Soul Touch

Gate-crashing India

October 18, 2007 on 3:16 pm | In India | 3 Comments

Since leaving home at the end of June and jet setting off to the land of Moz, with a crew of eleven other crazy Scots, life has been…interesting, blessed and a constant rollercoaster of emotions. Facing and overcoming a multitude of challenges including the authorities in Moz, running on the beach with Tim in Moz (trust me that was a challenge, the man is fast and mean!). Then, the possibility of being homeless (or hostel-less) in South Africa, arriving in Uganda in the middle of the night and having to persuade a taxi driver to take us on a road deemed “too dangerous” to drive on. Then as if that hadn’t knackered us out enough we had to endure a week of Englishmen/women, our tent flooding, crossing Lake Victoria on a fishing boat with no life jackets and they even made us jump off a crane. All of this before we even reached Dwelling places where the “Peace Child” extravaganza was set to take over our lives, our dreams, our speech and our thoughts; talk about Drama! Then at the end of all that we went to Kenya…Baaa! Yeah you all know the story. It was a whirlwind romance to say the least; we painted, sung, danced, laughed and ultimately cried when we had to leave.

So we headed for Israel- the Miami of the Middle East. There we were spiritually challenged, if not physically and we learned a lot. So back on the plane we waddled (seriously they have got food in Africa they just give it all to the Mazoongos).
We were warned of how thorough the Israeli securities were but nothing had prepared us for this. They emptied both our rucksacks. Lorna managed to escape with a brisk search but for some reason they seemed convinced I was hiding something…they even checked the under wires of my bras, all one of them! Eventually (after convincing them to repack it for me- they may have guns but hey we are cute) we landed in Cairo, where we dashed around seeing pyramids, camels and sphinx, smelling exotic perfumes -forced on us by Egyptian men- and at the end of it all we came out with very sore feet but hey at least they smelled sweet.

So this is where I think we are up to. And now we are in India…no wait a minute no we’re not we’re in Sri Lanka. We got our pretty little butts swiftly deported from India as we didn’t have “party invitations”,as Lorna would call them. Seemingly in India they call them Visas and you need them to enter the country.

So it would appear Soul Touch was ready to jump, crawl (at some points in the past two days we’ve even had to climb) over our first major hurdle; and what a blessing it has been getting over it. Before I continue breath out; it’s fine we are safe and feeling wonderfully blessed right now. After what has been probably the most exhausting forty eight hours of our mission so far we can proudly say we have lived to tell the tale. So here goes:

We left Cairo early after discovering (on our way to the airport) that in actually fact it was not Wednesday (the day our tickets were booked for) but it was still Tuesday. In our defense we were traveling in so many different time zones that really it was easy not get mixed up with what day we were on, or at least that’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Anyway Muhammad, our tour guide, new friend and a complete gentleman, spoke to Emirates on our behalf and changed the flights with no additional costs. However, it did mean that we had no time in Dubai and we literally rushed through the airport, flashing our UK passports (which it would appear nobody ever questions) and before we knew it we were in Chennai, India.

Now for the remainder of the story you must imagine a wonderfully Bollywood accent every time an Indian or Sri Lankan person is talking. It really is much more amusing and yes they do wiggle their heads when they talk; we are yet to discover why but it’s hilarious never the less and long may it continue!

So first Hoddit (Erica) approached the desk.
“Wer iz ur veesa,” an Indian gentleman seated behind a desk, masked by a computer screen asked as he shook my pink passport infront of me (thanks for that 3L2).
“I’m here to get one!” Hoddit replied, equally as confused as the irrate Indian. This had never happened before; when you arrive in a country you get a stamp..no? Then very calmly and quietly the gentleman gestured for me to stand to the side, beckoning Dottit (Lorna) to come forward.
“Eh excuse me. She is with me.” I stuttered, suddenly embarrassed, as Lorna was shooed over next to me. I was standing in the dunce’s corner! We stood for a while wondering why we were getting “special treatment” and then a man with a walkie talkie came and we learned why.

By this time the immigration office was completely empty and the hundreds of Indians who had once filled it had dispersed along with the few Mazoongos who had obviously planned for the party beforehand. We were led into a small room which was occupied by about ten men speaking, either English very fast, or another language. In either case their heads were bobbing ten to the dozen and the awkward glances they were making in our direction indicated we were in trouble.

The next voice to speak to us was all a bit bizarre and to be honest we are still waiting for a punch line. The way he delivered it, it sounded like a joke.
“Yoo can nut bee her.” He commanded, without so much as a glance in our direction.
Looking up for candid cameras I turned to Doddit. “What…eh? Is he being serious?” Both Lorna and I felt that this could not be happening to us. We were doing God’s work. How could we have messed up so badly? What would our families think? These thoughts plagued us but only for a short while. Within minutes we were escorted “out of India”!
“You can nut evan stand her,” we were told. So we didn’t; we came to Sri Lanka.

And so that is where we are now. Over the last forty eight hours we have tackled the monumental task of applying and eventually recieving an Indian Visa. It has been a long, slow, slow process but as always God has reigned supreme and proven more powerful than all authorities and fears. Not only has he done that but he has done it in a spectacular way. Lorna and I have been told at least one hundred times that there is no way you can obtain an Indian Visa in less than five working days. Infact it is “imposs-bubble”, “unherd of”, “it simpee cannut happun”. Oh but it has!

After being told to go away for the hundredth time and (literally) having doors shut in our faces we phoned the British High Commission. Yes it’s amazing how much strength, confidence and wisdom God gives you in these situations. Wisdom I certainly didn’t think I had. They in turn got in touch with the Indian High commission and within the hour we were sitting in the head office, with the main man: the deputy to the High Commissioner himself and our visas were being processed.

So we have another stamp in our little books and we have flights booked to go to Chennai tomorrow morning. There we will continue God’s work and meet with our dear friends who have been waiting patiently for us.

Finally thank you for all your prayers. They are powerful and today is a testimony that they re being answered!

Much love Hoddit and Doddit, the soul touchers.

Where’s Jesus at?!…

October 18, 2007 on 2:45 pm | In General | 3 Comments

Hey Soul Touch groupies! Now that Israel is back in the sunset and that India is on the horizan i would like to let you in on some of the experiences that i had in Israel. I knew that God had called me and Erica to go to Israel, it was the big one that God had boomed on our confused but willing hearts.

Everytime i thought of Israel I just saw the images of tanks, bombs, angry and terrified people! It seemed when we booked the trip to Israel, these images seemed to appear more and more in my face, nice one! I cry when i hear a balloon burst so i was asking God for that armour he asks us to wear, but to give me a double, double plated one!

First experience in Israel was the airport. My first thoughts were - ‘Quick, Lorna, take off your shoes - your going to make the floor dirty.’ It was a grand sparkling, shiny, shiny, shiny airport. When we went to the toilets i spent about 30 seconds just admiring the toilet seat and wait for it…there was a flush! It was such a difference to the whole in the ground, infested with big fat African flies that I’m sure have a laugh at landing on your face in such private moments. It almost brought a tear to my eye to know that it was just me and the toilet, the prettiest toilet i had ever seen. I really feel that this is going to break into a love story. I knew that Erica had felt the same way when she came out the toilet with a smile so big i could see her back molars.

Moving on from the toilet chat, I loved everything about Israel. There was no war, no rubble, yeah we seen soldiers with guns but my 2 day unbrushed hair looked scarier than them!. I thanked God for everything there which included the beach, the bathroom next to my hotel bed, my new shower towel every day and my morning ice coffee x 100.

But really, me and Erica felt weird. It’s kinda daunting when you know that you have been called to a place, yet there wasn’t a mission set out for us. I caught myself looking up into the skies or looking out to the sea to see if God was going to bring a miracle sign to me! But no angels or walking on water Jesus in sight I realised that i should just exhale and know that God just wanted us to relax in His glory…with an ice coffee in my hand.

” Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest” ( Matt:11:28)

It was exactly what we needed straight after our work that we had done in Africa. Erica couldn’t even sleep her pretty head down at nights because she was so excited at the rest on the beach the next day!

God did reveal himself in a big way when we were in Israel. During our stay we booked a couple of biblical tours. On our tour to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher our bus parked on the side of Mount Zion. I don’t know why i was expecting it to look like a volcano, but it was just a ordinary hill! I knew then that this visit was going to bring me into the bible’s realism. I was standing on the hill where Moses met God, i was at the Hill of Calvary where Jesus was crucified and buried and i was at the wailing wall saying my prayers. There was no dancing angels or holy lights flashing but God reminded me that Jesus was put on the same earth as me, living a life just like mine. He didn’t get any special treatment - he was persecuted, treated worse because he loved us more.

I saw many people at these places crying and mourning for Jesus. At the entrance of the tomb where Jesus was buried, Dave - our tour guide, came over to us and pointed to the sky. He said, ” This was where Jesus was lifted up into the Heavens!”

I looked up and felt my knees go weak. Its hard to describe how a ceiling painting made me feel but one of the emotions I felt was joy! I went into the tomb with a smile on my face and came out with a bigger smile! Nope i definately didn’t find him in the tomb, I didn’t find him on the cross and I didn’t find him in the courtyard. I found him in my heart.

John 14v18
“When I go, you will not be left alone; i will come back to you 19, In a little while the world will see me no more, but you will see me; and because i live you also will live. 20 When that day comes, you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me, just as i am in you.”

It doesn’t matter where you go in the earth, whether it be the slums in Africa, The Church of the Holy Sepulcher or even your cosy bed, if you search for Jesus in your heart you will find him with you. He’s asking you to ask, seek and knock and all things will be given to you that you need (Luke 11: 9-13) It may have been the 112th time that you read that passage or the 1st time but i think it is important to highlight that there is no limitation of what God can do for your life…note that he says ‘For everyone who asks’. Thats you he is talking to. And if your not knocking at his door then he’s knocking at your’s!

Rev3v20
“Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, i will come in and eat with them and they will eat with me.”

God is never far away from us, infact he’s never away from us. You don’t have to go Jesus hunting in Israel, he comes to visit you! But i am glad i visited Jesus’ hometown, met his neighbours and visited his local breadshop. It really did step me into the bible.

You will be reading soon about our experience of being deported from India to Sri Lanka! me and Erica gatecrashed India without a party pass also know as a little thing called a Visa. It is one of my biggest testimonies by far and i hope that you enjoy reading Erica’s story on what happened.

Now we are waiting for our flight to India tomorrow. We will be entering their country!There’s no stopping the Soul Touchers….except when we don’t have Visa’s.

Big hugs and another Lorna xx