a cow, school children, and Nocil

Turbe school children & holy cow

House church in the slum of Nocil

a friend, teaching, and school kids

John and I with Bro. Dhemendra Limma after a house church meeting in the slum of Nocil.








John working hard in the classroom at Chinchpada.

(Continue to pray for us. We are not sure what we are expected to teach these children, much less how we are to teach it.)







Children at the school in Chinchpada.

(This picture was self-taken and discovered the following night as John looked through the pictures.)

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.

neighbors, cricket, and fellowship

Tomorrow will be the last day, for a while, that John and I walk with Binesh down the street past our adopted neighbors, the newspaper salesman, and Hindu temple to the shop where we have tea. During our week in Chennai we have come to know many curious children on our street and been included in two cricket matches and a little soccer. For those folks we haven't met but observed from our office residence on the second floor we have given names or least noted their daily activities, whether it be delivering milk or "brooming" the street. "Calvin" often walks by barefooted and expressionless on his way to wherever a 4 four year old goes in India. He seems quite unfazed by motorists, gravel, hot pavement, and Americans.
John and I both count it a joy to have been included in this little community regardless of motivation (which I think would be curiosity when you find two Americans playing cricket with children on a street in Chennai.) We have been able to share songs and fellowship with the Word for the World staff here at the headquaters, and we have come to understand and appreciate even more these believers heart for Christ and others. We have shared with them from the Word a few times and have also discussed ways of studying God's revelation of Himself. I realize daily how different we are, yet a deep unity exists between us who have been called by the living God and share in the same Spirit.
We will return to Chennai and these wonderful people. I suspect I will get another chance to beat Jim Asir in Connect Four (which I haven't done yet, although we have played numerous times). But on Friday we fly to Mumbai and begin working in slum schools teaching, singing, and loving children.
As the blind pastor which we met today said many times "Strotum, Praise the Lord." Thank you for your prayers.

humidity, travel, and parentheses

The Word for the World missionaries have departed from Dehradun, and John and I have traveled with our Indian family to Chennai. The acclimation to India continues and has taken on new meaning with the hot, humid climate of south India. After the conference, we said goodbye to many brothers and sisters who returned to the work which God called them. I suspect the prayer concerns these believers have given us to bear will come to mind more often as we begin participating in the ministry.

The train ride from Dehli to Chennai took 2 nights and 1 day. Singing with Uncle Ebenezar and his wife Angel, waving at naked children, AC in our train car, reading, cows, many terrains, and interesting discussions are just a few highlights of this trip. (We went to Taj Mahal before traveling. Pictures and words will do little to describe it. This palace tomb is an extraordinary, time-tested piece of architecture.)

Our brief time (1 week) in Chennai will consist of sleeping at the Word for the World office, sharing during devotion times, teaching some English, playing Connect Four with a prayer warrior named Jim Asir (who happens to be disabled and from whom I have much to learn), and preparing for the ministry opportunities in Mumbai.

Thank you for your prayers and support. (Forgive me for the many parentheses. Maybe I'll use footnotes next time.)

dancing, McDonald's, and prayer

(from left to right) John, Prikash, Babu, Myself, and Elia. These men serve as pastors in the slums of Chandigarh.

John and I find ourselves in a unique situation in India--surrounded by followers of Christ at Word for the World's missionary conference. We have met many genuine people from all over India who love Christ and are being used to further His kingdom. We have prayed with our brothers and sisters from India, played cricket with them, learned some of their language, drank much chai, and I have danced with them (John was unfortunately resting when this comical event occured. The Indians were complimentary of my dancing, but I remain skeptical.)

We are adjusting to the culture, although at times we find ourselves confused. Yesterday I sat on a bed at the Prebyterian Theological Seminary in Dehradun, India reading a book about an artistic Jewish boy growing up in Brooklyn. John soon returned from McDonald's with Samuel and we shared McChicken's with this 17 year old from Tamilnadu who is only a few years away from an arranged marriage.

Despite such confusing situations John and I have been encouraged and strengthened (John did have a fever yesterday. He is recovering his strength. "Prayer is powerful" as Elia of Chandigarh says). These believers have refreshed us as we prepare to work with their ministries this summer. Some of them, from Orissa and Karnataka, face opposition and persecution, but yet they ask us to pray that the hearts of their persecutors would softened to the Gospel.

Dhanyavad ("thank you" in Hindi) for you prayers and support. Our restful time at the conference in Dehradun will be over tomorrow, and after many hours on a train (and a stop at the Taj Mahal) will begin working in Chennai.

friends, streets, and smiles

John and I with our friend Jeetu (who is actually very awake) waiting by a busy Indian road in Dehradun.

Binesh (one of our Tamil teachers) and I in Dehradun. -->

<---- John and I with distracted smiles as we stand next to an always interesting (at times dangerous) Indian road.