hello from india! (e-mail from my dad)

hello all!

so my dad just sent out an e-mail to a bunch of people and i'm going to post that here (its a good sort of summary), and then ill post some of my own thoughts and pictures and such

Dear all,

Greetings and love from India. Sorry that it's taken so long to get news to you. We have literally had no opportunity until now (Wednesday night, one week in) to have sustained internet access. In the past week we have sat in meetings of 40,000 in the village of Navapur (Christie spoke to about 10,000 at one afternoon meeting, most of them women, I spoke twice to about 500 pastors), ridden in planes, trains and automobiles, visited a small Bible school in the largest slum in Asia called Dharavi, been to orphanages and to meetings with pastors and their wives driven from the Khandamal area of Orissa. We have all three been sick, almost missed a train (which would have been a nightmare-Jesus prompted me just in time to get some advice that got us on the right train), lost luggage (Jennie's, thankfully we did get it back), reached a hotel to find our reservation was canceled and already have had various other experiences that have made each day an adventure of its own. Last night I watched Christie sharing about the love of God for women with about 150 orphanage children at Orissa Follow Up. She broke into tears as she talked about Mary's love expressed for the Lord at the garden tomb. She wasn't just talking about it to them. She was living it before them. That was pretty neat. Then Jennie, despite having been sick for two days, got up and shared some advice with the children. She was a real trooper (and the one of us three that the children were most excited to meet.) I took some pictures of their expectant faces that will make you smile. When Jennie presented the children with 2 cricket bats and 4 balls, the place pretty much exploded. That was a fun moment.

On the challenging side I had forgotten in our 7 year absence from India that coming here for spiritual purposes is really to go to war. It is not an easy place to adjust to. On the other hand seeing the light in the faces of the children and adults who know Christ as opposed to the lives of despair that most people endure makes our presence here so worthwhile. Indian hospitality is also a beautiful thing to behold. Today we had several meetings with about 50 pastors and their wives who have all lost their homes in the recent Khandamal violence. To sit in the same room with them felt like a special privilege. God must come to their aid now in a way that is not yet clear. Your prayers for these believers is still valued.

We have eaten more chicken than we might have thought possible in such a short span, drunk a fair amount of chai and tons of water. The weather has been a little hotter than we expected. I think it will cool some tomorrow when we head for Delhi.

We love you. Your friendship and support is part of the reason we are here. The body of Christ is so important.It's been amazing to see the interest in the US election over here. The world is watching America.

Jesus has been near. We miss you.

Lance