We left Mumbai (Bombay) on Saturday (June 2) and flew into Bangalore where we were met at the airport by Mohan, husband of Janice (nee Faszer). Janice taught music for a number of years at Hebron. On Saturday night we had the pleasure of visiting with Janice & Mohan and staying in Sathanur at Door of Hope, a boys home that Janice's parents, Allen & Hilda Faszer began and have run for about 40 years in India. It is pretty amazing to realize that some of the key workers at the home are men who initially were "brought" there themselves to live. On Sunday morning, I shared my testimony as part of their "fellowship/church." Afterwards, they were glad to view some wedding pictures on my laptop. Sarah got a really nice picture of this activity!
From Sathanur, David & Annette Faszer and family drove us to Jungle Retreat on their way back to Ooty. We stayed two nights at Jungle Retreat - yes, it is just what the name implies. After making our way through the Banipur National Park - complete with monkeys, deer, elephants and tigers - we came to a beautiful retreat/resort place just outside the park. As we drove through the park we did see a nice elephant, even a tusker (though we didn't see a tiger). Sarah and I spent two nice days and nights at Jungle Retreat, enjoying our bamboo hut, the incredible scenery of the Nilgris ("Nilgris" means blue hills), and some pretty good Indian food! The only disappointing part of Jungle Retreat was that the swimming pool was not filled... something Sarah was really looking forward too! We did get to dip our feet in the water while it was filling Tues afternoon and look up at the Nilgris around us and admire God's incredible creation in that part of the world.
Eventually on Tuesday evening - after waiting not-so-patiently for the taxi that was coming at 4:00 pm but didn't arrive til 6:30 pm - we drove from Sathanur to Ooty, up the 36-hairpin turn road and up to an elevation above 7,700 feet. We arrived at Farley, a Guest House currently run by the Faszer's, where we would stay for the next 10 days while in Ooty visiting Hebron International School. Hebron is the school where Sarah served as a dorm parent and religious studies teacher, first as an intern (1998-99) and then for four years as full-time staff (2001-2005). Sarah's mom (and uncles) attended this school as they grew up. The purpose of our trip was for me to see this part of Sarah's life and get to meet as many of the people who she had invested in during these years and to meet those who had also invested in her and became lifelong friends.
MORE TO COME....
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