If you've been following the blog for awhile, you'll know about Avalanche Camp near Ooty, but for those of you who are new I'll give the whole picture!
Avalanche Camp is actually run by Scripture Union and Raj has been involved in it's work ever since the beginning. When I first arrived in India, we decided that if I did nothing else, we'd make sure I got to head down there… so this past Thursday was the day!We got on the bus at 10:30 PM Thursday night and drove 9 hours to a little piece of Paradise! Unfortunately, our bus seats were the five back seats and the speed bumps on Indian roads are like little mountains when hit at high speeds (which, of course, they are every time!)... Despite that, I did sort of manage to sleep until the COLD woke me up! What kind of Canadian am I? It was only like an early September evening, but when you're used to Bangalore's heat, it was a shock. But so worth it.
We got into the truck after a couple hours rest in Ooty and started winding our way up and then down for about an hour and a half into the jungle on these crazy rutted roads – I was sure my insides were going to become my outsides at any moment! Just when I was sure I couldn't handle anymore jarring, Raj said it was time to get out and walk – apparently the roads thus far were quite GOOD in comparison to what they were going to become and it was best for us to walk!!!!
Honestly though, Paradise is about the only word I can use to describe what Avalanche is like. The mountains all stretch imposingly up, blanketed by rich jungle with a huge reservoir lying in the bottom of the valley. The earth is rich with a hundred shades of reds and browns and there are all these waterfalls tucked away like jewels waiting to be discovered.
Our purpose for the weekend, as The Fishermen Trust was to blend training and ministry. There was a group from an International School there for a camp, so Raj ran activities for them while Nandu, Michael, Dinesh, and a Scripture Union Volunteer named Glen did training with me. It was really good to be in a 'camp' atmosphere again and I was given an opportunity to share at the Campfire the second night.In so many ways it was an inspiration to see the land that the camp is located on and to see what God has done there – but it also challenged us with the question "Where is the land that we will build on as The Fishermen Trust?" Please pray with us as we seek this piece of property.
My time is drawing to a close so quickly! The next couple of weeks are going to be jammed with office work and more day trips out for training as well as a sort of assessment of the guys' Instructional skills. It's going to be busy, but I'm loving every minute of it as well!
