
* Please pray for Wadli's family who I will be living with for the next 4
months. They have 2 sons. Pray for great fellowship and relations with the
whole family.
* Pray that God will guide me and make it clear what my daily tasks should
be and pray that I will be open to whatever comes my way! Please pray that
I will enter the community without preconceived notions and stereotypes-this
is really important. I really want to interact and live with those around
me, not as a "tourist."
* Pray that God will give me ministry opportunities and teach me how to
relate and interact with the poor. Amzad DeCruz is a fulltime missionary as
well as the director of SoFMEDA and he has several opportunities for me to
be involved with his ministry.
* Finally, please pray for me not to get stressed out, as I will be working
several days out of the week as well as taking 3 distance classes for my
graduate school. These classes are research related and involve the
community/ministry I am living/working within.
Update#2
Hello ALL!!
I made it!
Sorry it's taken me so long toget out this first email from INDIA!! It's
very difficult to find time and a place to get on the Internet.
Well, as you can guess I arrivedsafely in Shillong. I have to say, thatmy
first impression of India was Kolkata (Calcutta.) I cannot even describe to
you the poverty andchaos that is everywhere. As my parentscan tell you I was
so overwhelmed and shocked that I woke them up in the middleof the night
hysterically crying after my taxi dropped me off at a hotel---right in the
middle of everything. Iwas a little scared and shocked to say the least.
Until you see with you own eyes the poverty,it is not as real. I mean, my
wholegraduate program focused on poverty in the third world, but it never
really sunkin until I saw it with my own eyes. InMumbai (Bombay), the slums
seriously start only a few yards from the runway atthe airport and stretch
on forever.
I arrived in Shillong on Thursdayevening last week. The drive from
theairport was not very long by kilometers, but it was pouring rain so the
windy,mountain roads were all flooded and there were potholes everywhere! So
it took us about 4 hours. Shillong is located in the mountains and isvery
hilly-the buildings are all built into hills-it's beautiful. I absolutely
LOVE the people and have beenlearning so much about the culture and way of
life here. I am living with a Khasi family (Khasis arethe main tribes from
Meghalaya-the state I'm living in). The family is wonderful - Neem, Wadli,
Robbieand Hananiah. They have really made me apart of the family (although I
feel like they are waiting on me hand and footsometimes!) I know that's how
they showhospitality but sometimes I feel bad that they cook every meal for
me (and theybuy special treats and cakesthat they wouldn't normally buy!)
Also, there are many people fromdifferent tribes that come from the
surrounding states that live in Shillong(there are many colleges and
universities here). Most of the people I've met are either Khasi,Naga or
Mizo (or a mix). All thedifferent tribes have their own languages, but most
people know English aswell. Especially in this city:everything is in English
because that is the common language of all thetribes. The church I will be
going to iscalled the City Church of Shillong and they have welcomed me with
openarms. I've never felt so embraced beforein my life! The first Sunday
they had meteaching Sunday school (of course they only gave me 5 minutes
warning!). I taught a group of girls that were in theirfirst year of
college. Most of them livein a hostel that is run by the pastor of the
church. They were so sweet and Ihope to continue to be involved with them.
The church service is all in English because all the tribes of the regionare
represented in the church. Theworship is AMAZING and I am so excited to be a
part of the ministry of thechurch the next few months. From now onI'll
probably be teaching younger children-2ndand 3rdgrade this week. So you can
definitely lift that up in your prayers. You can lift up the whole
church---they havesuch an incredible ministry in the city. Over 300 children
attend Sunday school each week-many of the childrencome from surrounding
schools and their families do not attend the church. The pastor is so
nice---he's already had meover for dinner twice and during church he must
have shared about me being therea half dozen times! (He even called meup to
ask the blessing on the offertory.) There are a few other Americans that go
to the church---there is a YWAM(a Christian missionary group) office in
Shillong and they all go there.
My work with SoFMEDA is goinggreat as well. There will soon be apicture
posted on the website of the staff (if I can figure out how to mail it!)We
start every day with a devotional which is great. There are only 6 staff
people (including me)so it is easy to get to know them all! Some of the new
things that I have foundout about the organization: they work mainly with
marginalized tribes that donot have their own state. (Most tribeshere do:
Nagas from Nagaland, Mizo from Mizoram, etc) Because they do not havetheir
own land, they are often excluded from receiving many resources,particularly
financial services and they are often poorer than the othertribes. Also,
SoFMEDA works withchurches that are located in all the different regions to
identify people whoare in need of help. I have heardstories of how the
churches here have been so blessed because of thisinvolvement and one of my
jobs is to visit some of the churches and clients tosee how their lives have
been impacted. Sadly, I have learned that SoFMEDA is having really bad
financialdifficulties. Unless they find some morefunding, they will not be
able to continue their work with the poor here in theNE. Because they are
the onlyorganization really offering this type of help, it is so important
for them tofind funding. I'm going to help themwith this---I've already
helped complete a grant proposal, which was quite anexperience. We did it in
3 days(compared to the months it took me to create a hypothetical grant
proposal ingraduate school!) I'll also create some promotional material for
them as well aswrite up a dozen or so "success" stories and case studies of
different clientsall over the NE-World Relief will be able to use these.
I'll be traveling with the staff to visit thedifferent tribes---some of the
places take at least a day to drive to because ofthe geography and lack of
roads in this region. For the month of September I'll be mainly in the
office with a few tripsto close clients, but I have to wait to visit the far
away areas until I getspecial permission from the government. Some of the
states in NE India are not open to foreigners unless aspecial permit is
granted. So pray thatI will be able to get all the permits needed!
I am happy to report that I havebeen COMPLETELY healthy! In fact, I
feelbetter than I usually do at home. Thisis quite a difference from the
constant health problems everyone told me I wouldhave. SO you all must be
great prayerwarriors!! Keep praying for my health...itis so greatly
appreciated. I love youall and miss you! I'd call and talk withsome of you
but it is soooo expensive. The last phone call to my parents was only about
12 minutes but it costalmost $10! But that's ok becauseeverything else
over here is very inexpensive comparatively.
I will write again when I have achance.
In HIM,
Sarah Grace
Kumno!
I hope you all are doing well. I'm sure you've been wondering what I've been up to! I've been here for 6 weeks now---about 11 weeks to go! Today I am sitting in my room--there is a "bandh" in all of NorthEast India which means that no one is supposed to leave their homes. All stores and transportation are shut down. This happens every once in awhile in protest of different issues in the region. I am now living in a new place....the other living situation did not work out unfortunately. I believe I will be moving into a hostel in a couple weeks.
I'm writing to ask all of you to pray for me. It has been difficult for me to adjust to being so far from home and in a totally new environment.
There's a passage in Luke when Jesus sends out the 72 workers to do His work. Something that never struck me until now was that they were sent out in groups of 2. Jesus knew that to be effective they needed fellowship, accountability, and from my perspective--someone with common goals and with a common understanding of what was going on around them. As you all know, I came to India by myself. God has been teaching me ALOT in this time of aloneness---however, it is often difficult and I really long for another American to talk to. I also think that because of my homesickness and isolation--Satan is really trying to get me down. It is only God who can give me the strength to resist!
Up until this time, I have only been working in the office of SoFMEDA. This has involved a lot of paperwork, and data entry to try to organize their system. It doesn't sound very exciting I know---but I know that by helping them with this work, they will be able to be more effective in thier work with the poor in the long run. I always remind myself of Romans 12:1-- everything that I do is a sacrifice to God---and He considers it as worship.
Whether I'm sitting at a desk or out visiting clients. Starting next week, I will be traveling in North East India with the staff of SoFMEDA to visit clients. I am helping to document some of their stories and seeing how being involved with SoFMEDA has changed thier lives. I am looking forward to getting out of the office too!
God really provided for me this past week--I was feeling quite down--homesickness, the lack of anything "familiar" and the stress of getting all my schoolwork done. I was also lonely--what I wanted more than anything was an American to just talk to. A good friend prayed for me, and that afternoon an American girl checked into my hotel. She has been in India (in another region) since January---and has been all by herself as well. She is a Christian---and she was an answer to prayer. Although she was only here for 4 days, it was great to have someone with a common background to talk to---fellowship, encouragement, etc.
What I have learned: That I am incredibly weak when I depend on my own strength--that's why I need to rely on God!
Please pray specifically:
- That God would strengthen me and give me the endurance and perseverance to make it to the end!! Seriously---this is so important. In my weak moments I just want to come home!
- For my health--I have been fairly well--but the cold weather has given me a severe cold and cough.
- I am moving into a hostel in a couple weeks--pray for a smooth transition.
- Safety--there were some large bombings and shootings in the region this past weekend.
- Safety for travel in the coming month.
- For some new friends I have---that I can share my life and my faith with them. A few of them are Christians, one is Hindu.
- For the Sunday School class I think I will begin teaching-- 5th grade.
- That I would overcome "culture shock"!
God Bless,
Sarah
P.S. Please remember that I am now receiving mail at the new address.
Attn: Sarah Hidey
C/O SoFMEDA
Zoram Villa
Opposite St.Anthony's Gate
Bomfyle Road
Shillong 793001
Meghalaya
INDIA
November 10, 2004
Finally!! Another update!!
The last time I wrote things were pretty rough...and I just want you to know
how grateful and touched I was by all the prayers, cards and emails of
encouragement I received during those weeks. Thankfully, a few days after I
wrote my last update, God completely changed my attitude and my hard time
adjusting--it was almost like a miracle. And since that day I haven't cried
once. I have really adapted to living here---and now I'm going to be sad
when I leave (although it will be great to be home for Christmas as well.)
It's really amazing actually---it just goes to show you the power of
prayer---and that was by all of you!
Well--I am LOVING it here now and time has flown by SOOO fast. I can't
believe I only have about one month left. Here are some of the things I
have been doing:
I attended a World Vision conference on what churches should be doing to
provide HIV/AIDS relief and development in NE India---that was really
eye-opening and a great experience. I met Dr. Jayakumar Christian, who I
have read about A LOT in my classes at Eastern---it was so incredible to
meet him. One of my professors at Eastern talked about him a lot--and about
his writings on the spiritual side of poverty.
I moved to a new location---and I absolutely love it. I am living in a
compound that used to be for Baptist Missionaries a long time ago. There
are a couple houses here and a boys' hostel. I live with a woman, Attola,
who works for the Baptist Women's Convention and also helps run a Christian
girls' hostel-- Lydia House. She is so much fun and we get along great. One
of the women I work with, Apona, lives right next door, so it has been a lot
of fun being here. I have had the opportunity to speak at the boys' hostel
(Tyrannus Hall) that is right next door to me and at Lydia House this past
week. They are all college age students---and their response was so
incredible to see. Several people drop by my house all the time now to just
talk with me about my experiences, etc. This Saturday they are having their
Advanced Christmas--and they invited me so I'm really excited. They put on
two programs and have dinner--lots of singing and skits. Apona has a pig
that she's been raising ----it's HUGE---and they're killing it on Friday for
the festivities. I told her I wanted to watch them kill it ---apparently
it's quite a process---although I will probably be a vegetarian after seeing
it!
Another highlight of the last few weeks has been the new Sunday school at
which I have been teaching. It is located on the compound where I live and
it is for neighborhood children. There are so many of them---they are
mostly really poor and most are Hindu and don't know too much English--so
it's really an outreach program. Apona and Attola started this Sunday
school a while ago because they wanted these children to have someplace to
come. Some of these children can't even go to school (school's in India are
not free---you have to pay.) Apona often buys some used clothing for the
children---but they need so much more. Their hope is that a seed will be
planted in these children's lives and that one day they will understand the
love of God. The difficult part of Hinduism is that they think Jesus is
just another one of their gods. So it's hard to really know if you're
getting the message through. This past Sunday was World Sunday School Day
so I was their guest speaker. My message was quite simple (since, again,
English is difficult for them to understand--they speak Hindi mainly, but
that is not one of the well-known languages here, so the classes are always
in English mixed with Hindi mixed with other tribal languages.) I told the
story of the lost sheep. This Sunday I will be giving the message at a
Fellowship of mostly college-age students for their morning service. I'll
be talking about being ambassadors for Christ. Many of the people there
just got back from an evangelistic camp--so they asked me to speak on
something related to evangelism.
On Monday I'll be going to Tura-- about a 12 hour drive (through windy,
bumpy, steep roads) for four days. This is an extremely poor area in
Meghalaya--in an area called the Garo Hills. We will be meeting with some
clients there. Please pray for safety and health!
I will be finishing up my graduate classes in the next couple weeks---yeah!!
As of Dec. 10th I will be finished! But I have three big projects that I
have to complete before then--and I REALLY need prayer, because one is
really difficult and the other two are just time consuming. Please just
pray that I make the time to get the work done.
I am also finishing up some assignments for SoFMEDA--mainly the promotional
materials and client stories I have been putting together. We have been
traveling to different villages around this region for the past couple
weeks--day trips and that has been really eye-opening to the way of life
here.
Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement--I don't think I've ever
felt so loved and supported in my life!
Blessings,
Sarah
December 14, 2004
Dear Friends and Family,
It's hard to believe that I will be leaving Shillong in two days. Time has really flown in the last month! It will be sad to leave, but I'm so excited to be coming home...especially in time for Christmas. I would love your prayers for safe travels: I leave Shillong on Dec 16th, but will be traveling for one week before flying out of Mumbai on the 23rd. I'm almost at a point that I'm so tired and exhausted that I just wish I was flying straight home...but my travel plans are already in place. I'm sure I'll see many of you when I'm home. I'll be in the US until Feb 1st when I leave for Zambia.
This last month has been filled with completing all my projects for SoFMEDA. All the promotional materials and client impact studies are complete! Also, as of last Friday, I am officially done with graduate school and have my MBA! I'm so happy to NEVER have to go to school again- I'm ready to be done with all the reading, studying and paper-writing that my life has been filled with for the last six years of college and grad school.
So to end my four month experience in India--I thought I'd share with you some of the things I've learned, some of the things I've done the past month, and just some of my thoughts about the last few months!
1. I am so sick of rice!! I've eaten it several times a day for the past months, and I think if I never eat it again I will be just fine!
2. I LOVE masala chai (it's just tea with milk--but mixed with the tea leaves are lots of spices: cinnamon, bay leaf, ginger). My host, Attola, makes the very best tea I've ever had. And this is coming from someone who has HATED tea her whole life!
3. I will really miss the children here: they are so precious. Even the poorest children, who can't even afford new clothing or to go to school have a glow around them. They are just like all the little children in the US---they love to play, sing, and run around. And they don't even realize that they lack so many of what we consider the basic necessities.
4. Teenagers here are just like teenagers in the US---they like the same music, movies, and they even dress the same! When I spoke at several hostels---the girls always wanted to know this: 1) Have I ever met any celebrities? 2) Do I have a boyfriend? 3) When I want to get married! - I think all teenage girls in the world want to know about boys and movie stars!
5. So many people here are struggling to just provide enough food to feed their families---and it's not because of laziness or bad choices---they have full time jobs that pay them nothing, and they have lived in poverty their whole lives---it's almost impossible to break free from this cycle.
6. There are SO many loving, compassionate, innovative people here who have brilliant programs and ideas to target poverty---but they just don't have the funds to implement the ideas. I think about how easy it would be to raise the funds in the US.
7. I have a new favorite food that I will have to find somewhere in the US when I get home: Naan and Chicken Kurma. YUMMM. I get it for lunch a couple times a week! I've also eaten some really weird and gross stuff: cow spleen and eel are two of them. And I think we've established that fermented bamboo shoot does NOT agree with my tummy!
8. To my surprise and delight, my host prepared a big Thanksgiving dinner for me and all the neighbors (of course, there was no turkey or pumpkin pie) but it was so nice!
9. I went to the PETRA concert that was held in Shillong last month. For those of you who don't know Petra-- they're a Christian rock group that has been around since the 70's--and they're still winning Grammy and Dove awards! Shillong has NEVER had such a huge concert as this-- and you would have thought they were hosting the Olympics for the hoopla the whole region made! It was an official event-- even the Governor spoke, and there were about 20,000 people at the concert! It was so fun for me because Petra was the first concert I ever went to when I was young. Then to make it even more random: I ended up meeting the band and the other people traveling with them (my white face stuck out in the crowd)--and then showed them around Shillong for the next few days. It was so nice to have some Americans to hang out with after three months without seeing any!!
10. People here are so generous: My suitcase is completely full of gifts from people I've met. Gifts of traditional shawls from different tribal groups and the traditional skirts the women wear are taking up most of the room! But they are gifts I'll always treasure. I just have to remember the story behind each one!
11. One thing I will NOT miss: the windy, bumpy roads. I don't think anyone could not get sick riding on these roads!!
11. Being one of the only Americans in Shillong, I'm always the "special guest" everywhere I go, and people want me to speak at different functions. It's been great to have such a warm welcome to share about my life and why I'm here. I don't even have to look for opportunities to share-they always invite me!
Please continue to pray for SoFMEDA-- their future and especially as they start doing some new work-- they will need a lot of funding.
Also, pray for the children in the neighborhood Sunday school--- these are the really poor children who are predominantly from Hindu families. Pray for ways that they can be sponsored to go to school.
Pray that there will be continued economic opportunities for the people in NE India to create enough income to be self-sufficient and to provide for their families' needs. Also, NE India has a lot of militant activity that affects a lot of innocent people. Pray for their safety and for resolution to all the political issues.
I can't wait to see so many of you when I'm home! And to eat pumpkin pie and hear all the Christmas music and be able to sit by our Christmas tree!
I'm so excited!
God Bless!
In HIM,
Sarah