Sunday, September 30, 2012

INDIA!!


We are in India!! It was quite the journey.  We had a very interesting entry into this country and it brought on a bit of culture shock, but Praise the Lord everyone is healthy and doing well. 
We took 2 flights via Singapore and landed in Chennai. We met our contact for the 2nd city we will stay as he came to meet us in Chennai and help us navigate our place to stay. We were brought by Taxi (suv) to a small church.  On our way we took in the sights and sounds and smells of India, including coconut stands, random cows standing on the side of the street and cars,  tuk-tuk (auto rickshaws) and people everywhere.  At the church we were greeted by giggling youth group girls and jelly sandwiches and orange pop. We were exhausted and waiting to find out where we would be staying. 
We were then told we would be staying at the church because they were unable to find us a place to stay. The girls from our team slept on grass mats on the floor and we were given a small room with a slat bed to sleep. Out our door was a squatty potty/shower (you basically hover over the squatty with a small bucket of water to pour over yourself.  It was unbelievably humid and dirty and we got eaten by bugs but we were humbled at the excitement and hospitality we were shown. 
The next day we found out that our train tickets for the train we were meant to take had not been purchased and there were no tickets left.  Our contact for our 2nd place was able to arrange a mini bus to take us to his town where a train could take us to our destination. It was said to be a 3hr journey by mini bus.  Mini bus for 24 people, luggage piled on top, enough said.  The journey ended up taking 6 hrs and including one squatty potty break and a flat tire (which was miraculously changed rather quickly with the aid of my intelligent hubby)
We boarded the train to take the 15 hr journey north to our destination. Thankfully there were beds and we were able to sleep most of the journey.  I have to say I was impressed at my ability to use a squatty on a rocking train. 
Once in our destination we took a CRAZY tuk-tuk (rickshaw auto) ride with our luggage.  It was insane but also fun! Our city is so chaotic and packed with people.  We are very thankful that we are staying at a pastoral care center that is a little tucked away off the street. It's quite and a nice respite for us in the craziness of the city.
We have water a few hours a day and electricity a few hours a day and thankfully throughout the night so that the ceiling fan is working.  We are in a single room with a tiny back room and a bathroom where we take cold bucket baths.  The weather is hot and mostly dry and although it’s the rainy season there has been little rain. The food is SPICY and that is an understatement.  It has been challenging for the kids but we have found pediasure (a kids supplemental drink) that we are using to help out.  We are mostly eating vegetarian with little protein and on Sunday there is a little chicken served. 
There are next to no foreigners in our city so we are quite the spectacle when we go out. People are always staring and wanting to take pictures with our kids or us. It is overwhelming at times but the kids are handling it well. 
We have spent our first days here braving the markets to buy traditional Indian clothes, a few necessities that we were unable to bring and cleaning supplies to make our home ours. We have been zooming around in tuk-tuks and have been waiting to get permission to enter the hospital and we are hoping our first day there is this Tuesday. Our leader said the reception at the hospital was very positive compared to years past and they were greeted with smiles from usually non-smiling madams. They were happy to see we were back and we are ready to get in and start training and working and delivering babies! 
We have definitely been experiencing culture shock. (aside from Bruce who is used to it from living in a similar situation in Cairo, Egypt) It is chaos… although it seems to get a little better every day.  I am hoping when we start working and knowing our area it will get better. 
We definitely appreciate prayers as we settle, for favor with who we share with and serve and for safety as we navigate this culture unknown to us and for health for our kids and our team.  We are excited to see what God will do with our time here and we are expectant that he will show up in a great way. 
Thanks for following this journey with us.. we will update as we are able.  Please feel free to email us we would love to hear from you. mrandmrswilkens@gmail.com  you can also leave comments here and we will try to answer as soon as we can. we do have internet access on our iPad and although we have a hard time updating this blog there. we are connected to FB and email on a daily basis.  We also have Skype but no Facetime.
Blessings!! 
waiting at the Singapore airport
Bus to take the train

Bruce assisting in the tire change of the bus
Auntie Briana had some goldfish sent to her from the states.. The kids devoured the entire bag down to the last crumb!

our first tuk-tuk ride!

Bath anyone?

Mmmmm Samosas

When in doubt drink a Sweet Lassi (yogurt drink)

sleeping on the 15 hr train ride


my first Tailor



some kids we met wanting to practice english

India does this to a person.. Zzzzzzz

duck on a motorcycle? He was a good sport letting us take a pic

Tuk-tuk rides

Pizza hut! (dont get to excited.. it was Indian spiced pizza)

Josiah and I running in a circle with some school girls from the nearby school

Noveena (a relationship from a previous year. we visited in her home and she cooked for us)
outside her 2 room apartment

she taught me how to make chippoti. I didnt do so well.lol
tuk-tuks lined up outside the entry to where we stay

Bruce in a drama we performed at a local park to tell people about Jesus. 4 people gave their lives to Jesus that day!


Friday, September 28, 2012

India!

We've made it to India after quite the journey! We just got connected to the Internet, we will update hopefully soon! Thanks for the prayers. Please continue to pray as we transition. Thanks!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

and we're off!!

We are currently sitting in the airport in perth ready to take off to India!! We covet your prayers as we travel as it is quite the journey!! We fly tonight for 5 hrs to singapore have a 4 hour layover and then another 5 hour flight to a city in India. We get in there at 9am and then stay the night and leave the next day at 4pm on a 10 hr overnight train journey to our final destination. (if you want specific details you can email or leave a comment).

we are sorry we have been out of touch! we have spent every waking hour finishing homework, packing, sorting and cleaning for this journey! we have a few days to get settled so hopefully we can update more then!!

we have lots of excitement for the next part of this journey! looking forward to delivering my first baby!!!

lots of love!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

photo of the week

Nothin' better than hanging out with cousins!!! We miss you already!

Josiah got a chance to star in a little short that was created by some students at YWAM. I am so proud of our little star! He did great! Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

touching base

Hi so sorry for the lack of updates lately!! We are in a packing frenzy! we will update soon!!!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

photo of the week

things like this in Perth winter crack me up. I should have widened the frame of this photo to show you the people walking by this sign wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts at the beach for the day. they may want to work on their marketing a bit! lol

Sunday, September 2, 2012

long awaited update...

Hi There!!
sorry we have been MIA!! it has been a busy few weeks for us and we have been busily working on putting together our newsletter to send out. I was looking for a way to post it here but I am not sure that is possible. please email us at mrandmrswilkens@yahoo.com if you would like to receive the actual newsletter but I can try to post what is written here.
here is an excerpt from the letter:


Hello!! We are writing with great excitement of what God is doing in our lives and the lives of those around us! We have spent the last 9 weeks as a class learning and exploring God’s nature and character as well as learning how to be a God fearing midwife! Lots of anatomy and putting doll babies through pelvis models and practicing how to give great prenatal and postnatal care. And we are excited to start putting into practice all that we are learning. 

Time has been flying by and we are preparing in less than 3 weeks to leave to our first outreach location of India! We will spend 12 weeks in India and then move on to Tanzania for 3 months between mid-December and mid-March. Then we will go by train to Zambia, our last outreach location, for the last few months. During this time we will be working in government hospitals alongside staff, sharing in the overwhelming workload they face each day, oftentimes without enough equipment or medicine to properly treat patients or even save lives. We hope to walk in humility, to gain experience in midwifery and to educate mothers on how to prevent problems in labor and delivery including life-threatening dangers such as hemorrhaging. But most importantly we will be sharing the love of Jesus by bringing hope to desperate situations. 


We have been struck by the statistics of pregnancies in these developing nations. The very idea of pregnancy runs contrary to what we experience in America and the first world. Pregnancy for most in the developed world is a joyful time of expectation as parents wait for the arrival of their new addition. Mothers in developing nations often wait in fear as they will have known someone whose delivery ended in death of either the mother, baby or both. It is a reality they cannot ignore. 

600,000 women a year die worldwide in childbirth. Four million newborns die within the first month of life. When a woman dies in childbirth, her newborn baby is less likely to survive. Most maternal and newborn deaths are caused by the mother’s poor health before or during pregnancy or due to inadequate care in the critical hours, days, and weeks after birth. An amazing 90% of these deaths can be prevented through bringing education to the mothers and through training healthcare workers to know what to do to prevent this. We are not naïve enough to believe that we will not experience the loss of some of these precious women and newborns. We have heard the stories and seen the tears of those who have gone before us. But we are struck with God’s heart to fight for the lives of the least of these. Even if its one mother or baby at a time. Our family has been given an amazing opportunity to be a part of fighting for these lives and to be a part of sharing God’s love to some of the poorest women and children on earth. 

We would love to partner with you in prayer as we go into these areas. We will be updating our blog with stories of what we are encountering and the work that God is doing. We are looking forward to this time with anticipation and excitement.

Here is also the YWAM promo video for the Birth Attendant School if you haven't seen it.  (just so your aware, It does have a sensitive scene concerning an newborn that did not make it.) Its a great video though and its filmed at the first hospital we are working at!
http://youtu.be/KK1pmSWZ2RU

Blessings!! 


our team of students and staff (minus one student)