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Sielmat Churachandpur, India

Safety

Safety in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
What do other Racers need to know in order to be safe? Current safety protocols/precautions in place? Any relevant issues/concerns? Any precautionary suggestions?

People’s Opinions

  1. You should be very safe on the campus, but when you go anywhere else make sure that you walk in pairs. If you go into town, take a liaison with you, and travel in larger groups.
  2. When working with the Partnership Mission Society, our host was very persistent on making sure we always had a liaison with us! When walking to and from the Seminary (where a lot of the squad stayed) you can walk in two’s. But never alone! Not that the town isn’t safe, but it is very busy. The main risk would be to get hit by a car, so always be paying attention when walking. Walking around the property by yourself is ok because there is a wall and a gate, even a gate keeper! I felt very safe the entire time there!
  3. If staying in Sielmat with John the village is very safe. They have local people to take you around the city and help you communicate with other people. Make sure you respect their request to travel in pairs when walking around their property. It may feel safe but it is a precaution that should be honored.There one incident of theft when we were staying in their huts on the property. A young child was playing inside the hut and stole one of my teammates knife. As long as you tell the children they are not allowed inside they will respect it. I wouldn’t invite them in because once you do they think they have free reign. Play with the local children in the courtyard.
  4. If you are staying with Jon and the Partnership Mission Society you will be very safe. They ask that you walk in groups of 2 or more when walking outside his property, which is like 15 acres. If you want to go into town they will give you a guide to help you around and they ask you always go with the guide when out of the property.

Ministry Summary

Ministry Summary in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
Breakthroughs? Suggestions? Concerns? On a scale of 1-4 (1 being not at all, 4 being absolutely) how strongly would you recommend another World Race team go to this ministry location & why?

People’s Opinions

  1. This was a wonderful ministry that really took care of us. We spent time doing construction for local church building projects, leading VBS with the kids, prepping medical supplies, traveling to nearby villages to pray for people at the temporary medical camps, serving in the kitchen with the ladies who prepared our meals everyday, and attending classes with the seminary students to help them practice their English. We also attended church services to share with and encourage the members. Members of our squad who had experience in video also helped by creating videos to send to sponsors of children who attend the Christian school. It was an incredible opportunity to be part of what this ministry is doing in the community, but blessing our hosts was also a really big part of our ministry this month. We loved building relationships with our liaisons, the ladies who prepared our meals, and John and Lawm. We definitely recommend this ministry to future racers.
  2. One of the biggest ministries we had during this month was with our host family and their team! It was the most amazing experience to be able to share life with them for a month, cooking, cleaning, and going from village to village with our liaisons. They loved showing us where they have come from and showing us how much God has moved through this place. So dive in, join their family! They welcome you with open arms and huge smiles, so don’t be shy!
  3. Each team had a variety of ministry throughout the month. The hosts did a great job of utilizing people’s gifts and past work/ministry experiences. There was a group of people who spend the majority of the month in ministry at TSC-Trinity Christian School. At this local seminary (which is also one of the lodging spots) Racers taught classes, led morning devotionals, and helped students practice their conversational english. Pouring into the students and learning from them as well was the best part of the month. Soak up any opportunity you can to build relationships with people!
  4. Make the most of your free time and get to know the host and your guide. A lot of the ministry was construction and painting and cleaning and there wasn’t a ton of sharing the gospel with people in ministry. Go to the hospital and pray for people in their beds. Spend time getting to know the kitchen staff. Spend time with the neighborhood children they love to play soccer!! Bless the ministry by being honorable when you are in town. Dress modestly and be respectful.
  5. The mixture in ministry we had was great! A few mentioned that they prefer one ministry location so that you can connect with the people. But we found that our main ministry was in the people leading this ministry. Pour into your guide and the women in the Kitchen! When you go to ministry in the day, jump in! The people here are so fun and just want to enjoy your company! The Lord is using you to impact them more than you know!Most of them already know Jesus, so it is great practice of encouraging and helping our fellow brothers and sisters to stay on the path of righteousness!
    Be open to learning!! They are going to serve you and pour into you! Soak it all up! They carry so much wisdom. The background of this place is such amazing work of God! Seek Him and see what He is still doing in this place.

Lodging

Lodging in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
Where did you stay? What were the accommodations (sleeping arrangements, toilets, showers, etc.)? Cost (per person per night in USD), Contact info.

People’s Opinions

  1. Lodging was provided by our host. It was all-squad month so we stayed in the boys’ dormitory they were working to complete. The girls stayed on the ground floor and had two bathrooms with three bathroom stalls in each one (one was a normal toilet and two were squatties) and two showers. The boys stayed in the basement, which had a large room where most of the guys stayed and a couple of private rooms. They had a similar bathroom situation as the girls, except they only had one bathroom in the basement. We took bucket showers. We were there in October so the water was usually pretty cold, more so in the morning or at night so we would sometimes shower in the afternoons or set the buckets on the roof to let the sun warm them before showering. We used those same buckets to wash our clothes, and then we hung them on the roof to dry because they told us we shouldn’t leave clothes in the trees to avoid theft. We had a similar experience to some of the other squads on here who felt some of the spiritual warfare so we took an evening and covered the dorm in prayer.
  2. We stayed in a dorm called TCS. It has beds with mosquito nets!! Each room has a bathroom with an american toilet. We had to bucket shower, but each morning if you left out a bucket the house keeper would fill it with HOT water! We stayed in this dorm for the majority of the time, but they have 4 bamboo huts that each team would rotate into. Since we had 7 teams staying with them we only got to sleep in the huts for about 6 days. We fit 5 people into our hut and were comfortable. We slpet on our sleeping pads and in our sleeping bags. It got really cold at night but they provided extra blankets for us. One night it rained and we set up out tents inside the hut! we kept them up because it kept us a ton warmer.
  3. Lodging was a huge blessing! We had beds, running water, electricity, at least an hour of wifi a week. They serve you so well. It is easy to take the lodging for granted but it was only so great because of the hard work of the men and women running it. Such as Thanga, the house keeper at TCS. He gets up early every morning to start warming water to bring it to your room for showers.Pray over wherever you are the night you get there. We felt some spiritual heaviness in the TCS dorms. I think because it’s where they teach the bible and is filled with Bible teachings everyday we figured we were fine. We soon found that we were having bad dreams, restless sleep, and a lot of sickness. So have a night of prayer walking and worship.

Food / Meals

Food / Meals in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
What did you eat? Where did you get the food? Cost (per person per day in USD)? Contact info (if applicable).

People’s Opinions

  1. We were incredibly blessed by our hosts. They provided us three meals a day, and we had the opportunity to help prepare some of the meals on days we served in the kitchen. Even on days when we were doing construction or medical camps in nearby villages, they packed lunches for us. It was usually rice or noodles with curry, but we also had fried chicken and these delicious potato things. The packed lunches were usually some kind of sandwich. We also had delicious chai tea and cookies before breakfast. A lot of people would go up early for breakfast to take advantage of that and have their morning quiet time. They also had snacks available at shops in the town and also just down the road from the dorm so we could easily get chips and cookies for pretty cheap.
  2. Oh my goodness!! Food is amazing!! You don’t need to spend any money on outside food. They feed you so much and it is all so good! They even surprise you with some “home” cooked meals, such as bbq chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans! Pace yourself, easy to gain here 😉
  3. Our contact was amazing in this area… They prepared us 3 meals a day. We ate a lot of rice, potatoes, chicken, curry. For breakfast there is this puffy fried bread called puri which is the most amazing bread I have ever had! They made us grilled cheese! They made us fried & grilled/smoked chicken and mashed potatoes! It was truly amazing.There were shops along the road where you could get snacks and peanut butter. Food was fairly cheap, but had set prices at the shops so don’t barder for food.

Transportation

Transportation in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
What transportation did you use to enter the country? Where were you coming from? What transportation was used to move throughout the country? Be sure to include the cost per person in USD and contact info if applicable.

People’s Opinions

  1. Our hosts really blessed us in this area as well. They picked us up from the airport and provided transportation whenever it was necessary for ministry. Everything in town was within walking distance, but if you didn’t want to walk (the roads got pretty muddy after it rained), you could get a tuk tuk for usually 10 rupees (the equivalent of less than a quarter in USD) per person.
  2. We took a bus from the Imphal airport to Sielmat. John had all the information and came to the airport with the busses already outside.Really we walked everywhere.A fun experience, not necessary but we took a Tuk Tuk or rikshaw automobile just for fun. It was 10 rupees per person and it was a blast!John and the liaison’s found us transportation if it was needed for ministry. Usually we took the ambulance, and it was driven by one of the men working with PMS. (Partnership Mission Society)

Medical

Medical in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
Information on local hospitals / doctors / pharmacies. Where would someone go in a medical emergency? (addresses and contact info).

People’s Opinions

  1. As stated, there was a hospital run by our ministry host that was right down the road. They had a pharmacy at the hospital so most prescriptions were available right there as well.
  2. Our contact John’s wife, Lawm, runs the hospital right down the road from where we were staying. They had very quick access to medicine and appointments whenever we needed.
  3. Part of the contacts ministry is a hospital! So it is very easy to access medical attention.

Communication

Communication in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
Did you have cell reception / Internet service? Where? Carrier / Provider, where did you get phones / SIM cards, cost? Country code?

People’s Opinions

  1. We didn’t have wifi available where we were staying, but we did go into town once a week to Life Cafe where they had wifi. Still, with several people on the network, it was often hard to get things to load or to communicate. They had good cell coverage in the area for team leaders and their phones. It was about 250 rupees (approx. $5 USD) for a whole month’s worth of minutes for the SIM cards. There was shop close to the ATM and Life Cafe where you could get minutes, but ask your liaisons for help. The country code is +91.
  2. Airtel is the service we used. Very cheap. We also bought SIM cards for our iPhones! One GB of data and some minutes were only 350 rupees!

Financial

Financial in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
Location of banks or ATMs, notes about transaction fees, best places to exchange money, and other money related advice.

People’s Opinions

  1. The ATMs in town are frequently out of cash or out of order. I would recommend getting both personal and team cash out for your time there in the airport to avoid the stress and time waster of having to go to 6 ATMs to MAYBE get cash out. Although, I didn’t see an ATM in the Imphal Airport so I would even recommend getting it out in the larger airport before flying to Imphal.
  2. There was an ATM right across the street from the hospital and another one near the cafe where we found wifi. The problem is that you can’t count on them working so make sure you have the amount of cash you need to last for a while whenever you see one that is working. The lines can also be pretty long when they are working because everyone realizes it’s not something you can count on. But overall, I don’t think anyone on our squad spent a lot of money this month. I personally spent less than $50 USD, but if you intend to spend a lot of money or clothes or snacks, I suppose you could spend more than that. If you are planning on buying clothes, we typically found that we could get a better price if we tried to negotiate, and it helps if you don’t show that you have any more money than you’re willing to spend. A lot of us bought clothes, but many people found that they were poor quality that didn’t hold up so it might be best to wait if you really want to get clothes that will last you for more than the month you’re there.
  3. The ATM doesn’t tell you that you much pull out in increments of 500. It won’t work if you type in say, 600 or 400.
  4. There is an ATM close by. It is right on the main road across for their hospital. But it wasn’t always open or working. When it works I would take out enough money for the month. I didn’t spend much personal money in Sielmat. Less than $40 and some people spent even less!

Translators

Translators in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
List any local translators – name and contact information, languages spoken

People’s Opinions

  1. Our liaisons translated for us when we needed them to. Most people in our area spoke Hmar, but people in other villages spoke different languages. Our team really enjoyed learning as many Hmar words as we could, and I think our hosts appreciated that (and laughed with us when we didn’t quite get it right).
  2. Use your Liaison to translate. They are very good at it but won’t insist on doing it until you ask. Almost every village has a different language. However, We mainly were working with Hmar.

Off Days / Fun Activities

Off Days / Fun Activities in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
What activities did your team experience? Recommendations? List locations/contact info. Any locations to be avoided? Any extra safety tips for off days?

People’s Opinions

  1. We usually went to Life Cafe on our days off. They had good food (delicious French fries!) and, of course, wifi. Some people tried to organize the hike that others have talked about, but it rained the day they were planning to go so it was canceled. The vehicles can’t risk getting stuck in more remote areas after the rains. This takes some planning though so if you want to do it, start early. They need to hire a guide so it’s not something you want to do last minute. I think they also needed a minimum number willing to go, and since it’s a fairly long trek through the jungle, you want to make sure you have enough people on board for that. We did get to go to waterfall one day. Another team visited a different one after ministry one day because it was near their construction site, but they said it was a more difficult hike. We took the ambulance van pretty much the whole way to the one we visited so make sure you talk to the host so you can have a good idea of where you’re going and what to prepare for.
  2. 1. Life Cafe — opened by Michael, a wonderful man from Pennsylvania and his team. They serve GREAT food – American and Indian (pizza, coffee, cookies, brownies, ice cream). It is on Renkai road about a 10 minute walk from Sielmat.2. The Original Prayer Mountain — has over 50 prayer cabins built by the locals. Beautiful view of the villages and a peaceful place to experience God’s presence.
  3. Use prayer mountain as often as you can!! Its a great view, especially in the morning! and ask about the hike up to the cave. I forget the name of the mountain but there is a cross and a cave where the japanese hid out in world war II. It is a very difficult and long hike. Took us about 6 hours total! But worth it! Just prepare for STEEP hills.

Other Important Contacts

Other Important Contacts in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
Additional ministry opportunities, local pastors, etc. Relationship & follow up suggestions

People’s Opinions

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Tips

People’s Opinions

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Additional Info

Additional Info in Sielmat Churachandpur, India
Anything we’ve left out? Any additional suggestions to make travel easier for others?

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