Another Unforgettable Journey to the village and a Funday!!!

The trip to the village was wonderful.  Never before have I been on a train that clean, that smooth ( compared to the usual Sri Lankan trains..not to British trains!! ). I slept longer than I have ever managed to on a train and I was also more comfortable, what a wonderful start to the trek East!!!

We went to the village on motor bikes, my friend who is here loved the journey through the paddy fields and wilderness.  We were able to visit the other side of the village this time and we welcomed very warmly into several yards and given drinks and a small chat. There were some husbands who had come back that I hadn't seen before, so it was quite nice to meet them and their whole family.
We also had a nice time with some kids in the afternoon, most were practising for the Christmas concert later in December, so we saw them later also and were able to have a mini-pre-concert, which was nice.
I realize that there are quite a few differences now in the village now that I have gone round it all, but I feel God just telling me not to modify the vision, but to keep it, keep working towards the same goal and not changing anything out of fear or out of wanting to not get into too much trouble or trying to fit in with the people who are working in the church there now, but also not to go off on a tangent and try and deal with things that I am not to deal with, ie the snake man!!

Kids running home as the skies have just opened !!

The weather there was amazing.  Never can I remember a time when I haven't sweat a river, or when I felt a breeze there, but this time, the breeze was so strong it could easily be called...wind... unheard of!! And it also was raining a bit also. It was wonderful!!

It's nice to be able to go back to the village and just revive the old acquaintances and just be a familiar face there again.  The church workers seem to only function in the church building and in church peoples houses, so there is still a lot that I can do there seeming as I tend to be working with the non-Christian folk. I was wondering when I saw the four new workers there what there would be for me to do.. but now I can see that with this situation in mind, most of the village still needs me to be there. So that is good!!!

I actually had a translator this time. Well... I had arranged for him to come with us when we would go see the people and everything, but he just wanted to watch the concert practise and hang out with his pastor friends there... interesting. Ok then!!!

We were going to get the train back in the morning... but late in the evening I was told that all the trains from Batticaloa were on strike for three days. Interesting. We were Thursday evening I had to be back on the Saturday for a Funday. 'It's ok' the guy said 'just take the bus in the morning, it's quicker and it's good.' Well there didn't seem to be another option, so I said great. I don't take the bus because I get travel sick.  Since then...the time when I was oblivious to the realities of such a long bus trip,  I have many more reasons for not taking the bus!!!

It all started out fine.  The bus was packed, but we managed to get two seats.  As we raced down the roads I didn't actually feel sick or anything it was wonderful. After a couple of hours we seemed to be going rather slowly in fact so slowly that... we had finally stopped... the dream journey...had come to an end.

The bus had broken down. After several failed attempts at getting anywhere we all squished out of the bus and waited by the side of the road for another bus.  Buses heading to Colombo would race by, not hearing our little whimpers wanting them to stop!  After a little while another one came, everyone piled on, my friend not used to the 'pushing' that is done here got further and further away from the bus door and finally the bus left with no room for us in it, so we waited for another that came shortly after. Great!  We got on that one and managed to get a seat also... but after a short while... this bus also broke down. The driver wouldn't give up though so we chugged along for a bit but then came to a halt and again all got out in the blazing sun and waited quite a while for another bus.

 Finally one came. But it was packed full. Not packed as in all the seats are full, but so packed that there was practically no where to stand either. I had no idea how long it would take us to get back. But we stood at the front of the bus, I was trying to stand on this ledge thing which had a few bags and things on it limiting my space somewhat and meant that I could only stand on one leg at any time and usually was bumping into the woman sitting behind where I was standing.  The driver of course not caring about my precarious situation dodged and dived in between all traffic, on coming, whatever... he was having a fun time, we were not...
I looked out through the window to see if I could recognize anything, stupid move, my head hit the side of the window with another of his bad driving moves.. ouch..!! Suddenly an emergency stop was required as we found ourselves on the wrong side of the road with a lorry right in front of us and the lorry on our side didn't let us past so ... we all lurched forward.. just one of the many many many times...

You can never lower your guard... you have to be constantly alert otherwise you get thrown somewhere you were not intending to be thrown, you can step on people... you can fall... you can hit your self on something...  so for 4 hours I was hanging on for dear life wishing that we would nearly be there...and then despair fell.. I saw a sign... still more that 60 kms left.. at the rate we were going in this traffic... it was going to take forever...  I looked back at the people in the bus... most were sitting... sleeping... They were so so lucky!!! They had no idea of the pain it was to be standing for all this time being jerked, my insides were feeling like loose change being shook around in a  money box.. How people who had paid the same amount for a ticket... had such different experiences of the journey!!! I wished someone even if just the last five minutes would be generous and kind and offer me their seat...just for a little while and then I would gladly give it back... it never happened....
What should have been a shorter journey ended up being a much longer, much more uncomfortable, much more tiring,  an unforgettable... incredible...unforeseen... horrible experience.

 I think that I am going to stick to trains... if I can that is....

Needless to say that we did get back in time for the next morning though it was difficult to get out of bed in the morning.

The Funday was great. We had about 30 kids come.  We had games and songs on the beach which was not too hot and when it started to rain we did the story in the shelter outside a friends house and continued.  We had David and Goliath story told and acted out with the help of the kids, testimonies from a couple of leaders, the gospel shared and again at the end all the children put their hands up to receive Jesus, so that was great and we were able to pray with them.
There were also a few onlookers, including one Buddhist lady who I was told usually is quite angry but she watched the games, we gave her a snack also and she came back to listen to the story and everything, so hopefully she went away with something extra and further conversations can be had with her also as she seemed quite happy with it all :)

the Funday

One of the leaders enthusiastically demonstrating the game!!

 For a little break we spent Monday at the Elephant Orphanage :)

Pinnewala

Buddhist wedding by the elephants