I miss my computer so much. I can't believe this is how we used to do it in the old days. I hate having to come upstairs and fight my kids over this monster that is chained to a desk. Craziness!

Anyway, I hope to have caught up through our next-to-last day by the end of this post. So here goes...
Who says you can't still get your picture made with Mother Theresa in India?

On Wednesday, our hosts wanted to give us a chance to do some shopping. Because of the huge beggar problem, there was no way for us to just go shopping in a street market. We couldn't really be outside anywhere without getting swarmed. And it is so pitiful because they just don't give up when you say no. You can get in the van, and they will stand there knocking on the window until you practically have to drive over them. It was so hard to watch.

But because of this, they took us to a handicraft fair that you have to pay to get into. So we were free to roam around and find some souvenirs. The prices are all negotiable, of course, and thankfully we had Solomon and company to help us haggle. There was one shirt that I really wanted that the seller said was 400 rupees. This translates into about $10. But when Sagar tried to bring him down, he wouldn't go below 375. So Sagar says, "Walk away." So we did. We waited on the girls to get back, and then Sanga went over to buy it. She got it for 250! It was awesome. We were so lucky to have them with us.

The picture above is just classic Solomon. This man has more of a servant heart than anyone I've ever meant. He absolutely refused to let us carry our own bags. So I had to capture him standing there holding everyone's stuff. He was just adorable and I miss him very much.
This is my oh-so-subtle picture of Muslim prayer time. It was kind of surreal to see these men just grab some grass, lay out their rugs and go through the whole ritual. I'm quite sure there are places in Nashville where I could see this very thing, I just never have. But it is everywhere over there.
After shopping, it was Pizza Hut for lunch. The pizza was good, but the most exciting part was that they had actual sweet tea... with actual ice! I was completely ecstatic after so many days without my addiction. I even got Pastor David to try it, and I think he liked it. However, his came with ice cream in it, and that just seemed a little weird to me.

After having my sweet tea, I could have stayed another week. But of course that option wasn't available. There was a bell by the door that you were supposed to ring if you had a good time. It was fun to hear people ring the bell and hear the Pizza Hut guys yell, "Thank You!" It was like an Indian version of Moe's.

This is Pastor David, his wife Esther and their 7-month old baby girl, Jessica. She was a doll, but I could never get her to smile for the camera. I loved watching David interact with her and just shower her with kisses. Some things are clearly universal.

This is the only picture I got of Gishon in action. He was my driver most of the time, and although I thought he was going to kill me more than once, overall I know he was doing a great job. He would smile at us every now and then, as if our absolute paralyzing fear was somewhat amusing to him. He didn't really speak English, but every day I'd tell him thank you and he would give me such a genuine smile. He was just one more reason I fell in love with this country.

After a brief rest at the hotel, we went back out to see the Baptist Center India. This is a project of the church that Pastor Samuel was very excited to tell us about. There is a church up on a hill alongside a very busy road, and they own something like 19 acres of land out there. There is a home for the aged currently located on site that houses eight elderly women I'll tell you about in a bit. Eventually the plan is to move the orphanage out there as well, along with several other projects. It was great to hear about their vision for this center, and have a chance to pray over it with several of the church elders.

I had to take this picture. It was so symbolic of the way these people love one another, and extended that love to us. One thing that we realized very quickly is that the Indian people have no apparent concept of homophobia. Their men will hug each other, walk arm in arm, hold hands, etc., and no one even raises an eyebrow. It didn't take our men long to accept this, and it was awesome to see these Christian brothers from different sides of the planet embracing in such pure and simple ways. I loved it.

Pastor Samuel and Dick hit it off from the very beginning. I think it was the common grandfather bond. It made me smile to see them together every time.

As usual, it didn't take long for the pastor's son to find Laura and keep her busy. They shared a coconut and several games of chase. I think she was worn out by the time we left there.

I know it's going to be hard for you to tell what's going on in these pictures, but it's one of my favorite memories from the trip, from a purely non-spiritual standpoint. After our tour of the center and hearing about their goals and vision, we all were sort of wandering around looking at stuff and just kind of hanging out. There was a cool breeze blowing, and the sun was on its way down, so the air was just about perfect. It was just one of those good-feeling kind of moments.

One of the guys picked up a rock and started pitching it over the hill down at that hole in the roof of whatever the building is there in the second picture. This of course turned into a competition to see who could be the first to hit the hole. Soon we were all grabbing rocks and heaving them down the hill. I don't think any of us actually hit it, but it was a blast trying.
After that, we walked back down the hill to the building where the elderly women stay. The pastor of the church and his family live there with them and take care of them. These women were so precious, and I couldn't believe the bare existence that they are in every day. There are about four women per room, and it basically just looks like a kind of warehouse. It reminded me of the abandoned factory where the city of Franklin housed the Katrina refugees a few years ago. Just kind of a big empty room with some beds in it. One of the ladies didn't even have a mattress, but JD assured me it was by her choice because she has a bad back. It killed me to see her just laying on a kind of metal bench. She was a stroke victim, so she wasn't able to fully know what was going on. But we hugged and loved on each lady, and they were precious to embrace.

Someone came and got me after we'd been visiting a few minutes and said that one of the ladies serves as their choir director, and would I come and sing with her. So I walked back in her room and knelt down in front of her bed. I held both of her hands and we both sang "Amazing Grace." I was singing in English, and she was singing in Telagu. We were all singing together, and as I mentioned before, I was just overwhelmed with the idea that this was a tiny glimpse of Heaven, how people from all nations will be joining together in song to praise God together. It's definitely something to look forward to.

After we sang Amazing Grace, they wanted to sing "Showers of Blessings." I actually have a clip of this on video, and I'm so excited that I figured out how to get that on my blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, and feel free to sing along. The words may come to life in a new way. They definitely did for me.

There shall be showers of blessings,
This is the promise of love.
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the savior above.
Showers of blessings,
Showers of blessings we need.
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.

Back to India. Tuesday morning was our first opportunity to get to spend time with orphans. They have a morning devotional every day at 6:00 a.m. It made for an early morning, but it was completely worth it. When we arrived, the girls were all sitting in the front of the church waiting on us. They were singing songs together and it was a beautiful sound. There are fifty girls in the orphanage, ranging from 4 or 5 all the way up through teens. Most of the little ones didn't know any English, so it was hard to communicate with them other than smiles and squeezes. But they could all sing in English, and it was amazing to hear. Tuesday morning they did several songs for us, including action songs. This was good because we needed a little action to wake up.

Charmaine did the devotional on Tuesday. She spoke about how there are five fingers on your hand, and they are all different. She talked about the body of Christ, and how we are all different as well, but equally important and valuable. She talked about the parable of the talents, and how the man with only one talent should have invested it wisely. Just because you think you may only have one talent, you should commit it to God and use it to the fullest. She did a great job.

After she spoke, I had the opportunity to pray with them. I asked them to all come up to the front and gather around me, because I wanted to be able to touch them. I wanted to pray with them, and not just for them. But even when they came up to the front, they still kind of stayed in a safe circle around me. I couldn't get them to come very close. I realize that there is no telling what these girls have been through, and the touch of a stranger may not be all that welcome. But I just wanted to grab up every one of them and pack them in my suitcase and bring them home. They were just delightful girls.

Sarah had sent gifts for the girls, so after we prayed we were able to hand out pencils, pens, erasers and (the most exciting) Snickers. They were so grateful for these small things, and their faces were just lit up. They thanked us so much that my heart just broke on the spot.

One of the things Sarah's mom told us about was that they buy all the girls new dresses for Easter, and she told us about how much it cost to do that. I'm so happy that we had enough money left over at the end of our trip that we were able to donate the money to buy all the dresses for them. And I plan to continue to send money as often as I can for these sweet girls. They are doing an amazing job with this, and I want to continue to be a part of it.
The rest of Tuesday was an "off" day for us. Our hosts wanted to take us for some sight-seeing around Hyderabad. The first place we went was an amazing 16th century fort called Golconda. Being such a history lover, I was soaking up every minute. How surreal to be in a place that was constructed so many centuries ago. It was absolutely beautiful. Solomon was so excited to show us this place. He's such a scholar.

This was our tour guide. Had I written that day, I'd probably have been able to tell you his name. I do know that he had 4 small children, and he'd been leading tours for 15 years. His granddaddy taught him everything he knew. He was fantastic.
There were about 400 steps up to the top of the fort, so here's Pastor David catching a breather on one of our many rest stops. We were all worried about Dick because he has a replacement knee. But he was such a trouper and made it all the way to the top. He's such an awesome guy. I just love him!

Once we made it to the top, we had a gorgeous 360 degree view of the city. It was a clear (and hot!) day, so we could see for miles around. It seemed like a great time for a group photo. The folks on the left are Sanga, Megha, Moses and Sagar. I miss them so much.

I also took the opportunity to have my picture made with the very famous pastor reverend Kim Cox, associate missions minister. It might be worth some cash one day...

The amazing thing about the fort is the way it is set up acoustically. From way down at the bottom of the hill, if a guard clapped in a certain area, the guards up at the top could hear it clearly and be warned of coming danger. There were so many fascinating things about the place, but the genius of construction for acoustical purposes was the best.

Here's Laura and Megha taking a water break.
On the way back down we went into the area where guests of the king would stay. This room was designed so that the paranoid king could eavesdrop on everything that was said. In this picture, our guide was whispering into the corner. If you stood in the other corner, you could hear him as clearly as if he were standing next to you. Apparently the sound also carried up and over into the area where the king stayed. Pretty cool. I so wanted to just close my eyes and open them to what the place was like all those centuries ago. I think it would have been an amazing thing to see.
After the fort we went to the Salarjung Museum. We were all pretty tired by this point, but there were some cool things to see. There is a statue called Veiled Rebecca that is absolutely mesmerizing. It's a depiction of the bride of Isaac, but she's completely covered in a veil. It's unbelievable.

After we left the museum we went to eat lunch. We passed by the Charminar, which is Hyderabad's most famous landmark. The thing was built in 1591, and still looks amazing. One of the many gifts our hosts gave us were lamps with a replica of the Charminar inside. My glass broke on the way home, but the statue inside was fine. I love having it as a reminder of the city.

I think I wrote about lunch the day that it happened. It was the first time that I felt a physical sense of danger while we were there. When we got out of the vans, the guys were rushing us inside and up the stairs to a back room. Megha was telling me that it wasn't really a safe area for us to be. This part of town is entirely Muslim, including the radical kind. Actually, we found out that there had been a bomb set off near this area the month before we came that was set off by a Muslim in an attempt to start a riot. Not a great feeling. But I felt completely bathed in prayer the entire time we were there, so I had no doubt that the Lord would protect us through lunch.

While we were waiting for our food, I had the privilege of listening to Laura share her full testimony with the girls. She is an amazing woman who has lived through some really tragic things. But she has used them to make her stronger and they have shaped the person she is today. And I love the person she is today very much. I hope that I could be half as strong as she is if faced with similar circumstances.

Friday afternoon we had a little bit of down time, and then we were back out that evening for a night tour. They drove us up to High Tech City, where all of the computer companies are. We were out for a while, and this is when Pastor David brought up the subject of demons. He told us some pretty freaky stories. I can't imagine what it is like to literally be faced with the presence of demons in someone you are ministering to. But it's happened to these guys more than once.

We stopped at a roadside juice stand where the guys are sitting there with the fruit ready to make it for you as fresh as possible. They had everything from pomegranate to pineapple to a cocktail of everything together. It was the best juice I have ever put in my mouth, truly.

When we got back in the vans, I assumed we were still really far away from the hotel, but it turned out we were just minutes from there. It was really a great end to an amazing day.

As for life in the States, things are getting better for me. The grief of separation is passing, and I'm getting to the sorting out stage. I have to figure out how to take everything I saw and experienced in India and merge it into my life here. I don't want to get complacent and go back to life as usual. I want to strive for the kind of relationship I experienced with God there, and make it a reality in my life here.

Gotta run... life is calling. More to come.

It's 9:44 p.m. That's pretty late for me considering I've passed out by 9:30 every other night since I've been back. But I'm losing my computer tomorrow for possibly ten days, so I'm trying to catch up on everything before it goes away. How sad that I'll miss my laptop like a child.

I've been experiencing lots of technical difficulties for a few months, not the least of which is the loss of my external speakers. In order to hear anything coming from my computer I've had to plug in headphones. This is a giant pain when that's the only way you receive voicemail. But you don't realize how much sound matters on your computer until you have to go an extra mile to hear it. So I'm looking forward to getting that fixed.

I can still go up and use the kids' computer, so hopefully I'll get around to posting about our last three days in India at some point in the near future. I'm not as worried about giving details about the amazing 16th century fort we visited or the time we spent shopping at a craft fair. But I'm dying to tell about the moment we spent singing Amazing Grace in the home for the elderly women we visited the night before we left. And singing "Great Big God" with the kids at the Sunday School retreat on Thursday was nothing less than a prelude to Heaven. That was sheer bliss. But I want to give all of that proper time, so I'll just tease you for now.

As for me, I feel like a walking open wound. I'm trying not to depress everyone I encounter, but for some reason I'm just having trouble hiding the way I feel. I know part of it is exhaustion. But I feel like my world has been shaken to the core by the things God showed me in India, and I don't believe I'm just supposed to push all that down into my India compartment and forget about it. It's just going to take some sorting out of where to go from here. And it may be ugly. So I hope you can be patient with me while I try to make sense of it all.

One day in the van, Laura and I began singing old hymns together. We were sitting with President JJ, and every now and then he would join in. Or sometimes he would just say, "Do you know..." and we'd sing it for him. It was one of those moments in life where everything is right and good. Today I've had one particular hymn running through my mind, and I sent Laura a text to tell her I'd been singing it and it wasn't the same without her. She answered that she'd been singing it all day too. So there must be a message there. I'll leave you with these profound words of grace. Will you sing with me?

There is a fountain filled with blood

flowing from Emmanuel's veins

And sinners plunged beneath the flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

Lose all their guilty stains.

Lose all their guilty stains.

And sinners plunged beneath the flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

I just spent some time bawling over Laura's pictures. She is an incredible artist, and this comes through in her photography. I'm trying not to be jealous of her talent for taking pictures. :)

Anyway, click here to see an amazing display of what we experienced. Her pics will take you there instantly. Enjoy the ride.

It's 5:00 in the morning. I wish I could say I just woke up, but after laying in bed for an hour and a half I finally decided to give up and come downstairs. Apparently the Ambien really was the reason that I was able to sleep the last two nights. I'm always so afraid to get my body dependent on anything, so I didn't take any last night. I thought I might be back on track after two days and nights of American time. But I guess not. Maybe I'll do a half of an Ambien tonight. Hopefully after being up all day I'll crash from exhaustion at least.

I had a nightmare last night. I had gone to bed about 9:30 because the fatigue was just so great, and Jeff had gone with me. As I was sleeping, I felt something start crushing my head. It was almost like my cat had come walking up my body on the outside of the covers and was kicking my head over and over. I knew Jeff was beside me, so I kept trying to call out to him and couldn't make him hear me. I suddenly realized that he was holding me and trying to calm me down and I finally woke up. He said I had almost been to the point of screaming.

I haven't had a nightmare in a really long time. One night in India when we were driving around, Pastor David asked us why we don't believe in demons in America. We assured him that we did. But then he went on to tell us stories of actual demon-possessed people that he has dealt with. Solomon and Emmanuel told us their version of the same events. It was some really bizarre and scary stuff. So my thought last night after this happened was that I brought a demon back home from India with me. I'm not really sure what to do with that. But it's not a good feeling.

I still want to finish telling about our last three days in India, and I will get back to it. But I think I'm going to go do my Bible study right now instead. I'm a little behind, any my girls will be here tomorrow night ready to go. I can't wait to see them.

There is one thing I want to mention, though. Remember the blind boy from the second day we went out visiting churches? His name is Ramu. Outreach David (who from here on out I'll refer to as J.D., because that's what I call him now) has told me that he is eligible for a corneal transplant. So I was talking to my friend Dana, and she asked why we don't just raise some money and send it over there for him. My friend Dana is a smart girl.

So I'll probably do this more formally some time soon, but if you feel so compelled to contribute to the cause of Ramu, just shoot an e-mail to leighann@swordsmail.com. Once I collect the money, I can send it to the church through an account set up at my church and just earmark it for him.

If you don't feel led to give, that's completely acceptable. Just promise me that you'll lift him up. I'm including his picture here, even though adding pictures after I've already been typing always screws up the line spacing on blogger for some reason. But here he is in the middle wearing the white shirt with blue embroidery. His mother is to the left of him. She is a widow, suffering from tuberculosis. When J.D. brought this boy up and told us about him, the look of fear and desperation on both of their faces was forever burned into my brain. I've rarely been confronted with such suffering. It's so much easier to pretend stuff like this isn't out there. But it is.

So pray for Ramu today. Pray for Baptist Church Hyderbad. They are truly the bearers of light in a dark land.

Since I have three and a half days left to tell you about, I'm going to try and pace myself so I don't rush through anything. For now, I want to finish talking about what happened on Monday.
On Monday night, we had the privilege of attending the youth fellowship service. This is kind of BCH's version of Kairos, and it was one of my favorite times of the whole trip. I know I've said it a lot, but these guys are so sold out for the Lord. It was truly inspiring to spend time with them.

The time that they spend just in praise and worship alone is amazing. There isn't this sense of needing to sing two or three songs and move on. They were taking requests and we sang at least 6 or 7 songs, including several with choreography. The guys in the picture above are part of a group of guys called the Baptist Boys. They were so awesome. They led part of the singing, but also came back later with some hilarious drama. Singing David also was on the praise team, and it was tremdous joy to watch him worship with this group of people who were just full of joy in the Lord.Here's a picture of the Baptist boys doing part of their drama. They were absolutely hysterical. They did a series of short sketches, covering everything from super heroes to the Garden of Eden to menthos. It was fantastic. Later on in the service they came back and did a whole choreographed skit to "God is Good All the Time." We were laughing ourselves sick.

How amazing that live on opposite sides of the planet, and yet in so many ways we are very much the same. This service could have just as easily been taking place in Tennessee as India. But what made it so incredible was just getting to know the people involved. They were 100% in this faith thing for life. It is not just a part of who they are; it is who they are. I hope I am forever altered in my thinking and how those thoughts bear fruit from having had the chance to walk side by side with these amazing people. That's Emmanuel playing guitar in the background. He was one of our escorts for the week, so we got to know him pretty well. It was so fun to hear him play and see him in a different role from the one we were used to.

Jeremy gave the message that night, and he did a great job. He spoke about Jesus turning the water into wine. He said that God knew this story from beginning to end, and that the wine represented the love of Christ and what he was going to do on the cross. So if you go back and read the story with the idea of the wine representing what Christ truly came to do, it takes on a new meaning. Jesus took water from ceremonial cleansing jars, and turned that into a representation of his ultimate sacrifice. It was great.

Afterwards, there was a short time for snacks, and then at least 30 of the "youth" (I say that because they were more like college age and early adults) came up on the altar and had mass prayers. Everyone went around the room and voiced a request, several of which concerned upcoming exams. Then we all prayed out loud at the same time, and Solomon closed it up.

Again, we were just so impressed with the commitment level these people have to this church. After a 2 hour and 15 minute service, they still wanted to stick around and pray together. I loved it.

That's it for now. I'm just waiting on the kids to go to bed so I can fall in behind them. I managed to not take a nap today, but I don't think I can last much longer. My body really is trying to catch up on all the hours it missed. I can't believe we have to turn the clocks back tonight and miss an hour of sleep. That's just wrong.

More tomorrow...

This is why it's good to be home. I'm so glad I didn't miss seeing this today.

But there's nothing like a 70 degree drop in temperature to say welcome home!

We're Home!

My mind is beyond fried, but I just wanted to take a second to let you all know that we have arrived back in Nashville. There was a little trouble with United in D.C., and we had to leave Nelson behind due to an overweighted plane or something. He got a free round-trip ticket out of it, but we still hated to leave him there.

As for life back at the ranch, it's snowing pretty hard here tonight. Jeff said we're predicted to get 6 inches. How bizarre to leave 95 degree hot, dry weather and arrive in a winter wonderland.

I promise to come back and fill you in on what we did our last couple of days. It was some amazing stuff, but there's no way I can be cognitive enough to talk about it now. But I'm so thankful to each of you that prayed for our journey. It was truly a life-changing experience, and I'm so grateful to all of you who made the trip with us.

Love... from home. :)

I apologize for getting behind on the blogging, but I think fatigue has really started to take over. I will post more once I get home about the days I haven't gotten to write about. I only bought an hour of Internet this morning, though, and after a nice long skype chat with my family, I've only got about ten minutes left for this post.

But for a brief synopsis, on Monday, we all headed back out for a long journey to the church dedication service of Baptist Church Ambaripet. Yes, there was another plaque waiting for our very own Pastor Kim Cox. What made this service so amazing was just the sheer number of people that were cramming themselves into this building to take part in this service. There were several pastors there from area churches who just wanted to come and be a part of it with us. There truly had to have been at least 150 people crammed into the floor of this building. It was another special time for us.

We were out on the road for most of the day because it was a long way out there. By the time we got back, it was time to go straight to the church for the youth service. This was one of my favorite times we've had here. These kids not only get together for a couple hours of praise and worship, drama, testimonies and a message, but several of them stay around afterwards to have what they call mass prayers up on the altar. Their level of commitment to their faith never ceases to amaze me. These kids are sold out, 100%, completely in it. I have learned so much from them.

Yesterday we were able to do some sight-seeing. We went to an old fort (I'm talking 16th century old). I loved every minute of it. The acoustics in this place were designed to carry sound for huge distances and it was just fascinating to see and experience. It was super hot, though, and we walked up about 400 steps to get to the top. We were all a little worried about Dick, but he hung in their like a champ.

Afterwards we went to a museum and saw some beautiful sculptures, paintings and other art. We were all pretty tired after that, and headed out to eat lunch.

The lunch was my favorite Indian food so far, but the place that we ate was a completely Muslim community. The guys were kind of rushing us to get us in the restaurant and up to the back room. Even if they hadn't told us it was dangerous for us to be there, I think I would have just known. There was a presence of darkness there that we truly could feel. It is a weird feeling to know people are looking at you with more than curiosity about your Americanism. We were glad to be on the road again.

Last night we spent some more time driving around the city. We stopped at a fresh juice stand and had some of the best orange juice I've ever experienced. At this point, I'm truly trying to just suck the life out of every minute we have left because I can feel the minutes racing by until we have to get on that plane tomorrow. I will miss this place so, so much.

I want to write more about the way I'm feeling, but it's going to have to wait because my minutes are running out. Pray for me Wednesday night your time, because that's when I'll be leading our time at the children's Sunday School retreat. Looking forward to it!

Love from India...

Namaste,

Last night we were able to attend the English service at BCH. It was unlike anything I have ever been too before, and yet everything was very recognizable.

The church service began at 6:00. When it first began, there weren’t really all that many people there. But if you could see the parking lot for this church you would never complain about BBC again. The number of people attempting to get here through the traffic is not an easy task. But as I sat on the platform I watched the entire bottom half of the sanctuary fill up. It was much like sitting in the choir loft at BBC and watching the sanctuary transform from a scattering to a full house by the end of our worship time.
The singing here is unbelievable. This picture is of the choir rehearsing before the service. Singing David here has an amazing voice, and he even sang a solo for us last night. The choir sings both hymns and praise and worship. They sang a beautiful version of My Tribute during the offering last night. I haven’t heard that song in a long time, and it was like comfort food.

The services here run 2 to 3 hours. It would definitely take our people some adjustment time to get used to. If they sing a hymn, they sing all the verses. If they sing a praise song, they may sing it several times more than we do.

Another difference was the prayer time. Prayer is a serious thing here, and we could learn a lot from that. These people don’t take the privilege lightly. Solomon prayed last night, and he was under no time constraints. He could just pray as the Spirit led him. It was beautiful.

What really got me, though, was when Pastor David began to prepare the congregation for the Lord’s Table. I have heard many times that you need to be sure you aren’t harboring any sin in your life before you take communion. But it’s usually pretty glossed over. Not last night. David basically preached a 3 or 4 point sermon on those who partake of the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner being guilty of the blood of Jesus Christ. It was powerful and so convicting. I truly did self-examine and confess before I took the cup and the bread. And it became much more meaningful to receive after truly remembering what it was Christ did for me and why this act is so symbolic.

After communion, the choir led the congregation in several praise and worship songs. It was so much fun to be a part of. Most of those songs had motions, and the entire congregation was doing them along with the choir. It cracks me up to try and imagine our church members doing these moves when we all sang together. But I would so love it.
Nelson was responsible for giving the message last night. Before we went on the platform, we were able to lay hands on him and cover him with prayer. It must have been so intimidating for him to get up and speak to that many people. But he spoke about when King David got old and one of his sons decided to take the throne away from Solomon. He talked about how Solomon was representative of the right thing, and how someone else deciding that they were just going to go there and do that was representative of a lie and a pretense that someone set up against God. One of the Scripture readings earlier had been 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, about how we are to put aside every argument and pretense and take every thought captive to Jesus Christ. He was able to work that into his message as well.

I know it was a really uncomfortable thing for him to do, and we were all really proud of him for getting through it so well. Tonight Jeremy will be speaking at a youth service, and I know that will be great as well.

As I write this, it’s 6:00 in the morning. I’ve been up for a really long time. Last night I didn’t take anything with any kind of sleep aid, so maybe my body has already gotten dependent on it. But instead of waking up at 5 or 5:30 like I have been, it was more like 3:45. We have a long car ride ahead of us this morning, so hopefully I can catch a nap on the way. I laugh to myself as I write that.

More later. Love to you all.

I wasn't able to post last night's episode until just now, which is why you're getting two so close together. We actually have downtime in between the services today, and it is some welcome rest. But I wanted to go ahead and let you know how our morning went.

We actually had two services to attend this morning. There was a church dedication service that we were supposed to stop by, and of course we were to attend BCH where Pastor Kim was to preach (or "talk" as she likes to call it.) We ended up being at the dedication church for a little bit too long because the ladies had brough Kim a sari to change into, and we were experiencing a little bit of wardrobe malfunction. But everything came through, and we were able to proceed as planned.

Once she was fully adorned, we were walked over to a church wall where a little white curtain was hanging.  Kim spoke a word of blessing over the church.  After she prayed, the white curtain was pulled off to reveal the greatest plaque I've ever seen.

Isn't that awesome?  I'm thinking she totally needs a raise out of this.

After the service we had to rush off because we were very, very late to get back to BCH.  Since Kim was speaking, it was pretty important for us to get there.  Once we arrived, we were shuttled right up to the stage so that the church could formally welcome our team.  It was such a blessing to stand up in front of this congregation and feel so welcome and loved.  They presented us with roses and each one of us received a replica of the Charminar to take home with us.  They also presented us with sandalwood leis.  They just continue to pour more and more over us, and all we want to do is give to them. 

Kim gave a wonderful sermon (or "talk" as she preferred to call it.)  Her story was perfect for this church, because she became a believer as an adult and was the only one in her family to do so.  There were so many people in the congregation who could completely relate to her.  She preached about being part of the family of God (Galatians 4) and how everyone is invited to join.  After she spoke, the pastor gave an altar call and people came pouring up to the front.  It was just like watching a Billy Graham revival.  I was blown away by the number of people coming for prayer for their family's or their own salvation.  It was truly moving.

The best thing is, the whole thing was video-taped.  And now our own Kim Cox is going to be broadcast over TV three times this week!  We are so loving this.

I honestly can't say enough about Kim's leadership, though.  She is so hard-working, so easy to follow, and just a blessing to be with.  If you ever have a chance to go on a mission trip under her leadership, jump at it.

After spending many hours in a car together, Outreach David has become my new Indian father. I had the privilege of meeting his beautiful family today.  We have truly bonded, and I will miss him very much.  He's promised to come visit my family when he comes to America.  I've promised to send him a case of Cadbury Mini Eggs the minute I get home.  This is the body of Christ at work.

Tonight we are headed back to BCH for the English speaking service.  Nelson is going to be speaking, and we are going to lead the congregation in Shout to the Lord.  I can't wait to get to sing with the choir.

I hope you all have a blessed Sunday.  Just remember, if the sermon starts getting too long, at least you are worshiping in a temperature-controlled environment sitting on a nice soft pew.  May I never forget that.

Namaste,

It’s 11:00 p.m. as I write this, although I won’t be able to post until the morning. Kim just gave me a sleeping pill, so this entry may not make much sense and will be a little shorter than yeterday’s probably.

Today was a lot less driving than the past two have been. All of the driving we did was in the city, which somehow seems so much safer than the country driving. Because even though accidents are inevitable, they’re so much more likely to be a fender-bender than a death scenario, at least for us. The little two year olds I see crossing the street with their four-year-old brother are in a far more precarious position. We’ve talked about how that site would stop traffic in both directions for hours while the police investigated, located the mother and slapped her butt in jail for child neglect. But I’ve seen it dozens of times here over the past couple of days.

I was just talking to Kim about the benefit of all the driving we’ve done in the beginning of the trip, because it has allowed us to truly bond, not only with the people on our team, but with our Indian counterparts. I’ve actually enjoyed it very much, even with the near-death experiences.

This morning we went back to BCH because there was a baptism service. Twice a week there is an open invitation for people to come to the church and be baptized. They are asked a series of questions about the faith, and then they are required to share a testimony and tell why they are getting baptized. We were allowed to be a part of this.

As soon as the first man turned around and began sharing his testimony, how he is the only believer in his family, my eyes were welling up with tears. He had so much joy in his face, and he asked those present to pray that the rest of his family would come to know Jesus. Another shared her story of being raised Catholic, but marrying a Hindu man. She gave birth to three sons and they all died. So her husband began to beat her terribly. She had a few more kids, and I think she might have said that she ran away. But she has decided to come back to following Jesus. She mentioned that she didn’t like her huband too much because he is Hindi. I was again straining every muscle in my face not to cry, but the tears just came pouring out. It’s overwhelming to think about that these guys have two baptism services a week and they’re baptizing dozens at a time. Pastor Samuel said their goal is to move to doing this daily. I have no doubt that will happen.

I was so struck by the stories these people told of how they had come to know Jesus. One man told of his wife suffering from terrible joint pain. He tried the Hindu gods and heard nothing. He tried everything he could think of. Someone told him he had tried everything else, so why not to go the church and pray for her. He came to the prayer tower, not knowing really what to do. He wrote down her name on a paper and gave it to the pastor. He prayed at the altar that if the Lord would heal his wife, his entire family would be baptized. After he got home, his wife had no more pain. He said he was asleep one night and woke up to a very bright light, and it was Jesus inviting him to come into the kingdom. So here they all were to be baptized. Again, just blowing my mind.

After the class, we all headed out to the baptistry. I’ts a large pool shaped in the form of a cross. The candidates just walked in fullly clothed. A few of the women were really struggling to keep their clothing from blowing up. The young girl in this picture was terrified of the water. It was painful to watch her get in the pool. There’s a huge possibility this is the first time she had ever been emmersed in a pool of water, and the fear was palpable. So for her, getting baptized was truly a sacrifice of love. She actually gave out a little cry as he dunked her. It just broke my heart.

After the baptism, we all had our pictures made with the candidates and had some time to fellowship with the people, especially the school children, who are my favorite. The woman to my right is the one whose story I told you about not liking her husband because he is Hindu. We shared such a long hug and I told her I would see her again some day.

Some of the kids came up to me and Ashley and said, “You are looking like Barbie today.” So our egos might need just a tiny bit of deflation when we get back home.

From the church, we left to go tour three more daughter churches. All of these are fully autonomous from BCH at this point. The pastors were so proud to show us what they had accomplished. This man handing Dick the coconut was the pastor of this church. He had actually been at the baptism earlier this morning, so the candidates that he had brought will be welcomed into his church tomorrow morning as new members.

This church is in an entirely Muslim community. While we were there I heard the Muslim call to prayer. It was kindof surreal to be hearing it in real life, and not just on a movie or the news. Pray for this church. They are truly the light to the land under their feet.
I don't remember the name of the next church we visited, but it was enormous. It's such a contrast compared to the churches we had seen the previous days. Very beautiful building. We were also able to pray over this church and its pastor. There were three children there who quickly found Laura.

I have nicknamed her the pied piper. Wherever we go, if there are children anywhere around, they flock to her and won’t leave her side until she’s gone. It’s beautiful to watch. She’s going to make an amazing mommy one day.

The last church we visited was Baptist Church Banjara Hills. Here we were given the royal flower treatment again. This is the pastor’s 15-yr-old daughter Beula. She was so gorgeous in every way, so soft-spoken and intelligent. We shared an instant bond. I told her I looked forward to seeing her again.

That’s the beauty of what we’re doing here. Even though I’m making friendships with our Indian counterparts that will be physically restricted by the bounds of geography, I will see them again. I look forward to that very much.

By the time we had gotten back to the church, choir practice was over. But it’s okay, because they are going to rehearse tomorrow night at 4:30 before the service begins, so I’ll get to sing with them then. I can’t wait to be a part of our sister choir! Our group is going to sing Shout to the Lord for them, and I pray that after the first words are sung, they will jump right in there with us. I’m going to be looking forward to this all day.

We actually had a couple of hours of downtime this afternoon. At this point, Ashley and I tried on our Indian dresses. The dress part is working, but the leggings, not so much. Here’s Ashley in what I have dubbed her mermaid pants. Scott, she will definitely be bringing these home, so watch out!

We had a wonderful meal together as a team in the hotel restaurant, and some awesome prayer time afterwards. I love this team so much. The bonds we are making are going to last a lifetime.

Please pray for my friend Dana again. Her last MRI showed a couple of suspicious lumps that need to be biopsied. I covet your prayers over her that this nightmare will end for her very soon and that God will wash her body of anything even remotely suspicious. Thank you so much for that.

Love from India. God is so good.

Sorry for the appearance of the following post's text. I'm trying to type everything out in Word and then cut and paste it over as well as upload pics, and things get a little crazy in translation. I'm just way too tired to try and sort it out.