Visit with the Benjamins

You may not recognize the people in the picture of a family at the top, but it is actually a picture of an old photo of the Benjamin family: Samuel, Miriam, Pon, Paul, Mano, Ebenezer.

The picture from the air is Madurai, the small city where the Benjamins live.
The chapel is at the old folks' home. The man with the parrot is Kumar, their driver. Daisy is the one doing Ebenezer's hair and Grace is their housekeeper. The coconut palm is part of the view from the rooftop of the house. The eastern style facility is accessible by a stairway to the roof and was handy in an emergency when their regular bathroom was in use. Laura is standing in there living-room. They have a well-equipped kitchen and a large upstairs with for bedrooms plus a bathroom off a meeting room. Ray took the last picture but he had on a fancy chain necklace too.

Samuel and Ebenezer Benjamin gave the Heartwarming team a royal welcome with shawls for Laura and Shelby and decorative chains for Ray and myself. Their driver Kumar was one of the more careful drivers that we have had so far. To the un-initiated a ride on India's roads is difficult to describe. All the stories that I heard from Bob and Sharon pale in comparison to the actual experience. So I won't bother to even try; if you want to find out you'll just have to come to India! Laura was sitting near the door on one trip, and she flinched three times, so I had to comment on her lack of faith. The very next trip I flinched a couple of times because I was sure that there would be a collision. I have since witnessed dozens of near misses with cars, bikes, motorbikes, taxis, trucks, buses, "Tuk-Tuks" coming within an inch of each other and no accident has resulted. One time though when our driver was pulling off the road to the left and a cyclist who was going toward us the wrong way, didn't notice that we were pulling off the road and hit the mirror with his elbow and bent it inward on its swivel. He also banged into the side of the van a bit, but he kept on cycling so he probably wasn't hurt too badly. By the way, a "Tuk-tuk" is a slang term for a three-wheeled taxi that will comfortably seat two people but often will have six passengers!

The Benjamin's fed us and gave us rooms and Samuel gave us a tour of the old folks' home for the poor that Ebenezer has been looking after. She was not able to come with us due to the fact that a first cousin of hers died and she was obligated to go. She did make it home that evening and we were able to visit a bit with her then. It was a great blessing to be able to visit with them and see their medical clinic and their home for the elderly. The Benjamins are a great inspiration and their dedication and hard work was an encouragement to us. Mano, you were correct...we were treated to some great southern Indian hospitality!