We are so excited. . .A brand new baby church started tonight with ten people in attendance, Dr, Suresh and his wife had a literacy class (with a Bible study) a few years back and had about 10 ladies in the class. Loren and I were there the day one of them was able to write her name for the first time. To finally be able to not have to just give a thumbprint, but actually write her name was the most important day of her life. Well, one of these ladies came to Dr. Suresh and asked if there was any way he could begin the Bible study again. So it has begun in his home and with great success.

The changes in India since our last visit in February especially in billboard signs and dress is astounding. Never before did you see a woman’s shoulders or legs. . .it was tooooo sexy. Well, now it is on every sign plus very provocative poses. This is in Nagpur, not just the big cities. India is changing at such a rapid pace that many, many people are being left in the dust. The largest percentage of people is being faced with situations that they have no skills on how to handle. Due to the lack of any moral code and no restrictions, everything becomes free game, and I mean everything! This is why we need to really ground our young people in God’s Word, so they have a firm foundation upon which to stand.

Starting Point continues to be one the most special times the students have. The group discussions are beginning to be very lively and more and more participation. I cannot wait till we have the second edition translated and ready to be used. During our Q and A times it is always brought up as one of the things the students like best about PII and RGI.

One of the first things you learn about being in India is to TRUST your driver. I am so glad that I believe in God’s sovereignty and that He knew on the day I was born what time and day I would die, because I thought for sure that this was the day. Ashok sent a car and driver to pick Loren and I up to go to a meeting. This driver made sure we got there faster than I have ever been driven in India. When he had a little room, Loren said, “I think he will try to pass all of those lorries (huge trucks).” I said, “No, way, there are seven.” Well, guess who won???? Not me!!! I bet there was not two inches between our car and the oncoming lorries when he finally pulled into his lane. I don’t even know what happened to the little black car that was in the lane before we took it over. Loren took a big breath and said, “This is better than going to Disneyland!!!!” I am not sure I am ready for DISNEYLAND again any time soon.

Some of the most weird things are happening to me. . .a bad cold, fingernail torn almost off and now a chipped incisor tooth. It hurts a little, but I would rather have the hurt than go to an Indian denist here. Keeping my tongue off of it is the trick. I bit down on a piece of bone in some ground meat. UGG!!!

It is 10 pm bedtime and lights out for students. Suddenly, there is this horrible BAM! BANG! the sound of windows crashing, boys yelling and screaming. We have no idea what is going on!!! Loren grabs his pants and torch (flashlight) and goes flying out of our room thinking maybe there was a fight or perhaps the boys had caught the bugler. He then realizes ALL the campus lights are out. Nevertheless, he heads up the tower staircase and runs into hundreds of bees. Not the cute little honeybees you see in the movies, but big fat aggressive ones. The day before we had seen what we thought was a large beehive in the very top part of the PBI cathedral tower window. Loren was talking with Joy (General Director) about it and the House Father overheard the conversation. He took it upon himself to have about 6 tribal boys. . .who know how to smoke out bees. . .to try and take care of this hive. ONLY THING, he neglected to tell anyone what was happening. Loren found the boys all huddled down with blankets over their heads, the House Father is under a table in the Dining Room, other students were hiding in the far end of the building and to say the least there was bedlam. The window that they were trying to open was puttied shut, and it was NOT a hive, but just a huge cluster of bees, so when the boys banged the window open, the bees swarmed and attacked. Loren came running back to get our can of Hit (bug spray) and our screen door was covered with bees. He is yelling at me to turn out all the lights so he can come in. I am scrambling to do so, but I was on my computer and couldn’t get it turned off. We ended up with about three or four in our room. After everything kind of calmed down Loren said, “We need to do a bed check.” Sure enough, there were still several students missing from their rooms. After a search they were found huddled together under a staircase at the far end of the building. You can’t even imagine the mess we had the next morning. I know, I know, you would have THUNK the smart thing to have done would have been to make sure all the boys were in their rooms, with the lights out, (the bees are attracted to the light, that is why they were doing it at night) and the doors and windows closed, AND we should have been notified as to what was going to happen. BUT—if they had, I wouldn’t have had this story to write. Thankfully, there were only a very few bee stings and after about four cans of Hit the bees are gone or DEAD!

The discussion of strategies for self-reliance is always on going and is a vital part of Prakash’s vision and mission. The goal is to strive for excellence in each program. Today, we found out about a man from New Delhi who attended our Vet-Med Self-Reliant program. He has now started 10 small house churches. The members are collectively raising chickens. The work is divided among the members, some doing the raising and others doing the marketing. Consequently, they can completely support themselves and their ministry. Each little church tithes back to the main organization so it can continue to go elsewhere and help another house church make a start. This is what I call being an entrepreneur for Jesus! We were blown away to know that word of the Vet-Med ministry had reached all the way to New Delhi. Actually, the man found out about the training from a friend in Mumbai who had been an attendee. Mumbai is 19 hours away by train, and New Delhi 24 hours plus. It takes an enormous desire and commitment in India to come that far for a four-week training program.

Last year we attended the Hindu funeral and cremation of a dear friend Sho don Mal. I wrote a long email about the events of that day. Today was the one year anniversary of his death and so we were invited to the memorial lunch held by the family. Again, this was certainly an unusual event for us. I nearly caused a gross error by using my left hand to pick up and place flowers at the base of the picture of Sho don Mal. There was a lot of grunting and coughing until I realized what I was doing and changed hands. Loren and I pray that we can be the witness for Jesus that is needed to show these wonderful people the love of our God.

Here in India the sunsets are a daily miracle, I am convinced. There are colors everywhere, red, yellows, oranges, tinging the dusty sky. From the rooftop terrace of PBI I can go and enjoy this awesome sight of God’s love for an artist’s heart. I have been doing some watercolor/pen and ink drawings. This has been a marvel to the staff.

From years passed I have written about Peewee and Herman our personal geckos. They continue to occupy our room, but it is now hard to tell them apart. Peewee must be getting an abundance of bugs
We were delighted to meet with a former student of PBI who is now having a ministry with the 50,000+ street children of Nagpur. He works mainly with the little ones who reside/exist near the railway station. He tries to build a relationship with love, food, and stories. These kids normally roam the streets and steal whatever they can to eat. Actually, he is being supported by another former PBI student who went to work with YWAM and is now living in New Zealand. It would make all of YOUR efforts seem so worthwhile if you could see his zeal for the work of the Lord.
Water has doggedly made itself an issue here at Prakash. Thanks to many of you the well has been fixed, BUT yesterday the large water line was found to have leaks—not one—but many! Loren was out in the field seeing about our mascot bullocks and noticed they were walking around in a muddy area. “Where is the water coming from ” he wondered? Well, the 30+ year-old steel pipe was leaking. We do not own equipment like a backhoe that could dig a trench to the leak, so by calling Mission India we were able to borrow a backhoe and driver. That only took about two hours for it to come—no big deal—we have all day! When the pipe was found it had deteriorated so badly that there were multiple pinholes. Now get the picture . . . the welding teacher and his class brings out to the field the entire ARC welding equipment. This is called “practical training.” They proceed to stand in muddy water up to their mid-calf while TRYING to spot-weld the holes. Loren finally says, “Hey, this is not working guys. Why not put a larger piece of metal over the whole area and run a bead?”
Great idea, but because of the moisture the bead still had leaks. “What to do????” Well, there is a kind of putty that could be put on the leaky areas, so off to town again to purchase the putty. It is now dark by the time the putty is ready to be applied, so the extension cord (simply two little twisted wires with NO pins (plug) stuck into the 240-watt outlet,) is connected to a flood light of sorts. Remember, they are standing in water. The putty still needed something to hold it in place till it dried, subsequently a two-inch pin knife (wouldn’t it have been nice to have a Snap-On tool truck near by) was used to cut a bicycle tube so it could be wrapped around the pipe and hold the putty in place. I only wish I had gotten a picture.
Guess what gang. . . we have water this morning!!! Whatever works is great I should think. To be SURE this is not the end of the saga. The pipe will have to be replaced and that will be another whole story.