I had come to Chennai to join the extended family of Florina Benoit on a pilgrimage trip around Tamil Nadu. I had known Florina and her husband Ashok from their involvement with the conflict resolution program at the Henry Martyn Institute. Most every year her family, who are devote Roman Catholics, gets together and goes on a trip to visit various Christian pilgrimage churches in the state. In the end Florina and her husband Ashok, who had visited me in Jordan last January, were not able to join the family on this year’s trip, but the family welcomed me to join them anyway on the six-day trip.
The 24 participants on the trip included Charles, a brother who lives in Texas, and other siblings, along with their spouses and children, the elderly mother and a mother-in-law, another couple who were friends of the family and Megan, an American, who had met Charles’ family in the US.
On Monday December 26, I arrived at the family’s home around 11:00 am. Preparations for the trip were in full swing.
It took a while for the bus to arrive, so we did not get underway until 5:45 p.m. on a long trip to the city of Thanjavur.
The 24 participants on the trip included Charles, a brother who lives in Texas, and other siblings, along with their spouses and children, the elderly mother and a mother-in-law, another couple who were friends of the family and Megan, an American, who had met Charles’ family in the US.
On Monday December 26, I arrived at the family’s home around 11:00 am. Preparations for the trip were in full swing.
Florina helping prepare the food for the next day
It took a while for the bus to arrive, so we did not get underway until 5:45 p.m. on a long trip to the city of Thanjavur.
The bus
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