Final Thoughts

Well, after two and a half weeks we are heading home and I have some time to think about our trip. First of all, we didn’t really have the best India experience. For one, we never were just tourists in Delhi and I never was one for just sightseeing. I much prefer to live with someone, experience life together, eat their food, ride their bikes, ride their buses and just experience their culture. India drove us crazy with all the pass port checks. I think it is the only place in the world where you can’t get into an airport without a ticket in your hand. When we arrived today at the airport in Siliguri (Bagdogra) the army guy wouldn’t let us in without seeing our itinerary. Then we get in and 5 ft later there is another army guy who wants to see our passport and itinerary. Then when we go upstairs to go through security, there is a guy who wants again to see our boarding pass etc. Then literally, 5 seconds later another guy comes up to us and we show it again. Then 1 minute later, after we snake through the empty isle ropes, there is yet another army person who wants to see our documents. Then we show it two more times through the security check where they stamp them. I won’t bore you with the rest of the checks but you get the point.

This drives us all crazy so on the way to Siliguri, Nathan Rieger has a direct flight to Bagdogra. The plane finally lands and Nathan is ignoring all the loud speaker rhetoric like a parent tunes out their noisy children. Nathan places his boarding pass in his seat pocket and gets off the plane and once more, they want to see his boarding pass. At this point, Nathan is totally fed up with all the document checks and basically tells them that they don’t need to see it “one more time” and that he left in on the plane and walked passed them.

He collects his luggage and proceeds to hail a taxi and asks the driver if he knows were “the Marina Hotel” is. The taxi driver nodes “Yes” and Nathan climbs in. Finally, after driving in circles, Nathan realises that this guy really has no clue. He looks directly into the eyes of the drivers and states emphatically, “YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE THE MARINA HOTEL IS...DO YOU!?” of which he hangs his head low and sheepishly mutters “No.” “But for 50 rupees, I take you back to airport!” he pronounces. Nathan told him that he is not getting one more rupee from him (he already paid him 240rs), left the taxi, slammed the door shut and started walking.

He has a GPS on his phone and heads towards the direction the GSP is pointing him too. As he looks closer at the phone, he notices it says “600 kms” of which he mutters under his breath “stupid electronics...600 kms.” He then sees a sign pointing to Calcutta of which he thinks, “Wow, there must be some kind of super highway to Calcutta to Siliguri for there to be sign pointing to it. Then he started to get an inkling and asks a guy where Calcutta is and the guy pointed towards town. Getting a little more worried he asked another person where Calcutta is and the man said, “Calcutta...2 kms...that way.” Nathan then said, “Oh No! I am in Cal-Friggin’-Cutta!” (I think that might be the more sanctified version). “I am in friggin’ Calcutta!”

Well over the next 24 hours, in Calcutta, he shared some stories over a roadside fire with a homeless guy, had a pint with another group of people, hung out with some Russians, and challenged an American woman who sold Nuclear reactors to China. So while he made good use of his time he was out about $150 and one day late. So the moral of the story is, pay attention to the rhetoric, and show your boarding pass when asked.

While I am writing this, I have passed all the security checks and am sitting at my gate. Now they announce that we all have to leave this area and line up outside the gate area. Yep, they once again, before they let me back in, check my documents, make me take my shoes off, scan them and scan my “carry on.” Another wasted 20 minutes. I think this last one pushed me over the edge for India. It has left me with a bit of a bad impression. Also, I tried to get onto the internet. I try for a half an hour, and to make a long rant short, after they get me to add my credit card, the “Verify by Visa” page times out and there is just no way to get on. The problem - yep, all that extra security layer. The charge is 60rs or $1.20 and they have a couple extra layers of security for a $1.20 transaction.

My advice to those wishing to fly to Nepal is to go through Hong Kong and Bangladesh and avoid India. There is a saying the India is an acronym for “I Never Do India Again!” After the Visa hassles and the crazy security checks and the airport, hotels and even obtaining a phone SIM card, it is definitely good to say I did India once.

I loved Nepal and its people. The acronym for Nepal is “Never Ending Peace and Love” and that has been my experience. While they also seem to have multiple roadside checks, they seemed to be very quick and non-intrusive. Over the last 13 years, the number of churches has grown from 1 to around 24 in the Himalayan region with more plants ready to spring up. There is a genuine work of the Holy Spirit at work here and most seem to be started by miracles and power encounters.

The main purpose for me was to go to Kathmandu, Nessing and Gatlang, as that is where I have always been drawn to. It was a good experience and we needed to see how the relationship will develop. Communication with Kathmandu will be the easiest as pastor Raju speaks English fluently and is good with email. The Nessing and Gatlang first language is Tamang and their second language is Nepalese. They have very little grasp of the English language. Raju is in regular contact with them so what we are going to attempt is for me to write those two in English and Raju will read it to them. Then they will email me their response. They want to know what our needs are so they can pray for us. They also want to share their needs and would like us to pray for them. River City Vineyard has been supporting the Himalayan Vineyards for over 10 years now for $200/month.

At the conference, I met another man named Shem who was a pastor at Kathmandu and is going to do more work up in the Nessing and Gatlang area amoung the Tamang people. I feel that there are a least 4 more churches that need to be planted in that area and I feel he is instrumental in that endeavour. So we will have contact with him too and work on building a relationship with him.

Sometimes is seems like a lot of money is spent and maybe it is not worth it but I have been assured by the people, who have been visiting here for a while, that our face to face visits and our relationships are very important to the people and the work God is doing here. My flight cost me $1,700 and I spent another $900 on travel, paying for the Nepalese people who travelled with us to Gatlang, and for food and shelter. Raju asked me to think about bringing a team of people to Nessing to bring hygiene, teaching and friendship to these people. So those reading this blog, pray about that if it might be you.

So we have entered the next phase of a journey with Nepal and the Himalayan Vineyard Region. I ask that God blesses the work there and blesses our work at River City Vineyard and all the Canadian Vineyard Churches. Thanks for reading my blogs and being part of this journey with me.