Attention!!!!! this Blog Page needs to be read bottom to Top to make sense!

Hey Friends,
Please dont feel obligated to read all of this or even a large portion of this. It is a work in progress and I have created it mainly for my own processing purposes and to help me make sure that I am hearing what God is speaking to me through the events of my life.
1.)I started off writing how this trip all got started.
2.)Then I moved to a section of photographs and an article by a pair of journalists who joined us from the Rocky Mountain News.
3.)Then I moved into a seciton of photos with my own journaling.
4.)Next I have a section with photographs with quotes that I picked out that echo God's speaking to me through this trip.
5.)Then finally I have some photos with some of my journaling.

Please enjoy, dont get overwhelmed and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Overall my hope is that God is seen as the Powerful, Loving, Redeeming, Tender, Merciful God that He is through this page. For indeed He did great things during this two week trip and he used weak individuals that make up His Church and where His Church is so is the Presence of Jesus Christ; and Christ in His Church today is still doing the same wonders and miracles he did when he walked in his own human body.

Warren, Dan, and I are at Pizza Place in Pondicherry, India. There was a great conspiracy, we were looking for Pizza Hut but no one would give us directions, they simply told us we had to go to Pizza Place. Strange but true. Anyways this was one of our days off and the three of us enjoyed our pizza and dreaming about our futures and how God might continue to allow us to work together in the future.

This is my sister in law Theresa Thurman, she isnt a real doctor she just plays one on tv and when in India. She was awesome, she was pulling out teeth and comforting those who were fearful and worried. I was so blessed to be able to serve with her. She was a great gift to the team! 

This ia photograph of a temporary orphanage for all the children who lost their parents in the tsunami, we were able to play with them and talk with them about the trauma they had experienced 

I just had to take this photograph, you dont see this everyday in the states,an open manhole, how unsafe 

This is Johnson, we became quick friends, he is on Operation Mobilization (OM) staff and is getting married next year and is wanting to be a preacher when he finishes OM school. Please pray for him and all the OM staff who are continuing to minister in each of the 7 villages that we were in. After meeting the initial physical and emotional needs, they are remaining to minister to the spiritual needs of the people. 

This is a photograph of the entire Medical Team 

This a photo of the Dental Team, this included Sterilizing Team which I was part of 

Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things 'above all that we ask or think.
Andrew Murray

All Gods giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on his being with him!
Hudson Taylor

"Faith never knows where it is being led. But it loves and knows the One Who is leading. Oswald Chambers

He has set eternity in their hearts (Ecc. 3:11) If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.
C.S. Lewis

When Christ said, I was hungry and you fed me, he didnt mean only the hunger for bread; he meant the hunger to be loved. Jesus himself experienced this loneliness. He came amongst his own and his own received him not, and it hurt him then and it has kept hurting him. The same hunger, loneliness, the same having no one to be accepted by and be loved and wanted by. Every human being in that case resembles Christ in his loneliness, thats the hardest part, thats real hunger.Mother Theresa

Here is the mystery of our lives unveiled, we are loved so much that we are left free to leave home. The blessing is here from the beginning. we have left and keep leaving it. But the father is always looking for us with outstretched arms to receive us back and to whisper again in our ear, “You are my Beloved on you my favor rests”
Henri Nouwen 

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace! Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury,pardon. Where there is doubt,faith. Where there is despair,hope. Where there is darkness,light. Where there is sadness,joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek-to be consoled,as to console. To be understood,as to understand. To be loved,as to love; For it is in giving, that we receive; It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned; It is in dying, that we are born to eternal life.
St. Francis of Assissi

The word which God has written on the brow of ever man, is Hope.
Victor Hugo 

I still believe deeply that our few years on this earth are part of a much larger event that stretches out far beyond the boundaries of our birth and death. I think of it as a mission into time a mission that is very exhilarating and even exciting. Mostly because the One who sent me on the mission is waiting for me to come home and tell the story of what I have learned.
Nouwen  

At least to look back over their own lives, as I have looked back over mine, for certain themes and patterns and signals that are so easy to miss when youre caught up in the process of living them. If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think he speaks to us largely through what happens to us, so listen to what has happened to you-for the sound, above all else, of his voice.
Frederick Buechner

Long before any human being saw us, we are seen by Gods loving eyes. Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we are heard by our God who is all ears for us
Henri Nouwen

I do not agree with the big way of doing things. To us what matters is the individual. To get to love the person we must come in close contact with him, if we wait for the numbers, then we will be lost in the numbers and we will never be able to show that love and respect for the person. I believe in person to person; every person is Christ to me, and since there is only one Jesus that person is the one person in the world at that moment.
Mother Theresa 

People everywhere are the same; they are all people to be loved. They are all hungry for love.
Mother Theresa 

Behold , I have graven you upon the palm of my hand, that is what Jesus came on earth to do: to proclaim, to give us the Good News that God loves us, that we are precious to Him.
Mother Theresa 

People are hungry for something more beautiful, for something greater than people round about can give. There is a great hunger for God in the world today. Everywhere there is much suffering, but there is also great hunger for God and love for each other.
Mother Theresa

Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing you have received, fading symbols of honor, trappings of power, but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage
-Francis of Assisi  

at the end of our time he offered us some of his cocunuts, Dave and Gomathi(one of the OM workers) indulged themselves, I had a sip and realized my stomach was sick enough and didnt want to add anything else that might make it worse 

This is the same man from the previous picture, he is holding a picture of his wife. We spent 2 hours with him as he told us the story of how he lost his wife. He wept as he shared that as he was having breakfast with his wife and daughter the wave came into the house and then washed them out and separated them. He was able to hold on to a tree and watch as his wife, who was able to push their daughter to saftey but then tripped on the sari she was wearing and was overcome by the wave. I wish I had a photo of him at the end of our time. In this photo you can see the utter sorrow and lifelessness but after hours of reflecting on who his wife was and telling his favorite stories of their life together (which he had a lot, this man was passionate about his wife, it was inspiring!) and after we layed hands and prayed for him, he looked completely different. He also said something profound. He said people have come to help before you came, they handed out some supplies but you are the first to ask me about my heart and how I am doing. Then he said I am finally at peace. Yup thats our God at work! 

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems... But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldnt be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but you truly love them.
-Henri Nouwen

more destruction 

homes completely destroyed by the tsunami 

My friend Dan Kane, overseeing the cooking of the instruments. We spent many hours each day cleaning and sterilizing the instruments from surgery and dental. It was monotonous work, but we made the most of our time by getting to know each other better. 

a young child getting her open wound that had been untreated for three weeks since the tsunami taken care of by one of the nurses on the team 

thank God for digital cameras, the Indian peopel in the villages we visited loved to see their pictures 

The whole village ended up on this bridge, I have never seen such raw terror and fear in my life, for a moment I maybe experienced a small portion of what it must of been like that awful morning. I remember vividly the tears, looks on the faces and the elderly who fainted on the bridge from the physical experience and emotional truama. 

Singarathoppu might be a tad more jittery after a local official mistook high tide for an incoming tsunami. Panicked, residents of the village stampeded for a newly built bridge to higher ground.  

This is Dave with the boy the next day. When Dave arrived in the village he came running to greet him. The amazing thing is that when Dave prayed the Lord gave him the verse where Jesus heals the blind and says according to your faith you are healed, he prayed this silently. That same day Dan Kane had been reading this same passage, and had faith that Jesus would heal this boy. God was speaking to both of their hearts as they prayed for this boy, and God healed him.  

This is the same boy at the end of the day, with Teri the nurse. He was up on his feet and more than that he was playing with his friends, something he hadn't done in while. Lyn stated later to Dave that IV did little to accomplish this amazing turn around, it had indeed been a miracle.

This boy was dying of AIDS, his mother, father, & sister had all died form AIDS. He was brought in by his Aunt. He was limp, his breathing was labored and had signs of pnemonia grabbing hold of his body. The aunt was sure he was dying, and after checking him the nurse confirmed that this was very likely because of his condition and symptoms. She decided to give him an IV and hoped that would bring some comfort; so that he would be able to die as peacefully as possible. She asked my friend Dave Patterson and Dan Kane to pray for the boy, they prayed boldly for healing. 

My good friend Dave Patterson blessing the little children 

This lady and her husband told us the amazing story that she survived because her sari (Indian dress) got caught on the tree behind her, which enabled her not to be swept away but eventually rescued 

This woman had her baby boy ripped out of her arms, her son died and her husband left her. He blamed her for the death of their son. (her eyes speak volumes) 

more vivid reminders of the death and destruction 

there were many haunting images like this, a shoe, a sandal, a basket, that hit home the fact that many people were literally washed away 

Coming off a 30 hour long plane ride, with 3 hours of sleep the night before and a 4 hour card ride that day from Chennai where we were run off the road. We finally caught up with the rest of the team, and then were sent off to view the destruction. This is the first lady we came across, I will never forget her. She was sitting alone among the wreckage of her home, without family, without support, without hope just sittiing and waiting, not sure what for, maybe she is still sitting there now? I will remember vividly walking away feeling helpless. The redemption is two-fold, one many are praying for her as we have shared her story and photo with many, secondly from that experience we became much bolder in the way that we reached out to those who suffered, we would not walk away again without leaving a blessing from Christ. We learned to sit and hear stories, to hug, to lay hands on and pray for, and just to be present and allow Christ's Presence within us heal and comfort. She was instrumental in our future interaction with thr many suffering God would allow us to touch.  

These next photographs are ones that my Friend Dave Patterson, Myself, Or My Sister-In-Law Theresa Thurman took

Hundreds of fishing boats, like these in Nagapattnam, were left high, dry, and battered after being tossed about by the tsunami, more than 200 boats destroyed here, leaving hundreds without their livelihoods. Two men sift through junk floating in the water underneath the boats, trying to salvage what they can. (Judy Walgren) 

photograph goes with previous article (Judy Walgren) 

By David Montero, Rocky Mountain NewsJanuary 22, 2005

VELANKANNI, India - The man is sitting alone atop a heap of rubble, the ocean breeze creating an occasional billow in his white cotton shirt. In his hand, he holds a family portrait, the paper cracked like spider-webbing. He looks at it, and then points to two of the children in the frame.

Their names are David and Absissek. They are his 11-year-old son and his 2-year-old daughter. They are dead. And for D. Edward, their 38-year-old father, that's where the conversation starts.
"We were about to go out of the house, and that's when the wave attacked," he says. "The wave took them."

Attacked. That's the word used by most everyone when they describe the sheer force of the tsunami that belted the Indian coastline on the morning of Dec. 26. Attacked - as if it were a personal strike by the sea against them.
Edward, a Catholic, doesn't believe the ocean is a vengeful entity, but still, the tsunami felt furious to him. It was traveling close to 500 mph. It was tall. It was black, blue water darkened by sediment and sand picked up along its almost 1,200-mile journey across the Indian Ocean. It arrived and ripped through his house, knocking the walls down and hurtling his wife and daughter into a coconut tree.
It sent Edward through what used to be his back wall. He didn't know where it sent David and Absissek.

The conversation stops. Edward points past a pile of pulverized bricks where a slender slab of chipped concrete stands upright. The top has a small rope tied around it. Around the bottom lies a cluster of leaves, debris and, not far off, a Catechism. The cement is a piece of his house he took and planted there next to a coconut tree that survived. Looking closer at the makeshift memorial, there is a small mound stretching toward the sea.

It took less than a day to turn Edward's house into a cemetery.
Nearly four weeks later, he looks at his handiwork and wonders what will become of his life. He said he would go on, taking the memories of his deceased children with him until it is time for his own burial. In the meantime, he has come to his own rationalization.

"God gave me two beautiful children and I was blessed," he says. "Now God has taken them. They are in a good place."

Villagers sit near wrecked fishing boats in Singarathoppu. Along with treating physical injuries, the Dalit Freedom Network is reaching out to those suffering from emotional trauma. 

Although his sons survived the tsunami and he was able to save 20 others, R. Ellumallai weeps for his wife and daughter, who died. He told doctors he had a cough, but they quickly realized he was in need of grief counseling. (Judy Walgren) 

Fisherman Venkatesh pauses while telling how he lost his wife and one and a half year old son in the tsunami, and how he will handle telling his 4-year old daughter that they are dead and not just away at a guest house for a while. (Judy Walgren) 

Malini, mother of 2-year-old-Varsha, who died in the water surge, holds a photo of her dead daughter. (Judy Walgren) 

Tired women wait for help at the medical clinic in Kalapet. One physician from Atlanta said that many people are going ot the clinic are suffering from psychologial trauma (Judy Walgren) 

A man sleeps on a donated mat, surrounded by the few things he still owns after the tsunami took nearly everything from him in the village of Kalapet (Judy Walgren) 

January 17th-26th-This Section Is A Sampling of the Photography done by Judy Walgren and the Reporting By David Montero Both Rocky Mountain News Staff

Overview of our trip by Dan Kane

We visited 7 coastal villages in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu where we treated over 4500 people. Not all patients we physically treated were tsunami related, but we did see our share of tsunami injuries including broken bones requiring casting, open sores, infected lacerations, injured shoulders, wrists, necks, backs, hips, knees, and ankles. -

Besides addressing physical needs, many of the people who we treated were suffering from deep emotional and psychological terror from the tsunami event. Each day we heard numerous accounts from survivors who lost husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and other relatives. Some recounted how clinging to palm trees saved them while the devastating
waves crashed through their villages taking lives and destroying their grass huts or brick homes. Members of our team often ministered by lending an ear, praying with and comforting grieving survivors. -

Many of the people affected by the tsunami made their living by fishing. Due to the fact that their simple fishing boats and nets were either destroyed or significantly damaged, many are without a way to meet their basic needs. Relief efforts have provided some assistance, but because many of the villages we visited were located north of the heavy devastation in India, they are often out of reach of the large relief agency efforts. -

Many live in great fear of another tsunami coming without warning. One afternoon a false report that "the water was coming" sent the village into a frenzied panic as they ran further inland to escape the non-existent coming waves. Predominately Hindus, they believe the gods of the seas are angry with them and they don't know why or how to appease them. -

The Dalits or "untouchables of the Indian social structure" living in these villages experience even greater hardships. What aid does arrive in the villages is often taken by the high caste villagers. Members of our team witnessed firsthand acts of discrimination against Dalits. One evening, along with our Indian partners, Operation Mobilization India, we delivered household items (buckets, water pitcher and plates) to a predominately Dalit area. Obviously, there is still much work to be done. Thankfully, our partners with Operation Mobilization India, have committed at least 1 year of ongoing ministry to the villages we visited.

January 10th-12th-God establishes the four

I called Dave and let him know the good news that it would be possible for him to pursue joining us. Clearly stating that it would definitely have to be a miracle to work: He needed to get the exact same flights (3 of them) as us, need to get all his medical stuff taken care of, and get a visa for India, get everything together he needed for the trip and not to mention clear his schedule all in 5 days. God would continue what would be a trip full of God’s miraculous provision and power.

"C.S. Lewis wrote: '...modern people have an almost aesthetic dislike of miracles. Admitting that God can, they doubt if He would.'...

By Wednesday evening Dave was on board and God had provided means to lift him triumphantly over each ensuing obstacle. God had built our little team to four, we the non- professionals that would serve as support to the professional making up the medical team! Warren was actually in town from Virginia that night so the four of us along with Molly went out to dinner then back to Dan's house to pray.

God spoke to our hearts that we would indeed be a support, lifting the medical team up in prayer and holding them steady through service. we also felt the Lord reminiding us that as we do unto the least we do unto Him; we were going to be the hands and feet of Christ to the suffering and broken of India.

God had done it he had brought Dave, Dan, Warren and I all together to join His work in India

January 7th-Is God enlarging the team?

By this time Warren, Dan, and I were well under way in our preparation. That evening my wife and I were at a wedding, there we ran into our friend Dave and Molly Patterson. Dave came up to me and patted me on my shoulder and I said, “ouch.” This led me explain the cause of the sensitivity, which was the fact that I had just gotten three shots that day in preparation for going to India.

After telling him all about the details of the trip, we went our different ways. It wasn’t ten minutes later that Molly came up to Noleen and I and told us with determination that I had to take her husband with me to India. I told her that I could not make any promises but that I would ask if it was possible.

January 3rd-God confirms

We had made plans to have dinner at the Kane’s house over two weeks earlier, specifically because we wanted our families to get to meet each other, because we had a sense that God was going to continue to strengthen our friendship. It was a great evening Kim made this kickin Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti.

Anyways our dinner conversation turned to Dan sharing with my wife and I his plans to go to India with Warren to do tsunami relief. I didn’t even wait to him to finish talking, I looked at Noleen and she gave me a look that said, “can you believe it” and we both interrupted Dan and said, “can I go”. Dan just looked at his wife and said, “funny you should ask”….

God was confirming his words that He spoke to our hearts the previous evening.

January 2nd God invites our family to participate with Him

I was sitting in church and John Lynch was preaching on I John 3. I began to read the passage and as I read the words, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Our love must not only be with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” At the end of the worship time they announced that if anyone wanted to help out with the Tsunami relief they could give to Food for the Hungry, which had connections with our church. At lunch, at home and all through the day I kept hearing the words if anyone has material possessions and sees someone in need and has no pity how can the love of God be in him?

That night I was thinking about the fact that my wife, Noleen and I had money in the bank we were saving money for this summer, most summers we are overseas involved in various mission works and we were hoping it would be no different this year. Jesus began to speak to my heart about our “material possessions” that they were entrusted to us for such a time as this.

I shared this with my wife and we spent time in prayer and we felt great peace that the Lord wanted us to use our money to help our distant “neighbors”. That night we called our friend Mark Klink from Food for the Hungry and told him we wanted to give some money and if possible I actually would want to give money but also myself and serve in any way possible. He told me that FFH would not be sending teams over until later, a little disappointed I told him, “okay I guess we will just drop a check by tomorrow”.

This same evening across Phoenix unknown to me, Dan Kane was discussing the probable upcoming trip to India with George Miley. During their planning, George said to Dan I have a sense you should invite Ryan (that’s me) with you. On Dan’s arrival home his wife Kim asked him how the meeting went and that she thought that He should invite me to go along. God was on the move.

December 30th-January 1st

It was now three days after my encounter with the newspaper. In Virginia my friend Warren Stewart was watching coverage of the tsunami. He began to weep the tears of sadness for those suffering, and turned to his wife who was crying as well, and knowing her husbands heart said, “you need to go don’t you”. Warren called his friend Dan Kane in Phoenix and shared his desire to go serve and help in any way possible. Warren knowing Dan had been to India several times asked if he had any connections there. Rewind six months earlier at Antioch Network , Annual Gathering Joseph D'Souza of Operation Mobilization India was one of the speakers. OM India was working with a Denver based organization, the Dalit Freedom Network. Dan becaue of his contacts had been on the Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) email list. At about the same time God was speaking to myself and to Warren and then to Dan, Dan received an email notifying him that the DFN was sending a medical team to India. Dan and Warren began immediately making plans to join this medical team to serve as support to them. They would be leaving January 17th.

December 28th

I was at the CFCA Fiesta Bowl breakfast enjoying a fancy breakfast, needing a break from the hoopla of the presentations So I decided to venture out into the lobby of the hotel, I found a quiet place to sit down and picked up the newspaper and began reading stories about the tsunami. It was the first time I took the time out of my “busy” life to consider what those who were affected by the tsunami halfway around the world were dealing with.

I couldn’t shake what I had read, specifically the numerous stories of parents having their children ripped out of their arms by the killer wave. Later that night I lay in bed after putting my precious 10 month old son, Ethan down for bed and I kept imagining Ethan getting violently taken out of my arms and helplessly watching him go to his death.

I wondered how could I show compassion to my distant “neighbors”. To have compassion means literally to suffer with, what would this mean for me?

December 26th--How It All Began

The earthquake that generated the great Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26th, 2004 is estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS

By the end of the day more than 150,000 people were dead or missing and millions more were homeless in 11 countries, making it perhaps the most destructive tsunami in history.

Above the disturbed seafloor the great volume of the ocean was displaced along the line of the rupture, creating one of nature's most deadly phenomena: a tsunami. Within hours killer waves radiating from the earthquake zone slammed into the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, snatching people out to sea, drowning others in their homes or on beaches, and demolishing property from Africa to Thailand.

Across the world the magnitude of the disaster and the scale of the suffering prompted a new wave—one of sympathy, support, and assistance for the people affected by the tsunami.