My friend Claudia explained this retreat, but I thought I'd give my point of view. This is my second post about retreats, but I have forgotten to explain to you the purpose and meaning of our Young Adult Volunteer retreats. As volunteers we are all based at different "placement sites" here in India. Some of us may be close in distance, but we all sleep, live, and work in different places. One four-day weekend out of each month we all get together for a time of prayer, relaxation and reflection. It is a great opportunity to process what we have been experiencing at our sites.
On the 26th of October, we all headed to our wonderful program director, Thomas John Achen's house. It was a holiday called Diwali (which is called Deepavali in Kerala). Deepavali is the "festival of lights" and is a holiday that celebrates a story in the Ramayana about Rama's return after years of imprisonment. It is not the most popular of Kerala holidays, but some places celebrate it with a BANG of fireworks and lights that make the streets light up at night.
We took our time relaxing at what we all fondly call "The Aluva house". It has become our second home. I got to join Betty Kochamma, Achen's wife, and his son Binu for their Christmas choir practices. On Friday our time was reserved for Bible Studies, conversation and group processing.
We spent almost all day long sharing. We are all encouraged to open up to the larger things we have been encountering this past month. We shared all of the wonderful things about our sites, and also openly shared about some things that are difficult about the cultural transitions we are facing.
It was also Betty Kochamma’s Birthday on Friday! We had a nice celebration for her with friends and family, great food and great music. Binu played some really some of her favorite songs. Achen fed her cake.
It was a really beautiful display of family love. Achen and Kochamma have opened their lives and their homes to us and so many volunteers before us. Thomas John is a caring and insightful mentor who really continues to challenge each volunteer to critically understand how we can serve God here in Kerala.
Betty Kochamma is a loving and compassionate friend to all. Each time she smiles or laughs it brightens the room. She is also the best cook in all of Kerala. We all miss her food each time we leave the house.
Binu is a professor of History at UC College. He is very knowledgeable on the history of missionaries in Kerala, so knowledgeable that he wrote a dissertation on it! He is intelligent, energetic, and a very musically talented member of the family. They called him the "Indian Bob Dylan" in college because he can play the harmonica and guitar at the same time and sounds a lot like him!
Binu also has an older sister named Reeba who lives in The United Arab Emirates with her husband Subash and their three beautiful daughters, Zaira, Neha, and Alicia. They visited us during the beginning of our YAV orientation here!
I am so grateful that we are now a part of their extended family
-Rachel
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| Photo Credit: Claudia Brown |
We took our time relaxing at what we all fondly call "The Aluva house". It has become our second home. I got to join Betty Kochamma, Achen's wife, and his son Binu for their Christmas choir practices. On Friday our time was reserved for Bible Studies, conversation and group processing.
We spent almost all day long sharing. We are all encouraged to open up to the larger things we have been encountering this past month. We shared all of the wonderful things about our sites, and also openly shared about some things that are difficult about the cultural transitions we are facing.
It was also Betty Kochamma’s Birthday on Friday! We had a nice celebration for her with friends and family, great food and great music. Binu played some really some of her favorite songs. Achen fed her cake.
Betty Kochamma is a loving and compassionate friend to all. Each time she smiles or laughs it brightens the room. She is also the best cook in all of Kerala. We all miss her food each time we leave the house.
Binu is a professor of History at UC College. He is very knowledgeable on the history of missionaries in Kerala, so knowledgeable that he wrote a dissertation on it! He is intelligent, energetic, and a very musically talented member of the family. They called him the "Indian Bob Dylan" in college because he can play the harmonica and guitar at the same time and sounds a lot like him!
Binu also has an older sister named Reeba who lives in The United Arab Emirates with her husband Subash and their three beautiful daughters, Zaira, Neha, and Alicia. They visited us during the beginning of our YAV orientation here!
I am so grateful that we are now a part of their extended family
-Rachel
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