We’re finally here!
Despite modern transport, the
trip from Asheville to Durgapur reminds me a lot of the story of the Exodus from
Egypt. Even after getting the pharaoh to agree to letting the Hebrews leave most
of the story of Moses is the journey to the promised land. It didn’t take us
forty years to get here but after a total of two bus rides, two nine hour plane
rides, three continents and three days (sort of) in transit, it felt a lot like
forty years. We left Asheville at 10:30 AM Tuesday morning and
took a bus to Atlanta (thanks for the ride,
Ian!), checked in with
Lufthansa and presently flew to Frankfurt, where it was 18 degrees as we walked
down the stairs from the plane (and us dressed for India). We went through security and paid in Euros for a
cup of coffee and then flew to Kolkata (another nine hour flight). It took us
about an hour to get luggage back after clearing immigration (which the Indians
made very easy for us) and then we met up with a group from the Diocese of
Durgapur who were so very kind to come out to meet us at two in the morning
several hours from home. At the end of the three hour ride back to the Diocesan
compound to be shown our rooms in the early dawn light Thursday morning surely
seemed like delivery to the promised
land. We
have been incredibly blessed to be invited and to have arrived safely with our sisters and
brothers in the Diocese of Durgapur and the feeling of the long journey merely makes
us more thankful for the incredibly warm welcome and the feeling of arriving
home.
Bill Doyle
