Travelogue - Israel Trip - Part 1. The Preparations

Dear Bambi,

When I write this letter, you are just about 3 years and 3 months. I am not sure if you would remember going to Israel on a trip that can be life-transforming for most when you are able to read this letter on your own. But the letter will serve the purpose of letting you know that you saw the place where Jesus was born and raised like a tiny one you are, your tiny feet walked where once our Lord walked in His physical form, and your eyes saw for yourself the empty tomb which bears the sign of victory of life over death.

Before I begin, I must tell you that you have been a blessing, you are God’s most precious gift to me and your mama, and we love you. Your presence in our lives has bound us together more and more, because for evidence of God’s love for me and your mama, we just have to open our eyes and see you every morning. Your existence proves that Jesus loves me and I am His very own. That’s why we call you Jesus-baby.


I had been thinking about taking you and your mama for a vacation for a long time when one fine day, Pastor Valson called. He mentioned that he was planning a trip to Israel and was contemplating taking a team along. My heart jumped with joy with the prospect of being able to go to places that I had only read about in the Bible. Pastor asked me to think about the plan. I wanted to go for sure. I talked about this to your mama and blurted all the positives of the trip in half a breath. Knowing her, I expected a very cautious analysis of the prospect, and she met my expectation like always. We started praying about it. That was almost 3 months before we travelled.


Around a month later, I was in Kolkata and was going in one of those yellow and black taxis for a client meeting. It was nearly 10 in the morning but the city was still waking up. These taxis made so much noise that even while the traffic was much less, one would shout on the phone with the intent of just being heard at the other end and one would want to insert the speaker end of the phone close to the ear drum to hear voice coming in. I wasn’t sure what Pastor was talking about when he called but it was something about the Israel trip. I didn’t know what prompted me but I shouted, “Yes, Pastor, we would come along.” He later asked me a few questions about our travel readiness, and I asserted that all three of us had our passports and we were ready to travel. Pastor mentioned that he would send an email about the trip and we would need to be ready with the travel documents and first tranche of payment in sometime. The connection was lost into Kolkata’s damp air.


I began the process of challenging Supriya’s thoughts about difficulties in travelling with you. Your love-hate relationship with food didn’t help me one bit in my discussions with her. On top of that I had not even asked Pastor about whether there would be provision for special needs that children had or whether there were even more children on the trip. I knew his boys would be there and Ruel was just about a year older than you.  But that wasn’t so much of a comfort for your mama to say yes to your papa’s adventurous plans. So, arguments continued as did prayers. We discussed with Mammu and Didi as well if they would like to come along. Mammu had the dreams of going to the Holy Land and she had kept saying in the past that someday she would go, even if she had to go all alone. But then she declined in view of her health and imminent expenses for Didi’s wedding that was being planned.


With every passing day, I was getting convinced that I made a commitment in hurry. Then there came the day of making payment for the trip. Pastor called up to say that I could contemplate taking Mammu and Didi along if they were willing. Now it looked like the Holy Spirit dawned upon me and we wrote the cheque and submitted with Anne who was coordinating the efforts for the chosen ones. Mammu and Didi decided to come along too and they went ahead and submitted their cheque directly with the travel agent. It was in their encounter with Sister Sujatha that they came back laden with more questions for us. Your mama took those questions, dipped them into some more Guntoor gravy and Kakinada ketchups and poured them hot on my head. We decided to meet Sister Sujatha ourselves.    


While we were talking to Sister Sujatha, you were already down with flu and our courage too was down. She explained the whole trip from children’s perspective and mentioned the types of food available. She also mentioned how we could get stuff packed from breakfast table so we could have pre-lunch snacks and lunch for you. She said that rice was available most of the places and most meals would include one or two items which children of your age could manage with. She of course didn’t know you, and how your mama and papa had kept you from any taste bud shocks. Although you had been to Zambia when you were much younger, it wasn’t comparable to the trip in sight. I had been to Zambia so many times before you came over, so I knew what would be in store. On the Israel trip, we had no idea and only had vague descriptions. Also, in Zambia we were to live at one or two places with gangs of chefs, gardeners, cleaners and drivers to take care of us, but here it would be just three of us and a few friends moving places every day. So, your Zambian experience wasn’t relevant.


After we came back home, we had two options – either to drop the trip or to prepare vigorously. At times like these, I somehow have an edge over your mama and I convinced her that we should prepare vigorously and go ahead. She asked me some direct questions – whether I would take your full responsibility and whether I was confident about being able to manage all your work? I didn’t know what these entailed but for the greed of going to Israel, I nodded my head in affirmative.


So then began our shopping spree. The list included new suitcases, rice cooker, kettles, new clothes, shoes, wet tissues, diapers, medicines, books, crayons, toys, Lactogen, and so many things. We were almost carrying your whole cupboard and half of the kitchen for you. Looking at these lying all over in our study room, we would think if the airlines would allow us to carry all these. We prayed harder and we knew the trust that we had put in Him would not disappoint. He had called us and in light of the challenges, we were sure that it was only through His grace that we would make it back home safely singing praises for the places He would show us.


There was orientation program for the whole group in church office a few days before we were to depart. That was the time when it began to dawn upon us that now we were to actually take the trip for which the preparations were on for so long. You were excited too for the orientation since the first glances of what we were to see on the trip were going to be presented. The presentation was exciting as the Bible was beginning to make its physical manifestation on the screen. The places that God planned his moves around for creating a way to His kingdom for lost human kind were for us to visit and see. I had often struggled with the question as to why God chose the tribe of Israel and why He chose the middle-eastern desert lands for His mission. But God had to choose one tribe and one such location, which He eventually did in favor of Israel and its geographical setting.


Your excitement through the presentation was quite visible, you never sat on your chair and you never kept yourself from chatting all the while. Once while Sister Sujatha was talking about Jericho’s sycamore tree, you had exclaimed the name of Zacchaeus to everyone else’s amazement. You had been listening to the stories that papa, mama, mammu and your Sunday school teachers had been telling you! When the trip was symbolically flagged off by cutting the cake, you were invited by Pastor and his papa to join for cake cutting. That was the beginning of special entitlements for you as the youngest member of the trip. You were to enjoy the whole group’s attention, love, blessings and prayers in the days that would follow.


We came back home highly excited, the excited was supported well for the next two days before we took off by the presence of blue bags, blue caps and tags that were all designed for the trip. I wrote our names on the blue cap sides – Dipesh, Supriya, Isabella – to identify our caps. We included such other tags on our suitcases too, which were three for three of us, apart from almost as many hand bags. On the eve, we went around shopping for some eatables and pushed them into the suitcases and handbags. We ensured that we were carrying all electronics with their chargers, replacement batteries, adapters and extension cord. Mama had a list, which went from one sheet to three in the last month, and she ensured that we didn’t miss carrying anything that you might need on the trip. We had thought of sleeping early but the lights finally went out when it was close to midnight and we knew we had to wake up in just about three hours for a long day of travel ahead.


The next day’s story would follow in the next letter. Till then, keep playing.


Love you, Bambi.


Papa