Christmas at Shalom

The boys woke early, excited about the day's activities.  Everyone was given a new shirt and a pair of jeans as Christmas gifts from the students at Kenmore State School in Brisbane.  As you can see from the group photo below they looked wonderful in their new clothes.  They then went to church and performed some dances as part of the service.  An extra surprise was that 3 of the boys who previously stayed at the Shalom, turned up at church and asked if they could spend Christmas with Israel and the boys.  It was so lovely that they wanted to spend Christmas with their Shalom family. Muthusiva had to go back to work the next day but Manoj and Divagar stayed for a few days and had lots of fun playing cricket with the other boys.  After church it was off to lunch at KFC (see seperate post) rest and games in the afternoon and then for dinner they feasted on Briyani cooked by Pastor Daniel.  I'm sure everyone slept well that night.

Early morning on Christmas day with their gifts

Babu modelling his new shirt and jeans

The boys from Shalom  in their new clothes.  No longer orphans, now proud young men and future leaders.

Special Christmas Lunch

Christmas Day was full of surprises and lunch for the boys was a special treat indeed.  They were invited as special guests at the opening of Madurai's first KFC store.  It was all arranged by a friend of Israel's.  The Mayor and other dignatories were there to take care of the official side of things but the boys had the honour of being the first ones to taste the food.  They were each given a huge feed of chicken, fries and soft drink and the Mayor gave them each a gift of pens and pencils as a Christmas gift.   Everyone went home with very full tummys.

Pothi, Rasu and Joshua enjoying their first taste of KFC

Israel with the Mayor and other dignatories

Babu flanked by photographers from the local newspapers

A group photo taken on the front steps of KFC

New Clothing for 40 Widows

This year we were able to bless 40 widows with new saris for Christmas.  Widows in India are seen as cursed and in some cases their own families will throw them out of the house.  Most of the ladies who received our saris are elderly and desperately poor.  They probably only have one or two saris to wear.  You might think that a new sari won't help change their situation... it won't.  But for these women who have suffered so much hardship and rejection, even a simple gift like this, is an expression of love that shows them they have worth and value.

Ladies from Pastor Daniel's church shopping for the saris

Pastor Daniel presented the saris during the Christmas Day service

The happy widows holding the bags containing their new saris

Tutoring Program Christmas Party

Just before Christmas Israel held a Christmas party at the village school for the children who attend our evening tutoring program.  It was a fun night with people from the village gathering around to listen as Pastor Daniel shared some Christmas stories.  Santa even put in an appearance.  There were plenty of cakes and drinks to share around and every child went home with a pencil case filled with pens, pencils and sweets. 

Pencil cases, pens and pencils ready for wrapping

The older boys helped sort and wrap enough gifts for 60 children

Smiles were in abundance as the children waited to receive their gifts

Pastor Daniel and some of our boys with their Christmas hats

Thank you to all our Australian friends for your Christmas gifts

Wow, I can hardly believe the year is nearly finished.  It's been a busy one for us at Shalom and we've seen lots of exciting things happen. I've added in the posts below some new photos of the planting work being done at the moment.  The monsoon rains were very poor this year so we'll be relying on water from our neighbour and our new drip irrigation system to keep everything growing. 

Vegie Garden Planting Underway

Today ladies from the village started planting the vegetable gardens with lots of tomatoes, bringal (eggplant), ladies finger (okra), chillies and other veryday items to help feed our growing family.  Once they've finished, the Agriculture Consultant will recheck the dripper flow rates and draw up a fertilizing schedule.  Hopefully when Geoff, Simon and I visit in February, we'll be able to taste some of the newly harvested vegies. 

Ladies from Erampatti planting vegetable seedlings

The New Fruit Trees Have Arrived

Would you believe there are more than 100 fruit trees crammed in here at the back of Israel's car?  80% of them are guava trees, with the rest a mix of mango, lemon and other fruits.  Planting will take place over the coming week.  He'll need to make another trip back to the nursery to buy the 40 coconut trees we're also planning to plant.

It's always amazing to see how much can get packed into the back of the car