slums, 7-up, and ants

Slums are real. Narrow alleys, lined by a trench of putrid water serve as the doorstep for thousands of families in this maze-like community of the impoverished. The smallest of the children walk around naked as their mothers cook lunch in a small pot held over an open flame by two bricks. A troubled little creek filled with trash and human waste weaves past homes of tin and those few that are constructed with concrete and brick.

Yet these places are filled with life. Those same naked chidren, along with their older siblings, laugh and play (and stare at white people) in these narrow alleys. Women talk together as they hand-wash brightly colored saris that accent the otherwise earth-tone environment. The main road that leads to the highway, along which you can find multi-storied office buildings, bustles with activity. In the shops that line the bumpy road people can use their hard-earned, but meager income to purchase soap, rice, sandals, spices, saris and other necessities.

John and I have been invited to follow men like Dhmendra Limma and Ponraj Abraham into these slums where they minister and, for Limma, live. Both of us have shared from the Word in prayer meetings and worship services which are just a few of the many humbling experiences. Other such occasions are praying for the healing of sister Joti whose faith in Christ seems much greater than my own and receiving a cold 7-up in the one room home of a family of six in the slum of Nocil.

These times of slum ministry are coupled with time at out temporary residence boiling water to drink, laughing, preparing for the next surprise prayer meeting that we'll be asked to share at, reading, and collecting our water into buckets at a crucial, yet undesignated time every day. We also find ourselves battling the ants we find in our bed and swarming around our Indian style toilet.

We will continue to have opportunities to preach the Gospel and pray with folks, and our interaction with the children in the slum school, with who we sang songs this morning, will increase when the school reopens tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers. The Lord is faithful.