Samadhan Residency Mumbai (Bombay)

Well finally we're here - and finally I've had time to write some news. Our first impressions are too much to write in such a short time but here's a few quick thoughts. Noisy - there is a constant orchestra of tooting horns, reving engines, bustling people, and sellers of all sorts of things. The crowds are immense. There are literally people everywhere. People on the roads, people under bridges, people in cars, people in buses, people hanging out of buses, people jumping on and off buses wh...

It's been about four days here in Mumbai and I'm slowly getting used to the place. My first sights were of the airport which was under renovation (interesting bamboo concoptions), and the cool taxis, which look like life sized matchbox cars. Church on Sunday was great, the congregation grew as time went on during the service....sound familiar?! Some short testimonies were shared, which was encouraging. Lunch after church was cool, was a good way to mix and mingle with the members from Paul's ...

After 4 days in Mumbai, my prspective of the place has changed sooooo much. We are staying at Hotel Samadhan Residency which is just minutes away from the slums where we work. Our stay is quite comfortable. Good food is available next door. We start work around 9.30 in the mornings, walk down to the slums and meet up with Solomon and Florence. To my surprise on the first day I found out that the community we were working with were mostly Tamil speaking and this made it very convenient for me ...

This entry covers Friday and Saturday - our last two days of work on the two projects we have been involved with. The ladies finished their slum ministry on Friday morning surrounded by dozens of smiling children - especially happy as they were receieving new shoes which we had decided to buy them. This was suggested by Solomon, the man responsible for ministry to this community and hugely apporeciated by the children. No fuss over colour or stye - just appreciation of what they were receivin...

It was great to arrive at church and see the nicely painted walls and some new security grates that had been installed after we left on Saturday - the whole atmosphere of the place felt better. Our worship leader was a Chinese man called Andrew who speaks fluent Hindi. He works with Interserve in Mumbai and is full of passion for God - the music was great. The service was then handed over to our Kiwi team and we sung the national Anthem, a few of our BBCC worship songs, and then handed over t...

I've been on a train in Mumbai and lived to tell the tale!! This morning Alistair and I went to the city with Paul on a train - something I never plan to do again!! I'm told that 20 people a day die on India trains and I'm not surprised - it's absolute chaos with people hanging out of the doors, sitting on the roof, and inside crammed in so tight you can hardly move. When the train stops the crowds push and shove their way on and off - it's not for the fant hearted. On arrival at Grant Rd sta...