Shrove Tuesday

FISSH
Originally uploaded by waterlooHildreds.

Last night was Shrove Tuesday. Dianne made us camping pancakes (just add water) and bacon. When I was eating I thought that I should have snapped a picture for a blog, but I never.
The substitute fish is from the ad that we had at the American school for the Fellowship of International Students Sharing Hope group that Dianne, Ben, Joel and I are participating in. We went to a new meeting time, right after the Delhi International Christian Fellowship service, and we have had an increase in attendance. We have been doing a 5 week series on disaster and this week we had Barry Mackey, regional program manager for Habitat for Humanity International and a leader at our church talking with us about thousands of homes that habitat for humanity will be building as a result of the tsunami. Barry has been in India off and mostly on since 1965 and is a very deep guy. He knows Walter and Barbara McLean from our church, and his wife Ann has family in the Waterloo area. Dianne and I spoke to Tim for a while on the phone last night, and he is thinking of being a relief worker right now. Barry is a guy that I would like Tim to meet.
Since Lent is a time for deepening, I will share my hope that the experience of India would some how make me a deeper guy. Victor Frankl says, "A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the "why" for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any "how." I guess that my deepening has already been measurable on that yardstick. I certainly have experienced affectionate waiting by all of us. Dianne, Ben and Joel and I have really being relying on each other and come to know one another in a way that I don’t think that we would have in a year at home. People on both sides of the globe can testify to my “unfinished work” getting the expert level customer support delivered from India. On that front Srinevas, Amit and Manas installed a 4.1.5 system with no help from Waterloo and very little help from me. This is the system that they will primarily be supporting. They have been learning it with a self-guided study program. We are looking forward to participating in an Indian wedding tonight.