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.