Elizabeth Dewhurst

Orphanage in India Part 5 of 6

Mission Trip to Andhra Pradesh, India

Part 5: Mud Huts and Paella

By Elizabeth Dewhurst

Independence Day celebrations were barely over when a car adorned with Indian flags pulled up at the campus. Our Spanish guests, Rueben and Elena, had finally arrived. They had intended to be at the Independence Day Party but their gruelling 48 hour journey from the Spanish coast involved the incredible frustration of travelling with Air India. So we’re lucky they arrived at all! 

Orphanage in India Part 4 of 6

Mission Trip to Andhra Pradesh, India
Part 4: Building Churches and Celebrating

By Elizabeth Dewhurst

Well I think it would be fair to say that you haven’t been to a party until you’ve been to a function in India. The entire week here was spent preparing for Saturday’s enormous celebration. But party planning wasn’t the only thing on the agenda. They were more evangelism trips and the good news is that in Marripolasa, the village we visited last Wednesday, they are now eager for a church to be built.

Orphanage in India Part 3 of 6

Mission Trip to Andhra Pradesh, India
Part 3: Local Customs and Auto-rickshaws

By Elizabeth Dewhurst

I was taking third class for Art one morning this week, when I noticed one of the boys had a deep open wound right across his chin. It looked like something from a horror film. I tried to disguise my shock and asked him if he was ok. He looked like he was about to faint and said it was painful to speak. He told me an insect had done it to him the night before. When I mentioned this to Nicky, who is hardened to life in India nowadays, she told me casually that there’s a type of insect here that crawls across people, usually while they sleep, and leaves deep cuts in their skin.

Orphanage in India Part 2 of 6

Mission Trip to Andhra Pradesh, India
Part 2: Teaching and Settling In

By Elizabeth Dewhurst

It’s supposed to be the monsoon season but the rain hasn’t really arrived in Andhra Pradesh yet. Apart from one or two short bursts of torrential rain it’s been blazing sunshine ever since I arrived at the campus.  People here are starting to worry about the rice crops.  I’m also slightly concerned that an army of lizards is planning to take over my bedroom…each night I see more pairs of little eyes glowing in the dark around the room. Well I suppose there’s no point worrying about it. If it happens it happens and I’ll find somewhere else to sleep!

Orphanage in India Part 1 of 6

Mission Trip to Andhra Pradesh, India
Part 1: Arrival and Settling In

By Elizabeth Dewhurst

Within days my trip was confirmed, I booked in for the injections I would need to come out here and met Nicky and Samuel who told me their amazing story. What has been accomplished in their lives is nothing short of incredible. Weeks later I arrived at the children’s home feeling less than fresh after the 24 hour journey, including two uncomfortable internal flights on SpiceJet (India’s Ryanair equivalent), wedged between various people’s illegally-sized ‘hand’ baggage.

Six Weeks In Andhra Pradesh, India

In the summer of 2009, Elizabeth Dewhurst decided that she needed a change of scenery. Having spent the three and a half years after completing university working as a management consultant in London and New York, her career came to a natural break. She saw this as an opportunity to take time out and do something more meaningful with her life. After a quick search on the internet, Elizabeth discovered that a pastor from Norwich called Nicky, and her Indian husband Samuel, were running an orphaned children’s home and school in a remote village of Andhra Pradesh, southern India.