Putting out a feeler!

Come on, everybody, its Christmas time, festive time all over as we get to prepare for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  What better way to do this, than to spend time with the poor and the needy. After all our Lord was born in a stable, and spent a lot of time with the poor.  As we prepare for a bigger spree, Whispering Hope decided to take a look at a real poor village in Andhra Pradesh.  Named Vijaya Lakshmi Puram  and tucked away near a sea shore, it was a perfect setting for a lazy Sunday morning. 

The parishioners of the little church there were so happy to welcome us and after the Sunday mass, a small treat of Choco Pies, fruit cake and mango juice was given to the people.  The Church itself was so simple and the only possessions it appeared to have had was a Crucifix, a fan and a microphone system.  The collection box was a rusty old tin and that's the first thing I want to replace when I go next.

Pictures of our time out are in the album and will give you and idea of what a good time we had.  Our sincere thanks to Rev. Fr. Dhanraj for inviting us, to Julie and John for volunteering to help.  Our warm thanks to Guruvaiah for the loan of his car and Rafi for driving me around and last but not least our heartfelt thanks to Elizabeth Pereira from Melbourne who so kindly supplied the goodies to distribute. Thank you one and all!

Box of Hope

Hope is something that we all have within ourselves. Hope gives us the strength and courage to carry on, despite our trials and backward slides. And when the needy receive a box of Hope, they rejoice.  Please join the untiring efforts of Gavin and Juli Route as they take on a herculean tax of preparing 500 boxes of Hope for the poor and needy, mainly at hospitals and in villages near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Please take a look at the colourful Notice put up in the Flikr album.

Gavin can be contacted on +91 9551055000 & +91 8754928777 and also on Face Book - Gavin Route & Juli Route.

Little things

Collecting used clothes or toys and distributing them to the little people that we come across, always warms the heart and we love doing this.  Take a look at the two little girls where the bigger one shows off her new clothes.

So, come on people, give a hand and send some used clothing, shoes and toys for the little people.  We are waiting!

And its Birdie time!

When we feed the birds of the air, we can be sure that the Lord who sees everything will bless us and provide us with all that we need.  Every morning its a ritual for me to feed the pigeons with grain. 

Its so strange to notice that even the birds follow the seasons of the year!  During the summer months, they pop in around 6am for their daily feed and as the days turn colder, they come in a little later and once the winter sets in, they come only at 6.30.  Guess they take their cue from the sun who rises later in the mornings when its cold.

From the photos, you can see them lining up on the building next door, watching and waiting for me to get their feed ready. And once this is served, they binge on all that they can and have a good feast.

I love my feathered friends and hope they keep coming regularly.

A treat for the Boys

When two or three join hands and pitch in their mite to do some good, you can be sure that its for the best. And here we have, three women - Pikul Chomduang from Thailand, Bridgette Kumar from Bangalore and Anita Mawdsley from Chennai - strangers to each other but known to me (Anita is my sister, Bridget a close friend, and Pikul a Thai colleague) and a young man - Pavan, also a colleague who contributed to the first Christmas program of the season.

50 boys and a handful of girls were treated to a variety entertainment program at the Infant Jesus' Boys Hostel in the first week of November.  Crunchy Chicken, egg puffs, cake and juice was distributed during the event and then it was time for gifts!  What's Christmas, without cake and presents!!

An enjoyable time was had by all and the highlight would have been the two young brothers - Boogie and Boonie - treating us to a dance special!  Their mother Surekha also encouraged the hostel boys to do well in their studies and forthcoming exams.  I must say that it was well worth the time and effort put in by Whispering Hope.  Our photos in our album tell the story.