#2 Pakistan.... Where'd That Day Go? I Want It Back!!

Dear Fellow Travelers,

I had been fascinated by watching the monitor on the airplane that showed our route.... we fly over Ireland, England, Copenhagen, then bend southward, over Istanbul, the Tigris river, then comes Mosel, Kirkuk, Mesopotamia, now Bagdad., Fallujah and Najaf we continue along the

Tigris river...we're 865 miles from Dubai where we will change planes and on to Lahore, Pakistan....flying further southwest towards Kuwait and across the Persian Gulf....where we find Dubai perched along the shore...

This Emirates airline is kind of fascinating... we're flying on a super jumbo plane - an AirBus 300 I think it's called.... two stories on the inside. We're down in coach class but I've been told that upstairs in first class there are tiny little individual bedrooms! But even down in the belly of this beast, it's a beautifully appointed airplane! I'm particularly fascinated with the star lit ceiling.... it is lit with tiny pin point star lights that gently changes from sunrise to evening sky using a wash of lights.. .... In the morning, the tiny points of star light in the ceiling are washed with sunrise soft pinks and lavenders and the side interior walls are washed with golden light... as if the sun has risen..Then as evening falls, the colors gradually fade to deep evening blues then to inky black with the tiny pinpoint stars shining through. The uphoslstry on the seats is the softest soothing wavy patterns of dove gray, coral, lavender, sage...

We arrive in Lahore about 2 am and are met with a HUGE line to get through customs, people crowded- their fronts touching your back - their luggage bumping your feet; jockeying for position to get in front of you.... we're all pretty loopy by this point... a suitcase is lost.. we leave the airport and are met by Cheryl (Dean of Students at Forman Christian College) with a big smile and two vans to carry us and our luggage.. We drive to Forman Christian College and are stopped once at a check point - guards with guns, the guards crane their necks to look inside at us.. when they see we are westerners, they wave us through and we arrive at FCC about 4:30 am..... bleary eyed and ready to drop! It's dark and misty can't see anything but we stumble into our house and drop on the bed and to sleep!!!

Blissful sleep and then up again at 9 am... so about four hours of sleep. This morning we took a walking tour of the Forman Christian College. The students look like students everywhere except they're wearing uniforms with the boys wearing ties. Some of the girls wear the traditional and beautiful Shalwar Kameeze. They glance our way shyly and we say Good Morning! They smile and answer politely in English.

Next went for a formal visit with Dr. Peter Armacost who is the Rector (President) of the college... He was formerly the President of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg! So we feel a Florida connection with him. It was a good discussion of the current conditions here at Forman. I think I already mentioned that this college was founded in the 1800's by Presbyterians but as part of a political turmoil, it was taken over by the government about 1972. It was under government control until around 2003 when it was returned to the Pesbyterian Church.. During the time of government control the buildings and grounds were taken over by squatters and the educational program was in shambles. Dr. Armacost was the person (along with many members of the faculty and staff) who led the charge to return the campus to a place of top quality education.

After lunch outside with students, we attended a beautiful regular Friday chapel service. After the worship service, we had a unique opportunity to have some quiet conversation with a group of Christian students.... what an experience that was! The young people spoke so eloquently of the challenges of being a minority in Pakistan. Most Muslims had never known Christians as intelligent, educated people... only as serving people of a lower class. Forman College provides an opportunity for Muslims and Christians to learn side by side.... and also women and men to learn side by side.... both are very unusual in Pakistan. It was delightful to hear of the friendships between the two faiths that have developed. Christian's made up only 2% of the population.

You may have noticed that you haven't heard from me since that first email.... I've had quite a hard time with my Outlook Express and have just now figured out an alternate way to send emails! So now I should be back in cyberspace! I've spent so much time trying to get reconnected that I'd neglected my journaling for two days! Now I'm going to get back into the swing!!

The Pakistani people are incredibly welcoming and hospitable! We are safe and happy!

We've had a very full day today and it's now almost 11 pm here.. so I've got to get to sleep and be ready for tomorrow's adventure!

Godspeed to each of you and many thanks for your prayers and your love that is being sent to us!

jean

By the way.... food is wonderful and tea (chai) is outstanding!

#1 PC to Pakistan

Our first task in approaching

another people

another culture

another religion

is to take off our shoes

for the place we are

approaching is holy.

Else we may find ourselves

treading on another’s dream.

More serious still,

we may forget

that God

was there before our arrival

~ Author Unknown

I wanted to begin this journey with one of my all time favorite quotes... it's written on a piece of paper that lives on the cluttered mantel above the fireplace in our home. We often go into other cultures with some grand idea of what we might do for "them".... that they might need us...... but I've discovered after making a fool of myself a few times in Honduras that it becomes "them" that show me the way.... that the things I learn from others (no matter what their religious beliefs or traditions) are far and away more valuable than anything I could possibly "do". I've been asked many times before this trip about what we're going to "do".... I struggled to answer that questions and today it just came to me in a way that made sense for me... I'm just coming to listen, to smile, and to try my best to understand..... just simply to learn.

For those of you who have "cyber traveled" with me before... this is a very different kind of a trip, more than just an adventurous vacation. My interpretation of our goal is to observe, become friends, to learn what God is doing with the Christians and the Muslims in and around Lahore, Pakistan. Reminds me so strongly of the verse that our incredible pastor, Loli, used as the theme of her sermon right before we left.... From Micah if I remember correctly..... is basically says... What does our Lord require of us? To do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.... that seems like a pretty fantastic theme for our time on the other side of the world! Mmmmmm, guess that's a pretty fantastic theme for our time on this side of the world too! :-)

Also, before I get too far into this ramble, I want to confess that I am feeling a good bit intimidated by the fact that there will be college professors and real writers (that have even published books!) and theologians and pastors and all sorts of very, very smart folks reading my babble!! So just realize that I write like I talk.... fairly randomly! If ever you get sick and tired of me going on and on, all you have to do is push delete and it wont hurt my feelings a bit.. in fact, I wont even know it!

So, here we are! Left Plant City about noon time today and drove to Orlando, then on to NYC (2 hr and 45 minute flight) where we are right now.... It's about 9 pm and our flight leaves at 11 pm.... Then the very strangest thing happens!!! We just lose a day or maybe two!! Here's the deal, we leave here on Feb 9th and arrive in Lahore on Feb 11th! Of course, for me this doesn't even make good sense! Actually I'm a little annoyed because I feel like our time is cut short!! Plus on the way back it sure doesn't seem like we slow down and add a day or two..... who knows... guess all I really need to know is that I'm getting on the plane and when I get there, there I'll be!

So the flight from here to Dubai is 12 hrs and 30 minutes.. then we change planes and fly to Lahore which is another 3 hours... So roughly 18 hours of air time.. not including the sitting around waiting time!

We are traveling with a group from Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.. they are Gaylen, Allie, Jennifer, Staci, Tom and Dave. We've only met each other one time before so it should be a good time getting to know them as well! Our leader in Pakistan is Cheryl Burke who is the Dean of Students at Forman Christian College. So now if I can just remember to do what I said in that first paragraph which is to "LISTEN".. for those of you who know me, you know that's not always easy!

Special shout out to our friends at Florida Presbyterian Homes in Lakeland, Florida.. They are the inspiration for this trip..... there are four or five retired missionaries to Pakistan who live there and it's their stories that have inspired John and me to go. All the residents there are very special to John and to me!

Another special shout out to our grand children, Alivia Sage and Wellington.... the light of our lives!! And to our children that are all grown up - Maggie, Kysha and Jonathan. We love you all SO very much!

One more special shout out to my parents.... they are the ultimate travelers and are the ones who have inspired me in hundreds of ways... it is because they have taught me to go and explore that we began these journey's at all.. without them, I'd be home watching Oprah and eating bonbons! ;-) The only thing that would make this trip better would be to have the two of them with us! So here's to you Poppa and Grandmama!!! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Ok.. I could get carried away with the shout outs!

We've got about 130 people traveling with us via email so if you hear of someone who has accidentally gotten left off the list, please, please, please let me know and I'll add them right away! I've tried to be so very careful to get everyone straight but the old brain sometimes works better than others!!

See you on the other side of the world!!!

Blessings to each of you and many thanks for your many kindnesses and prayers!